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Cultural appropriation

Cultural appropriation is the adoption of an element or elements of one culture or identity by members of another culture or identity in a manner perceived as inappropriate or unacknowledged. This can be especially controversial when members of a dominant culture appropriate from minority cultures. When cultural elements are copied from a minority culture by members of a dominant culture, and these elements are used outside of their original cultural context – sometimes even against the expressly stated wishes of members of the originating culture – the practice is often received negatively. Cultural appropriation can include the exploitation of another culture's religious and cultural traditions, customs, dance steps, fashion, symbols, language, history and music. Cultural appropriation is considered harmful by various groups and individuals, including some Indigenous people working for cultural preservation, those who advocate for collective intellectual property rights of the originating cultures, and some of those who have lived or are living under colonial rule. According to some critics of the practice, cultural appropriation differs from acculturation, assimilation, or equal cultural exchange in that this appropriation is a form of colonialism. Those who see this appropriation as exploitative state that cultural elements are lost or distorted when they are removed from their originating cultural contexts and that such displays are disrespectful or even a form of desecration. Cultural elements that may have deep meaning in the original culture may be reduced to "exotic" fashion or toys by those from the dominant culture. Kjerstin Johnson has written that, when this is done, the imitator, "who does not experience that oppression is able to 'play', temporarily, an 'exotic' other, without experiencing any of the daily discriminations faced by other cultures". The black American academic, musician, and journalist Greg Tate argued that appropriation and the "fetishizing" of cultures, in fact, alienate those whose culture is being appropriated. The concept of cultural appropriation has also been subject to heavy criticism, debate, and nuance. Critics note that the concept is often misunderstood or misapplied by the general public and that charges of "cultural appropriation" are sometimes misapplied to situations such as trying food from a different culture or learning about different cultures. Others state that the act of cultural appropriation, usually defined, does not meaningfully constitute social harm or that the term lacks conceptual coherence. Additionally, the term can set arbitrary limits on intellectual freedom and artists' self-expression, reinforce group divisions, or promote a feeling of enmity or grievance rather than of liberation. Overview Cultural appropriation can involve the use of ideas, symbols, artifacts, or other aspects of human-made visual or non-visual culture. As a concept that is controversial in its applications, the propriety of cultural appropriation has been the subject of much debate. Opponents of cultural appropriation view many instances as wrongful appropriation when the subject culture is a minority culture or is subordinated in social, political, economic, or military status to the dominant culture or when there are other issues involved, such as a history of ethnic or racial conflict. Linda Martín Alcoff writes that this is often seen in cultural outsiders' use of an oppressed culture's symbols or other cultural elements, such as music, dance, spiritual ceremonies, modes of dress, speech, and social behaviour, when these elements are trivialised and used for fashion, rather than respected within their original cultural context. Opponents view the issues of colonialism, context, and the difference between appropriation and mutual exchange as central to analysing cultural appropriation. They argue that mutual exchange happens on an "even playing field", whereas appropriation involves pieces of an oppressed culture being taken out of context by a people who have historically oppressed those they are taking from and who lack the cultural context to properly understand, respect, or utilise these elements. Another view of cultural appropriation is that calling upon it to criticise is "a deeply conservative project", despite progressive roots, that "first seeks to preserve in formaldehyde the content of an established culture and second tries [to] prevent others from interacting with that culture". Academic discourse The Oxford English Dictionarys earliest citation for the phrase was a 1945 essay by Arthur E. Christy, which discussed Orientalism. The term became widespread in the 1980s in discussions of post-colonial critiques of Western expansionism, though the concept of "cultural colonialism" had been explored earlier, such as in "Some General Observations on the Problems of Cultural Colonialism" by Kenneth Coutts‐Smith in 1976. Cultural and racial theorist George Lipsitz has used the term "strategic anti-essentialism" to refer to the calculated use of a cultural form outside of one's own to define oneself or one's group. Strategic anti-essentialism can be seen in both minority and majority cultures and is not confined only to the use of the other. However, Lipsitz argues that when the majority culture attempts to strategically anti-essentialize itself by appropriating a minority culture, it must take great care to recognize the specific socio-historical circumstances and significance of these cultural forms so as not to perpetuate the already existing majority vs. minority unequal power relations. Historically, some of the most hotly debated cases of cultural appropriation have occurred in places where cultural exchange is the highest, such as along the trade routes in southwestern Asia and southeastern Europe. Some scholars of the Ottoman Empire and ancient Egypt argue that Ottoman and Egyptian architectural traditions have long been falsely claimed and praised as Persian or Arab. In 2017, Mehgan Gallagher spoke about what exactly does the debate concerning cultural appropriation entail within the modern age, specifically within the United States. She used contemporary examples of cultural appropriation to highlight cases of controversy. In particular, the Washington Redskins of the Nation Football League provided an example that led into a broader conversation regarding the representation of Native Americans when it came to sports mascots. In 2023, Jonas R. Kunst, Katharina Lefringhausen, and Hanna Zagefka set about to determine what were the differences between cultural appropriation and genuine cultural change. The three formed tables detailing how to systematically break down each term and what social conditions and psychological precursors defined them, then provided specific examples for each. Beyond this, they also detailed what they determined as the "dilemma of cultural ownership", a concept that discussed why the subject matter of cultural appropriation is so contentious. In 2024, Angela Gracia B Cruz, Yuri Seo, and Daiane Scaraboto released the results of a study that went about determining strategies consumers used to "self-authorize" how they consumed media that could be considered to be culturally appropriated. They performed a six-yearlong study on international K-Pop fans concerning how they felt when it came to determining what was cultural appreciation vs appropriation. One comment they chose to highlight from redditor named Sam said "Based on my experience, I've observed both. It depends on the context. As an Asian-American, K-Pop fans in America is more appreciation, as opposed to Koreaboos who just use Korean names for comedy are appropriating." Examples Art, literature, iconography, and adornment A common example of cultural appropriation is the adoption of the iconography of another culture and its use for purposes that are unintended by the original culture or even offensive to that culture's mores. Examples include sports teams using Native American tribal names or images as mascots; people not from the originating culture wearing jewellry or fashion that incorporates religious symbols such as the medicine wheel, or wearing items of deep cultural significance and status that must be earned, such as a war bonnet, without having earned the right. Authentic Native American war bonnets are sacred ceremonial items earned by people of high status in a traditional tribal society, much like military medals. People from cultures who have this sacred regalia usually consider it disrespectful and offensive when someone who has not earned the right to wear one dons an authentic or imitation headdress, whether as part of pretending to be Native American or as a costume or fashion statement. Copying iconography from another culture's history, such as Polynesian tribal tattoos, Chinese characters, or Celtic art, and wearing them without regard to their original cultural significance may also be considered appropriation. Critics of the practice of cultural appropriation contend that divorcing iconography from its cultural context or treating it as kitsch risks offending people who venerate and wish to preserve their cultural traditions. A term among Irish people for someone who imitates or misrepresents Irish culture is Plastic Paddy. The adoption of First Nations' art forms and strong geometric forms was in sympathy with the Arts and Crafts Society's commitment to modernist design but without serious consideration of the ethics of the appropriation of Aboriginal motifs by Western artists. During the 1920s the works of artists like Frances Derham, Allan Lowe, Olive Nock borrowed or copied Aboriginal motifs. In 1930, Margaret Preston advocated the use of Indigenous Australian motifs in contemporary art. In 2017, Canadian visual artist Sue Coleman garnered negative attention for appropriating and amalgamating styles of Indigenous art into her work. Coleman, who has been accused of "copying and selling Indigenous-style artwork," has described herself as a "translator" of Indigenous art forms, which drew further criticism. In his open letter to Coleman, Kwakwak'awakw/Salish Artist Carey Newman stressed the importance of artists being accountable within the Indigenous communities as the antidote to appropriation. Religion and spirituality Many Native Americans have criticized what they deem to be the cultural appropriation of their sweat lodge and vision quest ceremonies by non-Natives, and even by tribes who have not traditionally had these ceremonies. They contend that there are serious safety risks whenever these events are conducted by those who lack the many years of training and cultural immersion required to lead them safely, mentioning the deaths or injuries in 1996, 2002, 2004, and several high-profile deaths in 2009. The modern New Age movement frequently adopts spiritual ideas and practices from non-Western cultures; according to York, these may include "Hawaiian Kahuna magic, Australian Aboriginal dream-working, South American Amerindian ayahuasca and San Pedro ceremonies, Hindu Ayurveda and yoga, Chinese Feng Shui, Qi Gong, and Tai Chi." The movement has faced criticism for cultural imperialism exploiting intellectual and cultural property of Indigenous peoples. From 2020 to the present, there has been a persistent issue regarding the white adoption and convolution of Hindu (a religion originating from South Asia) religious practices, coining them with the umbrella term of "spirituality". These were practices, including the usage of the Evil Eye, Hamsa, etc., that people growing up as Hindus report being bullied for in their past, and even the present. For some members of the South Asian community, the wearing of a bindi dot as a decorative item by a non-Hindu can be seen as cultural appropriation. Fashion Cultural appropriation is controversial in the fashion industry due to the belief that some trends commercialise and cheapen the ancient heritage of Indigenous cultures. There is debate about whether designers and fashion houses understand the history behind the clothing they are taking from different cultures, besides the ethical issues of using these cultures' shared intellectual property without consent, acknowledgement, or compensation. According to Minh-Ha T. Pham, writing for The Atlantic, accusations of cultural appropriation are often defended, instead, as cultural appreciation. From the 17th century to the Victorian era The necktie or the cravat was derived from a scarf worn by Croatian mercenaries fighting for Louis XIII, and the brightly coloured silk waistcoats popularised by Charles II of England were inspired by Ottoman, Indian, and Persian attire acquired by wealthy European travelers. During the Regency and Victorian eras, the Highland dress, most prominently tartan, was appropriated by Scottish Lowlanders (and people from other parts of the British Isles) as a result of the influence of romantic nationalism on the Scottish national identity. This was spearheaded by writers such as Sir Walter Scott and James Logan, with Logan's romantic nationalist work The Scottish Gael (1831) leading the Scottish tartan industry to invent clan tartans with spurious association to specific Highland clans. Tartan rapidly became a desirable material for dresses, waistcoats, and cravats across the Western world as part of process known as "tartanry". In the United States, plaid flannel had become workwear by the time of America's westward expansion and was widely worn by white pioneers and cowboys in the Old West who were not of Scottish descent. In the 21st century, tartan remains ubiquitous in mainstream fashion. By the 19th century, the object of fascination among Europeans had shifted to Asian cultures. Regency-era dandies adapted the Indian churidars into slim-fitting pantaloons and frequently wore turbans within their own houses. Subsequently, Victorian-era gentlemen wore smoking caps based on the Islamic fez, and fashionable turn-of-the-century ladies wore Orientalist Japanese-inspired kimono dresses. Moreover, this obsession with Orientalism was visible in how one company named its passenger shipping line "The Orient Line". During the tiki culture fad of the 1950s, white women frequently donned the qipao to give the impression that they had visited Hong Kong, although the dresses were frequently made by seamstresses in America using rayon rather than genuine silk. At the same time, teenage Teddy Girls wore Asian conical hats due to their exotic connotations. In Mexico, the sombrero, which was associated with the mestizo peasant class, was adapted from an earlier hat which was introduced by Spanish colonists during the 18th century. This, in turn, was adapted into the cowboy hat worn by American cowboys after the US Civil War. In 2016, the University of East Anglia prohibited the wearing of sombreros to parties on campus in the belief that these could offend Mexican students, a move that was widely criticised. American Western wear was copied from the work attire of 19th-century Mexican Vaqueros, especially the pointed cowboy boots and the guayabera, which was adapted into the embroidered Western shirt. The China poblana dress associated with Mexican women was appropriated from the choli and lehenga worn by Indian maidservants like Catarina de San Juan, who arrived from Asia from the 17th century onwards. The modern era In Britain, the rough tweed cloth clothing of the English, Irish and Scottish peasantry, including the flat cap and Irish hat were adopted by the upper classes as the British country clothing worn for sports such as hunting or fishing, in imitation of the Prince of Wales. The country clothing, in turn, was appropriated by the wealthy American Ivy League and later preppy subcultures during the 1950s and 1980s due to both its practicality and its association with the British upper class. During the same period, the British comedian Tommy Cooper was known for wearing a Fez throughout his performances. When the keffiyeh became popular in the late 2000s, experts made a clear distinction between wearing a genuine scarf and wearing a cheaper, inauthentic one made in China. Palestinian independence activists and socialists denounced the wearing of scarves not made in Palestine as a form of cultural appropriation but encouraged fellow Muslims and progressively minded non-Muslim students to buy shemaghs made in the Herbawi factory to demonstrate solidarity with the Palestinian people and improve the economy of the West Bank. In 2017, Topshop caused controversy by selling Chinese-made playsuits that imitated the keffiyeh pattern. Several fashion designers and models have featured imitations of Native American warbonnets in their fashion shows, such as Victoria's Secret in 2012, when model Karlie Kloss wore one during her walk on the runway; a Navajo Nation spokesman called it a "mockery". Cherokee academic Adrienne Keene wrote in The New York Times: Both Victoria's Secret and Kloss issued apologies stating that they had no intentions of offending anyone. In 2016, pop star Beyoncé was widely criticised for wearing a sari and bindi in the music video for the Coldplay song "Hymn for the Weekend". The culturally significant Hindu festival, Holi, has been imitated and incorporated into fashion globally. For example, pop artist Pharrell Williams and Adidas collaborated in 2018 to create the Holi-inspired apparel and shoe line, "Hu Holi." The collection was stated to be a "trivialization of traditions-concepts-symbols-beliefs of Hinduism," according to Raja Zed, president of the Universal Society of Hinduism. The collection included many items which contained leather, a violation of Hindu beliefs. Archbishop Justin Welby of the Anglican Church said that the crucifix is "now just a fashion statement and has lost its religious meaning". Crucifixes have been incorporated into Japanese lolita fashion by non-Christians in a cultural context that is distinct from its original meaning as a Christian religious symbol. In 2018, Gucci designers were criticised for sending white models for a catwalk at Milan fashion week wearing a Sikh religious headpiece. Thousands of members from the Sikh community shared anger and disappointment that the brand had used Sikh sacred religious symbol for profit. Traditionally in Sikhism, a turban is worn by both men and women as a symbol of piety, honour, and spirituality, however, many people from Sikh community, including Avan Jogia, found it "offensive" and "irresponsible" for a white model wearing a turban. The popularity of the 2018 Thai period drama "Love Destiny," which depicts the Ayutthaya Kingdom era, has sparked a trend of Cambodians adopting traditional Thai clothing, including the Sabai and Thai-style jewelry. This trend raises concerns about cultural appropriation. While this phenomenon might stem from admiration, critics argue that it overshadows unique Cambodian sartorial traditions, potentially leading to a decline in the popularity of garments like the Cambodian Sampot. However, Cambodia also grapples with ensuring the accuracy of its own cultural representations, as evidenced by efforts to regulate costume rentals at Angkor Wat. In June of 2019, Kim Kardashian launched a clothing line under the name of "Kimono". This clothing line was centered around shapewear lingerie, and the use of the word "kimono" seemed to largely be a play on words for Kardashian's name. However, as noted to in Kalled's article, there was immediate outrage from the Japanese community, both located in the US and Japan itself. The controversy reached a point where the mayor of Kyoto at the time sent a letter to Kardashian asking her to reconsider the name, and the celebrity eventually relented. In August of the same year, Jes Kalled published an article for Savvy Tokyo. This article spoke on the nature of the controversy and also featured interviews from Japanese citizens concerning the matter, with some feeling confusion and disappointment, while others seemed to dislike the notion of cultural appropriation at all. Hairstyles, makeup, and body modifications The leaders of ancient Israel condemned the adoption of Egyptian and Canaanite practices, especially cutting the hair short or shaving the beard. At the same time, the Old Testament distinguishes the religious circumcision of the Hebrews from cultures, such as the Egyptians, where the practice had aesthetic or practical purposes. During the early 16th century, European men imitated the short, regular haircuts and beards on rediscovered Ancient Greek and Roman statues. The curled hair favoured by the Regency era dandy Beau Brummel was also inspired by the classical era. During the 17th century, Louis XIV began wearing wigs to conceal his baldness. Like many other French fashions, these were quickly appropriated by baroque era courtiers in England and the rest of Europe, to the extent that men often shaved their heads to ensure their wig fitted properly. American soldiers during World War II appropriated the Mohawk hairstyle of the Native American tribe of the same name to intimidate their enemies. These were later worn by 1950s jazz musicians like Sonny Rollins and the 1980s punk subculture. During the early 2000s, it was popular in the West to get tribal tattoos appropriated from African and Polynesian culture, as well as earlobe piercings known as plugs, famously associated with the Buddha. Since the early 2000s, it has become increasingly popular for people not of East Asian or South Asian descent to get tattoos of Devanagari, Korean letters, or Han characters (traditional, simplified, or Japanese), often without knowing the actual meaning of the symbols being used. In 2000, footballer David Beckham received a tattoo in Hindi. Beckham does not have Indian heritage. There is debate about non-black people wearing dreadlocksa hairstyle many associate with African and African diaspora cultures such as Jamaican Rastafariand whether their doing so is cultural appropriation. In 2016 a viral video was published of a young black student arguing with a young white student and accusing him of cultural appropriation. In 2018, white actor Zac Efron was accused of cultural appropriation, when he posted a picture of himself in dreadlocks. In Scotland and Ireland, non-speakers of Scottish Gaelic or Irish get tattoos in those languages, often not understanding what their tattoos mean. Sports While the history of colonisation and marginalisation is not unique to the Americas, the practice of non-Native sports teams deriving team names, imagery, and mascots from Indigenous peoples is still common in the United States and Canada and has persisted in some extent despite protests from Indigenous groups. Cornel Pewewardy, Professor and Director of Indigenous Nations Studies at Portland State University, cites Indigenous mascots as an example of dysconscious racism which, by placing images of Native American or First Nations people into an invented media context, continues to maintain the superiority of the dominant culture. It is argued that such practices maintain the power relationship between the dominant culture and the Indigenous culture and can be seen as a form of cultural imperialism. Such practices may be seen as particularly harmful in schools and universities that have a stated purpose of promoting ethnic diversity and inclusion. In recognition of the responsibility of higher education to eliminate behaviours that create a hostile environment for education, in 2005, the NCAA initiated a policy against "hostile and abusive" names and mascots that led to the change of many derived from Native American culture, with the exception of those that established an agreement with particular tribes for the use of their specific names. Other schools retain their names because they were founded for the education of Native Americans and continue to have a significant number of Indigenous students. The trend towards the elimination of Indigenous names and mascots in local schools has been steady, with two-thirds having been eliminated over the past 50 years, according to the National Congress of American Indians (NCAI). In contrast, the Seminole Tribe of Florida, in what the Washington Post called an unusual move, approved of the Florida State Seminoles use of their historical leader, Osceola, and his Appaloosa horse as the mascots Osceola and Renegade. After the NCAA attempted to ban the use of Native American names and iconography in college sports in 2005, the Seminole Tribe of Florida passed a resolution offering explicit support for FSU's depiction of aspects of Florida Seminole culture and Osceola as a mascot. The university was granted a waiver, citing the close relationship with, and ongoing consultation between, the team and the Florida tribe. In 2013, the tribe's chairman objected to outsiders meddling in tribal approval, stating that the FSU mascot and use of Florida State Seminole iconography "represents the courage of the people who were here and are still here, known as the Unconquered Seminoles". Conversely, in 2013, the Seminole Nation of Oklahoma expressed disapproval of "the use of all American Indian sports-team mascots in the public school system, by college and university level and by professional sports teams". Additionally, not all members of the Florida State Seminoles are supportive of the stance taken by their leadership on this issue. In other former colonies in Asia, Africa, and South America, the adoption of Indigenous names for majority Indigenous teams is also found. There are also ethnically related team names derived from prominent immigrant populations in the area, such as the Boston Celtics, the Notre Dame Fighting Irish, and the Minnesota Vikings. African American culture The phenomenon of white people adopting elements of black culture has been prevalent, at least since slavery was abolished in the Western world. The concept has been documented in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia, and other white-majority countries. An early form of this was the white negro in the jazz and swing music scenes of the 1920s and 1930s, as examined in the 1957 Norman Mailer essay "The White Negro". It was later seen in the zoot suiter of the 1930s and 1940s, the hipster of the 1940s, the beatnik of the 1950s–1960s, the blue-eyed soul of the 1970s, and the hip hop of the 1980s and 1990s. In 1993, an article in the UK newspaper The Independent described the phenomenon of white, middle-class kids who were "wannabe Blacks". The year 2005 saw the publication of Why White Kids Love Hip Hop: Wangstas, Wiggers, Wannabes, and the New Reality of Race in America by Bakari Kitwana, "a culture critic who's been tracking American hip hop for years". The term wigger (common spelling "wigga") is a slang term for a white person who adopts the mannerisms, language, and fashions associated with African American culture, particularly hip hop, and, in Britain, the grime scene, often implying the imitation is being done badly, although usually with sincerity rather than mocking intent. Wigger is a portmanteau of white and nigger or nigga, and the related term wangsta is a mashup of wannabe or white and gangsta. Among black hip-hop fans, the word "nigga" can sometimes be considered part of a friendly greeting, but when used by non-black people of colour and, especially, when used by white people it is usually viewed as offensive. Wigger may be derogatory, reflecting stereotypes of African American, Black British, and white culture (when used as a synonym for white trash). The term may be used by white people to belittle those perceived as acting black and by black people to belittle those perceived as mocking black culture. Robert A. Clift's documentary Blacking Up: Hip-Hop's Remix of Race and Identity questions white enthusiasts of black hip-hop culture. Clift's documentary examines "racial and cultural ownership and authenticitya path that begins with the stolen blackness seen in the success of Stephen Foster, Al Jolson, Benny Goodman, Elvis Presley, the Rolling Stones up to Vanilla Ice ... and Eminem". A review of the documentary refers to the wiggers as "white poseurs", and states that the term wigger "is used both proudly and derisively to describe white enthusiasts of black hip-hop culture". The term "blackfishing" was popularised in 2018 by writer Wanna Thompson, describing female white social media influencers who adopt a look perceived to be associated with black people, including braided hair, dark skin from tanning or make-up, full lips, and large thighs. Critics argue they take attention and opportunities from black influencers by appropriating their aesthetics and have likened the trend to blackface. Florida State University's Alisha Gaines, author of Black for a Day: Fantasies of Race and Empathy, said blackfishing allowed non-Black people to appropriate what is commonly considered "cool" about Blackness while still avoiding the negative consequences, such as "racism and state violence". According to Health.com, it is an "inverse form" of passing. The widespread use of the term woke among white people has been highlighted as problematic since it originates in African-American Vernacular English. Although woke adherents would advocate vigilance against cultural appropriation, white people using the term may paradoxically be considered to be adopting an element of African-American culture inappropriately. African Americans have been accused of cultural appropriation by people from Africa. This has been disputed, as members of the diaspora have claimed a link to Africa, but those from Africa have disputed it. Martial arts In China, there is longstanding resentment of the Japanese schools of karate for stealing, imitating, and claiming credit for the forms of kung fu. Before the 1970s, most sifu disapproved of teaching kung fu to non-Chinese students. In the mid-20th century, Japanese karate was itself appropriated by American soldiers. As mixed martial arts gained popularity in the 21st century, practitioners have appropriated and combined Chinese, Japanese and Thai techniques with Western-style boxing, wrestling, and kickboxing. Some authors have expressed the opinion, that in many cases, the study of martial arts by members of other countries and nationalities is not a form of negative 'appropriation', but rather that of appreciation. In Okinawa for example, unlike in China, the locals considered the Chinese origins of Karate to be an honorable thing to mention, and not a form of cultural theft. During the 2023 Southeast Asian (SEA) Games in Cambodia, a controversy emerged when Cambodian martial arts competitions adopted Muay Thai rules, leading to allegations of cultural appropriation. Critics argued that this disrespected Thai cultural heritage and overshadowed Cambodian martial arts like Bokator. The International Federation of Muaythai Associations (IFMA) intervened, threatening fines and bans for countries participating in the Kun Khmer events under these rules. This prompted Thailand to boycott the SEA Games, further straining relations between the two countries. The popularity of Bokator has been partly influenced by international media, such as Tony Jaa's portrayal of martial arts in the "Tom Yum Goong" movie series. Tony Jaa, a renowned Thai martial artist, showcased traditional techniques that have inspired martial arts enthusiasts globally, including in Cambodia. This highlights the complex interplay of cultural pride and appropriation in the region. Languages In Scotland, the use of incorrect Scottish Gaelic in a tokenistic fashion aimed at non-Gaelic speakers on signage and announcements has been criticised as disrespectful to fluent speakers of the language. Film and television In 2017, Ghost in the Shell, which is based on the seinen manga Ghost in the Shell by Masamune Shirow, provoked disputes over whitewashing. Scarlett Johansson, a white actress, took the role of Motoko Kusanagi, a Japanese character. This was seen as cultural appropriation by some Western fans of the original manga who expected the role to be taken by an Asian or Asian-American actor. However, Japanese fans' reactions ranged from neutral to warm feelings about Scarlett Johansson starring in the film, with some fans expressing the sentiment that it would be better to have an actress with no ties to Asia play the character than to have a non-Japanese Asian pretend to be Japanese. People in the transgender community have protested against the casting of straight, cisgender actors in trans acting roles, such as when Eddie Redmayne played the role of artist Lili Elbe in the film The Danish Girl and when Jared Leto played the role of a trans woman named Rayon in Dallas Buyers Club. Some in the gay community have expressed concerns about the use of straight actors to play gay characters; this occurs in films such as Call Me by Your Name (straight actors Armie Hammer and Timothée Chalamet), Brokeback Mountain (Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal), Philadelphia (Tom Hanks), Capote (Philip Seymour Hoffman) and Milk (with Sean Penn playing the role of the real-life gay rights activist, Harvey Milk). In the other direction, gay actors playing straight roles, Andrew Haigh, the writer-director, said, "You rarely see a gay actor applauded for playing straight". Jay Caruso calls these controversies "wholly manufactured" on the grounds that the actors "are playing a role" using the "art of acting". Holidays During Halloween, some people buy, wear, and sell Halloween costumes based on cultural or racial stereotypes. There have been public protests calling for the end to the manufacture and sales of these costumes and connecting their "degrading" portrayals of Indigenous women to the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women (MMIW) crisis. In some cases, theme parties have been held where attendees are encouraged to dress up as stereotypes of a certain racial group. A number of these parties have been held at colleges and at times other than Halloween, including Martin Luther King Jr. Day and Black History Month. For example, non-Romani people wear Romani costumes despite Romani people experiencing everyday racism and stereotypes. The government of Ghana has been accused of cultural appropriation in adopting the Caribbean Emancipation Day and marketing it to African American tourists as an "African festival". Dance and performance The Boy Scouts of America-associated Koshare Indian Museum and Dancers were noted in Playing Indian by Native American historian Philip J. Deloria, referring to them as an example of "object hobbyists" who adopt the material culture of Indigenous peoples of the past ("the vanishing Indian") while failing to engage with contemporary native peoples or acknowledge the history of conquest and dispossession. In the 1950s, the head councilman of the Zuni Pueblo saw a performance and said: "We know your hearts are good, but even with good hearts you have done a bad thing". In Zuni culture, religious objects and practices are only for those who have earned the right to participate, following techniques and prayers that have been handed down for generations. The objections from some Native Americans towards such dance teams centre on the idea that the dance performances are a form of cultural appropriation that places dance and costumes in inappropriate contexts devoid of their true meaning, sometimes mixing elements from different tribes. In contrast, the dance teams state that "[their] goal is to preserve Native American dance and heritage through the creation of dance regalia, dancing, and teaching others about the Native American culture". In 2013, pop star Katy Perry drew criticism for her "geisha-style" performance at the American Music Awards, in which she and her backup dancers donned kimonos, heavy powdered face makeup, and colourful parasols, among other East Asian cultural items. Netizens declared Perry's actions appropriative and harmful to East Asian cultures. Gender and sexuality Some heterosexual individuals controversially self-identify by the term "queer heterosexual". As queer is generally defined either as a synonym for LGBT, or defined as "non-heterosexual", this appropriation of queer by cisgender, heterosexual individuals has been highly contested by LGBT people. One reason is that the term has a long history of use as a slur for LGBT people. LGBT people who consider this use of the term queer by heterosexual people to be inappropriate say that it is patently offensive because it involves members of the dominant culture, who do not experience oppression for their sexual orientation or gender identity, appropriating what they see as the fashionable parts of the terminology and identities of those who are oppressed for their sexuality. Responses Indigenous cultures Among critics, the misuse and misrepresentation of indigenous cultures are seen as an exploitative form of colonialism and one step in the destruction of Indigenous cultures. The results of this appropriation of Indigenous knowledge have led some tribes and the United Nations General Assembly to issue several declarations on the subject. The Declaration of War Against Exploiters of Lakota Spirituality includes the passage: Article 31 1 of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples states: In 2015, a group of Native American academics and writers stated the Rainbow Family members whose acts of "cultural exploitation... dehumanize us as an indigenous Nation because they imply our culture and humanity, like our land, is anyone's for the taking". In writing about Indigenous intellectual property for the Native American Rights Fund (NARF), board member Professor Rebecca Tsosie stresses the importance of these property rights being held collectively, not by individuals: In Australia, Aboriginal artists have discussed an "authenticity brand" to ensure consumers are aware of artworks claiming false Aboriginal significance. The movement for such a measure gained momentum after the 1999 conviction of John O'Loughlin for selling paintings that he falsely described as the work of Aboriginal artist Clifford Possum Tjapaltjarri. Criticism of the concept John McWhorter, an African-American professor at Columbia University, criticised the concept in 2014, arguing that cultural borrowing and cross-fertilisation are generally positive things and are something which is usually done out of admiration and with no intent to harm the cultures being imitated; he also argued that the specific term "appropriation", which can mean theft, is misleading when applied to something like culture that is inherently not a limited resource, and therefore is not taken away from anyone by imitating it. Idrees M. Kahloon of The Harvard Crimson largely criticized the concept in 2015, arguing that while cultural appropriation had some merits, much of the discourse surrounding it was misrepresentative and self-indulgent. Citing the culture surrounding contemporary music as an example of the poor discourse he said: "Music for example is the area of entertainment media where you'll find the majority of these meaningless criticisms. Iggy Azalea is criticized for stealing black accents and body imagery. Isn't promoting diversity something most fans of this medium generally support?" In 2016, author Lionel Shriver said that authors from a cultural majority have a right to write in the voice of someone from a cultural minority, attacking the idea that this constitutes cultural appropriation. Referring to a case in which U.S. college students were facing disciplinary action for wearing sombreros to a "tequila party", she said: "The moral of the sombrero scandals is clear: you're not supposed to try on other people's hats. Yet that's what we're paid to do, isn't it? Step into other people's shoes, and try on their hats." In 2018, conservative columnist Jonah Goldberg described cultural appropriation as a positive thing and dismissed opposition to it as a product of some people's desire to be offended. Kwame Anthony Appiah, ethics columnist for the New York Times, said that the term cultural appropriation incorrectly labels contemptuous behaviour as a property crime. According to Appiah, "The key question in the use of symbols or regalia associated with another identity group is not: What are my rights of ownership? Rather it's: Are my actions disrespectful?" Upon winning the 2019 Booker Prize, Bernardine Evaristo dismissed the concept of cultural appropriation, stating that it is ridiculous to demand of writers that they not "write beyond [their] own culture". Are cultures "pure"? As Yascha Mounk states in his book The People vs Democracy (2018), the problem with cultural appropriation necessarily acknowledges a purist conception of culture, it being linked to the building of an monoethnical common identity, which appropriates itself of some rites and traits. He argues that no symbols or traditions minoritarian culture should be denigrated or mocked. But it does open the door to what he calls "historical nonsense". However, cultures have never been completely defined, as they have inspired from one and another, and have thus enriched their own. The segmentation in well-defined cultures works the same way as far right leaders in their views of identity and the defence of their nation, that should not include "foreign influences on their national cultures". See also Crossover music Cultural diffusion Cultural imperialism Acculturation Enculturation Exoticism Fusion cuisine Indigenous intellectual property Multiculturalism Orientalism Outsider art Passing as African American and other races Passing as Indigenous American Pizza effect Politics of food in the Arab-Israeli conflict Pretendian Racial fetishism Racial misrepresentation Romantic racism Syncretism World music Xenocentrism References External links Concepts in aesthetics Concepts in epistemology Concepts in political philosophy Concepts in social philosophy Criticism of multiculturalism Appropriation Intellectual property activism Intellectual property law Linguistic controversies Race-related controversies

History of dance

The history of dance is difficult to access because dance does not often leave behind clearly identifiable physical artifacts that last over millennia, such as stone tools, hunting implements or cave paintings. It is not possible to identify with exact precision when dance becomes part of human culture. Dance is filled with aesthetic values, making it distinct from one society to another and is shrouded in symbolism that expounds on the cultural heritage of a community accordingly being unique from one society to another. Dance can help tell a story, convey feelings and emotions, and connect with others and ourselves. Early dance The natural impulse to dance may have existed in early primates before they evolved into humans. Dance has been an important part of ceremony, rituals, celebrations and entertainment since before the birth of the earliest human civilizations. Archaeology delivers traces of dance from prehistoric times such as the 10,000-year-old Bhimbetka rock shelters paintings in India and Egyptian tomb paintings depicting dancing figures from c. 3300 BC. Many contemporary dance forms can be traced back to historical, traditional, ceremonial and ethnic dances of the ancient period. Means of social communication and bonding Dance may have been used as a tool of social interaction that promoted cooperation essential for survival among early humans. Studies found that today's best dancers share two specific genes associated with a predisposition for being good social communicators. Also, the term "kinesthetic" is the right term to help understanding how dance makes communication, and it means recognition of movement of one's own body, this word is a combination of two words (kinein=to move, aesthesis= perception). And dance in communication is like language, you can understand, feel, see and hear. When someone uses all the body muscles and feeling in a dance you will send like a message to the audience or who was watching. So dance moves and background sounds play a big role too. When there is a group performance by holding hands or shoulders or even dancing opposite each other makes them feel communicated and bonded. As folk celebrations Many dances of the early periods were performed as a ritual to the gods who ancestors believed needed to be kept entertained for world peace. Dance used in many celebrations and until now. Throughout  history we can notice that dance had many uses such as also community dance, harvesting and worship. Dance evolution started as folk origins to court presentations and now theater or even cinema movies. In ceremonies and rituals Dance may be performed in religious or shamanic rituals, for example in rain dance performed in times of drought. Shamans dancing for rain is mentioned in ancient Chinese texts. Dance is an important aspect of some religious rites in ancient Egypt, similarly dance is also integral to many ceremonies and rites among African people. Ritual dances may also be performed in temples and during religious festivals, for example the Rasa ritual dances of India (a number of Indian classical dances may have their origin in ritual dances), and the Cham dances of Tibet. As a method of healing Another early use of dance may have been as a precursor to ecstatic trance states in healing rituals. Dance is used for this purpose by many cultures from the Brazilian rainforest to the Kalahari Desert. Medieval European danses macabres were thought to have protected participants from disease; however, the hysteria and duration of these dances sometimes led to death due to exhaustion. According to a Sinhalese legend, Kandyan dances originated 2500 years ago from a magic dance ritual that broke the spell on a bewitched king to cure the king of a mysterious illness. As a method of expression One of the earliest structured uses of dances may have been in the performance and in the telling of myths. It was also sometimes used to show feelings for one of the opposite gender. It is also linked to the origin of "lovemaking". Before the production of written languages, dance was one of the methods of passing these stories down from generation to generation. In European culture, one of the earliest records of dancing is by Homer, whose Iliad describes chorea (χορεία khoreia). The early Greeks made the art of dancing into a system, expressive of all the different passions. For example, the dance of the Furies, so represented, would create complete terror among those who witnessed them. The Greek philosopher, Aristotle, ranked dancing with poetry, and said that certain dancers, with rhythm applied to gesture, could express manners, passions, and actions. The most eminent Greek sculptors studied the attitude of the dancers for their art of imitating the passion. Cultural traditions Asia Indian classical dance An early manuscript describing dance is the Natya Shastra on which is based the modern interpretation of classical Indian dance (e.g. Bharathanatyam). During the reign of the last Mughals and Nawabs of Oudh, dance fell down to the status of 'nautch', an unethical sensuous thing of courtesans. Later, linking dance with immoral trafficking and prostitution, British rule prohibited public performance of dance. Many disapproved it. In 1947, India won its freedom and created for dance an ambience where it could regain its past glory. Classical forms and regional distinctions were re-discovered, ethnic specialties were honored, and by synthesizing them with the individual talents of the masters in the line and fresh innovations, emerged dance with a new face but with classicism of the past. In Sri Lanka, the ancient Sinhalese chronicle Mahavamsa states that when King Vijaya landed in Sri Lanka in 543 BCE he heard sounds of music and dancing from a wedding ceremony. The origins of the dances of Sri Lanka are dated back to the aboriginal tribes, and to the mythological times of aboriginal yingyang twins and "yakkas" (devils). The classical dances of Sri Lanka (Kandyan dances) feature a highly developed system of tala (rhythm) and provided by cymbals called thalampataa. Chinese dance There is a long recorded history of Chinese dances. Some of the dances mentioned in ancient texts, such as dancing with sleeve movements are still performed today. Some of the early dances were associated with shamanic rituals. Folk dances of the early period were also developed into court dances. The important dances of the ancient period were the ceremonial yayue dated to the Zhou dynasty of the first millennium BC. The art of dance in China reached its peak during the Tang dynasty, a period when dancers from many parts of the world also performed at the imperial court. However, Chinese opera became popular during the Song and Yuan dynasty, and many dances were merged into Chinese opera. The art of dance in women also declined from the Song dynasty onward as a result of the increasing popularity of footbinding, a practice that ironically may have originated from dancing when a dancer wrapped her feet so she may dance ballet-fashion. The best-known of the Chinese traditional dances are the dragon dance and lion dance. Lion dance was described in the Tang dynasty in form that resembles today's dance. Iranian dance Prehistory The people of the Iranian plateau have known dance in the forms of music, play, drama or religious rituals and have used instruments like mask, costumes of animals or plants, and musical instruments for rhythm, at least since the 6th millennium BC. Cultural mixed forms of dance, play and drama have served rituals like celebration, mourning and worship. And the actors have been masters of music, dance, physical acts and manners of expression. Artifacts with pictures of dancers, players or actors were found in many archaeological prehistoric sites in Iran, like Tepe Sabz, Ja'far Abad, Chogha Mish, Tall-e Jari, Cheshmeh Ali, Ismaeel Abad, Tal-e bakun, Tepe Sialk, Tepe Musian, tepe Yahya, Shahdad, Tepe Gian, Kul Farah, Susa, Kok Tepe, Cemeteries of Luristan, etc. History The earliest researched dance from historic Iran is a dance worshiping Mithra (as in the Cult of Mithras) in which a bull was sacrificed. This cult later became highly adhered in the Roman Empire. This dance was to promote vigor in life. Ancient Persian dance was significantly researched by Greek historian from Herodotus of Halikarnassos, in his work Book IX (Calliope), in which he describes the history of Asian empires and Persian wars until 478 BC. Ancient Persia was occupied by foreign powers, first Greeks, then Arabs, and then Mongols and in turn political instability and civil wars occurred. Throughout these changes a slow disappearance of heritage dance traditions occurred. Religious prohibition of dancing in Iran came with the spread of Islam, but it was spurred by historical events. Religious prohibition to dancing waxed and waned over the years, but after the Iranian Revolution in 1979 dancing was no longer allowed due to its frequent mixing of the sexes. The Islamic Revolution of 1979 was the end of a successful era for dancing and the art of ballet in Iran. The Iranian national ballet company was dissolved and its members emigrated to different countries. According to the principles of the "cultural revolution" in Iran, dancing was considered to be perverse, a great sin, immoral and corrupting. As a result, many of the talented Persian dancers moved to the West and spread out mainly in Europe and the United States and a new generation of Iranian dancers and ballet artists have grown up in the Diaspora. Europe 15th–19th centuries: from court dancing to Romanticism The origins of ballet dancing can be traced to the Italian Renaissance courts of the 15th century. Dance masters would teach the steps to nobility and the court would participate in performances as a form of social entertainment. This practice continued for several centuries. In the 17th century, courtly ballet reached its peak under the rule of King Louis XIV. By the 18th century, ballet had migrated from the French and Italian royal courts to the Paris Opéra under the careful direction of composer/dancer Jean-Baptiste Lully. Lully sought to develop ballet into more serious art. Under his influence, ballet was turned into a recognized art that was performed by professional dancers rather than courtiers. During the 18th century, ballet transitioned from a courtly dance of moving images as a spectacle to performance art in its own right. Ballet performances developed around a central narrative and contained an expressive movement that revealed the relationships between characters. This dramatic style of ballet became known as the ballet d'action. The ballet d'action strove to express, for the first time, human emotions drawn directly from the dancers themselves. Masks previously worn by performers were removed so that emotional content could be derived from facial expressions. Costumes during this time were very restricting for dancers. Although a more expressive use of the body was encouraged, dancers' movements were still restricted due to heavy materials and corseted dresses. Costumes often covered a dancer's physique and made it difficult to see complex or intricate choreography. It was not until choreographer Jean Georges Noverre called for dance reforms in 1760 with his Letters on Dancing and Ballets that costumes became more conducive. Noverre urged that costumes be crafted using lightweight fabrics that move fluidly with the body, complementing a dancer's figure. In addition, dancers wore soft slippers that fit snugly along the foot. This shoe design instilled confidence within the ballerina, daring her to dance on her toes. Naturalistic costuming allowed dancers to push the boundaries of movement, eventually rising en pointe. The era of Romanticism produced ballets inspired by fantasy, mystique, and the unfamiliar cultures of exotic places. Ballets that focused more on the emotions, the fantasy and the spiritual worlds and heralded the beginning of true pointe-work. Now, on her toes, the deified ballerina (embodied in this period by the legendary ballerina Marie Taglioni) seemed to magically skim the surface of the stage, an ethereal being never quite touching the ground. It was during this period that the ascending star of the ballerina quite eclipsed the presence of the poor male dancer, who was in many cases reduced to the status of a moving statue, present only in order to lift the ballerina. This sad state was really only redressed by the rise of the male ballet star Vaslav Nijinsky, with the Ballets Russes, in the early 20th century. Ballet as we know it had well and truly evolved by this time, with all the familiar conventions of costume, choreographic form, plot, pomp, and circumstance firmly fixed in place. Nijinsky brought athleticism into ballet. Although at that time his choreography was considered as controversial, now they are considered as one of the first contemporary ballets. Early 20th century: from ballet to contemporary dance Since the Ballets Russes began revolutionizing ballet in the early 20th century, there have been continued attempts to break the mold of classical ballet. Currently the artistic scope of ballet technique (and its accompanying music, jumper, and multimedia) is more all-encompassing than ever. The boundaries that classify a work of classical ballet are constantly being stretched, muddied and blurred until perhaps all that remains today are traces of technique idioms such as turnout. The 20th century was indeed a period of breaking away from everything that ballet stood for. It was a time of unprecedented creative growth, for dancers and choreographers. It was also a time of the broadening of the definition of dance. Ballets Russes was a turning point to the future of ballet in the West and in the world. Collaborating with that era geniuses, such as Coco Chanel, Pablo Picasso and others. Ballets Russes brought together great music, design and dance together in a one complete performance. Africa African dance refers mainly to the dance styles of Sub-Saharan Africa, of which many are based on traditional rhythms and music traditions of the region. Modern African dance styles are deeply rooted in culture and tradition. Many tribes have a role solely for the purpose of passing on the tribe's dance traditions; dances which have been passed down through the centuries, often unchanged, with little to no room for improvisation. Each tribe developed its own unique style of dance, falling into three categories based on purpose. The first is religious dancing, which many tribes purport enhances peace, health, and prosperity. Religious dances often involved masqueraders, performing as both the spirits and those who placated them. Religion and spirituality infused every part of traditional African life, and continues to affect African dance today. The second is griotic, and was a type of dance that told a story. It is named after a griot, which is a term for a traditional storyteller in West Africa. Certain griotic dances were only danced by the tribe's griot; today, troupes perform the same dances that were once exclusive to the griot. The third type is ceremonial. These dances are performed at ceremonies such as weddings, anniversaries, and rites of passage. However, many dances did not have only one purpose. Rather, there was often one primary purpose, that blended into many secondary purposes. Dance was often very important to the maintenance of a ruler's status in the tribal society. Colonialism and globalization have resulted in the eradication of certain styles of African dance. Other styles have been blended together, or mixed with dance styles outside of Africa. African dance in the context of slavery As people were taken from Africa to be sold as slaves, especially starting in the 1500s, they brought their dance styles with them. Entire cultures were imported into the New World, especially those areas where slaves were given more flexibility to continue their cultures and where there were more African slaves than Europeans or indigenous Americans, such as Brazil. African dance styles were merged with new cultural experiences to form new styles of dance. For example, slaves responded to the fears of their masters about high-energy styles of dance with changing stepping to shuffling. However, in North America, slaves did not have as much freedom to continue their culture and dance. In many cases, these dances have evolved into modern dance styles, such as African-American dance and Brazilian dance. For example, the Calenda evolved in Brazil from tribal dance. The Calenda then evolved into the Cakewalk, which was danced originally to mock plantation owners; it then evolved into the Charleston. Capoeira was a martial art practiced originally in Africa which the enslaved Africans masked as a form of dance in order to not arouse the suspicion of plantation owners. The late 20th and early 21st centuries Postmodernism After the explosion of modern dance in the early 20th century, the 1960s saw the growth of postmodernism. Postmodernism veered towards simplicity, the beauty of small things, the beauty of untrained body, and unsophisticated movement. The famous "No" manifesto, by Yvonne Rainer, rejecting all costumes, stories and outer trappings in favour of raw and unpolished movement was perhaps the extreme of this wave of thinking. However, it was not long before sets, décor and shock value re-entered the vocabulary of modern choreographers. Street dance/Hip-hop dance At the same time, mass culture experienced expansion of street dance. In 1973, famous group Jackson 5 performed on television a dance called Robot (choreographed by postmodern artist Michael Jackson), a dance form cultivated in Richmond, CA. This event and later Soul Train performances by black dancers (such as Don Cambell) ignited a street culture revolution, in a sense. B-boying in New York, Locking in L.A., Popping in Fresno, CA, Boogaloo in Oakland, CA, Robot in Richmond, CA, all had their own creative explosions happen around the late 60's – 70's. Each with their own histories, practices, innovators and foundations. For the emergence of 20th-century modern dance see also: Mary Wigman, Gret Palucca, Harald Kreutzberg, Yvonne Georgi, and Isadora Duncan. Hip-hop dance started when Clive Campbell, aka Kool DJ Herc and the father of hip-hop, came to New York from Jamaica in 1967. Toting the seeds of reggae from his homeland, he is credited with being the first DJ to use two turntables and identical copies of the same record to create his jams. But it was his extension of the breaks in these songs—the musical section where the percussive beats were most aggressive—that allowed him to create and name a culture of break boys and break girls who laid it down when the breaks came up. Briefly termed b-boys and b-girls, these dancers founded breakdancing, which is now a cornerstone of hip-hop dance. See also History of ballet History of figure skating References Further reading Adshead-Lansdale, J. (ed.) (1994). Dance History: An Introduction. Routledge.. Charman, S. Kraus, R, G. Chapman, S. and Dixon-Stowall, B. (1990). History of the Dance in Art and Education. Pearson Education. . Dils, A. (2001). Moving History/Dancing Cultures: A Dance History Reader. Wesleyan University Press. . Wood, Melusine (1952). Some historical dances twelfth to nineteenth century; their manner of performance and their place in the social life of the time, London: Imperial Society of Teachers of Dancing. External links Historic Illustrations of Dancing from 3300 B.C. to 1911 A.D. from Project Gutenberg The history of pointe shoes and technique (ballet) Dance research

Affinity group

An affinity group is a group formed around a shared interest or common goal, to which individuals formally or informally belong. Affinity groups are generally precluded from being under the aegis of any governmental agency, and their purposes must be primarily non-commercial. Examples of affinity groups include private social clubs, fraternities, writing or reading circles, hobby clubs, and groups engaged in political activism. Some affinity groups are organized in a non-hierarchical manner, often using consensus decision making, and are frequently made up of trusted friends. They provide a method of organization that is flexible and decentralized. Other affinity groups may have a hierarchy to provide management of the group's long-term interests, or if the group is large enough to require the delegation of responsibilities to other members or staff. Affinity groups can be based on a common social identity or ideology (e.g., anarchism, conservatism), a shared concern for a given issue (e.g., anti-nuclear, anti-abortion), a common activity, role, interest or skill (e.g., legal support, medical aid, software engineering), or shared personal identity (e.g. race/ethnicity, gender, disability, cultural interests). Affinity groups may have either open or closed membership, although the latter is far more common. Some charge membership dues or expect members to share the cost of the group's expenses. Employee and professional affinity groups Affinity groups in the workplace or as part of a professional association are composed of people who share similar backgrounds or interests. In the workplace, they are also referred to as Employee Resource Groups (ERGs) that form a part of the organization diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts. Employee affinity groups are historically race- and gender-based but now also include groups that recognize affinity in age, veteran status or sexual identity. As part of a professional association, affinity group members engage in networking, mentoring, and opportunities for both professional and personal development. Political affinity groups Affinity groups engaged in political activism date to 19th century Spain. It was a favourite way of organization by Spanish anarchists (grupos de afinidad), and had their base in the tertulias or in the local groups. Politically oriented affinity groups in the United States gained public attention during the anti-Vietnam War movement of the 1960s and 1970s. The term was first used by Ben Morea and the group Black Mask. Later, anti-war activists on college campuses organized around their hobbies or backgrounds -- religious, gender, ethnic group, etc. They became popular in the 1970s in the anti-nuclear movement in the United States and Europe. The 30,000 person occupation and blockade of the Ruhr nuclear power station in Germany in 1969 was organized on the Affinity group model. Today, the structure is used by many different activists: animal rights, environmental, anti-war, and anti-globalization, to name some examples. The 1999 protests in Seattle which shut down the WTO Ministerial Conference of 1999 included coordinated organization by many clusters of Affinity groups. Organization External By definition, Affinity groups are autonomous from any larger body. Co-ordinated effort and co-operation amongst several Affinity groups, however, is often achieved by using a loose form of confederation. Private clubs, for example, may cooperate through reciprocal agreements which allow the members of one club to use the facilities of another club in a different location. Other affinity groups, such as Rotarians or Toastmasters, may be individual units that conform to shared standards so that one may participate in another group of the same name anywhere on earth without requiring the individual to reapply for a new membership. Cluster: The cluster is the basic unit of organization amongst Affinity groups. A cluster consists of several Affinity groups and is organized in a non-hierarchical manner. A cluster can be permanent, but is more often an ad hoc grouping organized for one specific task or action. One can be organized around a shared goal (e.g. blockading a particular road), a common ideology (e.g. the Quakers) or a place of origin. Spokescouncil: The spokescouncil is an aggregate of clusters and Affinity groups. Each Affinity group or cluster nominates one representative (often called a "spoke") to participate in the council. Spokescouncils are most often temporary bodies, committed to accomplishing one task or event. Internal Affinity groups tend to be loosely organized, however there are some formal roles or positions that commonly occur. A given Affinity group may have all, some or none of these positions. They may be permanent or temporary and the group may opt to take turns in these roles, or assign one role to one person. Spokesperson (or just spoke): The individual charged with representing the Affinity group at a spokescouncil or cluster meeting. Occasionally, the spoke will be granted a more general ambassadorial role by the Affinity group. Facilitator: A person or people who perform facilitation duties in consensus process of the group and also, to varying degrees, act as arbiter of internal conflicts. Media contact: An individual who represents the group to the mass media. Often this individual is the same person as the Spoke. Vibe watch: A person or people charged with monitoring the mood and feeling of the group. The reference is to vibrations in the colloquial emotional sense. In some Affinity groups, the vibe watch is also charged with keeping the facilitator from using his or her role to favor any position or proposal. Snap-decision facilitator: Also called "quick decision facilitator", this is a person charged with making decisions for the group in time-constrained or high-pressure situations. The position is rare and is almost always temporary (contrast with the pre-Imperial Roman concept of a temporary dictator). See also Community of interest Ruckus Society Security culture Professional association References External links Directaction.org - hundreds of AG actions, photos, and resources Generic Organizational Structure Outline for Affinity groups Activism by type Anarchist theory Autonomism Civil disobedience

Marxist cultural analysis

Marxist cultural analysis is a form of cultural analysis and anti-capitalist cultural critique, which assumes the theory of cultural hegemony and from this specifically targets those aspects of culture that are profit driven and mass-produced under capitalism. The original theory behind this form of analysis is commonly associated with Leon Trotsky, Georg Lukács, Antonio Gramsci, and the Frankfurt School, representing an important tendency within Western Marxism. Marxist cultural analysis has commonly considered the industrialization, mass-production, and mechanical reproduction of culture by the "culture industry" as having an overall negative effect on society, an effect which reifies the self-conception of the individual. The tradition of Marxist cultural analysis has also been referred to as "cultural Marxism", and "Marxist cultural theory", in reference to Marxist ideas about culture. However, since the 1990s, the term "Cultural Marxism" has largely referred to the Cultural Marxism conspiracy theory, a conspiracy theory popular among the far right without any clear relationship to Marxist cultural analysis. Historical approaches Leon Trotsky In Literature and Revolution, Leon Trotsky examined aesthetic issues in relation to class and the Russian revolution. Soviet scholar Robert Bird considered his work as the "first systematic treatment of art by a Communist leader" and a catalyst for later, Marxist cultural and critical theories. Trotsky both presented a critique of contemporary literary movements such as Futurism and emphasised a need of cultural autonomy for the development of a socialist culture. According to literary critic Terry Eagleton, Trotsky recognised "like Lenin on the need for a socialist culture to absorb the finest products of bourgeois art". Trotsky himself viewed the proletarian culture as "temporary and transitional" which would provide the foundations for a culture above classes. He also argued that the pre-conditions for artistic creativity were economic well-being and emancipation from material constraints. Political scientist Baruch Knei-Paz characterised his view on the role of the party as transmitters of culture to the masses and raising the standards of education, as well as entry into the cultural sphere, but that the process of artistic creation in terms of language and presentation should be the domain of the practitioner. Knei-Paz also noted key distinctions between Trotsky's approach on cultural matters and Stalin's policy in the 1930s. The Frankfurt School The Frankfurt theorists proposed that existing social theory was unable to explain the turbulent political factionalism and reactionary politics, such as Nazism, of 20th-century liberal capitalist societies. Also critical of Marxism–Leninism as a philosophically inflexible system of social organization, the School's critical-theory research sought alternative paths to social development. What unites the disparate members of the School is a shared commitment to the project of human emancipation, theoretically pursued by an attempted synthesis of the Marxist tradition, psychoanalysis, and empirical sociological research. Antonio Gramsci Antonio Gramsci was an Italian Marxist philosopher, primarily writing in the lead up to and after the First World War. He attempted to break from the economic determinism of classical Marxism thought and so is considered a neo-Marxist. Gramsci is best known for his theory of cultural hegemony, which describes how cultural institutions function to maintain the status of the ruling class. In Gramsci's view, hegemony is maintained by ideology; that is, without need for violence, economic force, or coercion. Hegemonic culture propagates its own values and norms so that they become the "common sense" values of all and maintain the status quo. Gramsci asserts that hegemonic power is used to maintain consent to the capitalist order rather than coercive power using force to maintain order and that this cultural hegemony is produced and reproduced by the dominant class through the institutions that form the superstructure. Birmingham School E. P. Thompson's Marxist humanism as well as the individual philosophies of the founders of the Birmingham School (Stuart Hall, Richard Hoggart and Raymond Williams) provide the influences for British Cultural Studies as housed at the Centre for Contemporary Cultural Studies in Birmingham. The Birmingham School developed later than the Frankfurt School and are seen as providing a parallel response. Accordingly, British Cultural Studies focuses on later issues such as Americanization, censorship, globalization and multiculturalism. Hoggart's The Uses of Literacy (1957), Williams' Culture and Society (1958) and Thompson's The Making of the English Working class (1964) form the foundational texts for the school, with Hall's encoding/decoding model of communication as well as his writings on multiculturalism in Britain arriving later but carrying equal gravitas. The Birmingham School greatly valued and contributed to class consciousness within the structure of British society. Due to their positions as literary experts, Hoggart and Williams were called as witnesses during R v Penguin Books Ltd, a court case concerning censorship in publishing, the outcome of which is widely regarded as defining Britain in the 1960s as a "permissive society". They argued on the side of freedom of language and against censorship. Within Hoggart's major work, The Uses of Literacy, he laments the loss of an authentic working class popular culture in Britain, and denounces the imposition of a mass culture by means of advertising, media and Americanisation. He argues against the concept of 'the masses' which he claims is both condescending and elitist. Later referring to this change in cultural production as "massification" and saying it "colonized local communities and robbed them of their distinctive features." Whereas the Frankfurt School exhorted the values of high culture, the Birmingham School attempted to bring high culture back down to real life whilst avoiding moral relativism. Critique of identity politics and postmodernism Within more recent history, Marxist cultural analysis has critiqued postmodernism and identity politics, also known as recognition politics, claiming that redistributive politics should retain prominence within their discourse. Jürgen Habermas, an academic philosopher associated with the Frankfurt School, and a member of its second generation, is a critic of the theories of postmodernism, having presented cases against their style and structure in his work "The Philosophical Discourse of Modernity", in which he outlays the importance of communicative rationality and action. He also makes the case that by being founded on and from within modernity, postmodernism has internal contradictions which make it unsustainable as an argument. Frankfurt School Associate, Nancy Fraser, has made critiques of modern identity politics and feminism in her New Left Review article "Rethinking Recognition", as well as in her collection of essays "Fortunes of Feminism: From State-Managed Capitalism to Neoliberal Crisis" (1985–2010). "Cultural Marxism" conspiracy theory While the term "cultural Marxism" has been used in a general sense, to discuss the application of Marxist ideas in the cultural field, the variant term "Cultural Marxism" generally refers to an antisemitic conspiracy theory. Parts of the conspiracy theory make reference to actual thinkers and ideas selected from the Western Marxist tradition, but they severely misrepresent the subject. Conspiracy theorists exaggerate the actual influence of Marxist intellectuals, for example, claiming that Marxist scholars aimed to infiltrate governments, perform mind-control over populations, and destroy Western civilization. In Norway, Anders Behring Breivik quoted the conspiracy usage of "Cultural Marxism" in his political manifesto 2083: A European Declaration of Independence, which he emailed to 1,003 people just 90 minutes before killing 77 people in his bomb and gun attacks in Oslo and on Utøya. In more mainstream political parlance, cultural conservatives claim to have identified "Cultural Marxism" as the theoretical basis for aspects of cultural liberalism. See also Antonio Gramsci Critical consciousness Critical theory Culture Industry Cultural Bolshevism Cultural hegemony Cultural materialism Cultural studies Encoding/decoding model of communication Hermeneutics of suspicion Mass communication Massification of culture Marxist literary criticism McDonaldization Media literacy Neo-Marxism New Left One-Dimensional Man Post-Marxism Post-structuralism Psychopolitical validity Radical politics Structuralism Structure and agency The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction Western Marxism References Cultural studies Marxism

Alternative culture

Alternative culture is a type of culture that exists outside or on the fringes of mainstream or popular culture, usually under the domain of one or more subcultures. These subcultures may have little or nothing in common besides their relative obscurity, but cultural studies uses this common basis of obscurity to classify them as alternative cultures, or, taken as a whole, the alternative culture. Compare with the more politically charged term, counterculture. In London, Camden Town was known for its alternative culture. See also Further reading The Rebel Sell: Why the Culture Can't be Jammed, Heath, Joseph & Potter, Andrew, Harper Perennial, 2004, The Conquest of Cool: Business Culture, Counterculture and the Rise of Hip Consumerism, Frank, Thomas, University of Chicago Press, 1998, Commodify Your Dissent: Salvos from The Baffler, essay collection, WW Norton & Co, 1997, Subcultures

Convergent evolution

Convergent evolution is the independent evolution of similar features in species of different periods or epochs in time. Convergent evolution creates analogous structures that have similar form or function but were not present in the last common ancestor of those groups. The cladistic term for the same phenomenon is homoplasy. The recurrent evolution of flight is a classic example, as flying insects, birds, pterosaurs, and bats have independently evolved the useful capacity of flight. Functionally similar features that have arisen through convergent evolution are analogous, whereas homologous structures or traits have a common origin but can have dissimilar functions. Bird, bat, and pterosaur wings are analogous structures, but their forelimbs are homologous, sharing an ancestral state despite serving different functions. The opposite of convergence is divergent evolution, where related species evolve different traits. Convergent evolution is similar to parallel evolution, which occurs when two independent species evolve in the same direction and thus independently acquire similar characteristics; for instance, gliding frogs have evolved in parallel from multiple types of tree frog. Many instances of convergent evolution are known in plants, including the repeated development of C4 photosynthesis, seed dispersal by fleshy fruits adapted to be eaten by animals, and carnivory. Overview In morphology, analogous traits arise when different species live in similar ways and/or a similar environment, and so face the same environmental factors. When occupying similar ecological niches (that is, a distinctive way of life) similar problems can lead to similar solutions. The British anatomist Richard Owen was the first to identify the fundamental difference between analogies and homologies. In biochemistry, physical and chemical constraints on mechanisms have caused some active site arrangements such as the catalytic triad to evolve independently in separate enzyme superfamilies. In his 1989 book Wonderful Life, Stephen Jay Gould argued that if one could "rewind the tape of life [and] the same conditions were encountered again, evolution could take a very different course." Simon Conway Morris disputes this conclusion, arguing that convergence is a dominant force in evolution, and given that the same environmental and physical constraints are at work, life will inevitably evolve toward an "optimum" body plan, and at some point, evolution is bound to stumble upon intelligence, a trait presently identified with at least primates, corvids, and cetaceans. Distinctions Cladistics In cladistics, a homoplasy is a trait shared by two or more taxa for any reason other than that they share a common ancestry. Taxa which do share ancestry are part of the same clade; cladistics seeks to arrange them according to their degree of relatedness to describe their phylogeny. Homoplastic traits caused by convergence are therefore, from the point of view of cladistics, confounding factors which could lead to an incorrect analysis. Atavism In some cases, it is difficult to tell whether a trait has been lost and then re-evolved convergently, or whether a gene has simply been switched off and then re-enabled later. Such a re-emerged trait is called an atavism. From a mathematical standpoint, an unused gene (selectively neutral) has a steadily decreasing probability of retaining potential functionality over time. The time scale of this process varies greatly in different phylogenies; in mammals and birds, there is a reasonable probability of remaining in the genome in a potentially functional state for around 6 million years. Parallel vs. convergent evolution When two species are similar in a particular character, evolution is defined as parallel if the ancestors were also similar, and convergent if they were not. Some scientists have argued that there is a continuum between parallel and convergent evolution, while others maintain that despite some overlap, there are still important distinctions between the two. When the ancestral forms are unspecified or unknown, or the range of traits considered is not clearly specified, the distinction between parallel and convergent evolution becomes more subjective. For instance, the striking example of similar placental and marsupial forms is described by Richard Dawkins in The Blind Watchmaker as a case of convergent evolution, because mammals on each continent had a long evolutionary history prior to the extinction of the dinosaurs under which to accumulate relevant differences. At molecular level Proteins Protease active sites The enzymology of proteases provides some of the clearest examples of convergent evolution. These examples reflect the intrinsic chemical constraints on enzymes, leading evolution to converge on equivalent solutions independently and repeatedly. Serine and cysteine proteases use different amino acid functional groups (alcohol or thiol) as a nucleophile. In order to activate that nucleophile, they orient an acidic and a basic residue in a catalytic triad. The chemical and physical constraints on enzyme catalysis have caused identical triad arrangements to evolve independently more than 20 times in different enzyme superfamilies. Threonine proteases use the amino acid threonine as their catalytic nucleophile. Unlike cysteine and serine, threonine is a secondary alcohol (i.e. has a methyl group). The methyl group of threonine greatly restricts the possible orientations of triad and substrate, as the methyl clashes with either the enzyme backbone or the histidine base. Consequently, most threonine proteases use an N-terminal threonine in order to avoid such steric clashes. Several evolutionarily independent enzyme superfamilies with different protein folds use the N-terminal residue as a nucleophile. This commonality of active site but difference of protein fold indicates that the active site evolved convergently in those families. Cone snail and fish insulin Conus geographus produces a distinct form of insulin that is more similar to fish insulin protein sequences than to insulin from more closely related molluscs, suggesting convergent evolution, though with the possibility of horizontal gene transfer. Ferrous iron uptake via protein transporters in land plants and chlorophytes Distant homologues of the metal ion transporters ZIP in land plants and chlorophytes have converged in structure, likely to take up Fe2+ efficiently. The IRT1 proteins from Arabidopsis thaliana and rice have extremely different amino acid sequences from Chlamydomonass IRT1, but their three-dimensional structures are similar, suggesting convergent evolution. Na+,K+-ATPase and Insect resistance to cardiotonic steroids Many examples of convergent evolution exist in insects in terms of developing resistance at a molecular level to toxins. One well-characterized example is the evolution of resistance to cardiotonic steroids (CTSs) via amino acid substitutions at well-defined positions of the α-subunit of Na+,K+-ATPase (ATPalpha). Variation in ATPalpha has been surveyed in various CTS-adapted species spanning six insect orders. Among 21 CTS-adapted species, 58 (76%) of 76 amino acid substitutions at sites implicated in CTS resistance occur in parallel in at least two lineages. 30 of these substitutions (40%) occur at just two sites in the protein (positions 111 and 122). CTS-adapted species have also recurrently evolved neo-functionalized duplications of ATPalpha, with convergent tissue-specific expression patterns. Nucleic acids Convergence occurs at the level of DNA and the amino acid sequences produced by translating structural genes into proteins. Studies have found convergence in amino acid sequences in echolocating bats and the dolphin; among marine mammals; between giant and red pandas; and between the thylacine and canids. Convergence has also been detected in a type of non-coding DNA, cis-regulatory elements, such as in their rates of evolution; this could indicate either positive selection or relaxed purifying selection. In animal morphology Bodyplans Swimming animals including fish such as herrings, marine mammals such as dolphins, and ichthyosaurs (of the Mesozoic) all converged on the same streamlined shape. A similar shape and swimming adaptations are even present in molluscs, such as Phylliroe. The fusiform bodyshape (a tube tapered at both ends) adopted by many aquatic animals is an adaptation to enable them to travel at high speed in a high drag environment. Similar body shapes are found in the earless seals and the eared seals: they still have four legs, but these are strongly modified for swimming. The marsupial fauna of Australia and the placental mammals of the Old World have several strikingly similar forms, developed in two clades, isolated from each other. The body, and especially the skull shape, of the thylacine (Tasmanian tiger or Tasmanian wolf) converged with those of Canidae such as the red fox, Vulpes vulpes. Echolocation As a sensory adaptation, echolocation has evolved separately in cetaceans (dolphins and whales) and bats, but from the same genetic mutations. Electric fishes The Gymnotiformes of South America and the Mormyridae of Africa independently evolved passive electroreception (around 119 and 110 million years ago, respectively). Around 20 million years after acquiring that ability, both groups evolved active electrogenesis, producing weak electric fields to help them detect prey. Eyes One of the best-known examples of convergent evolution is the camera eye of cephalopods (such as squid and octopus), vertebrates (including mammals) and cnidaria (such as jellyfish). Their last common ancestor had at most a simple photoreceptive spot, but a range of processes led to the progressive refinement of camera eyes—with one sharp difference: the cephalopod eye is "wired" in the opposite direction, with blood and nerve vessels entering from the back of the retina, rather than the front as in vertebrates. As a result, vertebrates have a blind spot. Flight Birds and bats have homologous limbs because they are both ultimately derived from terrestrial tetrapods, but their flight mechanisms are only analogous, so their wings are examples of functional convergence. The two groups have independently evolved their own means of powered flight. Their wings differ substantially in construction. The bat wing is a membrane stretched across four extremely elongated fingers and the legs. The airfoil of the bird wing is made of feathers, strongly attached to the forearm (the ulna) and the highly fused bones of the wrist and hand (the carpometacarpus), with only tiny remnants of two fingers remaining, each anchoring a single feather. So, while the wings of bats and birds are functionally convergent, they are not anatomically convergent. Birds and bats also share a high concentration of cerebrosides in the skin of their wings. This improves skin flexibility, a trait useful for flying animals; other mammals have a far lower concentration. The extinct pterosaurs independently evolved wings from their fore- and hindlimbs, while insects have wings that evolved separately from different organs. Flying squirrels and sugar gliders are much alike in their body plans, with gliding wings stretched between their limbs, but flying squirrels are placental mammals while sugar gliders are marsupials, widely separated within the mammal lineage from the placentals. Hummingbird hawk-moths and hummingbirds have evolved similar flight and feeding patterns. Insect mouthparts Insect mouthparts show many examples of convergent evolution. The mouthparts of different insect groups consist of a set of homologous organs, specialised for the dietary intake of that insect group. Convergent evolution of many groups of insects led from original biting-chewing mouthparts to different, more specialised, derived function types. These include, for example, the proboscis of flower-visiting insects such as bees and flower beetles, or the biting-sucking mouthparts of blood-sucking insects such as fleas and mosquitos. Opposable thumbs Opposable thumbs allowing the grasping of objects are most often associated with primates, like humans and other apes, monkeys, and lemurs. Opposable thumbs also evolved in giant pandas, but these are completely different in structure, having six fingers including the thumb, which develops from a wrist bone entirely separately from other fingers. Primates Convergent evolution in humans includes blue eye colour and light skin colour. When humans migrated out of Africa, they moved to more northern latitudes with less intense sunlight. It was beneficial to them to reduce their skin pigmentation. It appears certain that there was some lightening of skin colour before European and East Asian lineages diverged, as there are some skin-lightening genetic differences that are common to both groups. However, after the lineages diverged and became genetically isolated, the skin of both groups lightened more, and that additional lightening was due to different genetic changes. Lemurs and humans are both primates. Ancestral primates had brown eyes, as most primates do today. The genetic basis of blue eyes in humans has been studied in detail and much is known about it. It is not the case that one gene locus is responsible, say with brown dominant to blue eye colour. However, a single locus is responsible for about 80% of the variation. In lemurs, the differences between blue and brown eyes are not completely known, but the same gene locus is not involved. In plants The annual life-cycle While most plant species are perennial, about 6% follow an annual life cycle, living for only one growing season. The annual life cycle independently emerged in over 120 plant families of angiosperms. The prevalence of annual species increases under hot-dry summer conditions in the four species-rich families of annuals (Asteraceae, Brassicaceae, Fabaceae, and Poaceae), indicating that the annual life cycle is adaptive. Carbon fixation C4 photosynthesis, one of the three major carbon-fixing biochemical processes, has arisen independently up to 40 times. About 7,600 plant species of angiosperms use carbon fixation, with many monocots including 46% of grasses such as maize and sugar cane, and dicots including several species in the Chenopodiaceae and the Amaranthaceae. Fruits Fruits with a wide variety of structural origins have converged to become edible. Apples are pomes with five carpels; their accessory tissues form the apple's core, surrounded by structures from outside the botanical fruit, the receptacle or hypanthium. Other edible fruits include other plant tissues; the fleshy part of a tomato is the walls of the pericarp. This implies convergent evolution under selective pressure, in this case the competition for seed dispersal by animals through consumption of fleshy fruits. Seed dispersal by ants (myrmecochory) has evolved independently more than 100 times, and is present in more than 11,000 plant species. It is one of the most dramatic examples of convergent evolution in biology. Carnivory Carnivory has evolved multiple times independently in plants in widely separated groups. In three species studied, Cephalotus follicularis, Nepenthes alata and Sarracenia purpurea, there has been convergence at the molecular level. Carnivorous plants secrete enzymes into the digestive fluid they produce. By studying phosphatase, glycoside hydrolase, glucanase, RNAse and chitinase enzymes as well as a pathogenesis-related protein and a thaumatin-related protein, the authors found many convergent amino acid substitutions. These changes were not at the enzymes' catalytic sites, but rather on the exposed surfaces of the proteins, where they might interact with other components of the cell or the digestive fluid. The authors also found that homologous genes in the non-carnivorous plant Arabidopsis thaliana tend to have their expression increased when the plant is stressed, leading the authors to suggest that stress-responsive proteins have often been co-opted in the repeated evolution of carnivory. Methods of inference Phylogenetic reconstruction and ancestral state reconstruction proceed by assuming that evolution has occurred without convergence. Convergent patterns may, however, appear at higher levels in a phylogenetic reconstruction, and are sometimes explicitly sought by investigators. The methods applied to infer convergent evolution depend on whether pattern-based or process-based convergence is expected. Pattern-based convergence is the broader term, for when two or more lineages independently evolve patterns of similar traits. Process-based convergence is when the convergence is due to similar forces of natural selection. Pattern-based measures Earlier methods for measuring convergence incorporate ratios of phenotypic and phylogenetic distance by simulating evolution with a Brownian motion model of trait evolution along a phylogeny. More recent methods also quantify the strength of convergence. One drawback to keep in mind is that these methods can confuse long-term stasis with convergence due to phenotypic similarities. Stasis occurs when there is little evolutionary change among taxa. Distance-based measures assess the degree of similarity between lineages over time. Frequency-based measures assess the number of lineages that have evolved in a particular trait space. Process-based measures Methods to infer process-based convergence fit models of selection to a phylogeny and continuous trait data to determine whether the same selective forces have acted upon lineages. This uses the Ornstein–Uhlenbeck process to test different scenarios of selection. Other methods rely on an a priori specification of where shifts in selection have occurred. See also : the presence of multiple alleles in ancestral populations might lead to the impression that convergent evolution has occurred. Iterative evolution – The repeated evolution of a specific trait or body plan from the same ancestral lineage at different points in time. Breeding back – A form of selective breeding to recreate the traits of an extinct species, but the genome will differ from the original species. Orthogenesis (contrastable with convergent evolution; involves teleology) Contingency (evolutionary biology) – effect of evolutionary history on outcomes Notes References Further reading External links Convergent evolution Evolutionary biology terminology

Pleonasm

Pleonasm (; , ) is redundancy in linguistic expression, such as in "black darkness," "burning fire," "the man he said," or "vibrating with motion." It is a manifestation of tautology by traditional rhetorical criteria. Pleonasm may also be used for emphasis, or because the phrase has become established in a certain form. Tautology and pleonasm are not consistently differentiated in literature. Usage Most often, pleonasm is understood to mean a word or phrase which is useless, clichéd, or repetitive, but a pleonasm can also be simply an unremarkable use of idiom. It can aid in achieving a specific linguistic effect, be it social, poetic or literary. Pleonasm sometimes serves the same function as rhetorical repetition—it can be used to reinforce an idea, contention or question, rendering writing clearer and easier to understand. Pleonasm can serve as a redundancy check; if a word is unknown, misunderstood, misheard, or if the medium of communication is poor—a static-filled radio transmission or sloppy handwriting—pleonastic phrases can help ensure that the meaning is communicated even if some of the words are lost. Idiomatic expressions Some pleonastic phrases are part of a language's idiom, like tuna fish, chain mail and safe haven in American English. They are so common that their use is unremarkable for native speakers, although in many cases the redundancy can be dropped with no loss of meaning. When expressing possibility, English speakers often use potentially pleonastic expressions such as It might be possible or perhaps it's possible, where both terms (verb might or adverb perhaps along with the adjective possible) have the same meaning under certain constructions. Many speakers of English use such expressions for possibility in general, such that most instances of such expressions by those speakers are in fact pleonastic. Others, however, use this expression only to indicate a distinction between ontological possibility and epistemic possibility, as in "Both the ontological possibility of X under current conditions and the ontological impossibility of X under current conditions are epistemically possible" (in logical terms, "I am not aware of any facts inconsistent with the truth of proposition X, but I am likewise not aware of any facts inconsistent with the truth of the negation of X"). The habitual use of the double construction to indicate possibility per se is far less widespread among speakers of most other languages (except in Spanish; see examples); rather, almost all speakers of those languages use one term in a single expression: French: or . Portuguese: , lit. "What is it that", a more emphatic way of saying "what is"; usually suffices. Romanian: or . Typical Spanish pleonasms – I am going to go up upstairs, "" not being necessary. – enter inside, "" not being necessary. Turkish has many pleonastic constructs because certain verbs necessitate objects: – to eat food. – to write writing. – to exit outside. – to enter inside. – to play a game. In a satellite-framed language like English, verb phrases containing particles that denote direction of motion are so frequent that even when such a particle is pleonastic, it seems natural to include it (e.g. "enter into"). Professional and scholarly use Some pleonastic phrases, when used in professional or scholarly writing, may reflect a standardized usage that has evolved or a meaning familiar to specialists but not necessarily to those outside that discipline. Such examples as "null and void", "terms and conditions", "each and every" are legal doublets that are part of legally operative language that is often drafted into legal documents. A classic example of such usage was that by the Lord Chancellor at the time (1864), Lord Westbury, in the English case of Gorely, when he described a phrase in an Act as "redundant and pleonastic". This type of usage may be favored in certain contexts. However, it may also be disfavored when used gratuitously to portray false erudition, obfuscate, or otherwise introduce verbiage, especially in disciplines where imprecision may introduce ambiguities (such as the natural sciences). Of the aforementioned phrases, "terms and conditions" may not be pleonastic in some legal systems, as they refer not to a set provisions forming part of a contract, but rather to the specific terms conditioning the effect of the contract or a contractual provision to a future event. In these cases, terms and conditions imply respectively the certainty or uncertainty of said event (e.g., in Brazilian law, a testament has the initial term for coming into force the death of the testator, while a health insurance has the condition of the insured suffering a, or one of a set of, certain injurie(s) from a or one of a set of certain causes). Stylistic preference In addition, pleonasms can serve purposes external to meaning. For example, a speaker who is too terse is often interpreted as lacking ease or grace, because, in oral and sign language, sentences are spontaneously created without the benefit of editing. The restriction on the ability to plan often creates many redundancies. In written language, removing words that are not strictly necessary sometimes makes writing seem stilted or awkward, especially if the words are cut from an idiomatic expression. On the other hand, as is the case with any literary or rhetorical effect, excessive use of pleonasm weakens writing and speech; words distract from the content. Writers who want to obfuscate a certain thought may obscure their meaning with excess verbiage. William Strunk Jr. advocated concision in The Elements of Style (1918): Literary uses Examples from Baroque, Mannerist, and Victorian provide a counterpoint to Strunk's advocacy of concise writing: "This was the most unkindest cut of all." — William Shakespeare, Julius Caesar (Act 3, Scene 2, 183) "I will be brief: your noble son is mad:/Mad call I it; for, to define true madness,/What is't but to be nothing else but mad?" — Hamlet (Act 2, Scene 2) "Let me tell you this, when social workers offer you, free, gratis and for nothing, something to hinder you from swooning, which with them is an obsession, it is useless to recoil ..." — Samuel Beckett, Molloy Types There are various kinds of pleonasm, including bilingual tautological expressions, syntactic pleonasm, semantic pleonasm and morphological pleonasm: Bilingual tautological expressions A bilingual tautological expression is a phrase that combines words that mean the same thing in two different languages. An example of a bilingual tautological expression is the Yiddish expression mayim akhroynem vaser. It literally means "water last water" and refers to "water for washing the hands after meal, grace water". Its first element, mayim, derives from the Hebrew ['majim] "water". Its second element, vaser, derives from the Middle High German word "water". According to Ghil'ad Zuckermann, Yiddish abounds with both bilingual tautological compounds and bilingual tautological first names. The following are examples of bilingual tautological compounds in Yiddish: fíntster khóyshekh "very dark", literally "dark darkness", traceable back to the Middle High German word "dark" and the Hebrew word חושך ħōshekh "darkness". khameréyzļ "womanizer", literally "donkey-donkey", traceable back to the Hebrew word חמור [ħă'mōr] "donkey" and the Middle High German word "donkey". The following are examples of bilingual tautological first names (anthroponyms) in Yiddish: Dov-Ber, literally "bear-bear", traceable back to the Hebrew word dov "bear" and the Middle High German word "bear". Tsvi-Hirsh, literally "deer-deer", traceable back to the Hebrew word tsvi "deer" and the Middle High German word "deer". Ze'ev-Volf, literally "wolf-wolf", traceable back to the Hebrew word ze'ev "wolf" and the Middle High German word "wolf". Arye-Leyb, literally "lion-lion", traceable back to the Hebrew word arye "lion" and the Middle High German word "lion". Examples occurring in English-language contexts include: River Avon, literally "River River", from Welsh. the Sahara Desert, literally "the The Desert Desert", from Arabic. the La Brea Tar Pits, literally "the The Tar Tar Pits", from Spanish. the Los Angeles Angels, literally "the The Angels Angels", from Spanish. the hoi polloi, literally "the the many", from Greek. Carmarthen Castle, may actually have "castle" in it three times: In its Welsh form, Castell Caerfyrddin, "Caer" means fort, while "fyrddin" is thought to be derived from the Latin Moridunum ("sea fort") making Carmarthen Castle "fort sea-fort castle". Mount Maunganui, Lake Rotoroa, and Motutapu Island in New Zealand are "Mount Mount Big", "Lake Lake Long", and "Island Sacred Island" respectively, from Māori. Syntactic pleonasm Syntactic pleonasm occurs when the grammar of a language makes certain function words optional. For example, consider the following English sentences: "I know you're coming." "I know that you're coming." In this construction, the conjunction that is optional when joining a sentence to a verb phrase with know. Both sentences are grammatically correct, but the word that is pleonastic in this case. By contrast, when a sentence is in spoken form and the verb involved is one of assertion, the use of that makes clear that the present speaker is making an indirect rather than a direct quotation, such that he is not imputing particular words to the person he describes as having made an assertion; the demonstrative adjective that also does not fit such an example. Also, some writers may use "that" for technical clarity reasons. In some languages, such as French, the word is not optional and should therefore not be considered pleonastic. The same phenomenon occurs in Spanish with subject pronouns. Since Spanish is a null-subject language, which allows subject pronouns to be deleted when understood, the following sentences mean the same: "" "" In this case, the pronoun ('I') is grammatically optional; both sentences mean "I love you" (however, they may not have the same tone or intention—this depends on pragmatics rather than grammar). Such differing but syntactically equivalent constructions, in many languages, may also indicate a difference in register. The process of deleting pronouns is called pro-dropping, and it also happens in many other languages, such as Korean, Japanese, Hungarian, Latin, Italian, Portuguese, Swahili, Slavic languages, and the Lao language. In contrast, formal English requires an overt subject in each clause. A sentence may not need a subject to have valid meaning, but to satisfy the syntactic requirement for an explicit subject a pleonastic (or dummy pronoun) is used; only the first sentence in the following pair is acceptable English: "It's raining." "Is raining." In this example the pleonastic "it" fills the subject function, but it contributes no meaning to the sentence. The second sentence, which omits the pleonastic it is marked as ungrammatical although no meaning is lost by the omission. Elements such as "it" or "there", serving as empty subject markers, are also called (syntactic) expletives, or dummy pronouns. Compare: "There is rain." "Today is rain." The pleonastic , expressing uncertainty in formal French, works as follows: ""('I fear it may rain.') ""('These ideas are harder to understand than I thought.') Two more striking examples of French pleonastic construction are and . The word / is translated as 'today', but originally means "on the day of today" since the now obsolete means "today". The expression (translated as "on the day of today") is common in spoken language and demonstrates that the original construction of is lost. It is considered a pleonasm. The phrase meaning 'What's that?' or 'What is it?', while literally, it means "What is it that it is?". There are examples of the pleonastic, or dummy, negative in English, such as the construction, heard in the New England region of the United States, in which the phrase "So don't I" is intended to have the same positive meaning as "So do I." When Robert South said, "It is a pleonasm, a figure usual in Scripture, by a multiplicity of expressions to signify one notable thing", he was observing the Biblical Hebrew poetic propensity to repeat thoughts in different words, since written Biblical Hebrew was a comparatively early form of written language and was written using oral patterning, which has many pleonasms. In particular, very many verses of the Psalms are split into two halves, each of which says much the same thing in different words. The complex rules and forms of written language as distinct from spoken language were not as well-developed as they are today when the books making up the Old Testament were written. See also parallelism (rhetoric). This same pleonastic style remains very common in modern poetry and songwriting (e.g., "Anne, with her father / is out in the boat / riding the water / riding the waves / on the sea", from Peter Gabriel's "Mercy Street"). Types of syntactic pleonasm Overinflection: Many languages with inflection, as a result of convention, tend to inflect more words in a given phrase than actually needed in order to express a single grammatical property. Take for example the German, ("The old women speak"). Even though the use of the plural form of the noun ("woman", plural ) shows the grammatical number of the noun phrase, agreement in the German language still dictates that the definite article , attributive adjective , and the verb must all also be in the plural. Not all languages are quite as redundant however, and will permit inflection for number when there is an obvious numerical marker, as is the case with Hungarian, which does have a plural proper, but would express two flowers as two flower. (The same is the case in Celtic languages, where numerical markers precede singular nouns.) The main contrast between Hungarian and other tongues such as German or even English (to a lesser extent) is that in either of the latter, expressing plurality when already evident is not optional, but mandatory; making the neglect of these rules result in an ungrammatical sentence. As well as for number, our aforementioned German phrase also overinflects for grammatical case. Multiple negation: In some languages, repeated negation may be used for emphasis, as in the English sentence, "There ain't nothing wrong with that". While a literal interpretation of this sentence would be "There is not nothing wrong with that", i.e. "There is something wrong with that", the intended meaning is, in fact, the opposite: "There is nothing wrong with that" or "There isn't anything wrong with that." The repeated negation is used pleonastically for emphasis. However, this is not always the case. In the sentence "I don't not like it", the repeated negative may be used to convey ambivalence ("I neither like nor dislike it") or even affirmation ("I do like it"). (Rhetorically, this becomes the device of litotes; it can be difficult to distinguish litotes from pleonastic double negation, a feature which may be used for ironic effect.) Although the use of "double negatives" for emphatic purposes is sometimes discouraged in standard English, it is mandatory in other languages like Spanish or French. For example, the Spanish phrase ('It is nothing') contains both a negated verb ("") and another negative, the word for nothing (""). Multiple affirmations: In English, repeated affirmation can be used to add emphasis to an affirmative statement, just as repeated negation can add emphasis to a negative one. A sentence like I do love you, with a stronger intonation on the do, uses double affirmation. This is because English, by default, automatically expresses its sentences in the affirmative and must then alter the sentence in one way or another to express the opposite. Therefore, the sentence I love you is already affirmative, and adding the extra do only adds emphasis and does not change the meaning of the statement. Double possession: The double genitive of English, as with a friend of mine, is seemingly pleonastic, and therefore has been stigmatized, but it has a long history of use by careful writers and has been analyzed as either a partitive genitive or an appositive genitive. Multiple quality gradation: In English, different degrees of comparison (comparatives and superlatives) are created through a morphological change to an adjective (e.g., "prettier", "fastest") or a syntactic construction (e.g., "more complex", "most impressive"). It is thus possible to combine both forms for additional emphasis: "more bigger" or "bestest". This may be considered ungrammatical but is common in informal speech for some English speakers. "The most unkindest cut of all" is from Shakespeare's Julius Caesar. Musical notation has a repeated Italian superlative in fortississimo and pianississimo. Not all uses of constructions such as "more bigger" are pleonastic, however. Some speakers who use such utterances do so in an attempt, albeit a grammatically unconventional one, to create a non-pleonastic construction: A person who says "X is more bigger than Y" may, in the context of a conversation featuring a previous comparison of some object Z with Y, mean "The degree by which X exceeds Y in size is greater than the degree by which Z exceeds Y in size". This usage amounts to the treatment of "bigger than Y" as a single grammatical unit, namely an adjective itself admitting of degrees, such that "X is more bigger than Y" is equivalent to "X is more bigger-than-Y than Z is."[alternatively, "X is bigger than Y more than Z is."] Another common way to express this is: "X is even bigger than Z." Semantic pleonasm Semantic pleonasm is a question more of style and usage than of grammar. Linguists usually call this redundancy to avoid confusion with syntactic pleonasm, a more important phenomenon for theoretical linguistics. It usually takes one of two forms: Overlap or prolixity. Overlap: One word's semantic component is subsumed by the other: "Receive a free gift with every purchase."; a gift is usually already free. "A tuna fish sandwich." "The plumber fixed our hot water heater." (This pleonasm was famously attacked by American comedian George Carlin, but is not truly redundant; a device that increases the temperature of cold water to room temperature would also be a water heater.) The Big Friendly Giant (title of a children's book by Roald Dahl); giants are inherently already "big". Prolixity: A phrase may have words which add nothing, or nothing logical or relevant, to the meaning. "I'm going down south."(South is not really "down", it is just drawn that way on maps by convention.) "You can't seem to face up to the facts." "He entered into the room." "Every mother's child" (as in 'The Christmas Song' by Nat King Cole', also known as 'Chestnuts roasting...'). (Being a child, or a human at all, generally implies being the child of/to a mother. So the redundancy here is used to broaden the context of the child's curiosity regarding the sleigh of Santa Claus, including the concept of maternity. The full line goes: "And every mother's child is gonna spy, to see if reindeer really know how to fly". One can furthermore argue that the word "mother" is included for the purpose of lyrical flow, adding two syllables, which make the line sound complete, as "every child" would be too short to fit the lyrical/rhyme scheme.) "What therefore God hath joined together, let no man put asunder." "He raised up his hands in a gesture of surrender." "Where are you at?" "Located" or similar before a preposition: "the store is located on Main St." The preposition contains the idea of locatedness and does not need a servant. "The house itself" for "the house", and similar: unnecessary re-specifiers. "Actual fact": fact. "On a daily basis": daily. "This particular item": this item. "Different" or "separate" after numbers: for example: "Four different species" are merely "four species", as two non-different species are together one same species. (However, in "a discount if you buy ten different items", "different" has meaning, because if the ten items include two packets of frozen peas of the same weight and brand, those ten items are not all different.) "Nine separate cars": cars are always separate. "Despite the fact that": although. An expression like "tuna fish", however, might elicit one of many possible responses, such as: It will simply be accepted as synonymous with "tuna". It will be perceived as redundant (and thus perhaps silly, illogical, ignorant, inefficient, dialectal, odd, and/or intentionally humorous). It will imply a distinction. A reader of "tuna fish" could properly wonder: "Is there a kind of tuna which is not a fish? There is, after all, a dolphin mammal and a dolphin fish." This assumption turns out to be correct, as a "tuna" can also mean a prickly pear. Further, "tuna fish" is sometimes used to refer to the flesh of the animal as opposed to the animal itself (similar to the distinction between beef and cattle). Similarly, while all sound-making horns use air, an "air horn" has a special meaning: one that uses compressed air specifically; while most clocks tell time, a "time clock" specifically means one that keeps track of workers' presence at the workplace. It will be perceived as a verbal clarification, since the word "tuna" is quite short, and may, for example, be misheard as "tune" followed by an aspiration, or (in dialects that drop the final -r sound) as "tuner". Careful speakers, and writers, too, are aware of pleonasms, especially with cases such as "tuna fish", which is normally used only in some dialects of American English, and would sound strange in other variants of the language, and even odder in translation into other languages. Similar situations are: "Ink pen" instead of merely "pen" in the southern United States, where "pen" and "pin" are pronounced similarly. "Extra accessories" which must be ordered separately for a new camera, as distinct from the accessories provided with the camera as sold. Not all constructions that are typically pleonasms are so in all cases, nor are all constructions derived from pleonasms themselves pleonastic: "Put that glass over there on the table." This could, depending on room layout, mean "Put that glass on the table across the room, not the table right in front of you"; if the room were laid out like that, most English speakers would intuitively understand that the distant, not immediate table was the one being referred to; however, if there were only one table in the room, the phrase would indeed be pleonastic. Also, it could mean, "Put that glass on the spot (on the table) which I am gesturing to"; thus, in this case, it is not pleonastic. "I'm going way down South." This may imply "I'm going much farther south than you might think if I didn't stress the southerliness of my destination"; but such phrasing is also sometimes—and sometimes jokingly—used pleonastically when simply "south" would do; it depends upon the context, the intent of the speaker/writer, and ultimately even on the expectations of the listener/reader. Morphemic pleonasm Morphemes, not just words, can enter the realm of pleonasm: Some word-parts are simply optional in various languages and dialects. A familiar example to American English speakers would be the allegedly optional "-al-", probably most commonly seen in "" vs. "publicly"—both spellings are considered correct/acceptable in American English, and both pronounced the same, in this dialect, rendering the "" spelling pleonastic in US English; in other dialects it is "required", while it is quite conceivable that in another generation or so of American English it will be "forbidden". This treatment of words ending in "-ic", "-ac", etc., is quite inconsistent in US English—compare "maniacally" or "forensically" with "stoicly" or "heroicly"; "forensicly" doesn't look "right" in any dialect, but "heroically" looks internally redundant to many Americans. (Likewise, there are thousands of mostly American Google search results for "eroticly", some in reputable publications, but it does not even appear in the 23-volume, 23,000-page, 500,000-definition Oxford English Dictionary (OED), the largest in the world; and even American dictionaries give the correct spelling as "erotically".) In a more modern pair of words, Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers dictionaries say that "electric" and "electrical" mean the same thing. However, the usual adverb form is "electrically". (For example, "The glass rod is electrically charged by rubbing it with silk".) Some (mostly US-based) prescriptive grammar pundits would say that the "-ly" not "-ally" form is "correct" in any case in which there is no "-ical" variant of the basic word, and vice versa; i.e. "maniacally", not "maniacly", is correct because "maniacal" is a word, while "publicly", not "", must be correct because "publical" is (arguably) not a real word (it does not appear in the OED). This logic is in doubt, since most if not all "-ical" constructions arguably are "real" words and most have certainly occurred more than once in "reputable" publications and are also immediately understood by any educated reader of English even if they "look funny" to some, or do not appear in popular dictionaries. Additionally, there are numerous examples of words that have very widely accepted extended forms that have skipped one or more intermediary forms, e.g., "disestablishmentarian" in the absence of "disestablishmentary" (which does not appear in the OED). At any rate, while some US editors might consider "-ally" vs. "-ly" to be pleonastic in some cases, the majority of other English speakers would not, and many "-ally" words are not pleonastic to anyone, even in American English. The most common definitely pleonastic morphological usage in English is "irregardless", which is very widely criticized as being a non-word. The standard usage is "regardless", which is already negative; adding the additional negative ir- is interpreted by some as logically reversing the meaning to "with regard to/for", which is certainly not what the speaker intended to convey. (According to most dictionaries that include it, "irregardless" appears to derive from confusion between "regardless" and "irrespective", which have overlapping meanings.) Morphemic pleonasm in Modern Standard Chinese There are several instances in Chinese vocabulary where pleonasms and cognate objects are present. Their presence usually indicate the plural form of the noun or the noun in formal context. ('book(s)' – in general) ('paper, tissue, pieces of paper' – formal) In some instances, the pleonasmic form of the verb is used with the intention as an emphasis to one meaning of the verb, isolating them from their idiomatic and figurative uses. But over time, the pseudo-object, which sometimes repeats the verb, is almost inherently coupled with the it. For example, the word ('to sleep') is an intransitive verb, but may express different meaning when coupled with objects of prepositions as in "to sleep with". However, in Mandarin, is usually coupled with a pseudo-character , yet it is not entirely a cognate object, to express the act of resting. ('I want sleep'). Although such usage of is not found among native speakers of Mandarin and may sound awkward, this expression is grammatically correct and it is clear that means 'to sleep/to rest' in this context. ('I want to sleep') and ('I'm going to sleep'). In this context, ('to sleep') is a complete verb and native speakers often express themselves this way. Adding this particle clears any suspicion from using it with any direct object shown in the next example: ('I want to have sex with her') and ('I want to sleep with her'). When the verb follows an animate direct object the meaning changes dramatically. The first instance is mainly seen in colloquial speech. Note that the object of preposition of "to have sex with" is the equivalent of the direct object of in Mandarin. One can also find a way around this verb, using another one which does not is used to express idiomatic expressions nor necessitate a pleonasm, because it only has one meaning: ('I want "to dorm) Nevertheless, is a verb used in high-register diction, just like English verbs with Latin roots. There is no relationship found between Chinese and English regarding verbs that can take pleonasms and cognate objects. Although the verb to sleep may take a cognate object as in "sleep a restful sleep", it is a pure coincidence, since verbs of this form are more common in Chinese than in English; and when the English verb is used without the cognate objects, its diction is natural and its meaning is clear in every level of diction, as in "I want to sleep" and "I want to have a rest". Subtler redundancies In some cases, the redundancy in meaning occurs at the syntactic level above the word, such as at the phrase level: "It's déjà vu all over again." "I never make predictions, especially about the future." The redundancy of these two well-known statements is deliberate, for humorous effect. (See Yogi Berra#"Yogi-isms".) But one does hear educated people say "my predictions about the future of politics" for "my predictions about politics", which are equivalent in meaning. While predictions are necessarily about the future (at least in relation to the time the prediction was made), the nature of this future can be subtle (e.g., "I predict that he died a week ago"—the prediction is about future discovery or proof of the date of death, not about the death itself). Generally "the future" is assumed, making most constructions of this sort pleonastic. The latter humorous quote above about not making predictions—by Yogi Berra—is not really a pleonasm, but rather an ironic play on words. Alternatively it could be an analogy between predict and guess. However, "It's déjà vu all over again" could mean that there was earlier another déjà vu of the same event or idea, which has now arisen for a third time; or that the speaker had very recently experienced a déjà vu of a different idea. Redundancy, and "useless" or "nonsensical" words (or phrases, or morphemes), can also be inherited by one language from the influence of another and are not pleonasms in the more critical sense but actual changes in grammatical construction considered to be required for "proper" usage in the language or dialect in question. Irish English, for example, is prone to a number of constructions that non-Irish speakers find strange and sometimes directly confusing or silly: "I'm after putting it on the table."('I [have] put it on the table.') This example further shows that the effect, whether pleonastic or only pseudo-pleonastic, can apply to words and word-parts, and multi-word phrases, given that the fullest rendition would be "I am after putting it on the table". "Have a look at your man there."('Have a look at that man there.') An example of word substitution, rather than addition, that seems illogical outside the dialect. This common possessive-seeming construction often confuses the non-Irish enough that they do not at first understand what is meant. Even "Have a look at that man there" is arguably further doubly redundant, in that a shorter "Look at that man" version would convey essentially the same meaning. "She's my wife so she is."('She's my wife.') Duplicate subject and verb, post-complement, used to emphasize a simple factual statement or assertion. All of these constructions originate from the application of Irish Gaelic grammatical rules to the English dialect spoken, in varying particular forms, throughout the island. Seemingly "useless" additions and substitutions must be contrasted with similar constructions that are used for stress, humor, or other intentional purposes, such as: "I abso-fuckin'-lutely agree!"(tmesis, for stress) "Topless-shmopless—nudity doesn't distract me."(shm-reduplication, for humor) The latter of these is a result of Yiddish influences on modern English, especially East Coast US English. Sometimes editors and grammatical stylists will use "pleonasm" to describe simple wordiness. This phenomenon is also called prolixity or logorrhea. Compare: "The sound of the loud music drowned out the sound of the burglary." "The loud music drowned out the sound of the burglary." or even: "The music drowned out the burglary." The reader or hearer does not have to be told that loud music has a sound, and in a newspaper headline or other abbreviated prose can even be counted upon to infer that "burglary" is a proxy for "sound of the burglary" and that the music necessarily must have been loud to drown it out, unless the burglary was relatively quiet (this is not a trivial issue, as it may affect the legal culpability of the person who played the music); the word "loud" may imply that the music should have been played quietly if at all. Many are critical of the excessively abbreviated constructions of "headline-itis" or "newsspeak", so "loud [music]" and "sound of the [burglary]" in the above example should probably not be properly regarded as pleonastic or otherwise genuinely redundant, but simply as informative and clarifying. Prolixity is also used to obfuscate, confuse, or euphemize and is not necessarily redundant or pleonastic in such constructions, though it often is. "Post-traumatic stress disorder" (shell shock) and "pre-owned vehicle" (used car) are both tumid euphemisms but are not redundant. Redundant forms, however, are especially common in business, political, and academic language that is intended to sound impressive (or to be vague so as to make it hard to determine what is actually being promised, or otherwise misleading). For example: "This quarter, we are presently focusing with determination on an all-new, innovative integrated methodology and framework for rapid expansion of customer-oriented external programs designed and developed to bring the company's consumer-first paradigm into the marketplace as quickly as possible." In contrast to redundancy, an oxymoron results when two seemingly contradictory words are adjoined. Foreign words Redundancies sometimes take the form of foreign words whose meaning is repeated in the context: "We went to the El Restaurante restaurant." "The La Brea tar pits are fascinating." "Roast beef served with au jus sauce." "Please R.S.V.P." "The Schwarzwald Forest is deep and dark." "The Drakensberg Mountains are in South Africa." "We will vacation in Timor-Leste." LibreOffice office suite. The hoi polloi. I'd like to have a chai tea. "That delicious Queso cheese." "Some salsa sauce on the side?." These sentences use phrases which mean, respectively, "the restaurant restaurant", "the tar tar", "with juice sauce" and so on. However, many times these redundancies are necessary—especially when the foreign words make up a proper noun as opposed to a common one. For example, "We went to Il Ristorante" is acceptable provided the audience can infer that it is a restaurant. (If they understand Italian and English it might, if spoken, be misinterpreted as a generic reference and not a proper noun, leading the hearer to ask "Which ristorante do you mean?"—such confusions are common in richly bilingual areas like Montreal or the American Southwest when mixing phrases from two languages.) But avoiding the redundancy of the Spanish phrase in the second example would only leave an awkward alternative: "La Brea pits are fascinating". Most find it best to not even drop articles when using proper nouns made from foreign languages: "The movie is playing at the El Capitan theater." However, there are some exceptions to this, for example: "Jude Bellingham plays for Real Madrid in La Liga." ("La Liga" literally means "The League" in Spanish) This is also similar to the treatment of definite and indefinite articles in titles of books, films, etc. where the article can—some would say must—be present where it would otherwise be "forbidden": "Stephen King's The Shining is scary."(Normally, the article would be left off following a possessive.) "I'm having an An American Werewolf in London movie night at my place."(Seemingly doubled article, which would be taken for a stutter or typographical error in other contexts.) Some cross-linguistic redundancies, especially in placenames, occur because a word in one language became the title of a place in another (e.g., the Sahara Desert—"Sahara" is an English approximation of the word for "deserts" in Arabic). "The Los Angeles Angels" professional baseball team is literally "the The Angels Angels". A supposed extreme example is Torpenhow Hill in Cumbria, where some of the elements in the name likely mean "hill". See the List of tautological place names for many more examples. The word tsetse means "fly" in the Tswana language, a Bantu language spoken in Botswana and South Africa. This word is the root of the English name for a biting fly found in Africa, the tsetse fly. Acronyms and initialisms Acronyms and initialisms can also form the basis for redundancies; this is known humorously as RAS syndrome (for Redundant Acronym Syndrome syndrome). In all the examples that follow, the word after the acronym repeats a word represented in the acronym. The full redundant phrase is stated in the parentheses that follow each example: "I forgot my PIN number for the ATM machine." (Personal Identification Number number; Automated Teller Machine machine) "I upgraded the RAM memory of my computer." (Random Access Memory memory) "She is infected with the HIV virus." (Human Immunodeficiency Virus virus) "I have installed a CMS system on my server." (Content Management System system) "The SI system of units is the modern form of the metric system." (International System system) (See RAS syndrome for many more examples.) The expansion of an acronym like PIN or HIV may be well known to English speakers, but the acronyms themselves have come to be treated as words, so little thought is given to what their expansion is (and "PIN" is also pronounced the same as the word "pin"; disambiguation is probably the source of "PIN number"; "SIN number" for "Social Insurance Number number" is a similar common phrase in Canada.) But redundant acronyms are more common with technical (e.g., computer) terms where well-informed speakers recognize the redundancy and consider it silly or ignorant, but mainstream users might not, since they may not be aware or certain of the full expansion of an acronym like "RAM". Typographical Some redundancies are simply typographical. For instance, when a short inflexional word like "the" occurs at the end of a line, it is very common to accidentally repeat it at the beginning of the following line, and a large number of readers would not even notice it. Apparent redundancies that actually are not redundant Carefully constructed expressions, especially in poetry and political language, but also some general usages in everyday speech, may appear to be redundant but are not. This is most common with cognate objects (a verb's object that is cognate with the verb): "She slept a deep sleep." Or, a classic example from Latin: mutatis mutandis = "with change made to what needs to be changed" (an ablative absolute construction) The words need not be etymologically related, but simply conceptually, to be considered an example of cognate object: "We wept tears of joy." Such constructions are not actually redundant (unlike "She slept a sleep" or "We wept tears") because the object's modifiers provide additional information. A rarer, more constructed form is polyptoton, the stylistic repetition of the same word or words derived from the same root: "...[T]he only thing we have to fear is fear itself." — Franklin D. Roosevelt, "First Inaugural Address", March 1933. "With eager feeding[,] food doth choke the feeder." — William Shakespeare, Richard II, II, i, 37. As with cognate objects, these constructions are not redundant because the repeated words or derivatives cannot be removed without removing meaning or even destroying the sentence, though in most cases they could be replaced with non-related synonyms at the cost of style (e.g., compare "The only thing we have to fear is terror".) Semantic pleonasm and context In many cases of semantic pleonasm, the status of a word as pleonastic depends on context. The relevant context can be as local as a neighboring word, or as global as the extent of a speaker's knowledge. In fact, many examples of redundant expressions are not inherently redundant, but can be redundant if used one way, and are not redundant if used another way. The "up" in "climb up" is not always redundant, as in the example "He climbed up and then fell down the mountain." Many other examples of pleonasm are redundant only if the speaker's knowledge is taken into account. For example, most English speakers would agree that "tuna fish" is redundant because tuna is a kind of fish. However, given the knowledge that "tuna" can also refer to a kind of edible prickly pear, the "fish" in "tuna fish" can be seen as non-pleonastic, but rather a disambiguator between the fish and the prickly pear. Conversely, to English speakers who do not know Spanish, there is nothing redundant about "the La Brea tar pits" because the name "La Brea" is opaque: the speaker does not know that it is Spanish for "the tar" and thus "the La Brea Tar Pits" translates to "the the tar tar pits". Similarly, even though scuba stands for "self-contained underwater breathing apparatus", a phrase like "the scuba gear" would probably not be considered pleonastic because "scuba" has been reanalyzed into English as a simple word, and not an acronym suggesting the pleonastic word sequence "apparatus gear". (Most do not even know that it is an acronym and do not spell it SCUBA or S.C.U.B.A. Similar examples are radar and laser.) See also Notes References Citations Bibliography External links Figures of speech Linguistics Rhetoric Semantics Syntax

Culture of South Korea

The contemporary culture of South Korea developed from the traditional culture of Korea which was prevalent in the early Korean nomadic tribes. By maintaining thousands of years of ancient Korean culture, with influence from ancient Chinese culture, South Korea split on its own path of cultural development away from North Korean culture since the division of Korea in 1945. The industrialization, urbanization and westernization of South Korea, especially Seoul, have brought many changes to the way Korean people live. Changing economics and lifestyles have led to urbanization—a concentration of population in major cities (and depopulation of the rural countryside), with multi-generational households separating into nuclear family living arrangements. Today, many cultural elements from South Korea, especially popular culture, have spread across the globe and have become some of the most prominent cultural forces in the world. Literature Prior to the 20th century, Korean literature was influenced by Classical Chinese literature. Chinese calligraphy was also extensively used by Koreans for over one thousand years in Korean literature. Modern literature is often linked with the development of Hangul (한글), which was created by the fourth emperor of the Joseon Dynasty, King Sejong the Great (세종대왕), in the Hunminjeongeum (훈민정음).The publication of the Korean alphabet in 1443 was a surprise to many as there are no records of King Sejong working on it, concluding that the king was doing it in secret. This move was initially made to help spread literacy from the dominant scholarly-official class, the Yangban (양반), to the common people— including women. Before the creation of Hangul, the common text being read was Hanja, which are Chinese characters; only those from wealthy families who could afford an education were able to learn it. Furthermore, like any other language, Hanja was not able to capture the entire meaning of words that were spoken in Korean, so it was hard to decipher what citizens were attempting to say. Hangul, however, only reached a dominant position in Korean literature in the second half of the 19th century, resulting in a major growth in Korean literature. Sinsoseol, for instance, are novels written in hangul. In modern poetry, there were attempts at introducing imagist and modern poetry methods particularly in translations of early American moderns such as Ezra Pound and T. S. Eliot in the early 20th century. In the early Republic period, patriotic works were very successful. Lyric poetry dominated from the 1970s onwards. Poetry is quite popular in contemporary South Korea, both in terms of number of works published and lay writing. Journalism South Korea has 10 main newspapers and 4 main broadcasters. Top three daily newspapers are Chosun Ilbo, Joongang Ilbo, and Donga Ilbo. The Hankyoreh is a left-leaning newspaper. KBS, MBC, SBS, and YTN are the main TV channels, and EBS is used for student and adult education. South Korea also has several newspaper and magazines publications. One of the more popular ones is The Chosun Ilbo, which is an online presentation of the Korean daily. Other magazines are K Scene Magazine, JoongAng Daily, Korea Post, Korea Times, Yonhap News Agency, OhmyNews International. The Korea Herald and PRKorea Times are English language newspapers for foreigners, providing live stories from all over the world. Although the main newspapers offer online content in Korean and/or English, there are several online-only publications. Several online publications are Digital Chosunilbo, Seoul Times, Korean Government Homepage, and Donga.com which is an online service providing Korean news in several languages. OhmyNews is a Korean website established by Oh Yeon Ho in 2000 in the view that ordinary people could report in by phone or email and have their many views on stories edited by volunteer and professional editors. OhmyNews did the first interview of then-president-elect, Roh Moo-hyun. Foreign influences South Korea has for almost a millennium been significantly influenced by China as well as by various neighboring Asian countries to a lesser extent. In recent years, there has been some influence by the Western world, mostly in food. This has changed peoples' eating habits as well; many people now also eat Western and other Asian foods in addition to traditional Korean food. Pizza is one of the favorite foreign foods among South Koreans, though it tends to differ from the pizza served in the west with an Asian tinge, often featuring corn, sweet potato, mayonnaise, bulgogi and various other ingredients. Many hamburger, fried chicken, coffee, and ice cream chains are also very popular in South Korea. While tea remains a highly popular traditional drink, Coffeehouses operated by 12 major brands increased to up to 2,000 locations in 2010, and the term "coffice" ( 커피스) was coined to describe using a cafe as an office. Japanese pop culture was banned for decades in South Korea (though not effectively) reaching Korea by way of satellite television channels and youth culture films and magazines. Back in the year 2000, South Korean youth were reading manga, listening to Japanese rock and rap, and fashion in Korea shared similarities with Japanese street fashion trends from Harajuku and Roppongi. The ban on Japanese pop culture imports was lifted in 2000. Traditional culture Pansori Pansori is a form of traditional musical art within Korea that dates back to the Joseon Dynasty (1392–1897), "pan" meaning an open space where individuals come to gather and "sori" meaning sound. Pansori performances consist of a singer and a drummer, the singer sings out the story using special techniques that require years of training, and the drummer producing beats to help the story flow and also to support the singer. Members of the audience are also encouraged to take part in the performance and support the singer. The purpose of Pansori was to tell tales and stories to individuals who would take the time to listen since most stories range from three hours to eight or nine hours from start to finish. There are five traditional stories that are performed for audiences, but since pansori is mostly orally transmitted, there have been many stories lost throughout history. Each story contains a theme, whether it be about filial piety, love, or the sorrows of individuals releasing their "han". "Han" is an emotion within a person that is negative and usually is tied with grieving, regret, or resentment. Chuseok Chuseok, also known as Hangawi, comes from the agrarian era of Korean society, and is considered one of the biggest holidays for the Korean people. Historians believe Chuseok originated 2000 years ago, and was originally a festival that held a weaving competition. Chuseok is recognized as a public holiday, which allows for work to be suspended until the celebration is over. The holiday is held on the 15th day of the 8th month of the Lunar calendar. It is a celebration of the Korean peoples' ancestors and is used as a time to give thanks for a good farming season. Chuseok lasts for 3 days, and it is a time spent with family to eat tradition food and play tradition games. Songpyeon is traditionally eaten during this time, and is a rice cake that contains a filling. Seollal Seollal, also known as the Korean New Year, is a holiday that marks the start of a new year on the Lunar calendar. The Korean New Year typically falls sometime in January or February. It is believed that Seollal originates from the 3rd century. Evidence of the first Korean New Year can be found in a document titled Samguk Yusa. During the Japanese colonization of Korea, Seollal was prohibited from being celebrated, but then became an official holiday sometime between 1945-1950. Seollal is now recognized as a public holiday, and work is suspended until the holiday has ended. Seollal is a time for family members to honor their ancestors and spend quality time together. Korean ancestors are honored during this time through special rituals, and families get the opportunity to enjoy games and food together. It is very common for Korean people to celebrate Seollal by playing a game of Yut Nori. Tteokguk, or rice cake soup, is typically eaten during Seollal, and it is believed that one will turn a year older after eating the soup. Architecture Korean architecture is characterized by naturalistic tendencies, simplicity, and economic feasibility of forms. Sharp angles, strong lines, steep planes, and brilliant colors are all avoided. It typically creates a quiet atmosphere. Technology Cellular phones An estimated 98% of South Koreans own mobile phones and use them not only for calling and messaging but also for watching live TV, viewing websites and keeping track of their online gaming statuses. South Korean corporations include Samsung and LG. Many South Korean phones feature TV broadcasting through Digital Multimedia Broadcasting (DMB), which now carries seven TV channels. Over one million DMB phones have been sold, and providers like KT and SK Telecom have provided coverage throughout many parts of major cities. South Korea won the LG Mobile World Cup, a texting competition run by LG Electronics. Video games Online games Korea has many e-sports athletes. As perceptions of games have changed, the Korean game market has grown in size and popularized. Korean companies are expected to spur the mobile e-sports industry, or m-sports. History Video games in South Korea have been growing in popularity since the mid-1980s, however it was not until the early 2000s that their popularity skyrocketed. Their sudden growth was due to immensely popular games, such as “Starcraft 2”, “League Of Legends”, and “Lineage II”. Since then, the Gaming industry in South Korea has been steadily growing every year. Its projected market revenue for 2018 is US$10.5 billion. Growth in popularity The introduction of those games in the early 2000s, as well as the introduction of several new international tournaments, like The World Cyber Games, Electronic Sports World Cup, and Major League Gaming, have allowed the video game industry to grow at a much faster rate. In these tournaments, competitive games would be played for large prizes, some being as much as US$1 million. The tournaments are very popular in South Korea, and attract a large viewership. Researchers have estimated that the eSports industry will reach US$1 billion in revenue by 2019. PC bangs Video games are very popular in South Korea, but not everyone is able to afford the gaming PCs necessary to play popular games. These high upfront costs have led to the growth of the "PC bang" industry. Translated as "PC room", PC bangs are public cafés that let customers play popular PC games on powerful, high-end computers at a low cost per hour. There are currently around 25,000 PC bangs in South Korea alone, with hourly rates that ranged from $0.44 to $1.30 per hour . The success of this low-cost model has led to the rise of PC bangs as a popular hangout spot among students, and they generally serve as a place to meet people with similar gaming interests. Addiction As video gaming is becoming much more popular in South Korea, it also bring up worries of the welfare of the nation's youth. Video game addiction has been a concerning issue with in the South Korean government. Considerable amounts of funds have been invested into programs and campaigns to reduce this issue. One action that the government imposed was the “Shutdown Law”. This law prevents anyone aged under 16 from playing online from times 10pm until 6am. Popular media StarCraft, the PC real-time strategy game, was the most popular televised game in Korea. Games are often broadcast on TV stations such as MBCGame and Ongamenet. These tournaments are usually broadcast live and have sizable crowds while they are recorded at shopping malls like COEX, in southeast Seoul. Professional StarCraft players can command considerable salaries in Korea, and are usually noted celebrities, such as Lim "BoxeR" Yo-Hwan. In recent years, professional video gaming in South Korea has branched out away from just Starcraft into a variety of different titles, including Dota 2, League of Legends, Starcraft 2, Battle Ground, and Overwatch. South Korean food and food culture Korean food, or hansik, is characterized by a clear distinction between the main dish (rice, noodles, etc.) and the side dish (called banchan), diverse recipes, a balanced mix of animal and plant products, and fermented foods.. The Korean people have also believed that food and medicine share the same origin, following the adage that “food is the best medicine.” Fermented foods are the core of Korean cooking. These foods are mostly referred to as "chang". This includes soy sauce (ganjang). soybean paste (doenjang), red chilli soybean paste (gochujang). Green onion, garlic, and red chilli are also the foundations Korean cooking. Kimchi is one of South Korea's staple food, normally eaten as a side dish. Steamed rice with one to three side dishes (such as kimchi, more specifically baechan (cabbage)). Kimchi has its own fermented taste not just because of its health functionalities due to its ingredients but also by fermentation products that contribute taste, texture, quality, and health functionality, owing to its special fermentation process. Sundubu-jjigae can be described as a spicy Korean tofu stew. Unlike typical stews, it is not thick and heavy. It has a deep umami flavor, seasoned with fish sauce, garlic, scallions and mushrooms. Bibimbap is a very colorful dish with various colorful vegetables and eggs, which are mixed with the addition of gochujang (red chili paste), making its texture very different from what it was in the beginning. Although bibimbap is usually served with meat, many Korean's eat bibimbap with only eggs as the source of protein in the simple rice dish. Tteokbokki (Korean rice cake dish) is also another very popular dish (street food) in South Korea. Historically, tteokbokki was considered a refined food that was eaten by nobles and members of the royal court. But in the wake of the Korean War in the 1950s, it transformed into a different kind of dish, made by boiling wheat flour cakes with fish cakes and vegetables in a red pepper sauce mixture. By the 1970s, it had become the people’s snack, enjoyed by people from all walks of life. Budae-jjigae is Korea's popular stew, originating during the Korean War. The base is similar to many traditional spicy Korean stews like soondubu or kimchi jjigae, which are usually made of anchovies, seaweed, and gochujang (Korean red pepper paste) steeped together. But its other ingredients set budae jjigae apart from its counterparts. The stew includes spam, baked beans, hotdogs, and ramen noodles with green onions garnished on top. Drinking games In the drinking culture of South Korea often with a group of individuals, drinking games are played. These games begin during university orientation and continue to be played throughout life. A variety of games can be played within the group and can change with every coming round. The type of alcohol can vary, but more than likely soju, a common Korean liquor, is used when the games are being played. Sometimes people mix soju and beer and call it "So-Maek," so for soju, and Maek for beer, since beer is called "Maek-joo" in Korean. Popular culture K-pop music Many Korean pop stars and groups are known throughout East and Southeast Asia. K-pop often features young performers. In the 1970s and 1980s, many musicians appeared, such as Cho Yong Pil, a renowned musician from that period. He used many sources such as the synthesizer. Among his influence, he is well known for popularizing rock music. The popularization of Korean pop music has come from many sources including, YouTube and other video streaming sources. With the growth of social media, it has helped with the expansion of K-pop outside of Asia. The dominant explanation of the global K-pop phenomenon is the "hybrid" view that advances an argument about the combined along with Korean, the Austronesian, Chinese, Japanese, and Indian cultures as a grand Asian Culture (AC) that increasingly countervails the previously dominant Western Culture (WC) as a whole (Chua, 2004). K-pop became one of Korea's top exporting industries with its rapid and widespread popularity around the world, particularly in the East. Korean popular culture has a timely commercial combination of (1) the global liberalization of music markets in Asia and more recently the rest of the world; and (2) the rapid advancement of digital technologies like YouTube which prefers to select and feature perfectly photogenic performers from all over the world, including Korean girl and boy bands (Oh, 391). The emergence of the group Seo Taiji and Boys in 1992 marked a turning point for Korean popular music by incorporating elements of American popular musical genres of the 1990s. To illustrate, their popularity was based on innovative hybridization of music as they creatively mixed the genres like rap, soul, rock and roll, techno, punk, hardcore and even ppongjjak, and invented a unique musical form which 'employs rap only during the verses, singing choruses in a pop style' with dynamic dance movements. They showed how Korean rap would sound. Consequently, Seo Taiji and Boys expanded the scope of K-pop. In 2002, BoA became the first Korean pop star to break through in Japan following the fall of barriers that had restricted the import and export of entertainment between the countries since the end of World War II. For that reason, she was awarded the title of Goodwill Ambassador, and has since contributed to restoring the good relations between Japan and South Korea. In addition, there is also traditional Korean pop music, or trot. Appealing to older Koreans, there are many popular singers, including Tae Jin Ah, Na Hoon-a and Song Dae Kwan, mainly in their 50s and 60s, if not older. However, trot has recently experienced a resurgence due to the popularity of Jang Yoon Jeong, a young semi-trot star, who had a breakout hit with "Omona." Noraebang Karaoke, a Japanese loan word, is most commonly called "Noraebang" (노래방, literally, "song room") in Korea instead but various Korean alternatives like Norae yeonseupjang (노래연습장), or Norae yeonseupshil (노래연습실) are also sometimes used. Noraebang is even conducted in transport vehicles such as tourist buses. Noraebang is the equivalent to the Karaoke-Box in Japan, whereas singing before an audience of a karaoke bar is called Karaoke (가라오케) in Korea. Recently, a coin karaoke, which is a form of payment different from the existing karaoke, appeared. Korean popular culture outside Korea There are approximately 70,000 Korean students in American colleges every year. Furthermore, increased immigration has reached to booming heights of over a million in 2010 alone. With these migrations have come the spread and expansion of Korean Popular culture. For example, the popular South Korean film titled "Shiri (쉬리)" sold more than 5.78 million movie tickets in the United States alone. One of the reasons for the success of the Korean Wave comes from the influence that the Korean government has in the production and distribution of popular culture. Recent years have led to changes in access to both enjoying and creating new songs, movies, and other types of popular culture. One example comes from recent collaboration with the Korean Government and others to help achieve glocalization, making hallyu approachable and enjoyable for people from many different cultures and backgrounds. Film and television The popularity of Korean films has risen since the success of Shiri in 1999. South Korea is one of the few countries where Hollywood productions do not enjoy a dominant share of the domestic market, partly due to screen quotas requiring cinemas to show Korean films at least 73 days a year. Shiri, a film about a North Korean spy preparing a coup in Seoul, was the first in Korean history to sell more than two million tickets in Seoul alone. It also earned $14 million at the Japanese box office alone, helping it to surpass box office hits such as The Matrix and Star Wars. The success of Shiri motivated other Korean films with larger budgets. Upon release, Shiri attracted 5.8 million theatre-goers; these numbers outscored the local theater attendance for the Hollywood-made film, Titanic. The venture capital firm KDB Capital, the main firm that invested money into the production of Shiri (specifically, around $333,000), would end up earning more than 300 percent in returns (Shim, 33), helping to spark the Korean government's interest in the possible profits that can be awarded through the entertainment industry. In 2000 Joint Security Area achieved huge success, surpassing the benchmark set by Shiri. The following saw Friend manage the same. In 2001, the romantic comedy My Sassy Girl outsold The Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter which ran at the same time. Park Chan-wook, the director of Joint Security Area, has gone on to direct many popular films in Korea and abroad, and is best known for Oldboy. Kim Ki-Duk, another well-respected filmmaker who is noted for using minimal dialogue to create an emotional response from the audience, is known especially for 3-Iron and Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter... and Spring. As of 2004, new films continue to break records, with many Korean productions achieving greater popularity than Hollywood films. Both Silmido and Taegukgi (The Brotherhood) were watched by over 10 million people, almost a quarter of the Korean population. Silmido is based on a true story about a secret special force, while Taegukgi is a blockbuster about the Korean War from the director of Shiri. The social satire and monster movie The Host (2006) broke Korean box office records and grossed $1.8 million in the United States. This success attracted the attention of Hollywood. Films such as Shiri are now distributed in the United States. In 2001, Miramax bought the rights to an English-language remake of the successful Korean action comedy movie, My Wife is a Gangster. Many Korean films also reflect the unique circumstances of the division and reunification of Korea. In 2016, Train to Busan, directed by Yeon Sang-ho created a new sub division genre of zombie-like film in South Korea. Unlike many more western-made zombie films, Yeon uses an entirely Korean cast to establish and display a Korean-only film. Becoming a Korean zombie blockbuster film, modeled after Shiri(1999), Train to Busan earned a worldwide grossing of US$93.1 million. The film reflects social and economic challenges in a developing South Korean society, creating a realistic perspective of the future. In 2020, Parasite, directed by Bong Joon-ho, which depicts the economic inequality situation in the country, won four awards at the 92nd Academy Awards: Best Picture, Best Director, Best Original Screenplay, and Best International Feature Film, becoming the first non-English language film to win the Academy Award for Best Picture. K-dramas Korean television and especially the short form dramatic mini-series colloquially called "dramas" by Koreans and K-dramas elsewhere have become extremely popular outside of Korea. Dramas were foremost among cultural exports trend in Asia and elsewhere. The trend has driven Korean stars to fame and has greatly boosted the image and prestige of Korean popular culture. One example that the Korean Wave of drama have come into existence is in 1997, when the national China Central Television Station (CCTV) aired a Korean television drama, What is Love All About?, turned out to be a big hit. Responding to popular demand, CCTV re-aired the program in 1998 and recorded the second-highest ratings ever in the history of Chinese television. In 1999, in Taiwan and China, another Korean television drama serial Stars in My Heart, became a big hit. Since then, Korean television dramas have rapidly taken up airtime on television channels in countries such as Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore, Vietnam and Indonesia, which saw media liberalization beginning in the 1990s. Dramas showcase a wide range of stories, but the most prominent among the export dramas have been romance (All About Eve, Autumn Fairy Tale, Winter Sonata, My Fair Lady, Stairway to Heaven, Full House, My Name is Kim Sam Soon, Goong, My Girl, Boys Over Flowers, Shining Inheritance, You're Beautiful, Heartstrings, Secret Garden, Dream High) and historical fantasy dramas (Dae Jang Geum, Emperor of the Sea, Jumong, Sungkyunkwan Scandal). Korea has also aired their first blockbuster spy drama, IRIS. Korean animation While The Simpsons is the best known back-room product of South Korea, many other popular English-language animation series (Futurama, King of the Hill, Avatar: The Last Airbender, Family Guy) have had the basic animation, in-betweening, and coloring done in South Korea; there has also been some South Korean collaborations and minor contributions on anime from Japan. This work is professional, but not necessarily Korean in tone or manner. Recently, the animation Pororo the Little Penguin became one of the most popular cultural exports of South Korea, being exported to 120 countries worldwide. This little blue penguin has 1,500 spin-off products and a section in a theme park. Pororo is so powerful that Koreans call him Potongryong ("President Pororo"). According to the Seoul Business Agency, Pororo will generate global sales of 38 billion won (approximately US$36 million) this year, and the brand is worth 389.3 billion won for Iconix (the firm that created it) and others. Korean comics or manhwa In Korean, the term manhwa, derived from manhua, simply means 'comics' but outside the two Korean states, it generally refers to the comics of South Korea, although some comics come from North Korea as well. Webtoons Webtoons are digital comics invented in February 2003 by the website Daum in South Korea. “Love Story” by Kang Full was the first successful webtoon that popularized the industry. Naver founded Line Webtoon in June 2004, and launched their website worldwide on July 2, 2004. Other countries including mainland China, India, Taiwan and Singapore have created their own Webtoon Industries. See also Korean Wave Music of South Korea Architecture of South Korea LG Arts Center Hallyuwood Tattooing in South Korea References bn:দক্ষিণ কোরিয়া#সংস্কৃতি

Nationalism

Nationalism is an idea or movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the state. As a movement, it presupposes the existence and tends to promote the interests of a particular nation, especially with the aim of gaining and maintaining its sovereignty (self-governance) over its perceived homeland to create a nation-state. It holds that each nation should govern itself, free from outside interference (self-determination), that a nation is a natural and ideal basis for a polity, and that the nation is the only rightful source of political power. It further aims to build and maintain a single national identity, based on a combination of shared social characteristics such as culture, ethnicity, geographic location, language, politics (or the government), religion, traditions and belief in a shared singular history, and to promote national unity or solidarity. There are various definitions of a "nation", which leads to different types of nationalism. The two main divergent forms are ethnic nationalism and civic nationalism. Beginning in the late 18th century, particularly with the French Revolution and the spread of the principle of popular sovereignty or self determination, the idea that "the people" should rule is developed by political theorists. Three main theories have been used to explain the emergence of nationalism: Primordialism developed alongside nationalism during the Romantic era and held that there have always been nations. This view has since been rejected by most scholars, who view nations as socially constructed and historically contingent. Perennialism, a softer version of primordialism which accepts that nations are modern phenomena but with long historical roots, is subject to academic debate. Modernization theory, currently the most commonly accepted theory of nationalism, adopts a constructivist approach and proposes that nationalism emerged due to processes of modernization, such as industrialization, urbanization, and mass education, which made national consciousness possible. Proponents of this theory describe nations as "imagined communities" and nationalism as an "invented tradition" in which shared sentiment provides a form of collective identity and binds individuals together in political solidarity. Ethnosymbolism explains nationalism as a product of symbols, myths, and traditions, and is associated with the work of Anthony D. Smith. The moral value of nationalism, the relationship between nationalism and patriotism, and the compatibility of nationalism and cosmopolitanism are all subjects of philosophical debate. Nationalism can be combined with diverse political goals and ideologies such as conservatism (national conservatism and right-wing populism) or socialism (left-wing nationalism). In practice, nationalism is seen as positive or negative depending on its ideology and outcomes. Nationalism has been a feature of movements for freedom and justice, has been associated with cultural revivals, and encourages pride in national achievements. It has also been used to legitimize racial, ethnic, and religious divisions, suppress or attack minorities, undermine human rights and democratic traditions, and start wars, being frequently cited as a cause of both World Wars. Terminology The terminological use of "nations", "sovereignty" and associated concepts were significantly refined with the writing by Hugo Grotius of De jure belli ac pacis in the early 17th century. Living in the times of the Eighty Years' War between Spain and the Netherlands and the Thirty Years' War between Catholic and Protestant European nations, Grotius was deeply concerned with matters of conflicts between nations in the context of oppositions stemming from religious differences. The word nation was also applied before 1800 in Europe in reference to the inhabitants of a country as well as to collective identities that could include shared history, law, language, political rights, religion and traditions, in a sense more akin to the modern conception. Nationalism as derived from the noun designating 'nations' is a newer word; in the English language, dating to around 1798. The term gained wider prominence in the 19th century. The term increasingly became negative in its connotations after 1914. Glenda Sluga notes that "The twentieth century, a time of profound disillusionment with nationalism, was also the great age of globalism." Academics define nationalism as a political principle that holds that the nation and state should be congruent. According to Lisa Weeden, nationalist ideology presumes that "the people" and the state are congruent. History Intellectual origins Anthony D. Smith describes how intellectuals played a primary role in generating cultural perceptions of nationalism and providing the ideology of political nationalism: Smith posits the challenges posed to traditional religion and society in the Age of Revolution propelled many intellectuals to "discover alternative principles and concepts, and a new mythology and symbolism, to legitimate and ground human thought and action". He discusses the simultaneous concept of 'historicism' to describe an emerging belief in the birth, growth, and decay of specific peoples and cultures, which became "increasingly attractive as a framework for inquiry into the past and present and [...] an explanatory principle in elucidating the meaning of events, past and present". The Prussian scholar Johann Gottfried Herder (1744–1803) originated the term in 1772 in his "Treatise on the Origin of Language" stressing the role of a common language. He attached exceptional importance to the concepts of nationality and of patriotism "he that has lost his patriotic spirit has lost himself and the whole world about himself", whilst teaching that "in a certain sense every human perfection is national". Erica Benner identifies Herder as the first philosopher to explicitly suggest "that identities based on language should be regarded as the primary source of legitimate political authority or locus of political resistance". Herder also encouraged the creation of a common cultural and language policy amongst the separate German states. Dating the emergence of nationalism Scholars frequently place the beginning of nationalism in the late 18th century or early 19th century with the American Declaration of Independence or with the French Revolution, though there is ongoing debate about its existence in varying forms during the Middle Ages and even antiquity. Tom Garvin wrote that "something strangely like modern nationalism is documented for many peoples in medieval times and in classical times as well," citing the ancient Jews, the classical Greeks and the Gaulish and British Celts as examples. The Great Jewish Revolt against Roman rule (66–73 CE) is often cited by scholars as a prominent example of ancient Jewish nationalism. Adrian Hastings argued that Jews are the "true proto-nation", that through the model of ancient Israel found in the Hebrew Bible, provided the world with the original concept of nationhood which later influenced Christian nations. Anthony D. Smith wrote that the Jews of the late Second Temple period provide "a closer approximation to the ideal type of the nation [...] than perhaps anywhere else in the ancient world", adding that this observation "must make us wary of pronouncing too readily against the possibility of the nation, and even a form of religious nationalism, before the onset of modernity". The consensus is that nationalism as a concept was firmly established by the 19th century. In histories of nationalism, the French Revolution (1789) is seen as an important starting point, not only for its impact on French nationalism but even more for its impact on Germans and Italians and on European intellectuals. The template of nationalism, as a method for mobilizing public opinion around a new state based on popular sovereignty, went back further than 1789: philosophers such as Rousseau and Voltaire, whose ideas influenced the French Revolution, had themselves been influenced or encouraged by the example of earlier constitutionalist liberation movements, notably the Corsican Republic (1755–1768) and American Revolution (1775–1783). Due to the Industrial Revolution, there was an emergence of an integrated, nation-encompassing economy and a national public sphere, where British people began to mobilize on a state-wide scale, rather than just in the smaller units of their province, town or family. The early emergence of a popular patriotic nationalism took place in the mid-18th century and was actively promoted by the British government and by the writers and intellectuals of the time. National symbols, anthems, myths, flags and narratives were assiduously constructed by nationalists and widely adopted. The Union Jack was adopted in 1801 as the national one. Thomas Arne composed the patriotic song "Rule, Britannia!" in 1740, and the cartoonist John Arbuthnot invented the character of John Bull as the personification of the English national spirit in 1712. The political convulsions of the late 18th century associated with the American and French revolutions massively augmented the widespread appeal of patriotic nationalism. Napoleon Bonaparte's rise to power further established nationalism when he invaded much of Europe. Napoleon used this opportunity to spread revolutionary ideas, resulting in much of the 19th-century European Nationalism. Some scholars argue that variants of nationalism emerged prior to the 18th century. American philosopher and historian Hans Kohn wrote in 1944 that nationalism emerged in the 17th century. In Britons, Forging the Nation 1707–1837, Linda Colley explores how the role of nationalism emerged in about 1700 and developed in Britain reaching full form in the 1830s. Writing shortly after World War I, the popular British author H. G. Wells traced the origin of European nationalism to the aftermath of the Reformation, when it filled the moral void left by the decline of Christian faith:[A]s the idea of Christianity as a world brotherhood of men sank into discredit because of its fatal entanglement with priestcraft and the Papacy on the one hand and with the authority of princes on the other, and the age of faith passed into our present age of doubt and disbelief, men shifted the reference of their lives from the kingdom of God and the brotherhood of mankind to these apparently more living realities, France and England, Holy Russia, Spain, Prussia.... **** In the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries the general population of Europe was religious and only vaguely patriotic; by the nineteenth it had become wholly patriotic. 19th century The political development of nationalism and the push for popular sovereignty culminated with the ethnic/national revolutions of Europe. During the 19th century nationalism became one of the most significant political and social forces in history; it is typically listed among the top causes of World War I. Napoleon's conquests of the German and Italian states around 1800–1806 played a major role in stimulating nationalism and the demands for national unity. English historian J. P. T. Bury argues: Between 1830 and 1870 nationalism had thus made great strides. It inspired great literature, quickened scholarship, and nurtured heroes. It had shown its power both to unify and to divide. It had led to great achievements of political construction and consolidation in Germany and Italy; but it was more clear than ever a threat to the Ottoman and Habsburg empires, which were essentially multi-national. European culture had been enriched by the new vernacular contributions of little-known or forgotten peoples, but at the same time such unity as it had was imperiled by fragmentation. Moreover, the antagonisms fostered by nationalism had made not only for wars, insurrections, and local hatreds—they had accentuated or created new spiritual divisions in a nominally Christian Europe. France Nationalism in France gained early expressions in France's revolutionary government. In 1793, that government declared a mass conscription (levée en masse) with a call to service: Henceforth, until the enemies have been driven from the territory of the Republic, all the French are in permanent requisition for army service. The young men shall go to battle; the married men shall forge arms in the hospitals; the children shall turn old linen to lint; the old men shall repair to the public places, to stimulate the courage of the warriors and preach the unity of the Republic and the hatred of kings. This nationalism gained pace after the French Revolution came to a close. Defeat in war, with a loss in territory, was a powerful force in nationalism. In France, revenge and return of Alsace-Lorraine was a powerful motivating force for a quarter century after their defeat by Germany in 1871. After 1895, French nationalists focused on Dreyfus and internal subversion, and the Alsace issue petered out. The French reaction was a famous case of Revanchism ("revenge") which demands the return of lost territory that "belongs" to the national homeland. Revanchism draws its strength from patriotic and retributionist thought and it is often motivated by economic or geo-political factors. Extreme revanchist ideologues often represent a hawkish stance, suggesting that their desired objectives can be achieved through the positive outcome of another war. It is linked with irredentism, the conception that a part of the cultural and ethnic nation remains "unredeemed" outside the borders of its appropriate nation state. Revanchist politics often rely on the identification of a nation with a nation state, often mobilizing deep-rooted sentiments of ethnic nationalism, claiming territories outside the state where members of the ethnic group live, while using heavy-handed nationalism to mobilize support for these aims. Revanchist justifications are often presented as based on ancient or even autochthonous occupation of a territory since "time immemorial", an assertion that is usually inextricably involved in revanchism and irredentism, justifying them in the eyes of their proponents. The Dreyfus Affair in France 1894–1906 made the battle against treason and disloyalty a central theme for conservative Catholic French nationalists. Dreyfus, a Jew, was an outsider, that is in the views of intense nationalists, not a true Frenchman, not one to be trusted, not one to be given the benefit of the doubt. True loyalty to the nation, from the conservative viewpoint, was threatened by liberal and republican principles of liberty and equality that were leading the country to disaster. Russia Before 1815, the sense of Russian nationalism was weak—what sense there was focused on loyalty and obedience to the tsar. The Russian motto "Orthodoxy, Autocracy, and Nationality" was coined by Count Sergey Uvarov and it was adopted by Emperor Nicholas I as the official ideology of the Russian Empire. Three components of Uvarov's triad were: OrthodoxyOrthodox Christianity and protection of the Russian Orthodox Church. Autocracyunconditional loyalty to the House of Romanov in return for paternalist protection for all social estates. Nationality (Narodnost, has been also translated as national spirit)recognition of the state-founding role on Russian nationality. By the 1860s, as a result of educational indoctrination, and due to conservative resistance to ideas and ideologies which were transmitted from Western Europe, a pan-Slavic movement had emerged and it produced both a sense of Russian nationalism and a nationalistic mission to support and protect pan-Slavism. This Slavophile movement became popular in 19th-century Russia. Pan-Slavism was fueled by, and it was also the fuel for Russia's numerous wars against the Ottoman Empire which were waged in order to achieve the alleged goal of liberating Orthodox nationalities, such as Bulgarians, Romanians, Serbs and Greeks, from Ottoman rule. Slavophiles opposed the Western European influences which had been transmitted to Russia and they were also determined to protect Russian culture and traditions. Aleksey Khomyakov, Ivan Kireyevsky, and Konstantin Aksakov are credited with co-founding the movement. Latin America An upsurge in nationalism in Latin America in the 1810s and 1820s sparked revolutions that cost Spain nearly all of its colonies which were located there. Spain was at war with Britain from 1798 to 1808, and the British Royal Navy cut off its contacts with its colonies, so nationalism flourished and trade with Spain was suspended. The colonies set up temporary governments or juntas which were effectively independent from Spain. These juntas were established as a result of Napoleon's resistance failure in Spain. They served to determine new leadership and, in colonies like Caracas, abolished the slave trade as well as the Indian tribute. The division exploded between Spaniards who were born in Spain (called "peninsulares") versus those of Spanish descent born in New Spain (called "criollos" in Spanish or "creoles" in English). The two groups wrestled for power, with the criollos leading the call for independence. Spain tried to use its armies to fight back but had no help from European powers. Indeed, Britain and the United States worked against Spain, enforcing the Monroe Doctrine. Spain lost all of its American colonies, except Cuba and Puerto Rico, in a complex series of revolts from 1808 to 1826. Germany In the German states west of Prussia, Napoleon abolished many of the old or medieval relics, such as dissolving the Holy Roman Empire in 1806. He imposed rational legal systems and demonstrated how dramatic changes were possible. His organization of the Confederation of the Rhine in 1806 promoted a feeling of nationalism. Nationalists sought to encompass masculinity in their quest for strength and unity. It was Prussian chancellor Otto von Bismarck who achieved German unification through a series of highly successful short wars against Denmark, Austria and France which thrilled the pan-German nationalists in the smaller German states. They fought in his wars and eagerly joined the new German Empire, which Bismarck ran as a force for balance and peace in Europe after 1871. In the 19th century, German nationalism was promoted by Hegelian-oriented academic historians who saw Prussia as the true carrier of the German spirit, and the power of the state as the ultimate goal of nationalism. The three main historians were Johann Gustav Droysen (1808–1884), Heinrich von Sybel (1817–1895) and Heinrich von Treitschke (1834–1896). Droysen moved from liberalism to an intense nationalism that celebrated Prussian Protestantism, efficiency, progress, and reform, in striking contrast to Austrian Catholicism, impotency and backwardness. He idealized the Hohenzollern kings of Prussia. His large-scale History of Prussian Politics (14 vol 1855–1886) was foundational for nationalistic students and scholars. Von Sybel founded and edited the leading academic history journal, Historische Zeitschrift and as the director of the Prussian state archives published massive compilations that were devoured by scholars of nationalism. The most influential of the German nationalist historians, was Treitschke who had an enormous influence on elite students at Heidelberg and Berlin universities. Treitschke vehemently attacked parliamentarianism, socialism, pacifism, the English, the French, the Jews, and the internationalists. The core of his message was the need for a strong, unified state—a unified Germany under Prussian supervision. "It is the highest duty of the State to increase its power," he stated. Although he was a descendant of a Czech family, he considered himself not Slavic but German: "I am 1000 times more the patriot than a professor." German nationalism, expressed through the ideology of Nazism, may also be understood as trans-national in nature. This aspect was primarily advocated by Adolf Hitler, who later became the leader of the Nazi Party. This party was devoted to what they identified as an Aryan race, residing in various European countries, but sometime mixed with alien elements such as Jews. Meanwhile, the Nazis rejected many of the well-established citizens within those same countries, such as the Romani (Gypsies) and of course Jews, whom they did not identify as Aryan. A key Nazi doctrine was "Living Space" (for Aryans only) or "Lebensraum," which was a vast undertaking to transplant Aryans throughout Poland, much of Eastern Europe and the Baltic nations, and all of Western Russia and Ukraine. Lebensraum was thus a vast project for advancing the Aryan race far outside of any particular nation or national borders. The Nazi's goals were racist focused on advancing the Aryan race as they perceived it, eugenics modification of the human race, and the eradication of human beings that they deemed inferior. But their goals were trans-national and intended to spread across as much of the world as they could achieve. Although Nazism glorified German history, it also embraced the supposed virtues and achievements of the Aryan race in other countries, including India. The Nazis' Aryanism longed for now-extinct species of superior bulls once used as livestock by Aryans and other features of Aryan history that never resided within the borders of Germany as a nation. Italy Italian nationalism emerged in the 19th century and was the driving force for Italian unification or the Risorgimento (meaning the "Resurgence" or "Revival"). It was the political and intellectual movement that consolidated the different states of the Italian peninsula into the single state of the Kingdom of Italy in 1861. The memory of the Risorgimento is central to Italian nationalism but it was based in the liberal middle classes and ultimately proved a bit weak. The new government treated the newly annexed South as a kind of underdeveloped province due to its "backward" and poverty-stricken society, its poor grasp of standard Italian (as Italo-Dalmatian dialects of Neapolitan and Sicilian were prevalent in the common use) and its local traditions. The liberals had always been strong opponents of the pope and the very well organized Catholic Church. The liberal government under the Sicilian Francesco Crispi sought to enlarge his political base by emulating Otto von Bismarck and firing up Italian nationalism with an aggressive foreign policy. It partially crashed and his cause was set back. Of his nationalistic foreign policy, historian R. J. B. Bosworth says: [Crispi] pursued policies whose openly aggressive character would not be equaled until the days of the Fascist regime. Crispi increased military expenditure, talked cheerfully of a European conflagration, and alarmed his German or British friends with these suggestions of preventative attacks on his enemies. His policies were ruinous, both for Italy's trade with France, and, more humiliatingly, for colonial ambitions in East Africa. Crispi's lust for territory there was thwarted when on 1 March 1896, the armies of Ethiopian Emperor Menelik routed Italian forces at Adowa [...] in what has been defined as an unparalleled disaster for a modern army. Crispi, whose private life and personal finances [...] were objects of perennial scandal, went into dishonorable retirement. Italy joined the Allies in the First World War after getting promises of territory, but its war effort was not honored after the war and this fact discredited liberalism paving the way for Benito Mussolini and a political doctrine of his own creation, Fascism. Mussolini's 20-year dictatorship involved a highly aggressive nationalism that led to a series of wars with the creation of the Italian Empire, an alliance with Hitler's Germany, and humiliation and hardship in the Second World War. After 1945, the Catholics returned to government and tensions eased somewhat, but the former two Sicilies remained poor and partially underdeveloped (by industrial country standards). In the 1950s and early 1960s, Italy had an economic boom that pushed its economy to the fifth place in the world. The working class in those decades voted mostly for the Communist Party, and it looked to Moscow rather than Rome for inspiration and was kept out of the national government even as it controlled some industrial cities across the North. In the 21st century, the Communists have become marginal but political tensions remained high as shown by Umberto Bossi's Padanism in the 1980s (whose party Lega Nord has come to partially embrace a moderate version of Italian nationalism over the years) and other separatist movements spread across the country. Spain After the War of the Spanish Succession, rooted in the political position of the Count-Duke of Olivares and the absolutism of Philip V, the assimilation of the Crown of Aragon by the Castilian Crown through the Decrees of Nova planta was the first step in the creation of the Spanish nation-state. As in other contemporary European states, political union was the first step in the creation of the Spanish nation-state, in this case not on a uniform ethnic basis, but through the imposition of the political and cultural characteristics of the dominant ethnic group, in this case the Castilians, over those of other ethnic groups, who became national minorities to be assimilated. In fact, since the political unification of 1714, Spanish assimilation policies towards Catalan-speaking territories (Catalonia, Valencia, the Balearic Islands, part of Aragon) and other national minorities, as Basques and Galicians, have been a historical constant. The nationalization process accelerated in the 19th century, in parallel to the origin of Spanish nationalism, the social, political and ideological movement that tried to shape a Spanish national identity based on the Castilian model, in conflict with the other historical nations of the State. Politicians of the time were aware that despite the aggressive policies pursued up to that time, the uniform and monocultural "Spanish nation" did not exist, as indicated in 1835 by Antonio Alcalà Galiano, when in the Cortes del Estatuto Real he defended the effort:"To make the Spanish nation a nation that neither is nor has been until now."Building the nation (as in France, it was the state that created the nation, and not the opposite process) is an ideal that the Spanish elites constantly reiterated, and, one hundred years later than Alcalá Galiano, for example, we can also find it in the mouth of the fascist José Pemartín, who admired the German and Italian modeling policies:"There is an intimate and decisive dualism, both in Italian fascism and in German National Socialism. On the one hand, the Hegelian doctrine of the absolutism of the state is felt. The State originates in the Nation, educates and shapes the mentality of the individual; is, in Mussolini's words, the soul of the soul."And will be found again two hundred years later, from the socialist Josep Borrell:"The modern history of Spain is an unfortunate history that meant that we did not consolidate a modern State. Independentists think that the nation makes the State. I think the opposite. The State makes the nation. A strong State, which imposes its language, culture, education."The creation of the tradition of the political community of Spaniards as common destiny over other communities has been argued to trace back to the Cortes of Cádiz. From 1812 on, revisiting the previous history of Spain, Spanish liberalism tended to take for granted the national conscience and the Spanish nation. A by-product of 19th-century Spanish nationalist thinking is the concept of Reconquista, which holds the power of propelling the weaponized notion of Spain being a nation shaped against Islam. The strong interface of nationalism with colonialism is another feature of 19th-century nation building in Spain, with the defence of slavery and colonialism in Cuba being often able to reconcile tensions between mainland elites of Catalonia and Madrid throughout the period. During the first half of 20th century (notably during the dictatorship of Primo de Rivera and the dictatorship of Franco), a new brand of Spanish nationalism with a marked military flavour and an authoritarian stance (as well as promoting policies favouring the Spanish language against the other languages in the country) as a means of modernizing the country was developed by Spanish conservatives, fusing regenerationist principles with traditional Spanish nationalism. The authoritarian national ideal resumed during the Francoist dictatorship, in the form of National-Catholicism, which was in turn complemented by the myth of Hispanidad. A distinct manifestation of Spanish nationalism in modern Spanish politics is the interchange of attacks with competing regional nationalisms. Initially present after the end of Francoism in a rather diffuse and reactive form, the Spanish nationalist discourse has been often self-branded as "constitutional patriotism" since the 1980s. Often ignored as in the case of other State nationalisms, its alleged "non-existence" has been a commonplace espoused by prominent figures in the public sphere as well as the mass-media in the country. Greece During the early 19th century, inspired by romanticism, classicism, former movements of Greek nationalism and failed Greek revolts against the Ottoman Empire (such as the Orlofika revolt in southern Greece in 1770, and the Epirus-Macedonian revolt of Northern Greece in 1575), Greek nationalism led to the Greek war of independence. The Greek drive for independence from the Ottoman Empire in the 1820s and 1830s inspired supporters across Christian Europe, especially in Britain, which was the result of western idealization of Classical Greece and romanticism. France, Russia and Britain critically intervened to ensure the success of this nationalist endeavor. Serbia For centuries the Orthodox Christian Serbs were ruled by the Muslim Ottoman Empire. The success of the Serbian Revolution against Ottoman rule in 1817 marked the birth of the Principality of Serbia. It achieved de facto independence in 1867 and finally gained international recognition in 1878. Serbia had sought to liberate and unite with Bosnia and Herzegovina to the west and Old Serbia (Kosovo and Vardar Macedonia) to the south. Nationalist circles in both Serbia and Croatia (part of Austria-Hungary) began to advocate for a greater South Slavic union in the 1860s, claiming Bosnia as their common land based on shared language and tradition. In 1914, Serb revolutionaries in Bosnia assassinated Archduke Ferdinand. Austria-Hungary, with German backing, tried to crush Serbia in 1914, thus igniting the First World War in which Austria-Hungary dissolved into nation states. In 1918, the region of Banat, Bačka and Baranja came under control of the Serbian army, later the Great National Assembly of Serbs, Bunjevci and other Slavs voted to join Serbia; the Kingdom of Serbia joined the union with State of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs on 1 December 1918, and the country was named Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes. It was renamed Yugoslavia in 1929, and a Yugoslav identity was promoted, which ultimately failed. After the Second World War, Yugoslav Communists established a new socialist republic of Yugoslavia. That state broke up again in the 1990s. Poland The cause of Polish nationalism was repeatedly frustrated before 1918. In the 1790s, the Habsburg monarchy, Prussia and Russia invaded, annexed, and subsequently partitioned Poland. Napoleon set up the Duchy of Warsaw, a new Polish state that ignited a spirit of nationalism. Russia took it over in 1815 as Congress Poland with the tsar proclaimed as "King of Poland". Large-scale nationalist revolts erupted in 1830 and 1863–64 but were harshly crushed by Russia, which tried to make the Polish language, culture and religion more like Russia's. The collapse of the Russian Empire in the First World War enabled the major powers to re-establish an independent Poland, which survived until 1939. Meanwhile, Poles in areas controlled by Germany moved into heavy industry but their religion came under attack by Bismarck in the Kulturkampf of the 1870s. The Poles joined German Catholics in a well-organized new Centre Party, and defeated Bismarck politically. He responded by stopping the harassment and cooperating with the Centre Party. In the late 19th and early 20th century, many Polish nationalist leaders endorsed the Piast Concept. It held there was a Polish utopia during the Piast Dynasty a thousand years before, and modern Polish nationalists should restore its central values of Poland for the Poles. Jan Poplawski had developed the "Piast Concept" in the 1890s, and it formed the centerpiece of Polish nationalist ideology, especially as presented by the National Democracy Party, known as the "Endecja," which was led by Roman Dmowski. In contrast with the Jagiellon concept, there was no concept for a multi-ethnic Poland. The Piast concept stood in opposition to the "Jagiellon Concept," which allowed for multi-ethnicism and Polish rule over numerous minority groups such as those in the Kresy. The Jagiellon Concept was the official policy of the government in the 1920s and 1930s. Soviet dictator Josef Stalin at Tehran in 1943 rejected the Jagiellon Concept because it involved Polish rule over Ukrainians and Belarusians. He instead endorsed the Piast Concept, which justified a massive shift of Poland's frontiers to the west. After 1945 the Soviet-back puppet communist regime wholeheartedly adopted the Piast Concept, making it the centerpiece of their claim to be the "true inheritors of Polish nationalism". After all the killings, including Nazi German occupation, terror in Poland and population transfers during and after the war, the nation was officially declared as 99% ethnically Polish. In current Polish politics, Polish nationalism is most openly represented by parties linked in the Liberty and Independence Confederation coalition. As of 2020 the Confederation, composed of several smaller parties, had 11 deputies (under 7%) in the Sejm. Bulgaria Bulgarian modern nationalism emerged under Ottoman rule in the late 18th and early 19th century, under the influence of western ideas such as liberalism and nationalism, which trickled into the country after the French Revolution. The Bulgarian national revival started with the work of Saint Paisius of Hilendar, who opposed Greek domination of Bulgaria's culture and religion. His work Istoriya Slavyanobolgarskaya ("History of the Slav-Bulgarians"), which appeared in 1762, was the first work of Bulgarian historiography. It is considered Paisius' greatest work and one of the greatest pieces of Bulgarian literature. In it, Paisius interpreted Bulgarian medieval history with the goal of reviving the spirit of his nation. His successor was Saint Sophronius of Vratsa, who started the struggle for an independent Bulgarian church. An autonomous Bulgarian Exarchate was established in 1870/1872 for the Bulgarian diocese wherein at least two-thirds of Orthodox Christians were willing to join it. In 1869 the Internal Revolutionary Organization was initiated. The April Uprising of 1876 indirectly resulted in the re-establishment of Bulgaria in 1878. Jewish Nationalism Jewish nationalism arose in the latter half of the 19th century, largely as a response to the rise of nation-states. Traditionally Jews lived under uncertain and oppressive conditions. In western Europe, Jews not subject to such restrictions since emancipation of early 19th century often assimilated into the dominant culture. Both assimilation and the traditional second-class status of Jews were considered as threats to the Jewish identity by Jewish nationalists. The method of combatting these threats were different among different national movements among Jews. Zionism, ultimately the most successful of Jewish nationalist movements, advocated in the creation of a Jewish state in the Land of Israel. Labour Zionism hoped that the new Jewish state would be based on socialist principles. They imagined a new Jew that, in contrast to the Jews of the diaspora, was strong, worked the land, and spoke Hebrew. Religious Zionism instead had various religious reasonings for returning to Israel. Although according to historian David Engel, Zionism was more about fear that Jews would end up dispersed and unprotected, rather than fulfilling old prophecies of historical texts. The efforts of the Zionist movement culminated in the establishment of the State of Israel. Jewish Territorialism split from the Zionist Movement in 1903, arguing for a Jewish state no matter where. As more Jews moved to Palestine, the main territorialist organization lost support, eventually disbanding in the 1925. Smaller territorialist movements lasted until the establishment of the State of Israel. Jewish Autonomism and Bundism instead advocated for Jewish national autonomy within the territory they already lived in. Most manifestations of this movement were left-wing in nature, and actively anti-Zionist. While successful among Eastern European Jews in the early 20th century, it lost most of its support due to the Holocaust, although some support lasted through the 20th century. 20th century China The awakening of nationalism across Asia helped shape the history of the continent. The key episode was the decisive defeat of Russia by Japan in 1905, demonstrating the military advancement of non-Europeans in a modern war. The defeat quickly led to manifestations of a new interest in nationalism in China, as well as Turkey and Persia. In China Sun Yat-sen (1866–1925) launched his new party the Kuomintang (National People's Party) in defiance of the decrepit Empire, which was run by outsiders. The Kuomintang recruits pledged: [F]rom this moment I will destroy the old and build the new, and fight for the self-determination of the people, and will apply all my strength to the support of the Chinese Republic and the realization of democracy through the Three Principles, ... for the progress of good government, the happiness and perpetual peace of the people, and for the strengthening of the foundations of the state in the name of peace throughout the world. The Kuomintang largely ran China until the Communists took over in 1949. But the latter had also been strongly influenced by Sun's nationalism as well as by the May Fourth Movement in 1919. It was a nationwide protest movement about the domestic backwardness of China and has often been depicted as the intellectual foundation for Chinese Communism. The New Culture Movement stimulated by the May Fourth Movement waxed strong throughout the 1920s and 1930s. Historian Patricia Ebrey says: Nationalism, patriotism, progress, science, democracy, and freedom were the goals; imperialism, feudalism, warlordism, autocracy, patriarchy, and blind adherence to tradition were the enemies. Intellectuals struggled with how to be strong and modern and yet Chinese, how to preserve China as a political entity in the world of competing nations. Greece Nationalist irredentist movements Greek advocating for Enosis (unity of ethnically Greek states with the Hellenic Republic to create a unified Greek state), used today in the case of Cyprus, as well as the Megali Idea, the Greek movement that advocated for the reconquering of Greek ancestral lands from the Ottoman Empire (such as Crete, Ionia, Pontus, Northern Epirus, Cappadocia, Thrace among others) that were popular in the late 19th and early to 20th centuries, led to many Greek states and regions that were ethnically Greek to eventually unite with Greece and the Greco-Turkish war of 1919. The 4th of August regime was a fascist or fascistic nationalist authoritarian dictatorship inspired by Mussolini's Fascist Italy and Hitler's Germany and led by Greek general Ioannis Metaxas from 1936 to his death in 1941. It advocated for the Third Hellenic Civilization, a culturally superior Greek civilization that would be the successor of the First and Second Greek civilizations, that were Ancient Greece and the Byzantine empire respectively. It promoted Greek traditions, folk music and dances, classicism as well as medievalism. Africa In the 1880s the European powers divided up almost all of Africa (only Ethiopia and Liberia were independent). They ruled until after World War II when forces of nationalism grew much stronger. In the 1950s and the 1960s, colonial holdings became independent states. The process was usually peaceful but there were several long bitter bloody civil wars, as in Algeria, Kenya and elsewhere. Across Africa, nationalism drew upon the organizational skills that natives had learned in the British and French, and other armies during the world wars. It led to organizations that were not controlled by or endorsed by either the colonial powers or the traditional local power structures that had been collaborating with the colonial powers. Nationalistic organizations began to challenge both the traditional and the new colonial structures and finally displaced them. Leaders of nationalist movements took control when the European authorities exited; many ruled for decades or until they died off. These structures included political, educational, religious, and other social organizations. In recent decades, many African countries have undergone the triumph and defeat of nationalistic fervor, changing in the process the loci of the centralizing state power and patrimonial state. South Africa, a British colony, was exceptional in that it became virtually independent by 1931. From 1948, it was controlled by white Afrikaner nationalists, who focused on racial segregation and white minority rule, known as apartheid. It lasted until 1994, when multiracial elections were held. The international anti-apartheid movement supported black nationalists until success was achieved, and Nelson Mandela was elected president. Middle East Arab nationalism, a movement toward liberating and empowering the Arab peoples of the Middle East, emerged during the late 19th century, inspired by other independence movements of the 18th and 19th centuries. As the Ottoman Empire declined and the Middle East was carved up by the Great Powers of Europe, Arabs sought to establish their own independent nations ruled by Arabs, rather than foreigners. Syria was established in 1920; Transjordan (later Jordan) gradually gained independence between 1921 and 1946; Saudi Arabia was established in 1932; and Egypt achieved gradually gained independence between 1922 and 1952. The Arab League was established in 1945 to promote Arab interests and cooperation between the new Arab states. The Zionist movement, emerged among European Jews in the 19th century. In 1882, Jews, from Europe, began to emigrate to Ottoman Palestine with the goal of establishing a new Jewish homeland. The majority and local population in Palestine, Palestinian Arabs were demanding independence from the British Mandate. Breakup of Yugoslavia There was a rise in extreme nationalism after the Revolutions of 1989 had triggered the collapse of communism in the 1990s. That left many people with no identity. The people under communist rule had to integrate, but they now found themselves free to choose. That made long-dormant conflicts rise and create sources of serious conflict. When communism fell in Yugoslavia, serious conflict arose, which led to a rise in extreme nationalism. In his 1992 article Jihad vs. McWorld, Benjamin Barber proposed that the fall of communism would cause large numbers of people to search for unity and that small-scale wars would become common, as groups will attempt to redraw boundaries, identities, cultures and ideologies. The fall of communism also allowed for an "us vs. them" mentality to return. Governments would become vehicles for social interests, and the country would attempt to form national policies based on the majority culture, religion or ethnicity. Some newly sprouted democracies had large differences in policies on matters, which ranged from immigration and human rights to trade and commerce. The academic Steven Berg felt that the root of nationalist conflicts was the demand for autonomy and a separate existence. That nationalism can give rise to strong emotions, which may lead to a group fighting to survive, especially as after the fall of communism, political boundaries did not match ethnic boundaries. Serious conflicts often arose and escalated very easily, as individuals and groups acted upon their beliefs and caused death and destruction. When that happens, states unable to contain the conflict run the risk of slowing their progress at democratization. Yugoslavia was established after the First World War and joined three acknowledged ethnic groups: Serbs, Croats and Slovenes. The national census numbers from 1971 to 1981 measured an increase from 1.3% to 5.4% in the population that ethnically identified itself as Yugoslavs. That meant that the country, almost as a whole, was divided by distinctive religious, ethnic and national loyalties after nearly 50 years. Nationalist separatism of Croatia and Slovenia from the rest of Yugoslavia has basis in historical imperialist conquests of the region (Austria-Hungary and Ottoman Empire) and existence within separate spheres of religious, cultural and industrial influence – Catholicism, Protenstantism, Central European cultural orientation in the northwest, versus Orthodoxy, Islam and Orientalism in the southeast. Croatia and Slovenia were subsequently more economically and industrially advanced and remained as such throughout existence of both forms of Yugoslavia. In the 1970s, the leadership of the separate territories in Yugoslavia protected only territorial interests, at the expense of other territories. In Croatia, there was almost a split within the territory between Serbs and Croats so that any political decision would kindle unrest, and tensions could cross adjacent territories: Bosnia and Herzegovina. Bosnia had no group with a majority; Muslim, Serb, Croat, and Yugoslavs stopped leadership from advancing here as well. Political organizations were not able to deal successfully with such diverse nationalisms. Within the territories, leaderships would not compromise. To do so would create a winner in one ethnic group and a loser in another and raise the possibility of a serious conflict. That strengthened the political stance promoting ethnic identities and caused intense and divided political leadership within Yugoslavia. In the 1980s, Yugoslavia began to break into fragments. Economic conditions within Yugoslavia were deteriorating. Conflict in the disputed territories was stimulated by the rise in mass nationalism and ethnic hostilities. The per capita income of people in the northwestern territory, encompassing Croatia and Slovenia, was several times higher than that of the southern territory. That, combined with escalating violence from ethnic Albanians and Serbs in Kosovo, intensified economic conditions. The violence greatly contributed to the rise of extreme nationalism of Serbs in Serbia and the rest of Yugoslavia. The ongoing conflict in Kosovo was propagandized by a communist Serb, Slobodan Milošević, to increase Serb nationalism further. As mentioned, that nationalism gave rise to powerful emotions which grew the force of Serbian nationalism by highly nationalist demonstrations in Vojvodina, Serbia, Montenegro, and Kosovo. Serbian nationalism was so high that Slobodan Milošević ousted leaders in Vojvodina and Montenegro, repressed Albanians within Kosovo and eventually controlled four of the eight regions/territories. Slovenia, one of the four regions not under communist control, favoured a democratic state. In Slovenia, fear was mounting because Milošević would use the militia to suppress the country, as had occurred in Kosovo. Half of Yugoslavia wanted to be democratic, the other wanted a new nationalist authoritarian regime. In fall of 1989, tensions came to a head, and Slovenia asserted its political and economic independence from Yugoslavia and seceded. In January 1990, there was a total break with Serbia at the League of Communists of Yugoslavia, an institution that had been conceived by Milošević to strengthen unity and later became the backdrop for the fall of communism in Yugoslavia. In August 1990, a warning to the region was issued when ethnically divided groups attempted to alter the government structure. The republic borders established by the Communist regime in the postwar period were extremely vulnerable to challenges from ethnic communities. Ethnic communities arose because they did not share the identity with everyone within the new post-communist borders, which threatened the new governments. The same disputes were erupting that were in place prior to Milošević and were compounded by actions from his regime. Also, within the territory, the Croats and the Serbs were in direct competition for control of government. Elections were held and increased potential conflicts between Serbian and Croat nationalism. Serbia wanted to be separate and to decide its own future based on its own ethnic composition, but that would then give Kosovo encouragement to become independent from Serbia. Albanians in Kosovo were already practically independent from Kosovo, but Serbia did not want to let Kosovo become independent. Albanian nationalists wanted their own territory, but that would require a redrawing of the map and threaten neighboring territories. When communism fell in Yugoslavia, serious conflict arose, which led to the rise in extreme nationalism. Nationalism again gave rise to powerful emotions, which evoked, in some extreme cases, a willingness to die for what one believed, a fight for the survival of the group. The end of communism began a long period of conflict and war for the region. For six years, 200,000–500,000 people died in the Bosnian War. All three major ethnicities in Bosnia and Herzegovina (Bosnian Muslims, Croats, Serbs) suffered at the hands of each other. The war garnered assistance from groups, Muslim, Orthodox, and Western Christian, and from state actors, which supplied all sides; Saudi Arabia and Iran supported Bosnia; Russia supported Serbia; Central European and the West, including the US, supported Croatia; and the Pope supported Slovenia and Croatia. 21st century The rise of globalism in the late 20th century led to a rise in nationalism and populism in Europe and North America. That trend was further fueled by increased terrorism in the West (the September 11 attacks in the United States being a prime example), increasing unrest and civil wars in the Middle East, and waves of Muslim refugees, especially from the Syrian Civil War, flooding into Europe ( the refugee crisis appears to have peaked). Nationalist groups like Germany's Pegida, France's National Front and the UK Independence Party gained prominence in their respective nations advocating restrictions on immigration to protect the local populations. Since 2010, Catalan nationalists have led a renewed Catalan independence movement and declared Catalan independence. The movement has been opposed by Spanish nationalists. In the 2010s, the Greek economic crisis and waves of immigration have led to a significant rise of Fascism and Greek nationalism across Greece, especially among the youth. In Russia, exploitation of nationalist sentiments allowed Vladimir Putin to consolidate power. This nationalist sentiment was used in Russia's annexation of Crimea in 2014 and other actions in Ukraine. Nationalist movements gradually began to rise in Central Europe as well, particularly Poland, under the influence of the ruling party, Law and Justice (led by Jarosław Kaczyński). In Hungary, the anti-immigration rhetoric and stance against foreign influence is a powerful national glue promoted the ruling Fidesz party (led by Viktor Orbán). Nationalist parties have also joined governing coalitions in Bulgaria, Slovakia, Latvia and Ukraine. In India, Hindu nationalism has grown in popularity with the rise of the Bharatiya Janata Party, a right-wing party which has been ruling India at the national level since 2014. The rise in religious nationalism comes with the rise of right-wing populism in India, with the election and re-election of populist leader Narendra Modi as Prime Minister, who promised economic prosperity for all and an end to corruption. Militant Buddhist nationalism is also on the rise in Myanmar, Thailand and Sri Lanka. In Japan, nationalist influences in the government developed over the course of the early 21st century, largely from the far right ultra-conservative Nippon Kaigi organization. The new movement has advocated re-establishing Japan as a military power and pushed revisionist historical narratives denying events such as the Nanking Massacre. A referendum on Scottish independence from the United Kingdom was held on 18 September 2014. The proposal was defeated, with 55.3% voting against independence. In a 2016 referendum, the British populace unexpectedly voted to withdraw the United Kingdom from the European Union (known as Brexit). As the promise of continued European Union membership was a core feature of the anti-independence campaign during the Scottish referendum, there have been calls for a second referendum on Scottish independence. The 2016 United States presidential campaign saw the unprecedented rise of Donald Trump, a businessman with no political experience who ran on a populist/nationalist platform and struggled to gain endorsements from mainstream political figures, even within his own party. Trump's slogans "Make America Great Again" and "America First" exemplified his campaign's repudiation of globalism and its staunchly nationalistic outlook. His unexpected victory in the election was seen as part of the same trend that had brought about the Brexit vote. On 22 October 2018, two weeks before the mid-term elections President Trump openly proclaimed that he was a nationalist to a cheering crowd at a rally in Texas in support of re-electing Senator Ted Cruz who was once an adversary. On 29 October 2018 Trump equated nationalism to patriotism, saying "I'm proud of this country and I call that ''nationalism.'' In 2016, Rodrigo Duterte became president of the Philippines running a distinctly nationalist campaign. Contrary to the policies of his recent predecessors, he distanced the country from the Philippines' former ruler, the United States, and sought closer ties with China (as well as Russia). In 2017, Turkish nationalism propelled President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan to gain unprecedented power in a national referendum. Reactions from world leaders were mixed, with Western European leaders generally expressing concern while the leaders of many of the more authoritarian regimes as well as President Trump offered their congratulations. Political science Many political scientists have theorized about the foundations of the modern nation-state and the concept of sovereignty. The concept of nationalism in political science draws from these theoretical foundations. Philosophers like Machiavelli, Locke, Hobbes, and Rousseau conceptualized the state as the result of a "social contract" between rulers and individuals. Max Weber provides the most commonly used definition of the state, "that human community which successfully lays claim to the monopoly of legitimate physical violence within a certain territory". According to Benedict Anderson, nations are "Imagined Communities", or socially constructed institutions. Many scholars have noted the relationship between state-building, war, and nationalism. John Etherington argues nationalism is inherently exclusionary and thus potentially violent, while Jeffrey Herbst posits that external threats can foster nationalist sentiment: "External threats have such a powerful effect on nationalism because people realize in a profound manner that they are under threat because of who they are as a nation; they are forced to recognize that it is only as a nation that they can successfully defeat the threat". With increased external threats, the state's extractive capacities increase. He links the lack of external threats to countries in Sub-Saharan Africa, post-independence, to weak state nationalism and state capacity. Barry Posen argues that nationalism increases the intensity of war, and that states deliberately promote nationalism with the aim of improving their military capabilities. Most new nation-states since 1815 have emerged through decolonization. Adria Lawrence has argued that nationalism in the colonial world was spurred by failures of colonial powers to extend equal political rights to the subjects in the colonies, thus prompting them to pursue independence. Michael Hechter has argued similarly that "peripheral nationalisms" formed when empires prevented peripheral regions from having autonomy and local rule. Sociology The sociological or modernist interpretation of nationalism and nation-building argues that nationalism arises and flourishes in modern societies that have an industrial economy capable of self-sustainability, a central supreme authority capable of maintaining authority and unity, and a centralized language understood by a community of people. Modernist theorists note that this is only possible in modern societies, while traditional societies typically lack the prerequisites for nationalism. They lack a modern self-sustainable economy, have divided authorities, and use multiple languages resulting in many groups being unable to communicate with each other. Prominent theorists who developed the modernist interpretation of nations and nationalism include: Carlton J. H. Hayes, Henry Maine, Ferdinand Tönnies, Rabindranath Tagore, Émile Durkheim, Max Weber, Arnold Joseph Toynbee and Talcott Parsons. In his analysis of the historical changes and development of human societies, Henry Maine noted that the key distinction between traditional societies defined as "status" societies based on family association and functionally diffuse roles for individuals and modern societies defined as "contract" societies where social relations are determined by rational contracts pursued by individuals to advance their interests. Maine saw the development of societies as moving away from traditional status societies to modern contract societies. In his book Gemeinschaft und Gesellschaft (1887), Ferdinand Tönnies defined a Gemeinschaft ("community") as being based on emotional attachments as attributed with traditional societies while defining a Gesellschaft ("society") as an impersonal society that is modern. Although he recognized the advantages of modern societies, he also criticized them for their cold and impersonal nature that caused alienation while praising the intimacy of traditional communities. Émile Durkheim expanded upon Tönnies' recognition of alienation and defined the differences between traditional and modern societies as being between societies based upon "mechanical solidarity" versus societies based on "organic solidarity". Durkheim identified mechanical solidarity as involving custom, habit, and repression that was necessary to maintain shared views. Durkheim identified organic solidarity-based societies as modern societies where there exists a division of labour based on social differentiation that causes alienation. Durkheim claimed that social integration in traditional society required authoritarian culture involving acceptance of a social order. Durkheim claimed that modern society bases integration on the mutual benefits of the division of labour, but noted that the impersonal character of modern urban life caused alienation and feelings of anomie. Max Weber claimed the change that developed modern society and nations is the result of the rise of a charismatic leader to power in a society who creates a new tradition or a rational-legal system that establishes the supreme authority of the state. Weber's conception of charismatic authority has been noted as the basis of many nationalist governments. Primordialist evolutionary interpretation The primordialist perspective is based upon evolutionary theory. This approach has been popular with the general public but is typically rejected by experts. Laland and Brown report that "the vast majority of professional academics in the social sciences not only ... ignore evolutionary methods but in many cases [are] extremely hostile to the arguments" that draw vast generalizations from rather limited evidence. The evolutionary theory of nationalism perceives nationalism to be the result of the evolution of human beings into identifying with groups, such as ethnic groups, or other groups that form the foundation of a nation. Roger Masters in The Nature of Politics describes the primordial explanation of the origin of ethnic and national groups as recognizing group attachments that are thought to be unique, emotional, intense, and durable because they are based upon kinship and promoted along lines of common ancestry. The primordialist evolutionary views of nationalism often reference the evolutionary theories of Charles Darwin as well as Social Darwinist views of the late nineteenth century. Thinkers like Herbert Spencer and Walter Bagehot reinterpreted Darwin's theory of natural selection "often in ways inconsistent with Charles Darwin's theory of evolution" by making unsupported claims of biological difference among groups, ethnicities, races, and nations. Modern evolutionary sciences have distanced themselves from such views, but notions of long-term evolutionary change remain foundational to the work of evolutionary psychologists like John Tooby and Leda Cosmides. Approached through the primordialist perspective, the example of seeing the mobilization of a foreign military force on the nation's borders may provoke members of a national group to unify and mobilize themselves in response. There are proximate environments where individuals identify nonimmediate real or imagined situations in combination with immediate situations that make individuals confront a common situation of both subjective and objective components that affect their decisions. As such proximate environments cause people to make decisions based on existing situations and anticipated situations. Critics argue that primordial models relying on evolutionary psychology are based not on historical evidence but on assumptions of unobserved changes over thousands of years and assume stable genetic composition of the population living in a specific area and are incapable of handling the contingencies that characterize every known historical process. Robert Hislope argues: [T]he articulation of cultural evolutionary theory represents theoretical progress over sociobiology, but its explanatory payoff remains limited due to the role of contingency in human affairs and the significance of non-evolutionary, proximate causal factors. While evolutionary theory undoubtedly elucidates the development of all organic life, it would seem to operate best at macro-levels of analysis, "distal" points of explanation, and from the perspective of the long-term. Hence, it is bound to display shortcomings at micro-level events that are highly contingent in nature. In 1920, English historian G. P. Gooch argued that "[while patriotism is as old as human association and has gradually widened its sphere from the clan and the tribe to the city and the state, nationalism as an operative principle and an articulate creed only made its appearance among the more complicated intellectual processes of the modern world." Marxist interpretations In The Communist Manifesto, Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels declared that "the working men have no country". Vladimir Lenin supported the concept of self-determination. Joseph Stalin's Marxism and the National Question (1913) declares that "a nation is not a racial or tribal, but a historically constituted community of people;" "a nation is not a casual or ephemeral conglomeration, but a stable community of people"; "a nation is formed only as a result of lengthy and systematic intercourse, as a result of people living together generation after generation"; and, in its entirety: "a nation is a historically constituted, stable community of people, formed on the basis of a common language, territory, economic life, and psychological make-up manifested in a common culture." Types Historians, sociologists and anthropologists have debated different types of nationalism since at least the 1930s. Generally, the most common way of classifying nationalism has been to describe movements as having either "civic" or "ethnic" nationalist characteristics. This distinction was popularized in the 1950s by Hans Kohn who described "civic" nationalism as "Western" and more democratic while depicting "ethnic" nationalism as "Eastern" and undemocratic. Since the 1980s, scholars of nationalism have pointed out numerous flaws in this rigid division and proposed more specific classifications and numerous varieties. Anti-colonial Anti-colonial nationalism is an intellectual framework that preceded, accompanied and followed the process of decolonization in the mid-1900s. Benedict Anderson defined a nation as a socially constructed community that is co-created by individuals who imagine themselves as part of this group. He points to the New World as the site that originally conceived of nationalism as a concept, which is defined by its imagination of an ahistorical identity that negates colonialism by definition. This concept of nationalism was exemplified by the transformation of settler colonies into nations, while anti-colonial nationalism is exemplified by movements against colonial powers in the 1900s. Nationalist mobilization in French colonial Africa and British colonial India developed "when colonial regimes refused to cede rights to their increasingly well-educated colonial subjects", who formed indigenous elites and strategically adopted and adapted nationalist tactics. New national identities may cross pre-existing ethnic or linguistic divisions. Anti-colonial independence movements in Africa and Asia in the 1900s were led by individuals who had a set of shared identities and imagined a homeland without external rule. Anderson argues that the racism often experienced as a result of colonial rule and attributed to nationalism is rather due to theories of class. Gellner's theory of nationalism argues that nationalism works for combining one culture or ethnicity in one state, which leads to that state's success. For Gellner, nationalism is ethnic, and state political parties should reflect the ethnic majority in the state. This definition of nationalism also contributes to anti-colonial nationalism, if one conceives of anti-colonial movements to be movements consisting of one specific ethnic group against an outside ruling party. Edward Said also saw nationalism as ethnic, at least in part, and argued that nationalist narratives often go hand in hand with racism, as communities define themselves in relation to the other. Anti-colonial nationalism is not static and is defined by different forms of nationalism depending on location. In the anti-colonial movement that took place in the Indian subcontinent, Mahatma Gandhi and his allies in the Indian independence movement argued for a composite nationalism, not believing that an independent Indian nation should be defined by its religious identity. Despite large-scale opposition by Congress supporters, the insistence of the Muslims under the separatist Muslim League resulted in the Indian subcontinent being partitioned into two states in 1947 along religious lines into the Muslim-majority Dominion of Pakistan and the Hindu-majority Dominion of India. Because of colonialism's creation of state and country lines across ethnic, religious, linguistic and other historical boundaries, anti-colonial nationalism is largely related to land first. After independence, especially in countries with particularly diverse populations with historic enmity, there have been a series of smaller independence movements that are also defined by anti-colonialism. Philosopher and scholar Achille Mbembe argues that post-colonialism is a contradictory term, because colonialism is ever present. Those that participate in this intellectual practice envision a post-colonialism despite its being the defining frame for the world. This is the case with anti-colonialism as well. Anti-colonial nationalism as an intellectual framework persisted into the late 20th century with the resistance movements in Soviet satellite states and continues with independence movements in the Arab world in the 21st century. Civic and liberal Civic nationalism defines the nation as an association of people who identify themselves as belonging to the nation, who have equal and shared political rights, and allegiance to similar political procedures. According to the principles of civic nationalism, the nation is not based on common ethnic ancestry, but is a political entity whose core identity is not ethnicity. This civic concept of nationalism is exemplified by Ernest Renan in his lecture in 1882 "What is a Nation?", where he defined the nation as a "daily referendum" (frequently translated "daily plebiscite") dependent on the will of its people to continue living together. Civic nationalism is normally associated with liberal nationalism, although the two are distinct, and did not always coincide. On the one hand, until the late 19th and early 20th century adherents to anti-Enlightenment movements such as French Legitimism or Spanish Carlism often rejected the liberal, national unitary state, yet identified themselves not with an ethnic nation but with a non-national dynasty and regional feudal privileges. Xenophobic movements in long-established Western European states indeed often took a 'civic national' form, rejecting a given group's ability to assimilate with the nation due to its belonging to a cross-border community (Irish Catholics in Britain, Ashkenazic Jews in France). On the other hand, while subnational separatist movements were commonly associated with ethnic nationalism, this was not always so, and such nationalists as the Corsican Republic, United Irishmen, Breton Federalist League or Catalan Republican Party could combine a rejection of the unitary civic-national state with a belief in liberal universalism. Liberal nationalism is commonly considered to be compatible with liberal values of freedom, tolerance, equality, and individual rights. Ernest Renan and John Stuart Mill are often thought to be early liberal nationalists. Liberal nationalists often defend the value of national identity by saying that individuals need a national identity to lead meaningful, autonomous lives, and that liberal democratic polities need national identity to function properly. Civic nationalism lies within the traditions of rationalism and liberalism, but as a form of nationalism it is usually contrasted with ethnic nationalism. Civic nationalism is correlated with long-established states whose dynastic rulers had gradually acquired multiple distinct territories, with little change to boundaries, but which contained historical populations of multiple linguistic and/or confessional backgrounds. Since individuals living within different parts of the state territory might have little obvious common ground, civic nationalism developed as a way for rulers to both explain a contemporary reason for such heterogeneity and to provide a common purpose (Ernest Renan's classic description in What is a Nation? (1882) as a voluntary partnership for a common endeavor). Renan argued that factors such as ethnicity, language, religion, economics, geography, ruling dynasty and historic military deeds were important but not sufficient. Needed was a spiritual soul that allowed as a "daily referendum" among the people. Civic-national ideals influenced the development of representative democracy in multiethnic countries such as the United States and France, as well as in constitutional monarchies such as Great Britain, Belgium and Spain. Creole Creole nationalism is the ideology that emerged in independence movements among the creoles (descendants of the colonizers), especially in Latin America in the early 19th century. It was facilitated when French Emperor Napoleon seized control of Spain and Portugal, breaking the chain of control from the Spanish and Portuguese kings to the local governors. Allegiance to the Napoleonic states was rejected, and increasingly the creoles demanded independence. They achieved it after civil wars 1808–1826. Ethnic Ethnic nationalism, also known as ethno-nationalism, is a form of nationalism wherein the "nation" is defined in terms of ethnicity. The central theme of ethnic nationalists is that "nations are defined by a shared heritage, which usually includes a common language, a common faith, and a common ethnic ancestry". It also includes ideas of a culture shared between members of the group, and with their ancestors. It is different from a purely cultural definition of "the nation," which allows people to become members of a nation by cultural assimilation; and from a purely linguistic definition, according to which "the nation" consists of all speakers of a specific language. Whereas nationalism in and of itself does not imply a belief in the superiority of one ethnicity or country over others, some nationalists support ethnocentric supremacy or protectionism. The humiliation of being a second-class citizen led regional minorities in multiethnic states, such as Great Britain, Spain, France, Germany, Russia and the Ottoman Empire, to define nationalism in terms of loyalty to their minority culture, especially language and religion. Forced assimilation was anathema. For the politically dominant cultural group, assimilation was necessary to minimize disloyalty and treason and therefore became a major component of nationalism. A second factor for the politically dominant group was competition with neighboring states—nationalism involved a rivalry, especially in terms of military prowess and economic strength. Economic Economic nationalism, or economic patriotism, is an ideology that favors state interventionism in the economy, with policies that emphasize domestic control of the economy, labor, and capital formation, even if this requires the imposition of tariffs and other restrictions on the movement of labor, goods and capital. Gendered and muscular Feminist critique interprets nationalism as a mechanism through which sexual control and repression are justified and legitimized, often by a dominant masculine power. The gendering of nationalism through socially constructed notions of masculinity and femininity not only shapes what masculine and feminine participation in the building of that nation will look like, but also how the nation will be imagined by nationalists. A nation having its own identity is viewed as necessary, and often inevitable, and these identities are gendered. The physical land itself is often gendered as female (i.e. "Motherland"), with a body in constant danger of violation by foreign males, while national pride and protectiveness of "her" borders is gendered as masculine. History, political ideologies, and religions place most nations along a continuum of muscular nationalism. Muscular nationalism conceptualizes a nation's identity as being derived from muscular or masculine attributes that are unique to a particular country. If definitions of nationalism and gender are understood as socially and culturally constructed, the two may be constructed in conjunction by invoking an "us" versus "them" dichotomy for the purpose of the exclusion of the so-called "other," who is used to reinforce the unifying ties of the nation. The empowerment of one gender, nation or sexuality tends to occur at the expense and disempowerment of another; in this way, nationalism can be used as an instrument to perpetuate heteronormative structures of power. The gendered manner in which dominant nationalism has been imagined in most states in the world has had important implications on not only individual's lived experience, but on international relations. Colonialism has historically been heavily intertwined with muscular nationalism, from research linking hegemonic masculinity and empire-building, to intersectional oppression being justified by colonialist images of the "other", a practice integral in the formation of Western identity. This "othering" may come in the form of orientalism, whereby the East is feminized and sexualized by the West. The imagined feminine East, or "other," exists in contrast to the masculine West. The status of conquered nations can become a causality dilemma: the nation was "conquered because they were effeminate and seen as effeminate because they were conquered." In defeat they are considered militaristically unskilled, not aggressive, and thus not muscular. In order for a nation to be considered "proper", it must possess the male-gendered characteristics of virility, as opposed to the stereotypically female characteristics of subservience and dependency. Muscular nationalism is often inseparable from the concept of a warrior, which shares ideological commonalities across many nations; they are defined by the masculine notions of aggression, willingness to engage in war, decisiveness, and muscular strength, as opposed to the feminine notions of peacefulness, weakness, non-violence, and compassion. This masculinized image of a warrior has been theorized to be "the culmination of a series of gendered historical and social processes" played out in a national and international context. Ideas of cultural dualism—of a martial man and chaste woman—which are implicit in muscular nationalism, underline the raced, classed, gendered, and heteronormative nature of dominant national identity. Nations and gender systems are mutually supportive constructions: the nation fulfils the masculine ideals of comradeship and brotherhood. Masculinity has been cited as a notable factor in producing political militancy. A common feature of national crisis is a drastic shift in the socially acceptable ways of being a man, which then helps to shape the gendered perception of the nation as a whole. Integral, pan and irredentism There are different types of nationalism including Risorgimento nationalism and Integral nationalism. Whereas risorgimento nationalism applies to a nation seeking to establish a liberal state (for example the Risorgimento in Italy and similar movements in Greece, Germany, Poland during the 19th century or the civic American nationalism), integral nationalism results after a nation has achieved independence and has established a state. Fascist Italy and Nazi Germany, according to Alter and Brown, were examples of integral nationalism. Some of the qualities that characterize integral nationalism are anti-individualism, statism, radical extremism, and aggressive-expansionist militarism. The term Integral Nationalism often overlaps with fascism, although many natural points of disagreement exist. Integral nationalism arises in countries where a strong military ethos has become entrenched through the independence struggle, when, once independence is achieved, it is believed that a strong military is required to ensure the security and viability of the new state. Also, the success of such a liberation struggle results in feelings of national superiority that may lead to extreme nationalism. Pan-nationalism is unique in that it covers a large area span. Pan-nationalism focuses more on "clusters" of ethnic groups. Pan-Slavism is one example of Pan-nationalism. The goal is to unite all Slavic people into one country. They did succeed by uniting several south Slavic people into Yugoslavia in 1918. Left-wing Left-wing nationalism, occasionally known as socialist nationalism, not to be confused with the German fascist "National Socialism", is a political movement that combines left-wing politics with nationalism. Many nationalist movements are dedicated to national liberation, in the view that their nations are being persecuted by other nations and thus need to exercise self-determination by liberating themselves from the accused persecutors. Anti-revisionist Marxism–Leninism is closely tied with this ideology, and practical examples include Stalin's early work Marxism and the National Question and his socialism in one country edict, which declares that nationalism can be used in an internationalist context, fighting for national liberation without racial or religious divisions. Other examples of left-wing nationalism include Fidel Castro's 26th of July Movement that launched the Cuban Revolution in 1959, Cornwall's Mebyon Kernow, Ireland's Sinn Féin, Wales's Plaid Cymru, Galicia's Galician Nationalist Bloc, the Awami League in Bangladesh, the African National Congress in South Africa and numerous movements in Eastern Europe. National-anarchism Among the first advocates of national-anarchism were Hans Cany, Peter Töpfer and former National Front activist Troy Southgate, founder of the National Revolutionary Faction, a since disbanded British-based organization which cultivated links to certain far-left and far-right circles in the United Kingdom and in post-Soviet states, not to be confused with the national-anarchism of the Black Ram Group. In the United Kingdom, national-anarchists worked with Albion Awake, Alternative Green (published by former Green Anarchist editor Richard Hunt) and Jonathan Boulter to develop the Anarchist Heretics Fair. Those national-anarchists cite their influences primarily from Mikhail Bakunin, William Godwin, Peter Kropotkin, Pierre-Joseph Proudhon, Max Stirner and Leo Tolstoy. A position developed in Europe during the 1990s, national-anarchist groups have seen arisen worldwide, most prominently in Australia (New Right Australia/New Zealand), Germany (International National Anarchism) and the United States (BANA). National-anarchism has been described as a radical right-wing nationalist ideology which advocates racial separatism and white racial purity. National-anarchists claim to syncretize neotribal ethnic nationalism with philosophical anarchism, mainly in their support for a stateless society whilst rejecting anarchist social philosophy. The main ideological innovation of national-anarchism is its anti-state palingenetic ultranationalism. National-anarchists advocate homogeneous communities in place of the nation state. National-anarchists claim that those of different ethnic or racial groups would be free to develop separately in their own tribal communes while striving to be politically meritocratic, economically non-capitalist, ecologically sustainable and socially and culturally traditional. Although the term national-anarchism dates back as far as the 1920s, the contemporary national-anarchist movement has been put forward since the late 1990s by British political activist Troy Southgate, who positions it as being "beyond left and right". The few scholars who have studied national-anarchism conclude that it represents a further evolution in the thinking of the radical right rather than an entirely new dimension on the political spectrum. National-anarchism is considered by anarchists as being a rebranding of totalitarian fascism and an oxymoron due to the inherent contradiction of anarchist philosophy of anti-fascism, abolition of unjustified hierarchy, dismantling of national borders and universal equality between different nationalities as being incompatible with the idea of a synthesis between anarchism and fascism. National-anarchism has elicited scepticism and outright hostility from both left-wing and far-right critics. Critics, including scholars, accuse national-anarchists of being nothing more than white nationalists who promote a communitarian and racialist form of ethnic and racial separatism while wanting the militant chic of calling themselves anarchists without the historical and philosophical baggage that accompanies such a claim, including the anti-racist egalitarian anarchist philosophy and the contributions of Jewish anarchists. Some scholars are sceptical that implementing national-anarchism would result in an expansion of freedom and describe it as an authoritarian anti-statism that would result in authoritarianism and oppression, only on a smaller scale. Nativist Nativist nationalism is a type of nationalism similar to creole or territorial types of nationalism, but which defines belonging to a nation solely by being born on its territory. In countries where strong nativist nationalism exists, people who were not born in the country are seen as lesser nationals than those who were born there and are called immigrants even if they became naturalized. It is cultural as people will never see a foreign-born person as one of them and is legal as such people are banned for life from holding certain jobs, especially government jobs. In scholarly studies, nativism is a standard technical term, although those who hold this political view do not typically accept the label. . . . do not consider themselves nativists. For them it is a negative term and they rather consider themselves as 'Patriots'." Racial Racial nationalism is an ideology that advocates a racial definition of national identity. Racial nationalism seeks to preserve a given race through policies such as banning race mixing and the immigration of other races. Its ideas tend to be in direct conflict with those of anti-racism and multiculturalism. Specific examples are black nationalism and white nationalism. Religious Religious nationalism is the relationship of nationalism to a particular religious belief, dogma, or affiliation where a shared religion can be seen to contribute to a sense of national unity, a common bond among the citizens of the nation. Saudi Arabian, Iranian, Egyptian, Iraqi, American and the Pakistani-Islamic nationalism (Two-Nation Theory) are some examples. Territorial Some nationalists exclude certain groups. Some nationalists, defining the national community in ethnic, linguistic, cultural, historic, or religious terms (or a combination of these), may then seek to deem certain minorities as not truly being a part of the 'national community' as they define it. Sometimes a mythic homeland is more important for the national identity than the actual territory occupied by the nation. Territorial nationalists assume that all inhabitants of a particular nation owe allegiance to their country of birth or adoption. A sacred quality is sought in the nation and in the popular memories it evokes. Citizenship is idealized by territorial nationalists. A criterion of a territorial nationalism is the establishment of a mass, public culture based on common values, codes and traditions of the population. Sport Sport spectacles like football's World Cup command worldwide audiences as nations battle for supremacy and the fans invest intense support for their national team. Increasingly people have tied their loyalties and even their cultural identity to national teams. The globalization of audiences through television and other media has generated revenues from advertisers and subscribers in the billions of dollars, as the FIFA Scandals of 2015 revealed. Jeff Kingston looks at football, the Commonwealth Games, baseball, cricket, and the Olympics and finds that, "The capacity of sports to ignite and amplify nationalist passions and prejudices is as extraordinary as is their power to console, unify, uplift and generate goodwill." The phenomenon is evident across most of the world. The British Empire strongly emphasized sports among its soldiers and agents across the world, and often the locals joined in enthusiastically. It established a high prestige competition in 1930, named the British Empire Games from 1930 to 1950, the British Empire and Commonwealth Games from 1954 to 1966, British Commonwealth Games from 1970 to 1974 and since then the Commonwealth Games. The French Empire was not far behind the British in the use of sports to strengthen colonial solidarity with France. Colonial officials promoted and subsidized gymnastics, table games, and dance and helped football spread to French colonies. Criticism Critics of nationalism have argued that it is often unclear what constitutes a nation, or whether a nation is a legitimate unit of political rule. Nationalists hold that the boundaries of a nation and a state should coincide with one another, thus nationalism tends to oppose multiculturalism and anti-racism. It can also lead to conflict when more than one national group finds itself claiming rights to a particular territory or seeking to take control of the state. Philosopher A. C. Grayling describes nations as artificial constructs, "their boundaries drawn in the blood of past wars". He argues that "there is no country on earth which is not home to more than one different but usually coexisting culture. Cultural heritage is not the same thing as national identity". Nationalism is considered by its critics to be inherently divisive, as adherents may draw upon and highlight perceived differences between people, emphasizing an individual's identification with their own nation. They also consider the idea to be potentially oppressive, because it can submerge individual identity within a national whole and give elites or political leaders potential opportunities to manipulate or control the masses. Much of the early opposition to nationalism was related to its geopolitical ideal of a separate state for every nation. The classic nationalist movements of the 19th century rejected the very existence of the multi-ethnic empires in Europe, contrary to an ideological critique of nationalism which developed into several forms of internationalism and anti-nationalism. The Islamic revival of the 20th century also produced an Islamist critique of the nation-state. (see Pan-Islamism) At the end of the 19th century, Marxists and other socialists and communists (such as Rosa Luxemburg) produced political analyses that were critical of the nationalist movements then active in Central and Eastern Europe, although a variety of other contemporary socialists and communists, from Vladimir Lenin (a communist) to Józef Piłsudski (a socialist), were more sympathetic to national self-determination. In his classic essay on the topic, George Orwell distinguishes nationalism from patriotism (which he defines as devotion to a particular place). More abstractly, nationalism is "power-hunger tempered by self-deception". For Orwell, the nationalist is more likely than not dominated by irrational negative impulses: A nationalist is one who thinks solely, or mainly, in terms of competitive prestige. He may be a positive or a negative nationalist—that is, he may use his mental energy either in boosting or in denigrating—but at any rate his thoughts always turn on victories, defeats, triumphs and humiliations. He sees history, especially contemporary history, as the endless rise and decline of great power units and every event that happens seems to him a demonstration that his own side is on the upgrade and some hated rival is on the downgrade. But finally, it is important not to confuse nationalism with mere worship of success. The nationalist does not go on the principle of simply ganging up with the strongest side. On the contrary, having picked his side, he persuades himself that it is the strongest and is able to stick to his belief even when the facts are overwhelmingly against him. In the liberal political tradition, there was mostly a negative attitude toward nationalism as a dangerous force and a cause of conflict and war between nation-states. The historian Lord Acton put the case for "nationalism as insanity" in 1862. He argued that nationalism suppresses minorities, places country above moral principles and creates a dangerous individual attachment to the state. He opposed democracy and tried to defend the pope from Italian nationalism. Since the late 20th century, liberals have been increasingly divided, with some philosophers such as Michael Walzer, Isaiah Berlin, Charles Taylor and David Miller emphasizing that a liberal society needs to be based in a stable nation state. The pacifist critique of nationalism also concentrates on the violence of some nationalist movements, the associated militarism, and on conflicts between nations inspired by jingoism or chauvinism. National symbols and patriotic assertiveness are in some countries discredited by their historical link with past wars, especially in Germany. British pacifist Bertrand Russell criticized nationalism for diminishing the individual's capacity to judge his or her fatherland's foreign policy. Albert Einstein stated that "Nationalism is an infantile disease. It is the measles of mankind". Jiddu Krishnamurti stated that "Nationalism is merely the glorification of tribalism". Transhumanists have also expressed their opposition to nationalism, to the extent that some transhumanists believe national identities should be dissolved entirely. The influential transhumanist FM-2030 refused to identify with any nationality, referring to himself as 'universal'. Furthermore, in The Transhumanist Handbook, Kate Levchuk stated that a transhumanist "doesn't believe in nationality". See also Notes References Hayes, Carlton J. The Historical Evolution of Modern Nationalism (1928) the first major scholarly survey. Kohn, Hans. The Idea of Nationalism: A Study in Its Origins and Background (1944; 2nd ed. 2005 with introduction by Craig Calhoun). 735 pp; an often-cited classic Mylonas, Harris; Tudor, Maya (2021). "Nationalism: What We Know and What We Still Need to Know ". Annual Review of Political Science. 24 (1): 109–132. Further reading Baycroft, Timothy. Nationalism in Europe 1789–1945 (1998), textbook; 104 pp. Breuilly, John, ed. The Oxford handbook of the history of nationalism (Oxford UP, 2013). Gellner, Ernest. Nations and Nationalism (2nd ed. 2009). Gerrits, Nationalism in Europe since 1945 (2015). Guibernau, Montserrat 2007 (The Identity of Nations) Polity Press, Cambridge UK Guibernau, Montserrat 2013 (Belonging: solidarity and division in modern societies) Polity Press, Cambridge Kingston, Jeff. Nationalism in Asia: A History Since 1945 (2016). Kohn, Hans. Nationalism: Its Meaning and History (1955) 192 pp, with primary sources online Kramer, Lloyd. Nationalism in Europe and America: Politics, Cultures, and Identities since 1775 (2011). excerpt External links "Encyclopedia of 1848 Revolutions" , comprehensive collection of new articles by modern scholars Nationalism – entry at Encyclopædia Britannica Nationalism : selected references Political ideologies

SCAMPER

SCAMPER ("Substitute, Combine, Adjust, Modify, Put to other uses, Eliminate, Reverse") is an acronym that provides a structured way of assisting students to think out of the box and enhance their knowledge. It is thought to protect students' creativity as they mature. History SCAMPER was proposed by Alex Faickney Osborn in 1953 and was further developed by Bob Eberle in 1971 in his book — "SCAMPER: Games for Imagination Development." Definition SCAMPER is an activity-based thinking process that can be performed by Cooperative learning. Here the teacher assists the students in choosing a particular topic and helps them to develop it through a structured process. After picking an idea, the students are given a tale where they perform the activity in steps corresponding to the letters in the name. Substitute (analogy) comes up with another topic that is equivalent to the present topics. Combine (convergence) adds information to the original topic. Adjust identifies ways to construct the topic in a more flexible and adjusted material. Modify, magnify, minify creatively changes the topic or makes a feature/idea bigger or smaller. Put to other uses (generate/divergence/connect) identifies the possible scenarios and situations where this topic can be used. Eliminate removes ideas or elements from the topic that are not valuable. Reverse, rearrange evolves a new concept from the original concept. Hence, SCAMPER as a teaching strategy helps the students to analyze the knowledge in its creative form and helps the teacher to make teaching creative and interesting. We can link creativity methods to Combinatorics. References Acronyms Creativity Problem solving

Global North and Global South

Global North and Global South are terms that denote a method of grouping countries based on their defining characteristics with regard to socioeconomics and politics. According to UN Trade and Development (UNCTAD), the Global South broadly comprises Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean, Asia (excluding Israel, Japan, and South Korea), and Oceania (excluding Australia and New Zealand). Most of the Global South's countries are commonly identified as lacking in their standard of living, which includes having lower incomes, high levels of poverty, high population growth rates, inadequate housing, limited educational opportunities, and deficient health systems, among other issues. Additionally, these countries' cities are characterized by their poor infrastructure. Opposite to the Global South is the Global North, which the UNCTAD describes as broadly comprising Northern America and Europe, Israel, Japan, South Korea, Australia, and New Zealand. As such, the two terms do not refer to the Northern Hemisphere or the Southern Hemisphere, as many of the Global South's countries are geographically located in the former and, similarly, a number of the Global North's countries are geographically located in the latter. More specifically, the Global North consists of the world's developed countries, whereas the Global South consists of the world's developing countries and least developed countries. The Global South classification, as used by governmental and developmental organizations, was first introduced as a more open and value-free alternative to “Third World”, and likewise potentially “valuing” terms such as developed and developing. Countries of the Global South have also been described as being newly industrialized or in the process of industrializing, many of them are current or former subjects of colonialism. The Global North and the Global South are often defined in terms of their differing levels of wealth, economic development, income inequality, and strength of democracy, as well as by their political freedom and economic freedom, as defined by a variety of freedom indices. Countries of the Global North tend to be wealthier, and capable of exporting technologically advanced manufactured products, among other characteristics. In contrast, countries of the Global South tend to be poorer, and heavily dependent on their largely agrarian-based economic primary sectors. Some scholars have suggested that the inequality gap between the Global North and the Global South has been narrowing due to the effects of globalization. Other scholars have disputed this position, suggesting that the Global South has instead become poorer vis-à-vis the Global North in this same timeframe. Since World War II, the phenomenon of “South–South cooperation” (SSC) to “challenge the political and economic dominance of the North” has become more prominent among the Global South's countries. It has become popular in light of the geographical migration of manufacturing and production activity from the Global North to the Global South, and has since influenced the diplomatic policies of the Global South’s more powerful countries, such as China. Thus, these contemporary economic trends have “enhanced the historical potential of economic growth and industrialization in the Global South” amidst renewed targeted efforts by the SSC to “loosen the strictures imposed during the colonial era, and transcend the boundaries of postwar political and economic geography” as an aspect of decolonization. Definition The terms "Global North" and "Global South" are not strictly geographical, and are not "an image of the world divided by the equator, separating richer countries from their poorer counterparts." Rather, geography should be more readily understood as economic and migratory, in the "wider context of globalization or global capitalism." In general, definitions for Global North and Global South, do not refer to the geographical North or the geographical South. The Global North broadly comprises Northern America and Europe, Israel, Japan, South Korea, Australia, and New Zealand, as per the UNCTAD. The Global South broadly comprises Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean, Asia excluding Israel, Japan, and South Korea, and Oceania excluding Australia and New Zealand, also according to the UNCTAD. Some, such as Australian sociologists Fran Collyer and Raewyn Connell, have argued that Australia and New Zealand are marginalized in similar ways to other Global South countries, due to their geographical isolation and location in the Southern Hemisphere. The term Global North is often used interchangeably with developed countries, whereas the term Global South with developing countries. Characteristically, most countries in the Global South are commonly identified as lacking in their standard of living, these include having: lower incomes, high levels of poverty, high population growth rates, limited educational opportunities, deficient health care systems, among other issues. Also, cities in the Global South are identified for their poor infrastructure. Economies of the Global North are diversified, whereas agriculture sector happens to be the major contributor of economy activity in the Global South. Development of the terms Carl Oglesby used the term "global south" in 1969, writing in Catholic journal Commonweal in a special issue on the Vietnam War. Oglesby argued that centuries of northern "dominance over the global south […] [has] converged […] to produce an intolerable social order." The term gained appeal throughout the second half of the 20th century, which rapidly accelerated in the early 21st century. It appeared in fewer than two dozen publications in 2004, but in hundreds of publications by 2013. The emergence of the new term meant looking at the troubled realities of its predecessors, i.e.: Third World or Developing World. The term "Global South", in contrast, was intended to be less hierarchical. The idea of categorizing countries by their economic and developmental status began during the Cold War with the classifications of East and West. The Soviet Union and China represented the East, and the United States and their allies represented the West. The term Third World came into parlance in the second half of the twentieth century. It originated in a 1952 article by Alfred Sauvy entitled "Trois Mondes, Une Planète". Early definitions of the Third World emphasized its exclusion from the east–west conflict of the Cold War as well as the ex-colonial status and poverty of the peoples it comprised. Efforts to mobilize the Third World as an autonomous political entity were undertaken. The 1955 Bandung Conference was an early meeting of Third World states in which an alternative to alignment with either the Eastern or Western Blocs was promoted. Following this, the first Non-Aligned Summit was organized in 1961. Contemporaneously, a mode of economic criticism which separated the world economy into "core" and "periphery" was developed and given expression in a project for political reform which "moved the terms 'North' and 'South' into the international political lexicon." In 1973, the pursuit of a New International Economic Order which was to be negotiated between the North and South was initiated at the Non-Aligned Summit held in Algiers. Also in 1973, the oil embargo initiated by Arab OPEC countries as a result of the Yom Kippur War caused an increase in world oil prices, with prices continuing to rise throughout the decade. This contributed to a worldwide recession which resulted in industrialized nations increasing economically protectionist policies and contributing less aid to the less developed countries of the South. The slack was taken up by Western banks, which provided substantial loans to Third World countries. However, many of these countries were not able to pay back their debt, which led the IMF to extend further loans to them on the condition that they undertake certain liberalizing reforms. This policy, which came to be known as structural adjustment, and was institutionalized by International Financial Institutions (IFIs) and Western governments, represented a break from the Keynesian approach to foreign aid which had been the norm from the end of the Second World War. After 1987, reports on the negative social impacts that structural adjustment policies had had on affected developing nations led IFIs to supplement structural adjustment policies with targeted anti-poverty projects. Following the end of the Cold War and the break-up of the Soviet Union, some Second World countries joined the First World, and others joined the Third World. A new and simpler classification was needed. Use of the terms "North" and "South" became more widespread. Brandt Line The Brandt Line is a visual depiction of the north–south divide, proposed by West German former Chancellor Willy Brandt in the 1980s in the report titled North-South: A Programme for Survival which was later known as the Brandt Report. This line divides the world at a latitude of approximately 30° North, passing between the United States and Mexico, north of Africa and the Middle East, climbing north over China and Mongolia, then dipping south to include Japan, Australia, and New Zealand in the "Rich North". As of 2023 the Brandt line has been criticised for being outdated, yet is still regarded as a helpful way to visualise global inequalities. Uses of the term Global South Global South "emerged in part to aid countries in the southern hemisphere to work in collaboration on political, economic, social, environmental, cultural, and technical issues." This is called South–South cooperation (SSC), a "political and economical term that refers to the long-term goal of pursuing world economic changes that mutually benefit countries in the Global South and lead to greater solidarity among the disadvantaged in the world system." The hope is that countries within the Global South will "assist each other in social, political, and economical development, radically altering the world system to reflect their interests and not just the interests of the Global North in the process." It is guided by the principles of "respect for national sovereignty, national ownership, independence, equality, non-conditionality, non-interference in domestic affairs, and mutual benefit." Countries using this model of South–South cooperation see it as a "mutually beneficial relationship that spreads knowledge, skills, expertise and resources to address their development challenges such as high population pressure, poverty, hunger, disease, environmental deterioration, conflict and natural disasters." These countries also work together to deal with "cross border issues such as environmental protection, HIV/AIDS", and the movement of capital and labor. Social psychiatrist Vincenzo Di Nicola has applied the Global South as a bridge between the critiques globalization and the gaps and limitations of the Global Mental Health Movement, invoking Boaventura de Sousa Santos' notion of "epistemologies of the South" to create a new epistemology for social psychiatry. Defining development The Dictionary of Human Geography defines development as "processes of social change or [a change] to class and state projects to transform national economies". Economic development is a measure of progress in a specific economy. It refers to advancements in technology, a transition from an economy based largely on agriculture to one based on industry and an improvement in living standards. Being categorized as part of the "North" implies development as opposed to belonging to the "South", which implies a lack thereof. According to N. Oluwafemi Mimiko, the South lacks the right technology, it is politically unstable, its economies are divided, and its foreign exchange earnings depend on primary product exports to the North, along with the fluctuation of prices. The low level of control it exercises over imports and exports condemns the South to conform to the 'imperialist' system. The South's lack of development and the high level of development of the North deepen the inequality between them and leave the South a source of raw material for the developed countries. The North becomes synonymous with economic development and industrialization while the South represents the previously colonized countries which are in need of help in the form of international aid agendas. Furthermore, in Regionalism Across the North-South Divide: State Strategies and Globalization, Jean Grugel stated that the three factors that direct the economic development of states in the Global south are "élite behaviour within and between nation states, integration and cooperation within 'geographic' areas, and the resulting position of states and regions within the global world market and related political economic hierarchy." Theories explaining the divide The development disparity between the North and the South has sometimes been explained in historical terms. Dependency theory looks back on the patterns of colonial relations which persisted between the North and South and emphasizes how colonized territories tended to be impoverished by those relations. Theorists of this school maintain that the economies of ex-colonial states remain oriented towards serving external rather than internal demand, and that development regimes undertaken in this context have tended to reproduce in underdeveloped countries the pronounced class hierarchies found in industrialized countries while maintaining higher levels of poverty. Dependency theory is closely intertwined with Latin American Structuralism, the only school of development economics emerging from the Global South to be affiliated with a national research institute and to receive support from national banks and finance ministries. The Structuralists defined dependency as the inability of a nation's economy to complete the cycle of capital accumulation without reliance on an outside economy. More specifically, peripheral nations were perceived as primary resource exporters reliant on core economies for manufactured goods. This led structuralists to advocate for import-substitution industrialization policies which aimed to replace manufactured imports with domestically made products. New Economic Geography explains development disparities in terms of the physical organization of industry, arguing that firms tend to cluster in order to benefit from economies of scale and increase productivity which leads ultimately to an increase in wages. The North has more firm clustering than the South, making its industries more competitive. It is argued that only when wages in the North reach a certain height, will it become more profitable for firms to operate in the South, allowing clustering to begin. Associated theories The term of the Global South has many researched theories associated with it. Since many of the countries that are considered to be a part of the Global South were once colonized by Global North countries, they are at a disadvantage to become as quickly developed. Dependency theorists suggest that information has a top-down approach and first goes to the Global North before countries in the Global South receive it. Although many of these countries rely on political or economic help, this also opens up opportunity for information to develop Western bias and create an academic dependency. Meneleo Litonjua describes the reasoning behind distinctive problems of dependency theory as "the basic context of poverty and underdevelopment of Third World/Global South countries was not their traditionalism, but the dominance-dependence relationship between rich and poor, powerful and weak counties." What brought about much of the dependency, was the push to become modernized. After World War II, the U.S. made effort to assist developing countries financially in attempt to pull them out of poverty. Modernization theory "sought to remake the Global South in the image and likeliness of the First World/Global North." In other terms, "societies can be fast-tracked to modernization by 'importing' Western technical capital, forms of organization, and science and technology to developing countries." With this ideology, as long as countries follow in Western ways, they can develop quicker. After modernization attempts took place, theorists started to question the effects through post-development perspectives. Postdevelopment theorists try to explain that not all developing countries need to be following Western ways but instead should create their own development plans. This means that "societies at the local level should be allowed to pursue their own development path as they perceive it without the influences of global capital and other modern choices, and thus a rejection of the entire paradigm from Eurocentric model and the advocation of new ways of thinking about the non-Western societies." The goals of postdevelopment was to reject development rather than reform by choosing to embrace non-Western ways. Challenges The accuracy of the North–South divide has been challenged on a number of grounds. Firstly, differences in the political, economic and demographic make-up of countries tend to complicate the idea of a monolithic South. Globalization has also challenged the notion of two distinct economic spheres. Following the liberalization of post-Mao China initiated in 1978, growing regional cooperation between the national economies of Asia has led to the growing decentralization of the North as the main economic power. The economic status of the South has also been fractured. As of 2015, all but roughly the bottom 60 nations of the Global South were thought to be gaining on the North in terms of income, diversification, and participation in the world market. However, other scholars, notably Jason Hickel and Robert Wade have suggested that the Global South is not rising economically, and that global inequality between the North and South has risen since globalization. Hickel has suggested that the exchange of resources between the South and the North is substantially unbalanced in favor of the North, with Global North countries extracting a windfall of over 240 trillion dollars from the Global South in 2015. This figure outstrips the amount of financial aid given to Global South by a factor of 30. Globalization has largely displaced the North–South divide as the theoretical underpinning of the development efforts of international institutions such as the IMF, World Bank, WTO, and various United Nations affiliated agencies, though these groups differ in their perceptions of the relationship between globalization and inequality. Yet some remain critical of the accuracy of globalization as a model of the world economy, emphasizing the enduring centrality of nation-states in world politics and the prominence of regional trade relations. Lately, there have been efforts to integrate the Global South more meaningfully into the world economic order. The divide between the North and South challenges international environmental cooperation. The economic differences between North and South have created dispute over the scientific evidence and data regarding global warming and what needs to be done about it, as the South do not trust Northern data and cannot afford the technology to be able to produce their own. In addition to these disputes, there are serious divisions over responsibility, who pays, and the possibility for the South to catch up. This is becoming an ever-growing issue with the emergence of rising powers, imploding these three divisions just listed and making them progressively blurry. Multiplicity of actors, such as governments, businesses, and NGO's all influence any positive activity that can be taken into preventing further global warming problems with the Global North and Global South divide, contributing to the severity of said actors. Disputes between Northern countries governments and Southern countries governments has led to a breakdown in international discussions with governments from either side disagreeing with each other. Addressing most environmental problems requires international cooperation, and the North and South contribute to the stagnation concerning any form of implementation and enforcement, which remains a key issue. Debates over the term With its development, many scholars preferred using the Global South over its predecessors, such as "developing countries" and "Third World". Leigh Anne Duck, co-editor of Global South, argued that the term is better suited at resisting "hegemonic forces that threaten the autonomy and development of these countries." The Global South / Global North distinction has been preferred to the older developed / developing dichotomy as it does not imply a hierarchy. Alvaro Mendez, co-founder of the London School of Economics and Political Science's Global South Unit, have applauded the empowering aspects of the term. In an article, Discussion on Global South, Mendez discusses emerging economies in nations like China, India and Brazil. It is predicted that by 2030, 80% of the world's middle-class population will be living in developing countries. The popularity of the term "marks a shift from a central focus on development and cultural difference" and recognizes the importance of geopolitical relations. Critics of this usage often argue that it is a vague blanket term. Others have argued that the term, its usage, and its subsequent consequences mainly benefit those from the upper classes of countries within the Global South; who stand "to profit from the political and economic reality [of] expanding south-south relations." According to scholar Anne Garland Mahler, this nation-based understanding of the Global South is regarded as an appropriation of a concept that has deeper roots in Cold War radical political thought. In this political usage, the Global South is employed in a more geographically fluid way, referring to "spaces and peoples negatively impacted by contemporary capitalist globalization." In other words, "there are economic Souths in the geographic North and Norths in the geographic South." Through this geographically fluid definition, another meaning is attributed to the Global South where it refers to a global political community that is formed when the world's "Souths" recognize one another and view their conditions as shared. The geographical boundaries of the Global South remain a source of debate. Some scholars agree that the term is not a "static concept". Others have argued against "grouping together a large variety of countries and regions into one category [because it] tends to obscure specific (historical) relationships between different countries and/or regions", and the power imbalances within these relationships. This "may obscure wealth differences within countries – and, therefore, similarities between the wealthy in the Global South and Global North, as well as the dire situation the poor may face all around the world." Future development Some economists have argued that international free trade and unhindered capital flows across countries could lead to a contraction in the North–South divide. In this case more equal trade and flow of capital would allow the possibility for developing countries to further develop economically. As some countries in the South experience rapid development, there is evidence that those states are developing high levels of South–South aid. Brazil, in particular, has been noted for its high levels of aid ($1 billion annually—ahead of many traditional donors) and the ability to use its own experiences to provide high levels of expertise and knowledge transfer. This has been described as a "global model in waiting". The United Nations has also established its role in diminishing the divide between North and South through the Millennium Development Goals, all of which were to be achieved by 2015. These goals seek to eradicate extreme poverty and hunger, achieve global universal education and healthcare, promote gender equality and empower women, reduce child mortality, improve maternal health, combat HIV/AIDS, malaria, and other diseases, ensure environmental sustainability, and develop a global partnership for development. These were replaced in 2015 by 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The SDGs, set in 2015 by the United Nations General Assembly and intended to be achieved by 2030, are part of a UN Resolution called "The 2030 Agenda". Society and culture Digital and technological divide The global digital divide is often characterized as corresponding to the north–south divide; however, Internet use, and especially broadband access, is now soaring in Asia compared with other continents. This phenomenon is partially explained by the ability of many countries in Asia to leapfrog older Internet technology and infrastructure, coupled with booming economies which allow vastly more people to get online. Media representation Mass media has often compared the Global South to the North, and is thought to be an aid in the divide. Western media tends to present a generalized view of developing countries through biased media coverage, mass media outlets tend to focus disproportionately on poverty and other negative imagery. This common coverage has created a dominant stereotype of developing countries as: "the 'South' is characterized by socioeconomic and political backwardness, measured against Western values and standards." Mass media has also played a role in what information the people in developing countries receive. The news often covers developed countries and creates an imbalance of information flow. See also BRICS, CIVETS, MINT, VISTA East–West dichotomy Global West Global East First World Global majority, roughly corresponding to Global South peoples Golden billion Group of 77 Inglehart–Welzel cultural map of the world International Solar Alliance Non-Aligned Movement North–South Centre, an institution of the Council of Europe, awarding the North–South Prize North–South model, in economics theory North–South Summit, the only North–South summit ever held, with 22 heads of state and government taking part Northern and southern China Three-world model World-systems theory Fourth World Subregions of Global North Arctic Circle Global Northwest North Atlantic NATO North Pacific Subregions of Global South Afro-Asia Global Southeast Notes References External links Share The World's Resources: The Brandt Commission Report, a 1980 report by a commission led by Willy Brandt that popularized the terminology Brandt 21 Forum, a recreation of the original commission with an updated report (information on original commission at site) Demographics Dichotomies Economic country classifications Economic globalization Imperialism studies Geographical neologisms Population geography 1960s neologisms Economic geography

Contemporary anarchism

Contemporary anarchism within the history of anarchism is the period of the anarchist movement continuing from the end of World War II and into the present. Since the last third of the 20th century, anarchists have been involved in anti-globalisation, peace, squatter and student protest movements. Anarchists have participated in armed revolutions such as in those that created the Makhnovshchina and Revolutionary Catalonia, and anarchist political organizations such as the International Workers' Association and the Industrial Workers of the World have existed since the 20th century. Within contemporary anarchism, the anti-capitalism of classical anarchism has remained prominent. Anarchist principles undergird contemporary radical social movements of the left. Interest in the anarchist movement developed alongside momentum in the anti-globalisation movement, whose leading activist networks were anarchist in orientation. As the movement shaped 21st century radicalism, wider embrace of anarchist principles signaled a revival of interest. Various anarchist groups, tendencies and schools of thought exist today, making it difficult to describe the contemporary anarchist movement. While theorists and activists have established "relatively stable constellations of anarchist principles", there is no consensus on which principles are core and commentators describe multiple "anarchisms" (rather than a singular "anarchism") in which common principles are shared between schools of anarchism while each group prioritizes those principles differently. Gender equality can be a common principle, although it ranks as a higher priority to anarcha-feminists than anarcho-communists. New currents which emerged within contemporary anarchism include post-anarchism and post-left anarchy. New anarchism is a term that has been notably used by several authors to describe the most recent reinvention of the anarchist thought and practice. What distinguishes the new anarchism of today from the new anarchism of the 1960s and 1970s, or from the work of Anglo-American based authors such as Murray Bookchin, Alex Comfort, Paul Goodman, Herbert Read and Colin Ward, is its emphasis on the global perspective. Essays on new anarchism include David Graeber's "New Anarchists" and Andrej Grubačić's "Towards Another Anarchism"; other authors have criticized the term for being too vague. Anarchists are generally committed against coercive authority in all forms, namely "all centralized and hierarchical forms of government (e.g., monarchy, representative democracy, state socialism, etc.), economic class systems (e.g., capitalism, Bolshevism, feudalism, slavery, etc.), autocratic religions (e.g., fundamentalist Islam, Roman Catholicism, etc.), patriarchy, heterosexism, white supremacy, and imperialism." Anarchist schools disagree on the methods by which these forms should be opposed. The principle of equal liberty is closer to anarchist political ethics in that it transcends both the liberal and socialist traditions. This entails that liberty and equality cannot be implemented within the state, resulting in the questioning of all forms of domination and hierarchy. Contemporary news coverage which emphasizes black bloc demonstrations has reinforced anarchism's historical association with chaos and violence; however, its publicity has also led more scholars to engage with the anarchist movement, although contemporary anarchism favours actions over academic theory. History Anarchism was influential in the counterculture of the 1960s and anarchists actively participated in the protests of 1968 involving students and workers revolts. In 1968, the International of Anarchist Federations was founded during an international anarchist conference held in Carrara by the three existing European federations, namely the French Anarchist Federation, the Iberian Anarchist Federation and the Italian Anarchist Federation as well as the Bulgarian Anarchist Federation in French exile. In the United Kingdom during the 1970s, this was associated with the punk rock movement as exemplified by bands such as Crass (pioneers of the anarcho-punk subgenre). The housing and employment crisis in most of Western Europe led to the formation of communes, intentional communities and squatter movements like that of Barcelona. In Denmark, squatters occupied a disused military base and declared the Freetown Christiania, an autonomous haven in central Copenhagen. The relationship between anarchism and punk as well as squatting has carried on into the 21st century. In Infinitely Demanding, Simon Critchley wrote: "There is no doubt that 60s anarchism was libertarian and linked to the sexual revolution, liberation of the erotic instincts and what Herbert Marcuse called 'nonrepressive sublimation'. Yet, contemporary anarchism can be seen as a powerful critique of the pseudo-libertarianism of contemporary neo-liberalism, where the sexual revolution has turned the culture industry into the sex industry – ask yourself, is there today anything less transgressive and more normalizing than pornography? One might say that contemporary anarchism is about responsibility, whether sexual, ecological or socio-economic; it flows from an experience of conscience about the manifold ways in which the West ravages the rest; it is an ethical outrage at the yawning inequality, impoverishment and disenfranchisment that is so palpable locally and globally." Since the revival of anarchism in the mid-20th century, a number of new movements and schools of thought emerged, well documented in Robert Graham's Anarchism: A Documentary History of Libertarian Ideas, Volume Two: The Emergence of the New Anarchism (1939–1977). Although feminist tendencies have always been a part of the anarchist movement in the form of anarcha-feminism, they returned with vigour during the second wave of feminism in the 1960s. The American civil rights movement and the movement in opposition to the Vietnam War also contributed to the revival of North American anarchism. European anarchism of the late 20th century drew much of its strength from the labour movement and both have incorporated animal rights activism. Anarchist anthropologist David Graeber and anarchist historian Andrej Grubačić have posited a rupture between generations of anarchism, with those "who often still have not shaken the sectarian habits" of the 19th century contrasted with the younger activists who are "much more informed, among other elements, by indigenous, feminist, ecological and cultural-critical ideas" and who by the turn of the 21st century formed "by far the majority" of anarchists. Around the turn of the 21st century, anarchism grew in popularity and influence as part of the anti-war, anti-capitalist and anti-globalisation movements. Anarchists became known for their involvement in protests against the meetings of the World Trade Organization (WTO), the Group of Eight and the World Economic Forum. Some anarchist factions at these protests engaged in rioting, property destruction and violent confrontations with police. These actions were precipitated by ad hoc, leaderless and anonymous cadres known as black blocs, although other peaceful organisational tactics pioneered in this time include affinity groups, security culture and the use of decentralised technologies such as the Internet. A significant event of this period was the 1999 Seattle WTO protests. Many commentators have stated that the Occupy Wall Street movement has roots in anarchist philosophy. International anarchist federations in existence include the International of Anarchist Federations and the International Workers' Association. The largest organised anarchist movement today is in Spain in the form of the CGT and the CNT, with the CGT membership being estimated at around 100,000 for 2003. Other active anarcho-syndicalist movements include the CNT–AIT in France, the Union Sindicale Italiana in Italy, the Central Organisation of the Workers of Sweden and the Swedish Anarcho-syndicalist Youth Federation in Sweden, the Workers Solidarity Alliance in the United States and the Solidarity Federation in the United Kingdom. The revolutionary industrial unionist Industrial Workers of the World claiming 10,000 paying members and the International Workers' Association, an anarcho-syndicalist successor to the First International, also remain active. The International of Anarchist Federations was founded in 1968 during an international anarchist conference in Carrara by the three existing European anarchist federations of France, Italy and Spain as well as the Bulgarian Anarchist Federation in French exile. These organizations were also inspired on synthesis anarchist principles. Currently alongside the previously mentioned federations, the International of Anarchist Federations includes the Argentine Libertarian Federation, the Anarchist Federation of Belarus, the Czech-Slovak Anarchist Federation, the Federation of German speaking Anarchists in Germany and Switzerland and the Anarchist Federation in the United Kingdom and Ireland. Platformism is an important current in international anarchism. Around thirty platformist and specifist organizations are linked together in the Anarkismo project, including groups from Africa, Europe, Latin America and North America. At least in terms of the number of affiliated organisations, the Anarkismo network is larger than other anarchist international bodies such as the International of Anarchist Federations and the International Workers' Association. However, it is not a formal international and has no intention of competing with these other formations. Today, there are organisations inspired by Dielo Truda's Organizational Platform of the General Union of Anarchists (Draft) in many countries, including and in Argentina, the Melbourne Anarchist Communist Group and Sydney Anarchist Communist Trajectory in Australia, in Brazil, Common Cause (Ontario) and (Quebec) in Canada, and (OCL) in Chile, and in France, in Italy, in Mexico, in Norway, in Peru, the Zabalaza Anarchist Communist Front in South Africa, Collective Action in the United Kingdom, Common Struggle/ in the United States and the Revolutionary Confederation of Anarcho-Syndicalists by the name of N. I. Makhno which is an international anarcho-syndicalist and platformist confederation with sections and individual members in Bulgaria, Georgia, Germany, Israel, Latvia, Russia and Ukraine. Organisations inspired by platformism were also among the founders of the now-defunct International Libertarian Solidarity network and its successor Anarkismo network which is run collaboratively by roughly thirty platformist and specifists organisations around the world. Anarchist ideas have been influential in the development of the Democratic Federation of Northern Syria, more commonly known as Rojava, a de facto autonomous region in northern Syria. Abdullah Öcalan, a founding member of the Kurdistan Workers' Party who is currently imprisoned in Turkey, is an iconic and popular figure in Rojava and whose ideas shaped the region's society and politics. While in prison, Öcalan corresponded with and was influenced by Murray Bookchin, a social anarchist theorist and philosopher who developed communalism and libertarian municipalism. Modelled after Bookchin's ideas, Öcalan developed the theory of democratic confederalism. In March 2005, Öcalan issued his "Declaration of Democratic Confederalism in Kurdistan", calling upon citizens "to stop attacking the government and instead create municipal assemblies, which he called 'democracy without the state. Noam Chomsky stated that anarcho-syndicalism, a classical anarchist school of thought that remains popular and relevant to contemporary anarchism, is "highly relevant to advanced industrial societies". Anarchism continues to generate many philosophies and movements, at times eclectic, drawing upon various sources and syncretic, combining disparate concepts to create new philosophical approaches. Currents New anarchism Self-avowed anarchist scholars such as David Graeber and Andrej Grubačić have written on trends within contemporary anarchism both individually and in collaboration. Writing together, their emphasis is upon a "global revolutionary movement" finding roots in anarchism as opposed to Marxism, and a new generation "much more interested in developing new forms of practice than arguing about the finer points of ideology." Using the phrase "the new anarchists", Graeber elaborates upon practice with regard to globalization, "a 'new language' of civil disobedience", direct democracy, and prefigurative politics. Using the phrase another anarchism, Grubačić situates contemporary anarchism in terms of its historical roots, and emphasizes its "anti-sectarian" nature, rejection of vanguardism, internationalism, decentralization, and direct democracy. Using the phrase new anarchism, political scientist Leonard Williams seeks out an "anarchist metaphysic" of contemporary anarchism and emphasizes its anti-authoritarianism, pluralism, and its "theory of practice." While stipulating a use of the phrase new anarchism that does "not specifically refer to David Graeber's use of the term here in his New Left Review article 'The New Anarchists'", Teoman Gee decries the associations of the phrase with anarchist practices that are anti-historical, polemical, or associated with superficial lifestyle anarchism. Post-anarchism Post-anarchism is a revision of classical anarchism sometimes through the influence of post-structuralists such as Jean Baudrillard, Gilles Deleuze, Michel Foucault, and Jacques Lacan. Post-anarchism is a contested term, with its prefix "post" referring to post-structuralism and/or postmodernism, which themselves are contested terms. Many post-anarchist theorists (e.g., Jason Adams, Todd May, and Saul Newman) invoke post-structuralist writings. The postmodern aspect of post-anarchism involves rejection of universal values and grand theories in favor of plurality and hybridity. Philosopher Benjamin Franks identified three types of post-anarchism: (1) Lyotardian Postanarchism, which proposes replacing classical anarchist (revolutionary) tactics with those of post-structuralists; (2) redemptive postanarchism, to incorporate post-structural theory into existing anarchist practices; and (3) postmodern anarchism, which applies anarchist approaches to globalized oppressions of the late 21st century. Critics of post-anarchism argue that it ignores principles of class warfare and economic exploitation, not producing political action. Duane Rousselle and Saul Newman have advanced a psychoanalytic post-anarchism inspired by the writings of Jacques Lacan. Duane Rousselle’s work brings together thinking from the New Lacanian School of Jacques Lacan and Slavoj Zizek to outline a distinctive approach that takes serious the political challenges of enjoyment or jouissance. Post-left anarchy Post-left anarchy is a recent current in anarchist thought that promotes a critique of anarchism's relationship to traditional left-wing politics, such as its emphasis on class struggle, social revolution, labor unions, the working class, and identity politics. Influenced by anti-authoritarian postmodern philosophy, post-leftists reject Enlightenment rationalism and modernism and deconstruct topics such as gender. While a few advocate for armed insurrection, most advocate for creating spaces and affinity groups to act freely within current society rather than fighting for a utopian ideal. In the United States, CrimethInc., Anarchy: A Journal of Desire Armed, and Green Anarchy are associated with post-leftism, as are many primitivists. CrimethInc, which is influenced by situationism, anarcho-punk, and green anarchy, argues for a DIY folk approach to everyday life, including refusal of work, escaping gender roles, and straight edge lifestyle. See also Anarchism and the Occupy movement Anarchist schools of thought References Bibliography Further reading The Individualist Anarchism of Early Interwar Germany (2018). Constantin Parvulescu. Babeş-Bolyai University, Department of Cinematography and Media, Doctor of Philosophy External links Amster, Randall; et al., eds. (2009). Contemporary Anarchist Studies. London: Routledge. . Retrieved 24 September 2020 – via Google Books. Graham, Robert, ed. (2012). Anarchism: A Documentary History of Libertarian Ideas, Volume Three: The New Anarchism (1974–2012). Montreal: Black Rose Books. . Retrieved 24 September 2020 – via Robert Graham's Anarchism Weblog. History of anarchism

Civic education in the United States

Rationale The promotion of a republic and its values has been an important concern for policy-makers – to impact people's political perceptions, to encourage political participation, and to foster the principles enshrined in the Constitution (e.g. liberty, freedom of speech, civil rights). The subject of "Civics" has been integrated into the Curriculum and Content Standards, to enhance the comprehension of democratic values in the educational system. Civic literature has found that "engaging young children in civic activities from an early age is a positive predictor of their participation in later civic life". As an academic subject, Civics has the instructional objective to promote knowledge that is aligned with self-governance and participation in matters of public concern. These objectives advocate for an instruction that encourages active student participation in democratic decision-making environments, such as voting to elect a course representative for a school government, or deciding on actions that will affect the school environment or community. Thus the intersection of individual and collective decision making activities, are critical to shape "individual's moral development". To reach those goals, civic instructors must promote the adoption of certain skills and attitudes such as "respectful argumentation, debate, information literacy", to support "the development of morally responsible individuals who will shape a morally responsible and civically minded society". In the 21st century, young people are less interested in direct political participation (i.e. being in a political party or even voting), but are motivated to use digital media (e.g. Twitter, Facebook). Digital media enable young people to share and exchange ideas rapidly, enabling the coordination of local communities that promote volunteerism and political activism, in topics principally related to human rights and environmental subjects. Young people are constructing and supporting their political identities in the 21st century by using social media, and digital tools (e.g. text messaging, hashtags, videos) to share, post, reply an opinion or attitude about a political/social topic and to promote social mobilization and support through online mechanism to a wide and diverse audience. Therefore, civics' end-goal in the 21st century must be oriented to "empower the learners to find issues in their immediate communities that seem important to the people with whom they live and associate", once "learners have identified with a personal issue and participated in constructing a collective framing for common issues". Current state According to the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001, one of the purposes of Civic Education is to "foster civic competence and responsibility" which is promoted through the Center for Civic Education’s We the People and Project Citizen initiatives. However, there is a lack of consensus for how this mission should be pursued. The Center for Information & Research on Civic Learning & Engagement (CIRCLE) reviewed state civic education requirements in the United States for 2012. The findings include: All 50 states have social studies standards which include civics and government. 39 states require at least one course in government/civics. 21 states require a state-mandated social studies test which is a decrease from 2001 (34 states). 8 states require students to take a state-mandated government/civics test. 9 states require a social studies test as a requirement for high school graduation. The lack of state-mandated student accountability relating to civics may be a result of a shift in emphasis towards reading and mathematics in response to the 2001 No Child Left Behind Act. There is a movement to require that states utilize the citizenship test as a graduation requirement, but this is seen as a controversial solution to some educators. Students are also demonstrating that their civic knowledge leaves much to be desired. A National Center for Education Statistics NAEP report card for civics (2010) stated that "levels of civic knowledge in U.S. have remained unchanged or even declined over the past century". Specifically, only 24 percent of 4th, 8th, and 12th graders were at or above the proficient level on the National Assessment of Educational Progress in civics. Traditionally, civic education has emphasized the facts of government processes detached from participatory experience. In an effort to combat the existing approach, the National Council for the Social Studies developed the College, Career, and Civic Life (C3) Framework for Social Studies State Standards. The C3 Framework emphasizes "new and active approaches" including the "discussion of controversial issues and current events, deliberation of public issues, service-learning, action civics, participation in simulation and role play, and the use of digital technologies". In the 21st century According to a 2007 study conducted by the Pew Research Center, among teens 12–17 years old, 95% have access to the Internet, 70% go online daily, 80% use social networking sites, and 77% have cell phones. As a result, participatory culture has become a staple for today’s youth, affecting their conceptualization of civic participation. They use Web 2.0 tools (i.e. blogs, podcasts, wikis, social media) to: circulate information (blogs and podcasts); collaborate with peers (wikis); produce and exchange media; and connect with people around the world via social media and online communities. The pervasiveness of participatory digital tools has led to a shift in the way adolescents today perceive civic action and participation. Whereas 20th century civic education embraced the belief of "dutiful citizenship" and civic engagement as a "matter of duty or obligation;" 21st century civic education has shifted to reflect youths' "personally expressive politics" and "peer-to-peer relationships" that promote civic engagement. This shift in students' perceptions has led to classroom civic education experiences that reflect the digital world in which 21st century youth now live, in order to make the content both relevant and meaningful. Civics education classrooms in the 21st century now seek to provide genuine opportunities to actively engage in the consumption, circulation, discussion, and production of civic and political content via Web 2.0 technologies such as blogging, wikis, and social media. Although these tools offer new ways for engagement, interaction, and dialogue, educators have also recognized the need to teach youth how to interact both respectfully and productively with their peers and members of online communities. As a result, many school districts have also begun adopting Media Literacy Frameworks for Engaged Citizenship as a pedagogical approach to prepare students for active participatory citizenship in today’s digital age. This model includes critical analysis of digital media as well as a deep understanding of media literacy as a "collaborative and participatory movement that aims to empower individuals to have a voice and to use it." See also Citizenship education (subject) Civics Legal education in the United States Notes References Further reading Active citizenship Education in the United States

Jugendstil

(; "Youth Style") was an artistic movement, particularly in the decorative arts, that was influential primarily in Germany and elsewhere in Europe to a lesser extent from about 1895 until about 1910. It was the German counterpart of Art Nouveau. The members of the movement were reacting against the historicism and neo-classicism of the official art and architecture academies. It took its name from the art journal , founded by the German artist Georg Hirth. It was especially active in the graphic arts and interior decoration. Its major centers of activity were Munich and Weimar and the Darmstadt Artists' Colony founded in Darmstadt in 1901. Important figures of the movement included the Swiss graphic artist Hermann Obrist, Otto Eckmann, and the Belgian architect and decorator Henry van de Velde. In its earlier years, the style was influenced by the British Modern Style. It was also influenced by Japanese prints. Later, under the Secessionists' influence, it tended toward abstraction and more geometrical forms. History The movement had its origins in Munich with the founding of an association of visual artists in 1892, which broke away from the more formal historical and academic styles of the Academy. Georg Hirth chose the name Munich Secession for the association. Later, the Vienna Secession, founded in 1897 and the Berlin Secession took their own names from the Munich group. The journal of the group, Jugend, begun in 1896, along with another Munich publication, Simplicissimus and Pan in Berlin, became the most visible showcases of the new style. The leading figures of this movement, including Peter Behrens, Bernhard Pankok, and Richard Riemerschmid, as well as the majority of the founding members of the Munich Secession, all provided illustrations to Jugend. In the beginning, the style was used primarily in illustrations and graphic arts. Jugendstil combined floral decoration and sinuous curves with more geometric lines, and soon was used for covers of novels, advertisements, and exhibition posters. Designers often created original styles of typeface that worked harmoniously with the image, such as the Arnold Böcklin typeface created in 1904. Otto Eckmann was one of the most prominent German artists associated with both Jugend and Pan. His favourite animal was the swan, and so great was his influence that the swan came to serve as the symbol of the entire movement. Another prominent designer in the style was Richard Riemerschmid, who made furniture, pottery, and other decorative objects in a sober, geometric style that pointed forward toward Art Deco. The Swiss artist Hermann Obrist, living in Munich, made designs with sinuous double curves, modeled after plants and flowers, which were a prominent motif of the early style. Joseph Maria Olbrich and the Darmstadt Artists' Colony The Darmstadt Artists' Colony is a remarkable collection of Jugendstil buildings created beginning in 1899 by Ernest Ludwig, Grand Duke of Hesse, a grandson of Queen Victoria, to promote both commerce and the arts. He brought together a group of designers to create his new community, including Peter Behrens, Hans Christiansen, and Joseph Maria Olbrich. The Colony architecture represented a complete break with the earlier floral style, and was much bolder in its design. Behrens and several of the other architects built their own houses there, and designed every detail, from the doorknobs to the dishes. The most impressive building of the Colony is the Ernst-Ludwig House, named for the Grand Duke, which contained the workshops of the artists. It was designed by Olbrich, with an entrance in the form of a three-quarter circle, flanked by two statues, Force and Beauty, by Ludwig Habich (1901). Henry van de Velde and Weimar The city of Weimar was another important center of the Jugendstil, thanks largely to the Belgian architect and designer Henry van de Velde. Van de Velde had played an important role in the early Belgian Art Nouveau, building his own house and decorating it in Art Nouveau style, with the strong influence of the British Arts and Crafts Movement. He was a known in Germany for his work in Belgium and Paris, and began a new career in Dresden in 1897, with a display at the Dresden Exposition of decorative arts. His work became known in Germany through decorative arts journals, and he received several commissions for interiors in Berlin, for a villa in Chemnitz, the Folkwang Museum in Hagen, and the Nietzsche House in Weimar for Elisabeth Förster-Nietzsche, the sister of philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche. He settled in Weimar in 1899 and produced a wide variety of decorative works, including silverware and ceramics, all in strikingly original forms. His silverware was particularly unusual: each piece had its own form, with sleek curving lines, but together they formed a harmonious ensemble. In 1902, he decorated the apartment of Count Harry Kessler, a prominent patron of the Impressionist painters. In 1905, with the patronage of the Grand Duke of Weimar, he created the Grand Ducal School of Arts and Crafts in Weimar. He created a showcase of applied arts for the Dresden Exposition of Applied Arts in 1906, decorated with paintings by Ludwig von Hofmann, intended as the main room of a new museum of decoration in Weimar. He transposed the characteristics of his silverware, dishes, and furniture into the architecture. Van de Velde left off the curling vegetal lines of Art Nouveau decoration and replaced them with much simpler, more stylized curves which were part of the structure of his buildings and decorative works. The importance of Weimar as a cultural center of the Jugendstil was ended in 1906, when its main patron, Count Harry Kessler, commissioned Rodin to make a nude statue for the Grand Duke. The Grand Duke was scandalized, and Kessler was forced to resign. The Weimar school of design lost its importance until 1919, when it returned as the Bauhaus under Walter Gropius, and played a major part in the emergence of modern architecture. Peter Behrens and the German Werkbund The architect and designer Peter Behrens (1868–1940) was a key figure in the final years of the Jugendstil, and in the transition to modern architecture. Born in Hamburg, where he studied painting, Behrens moved to Munich in 1890 and worked as a painter, illustrator and bookbinder. In 1890, he was one of the founders of the Munich Secession. In 1899, he was invited to participate in the Darmstadt Artists' Colony, where he designed his own house and all of its contents, including the furniture, towels and dishes. After 1900 he became involved in industrial design and the reform of architecture to more functional forms. In 1902, he participated in the Turin International Exposition, one of the first major Europe-wide showcases of Art Nouveau. In 1907, Behrens and a group of other notable Jugendstil artists, including (Hermann Muthesius, Theodor Fischer, Josef Hoffmann, Joseph Maria Olbrich, Bruno Paul, Richard Riemerschmid, and Fritz Schumacher, created the Deutscher Werkbund. Modeled after the Arts and Crafts movement in England, its goal was to improve and modernize the design of industrial products and everyday objects. He first major project was AEG turbine factory in Berlin (1908–1909). Behren's assistants and students at this time included Mies van der Rohe, C. E. Jeanerette (the future Le Corbusier), and Walter Gropius, the future head of the Bauhaus. The work of Behrens and the Werkbund effectively launched the transition from the Jugendstil to modernism in Germany, and the end of the Jugendstil. Architecture and decoration In Berlin, August Endell was both editor of Pan magazine and a major figure in Jugendstil decoration, designing hotels and theaters, such as the interior of Buntes Theater in Berlin (1901), destroyed during World War II. He designed every detail of the interior down to the nails. with each room in a different color, and on a different theme. He also designed the Hackesche Höfe, a complex of buildings in the centre of Berlin, noted for the imaginative details of the decoration, in spirals and curling forms, Posters and graphic arts The most prominent graphic artist was Otto Eckmann, who produced numerous illustrations for the movement's journal Jugend, in a sinuous, floral style that was similar to the French style. He also created a type style based upon Japanese calligraphy. Joseph Sattler was another graphic artist who contributed to the style through another artistic journal called Pan. Sattler designed a type face often used in Jugendstil. Another important German graphic artist was Josef Rudolf Witzel (1867–1925), who produced many early covers for Jugend, with curving, floral forms which helped shape the style. The magazine Simplicissimus, published in Munich, was also noted for its Jugendstil graphics, as well as for the modern writers it presented, including Thomas Mann and Rainer Maria Rilke. Important illustrators for the magazine included Thomas Theodor Heine. Furniture The ideal of designers of the Jugendstil was to make a house a complete work of art, with everything inside, from the furniture to the carpets and the dishware, silverware and the art, in perfect harmony. With this ideal in mind, they established their own workshops to produce furniture. August Endell, Theodor Fischer, Bruno Paul, and especially Richard Riemerschmid were important figures in Jugendstil furniture. Metalware Metallwarenfabrik Straub & Schweizer (WMF) was, by 1900, the world's largest producer of household metalware, mainly in the Jugendstil style, designed in the WMF Art Studio under Albert Mayer. WMF purchased Orivit, another company known for its Jugendstil pewter, in 1905. Notes and citations Bibliography Art Nouveau Posters German furniture Graphic design History of printing German architectural styles

Hybrid art

Hybrid art is a contemporary art movement in which artists work with frontier areas of science and emerging technologies. Artists work with fields such as biology, robotics, physical sciences, experimental interface technologies (such as speech, gesture, face recognition), artificial intelligence, and information visualization. They address the research in many ways such as undertaking new research agendas, visualizing results in new ways, or critiquing the social implications of the research. The worldwide community has developed new kinds of art festivals, information sources, organizations, and university programs to explore these new arts. Overview/ history of the term Many artists are responding to the central role scientific and technological research plays in contemporary culture. They are going beyond merely using technological tools and gadgets (e.g. computers) in their work to engage deeply with the processes of research. They are creating revolutionary art at the frontiers of scientific research. They see art as an independent zone of research that pursues areas of science and research ignored by mainstream academic disciplines. They are developing technologies that would be rejected by the marketplace but are nonetheless culturally critical. They are pursuing inquiries that are seen as too controversial, too wacky, too improbable, too speculative for regular science and technology. Their theoretical orientation ranges from celebration of human curiosity to critique of science's arrogance. They enter into the processes in research at all stages: setting research agendas, development of research processes, visualization, interpretations of findings, and education of the public. It shares a common origin with computer and internet art, but reaches out to cover many new disciplines. Ars Electronica, which is considered one of leading world organizations concerned with experimental arts, decided at some point before 2010 to create a new category to encompass these kinds of art. Every year they host an international competition for artists working in these experimental fields. They decided to use the name 'Hybrid Art'. The worldwide community of artists, theorists, and journalists interested in this artform are increasingly using this term. Many new support systems have evolved to nurture, show, and interpret this kind of art. New educational programs have been developed. Sample of the research fields addressed in hybrid art Genetics, Bioengineering, stem cells, proteomics Art and Biology of Living Systems: microorganisms, plants, animals, ecology Human Biology: the body, bionics, body manipulation, brain & body processes, body imaging, and medicine Physical Sciences: particle physics, atomic energy, geology, physics, chemistry, astronomy, space science, nanotechnology, materials science Kinetics, Electronics, Robotics: physical computing, ubiquitous computing, mixed reality Alternative Interfaces: motion, gesture, touch, facial expression, speech, wearable computing, 3d sound, and VR Code: algorithms, software art, genetic art, Alife, artificial intelligence Information Systems: databases, surveillance, RFID/barcodes, synthetic cinema, information visualization Telecommunications: telephone, radio, telepresence, web art, mobiles, locative media Organizations Various organizations exist to promote, disseminate, and interpret new art activities. The Leonardo journal published by MIT Press has a 40-year history of "promoting and documenting work at the intersection of the arts, sciences, and technology, and... encouraging and stimulating collaboration between artists, scientists, and technologists." Other organizations offer public events and facilitate the process of artists collaborating with researchers. For example, The Arts Catalyst in the UK seeks to "extend the practice of artists engaging with scientific processes, facilities and technologies in order to reveal and illuminate the social, political and cultural contexts that brought them into being" through public symposia, exhibitions, and commissions. SymbioticA in Australia is an "artistic laboratory dedicated to the research, learning and critique of life sciences." It "provides an opportunity for researchers to pursue curiosity-based explorations free of the demands and constraints associated with the current culture of scientific research." The arts lab is sponsored by the medicine department at the University of Western Australia. Other examples include the Art and Genomics Centre (NL), the LABoral Centro de Arte y Creación Industrial (ES) and Artists in Labs (CH) program. New forms of educational programs are being established at universities around the world. Students are expected to master topics in art, media, and research disciplines. For example, the University of Washington’s DXArts "prepares artists to pursue original creative and technical research in Digital Arts and Experimental Media and pioneer lasting innovations on which future artists and scholars can build." The Conceptual/Information Arts (CIA) is the "experimental program within the Art Department at San Francisco State University dedicated to preparing artists and media experimentors to work at the cutting edge of science and technology". Courses cover topics such as art & biology, robotics, locative media, and physical computing. See also Computer art Cyberarts Digital art Electronic art Internet art New Media art Bioart References Further reading External links  Intersections of Art, Technology, Science & Culture Computer art Visual arts genres BioArt

Parenting

Parenting or child rearing promotes and supports the physical, cognitive, social, emotional, and educational development from infancy to adulthood. Parenting refers to the intricacies of raising a child and not exclusively for a biological relationship. The most common caretakers in parenting are the biological parents of the child in question. However, a caretaker may be an older sibling, step-parent, grandparent, legal guardian, aunt, uncle, other family members, or a family friend. Governments and society may also have a role in child-rearing or upbringing. In many cases, orphaned or abandoned children receive parental care from non-parent or non-blood relations. Others may be adopted, raised in foster care, or placed in an orphanage. Parenting skills vary, and a parent or surrogate with good parenting skills may be referred to as a good parent. Parenting styles vary by historical period, race/ethnicity, social class, preference, and a few other social features. Additionally, research supports that parental history, both in terms of attachments of varying quality and parental psychopathology, particularly in the wake of adverse experiences, can strongly influence parental sensitivity and child outcomes. Parenting may have long-term impacts on adoptive children as well, as recent research has shown that warm adoptive parenting reduces internalizing and externalizing problems of the adoptive children over time. Factors that affect decisions Social class, wealth, culture and income have a very strong impact on what methods of child rearing parents use. Cultural values play a major role in how a parent raises their child. However, parenting is always evolving, as times, cultural practices, social norms, and traditions change. Studies on these factors affecting parenting decisions have shown just that. In psychology, the parental investment theory suggests that basic differences between males and females in parental investment have great adaptive significance and lead to gender differences in mating propensities and preferences. Styles A parenting style is indicative of the overall emotional climate in the home. Developmental psychologist Diana Baumrind proposed three main parenting styles in early child development: authoritative, authoritarian, and permissive. These parenting styles were later expanded to four to include an uninvolved style. These four styles involve combinations of acceptance and responsiveness, and also involve demand and control. Research has found that parenting style is significantly related to a child's subsequent mental health and well-being. In particular, authoritative parenting is positively related to mental health and satisfaction with life, and authoritarian parenting is negatively related to these variables. With authoritarian and permissive parenting on opposite sides of the spectrum, most conventional modern models of parenting fall somewhere in between. Although it is influential, Baumrind's typology has received significant criticism for containing overly broad categorizations and an imprecise and overly idealized description of authoritative parenting. Authoritative parenting Described by Baumrind as the "just right" style, it combines medium level demands on the child and a medium level responsiveness from the parents. Authoritative parents rely on positive reinforcement and infrequent use of punishment. Parents are more aware of a child's feelings and capabilities and support the development of a child's autonomy within reasonable limits. There is a give-and-take atmosphere involved in parent-child communication, and both control and support are balanced. Some research has shown that this style of parenting is more beneficial than the too-hard authoritarian style or the too-soft permissive style. These children score higher in terms of competence, mental health, and social development than those raised in permissive, authoritarian, or neglectful homes. However, Dr. Wendy Grolnick has critiqued Baumrind's use of the term "firm control" in her description of authoritative parenting and argued that there should be clear differentiation between coercive power assertion (which is associated with negative effects on children) and the more positive practices of structure and high expectations. Authoritarian parenting Authoritarian parents are very rigid and strict. High demands are placed on the child, but there is little responsiveness to them. Parents who practice authoritarian-style parenting have a non-negotiable set of rules and expectations strictly enforced and require rigid obedience. When the rules are not followed, punishment is often used to promote and ensure future compliance. There is usually no explanation of punishment except that the child is in trouble for breaking a rule. This parenting style is strongly associated with corporal punishment, such as spanking. This type of parenting seems to be seen more often in working-class families than in the middle class. In 1983, Diana Baumrind found that children raised in an authoritarian-style home were less cheerful, moodier, and more vulnerable to stress. In many cases, these children also demonstrated passive hostility. This parenting style can negatively impact the educational success and career path, while a firm and reassuring parenting style impact positively. Permissive parenting Permissive parenting has become a more popular parenting method for middle-class families than working-class families roughly since the end of WWII. In these settings, a child's freedom and autonomy are highly valued, and parents rely primarily on reasoning and explanation. Parents are undemanding, and thus there tends to be little if any punishment or explicit rules in this parenting style. These parents say that their children are free from external constraints and tend to be highly responsive to whatever it is that the child wants. Children of permissive parents are generally happy but sometimes show low levels of self-control and self-reliance because they lack structure at home. Author Alfie Kohn criticized the study and categorization of permissive parenting, arguing that it serves to "blur the differences between 'permissive' parents who were really just confused and those who were deliberately democratic." Uninvolved parenting An uninvolved or neglectful parenting style is when parents are often emotionally or physically absent. They have little to no expectations from the child and regularly have no communication. They are not responsive to a child's needs and have little to no behavioral expectations. They may consider their children to be "emotionally priceless" and may not engage with them and believe they are giving the child its personal space. If present, they may provide what the child needs for survival with little to no engagement. There is often a large gap between parents and children with this parenting style. Children with little or no communication with their own parents tend to be victimized by other children and may exhibit deviant behavior themselves. Children of uninvolved parents suffer in social competence, academic performance, psychosocial development, and problematic behavior. Intrusive parenting Intrusive parenting is when parents use "parental control and inhibition of adolescents' thoughts, feelings, and emotional expression through the use of love withdrawal, guilt induction, and manipulative tactics" for protecting them from the possible pitfalls, without knowing it can deprive/disturb the adolescents' development and growth period. Intrusive parents may try to set unrealistic expectations on their children by overestimating their intellectual capability and underestimating their physical capability or developmental capability, like enrolling them into more extracurricular activities or enrolling them into certain classes without understanding their child's passion, and it may eventually lead children not taking ownership of activities or develop behavioral problems. Children, especially adolescents might become victims and be "unassertive, avoid confrontation, being eager to please others, and suffer from low self-esteem." They may compare their children to others, like friends and family, and also force their child to be codependent—to a point where the children feel unprepared when they go into the world. Research has shown that this parenting style can lead to "greater under-eating behaviors, risky cyber behaviors, substance use, and depressive symptoms among adolescents." Unconditional parenting Unconditional parenting refers to a parenting approach that is focused on the whole child, emphasizes working with a child to solve problems, and views parental love as a gift. It contrasts with conditional parenting, which focuses on the child's behavior, emphasizes controlling children using rewards and punishments, and views parental love as a privilege to be earned. The concept of unconditional parenting was popularized by author Alfie Kohn in his 2005 book Unconditional Parenting: Moving from Rewards and Punishments to Love and Reason. Kohn differentiates unconditional parenting from what he sees as the caricature of permissive parenting by arguing that parents can be anti-authoritarian and opposed to exerting control while also recognizing the value of respectful adult guidance and a child's need for non-coercive structure in their lives. Trustful parenting Trustful parenting is a child-centered parenting style in which parents trust their children to make decisions, play and explore on their own, and learn from their own mistakes. Research professor Peter Gray argues that trustful parenting was the dominant parenting style in prehistoric hunter-gatherer societies. Gray contrasts trustful parenting with "directive-domineering" parenting, which emphasizes controlling children to train them in obedience (historically involving using child labor to teach subservience to lords and masters), and "directive-protective" parenting, which involves controlling children to protect them from harm. Gray argues that the directive-domineering approach became the predominant parenting style with the spread of agriculture and industry, while the directive-protective approach took over as the dominant approach in the late 20th century. Practices A parenting practice is a specific behavior that a parent uses in raising a child. These practices are used to socialize children. Kuppens et al. found that "researchers have identified overarching parenting dimensions that reflect similar parenting practices, mostly by modeling the relationships among these parenting practices using factor analytic techniques." For example, many parents read aloud to their offspring in the hopes of supporting their linguistic and intellectual development. In cultures with strong oral traditions, such as Indigenous American communities and New Zealand Maori communities, storytelling is a critical parenting practice for children. Parenting practices reflect the cultural understanding of children. Parents in individualistic countries like Germany spend more time engaged in face-to-face interaction with babies and more time talking to the baby about the baby. Parents in more communal cultures, such as West African cultures, spend more time talking to the baby about other people and more time with the baby facing outwards so that the baby sees what the mother sees. Skills and behaviors Parenting skills and behaviors assist parents in leading children into healthy adulthood and development of the child's social skills. The cognitive potential, social skills, and behavioral functioning a child acquires during the early years are positively correlated with the quality of their interactions with their parents. According to the Canadian Council on Learning, children benefit (or avoid poor developmental outcomes) when their parents: Communicate truthfully about events: Authenticity from parents who explain can help their children understand what happened and how they are involved; Maintain consistency: Parents that regularly institute routines can see benefits in their children's behavioral patterns; Utilize resources available to them, reaching out into the community and building a supportive social network; Take an interest in their child's educational and early developmental needs (e.g., Play that enhances socialization, autonomy, cohesion, calmness, and trust.); and Keep open communication lines about what their child is seeing, learning, and doing, and how those things are affecting them. Parenting skills are widely thought to be naturally present in parents; however, there is substantial evidence to the contrary. Those who come from a negative or vulnerable childhood environment frequently (and often unintentionally) mimic their parents' behavior during interactions with their own children. Parents with an inadequate understanding of developmental milestones may also demonstrate problematic parenting. Parenting practices are of particular importance during marital transitions like separation, divorce, and remarriage; if children fail to adequately adjust to these changes, they are at risk of negative outcomes (e.g. increased rule-breaking behavior, problems with peer relationships, and increased emotional difficulties). Research classifies competence and skills required in parenting as follows: Parent-child relationship skills: quality time spent, positive communications, and delighted show of affection. Encouraging desirable behavior: praise and encouragement, nonverbal attention, facilitating engaging activities. Teaching skills and behaviors: being a good example, incidental teaching, human communication of the skill with role-playing and other methods, communicating logical incentives and consequences. Managing misbehavior: establishing firm ground rules and limits, directing discussion, providing clear and calm instructions, communicating and enforcing appropriate consequences, using restrictive tactics like quiet time and time out with an authoritative stance rather than an authoritarian one. Anticipating and planning: advanced planning and preparation for readying the child for challenges, finding out engaging and age-appropriate developmental activities, preparing the token economy for self-management practice with guidance, holding follow-up discussions, identifying possible negative developmental trajectories. Self-regulation skills: monitoring behaviors (own and children's), setting developmentally appropriate goals, evaluating strengths and weaknesses and setting practice tasks, monitoring and preventing internalizing and externalizing behaviors. Mood and coping skills: reframing and discouraging unhelpful thoughts (diversions, goal orientation, and mindfulness), stress and tension management (own and children's), developing personal coping statements and plans for high-risk situations, building mutual respect and consideration between members of the family through collaborative activities and rituals. Partner support skills: improving personal communication, giving and receiving constructive feedback and support, avoiding negative family interaction styles, supporting and finding hope in problems for adaptation, leading collaborative problem solving, promoting relationship happiness and cordiality. Consistency is considered the "backbone" of positive parenting skills and "overprotection" the weakness. The Arbinger Institute adds to these skills and methods of parenting with what the authors of The Parenting Pyramid claims are methods to "parent for things to go right," or in other words steps that should be taken to ensure good positive relationships are occurring in the home which can help children be more willing to listen. Their methods are described as The Parenting Pyramid. The Parenting Pyramid starting at the foundational level and working up to the top: Ways of being Relationship with spouse Relationship with child Teaching and finally, Corrections Believing that as parents are focused on this order of establishing their homes and parenting styles, then if a parent has to encourage different behaviors from children this correction will come from a better place and therefore the children may be more receptive to such feedback, compared to if a parent attempts to correct behaviors before focusing on the previous steps. Parent training Parent psychosocial health can have a significant impact on the parent-child relationship. Group-based parent training and education programs have proven to be effective at improving short-term psychosocial well-being for parents. There are many different types of training parents can take to support their parenting skills. Some groups include Parent-Child Interaction Therapy (PCIT), Parents Management Training (PMT), Positive Parenting Program (Triple P), The Incredible Years, and Behavioral and Emotional Skills Training (BEST). PCIT works with both parents and children in teaching skills to interact more positively and productive. PMT is focused for children aged 3–13, in which parents are the main trainee. They are taught skills to help deal with challenging behaviors from their children. Triple P focus on equipping parents with the information they need to increase confidence and self-sufficiency in managing their children's behavior. The Incredible Years focuses in age infancy-age 12, in which they are broken into small-group-based training in different areas. BEST introduces effective behavior management techniques in one day rather than over the course of a few weeks. Courses are offered to families based on effective training to support additional needs, behavioral guidelines, communication and many others to give guidance throughout learning how to be a parent. Cultural values Parents around the world want what they believe is best for their children. However, parents in different cultures have different ideas of what is best. For example, parents in hunter–gatherer societies or those who survive through subsistence agriculture are likely to promote practical survival skills from a young age. Many such cultures begin teaching children to use sharp tools, including knives, before their first birthdays. In some Indigenous American communities, child work provides children the opportunity to absorb cultural values of collaborative participation and prosocial behavior through observation and activity alongside adults. These communities value respect, participation, and non-interference, the Cherokee principle of respecting autonomy by withholding unsolicited advice. Indigenous American parents also try to encourage curiosity in their children via a permissive parenting style that enables them to explore and learn through observation of the world. Differences in cultural values cause parents to interpret the same behaviors in different ways. For instance, European Americans prize intellectual understanding, especially in a narrow "book learning" sense, and believe that asking questions is a sign of intelligence. Italian parents value social and emotional competence and believe that curiosity demonstrates good interpersonal skills. Dutch parents, however, value independence, long attention spans, and predictability; in their eyes, asking questions is a negative behavior, signifying a lack of independence. Even so, parents around the world share specific prosocial behavioral goals for their children. Hispanic parents value respect and emphasize putting family above the individual. Parents in East Asia prize order in the household above all else. In some cases, this gives rise to high levels of psychological control and even manipulation on the part of the head of the household. The Kipsigis people of Kenya value children who are innovative and wield that intelligence responsibly and helpfully—a behavior they call ng/om. Other cultures, such as in Sweden and Spain, value sociality and happiness as well. Indigenous American cultures It is common for parents in many Indigenous American communities to use different parenting tools such as storytelling —like myths— Consejos (Spanish for "advice"), educational teasing, nonverbal communication, and observational learning to teach their children important values and life lessons. Storytelling is a way for Indigenous American children to learn about their identity, community, and cultural history. Indigenous myths and folklore often personify animals and objects, reaffirming the belief that everything possesses a soul and deserves respect. These stories also help preserve the language and are used to reflect certain values or cultural histories. The Consejo is a narrative form of advice-giving. Rather than directly telling the child what to do in a particular situation, the parent might instead tell a story about a similar situation. The main character in the story is intended to help the child see their decision's implications without directly deciding for them; this teaches the child to be decisive and independent while still providing some guidance. The playful form of teasing is a parenting method used in some Indigenous American communities to keep children out of danger and guide their behavior. This parenting strategy uses stories, fabrications, or empty threats to guide children in making safe, intelligent decisions. For example, a parent may tell a child that there is a monster that jumps on children's backs if they walk alone at night. This explanation can help keep the child safe because instilling that fear creates greater awareness and lessens the likelihood that they will wander alone into trouble. In Navajo families, a child's development is partly focused on the importance of "respect" for all things. "Respect" consists of recognizing the significance of one's relationship with other things and people in the world. Children largely learn about this concept via nonverbal communication between parents and other family members. For example, children are initiated at an early age into the practice of an early morning run under any weather conditions. On this run, the community uses humor and laughter with each other, without directly including the child—who may not wish to get up early and run—to encourage the child to participate and become an active member of the community. Parents also promote participation in the morning runs by placing their child in the snow and having them stay longer if they protest. Indigenous American parents often incorporate children into everyday life, including adult activities, allowing the child to learn through observation. This practice is known as LOPI, Learning by Observing and Pitching In, where children are integrated into all types of mature daily activities and encouraged to observe and contribute in the community. This inclusion as a parenting tool promotes both community participation and learning. One notable example appears in some Mayan communities: young girls are not permitted around the hearth for an extended period of time, since corn is sacred. Although this is an exception to their cultural preference for incorporating children into activities, including cooking, it is a strong example of observational learning. Mayan girls can only watch their mothers making tortillas for a few minutes at a time, but the sacredness of the activity captures their interest. They will then go and practice their mother's movements on other objects, such as kneading thin pieces of plastic like a tortilla. From this practice, when a girl comes of age, she is able to sit down and make tortillas without having ever received any explicit verbal instruction. However, in many cases oppressive circumstances such as forced conversion, land loss, and displacement led to diminishment of traditional Native American parenting techniques. Immigrants in the United States: Ethnic-racial socialization Due to the increasing racial and ethnic diversity in the United States, ethnic-racial socialization research has gained some attention. Parental ethnic-racial socialization is a way of passing down cultural resources to support children of color's psychosocial wellness. The goals of ethnic-racial socialization are: to pass on a positive view of one's ethnic group and to help children cope with racism. Through a meta-analysis of published research on ethnic-racial socialization, ethnic-racial socialization positively affects psychosocial well-being. This meta-analytic review focuses on research relevant to four indicators of psychosocial skills and how they are influenced by developmental stage, race and ethnicity, research designs, and the differences between parent and child self-reports. The dimensions of ethnic-racial socialization that are considered when looking for correlations with psychosocial skills are cultural socialization, preparation for bias, promotion of mistrust, and egalitarianism. Ethnic-racial socialization dimensions are defined as follows: cultural socialization is the process of passing down cultural customs, preparation for bias ranges from positive or negative reactions to racism and discrimination, promotion of mistrust conditions synergy when dealing with other races, and egalitarianism puts similarities between races first. Psychosocial competencies are defined as follows: self-perceptions involve perceived beliefs of academic and social capabilities, interpersonal relationships deal with the quality of relationships, externalizing behaviors deal with observable troublesome behavior, and internalizing behavior deals with emotional intelligence regulation. The multiple ways these domains and competencies interact show small correlations between ethnic-racial socialization and psychosocial wellness, but this parenting practice needs further research. This meta-analysis showed that developmental stages affect how children perceived ethnic-racial socialization. Cultural socialization practices appear to affect children similarly across developmental stages except for preparation for bias and promotion of mistrust which are encouraged for older-aged children. Existing research shows ethnic-racial socialization serves African Americans positively against discrimination. Cross-sectional studies were predicted to have greater effect sizes because correlations are inflated in these kinds of studies. Parental reports of ethnic-racial socialization influence are influenced by "intentions", so child reports tend to be more accurate. Among other conclusions derived from this meta-analysis, cultural socialization and self-perceptions had a small positive correlation. Cultural socialization and promotion of mistrust had a small negative correlation, and interpersonal relationships positively impacted cultural socialization and preparation for bias. In regard to developmental stages, ethnic-racial socialization had a small but positive correlation with self-perceptions during childhood and early adolescence. Based on study designs, there were no significant differences, meaning that cross-sectional studies and longitudinal studies both showed small positive correlations between ethnic-racial socialization and self-perceptions. Reporter differences between parents and children showed positive correlations between ethnic-racial socialization when associated with internalizing behavior and interpersonal relationships. These two correlations showed a greater effect size with child reports compared to parent reports. The meta-analysis on previous research shows only correlations, so there is a need for experimental studies that can show causation amongst the different domains and dimensions. Children's behavior and adaptation to this behavior may indicate a bidirectional effect that can also be addressed by an experimental study. There is evidence to show that ethnic-racial socialization can help children of color obtain social-emotional skills that can help them navigate through racism and discrimination, but further research needs to be done to increase the generalizability of existing research. Across the lifespan Pre-pregnancy Family planning is the decision-making process surrounding whether to become parents or not, and when the right time would be, including planning, preparing, and gathering resources. Prospective parents may assess (among other matters) whether they have access to sufficient financial resources, whether their family situation is stable, and whether they want to undertake the responsibility of raising a child. Worldwide, about 40% of all pregnancies are not planned, and more than 30 million babies are born each year as a result of unplanned pregnancies. Reproductive health and preconception care affect pregnancy, reproductive success, and the physical and mental health of both mother and child. A woman who is underweight, whether due to poverty, eating disorders, or illness, is less likely to have a healthy pregnancy and give birth to a healthy baby than a woman who is healthy. Similarly, a woman who is obese has a higher risk of difficulties, including gestational diabetes. Other health problems, such as infections and iron-deficiency anemia, can be detected and corrected before conception. Pregnancy and prenatal parenting During pregnancy, the unborn child is affected by many decisions made by the parents, particularly choices linked to their lifestyle. The health, activity level, and nutrition available to the mother can affect the child's development before birth. Some mothers, especially in relatively wealthy countries, overeat and spend too much time resting. Other mothers, especially if they are poor or abused, may be overworked and may not be able to eat enough, or may not be able to afford healthful foods with sufficient iron, vitamins, and protein, for the unborn child to develop properly. Newborns and infants Newborn parenting is where the responsibilities of parenthood begin. A newborn's basic needs are food, sleep, comfort, and cleaning, which the parent provides. An infant's only form of communication is crying, while there is some argument that infants have different types of cries for being hungry or in pain, that has largely been refuted. Newborns and young infants require feedings every few hours, which is disruptive to adult sleep cycles. They respond enthusiastically to soft stroking, cuddling, and caressing. Gentle rocking back and forth often calms a crying infant, as do massages and warm baths. Newborns may comfort themselves by sucking their thumb or by using a pacifier. The need to suckle is instinctive and allows newborns to feed. Breastfeeding is the recommended method of feeding by all major infant health organizations. If breastfeeding is not possible or desired, bottle feeding is a common alternative. Other alternatives include feeding breastmilk or formula with a cup, spoon, feeding syringe, or nursing supplement. The forming of attachments is considered the foundation of the infant's capacity to form and conduct relationships throughout life. Attachment is not the same as love or affection, although they often go together. Attachments develop immediately, and a lack of attachment or a seriously disrupted attachment has the potential to cause severe damage to a child's health and well-being. Physically, one may not see symptoms or indications of a disorder, but the child may be affected emotionally. Studies show that children with secure attachments have the ability to form successful relationships, express themselves on an interpersonal basis, and have higher self-esteem. Conversely children who have neglectful or emotionally unavailable caregivers can exhibit behavioral problems such as post-traumatic stress disorder or oppositional defiant disorder. Oppositional-defiant disorder is a pattern of disobedient and rebellious behavior toward authority figures. Toddlers Toddlers are small children between 12 and 36 months old who are much more active than infants and become challenged with learning how to do simple tasks by themselves. At this stage, parents are heavily involved in showing the small child how to do things rather than just doing things for them; it is normal for the toddler to mimic the parents. Toddlers need help to build their vocabulary, increase their communication skills, and manage their emotions. Toddlers will also begin to understand social etiquette, such as being polite and taking turns. Toddlers are very curious about the world around them and are eager to explore it. They seek greater independence and responsibility and may become frustrated when things do not go the way that they want or expect. Tantrums begin at this stage, which is sometimes referred to as the 'Terrible Twos'. Tantrums are often caused by the child's frustration over the particular situation, and are sometimes caused, simply because they are not able to communicate properly. Parents of toddlers are expected to help guide and teach the child, establish basic routines (such as washing hands before meals or brushing teeth before bed), and increase the child's responsibilities. It is also normal for toddlers to be frequently frustrated. It is an essential step to their development. They will learn through experience, trial, and error. This means that they need to experience being frustrated when something does not work for them in order to move on to the next stage. When the toddler is frustrated, they will often misbehave with actions like screaming, hitting or biting. Parents need to be careful when reacting to such behaviors; giving threats or punishments is usually not helpful and might only make the situation worse. Research groups led by Daniel Schechter, Alytia Levendosky, and others have shown that parents with histories of maltreatment and violence exposure often have difficulty helping their toddlers and preschool-age children with the very same emotionally dysregulated behaviors which can remind traumatized parents of their adverse experiences and associated mental states. Regarding gender differences in parenting, data from the US in 2014 states that, on an average day, among adults living in households with children under age 6, women spent 1.0 hours providing physical care (such as bathing or feeding a child) to household children. By contrast, men spent 23 minutes providing physical care. Child Younger children start to become more independent and begin to build friendships. They are able to reason and can make their own decisions in many hypothetical situations. Young children demand constant attention but gradually learn how to deal with boredom and begin to be able to play independently. They enjoy helping and also feeling useful and capable. Parents can assist their children by encouraging social interactions and modeling proper social behaviors. A large part of learning in the early years comes from being involved in activities and household duties. Parents who observe their children in play or join with them in child-driven play have the opportunity to glimpse into their children's world, learn to communicate more effectively with their children, and are given another setting to offer gentle, nurturing guidance. Parents also teach their children health, hygiene, and eating habits through instruction and by example. Parents are expected to make decisions about their child's education. Parenting styles in this area diverge greatly at this stage, with some parents they choose to become heavily involved in arranging organized activities and early learning programs. Other parents choose to let the child develop with few organized activities. Children begin to learn responsibility and consequences for their actions with parental assistance. Some parents provide a small allowance that increases with age to help teach children the value of money and how to be responsible. Parents who are consistent and fair with their discipline, who openly communicate and offer explanations to their children, and who do not neglect the needs of their children in any way often find they have fewer problems with their children as they mature. When child conduct problems are encountered, behavioral and cognitive-behavioral group-based parenting interventions have been found to be effective at improving child conduct, parenting skills, and parental mental health. Adolescents Parents often feel isolated and alone when parenting adolescents. Adolescence can be a time of high risk for children, where newfound freedoms can result in decisions that drastically open up or close off life opportunities. There are also large changes that occur in the brain during adolescence; the emotional center of the brain is now fully developed, but the rational frontal cortex has not matured fully and still is not able to keep all of those emotions in check. Adolescents tend to increase the amount of time spent with peers of the opposite gender; however, they still maintain the amount of time spent with those of the same gender—and do this by decreasing the amount of time spent with their parents. Although adolescents look to peers and adults outside the family for guidance and models for how to behave, parents can remain influential in their development. Studies have shown that parents can have a significant impact, for instance, on how much teens drink. Other studies show that parents continued presence in provides stability and nurture to their developing adolescents. During adolescence children begin to form their identity and start to test and develop the interpersonal and occupational roles that they will assume as adults. Therefore, it is important that parents treat them as young adults. Parental issues at this stage of parenting include dealing with rebelliousness related to a greater desire to partake in risky behaviors. In order to prevent risky behaviors, it is important for the parents to build a trusting relationship with their children. This can be achieved through behavioral control, parental monitoring, consistent discipline, parental warmth and support, inductive reasoning, and strong parent-child communication. When a trusting relationship is built up, adolescents are more likely to approach their parents for help when faced with negative peer pressure. Helping children build a strong foundation will ultimately help them resist negative peer pressure. Not only will a positive relationship between adolescent and parent benefit when faced with peer pressure, it will help with identity-processing in early adolescents. Research by Berzonsky et al. found that adolescents that were open and trusting of their parents were given more freedom and their parents were less likely to track them and control their behavior. Adults Parenting does not usually end when a child turns 18. Support may be needed in a child's life well beyond the adolescent years and can continue into middle and later adulthood. Parenting can be a lifelong process. Parents may provide financial support to their adult children, which can also include providing an inheritance after death. The life perspective and wisdom given by a parent can benefit their adult children in their own lives. Becoming a grandparent is another milestone and has many similarities with parenting. Roles can be reversed in some ways when adult children become caregivers to their elderly parents. Assistance Parents may receive assistance with caring for their children through child care programs. Article 25.2 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights declares that: Childbearing and happiness Data from the British Household Panel Survey and the German Socio-Economic Panel suggests that having up to two children increases happiness in the years around the birth, and mostly only for those who have postponed childbearing. However, having a third child is not shown to increase happiness. Data from a private opinion American survey, called Success Index, suggests that parenting is deemed important for people, especially for those aged 65 and older as compared to those aged 18 to 35. According to the survey, being a parent is now an integral part of the new American Dream. See also References Further reading External links Childhood

Effects of pornography on young people

The effects of pornography on young people are a topic of significant concern and ongoing research, as it encompasses a wide range of psychological, social, and behavioral impacts. As access to the internet has grown, so too has the exposure of young individuals to pornographic content, often before they are emotionally or cognitively prepared to process it. Adolescents turn to pornography for various reasons, including insufficient sex education, sexual arousal, as a coping mechanism, entertainment, alleviating boredom, and exploring their sexual and gender identities. Adolescents may also encounter content that disturbs them. Without alternative narratives, adolescents may develop harmful attitudes about women, sex, LGBTQ people, and people of color, as well as unrealistic expectations about sexual relationships. The use of pornography by adolescents is associated with certain sexual attitudes and behaviors, but causality remain unclear. The discourse around this subject is multifaceted, involving ethical, educational, and parental considerations, and continues to evolve with advancements in technology and changing societal norms. Definition and classification The definition of pornography in research varies, with different terms used, such as "X-rated" or "erotica", and some studies refrain from providing a specific definition. Background Gender stereotypical beliefs and permissive behaviors Gender stereotypical beliefs are understood as a belief that traditional, stereotypical ideas about male and female gender roles and gender relations dominate. These beliefs cover, progressive attitudes towards gender roles, conceptions of women as sexual objects, gender stereotypical beliefs about power imbalance in sexual relationships, and beliefs about gender equality. Pornography consumption prediced stronger stereotype beliefs over time, but not acceptance of rape myths or gendered sexual roles in emerging adulthood, and is overall linked to less progressive sexual beliefs, but the beliefs are low. Permissive sexual behaviors are understood as a positive attitude towards casual sex, often outside of non-binding situations, and romantic relationships. Use of Internet pornography predicted permissive attitudes, and the use is associated with permissive sexual behaviors, however, the impact is generally low. It is, therefore, possible to speak of a relationship between more frequent pornography use and less strict (rather than more permissive) sexual attitudes. Demography When adolescents view pornography, it may be intentional (e.g.) independent searching or unintentional (e.g.) advertising on the Internet or spam emails. The incidence of use ranges from 7% to 98%, depending on the study and the group studied. Methodological differences, technological changes, and cultural context have been cited as reasons for this difference. Male adolescents with autism viewed pornography less often than neurotypical adolescents (ASD 41% vs. neurotypical 76%) and/or masturbated less regularly with pornography (ASD 39% vs. neurotypical 76%). In contrast, no difference was found among female adolescents. Age of first use ranges from 6 to 19 years for heterosexual adolescents, with an average age of 11 years for boys and 12 years for girls. First use of pornography ranges from 6 to 17 years for LGBTQ adolescents. The frequency of use among LGBTQ youth in the literature is often contradictory, with some studies reporting higher frequency than heterosexual youth and others not. How many adolescents come into contact with violence in pornography is unclear; in one survey, about three percent of adolescents have consumed pornography with violence. In another survey, this figure was 29% for boys and 16% for girls. In the U.S., the most common forms of pornography among urban, low-income, black, and Hispanic youth were depictions of heterosexual sex, and in rarer cases, more extreme forms of pornography, such as humiliation, bestiality, bondage, and bukkake. Some youth tended to overestimate their own ability to critically evaluate pornography and to ignore ethical concerns about the pornography industry. Girls are more repulsed by pornography and view it as silly and disgusting, having a negative attitude, and some felt that performers were forced to perform certain acts. While men tend to be less critical and reluctant to discuss the gender-specific effects of pornography. Figures from The Netherlands in 2023: young men watched porn in the previous six months between 65% (13-15 years) and 96% (22-24 years), and young women between 22% (13-15 years) and 75% (22-24 years old). Motivations Adolescents turn to internet pornography for various reasons, including: Curiosity and seeking information about Sex and sexual organs, sex positions/-roles, bodies and behaviors how to behave, and how to masturbate and ejaculate. Pornography serves as a way to learn without the risks associated with actual sexual activity. Initially driven by curiosity about sex and pornography, adolescents later use pornography to understand sexual roles and expectations. It also provides a platform to study different sexual mechanisms and techniques of certain and new sexual acts. However, this is less of a reason to consume pornography, especially for frequent users. The usefulness of new information can predict how engaged individuals are with it. While seeking information ranks lower in frequency compared to arousal and pleasure, it remains more prevalent among males, but it's still unclear which exact subgroups of youth use pornography to learn about sex and sexuality. Adolescents feel that traditional sex education falls short in addressing their questions, making pornography a valuable source of information, because sex education was limited, focusing only on STDs, pregnancy risk, and heterosexual sex, or got skipped. For adolescents, pornography has increased value because it provided information that was not present in sex education. Adolescents saw pornography as an unavoidable or necessary source of information. Suggestions about sex education, include expanding sexual education to critically evaluate pornography, discussing consent, reducing the shame associated with viewing pornography, relationship management, and negotiation skills, and how to learn how to satisfy yourself and your partner. This should also address body image, sexual expectations, and prioritize physical and mental well-being, in terms of pleasure and sexual functioning. Adolescents emphasize the need for open and factual discussions about sex, both with adults and to stimulate discussions in small groups of trusted peers. Arousal and Amplification, a significant driving force behind pornography use, especially among boys, is its reinforcement of masturbation and the fulfillment of sexual desires. Adolescents sometimes use it as a substitute for intimacy after a breakup or when a partner is unavailable. Intimacy and Mate-seeking Motives: Young people reported discussing or viewing pornography with a romantic partner, often to increase sexual desire and satisfaction. But, not everyone sees shared consumption as normal. Some young women view it as a potential threat to the relationship and may not be comfortable integrating pornography into their partnerships, especially if pressured, to use pornography. Shared consumption still tends to adhere to traditional gender roles, with young men more inclined towards it and young women focusing on factors like context, privacy and regulation. For some women, consuming pornography is only acceptable within a relationship, which can indirectly pressure their consumption habits to deal with pornography outside of socially accepted contexts to protect their privacy and reduce stigma. Coping Mechanism: Apart from sexual arousal, a significant reason for using pornography is to cope with and alleviate negative emotions. Helping to manage psychological distress, loneliness, and discomfort. It is suggested as a potential causal relationship between lower mood states and the utilization of pornography as a coping strategy. Boredom and Entertainment: Boredom is a common trigger for engaging with pornography, as individuals often seek stimulating activities to alleviate this state. Seeking entertainment, is another motivation that is more common among boys, and in male groups. Watching pornography with peers allows young individuals to gauge others reactions, helping establish social norms around its consumption, as well as determine specific behaviors, experiences, or bodies seen in pornography. In some cases, family members like fathers or cousins served as initial sources of exposure to pornography, driven by a desire to promote heterosexual behaviors and discourage same-sex activities. Sexual and Gender Identity: LGBTQ youth often use pornography to explore and affirm their sexual or gender identities, gravitating towards content that resonates with them. It serves as a crucial tool for validating their sexual orientation, especially for those who feel marginalized in mainstream narratives. Pornography also acts as a means to gauge their readiness to engage in LGBTQ activities. Initially, they found and used internet pornography as their primary source of information about LGBTQ activities, considering pornography as a kind of "guide" for sexual experiences. Pornography was the only source on LGBTQ sexual activity. If these videos include educational content (e.g., contraception during sexual activity, sexual consent, mutual sexual pleasure), could it be particularly valuable. However, they express a willingness to seek out other sources if such information becomes more readily available online or is covered more extensively in schools or by parents. As LGBTQ youth become more informed about LGBTQ activities, their use of pornography aligns more with their peers. They also view pornography as a "safe space" for sexual exploration and expression, providing a sense of validation for sexual identities and feelings that may face stigma in mainstream culture, especially those of young women and young people with LGBTQ+ identities. Effects Addiction and individual distress Problematic pornography use (PPU) or pornography addiction, was understood as a pattern of pornography viewing which causes significant distress to the individual personally, relationally, socially, educationally, or occupationally. The prevalence of PPU by adolescents, lies at under 5%. Frequent users of pornography are more likely to show symptoms of PPU. Higher levels of depressive symptomatology in adolescent boys, and sexual interest, predicted increase in compulsive use of pornographic material over time. Baseline levels and subsequent growth in pornography use subsequently predicted higher levels of PPU, independent of religiosity, negative emotions, and impulsivity. Higher frequency of pornography use is associated with higher probability of suffering from CSB. LGBTQ-Adolescents aren't more likely to develop PPU. Svedin et. al. found that a moderate consumption of pornography is associated with good mental health in boys, while both extremes (too much or too few) were worse off. Watching deviant (non-mainstream) pornography was associated with worse mental health in boys, but girls were unaffected. Blurring with reality Adolescents generally view pornography neither as (socially) realistic nor a useful source of sexual information compared to real-life experiences. However, more frequent consumption of pornography can lead to a perception of it as being "less unrealistic." Some find it to be a reliable source of information if useful content is present. They exhibit "porn literacy," showing critical thinking skills which teens say can be put to better use the older you are and the more experience you have. The differences between pornography and real sexual situations, according to the adolescents, were: Messages about sex, the body, pleasure, and "risky" sexual acts, the lack of emotion, exaggerated appearance and performance, long duration of sex, the speed of sex, sexual aggression, the roles of women and men in pornography, the inappropriate portrayals of marginalized identities, the loveless content, and the abstinence from condoms were described as unrealistic and misleading. Teens described the content as more show than real sex. This was also echoed by youth who have not seen pornography. Some youth were concerned that other consumers (but not themselves), might draw false lessons or unrealistic expectations (through the third-person effect) from pornography and might experience physical harm from replicating pornography. Compared to adults The impact of pornography on adolescents versus adults is still unclear. Risky sexual behavior and certain gender stereotypes linked to pornography were observed in adults, but not in adolescents. Both groups showed a connection between pornography and permissive sexual attitudes. It is suggested that adolescents' brains might be more sensitive to explicit material, but due to a lack of research this question cannot be answered definitively. Guilt, shame, punishment Arab Adolescents grapple with complex emotions regarding pornography. Some experience guilt and shame, struggling to reconcile the emotional and physiological benefits of pornography with their criticisms of the ethics of pornography and the lack of social acceptance of pornography and sexuality in general. Support mechanisms for discussing negative experiences with pornography are lacking. Many parents avoid conversations about it, and adolescents fear punishment if caught so that adults are perceived as ambivalent or uncertain if they had any questions or curiosity about pornography. Some parents avoid conversations about pornography and sex. Peer discussions on the topic are also limited. Some adolescents who participated in studies were only able to discuss their concerns in the studies they participated in because they would not have had the opportunity to do so before. These studies acted as interventions. Open communication and good relationships are seen as crucial in helping adolescents control their consumption. Better conversations about sex and pornography are believed to improve attitudes about sex, reduce stigma, and prevent abuse, reduce the motivation to consume pornography and to show trust and respect to young people. Some adolescents believe that they have the skills to avoid unwanted pornographic content and to mitigate conflicting feelings and potential consequences that may result from viewing pornography. Along with this, they described being able to avoid unwanted content and deal with their negative feelings. Without such discussions and other perspectives, adolescents feel that that leads to pressure to engage in certain sexual acts, lower self-esteem, mismatched expectations, and disappointment in a sexual experience or unnecessary physical pain, normalization of violence, harassment, coercion, and assault. Some women experienced coercion and harassment. Positive effects Adolescent sexual self-exploration covers a range of factors including sexual insecurity, depression through pornography, self-objectification and the internalization of beauty ideals, body monitoring, adolescent self-image and body image, preoccupation with sexual issues, sexual dissatisfaction, sexual self-development, sexual arousal, and sexual experiences. Research suggests a connection between pornography use and these aspects, but definitive correlations have not been established. The use of pornography by young people has shown associations with reduced anxiety related to early sexual experiences, higher sexual satisfaction in firm and loose relationships, and increased comfort in discussing sex. Some individuals find that viewing bodies in pornography, especially in amateur content, can boost self-esteem. Sexual behavior Adolescent pornography consumption predicted greater sexual engagement, greater sexual insecurity, and greater sexual dissatisfaction, and is linked to sexual intercourse (anal sex, oral sex, sexual encounters, sexual desire, earlier sexual initiation, sex with prostitutes/partners/friends), more experience with casual sex, and a higher likelihood of exercise or experiencing especially among female adolescents. However, there isn't any evidence connecting frequent pornography consumption to a wider range of sexual practices. Meaningful evidence linking pornography and sexual risk behaviors is lacking. It's important to note that these findings are rough, incomplete approximations. On average, adolescents did not have frequent sexual intercourse. This means that porn use among adolescents is more likely to be related to a low frequency of these behaviors rather than their massive occurrence. The extent of sexual aggression and victimization varies. Pornography use is also associated with higher likelihood of talking online about sex with strangers, and fantasizing about trying to copy sexual acts seen in pornography, with some adolescents mimicking what they see. No definitive conclusions can be drawn regarding unprotected or paid sex, but teenage pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases have been associated with pornography use. Women as sexual objects A 2021 review which compiled evidence from other empirical sources such as surveys found that representations of women in pornography may lead adolescent boys to view women as sexual objects, with disregard and disrespect for gender equality. The review, however, does not claim anywhere proving a causal relationship of consuming pornography and changing views of sexual objectification or gender inequality. Legal issues Global legal definitions of pornography have evolved over time in different countries. In Austria, it is self-contained depictions of sexual acts, distorted in a graphic manner, and devoid of any external context of relationships in life. Similarly is in the United States a sexually explicit material judged to be obscene if, the average person, applying contemporary community standards, finds that the work as a whole appeals to prurient interest, the work depicts or describes sexual conduct in a patently offensive way; and the work taken as a whole lacks serious literary, artistic, political or scientific value. The ages when it is legal to watch pornography are different by region, for example in Indonesia it's completely forbidden to use pornography, in the EU minors are not allowed to access pornography, while in Austria's Pornography Act permits depictions that could stimulate lust or mislead sexual drive for those over 16 on a national level, but Austria's states forbid respectively material harmful to youth, pornography or depictions disregarding human dignity under 18. Switzerland generally permits pornography for those over 16. Austria Efforts to protect youth from the effects of pornography date to the 18th century. In the 20th century, laws were passed regulating materials which "endanger the moral welfare of youth" as far back as 1929. This culminated in the 1950 Pornography Act, where the focus shifted from mere depictions of nudity to profiting from it, and was broadened to include stimulation of any sexual feeling at all; the Act is still the basis of Austrian pornography legislation. Social changes in the 1970s resulted in refinements defining which depictions were considered as pornographic based on the standard of an "average person"'s reaction. Case law permitted certain materials to be sold in certain shops as long as the customer's age could be verified, and in 2000 a court permitted broadcasting after midnight as long as a warning message preceded the program. Research issues Methods and ethics Surveys are the main method for studying the effects of pornography on adolescents, due to legal and/or ethical constraints preventing experimental research. In these surveys, young individuals openly discuss their pornography use, for one study author, this indicated a "shift in the position (of pornography) as perverse, deviant, or shameful." The research is based on establishing correlations, which allows for making assumptions about causality but doesn't conclusively prove it (a correlation does not imply causality). This means that it is not possible to draw conclusions about whether the contexts are a consequence or a cause of viewing pornography. It could for example be, that consuming pornography causes certain beliefs or if it's the other way around, or if multiple factors contribute to a particular belief. There's also the possibility that the observed correlation is coincidental. Venues Most studies come from affluent countries like the Netherlands and Sweden, making it challenging to generalize the findings to more sexually conservative nations. Research on pornography often concentrates on potential negative effects, largely neglecting positive ones, this can be justified by theoretical considerations and by cultural concerns of the public. Public debates about adolescents' pornography use often oversimplify how it influences them, assuming that adolescents are uncritical consumers while adults are seen as more discerning. It's unclear which adolescents are most affected by these associations, and there's limited information about the impact on LGBTQ youth. Some behaviors linked to pornography, like casual sex, permissive attitudes, anal sex, or a larger number of partners, may have associated risks under certain circumstances, but they're not inherently harmful. Studies vary in their findings, making it uncertain whether research can definitively answer all questions about the impact of pornography on adolescents. Obstacles There are considerable ethical problems with performing some kinds of research on the effects of pornography use on minors. For example, Rory Reid (UCLA) declared, "Universities don't want their name on the front page of a newspaper for an unethical study exposing minors to porn." The PhD thesis of Marleen J.E. Katayama-Klaassen (2020), at the University of Amsterdam, found a low correlation between pornography and significant effects on youth, and could not show causality. Miranda Horvath, researcher in a 2013 study regarding minors and pornography, also stated: "But it is not possible to establish causation from correlational studies, and to say whether pornography is changing or reinforcing attitudes." Validity Peter and Valkenburg's (2016) systematic review found the literature suggestive but not conclusive that the adolescent brain may be more sensitive to explicit material. Brown and Wisco's (2019) systematic review reached similar conclusions. Future goals An umbrella review stated on this aspect of the types of pornography teens use: "More research is needed on the types of pornography teens use, rather than relying on speculation and opinion. It should be assumed that adolescents are not passive "fools" or "victims" but are critical of social norms (such as the social expectation to disapprove of pornography) and depictions in pornography that are misogynistic, showing fetishization of lesbians, transgender people, and non-binary people which is only made for cisgender heterosexual men's pleasure which perpetuates male dominance and the oppression of women, is racist, homophobic, transphobic, or violent, non-consensual, lack love or intimacy, follow beauty ideals, show little neglected groups, and show superficial depictions that only refer to sexual acts and genitals." See also Child pornography Exploitation of women in mass media Feminist views on pornography Harmful to Minors Influence of mass media Internet addiction disorder Media and American adolescent sexuality Not in Front of the Children Pornography addiction Religious views on pornography Sexting Works cited Jochen Peter & Patti M. Valkenburg (2016) Adolescents and Pornography: A Review of 20 Years of Research In: The Journal of Sex Research, 53:4-5, 509–531, March (free full text) (PDF) Amy J. Peterson, Gillian K. Silver, Heather A. Bell, Stephanie A. Guinosso & Karin K. Coyle (2023) Young People's Views on Pornography and Their Sexual Development, Attitudes, and Behaviors: A Systematic Review and Synthesis of Qualitative Research, American Journal of Sexuality Education, 18:2, 171–209, Bőthe, B., Vaillancourt-Morel, MP., Bergeron, S. et al. Problematic and Non-Problematic Pornography Use Among LGBTQ Adolescents: a Systematic Literature Review. In: Curr Addict Rep 6, 478–494 (2019). (PDF) References Further reading Adolescence Adolescent sexuality Behavioral addiction Digital media use and mental health Internet culture Pornography Research on the effects of pornography Sex and the law Sexuality and computing Sexuality and society Sexuality Sexualization Youth

Acceptance

Acceptance in psychology is a person's recognition and assent to the finality of a situation without attempting to change or protest it. This plays out at both the individual and societal level as people experience change. Types of acceptance The term acceptance is a noun with various meanings. Self-acceptance Self-acceptance is described as the state or ongoing process of striving to be satisfied with one's current self. It is an agreement with oneself to appreciate, validate, and support the self as it is, despite deficiencies and negative past behavior. Some have trouble accepting themselves because of guilt, trauma, or a perceived lack of motivation. Self-acceptance has an effect on a person mentally, emotionally, within relationships and overall life. Psychological acceptance Acceptance is a core element of acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) and cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT). In this context, acceptance is a process that involves actively contacting psychological internal experiences (emotions, sensations, urges, flashbacks, and other private events) directly, fully, without reacting or becoming defensive. The idea is to accept the things one cannot change, such as psychological experiences, but build the courage to change the things one can. Social acceptance Social acceptance as described in The Psychology Dictionary as the acceptance of a person into a group and/or the absence of social disapproval. Essentially whether or not a person fits in with their immediate peer group, such as class, colleagues, or cohort. Social acceptance can be defined as tolerating and welcoming the differences and diversity in others because most people attempt to look and act like others do in order to fit in. Data shows that those with high self-acceptance scores tend to accept others and feel accepted by others. This concerned is heightened for children and teenagers who tend to desire being accepted by friends. When it comes to mental disorders, social acceptance plays a big role in recovery. Many people do not understand mental illness, so they are unsure of how to embrace people who have a disease, leaving these people with feelings of isolation in friend groups. Being accepted by a friend and having support can help with mental health and give a healthy sense of self. Public acceptance Public acceptance is stated as a general agreement that something is satisfactory or right, or that someone should be included in a group. An example of public acceptance would be the LGBTQ+ community. It is a very important aspect to the movement because it involves understanding, and inclusion of many individuals with different gender identities, and sexual orientation within the public and society in general. Cultural acceptance Cultural acceptance is the ability to accept the individual for their cultural beliefs and their principles. This includes religion, cultural language, identity, and their overall beliefs and/or boundaries. Parental acceptance Parental acceptance is described as the affection, nurturance, support or simply the love a parent has for that child and the experience the children can gain from it. Conditional acceptance A type of acceptance that requires modification of the initial conditions before the final acceptance is made, is called conditional acceptance, or qualified acceptance. For instance, in a contract involving two parties, adjustments or modifications may be made to ensure it aligns with the satisfaction of both parties. When a person receives an offer and is willing to agree to it, provided that certain changes are made to its terms or certain conditions or events occur, it is referred to as conditional acceptance. In a business contract between a company and an employer, both parties have the option to change and modify the terms until mutual agreement or acceptance of the contract's details is reached. Expressed acceptance Expressed acceptance involves making an overt and unambiguous acceptance of the set conditions. For example, a person clearly and explicitly agrees to an offer. They accept the terms without any changes. Implied acceptance Implied acceptance refers to a situation where one's intent to consent to the presented conditions is understood or inferred, even if not explicitly stated. Acceptance is implied by an act that indicates a person's assent to the proposed bargain. References Bibliography "The 5 stages of grief." Assortment Articles: Free Online Articles on Health, Science, Education & More. 12 Apr. 2009. "The Last Phase of Grief: Acceptance, Reorganization and Integration." Getting Past Your Past. 14 Apr. 2009. "The need for social acceptance and approval — its power." The Way. Art of Living. Essays. Topically arranged scripture, proverbs, precepts, quotations. Teachings of Jesus. Conservative Christian outlook emphasizing self-discipline, self-denial, integrity, principle, character, chastity, goodness, morality, virtue. 16 Apr. 2009. "Self Acceptance." Become Who You Want To Be. 16 Apr. 2009. "What A Difference A Friend Makes: Social Acceptance Is Key to Mental Health Recovery." Mental illness, mental health information center. 10 Apr. 2009. External links Art of Accepting Emotions Positive mental attitude

Kitchen sink realism

Kitchen sink realism (or kitchen sink drama) is a British cultural movement that developed in the late 1950s and early 1960s in theatre, art, novels, film and television plays, whose protagonists usually could be described as "angry young men" who were disillusioned with modern society. It used a style of social realism which depicted the domestic situations of working-class Britons, living in cramped rented accommodation and spending their off-hours drinking in grimy pubs, to explore controversial social and political issues ranging from abortion to homelessness. The harsh, realistic style contrasted sharply with the escapism of the previous generation's so-called "well-made plays". The films, plays and novels employing this style are often set in poorer industrial areas in the North of England, and use the accents and slang heard in those regions. The film It Always Rains on Sunday (1947) is a precursor of the genre and the John Osborne play Look Back in Anger (1956) is thought of as the first of the genre. The gritty love-triangle of Look Back in Anger, for example, takes place in a cramped, one-room flat in the English Midlands. Shelagh Delaney's 1958 play A Taste of Honey (which was made into a film of the same name in 1961) is about a teenage schoolgirl who has an affair with a black sailor, gets pregnant and then moves in with a gay male acquaintance; it raises issues such as class, ethnicity, gender and sexual orientation. The conventions of the genre have continued into the 2000s, finding expression in such television shows as Coronation Street and EastEnders. The term "Kitchen Sink School" was first used in the visual arts, where the art critic David Sylvester used it in 1954 to describe a group of painters who called themselves the Beaux Arts Quartet, and depicted social realist–type scenes of domestic life. History The cultural movement was rooted in the ideals of social realism, an artistic movement expressed in the visual and other realist arts which depicts working class activities. Many artists who subscribed to social realism were painters with socialist political views. While the movement has some commonalities with Socialist Realism, another style of realism which was the "official art" advocated by the governments of the Soviet Union and other Eastern Bloc countries, the two had several differences. While social realism is a broader type of art that realistically depicts subjects of social concern, Socialist realism is characterized by the glorified depiction of socialist values, such as the emancipation of the proletariat, in a realistic manner. Unlike Socialist realism, social realism is not an official art produced by or under the supervision of the government. The leading characters are often 'anti-heroes' rather than part of a class to be admired, as in Socialist realism. Typically, protagonists in social realism are dissatisfied with their working class lives and the world, rather than being idealised workers who are part of a Socialist utopia in the process of creation. As such, social realism allows more space for the subjectivity of the author to be displayed. Partly, social realism developed as a reaction against Romanticism, which promoted lofty concepts such as the "ineffable" beauty and truth of art and music and even turned them into spiritual ideals. As such, social realism focused on the "ugly realities of contemporary life and sympathized with working class people, particularly the poor." (The quotation is from George Shi, of the University of Fine Arts, Valencia). Features Kitchen sink realism involves working class settings and accents, including accents from Northern England. The films and plays often explore taboo subjects such as adultery, pre-marital sex, abortion, and crime. Origins of the term In the United Kingdom, the term "kitchen sink" derived from expressionist paintings by John Bratby that contained an image of a kitchen sink. Bratby did various kitchen and bathroom-themed paintings, including three paintings of toilets. Bratby's paintings of people often depicted the faces of his subjects as desperate and unsightly. Kitchen sink realism artists painted everyday objects, such as trash cans and beer bottles. The critic David Sylvester wrote an article in 1954 about trends in recent English art, calling his article "The Kitchen Sink" in reference to Bratby's picture. Sylvester argued that there was a new interest among young painters in domestic scenes, with stress on the banality of life. Other artists associated with the kitchen sink style include Derrick Greaves, Edward Middleditch and Jack Smith. 1950s to 1960s Before the 1950s, the United Kingdom's working class were often depicted stereotypically in Noël Coward's drawing room comedies and British films. Kitchen sink realism was seen as being in opposition to the "well-made play", the kind which theatre critic Kenneth Tynan once denounced as being set in "Loamshire", of dramatists like Terence Rattigan. "Well-made plays" were a dramatic genre from nineteenth-century theatre which found its early 20th-century codification in Britain in the form of William Archer's Play-Making: A Manual of Craftmanship (1912), and in the United States with George Pierce Baker's Dramatic Technique (1919). Kitchen sink works were created with the intention of changing that. Their political views were initially labeled as radical, sometimes even anarchic. John Osborne's play Look Back in Anger (1956) depicted young men in a way that is similar to the then-contemporary "Angry Young Men" movement of film and theatre directors. The "angry young men" were a group of mostly working and middle class British playwrights and novelists who became prominent in the 1950s. Following the success of the Osborne play, the label "angry young men" was later applied by British media to describe young writers who were characterised by a disillusionment with traditional British society. The hero of Look Back In Anger is a graduate, but he is working in a manual occupation. It dealt with social alienation, the claustrophobia and frustrations of a provincial life on low incomes. The impact of this work inspired Arnold Wesker, Shelagh Delaney, and numerous others, to write plays of their own. The English Stage Company at the Royal Court Theatre, headed by George Devine and Theatre Workshop organised by Joan Littlewood were particularly prominent in bringing these plays to public attention. Critic John Heilpern wrote that Look Back in Anger expressed such "immensity of feeling and class hatred" that it altered the course of English theatre. The term "Angry theatre" was coined by critic John Russell Taylor. This was all part of the British New Wave—a transposition of the concurrent nouvelle vague film movement in France, some of whose works, such as The 400 Blows of 1959, also emphasised the lives of the urban proletariat. British filmmakers such as Tony Richardson and Lindsay Anderson (see also Free Cinema) channelled their vitriolic anger into film making. Confrontational films such as Saturday Night and Sunday Morning (1960) and A Taste of Honey (1961) were noteworthy movies in the genre. Saturday Night and Sunday Morning is about a young machinist who spends his wages at weekends on drinking and having a good time, until his affair with a married woman leads to her getting pregnant and him being beaten by her husband's cousins to the point of hospitalisation. A Taste of Honey is about a 16-year old schoolgirl with an abusive, alcoholic mother. The schoolgirl starts a relationship with a black sailor and gets pregnant. After the sailor leaves on his ship, Jo moves in with a homosexual acquaintance who assumes the role of surrogate father. A Taste of Honey raises the issues of class, race, gender and sexual orientation. Later, as many of these writers and directors diversified, kitchen sink realism was taken up by television directors who produced television plays. The single play was then a staple of the medium, and Armchair Theatre (1956–68), produced by the ITV contractor ABC, The Wednesday Play (1964–70) and Play for Today (1970–84), both BBC series, contained many works of this kind. Jeremy Sandford's television play Cathy Come Home (1966, directed by Ken Loach for The Wednesday Play slot) for instance, addressed the issue of homelessness. Kitchen sink realism was used in the novels of Stan Barstow, John Braine, Alan Sillitoe and others. Since the 1960s The influence of kitchen sink realism has continued in the work of other more recent British directors such as Ken Loach (whose first directorial roles were in late 1960s kitchen sink dramas) and Mike Leigh. Other directors to continue working within the spirit of kitchen sink realism include Shane Meadows, Andrea Arnold, Clio Barnard, and Lynne Ramsay. The term "neo kitchen sink" has been used for films such as Leigh's 2004 Vera Drake. List of films Look Back in Anger (1959) Room at the Top (1959) Saturday Night and Sunday Morning (1960) The Entertainer (1960) The Angry Silence (1960) A Taste of Honey (1961) A Kind of Loving (1962) The L-Shaped Room (1962) The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner (1962) This Sporting Life (1963) Billy Liar (1963) A Place to Go (1963) Bitter Harvest (1963) Sparrows Can't Sing (1963) The Leather Boys (1964) The Comedy Man (1964) This Is My Street (1964) Alfie (1966) Georgy Girl (1966) The Family Way (1966) Poor Cow (1967) Up the Junction (1968) Kes (1969) Bronco Bullfrog (1969) Spring and Port Wine (1970) List of plays Look Back in Anger (1956) My Flesh, My Blood (Radio play, 1957) A Taste Of Honey (1958) Sparrows Can't Sing (1960) Alfie (1963) Up the Junction (TV play, 1965) Cathy Come Home (TV play, 1966) See also References External links "Beyond the Kitchen Sink" on BBC Radio 4 (2017) BFI: British New Wave Tucker, David, ed. British Social Realism in the Arts Since 1940, London: Palgrave Macmillan, 2011. Sex, Class and Realism. 1950s in British cinema 1950s in British television Cinema of the United Kingdom English drama English literary movements Modern art Social realism Theatre of the United Kingdom Theatrical genres

Situation, task, action, result

The situation, task, action, result (STAR) format is a technique used by interviewers to gather all the relevant information about a specific capability that the job requires. Situation: The interviewer wants you to present a recent challenging situation in which you found yourself. Task: What were you required to achieve? The interviewer will be looking to see what you were trying to achieve from the situation. Some performance development methods use “Target” rather than “Task”. Job interview candidates who describe a “Target” they set themselves instead of an externally imposed “Task” emphasize their own intrinsic motivation to perform and to develop their performance. Action: What did you do? The interviewer will be looking for information on what you did, why you did it and what the alternatives were. Results: What was the outcome of your actions? What did you achieve through your actions? Did you meet your objectives? What did you learn from this experience? Have you used this learning since? The STAR technique is similar to the SOARA technique (Situation, Objective, Action, Result, Aftermath). The STAR technique is also often complemented with an additional R on the end STARR or STAR(R) with the last R resembling reflection. This R aims to gather insight and interviewee's ability to learn and iterate. Whereas the STAR reveals how and what kind of result on an objective was achieved, the STARR with the additional R helps the interviewer to understand what the interviewee learned from the experience and how they would assimilate experiences. The interviewee can define what they would do (differently, the same, or better) next time being posed with a situation. Common questions that the STAR technique can be applied to include conflict management, time management, problem solving and interpersonal skills. References External links The ‘STAR’ technique to answer behavioral interview questions The STAR method explained Job interview Logical consequence Schedule (project_management)

Stilyagi

Stilyagi (, "stylish, style hunters") were members of a youth counterculture from the late 1940s until the early 1960s in the Soviet Union. A stilyaga was primarily distinguished by snappy clothing—preferably foreign-label, acquired from fartsovshchiks (those who engage in fartsovka) —that contrasted with the communist realities of the time, and a fascination with zagranitsa, modern Western music and fashions corresponding to those of the Beat Generation. English writings on Soviet culture variously translated the derogatory term as "dandies", "fashionistas", "beatniks", "hipsters", or "zoot suiters". Today, the stilyagi phenomenon is regarded as one of the Russian historical social trends which further developed during the late Soviet era (notably the Stagnation Period) and allowed "informal" views on life, such as hippies, punks and rappers. Characteristics Their apolitical views, neutral or negative attitudes toward Soviet morality, and their open admiration of modern, especially American, lifestyles were key characteristics that slowly developed during the 1950s. At the dawn of the phenomenon, the stilyagi look was rather a caricature, inspired by movies from abroad of recent years. It resembled the zoot suit but combined different bright colors. By the late '50s, the look had evolved into something more elegant and stylish. Typical stilyagi wear included narrow pants, long jackets, narrow ties, bright-colored shirts, and thick soled shoes. Usually stilyagi enjoyed popular American music of the 1940s, especially swing and boogie-woogie, especially the music of Glenn Miller, Benny Goodman and the soundtrack from the film Sun Valley Serenade. The "serenade" instantly became a cult among stilyagi, and one of its songs, the famous "Chattanooga Choo Choo", served as their unofficial anthem. Stilyagi developed their own styles of dance originating from boogie-woogie and later also adopted rock-n-roll. History and legacy The first stilyagi were from the generation of young adults in their early twenties who had lived through the hard times of economic crisis and World War II, leaving them perturbed about the future of their lives. Many of the young men returning from the army were heavily influenced by the contact with the foreign countries and modern trends at the time. As a result, many of them wore clothes based on images from abroad (early 1940s romance films, daily newspapers and photographs) and young women later adopted styles from modern female stereotypes too. The main cause of this phenomenon was the struggle between capitalism and communist-led societies. The enforced uniformity of the Soviet thought and the heavy weight of its dictatorship were the only politically correct form of view, lifestyle and self-expression permitted during Stalinism. Therefore, the stilyagi sought to follow the modern ideology and morality in order to avoid Soviet pressure and its influence on society. The stilyagi were largely repressed until Stalin's death in 1953, which let the style grow into a counterculture. By 1955, the stilyagi had acquired both respect and contempt from many layers of society (especially the then emerging Soviet upper-middle class, known as "intelligentsia") and were frowned upon in political instances, but had become too many in number to be repressed. Thus, instead of trying to get rid of them, the media and politics, including journalism, eagerly mocked their style by portraying them as ridiculous as opposed to "normal" parts of Soviet society. In the mid-1950s, many people were arrested for making musical recordings on "bones" (developed X-ray films). Those found guilty of manufacturing and distributing such recordings received from three to five years of imprisonment in labour camps for what the government considered to be profiteering. In the late 1950s, the catchphrase "Today he dances jazz, but tomorrow [he] will sell [his] homeland" (Сегодня он танцует джаз, а завтра Родину продаст, Segodnya on tantsuet dzhaz, a zavtra Rodinu prodast), became the stilyagi's signature and the key idea underlying their social protest. Stilyagi were recognized as an official musical, artistic and pop culture movement that later took on further modern influences, notably rockabilly, rock-n-roll and pop rock musical genres. Following the international festival of 1957, however, the USSR became more open to modern culture. The official ban on jazz music was removed, and many records became available in stores from the 1960s. Admiration of modern music, especially the rock-n-roll wave of the sixties, met more tolerance from official ideology and little active resistance. All this contributed to the decline of the movement in the early sixties, as former stilyagi abandoned the lifestyles of their youth, while the next generation felt no need to follow such a lifestyle in order to enjoy modern culture or a nonpolitical way of life. The influence of the stilyagi movement on Soviet-Russian culture is tremendous. Many of today's most respected Russian musicians, writers, film editors and other cultural personalities belonged to the movement, or shared its free, bohemian lifestyle. There is a 2008 Russian comedy musical film, Stilyagi, about this subculture. See also 1950s youth fashion Bikini boys, a similar subculture in Poland Hep cat, another Western counterpart to the Stilyagi Jampec La Sape, a similar movement that originated in the Democratic Republic of Congo during the 1980s 1980s in African fashion Swenka, a South African variant in the 2010s 2010s in African fashion The Moon is a Harsh Mistress, a 1966 novel by Robert A. Heinlein describing a similar fictional subculture on the Moon Potápky, Czech urban youth subculture Swingjugend, Germany Notes References Alan M. Ball (2003). Imagining America: Influence and Images in Twentieth-Century Russia. Lanham, Md.: Rowman & Littlefield. pp. 309. Further reading Georgy Litvinov, Стиляги, как это было. Документальный роман, a documentary book about the subculture based on recollection of famous stilyagas, such as jazzman Aleksei Kozlov (:ru:Козлов, Алексей Семёнович). Чуваки на хатах, Rodina Magazine, no. 7, 2005 Russian youth culture Musical subcultures 1940s fashion Culture of the Soviet Union Fashion aesthetics Counterculture

Parametricism

Parametricism is a style within contemporary avant-garde architecture, promoted as a successor to Modern and Postmodern architecture. The term was coined in 2008 by Patrik Schumacher, an architectural partner of Zaha Hadid (1950–2016). Parametricism has its origin in parametric design, which is based on the constraints in a parametric equation. Parametricism relies on programs, algorithms, and computers to manipulate equations for design purposes. Aspects of parametricism have been used in urban design, architectural design, interior design and furniture design. Proponents of parametricism have declared that one of the defining features is that "Parametricism implies that all elements of the design become parametrically variable and mutually adaptive." According to Schumacher, parametricism is an autopoiesis, or a self-referential system, in which all the elements are interlinked and an outside influence that changes one alters all the others." Parametricism rejects both homogenization (serial repetition) and pure difference (agglomeration of unrelated elements) in favor of differentiation and correlation as key compositional values. The aim is to build up more spatial complexity while maintaining legibility, i.e. to intensify relations between spaces (or elements of a composition) and to adapt to contexts in ways that establish legible connections. This allows architecture to translate the complexity of contemporary life processes in the global Post-Fordist network society. History Parametricism emerged as a theory-driven avant-garde design movement in the early 1990s, with its earliest practitioners – Greg Lynn, Jesse Reiser, Lars Spuybroek, Kas Oosterhuis among many others – harnessing and adapting the then new digital animation software and other advanced computational processes that had been introduced within architecture much earlier by pioneers like John Frazer and Paul Coates, but that only spread to make an impact within avant-garde architecture in the last 10–15 years. Schumacher has said that he believes the work of Frei Otto (1925 - 2015) is a precursor of Parametricism, as Frei "used physical processes as simulations and design engines to 'find' form rather than to draw conventional or invented forms. The inherent lawfulness of the engaged physical processes produced a combination of complexity, rigor and elegance that was otherwise unattainable. The power and beauty of this approach was striking." Early instances of proto-Parametricism, as manifest through the prolific generation of innovative designs and radical experiments within the transitional styles of Deconstructivism and Folding - including the work of the discipline's discourse leaders such as Peter Eisenman, Frank Gehry, Zaha Hadid, Rem Koolhaas, Wolf D. Prix, Bernard Tschumi, and Daniel Libeskind - were later radicalized by younger practitioners who matured in the context of these early practices, and stabilized the discipline around prolonged research programmes thriving on emerging digital technologies, and culminating in the emergence of Parametricism. Parametricism co-evolved with the global shift from the Modernist era of Fordism (mass production) to the Post-Fordist era (mass customization) of contemporary global society, and continues to evolve in an increasingly complex and fluid network of global societal communication systems. Parametricism offers advantages over styles that cannot (because they were never intended to) resonate and respond to the complexity and rapid fluidity of today's society. Despite the persistence of styles such as modernism, minimalism, postmodernism, historicism and deconstructivism, a hard core of continuous innovation in research and building has stabilized around the new heuristics of Parametricism, and is continuing to proliferate the new style in academic and practice domains worldwide. Heuristics Parametricism offers functional and formal heuristics based on set of general abstract rules distilled from a very complex ecosystem of sustained avant-garde design research that spans over twenty five years of continuous innovative communication. Parametricism achieves elegance in both senses of the word – it is unified (compact) and beautiful (vital). Functional heuristics The functional heuristics of Parametricism include both Negative Principles and Positive Principles that have evolved since the mid-1990s across many projects worldwide, and that together constitute unifying heuristics. The Negative Principles include the avoidance of functional stereotypes (i.e. prescriptive program typologies), and the avoidance of segregative functional zoning (i.e. impermeable separation spaces according to single function allocation). The Positive Principles include the networking of parametric activity/event scenarios, and the communication of all spaces, activities and events. Formal heuristics Similar to the Functional heuristics, there are unified Formal heuristics distinguishing Parametricism from other styles of architecture. The Negative Principles include the avoidance of rigid forms that lack malleability; the avoidance of simple repetition that lacks variety; and the avoidance of collage of isolated and unrelated elements that result in a lack of order. The Positive Principles include the intelligent information-rich deformation of soft forms; differentiation of all systems through gradients, thresholds and singularities; and interdependent correlation of all systems. Projects Proto parametricism (1952–1992) Throughout his career, Frei Otto conducted research focused on constructing light-weight, tensile structures through form-finding physical models that performed analog "material computation". This work is regarded as the precursor to Parametricism. His design for the Olympic Stadium, Munich, built for the 1972 Summer Olympics, is a celebrated example of highly innovative lightweight tent construction, designed in collaboration with the architect Günther Behnisch. Early parametricism (1993–2008) Beyond the discursive paradigm shifts that led to the emergence of Parametricism, the ambition of the early built projects (1993-2008) was focused on adapting and innovating manufacturing and construction processes, upgrading the discipline's capacity to translate complex digital designs into constructible material assemblies. One of the earliest built examples, the Water Pavilion (1993-1997), by Lars Spuybroek (NOX) and Kas Oosterhuis (ONL), was the first building to combine continuous geometry with the utilisation of sensors throughout the interior, creating an interactive environment (also known as responsive architecture) where light and sound could be transformed by visitors. Spuybroek's building was praised by the renowned architecture critic Charles Jencks as "yet to be surpassed" in his book The New Paradigm of Architecture. Among the most critically acclaimed and stylistically defining of the earliest projects is the Yokohama International Passenger Terminal (1995-2002), designed by Foreign Office Architects (FOA), headed by Farshid Moussavi and Alejandro Zaera-Polo. The project was praised for its "inventive architectural methodology and socially conscious thinking". The project broke new ground, both formally and socially, enriching a prominent shared urban space. Another notable early example is a project designed by Greg Lynn (FORM), Douglas Garofalo (Garofalo Architects) and Michael McInturf (Michael McInturf Architects) using vector-based animation software (1999). This addition of a 1500-seat sanctuary on the roof of a renovated laundry factory was part of its conversion to the New York Presbyterian Church in Queens, New York (1999). Among the most celebrated and stylistically defining of the early built projects is the Phaeno Science Center in Wolfsburg, Germany, designed by Zaha Hadid Architects starting in 2000. The building opened to the public in 2005, and has been described as a "hypnotic work of architecture - the kind of building that utterly transforms our vision of the future." It won a 2006 RIBA European Award, and the 2006 Institution of Structural Engineers Award for Arts, Leisure and Entertainment Structures. A later example is the 22-story concrete shell tower 0–14 in Dubai, UAE (2007), designed by Reiser + Umemoto. The structural shell creates a unique lace-like facade is modulated for variable light and views. The one meter space between the shell and main enclosure creates natural air movement that cools the glass facade. This is a very early example of the environmental design benefits that are achieved by applying the adaptive heuristics of Parametricism. The building's load-bearing concrete shell eliminates the need for internal columns and load-bearing walls. Morphosis Architects' Giant Interactive Group Corporate Headquarters, designed in 2005-2006 and constructed in 2009–2010, is described by the architects as "emerging organically from complexity". The campus is designed as a village that accommodates a diverse array of functions within a continuous folding plane that undulates in and out of the ground plane, creating a new artificial landscape. Parametricism 1.0 (2009–2014) The most complex and important built projects designed in the style of Parametricism were completed after the global financial crisis of 2008. Coop Himmelb(l)au's Dalian International Conference Center in Dalian, Liaoning, China, was completed in 2012. It has become "an instantly recognizable landmark" and "centerpiece of emerging Central Business District in the city of Dalian, bringing a parametric design to the edge of the Bay of Korea. The dynamically fluid, modulated vector field articulated on the exterior enclosure correlates the level and direction of natural light penetration to the organizational spatial distribution of the interior spaces. The Louis Vuitton Foundation was designed by Gehry Partners between 2006-2014. It is considered "a catalyst internationally for innovation in digital design and construction, setting a new standard for the use of advanced digital and fabrication technologies". The web-hosted, parametric, intelligently adaptable three-dimensional digital model enabled a team of over 400 people to contribute to it. The largest of these projects is Dongdaemun Design Plaza, designed by Zaha Hadid Architects with Samoo, a major urban development landmark in Seoul, South Korea. The project resulted in the 2010 designation of Seoul as the World Design Capital. The most innovative state-of-the-art fabrication techniques were used in shaping the "45,000 aluminium panels of varying sizes and curvatures". The back-lit facade, "described by the designers as 'a field of pixilation and perforation patterns'...[transforms] from a solid entity by day into an animated light show by night". Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport Terminal 2 in Mumbai, India, designed by Skidmore Owings and Merrill and completed in 2014, serves over 40 million people yearly. The terminal is designed to accommodate traditional Indian departure and arrival ceremonies, and the complex veriagated patterns incorporated in the architecture at all scales are reminiscent of native regional patterns. Parametricism 2.0 (2015–present ) In a 2014 debate between Michael Hansmeyer and Patrik Schumacher of ZHA, part of "The New How" lecture series hosted by Alejandro Zaera-Polo at Princeton University School of Architecture, Schumacher introduced "Parametricism 2.0", the "upgraded" and now fully matured "Parametricism with parameters that matter". Schumacher emphasized that after two decades of cumulative build-up of knowledge and experience, Parametricism is now fully prepared to "go mainstream", fulfilling the full gamut of the societal tasks of architecture in the "organization and articulation" of the built environment, including tectonic articulation and environmental adaptation. Examples of projects that fit the Parametricism 2.0 paradigm and are currently in the design phase include Google's California Headquarters by Bjarke Ingels (BIG) and Thomas Heatherwick (Heatherwick Studio), Beijing New Airport Terminal Building in Beijing China by Zaha Hadid Architects - which will be the world's biggest airport terminal, Harbin Cultural Center in Harbin, Heilongjiang, China by MAD Studio, and Earthly Pond Service Center International Horticultural Exposition by HHD-FUN. Outlook Parametricism is a global architectural style that has converged rather than being invented. In Patrik Schumacher's view, parametricism is architecture's answer to our computationally powered network society, representing a paradigmatic shift in architecture after the collapse of the hegemonic style of Modernism, in response to the global shift from the Modernist era of Fordism (mass production) to the Post-Fordist era (mass customization). The style continues to evolve in an increasingly complex and fluid network of global communications. Parametricism evolves with the advancing computational design and fabrication technologies. e.g. multi-agent computational systems, genetic algorithms and robotic fabrication. However, it is imperative to state that the emergence of a new style does not occur solely as the outcome of innovation in the technological arena. "The intelligence that is able to invent and think through such correlations is prior to its computational implementation. And, to a limited extent there can be "computation without computers". In 2020 the online platform Parametricism.com was launched, featuring writings and works of designers and architects affiliated with Parametricism. Curated by an international team consisting of Daniela Ghertovici (ArchAgenda, Chicago), Patrik Schumacher (Zaha Hadid Architects, London) and Lars van Vianen (Scape Agency, Amsterdam), the platform aims to discuss the current discourse and future direction of the style. See also Parametric design Generative design Design computing IJP The Book of Surfaces References Schumacher, Patrik. "11. Parametricism - The Parametric Paradigm and the Formation of a New Style." In The Autopoiesis of Architecture, Volume II A New Agenda for Architecture. Hoboken: John Wiley & Sons, 2012. Lynn, Greg. "CCA - Archeology of the Digital." CCA RSS. Accessed April 13, 2015. Parametricism - A New Global Style for Architecture and Urban Design. Patrik Schumacher, London 2008. Published in: AD Architectural Design - Digital Cities, Vol 79, No 4, July/August 2009, guest editor: Neil Leach, general editor: Helen Castle. External links Parametricism.com Parametricism The future is parametric Parametricism Reading List 20th-century architectural styles Architectural theory

Sexual fetishism

Sexual fetishism or erotic fetishism is a sexual fixation on a nonliving object or body part. The object of interest is called the fetish; the person who has a fetish for that object is a fetishist. A sexual fetish may be regarded as a mental disorder if it causes significant psychosocial distress for the person or has detrimental effects on important areas of their life. Sexual arousal from a particular body part can be further classified as partialism. While medical definitions restrict the term sexual fetishism to objects or body parts, fetish can, in common discourse, also refer to sexual interest in specific activities, peoples, types of people, substances, or situations. Definitions In common parlance, the word fetish is used to refer to any sexually arousing stimuli, not all of which meet the medical criteria for fetishism. This broader usage of fetish covers parts or features of the body (including obesity and body modifications), objects, situations and activities (such as smoking or BDSM). Paraphilias such as urophilia, necrophilia and coprophilia have been described as fetishes. Originally, most medical sources defined fetishism as a sexual interest in non-living objects, body parts or secretions. The publication of the DSM-III in 1980 changed that, by excluding arousal from body parts in its diagnostic criteria for fetishism. In 1987, the revised DSM-III-R introduced a new diagnosis for body part arousal called partialism. The DSM-IV retained this distinction. Martin Kafka argued that partialism should be merged into fetishism because of overlap between the two conditions. The DSM-5 subsequently did so, in 2013. Types In a review of 48 cases of clinical fetishism in 1983, fetishes included clothing (58.3%), rubber and rubber items (22.9%), footwear (14.6%), body parts (14.6%), leather (10.4%), and soft materials or fabrics (6.3%). A 2007 study counted members of Internet discussion groups with the word fetish in their name. Of the groups about body parts or features, 47% belonged to groups about feet (podophilia), 9% about body fluids (including urophilia, scatophilia, lactaphilia, menophilia, mucophilia), 9% about body size, 7% about hair (hair fetish), and 5% about muscles (muscle worship). Less popular groups focused on navels (navel fetishism), legs, body hair, mouth, and nails, among other things. Of the groups about clothing, 33% belonged to groups about clothes worn on the legs or buttocks (such as stockings or skirts), 32% about footwear (shoe fetishism), 12% about underwear (underwear fetishism), and 9% about whole-body wear such as jackets. Less popular object groups focused on headwear, stethoscopes, wristwear, pacifiers, and diapers (diaper fetishism). Erotic asphyxiation is the use of choking to increase the pleasure in sex. The fetish also includes an individualized part that involves choking oneself during the act of masturbation, which is known as auto-erotic asphyxiation. This usually involves a person being connected and strangled by a homemade device that is tight enough to give them pleasure but not tight enough to suffocate them to death. This is dangerous due to the issue of hyperactive pleasure seeking which can result in strangulation when there is no one to help if the device gets too tight and strangles the user. Devotism involves being attracted to disability or body modifications on another person that are the result of amputation for example. Devotism is only a sexual fetish when the person who has the fetish considers the amputated body part on another person the object of sexual interest. Cause Fetishism usually becomes evident during puberty, but may develop prior to that. No single cause for fetishism has been conclusively established. Some explanations invoke classical conditioning. In several experiments, men have been conditioned to show arousal to stimuli like boots, geometric shapes or penny jars by pairing these cues with conventional erotica. According to John Bancroft, conditioning alone cannot explain fetishism, because it does not result in fetishism for most people. He suggests that conditioning combines with some other factor, such as an abnormality in the sexual learning process. Theories of sexual imprinting propose that humans learn to recognize sexually desirable features and activities during childhood. Fetishism could result when a child is imprinted with an overly narrow or incorrect concept of a sex object. Imprinting seems to occur during the child's earliest experiences with arousal and desire, and is based on "an egocentric evaluation of salient reward- or pleasure-related characteristics that differ from one individual to another." Neurological differences may play a role in some cases. Vilayanur S. Ramachandran observed that the region processing sensory input from the feet lies immediately next to the region processing genital stimulation, and suggested an accidental link between these regions could explain the prevalence of foot fetishism. In one unusual case, an anterior temporal lobectomy relieved an epileptic man's fetish for safety pins. Various explanations have been put forth for the rarity of female fetishists. Most fetishes are visual in nature, and males are thought to be more sexually sensitive to visual stimuli. Roy Baumeister suggests that male sexuality is unchangeable, except for a brief period in childhood during which fetishism could become established, while female sexuality is fluid throughout life. Diagnosis Under the DSM-5, fetishism is sexual arousal from nonliving objects or specific nongenital body parts, excluding clothes used for cross-dressing (as that falls under transvestic disorder) and sex toys that are designed for genital stimulation. In order to be diagnosed as fetishistic disorder, the arousal must persist for at least six months and cause significant psychosocial distress or impairment in important areas of their life. In the DSM-IV, sexual interest in body parts was distinguished from fetishism under the name partialism (diagnosed as Paraphilia NOS), but it was merged with fetishistic disorder for the DSM-5. The ReviseF65 project campaigned for the International Classification of Diseases (ICD)’s fetish-related diagnoses to be abolished completely to avoid stigmatizing fetishists. On 18 June 2018, the WHO (World Health Organization) published ICD-11, in which fetishism and fetishistic transvestism (cross-dressing for sexual pleasure) are now removed as psychiatric diagnoses. Moreover, discrimination against fetish-having and BDSM individuals is considered inconsistent with human rights principles endorsed by the United Nations and The World Health Organization. Treatment According to the World Health Organization, fetishistic fantasies are common and should only be treated as a disorder when they impair normal functioning or cause distress. Goals of treatment can include elimination of criminal activity, reduction in reliance on the fetish for sexual satisfaction, improving relationship skills, reducing or removing arousal to the fetish altogether, or increasing arousal towards more acceptable stimuli. The evidence for treatment efficacy is limited and largely based on case studies, and no research on treatment for female fetishists exists. Cognitive behavioral therapy is one popular approach. Cognitive behavioral therapists teach clients to identify and avoid antecedents to fetishistic behavior, and substitute non-fetishistic fantasies for ones involving the fetish. Aversion therapy and covert conditioning can reduce fetishistic arousal in the short term, but requires repetition to sustain the effect. Multiple case studies have also reported treating fetishistic behavior with psychodynamic approaches. Antiandrogens may be prescribed to lower sex drive. Cyproterone acetate is the most commonly used antiandrogen, except in the United States, where it may not be available. A large body of literature has shown that it reduces general sexual fantasies. Side effects may include osteoporosis, liver dysfunction, and feminization. Case studies have found that the antiandrogen medroxyprogesterone acetate is successful in reducing sexual interest, but can have side effects including osteoporosis, diabetes, deep vein thrombosis, feminization, and weight gain. Some hospitals use leuprorelin and goserelin to reduce libido, and while there is presently little evidence for their efficacy, they have fewer side effects than other antiandrogens. A number of studies support the use of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), which may be preferable over antiandrogens because of their relatively benign side effects. Pharmacological agents are an adjunctive treatment which are usually combined with other approaches for maximum effect. Relationship counselors may attempt to reduce dependence on the fetish and improve partner communication using techniques like sensate focusing. Partners may agree to incorporate the fetish into their activities in a controlled, time-limited manner, or set aside only certain days to practice the fetishism. If the fetishist cannot sustain an erection without the fetish object, the therapist might recommend orgasmic reconditioning or covert sensitization to increase arousal to normal stimuli (although the evidence base for these techniques is weak). Occurrence The prevalence of fetishism is not known with certainty. Fetishism is more common in males. In a 2011 study, 30% of men reported fetishistic fantasies, and 24.5% had engaged in fetishistic acts. Of those reporting fantasies, 45% said the fetish was intensely sexually arousing. In a 2014 study, 26.3% of women and 27.8% of men acknowledged any fantasies about "having sex with a fetish or non-sexual object". A content analysis of the sample's favorite fantasies found that 14% of the male fantasies involved fetishism (including feet, nonsexual objects, and specific clothing), and 4.7% focused on a specific body part other than feet. None of the women's favorite fantasies had fetishistic themes. Another study found that 28% of men and 11% of women reported fetishistic arousal (including feet, fabrics, and objects "like shoes, gloves, or plush toys"). 18% of men in a 1980 study reported fetishistic fantasies. Fetishism to the extent that it is seen as a disorder appears to be rare, with less than 1% of general psychiatric patients presenting fetishism as their primary problem. It is also uncommon in forensic populations. History The word fetish derives from the French , which comes from the Portuguese ("spell"), which in turn derives from the Latin ("artificial") and ("to make"). A fetish is an object believed to have supernatural powers, or in particular, a human-made object that has power over others. Essentially, fetishism is the attribution of inherent value or powers to an object. Fétichisme was first used in an erotic context by Alfred Binet in 1887. A slightly earlier concept was Julien Chevalier's azoophilie. Early perspectives on cause Alfred Binet suspected fetishism was the pathological result of associations. He argued that, in certain vulnerable individuals, an emotionally rousing experience with the fetish object in childhood could lead to fetishism. Richard von Krafft-Ebing and Havelock Ellis also believed that fetishism arose from associative experiences, but disagreed on what type of predisposition was necessary. The sexologist Magnus Hirschfeld followed another line of thought when he proposed his theory of partial attractiveness in 1920. According to his argument, sexual attractiveness never originates in a person as a whole but always is the product of the interaction of individual features. He stated that nearly everyone had special interests and thus suffered from a healthy kind of fetishism, while only detaching and overvaluing of a single feature resulted in pathological fetishism. Today, Hirschfeld's theory is often mentioned in the context of gender role specific behavior: females present sexual stimuli by highlighting body parts, clothes or accessories; males react to them. Sigmund Freud believed that sexual fetishism in men derived from the unconscious fear of the mother's genitals, from men's universal fear of castration, and from a man's fantasy that his mother had had a penis but that it had been cut off. He did not discuss sexual fetishism in women. In 1951, Donald Winnicott presented his theory of transitional objects and phenomena, according to which childish actions like thumb sucking and objects like cuddly toys are the source of manifold adult behavior, amongst many others fetishism. He speculated that the child's transitional object became sexualized. Other animals Human fetishism has been compared to Pavlovian conditioning of sexual response in other animals. Sexual attraction to certain cues can be artificially induced in rats. Both male and female rats will develop a sexual preference for neutrally or even noxiously scented partners if those scents are paired with their early sexual experiences. Injecting morphine or oxytocin into a male rat during its first exposure to scented females has the same effect. Rats will also develop sexual preferences for the location of their early sexual experiences, and can be conditioned to show increased arousal in the presence of objects such as a plastic toy fish. One experiment found that rats which are made to wear a Velcro tethering jacket during their formative sexual experiences exhibit severe deficits in sexual performance when not wearing the jacket. Similar sexual conditioning has been demonstrated in gouramis, marmosets and Japanese quails. Possible boot fetishism has been reported in two different primates from the same zoo. Whenever a boot was placed near the first, a common chimpanzee born in captivity, he would invariably stare at it, touch it, become erect, rub his penis against the boot, masturbate, and then consume his ejaculate. The second, a guinea baboon, would become erect while rubbing and smelling the boot, but not masturbate or touch it with his penis. See also Clothing fetishism and fetish-related Clothing fetish Cosplay PVC clothing Sexual roleplay Uniform fetishism Transvestic fetishism References Further reading Bienvenu, Robert (2003). The Development of Sadomasochism as a Cultural Style in the Twentieth-Century United States. Online PDF under Sadomasochism as a Cultural Style. Коловрат Ю. А. Сексуальное волховство и фаллоктенические культы древних славян // История Змиевского края. – Змиев. – 19.10.2008. External links Sexual fetishism Sexual dysfunctions

Multiplicity (subculture)

Multiplicity, also called plurality or polypsychism, is an online subculture of people identifying as having or using multiple personalities, or as having multiple people occupying one mind and body. Multiplicity communities mostly exist online through social media platforms. Definition The coinage multiplicity describes people displaying or experiencing multiple personalities, selves, or identities in one mind and body, each with their own thoughts, emotional reactions, preferences, behavior, memory and sense of self. It commonly covers: Psychological conditions like dissociative identity disorder. Tulpas. Experiences and/or displays of multiple identities due to unspecified (non-traumagenic) causes. Origins and related practices In contrast to dissociative identity disorder, the social movement of people who identify as "multiple" is under-researched. Resources dedicated to multiplicity started to appear early in the internet's history. According to a member of the community interviewed by Vice Magazine, the multiplicity subculture and related vocabulary originated in mailing lists of the 1980s. Playing video games has also been cited as a context in which people engage with multiplicity. Vice suggests that aspects of the online multiplicity community were also found in Haitian Vodou, spirit possession and the Tibetan practice of tulpamancy. Nowadays, an online subculture dedicated to tulpamancy also exists, where practitioners willfully create and engage with tulpas which has been described as an online multiplicity space. Characteristics Multiplicity communities exist online through social media blogging sites like LiveJournal, Tumblr, and more recently, TikTok, Reddit, and YouTube. Composing their members are "systems" of multiple distinct identities or personalities in the same body. Those identities are often called "headmates", "systemmates", and sometimes "alters", and can have different names, ages, genders, sexualities, and personalities from one another. Some other jargon used within multiplicity communities includes: "Fronter", the headmate currently controlling the body. "Fronting", the act of controlling the body. "Co-fronting", when one or more headmates are fronting simultaneously. "Switching", when the fronting headmate switches out to another headmate. "Plural" or "Plurality", other terms for multiplicity. "Headspace" or "inner world", the concept of a mental space in which headmates interact together. "Singlet", referring to a person that does not experience plurality. "Traumagenic", a form of plurality caused by or rooted in psychological trauma. "Endogenic", a form of plurality that has non-traumagenic roots. Role as a support community Participating in online multiplicity communities can remedy social isolation. Ribáry et al. found that for participants, adopting a plural identity helps them cope with identity disorders and that discovering the notion of multiplicity and participating in related communities "is helpful and therapeutic". According to The Plural Association (a Netherlands-based nonprofit founded to "empower Plurals, no matter the words or labels they use to define their unique and individual experiences"), "Denying the existence of separate experiences can be harmful and may not facilitate healing. Acknowledging and respecting the multiplicity-plurality of individuals with DID [Dissociative Identity Disorder] is essential for promoting understanding, acceptance, and support." As a personality style In personality research, the term plurality can also refer to personality style defined as "an individual's relatively consistent inclinations and preferences across contexts". Stephen E. Braude and Rita Carter use a different definition of personality style, defining "personality style" as "personality" and proposing that a person may have multiple selves and not have any relatively consistent inclinations and preferences in personality. This may happen as an adaptation to a change of environment and role within a person's life and may be consciously adopted or encouraged, in a similar way to acting or role-playing. For example, a woman may adopt a kind, nurturing personality when dealing with her children but change to a more aggressive, forceful personality when going to work as a high-flying executive as her responsibilities change. See also References Further reading External links MoreThanOne.info, an information page on plurality Plurality Resource, a website with information and courses on plurality Power to the Plurals, a website with resources on plurality and the plural community Personality typologies Virtual communities Subcultures Plurality

Archetype

The concept of an archetype ( ; ) appears in areas relating to behavior, historical psychology, philosophy and literary analysis. An archetype can be any of the following: a statement, pattern of behavior, prototype, "first" form, or a main model that other statements, patterns of behavior, and objects copy, emulate, or "merge" into. Informal synonyms frequently used for this definition include "standard example", "basic example", and the longer-form "archetypal example"; mathematical archetypes often appear as "canonical examples". the Platonic concept of pure form, believed to embody the fundamental characteristics of a thing. the Jungian psychology concept of an inherited unconscious predisposition, behavioral trait or tendency ("instinct") shared among the members of the species; as any behavioral trait the tendency comes to being by way of patterns of thought, images, affects or pulsions characterized by its qualitative likeness to distinct narrative constructs; unlike personality traits, many of the archetype's fundamental characteristics are shared in common with the collective & are not predominantly defined by the individual's representation of them; and the tendency to utilize archetypal representations is postulated to arise from the evolutionary drive to establish specific cues corresponding with the historical evolutionary environment to better adapt to it. Such evolutionary drives are: survival and thriving in the physical environment, the relating function, acquiring knowledge, etc. It is communicated graphically as archetypal "figures". a constantly-recurring symbol or motif in literature, painting, or mythology. This definition refers to the recurrence of characters or ideas sharing similar traits throughout various, seemingly unrelated cases in classic storytelling, media, etc. This usage of the term draws from both comparative anthropology and from Jungian archetypal theory. Archetypes are also very close analogies to instincts, in that, long before any consciousness develops, it is the impersonal and inherited traits of human beings that present and motivate human behavior. They also continue to influence feelings and behavior even after some degree of consciousness developed later on. Etymology The word archetype, "original pattern from which copies are made," first entered into English usage in the 1540s. It derives from the Latin noun , latinization of the Greek noun , whose adjective form is , which means "first-molded", which is a compound of , "beginning, origin", and , which can mean, among other things, "pattern", "model", or "type". It, thus, referred to the beginning or origin of the pattern, model or type. Archetypes in literature Function Usage of archetypes in specific pieces of writing is a holistic approach, which can help the writing win universal acceptance. This is because readers can relate to and identify with the characters and the situation, both socially and culturally. By deploying common archetypes contextually, a writer aims to impart realism to their work. According to many literary critics, archetypes have a standard and recurring depiction in a particular human culture or the whole human race that ultimately lays concrete pillars and can shape the whole structure in a literary work. Story archetypes Christopher Booker, author of The Seven Basic Plots: Why We Tell Stories, argues that the following basic archetypes underlie all stories: Overcoming the Monster Rags to Riches The Quest Voyage and Return Comedy Tragedy Rebirth These themes coincide with the characters of Jung's archetypes. Literary criticism Archetypal literary criticism argues that archetypes determine the form and function of literary works and that a text's meaning is shaped by cultural and psychological myths. Cultural archetypes are the unknowable basic forms personified or made concrete by recurring images, symbols, or patterns (which may include motifs such as the "quest" or the "heavenly ascent"; recognizable character types such as the "trickster", "saint", "martyr" or the "hero"; symbols such as the apple or the snake; and imagery) and that have all been laden with meaning prior to their inclusion in any particular work. The archetypes reveal shared roles universal among societies, such as the role of the mother in her natural relations with all members of the family. These archetypes create a shared imagery which is defined by many stereotypes that have not separated themselves from the traditional, biological, religious, and mythical framework. Platonic archetypes The origins of the archetypal hypothesis date as far back as Plato. Plato's eidos, or ideas, were pure mental forms that were said to be imprinted in the soul before it was born into the world. Some philosophers also translate the archetype as "essence" in order to avoid confusion with respect to Plato's conceptualization of Forms. While it is tempting to think of Forms as mental entities (ideas) that exist only in our mind, the philosopher insisted that they are independent of any minds (real). Eidos were collective in the sense that they embodied the fundamental characteristics of a thing rather than its specific peculiarities. In the seventeenth century, Sir Thomas Browne and Francis Bacon both employ the word archetype in their writings; Browne in The Garden of Cyrus (1658) attempted to depict archetypes in his usage of symbolic proper-names. Jungian archetypes The concept of psychological archetypes was advanced by the Swiss psychiatrist Carl Jung, c. 1919. Jung has acknowledged that his conceptualization of archetype is influenced by Plato's eidos, which he described as "the formulated meaning of a primordial image by which it was represented symbolically." According to Jung, the term archetype is an explanatory paraphrase of the Platonic eidos, also believed to represent the word form. He maintained that Platonic archetypes are metaphysical ideas, paradigms, or models, and that real things are held to be only copies of these model ideas. However, archetypes are not easily recognizable in Plato's works in the way in which Jung meant them. In Jung's psychological framework, archetypes are innate, libidinally collective schemas, universal prototypes for idea-sensory impression images and may be used to interpret observations. A group of memories and interpretations associated with an archetype is a complex (e.g. a mother complex associated with the mother archetype). Jung treated the archetypes as psychological organs, analogous to physical ones in that both are morphological constructs that arose through evolution. At the same time, it has also been observed that evolution can itself be considered an archetypal construct. Jung states in part one of Man And His Symbols that:While there are a variety of categorizations of archetypes, Jung's configuration is perhaps the most well known and serves as the foundation for many other models. The four major archetypes to emerge from his work, which Jung originally terms primordial images, include the anima/animus, the self, the shadow, and the persona. Additionally, Jung referred to images of the wise old man, the child, the mother, and the maiden. He believed that each human mind retains these basic unconscious understandings of the human condition and the collective knowledge of our species in the construct of the collective unconscious. Neo-Jungian concepts Other authors, such as Carol Pearson and Margaret Mark, have attributed 12 different archetypes to Jung, organized in three overarching categories, based on a fundamental driving force. These include: Other authors, such as Margaret Hartwell and Joshua Chen, go further to give these 12 archetypes families 5 archetypes each. They are as follows: Other uses of archetypes There is also the position that the use of archetypes in different ways is possible because every archetype has multiple manifestations, with each one featuring different attributes. For instance, there is the position that the function of the archetype must be approached according to the context of biological sciences and is accomplished through the concept of the ultimate function. This pertains to the organism's response to those pressures in terms of biological trait. Dichter's application of archetypes Later in the 1900s, a Viennese psychologist named Dr. Ernest Dichter took these psychological constructs and applied them to marketing. Dichter moved to New York around 1939 and sent every ad agency on Madison Avenue a letter boasting of his new discovery. He found that applying these universal themes to products promoted easier discovery and stronger loyalty for brands. See also Allegory of the Cave Archetypal pedagogy Archive for Research in Archetypal Symbolism Character (arts) Cliché Dmuta in Mandaeism Mental model Monomyth Ostensive definition Perennial philosophy Personification Prototype Role reversal Simulacrum Stereotype System archetypes Theory of Forms Type (biology) Wounded healer References External links Archetypal psychology Cultural anthropology Literary concepts Narratology Social psychology Tropes

Dual inheritance theory

Dual inheritance theory (DIT), also known as gene–culture coevolution or biocultural evolution, was developed in the 1960s through early 1980s to explain how human behavior is a product of two different and interacting evolutionary processes: genetic evolution and cultural evolution. Genes and culture continually interact in a feedback loop: changes in genes can lead to changes in culture which can then influence genetic selection, and vice versa. One of the theory's central claims is that culture evolves partly through a Darwinian selection process, which dual inheritance theorists often describe by analogy to genetic evolution. 'Culture', in this context, is defined as 'socially learned behavior', and 'social learning' is defined as copying behaviors observed in others or acquiring behaviors through being taught by others. Most of the modelling done in the field relies on the first dynamic (copying), though it can be extended to teaching. Social learning, at its simplest, involves blind copying of behaviors from a model (someone observed behaving), though it is also understood to have many potential biases, including success bias (copying from those who are perceived to be better off), status bias (copying from those with higher status), homophily (copying from those most like ourselves), conformist bias (disproportionately picking up behaviors that more people are performing), etc. Understanding social learning is a system of pattern replication, and understanding that there are different rates of survival for different socially learned cultural variants, this sets up, by definition, an evolutionary structure: cultural evolution. Because genetic evolution is relatively well understood, most of DIT examines cultural evolution and the interactions between cultural evolution and genetic evolution. Theoretical basis DIT holds that genetic and cultural evolution interacted in the evolution of Homo sapiens. DIT recognizes that the natural selection of genotypes is an important component of the evolution of human behavior and that cultural traits can be constrained by genetic imperatives. However, DIT also recognizes that genetic evolution has endowed the human species with a parallel evolutionary process of cultural evolution. DIT makes three main claims: Culture capacities are adaptations The human capacity to store and transmit culture arose from genetically evolved psychological mechanisms. This implies that at some point during the evolution of the human species a type of social learning leading to cumulative cultural evolution was evolutionarily advantageous. Culture evolves Social learning processes give rise to cultural evolution. Cultural traits are transmitted differently from genetic traits and, therefore, result in different population-level effects on behavioral variation. Genes and culture co-evolve Cultural traits alter the social and physical environments under which genetic selection operates. For example, the cultural adoptions of agriculture and dairying have, in humans, caused genetic selection for the traits to digest starch and lactose, respectively. As another example, it is likely that once culture became adaptive, genetic selection caused a refinement of the cognitive architecture that stores and transmits cultural information. This refinement may have further influenced the way culture is stored and the biases that govern its transmission. DIT also predicts that, under certain situations, cultural evolution may select for traits that are genetically maladaptive. An example of this is the demographic transition, which describes the fall of birth rates within industrialized societies. Dual inheritance theorists hypothesize that the demographic transition may be a result of a prestige bias, where individuals that forgo reproduction to gain more influence in industrial societies are more likely to be chosen as cultural models. View of culture People have defined the word "culture" to describe a large set of different phenomena. A definition that sums up what is meant by "culture" in DIT is: This view of culture emphasizes population thinking by focusing on the process by which culture is generated and maintained. It also views culture as a dynamic property of individuals, as opposed to a view of culture as a superorganic entity to which individuals must conform. This view's main advantage is that it connects individual-level processes to population-level outcomes. Genetic influence on cultural evolution Genes affect cultural evolution via psychological predispositions on cultural learning. Genes encode much of the information needed to form the human brain. Genes constrain the brain's structure and, hence, the ability of the brain to acquire and store culture. Genes may also endow individuals with certain types of transmission bias (described below). Cultural influences on genetic evolution Culture can profoundly influence gene frequencies in a population. Lactase persistence One of the best known examples is the prevalence of the genotype for adult lactose absorption in human populations, such as Northern Europeans and some African societies, with a long history of raising cattle for milk. Until around 7,500 years ago, lactase production stopped shortly after weaning, and in societies which did not develop dairying, such as East Asians and Amerindians, this is still true today. In areas with lactase persistence, it is believed that by domesticating animals, a source of milk became available while an adult and thus strong selection for lactase persistence could occur; in a Scandinavian population, the estimated selection coefficient was 0.09-0.19. This implies that the cultural practice of raising cattle first for meat and later for milk led to selection for genetic traits for lactose digestion. Recently, analysis of natural selection on the human genome suggests that civilization has accelerated genetic change in humans over the past 10,000 years. Food processing Culture has driven changes to the human digestive systems making many digestive organs, such as teeth or stomach, smaller than expected for primates of a similar size, and has been attributed to one of the reasons why humans have such large brains compared to other great apes. This is due to food processing. Early examples of food processing include pounding, marinating and most notably cooking. Pounding meat breaks down the muscle fibres, hence taking away some of the job from the mouth, teeth and jaw. Marinating emulates the action of the stomach with high acid levels. Cooking partially breaks down food making it more easily digestible. Food enters the body effectively partly digested, and as such food processing reduces the work that the digestive system has to do. This means that there is selection for smaller digestive organs as the tissue is energetically expensive, those with smaller digestive organs can process their food but at a lower energetic cost than those with larger organs. Cooking is notable because the energy available from food increases when cooked and this also means less time is spent looking for food. Humans living on cooked diets spend only a fraction of their day chewing compared to other extant primates living on raw diets. American girls and boys spent on average 7 to 8 percent of their day chewing respectively (1.68 to 1.92 hours per day), compared to chimpanzees, who spend more than 6 hours a day chewing. This frees up time which can be used for hunting. A raw diet means hunting is constrained since time spent hunting is time not spent eating and chewing plant material, but cooking reduces the time required to get the day's energy requirements, allowing for more subsistence activities. Digestibility of cooked carbohydrates is approximately on average 30% higher than digestibility of non-cooked carbohydrates. This increased energy intake, more free time and savings made on tissue used in the digestive system allowed for the selection of genes for larger brain size. Despite its benefits, brain tissue requires a large amount of calories, hence a main constraint in selection for larger brains is calorie intake. A greater calorie intake can support greater quantities of brain tissue. This is argued to explain why human brains can be much larger than other apes, since humans are the only ape to engage in food processing. The cooking of food has influenced genes to the extent that, research suggests, humans cannot live without cooking. A study on 513 individuals consuming long-term raw diets found that as the percentage of their diet which was made up of raw food and/or the length they had been on a diet of raw food increased, their BMI decreased. This is despite access to many non-thermal processing, like grinding, pounding or heating to 48 °C. (118 °F). With approximately 86 billion neurons in the human brain and 60–70 kg body mass, an exclusively raw diet close to that of what extant primates have would be not viable as, when modelled, it is argued that it would require an infeasible level of more than nine hours of feeding every day. However, this is contested, with alternative modelling showing enough calories could be obtained within 5–6 hours per day. Some scientists and anthropologists point to evidence that brain size in the Homo lineage started to increase well before the advent of cooking due to increased consumption of meat and that basic food processing (slicing) accounts for the size reduction in organs related to chewing. Cornélio et al. argues that improving cooperative abilities and a varying of diet to more meat and seeds improved foraging and hunting efficiency. It is this that allowed for the brain expansion, independent of cooking which they argue came much later, a consequence from the complex cognition that developed. Yet this is still an example of a cultural shift in diet and the resulting genetic evolution. Further criticism comes from the controversy of the archaeological evidence available. Some claim there is a lack of evidence of fire control when brain sizes first started expanding. Wrangham argues that anatomical evidence around the time of the origin of Homo erectus (1.8 million years ago), indicates that the control of fire and hence cooking occurred. At this time, the largest reductions in tooth size in the entirety of human evolution occurred, indicating that softer foods became prevalent in the diet. Also at this time was a narrowing of the pelvis indicating a smaller gut and also there is evidence that there was a loss of the ability to climb which Wrangham argues indicates the control of fire, since sleeping on the ground needs fire to ward off predators. The proposed increases in brain size from food processing will have led to a greater mental capacity for further cultural innovation in food processing which will have increased digestive efficiency further providing more energy for further gains in brain size. This positive feedback loop is argued to have led to the rapid brain size increases seen in the Homo lineage. Mechanisms of cultural evolution In DIT, the evolution and maintenance of cultures is described by five major mechanisms: natural selection of cultural variants, random variation, cultural drift, guided variation and transmission bias. Natural selection Differences between cultural phenomena result in differential rates of their spread; similarly, cultural differences among individuals can lead to differential survival and reproduction rates of individuals. The patterns of this selective process depend on transmission biases and can result in behavior that is more adaptive to a given environment. Random variation Random variation arises from errors in the learning, display or recall of cultural information, and is roughly analogous to the process of mutation in genetic evolution. Cultural drift Cultural drift is a process roughly analogous to genetic drift in evolutionary biology. In cultural drift, the frequency of cultural traits in a population may be subject to random fluctuations due to chance variations in which traits are observed and transmitted (sometimes called "sampling error"). These fluctuations might cause cultural variants to disappear from a population. This effect should be especially strong in small populations. A model by Hahn and Bentley shows that cultural drift gives a reasonably good approximation to changes in the popularity of American baby names. Drift processes have also been suggested to explain changes in archaeological pottery and technology patent applications. Changes in the songs of song birds are also thought to arise from drift processes, where distinct dialects in different groups occur due to errors in songbird singing and acquisition by successive generations. Cultural drift is also observed in an early computer model of cultural evolution. Guided variation Cultural traits may be gained in a population through the process of individual learning. Once an individual learns a novel trait, it can be transmitted to other members of the population. The process of guided variation depends on an adaptive standard that determines what cultural variants are learned. Biased transmission Understanding the different ways that culture traits can be transmitted between individuals has been an important part of DIT research since the 1970s. Transmission biases occur when some cultural variants are favored over others during the process of cultural transmission. Boyd and Richerson (1985) defined and analytically modeled a number of possible transmission biases. The list of biases has been refined over the years, especially by Henrich and McElreath. Content bias Content biases result from situations where some aspect of a cultural variant's content makes them more likely to be adopted. Content biases can result from genetic preferences, preferences determined by existing cultural traits, or a combination of the two. For example, food preferences can result from genetic preferences for sugary or fatty foods and socially-learned eating practices and taboos. Content biases are sometimes called "direct biases." Context bias Context biases result from individuals using clues about the social structure of their population to determine what cultural variants to adopt. This determination is made without reference to the content of the variant. There are two major categories of context biases: model-based biases, and frequency-dependent biases. Model-based biases Model-based biases result when an individual is biased to choose a particular "cultural model" to imitate. There are four major categories of model-based biases: prestige bias, skill bias, success bias, and similarity bias. A "prestige bias" results when individuals are more likely to imitate cultural models that are seen as having more prestige. A measure of prestige could be the amount of deference shown to a potential cultural model by other individuals. A "skill bias" results when individuals can directly observe different cultural models performing a learned skill and are more likely to imitate cultural models that perform better at the specific skill. A "success bias" results from individuals preferentially imitating cultural models that they determine are most generally successful (as opposed to successful at a specific skill as in the skill bias.) A "similarity bias" results when individuals are more likely to imitate cultural models that are perceived as being similar to the individual based on specific traits. Frequency-dependent biases Frequency-dependent biases result when an individual is biased to choose particular cultural variants based on their perceived frequency in the population. The most explored frequency-dependent bias is the "conformity bias." Conformity biases result when individuals attempt to copy the mean or the mode cultural variant in the population. Another possible frequency dependent bias is the "rarity bias." The rarity bias results when individuals preferentially choose cultural variants that are less common in the population. The rarity bias is also sometimes called a "nonconformist" or "anti-conformist" bias. Social learning and cumulative cultural evolution In DIT, the evolution of culture is dependent on the evolution of social learning. Analytic models show that social learning becomes evolutionarily beneficial when the environment changes with enough frequency that genetic inheritance can not track the changes, but not fast enough that individual learning is more efficient. For environments that have very little variability, social learning is not needed since genes can adapt fast enough to the changes that occur, and innate behaviour is able to deal with the constant environment. In fast changing environments cultural learning would not be useful because what the previous generation knew is now outdated and will provide no benefit in the changed environment, and hence individual learning is more beneficial. It is only in the moderately changing environment where cultural learning becomes useful since each generation shares a mostly similar environment but genes have insufficient time to change to changes in the environment. While other species have social learning, and thus some level of culture, only humans, some birds and chimpanzees are known to have cumulative culture. Boyd and Richerson argue that the evolution of cumulative culture depends on observational learning and is uncommon in other species because it is ineffective when it is rare in a population. They propose that the environmental changes occurring in the Pleistocene may have provided the right environmental conditions. Michael Tomasello argues that cumulative cultural evolution results from a ratchet effect that began when humans developed the cognitive architecture to understand others as mental agents. Furthermore, Tomasello proposed in the 80s that there are some disparities between the observational learning mechanisms found in humans and great apes - which go some way to explain the observable difference between great ape traditions and human types of culture (see Emulation (observational learning)). Cultural group selection Although group selection is commonly thought to be nonexistent or unimportant in genetic evolution, DIT predicts that, due to the nature of cultural inheritance, it may be an important force in cultural evolution. Group selection occurs in cultural evolution because conformist biases make it difficult for novel cultural traits to spread through a population (see above section on transmission biases). Conformist bias also helps maintain variation between groups. These two properties, rare in genetic transmission, are necessary for group selection to operate. Based on an earlier model by Cavalli-Sforza and Feldman, Boyd and Richerson show that conformist biases are almost inevitable when traits spread through social learning, implying that group selection is common in cultural evolution. Analysis of small groups in New Guinea imply that cultural group selection might be a good explanation for slowly changing aspects of social structure, but not for rapidly changing fads. The ability of cultural evolution to maintain intergroup diversity is what allows for the study of cultural phylogenetics. Historical development In 1876, Friedrich Engels wrote a manuscript titled The Part Played by Labour in the Transition from Ape to Man, accredited as a founding document of DIT; “The approach to gene-culture coevolution first developed by Engels and developed later on by anthropologists…” is described by Stephen Jay Gould as “…the best nineteenth-century case for gene-culture coevolution.” The idea that human cultures undergo a similar evolutionary process as genetic evolution also goes back to Darwin. In the 1960s, Donald T. Campbell published some of the first theoretical work that adapted principles of evolutionary theory to the evolution of cultures. In 1976, two developments in cultural evolutionary theory set the stage for DIT. In that year Richard Dawkins's The Selfish Gene introduced ideas of cultural evolution to a popular audience. Although one of the best-selling science books of all time, because of its lack of mathematical rigor, it had little effect on the development of DIT. Also in 1976, geneticists Marcus Feldman and Luigi Luca Cavalli-Sforza published the first dynamic models of gene–culture coevolution. These models were to form the basis for subsequent work on DIT, heralded by the publication of three seminal books in the 1980s. The first was Charles Lumsden and E.O. Wilson's Genes, Mind and Culture. This book outlined a series of mathematical models of how genetic evolution might favor the selection of cultural traits and how cultural traits might, in turn, affect the speed of genetic evolution. While it was the first book published describing how genes and culture might coevolve, it had relatively little effect on the further development of DIT. Some critics felt that their models depended too heavily on genetic mechanisms at the expense of cultural mechanisms. Controversy surrounding Wilson's sociobiological theories may also have decreased the lasting effect of this book. The second 1981 book was Cavalli-Sforza and Feldman's Cultural Transmission and Evolution: A Quantitative Approach. Borrowing heavily from population genetics and epidemiology, this book built a mathematical theory concerning the spread of cultural traits. It describes the evolutionary implications of vertical transmission, passing cultural traits from parents to offspring; oblique transmission, passing cultural traits from any member of an older generation to a younger generation; and horizontal transmission, passing traits between members of the same population. The next significant DIT publication was Robert Boyd and Peter Richerson's 1985 Culture and the Evolutionary Process. This book presents the now-standard mathematical models of the evolution of social learning under different environmental conditions, the population effects of social learning, various forces of selection on cultural learning rules, different forms of biased transmission and their population-level effects, and conflicts between cultural and genetic evolution. The book's conclusion also outlined areas for future research that are still relevant today. Current and future research In their 1985 book, Boyd and Richerson outlined an agenda for future DIT research. This agenda, outlined below, called for the development of both theoretical models and empirical research. DIT has since built a rich tradition of theoretical models over the past two decades. However, there has not been a comparable level of empirical work. In a 2006 interview Harvard biologist E. O. Wilson expressed disappointment at the little attention afforded to DIT: Kevin Laland and Gillian Ruth Brown attribute this lack of attention to DIT's heavy reliance on formal modeling. Economist Herbert Gintis disagrees with this critique, citing empirical work as well as more recent work using techniques from behavioral economics. These behavioral economic techniques have been adapted to test predictions of cultural evolutionary models in laboratory settings as well as studying differences in cooperation in fifteen small-scale societies in the field. Since one of the goals of DIT is to explain the distribution of human cultural traits, ethnographic and ethnologic techniques may also be useful for testing hypothesis stemming from DIT. Although findings from traditional ethnologic studies have been used to buttress DIT arguments, thus far there have been little ethnographic fieldwork designed to explicitly test these hypotheses. Herb Gintis has named DIT one of the two major conceptual theories with potential for unifying the behavioral sciences, including economics, biology, anthropology, sociology, psychology and political science. Because it addresses both the genetic and cultural components of human inheritance, Gintis sees DIT models as providing the best explanations for the ultimate cause of human behavior and the best paradigm for integrating those disciplines with evolutionary theory. In a review of competing evolutionary perspectives on human behavior, Laland and Brown see DIT as the best candidate for uniting the other evolutionary perspectives under one theoretical umbrella. Relation to other fields Sociology and cultural anthropology Two major topics of study in both sociology and cultural anthropology are human cultures and cultural variation. However, Dual Inheritance theorists charge that both disciplines too often treat culture as a static superorganic entity that dictates human behavior. Cultures are defined by a suite of common traits shared by a large group of people. DIT theorists argue that this doesn't sufficiently explain variation in cultural traits at the individual level. By contrast, DIT models human culture at the individual level and views culture as the result of a dynamic evolutionary process at the population level. Human sociobiology and evolutionary psychology Evolutionary psychologists study the evolved architecture of the human mind. They see it as composed of many different programs that process information, each with assumptions and procedures that were specialized by natural selection to solve a different adaptive problem faced by our hunter-gatherer ancestors (e.g., choosing mates, hunting, avoiding predators, cooperating, using aggression). These evolved programs contain content-rich assumptions about how the world and other people work. When ideas are passed from mind to mind, they are changed by these evolved inference systems (much like messages get changed in a game of telephone). But the changes are not usually random. Evolved programs add and subtract information, reshaping the ideas in ways that make them more "intuitive", more memorable, and more attention-grabbing. In other words, "memes" (ideas) are not precisely like genes. Genes are normally copied faithfully as they are replicated, but ideas normally are not. It's not just that ideas mutate every once in a while, like genes do. Ideas are transformed every time they are passed from mind to mind, because the sender's message is being interpreted by evolved inference systems in the receiver. It is useful for some applications to note, however, that there are ways to pass ideas which are more resilient and involve substantially less mutation, such as by mass distribution of printed media. There is no necessary contradiction between evolutionary psychology and DIT, but evolutionary psychologists argue that the psychology implicit in many DIT models is too simple; evolved programs have a rich inferential structure not captured by the idea of a "content bias". They also argue that some of the phenomena DIT models attribute to cultural evolution are cases of "evoked culture"—situations in which different evolved programs are activated in different places, in response to cues in the environment. Sociobiologists try to understand how maximizing genetic fitness, in either the modern era or past environments, can explain human behavior. When faced with a trait that seems maladaptive, some sociobiologists try to determine how the trait actually increases genetic fitness (maybe through kin selection or by speculating about early evolutionary environments). Dual inheritance theorists, in contrast, will consider a variety of genetic and cultural processes in addition to natural selection on genes. Human behavioral ecology Human behavioral ecology (HBE) and DIT have a similar relationship to what ecology and evolutionary biology have in the biological sciences. HBE is more concerned about ecological process and DIT more focused on historical process. One difference is that human behavioral ecologists often assume that culture is a system that produces the most adaptive outcome in a given environment. This implies that similar behavioral traditions should be found in similar environments. However, this is not always the case. A study of African cultures showed that cultural history was a better predictor of cultural traits than local ecological conditions. Memetics Memetics, which comes from the meme idea described in Dawkins's The Selfish Gene, is similar to DIT in that it treats culture as an evolutionary process that is distinct from genetic transmission. However, there are some philosophical differences between memetics and DIT. One difference is that memetics' focus is on the selection potential of discrete replicators (memes), where DIT allows for transmission of both non-replicators and non-discrete cultural variants. DIT does not assume that replicators are necessary for cumulative adaptive evolution. DIT also more strongly emphasizes the role of genetic inheritance in shaping the capacity for cultural evolution. But perhaps the biggest difference is a difference in academic lineage. Memetics as a label is more influential in popular culture than in academia. Critics of memetics argue that it is lacking in empirical support or is conceptually ill-founded, and question whether there is hope for the memetic research program succeeding. Proponents point out that many cultural traits are discrete, and that many existing models of cultural inheritance assume discrete cultural units, and hence involve memes. Criticisms Psychologist Liane Gabora has criticised DIT. She argues that traits that are not transmitted by way of a self-assembly code (as in genetic evolution) is misleading, because this second use does not capture the algorithmic structure that makes an inheritance system require a particular kind of mathematical framework. Other criticisms of the effort to frame culture in tandem with evolution have been leveled by Richard Lewontin, Niles Eldredge, and Stuart Kauffman. See also References Further reading Books Lumsden, C. J. and E. O. Wilson. 1981. Genes, Mind, and Culture: The Coevolutionary Process. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press. Cavalli-Sforza, L. L. and M. Feldman. 1981. Cultural Transmission and Evolution: A Quantitative Approach. Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press. Durham, W. H. 1991. Coevolution: Genes, Culture and Human Diversity. Stanford, California: Stanford University Press. Shennan, S. J. 2002. Genes, Memes and Human History: Darwinian Archaeology and Cultural Evolution. London: Thames and Hudson. Boyd, R. and P. J. Richerson. 2005. The Origin and Evolution of Cultures. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Laland, K.H. 2017. Darwin's Unfinished Symphony: How Culture Made the Human Mind. Princeton: Princeton University Press. Reviews Smith, E. A. 1999. Three styles in the evolutionary analysis of human behavior. In L. Cronk, N. Chagnon, and W. Irons, (Eds.) Adaptation and Human Behavior: An Anthropological Perspective New York: Aldine de Gruyter. Bentley, R.A., C. Lipo, H.D.G. Maschner and B. Marler 2007. Darwinian Archaeologies. In R.A. Bentley, H.D.G. Maschner & C. Chippendale (Eds.) Handbook of Archaeological Theories. Lanham (MD): AltaMira Press. Journal articles External links Current DIT researchers Rob Boyd, Department of Anthropology, UCLA Marcus Feldman , Department of Biological Sciences, Stanford Joe Henrich, Departments of Psychology and Economics, University of British Columbia Richard McElreath, Anthropology Department, UC Davis Peter J. Richerson, Department of Environmental Science and Policy, UC Davis Related researchers Liane Gabora , Department of Psychology, University of British Columbia Russell Gray Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History, Jena, Germany Herb Gintis , Emeritus Professor of Economics, University of Massachusetts & Santa Fe Institute Kevin Laland , School of Biology, University of St. Andrews Ruth Mace, Department of Anthropology, University College London Alex Mesoudi Human Biological and Cultural Evolution Group, University of Exeter, UK Michael Tomasello, Department of Developmental and Comparative Psychology, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology Peter Turchin Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Connecticut Mark Collard, Department of Archaeology, Simon Fraser University, and Department of Archaeology, University of Aberdeen Anthropology Behavioural genetics Cultural anthropology Human evolution Population genetics Sociobiology

Contextualism

Contextualism, also known as epistemic contextualism, is a family of views in philosophy which emphasize the context in which an action, utterance, or expression occurs. Proponents of contextualism argue that, in some important respect, the action, utterance, or expression can only be understood relative to that context. Contextualist views hold that philosophically controversial concepts, such as "meaning P", "knowing that P", "having a reason to A", and possibly even "being true" or "being right" only have meaning relative to a specified context. Other philosophers contend that context-dependence leads to complete relativism. In ethics, "contextualist" views are often closely associated with situational ethics, or with moral relativism. Contextualism in architecture is a theory of design where modern building types are harmonized with urban forms usual to a traditional city. In epistemology, contextualism is the treatment of the word 'knows' as context-sensitive. Context-sensitive expressions are ones that "express different propositions relative to different contexts of use". For example, some terms generally considered context-sensitive are indexicals, such as 'I', 'here', and 'now'; while 'I' has a constant linguistic meaning in all contexts of use, whom it refers to varies with context. Similarly, epistemic contextualists argue that the word 'knows' is context sensitive, expressing different relations in some different contexts. Overview Contextualism was introduced, in part, to undermine skeptical arguments that have this basic structure: I don't know that I am not in a skeptical scenario H (e.g., I'm not a brain in a vat) If I don't know that H is not the case, then I don't know an ordinary proposition O (e.g., I have hands) Conclusion: Therefore, I don't know O The contextualist solution is not to deny any premise, nor to say that the argument does not follow, but link the truth value of (3) to the context, and say that we can refuse (3) in context—like everyday conversational context—where we have different requirements to say we know. The main tenet of contextualist epistemology is that knowledge attributions are context-sensitive, and the truth values of "know" depend on the context in which it is used. A statement like 'I know that I have hands' would be false. The same proposition in an ordinary context—e.g., in a cafe with friends— would be truth, and its negation would be false. When we participate in philosophical discourses of the skeptical sort, we seem to lose our knowledge; once we leave the skeptical context, we can truthfully say we have knowledge. That is, when we attribute knowledge to someone, the context in which we use the term 'knowledge' determines the standards relative to which "knowledge" is being attributed (or denied). If we use it in everyday conversational contexts, the contextualist maintains, most of our claims to "know" things are true, despite skeptical attempts to show we know little or nothing. But if the term 'knowledge' is used when skeptical hypotheses are being discussed, we count as "knowing" very little, if anything. Contextualists use this to explain why skeptical arguments can be persuasive, while at the same time protecting the correctness of our ordinary claims to "know" things. This theory does not allow that someone can have knowledge at one moment and not the other, which would not be a satisfying epistemological answer. What contextualism entails is that in one context an utterance of a knowledge attribution can be true, and in a context with higher standards for knowledge, the same statement can be false. This happens in the same way that 'I' can correctly be used (by different people) to refer to different people at the same time. What varies with context is how well-positioned a subject must be with respect to a proposition to count as "knowing" it. Contextualism in epistemology then is a semantic thesis about how 'knows' works in English, not a theory of what knowledge, justification, or strength of epistemic position consists in. However, epistemologists combine contextualism with views about what knowledge is to address epistemological puzzles and issues, such as skepticism, the Gettier problem, and the Lottery paradox. Contextualist accounts of knowledge became increasingly popular toward the end of the 20th century, particularly as responses to the problem of skepticism. Contemporary contextualists include Michael Blome-Tillmann, Michael Williams, Stewart Cohen, Keith DeRose, David Lewis, Gail Stine, and George Mattey. The standards for attributing knowledge to someone, the contextualist claims, vary from one user's context to the next. Thus, if I say "John knows that his car is in front of him", the utterance is true if and only if (1) John believes that his car is in front of him, (2) the car is in fact in front of him, and (3) John meets the epistemic standards that my (the speaker's) context selects. This is a loose contextualist account of knowledge, and there are many significantly different theories of knowledge that can fit this contextualist template and thereby come in a contextualist form. For instance, an evidentialist account of knowledge can be an instance of contextualism if it's held that strength of justification is a contextually varying matter. And one who accepts a relevant alternative's account of knowledge can be a contextualist by holding that what range of alternatives are relevant is sensitive to conversational context. DeRose adopts a type of modal or "safety" (as it has since come to be known) account on which knowledge is a matter of one's belief as to whether or not p is the case matching the fact of the matter, not only in the actual world, but also in the sufficiently close possible worlds: Knowledge amounts to there being no "nearby" worlds in which one goes wrong with respect to p. But how close is sufficiently close? It's here that DeRose takes the modal account of knowledge in a contextualist direction, for the range of "epistemically relevant worlds" is what varies with context: In high standards contexts one's belief must match the fact of the matter through a much wider range of worlds than is relevant to low standards contexts. It is claimed that neurophilosophy has the goal of contextualizing. Contextualist epistemology has been criticized by several philosophers. Contextualism is opposed to any general form of Invariantism, which claims that knowledge is not context-sensitive (i.e. it is invariant). More recent criticism has been in the form of rival theories, including Subject-Sensitive Invariantism (SSI), mainly due to the work of John Hawthorne (2004), and Interest-Relative Invariantism (IRI), due to Jason Stanley (2005). SSI claims that it is the context of the subject of the knowledge attribution that determines the epistemic standards, whereas Contextualism maintains it is the attributor. IRI, on the other hand, argues that it is the context of the practical interests of the subject of the knowledge attribution that determines the epistemic standards. Stanley writes that bare IRI is "simply the claim that whether or not someone knows that p may be determined in part by practical facts about the subject's environment." ("Contextualism" is a misnomer for either form of Invariantism, since "Contextualism" among epistemologists is considered to be restricted to a claim about the context-sensitivity of knowledge attributions (or the word "knows"). Thus, any view which maintains that something other than knowledge attributions are context-sensitive is not, strictly speaking, a form of Contextualism.) An alternative to contextualism called contrastivism has been proposed by Jonathan Schaffer. Contrastivism, like contextualism, uses semantic approaches to tackle the problem of skepticism. Recent work in experimental philosophy has taken an empirical approach to testing the claims of contextualism and related views. This research has proceeded by conducting experiments in which ordinary non-philosophers are presented with vignettes, then asked to report on the status of the knowledge ascription. The studies address contextualism by varying the context of the knowledge ascription, e.g. how important it is that the agent in the vignette has accurate knowledge. In the studies completed up to 2010, no support for contextualism has been found: stakes have no impact on evidence. More specifically, non-philosophical intuitions about knowledge attributions are not affected by the importance to the potential knower of the accuracy of that knowledge. See also Anekantavada Degrees of truth Exclusive disjunction False dilemma Fuzzy logic Logical disjunction Logical value Multi-valued logic Perspectivism Principle of bivalence Propositional attitude Propositional logic Relativism Rhizome (philosophy) Semiotic anthropology Truth Footnotes References Annis, David. 1978. "A Contextualist Theory of Epistemic Justification", in American Philosophical Quarterly, 15: 213–219. Cappelen, H. & Lepore, E. 2005. Insensitive Semantics: A Defense of Semantic Minimalism and Speech Act Pluralism, Blackwell Publishing. Cohen, Stuart. 1998. "Contextualist Solutions to Epistemological Problems: Scepticism, Gettier, and the Lottery." Australasian Journal of Philosophy, 76: 289–306. Cohen Stuart. 1999. "Contextualism, Skepticism, and Reasons", in Tomberlin 1999. DeRose, Keith. 1992. "Contextualism and Knowledge Attributions", Philosophy and Phenomenological Research 52: 913–929. DeRose, Keith. 1995. "Solving the Skeptical Problem," Philosophical Review 104: 1-52. DeRose, Keith. 1999. "Contextualism: An Explanation and Defense", in Greco and Sosa 1999. DeRose, Keith. 2002. "Assertion, Knowledge, and Context," Philosophical Review 111: 167–203. DeRose, Keith. 2009. The Case for Contextualism: Knowledge, Skepticism and Context, Vol. 1, Oxford: Oxford University Press. Feldman, Richard. 1999. "Contextualism and Skepticism", in Tomberlin 1999. Greco, J. & Sosa, E. 1999. Blackwell Guide to Epistemology, Blackwell Publishing. Hawthorne, John. 2004. Knowledge and Lotteries, Oxford: Oxford University Press. Mackie, J.L. 1977, "Ethics: Inventing Right and Wrong", Viking Press, . May, Joshua, Sinnott-Armstrong, Walter, Hull, Jay G. & Zimmerman, Aaron. 2010. "Practical Interests, Relevant Alternatives, and Knowledge Attributions: An Empirical Study", Review of Philosophy and Psychology (formerly European Review of Philosophy), special issue on Psychology and Experimental Philosophy ed. by Edouard Machery, Tania Lombrozo, & Joshua Knobe, Vol. 1, No. 2, pp. 265–273. Price, A. W. 2008. ' 'Contextuality in Practical Reason' ', Oxford University Press. Schaffer, Jonathan. 2004. "From Contextualism to Contrastivism," Philosophical Studies 119: 73–103. Schiffer, Stephen. 1996. "Contextualist Solutions to Scepticism", Proceedings of the Aristotelian Society, 96:317-33. Stanley, Jason. 2005. Knowledge and Practical Interests. New York: Oxford University Press. Timmons Mark, 1998 "Morality Without Foundations: A Defense of Ethical Contextualism Oxford University Press US. Tomberlin, James (ed.). 1999. Philosophical Perspectives 13, Epistemology, Blackwell Publishing. External links A Brief History of Contextualism - DeRose on the history of contextualism in epistemology. Contextualism in Epistemology - an article by Tim Black on the Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy. . Consensus reality Metaethics Metatheory Relativism Skepticism Systemic functional linguistics Ethical theories Theories of justification

Environmental art

Environmental art is a range of artistic practices encompassing both historical approaches to nature in art and more recent ecological and politically motivated types of works. Environmental art has evolved away from formal concerns, for example monumental earthworks using earth as a sculptural material, towards a deeper relationship to systems, processes and phenomena in relationship to social concerns. Integrated social and ecological approaches developed as an ethical, restorative stance emerged in the 1990s. Over the past ten years environmental art has become a focal point of exhibitions around the world as the social and cultural aspects of climate change come to the forefront. The term "environmental art" often encompasses "ecological" concerns but is not specific to them. It primarily celebrates an artist's connection with nature using natural materials. The concept is best understood in relationship to historic earth/Land art and the evolving field of ecological art. The field is interdisciplinary in the fact that environmental artists embrace ideas from science and philosophy. The practice encompasses traditional media, new media and critical social forms of production. The work embraces a full range of landscape/environmental conditions from the rural, to the suburban and urban as well as urban/rural industrial. History: landscape painting and representation It can be argued that environmental art began with the Paleolithic cave paintings of our ancestors. While no landscapes have (yet) been found, the cave paintings represented other aspects of nature important to early humans such as animals and human figures. "They are prehistoric observations of nature. In one-way or another, nature for centuries remained the preferential theme of creative art." More modern examples of environmental art stem from landscape painting and representation. When artists painted onsite they developed a deep connection with the surrounding environment and its weather and brought these close observations into their canvases. John Constable's sky paintings "most closely represent the sky in nature". Monet's London Series also exemplifies the artist's connection with the environment. "For me, a landscape does not exist in its own right, since its appearance changes at every moment; but the surrounding atmosphere brings it to life, the air and the light, which vary continually for me, it is only the surrounding atmosphere that gives subjects their true value." Contemporary painters, such as Diane Burko represent natural phenomena—and its change over time—to convey ecological issues, drawing attention to climate change. Alexis Rockman's landscapes depict a sardonic view of climate change and humankind's interventions with other species by way of genetic engineering. Challenging traditional sculptural forms The growth of environmental art as a "movement" began in the late 1960s and early 1970s. In its early phases it was most associated with sculpture—especially Site-specific art, Land art and Arte povera—having arisen out of mounting criticism of traditional sculptural forms and practices that were increasingly seen as outmoded and potentially out of harmony with the natural environment. In October 1968, Robert Smithson organized an exhibition at Dwan Gallery in New York titled “Earthworks.” The works in the show posed an explicit challenge to conventional notions of exhibition and sales, in that they were either too large or too unwieldy to be collected; most were represented only by photographs, further emphasizing their resistance to acquisition. For these artists escaping the confines of the gallery and modernist theory was achieved by leaving the cities and going out into the desert. ”They were not depicting the landscape, but engaging it; their art was not simply of the landscape, but in it as well.” This shift in the late 1960s and 1970s represents an avant garde notion of sculpture, the landscape and our relationship with it. The work challenged the conventional means to create sculpture, but also defied more elite modes of art dissemination and exhibition, such as the Dwan Gallery show mentioned earlier. This shift opened up a new space and in doing so expanded the ways in which work was documented and conceptualized. Entering public and urban spaces Just as the earthworks in the deserts of the west grew out of notions of landscape painting, the growth of public art stimulated artists to engage the urban landscape as another environment and also as a platform to engage ideas and concepts about the environment to a larger audience. While this earlier work was mostly created in the deserts of the American west, the end of the 1970s and the beginning of the 1980s saw works moving into the public landscape. Artists like Robert Morris began engaging county departments and public arts commissions to create works in public spaces such as an abandoned gravel pit. Herbert Bayer used a similar approach and was selected to create his Mill Creek Canyon Earthworks in 1982. The project served functions such as erosion control, a place to serve as a reservoir during high rain periods, and a 2.5 acre park during dry seasons. Lucy Lippard's groundbreaking book, on the parallel between contemporary land art and prehistoric sites, examined the ways in which these prehistoric cultures, forms and images have "overlaid" onto the work of contemporary artists working with the land and natural systems. In 1965, Alan Sonfist introduced a key environmentalist idea of bringing nature back into the urban environment with his first historical Time Landscape sculpture, proposed to New York City in 1965 and revealed to the public in 1978 in a mature, grown state. Time Landscape remains visible to this day at the corner of Houston and LaGuardia in New York City's Greenwich Village. The work resulted in a "slowly developing forest that represents the Manhattan landscape inhabited by Native Americans and encountered by Dutch settlers in the early 17th century." Environmental art also encompasses the scope of the urban landscape. Pioneering environmental artist, Mary Miss began creating art in the urban environment with her 1969 installation, Ropes/Shore, and continues to develop projects involving extended communities through City as a Living Laboratory. Agnes Denes created a work in downtown Manhattan Wheatfield - A Confrontation (1982) in which she planted a field of wheat on the two-acre site of a landfill covered with urban detritus and rubble. The site is now Battery Park City and the World Financial Center, a transformation from ecologic power to economic power. In 1974, Bonnie Sherk created The Farm in San Francisco, a 7-acre urban garden in underused spaces below freeway overpasses. The farm, until 1980, also served as a community center and art space that provided internships, childhood ecoart education for children, and served as a public park during its six-year existence. Andrea Polli's installation Particle Falls made particulate matter in the air visible in a way that passersby could see. For HighWaterLine Eve Mosher and others walked through neighborhoods in at-risk cities such as New York City and Miami, marking the projected flood damage which could occur as a result of climate change and talking with residents about what they were doing. Starting in the 2010s "guerilla gardener" Ron Finley began planting edible gardens in the urban neighborhood of South Central Los Angeles along narrow strips of dirt between the curb and sidewalk. His motivation was to address the effects of the food apartheid in certain neighborhoods including his own, and to encourage healthy eating habits, especially among children. Ecoart In general use, the term 'Eco-art' or 'Environmental art' refers loosely to a range of artistic practices and works "that explore and respond to issues related to the environment, climate change, and ecological sustainability." In more technical and academic contexts, however, Ecological art, also known as ecoart, tends to refer more precisely to an artistic practice or discipline proposing paradigms sustainable with the life forms and resources of our planet. It is composed of artists, scientists, philosophers and activists who are devoted to the practices of ecological art. Historical precedents include Earthworks, Land Art, and landscape painting/photography. Ecoart is distinguished by a focus on systems and interrelationships within our environment: the ecological, geographic, political, biological and cultural. Ecoart creates awareness, stimulates dialogue, changes human behavior towards other species, and encourages the long-term respect for the natural systems we coexist with. It manifests as socially engaged, activist, community-based restorative or interventionist art. Ecological artist, Aviva Rahmani believes that "Ecological art is an art practice, often in collaboration with scientists, city planners, architects and others, that results in direct intervention in environmental degradation. Often, the artist is the lead agent in that practice." There are numerous approaches to ecoart including but not limited to: representational artworks that address the environment through images and objects; remediation projects that restore polluted environments; activist projects that engage others and activate change of behaviors and/or public policy; time-based social sculptures that involve communities in monitoring their landscapes and taking a participatory role in sustainable practices; ecopoetic projects that initiate a re-envisioning and re-enchantment with the natural world, inspiring healing and co-existence with other species; direct-encounter artworks that involve natural phenomena such as water, weather, sunlight, or plants; pedagogical artworks that share information about environmental injustice and ecological problems such as water and soil pollution and health hazards; relational aesthetics that involve sustainable, off-the-grid, permaculture existences. There is discussion and debate among ecoartists regarding whether ecological art should be considered a discrete discipline within the arts, distinct from environmental art. A current definition of ecological art, drafted collectively by the EcoArtNetwork is "Ecological art is an art practice that embraces an ethic of social justice in both its content and form/materials. Ecoart is created to inspire caring and respect, stimulate dialogue, and encourage the long-term flourishing of the social and natural environments in which we live. It commonly manifests as socially engaged, activist, community-based restorative or interventionist art." The global community ArtTech NatureCulture, which convenes over 400 creative practitioners engaged in ecological art forms across disciplines, states: "In precarious times, how can we build new ways forward that challenge and transform the many inequalities of the status quo? Our ways of addressing this are as diverse as our backgrounds, but we are united by a shared interest in using creative practices across disciplines (from arts, design, culture and hacking to science, technology and activism) to explore alternative futures that rethink, rebuild and heal." Co-founder Kit Braybrooke has described the reason for ArtTech NatureCulture as "alone, we face climate grief and instability, but together, we rebuild." Artists who work in this field generally subscribe to one or more of the following principles: focus on the web of interrelationships in our environment—on the physical, biological, cultural, political, and historical aspects of ecological systems; create works that employ natural materials or engage with environmental forces such as wind, water, or sunlight; reclaim, restore, and remediate damaged environments; inform the public about ecological dynamics and the environmental problems we face; revise ecological relationships, creatively proposing new possibilities for coexistence, sustainability, and healing. Contributions by women in the area of EcoArt are significant. Many are cataloged in WEAD, Women Environmental Artists Directory founded in 1995 by Jo Hanson, Susan Leibovitz Steinman and Estelle Akamine. The work of ecofeminist writers inspired early male and female practitioners to address their concerns about a more horizontal relationship to environmental issues in their own practices. The feminist art writer Lucy Lippard, writing for the Weather Report Show she curated in 2007 at the Boulder Museum of Contemporary Art, which included many environmental, ecological and ecofeminist artists, commented on how many of those artists were women. Considering environmental impact Within environmental art, a crucial distinction can be made between environmental artists who do not consider the possible damage to the environment that their artwork may incur, and those whose intent is to cause no harm to nature. For example, despite its aesthetic merits, the American artist Robert Smithson's celebrated sculpture Spiral Jetty (1969) inflicted permanent damage upon the landscape he worked with, using a bulldozer to scrape and cut the land, with the spiral itself impinging upon the lake. Similarly, criticism was raised against the European sculptor Christo when he temporarily wrapped the coastline at Little Bay, south of Sydney, Australia, in 1969. Conservationists' comments attracted international attention in environmental circles and led contemporary artists in the region to rethink the inclinations of land art and site-specific art. Sustainable art is produced with consideration for the wider impact of the work and its reception in relationship to its environments (social, economic, biophysical, historical, and cultural). Some artists choose to minimize their potential impact, while other works involve restoring the immediate landscape to a natural state. British sculptor Richard Long has for several decades made temporary outdoor sculptural work by rearranging natural materials found on site, such as rocks, mud and branches, which will therefore have no lingering detrimental effect. Chris Drury instituted a work entitled "Medicine Wheel" which was the fruit and result of a daily meditative walk, once a day, for a calendar year. The deliverable of this work was a mandala of mosaicked found objects: nature art as process art. Leading environmental artists such as British artist and poet, Hamish Fulton, Dutch sculptor Herman de Vries, the Australian sculptor John Davis and the British sculptor Andy Goldsworthy similarly leave the landscape they have worked with unharmed; in some cases they have revegetated damaged land with appropriate indigenous flora in the process of making their work. In this way the work of art arises out of a sensitivity towards habitat. Perhaps the most celebrated instance of environmental art in the late 20th century was 7000 Oaks, an ecological action staged at Documenta during 1982 by Joseph Beuys, in which the artist and his assistants highlighted the condition of the local environment by planting 7000 oak trees throughout and around the city of Kassel. Ecological awareness, Eco-art, and transformation The potential role of art/eco-art in engendering socio-environmental transformation is becoming more widely discussed, as are the systemic obstacles to that transformation. In considering how society might be inspired, via its artworks, to respond positively to eco-crisis and change itself accordingly, some eco-artists reflect on our human engagement with the natural world, and create ecologically informed art that focuses on (or helps us to visualise) eco-friendly transformation or reclamation. For instance, eco-art writer and theoretician Linda Weintraub (who coined the term "cycle-logical" to describe the correlation between recycling and psychology) reminds us that the 21st-century notion of artists' mindful engagement with their materials harkens back to paleolithic midden piles of discarded pottery and metals from ancient civilizations. Weintraub cites the work of MacArthur Fellow Sarah Sze who recycles, reuses, and refurbishes detritus from the waste stream into elegant sprawling installations: this self-reflective work draws our attention to (and thereby initiates a critique of) our own cluttered lives and connection to consumer culture. There are now countless other examples of eco-art globally that raise eco-awareness and establish new, precursor perceptual platforms that might contribute to societal or psychological change. Brigitte Hitschler's Energy field, for instance, drew power for 400 red diodes from the to-be-reclaimed potash slag heap upon which they were installed, using art and science to reveal hidden material culture. Ecological artist and activist, Beverly Naidus, creates installations that address environmental crises, nuclear legacy issues, and creates works on paper that envision transformation. Her community-based permaculture project, Eden Reframed remediates degraded soil using phytoremediation and mushrooms resulting in a public place to grow and harvest medicinal plants and edible plants. Naidus is an educator having taught at the University of Washington, Tacoma for over ten years, where she created the Interdisciplinary Studio Arts in Community curriculum merging art with ecology and socially engaged practices. Naidus's book, Arts for Change: Teaching Outside the Frame is a resource for teachers, activists and artists. Sculptor and installation artist Erika Wanenmacher was inspired by Tony Price in her development of works addressing creativity, mythology, and New Mexico's nuclear presence. Oregon based artist and arborist Richard Reames uses grafting techniques to produce his works of arborsculpture and arbortecture. He uses time-based processes of multiple plantings of trees that are then shaped by bending, pruning, grafting, in ways that are similar to pleaching and espalier. These works have ecological advantages including carbon dioxide sequestration, habitat creation and climate change mitigation. Renewable energy sculpture Renewable energy sculpture is another recent development in environmental art. In response to the growing concern about global climate change, artists are designing explicit interventions at a functional level, merging aesthetical responses with the functional properties of energy generation or saving. Practitioners of this emerging area often work according to ecologically informed ethical and practical codes that conform to Ecodesign criteria. Andrea Polli Queensbridge Wind Power Project is an example of experimental architecture, incorporating wind turbines into a bridge's structure to recreate aspects of the original design as well as lighting the bridge and neighbouring areas. Ralf Sander's public sculpture, the World Saving Machine, used solar energy to create snow and ice outside the Seoul Museum of Art in the hot Korean summer. See also BioArt Crop art Ecodesign Ecofeminist art Ecological art Ecopsychology Ecovention Environmental movement Environmental sculpture Environmentalism Land art Process art Site-specific art Solarpunk Sustainable art Sustainable design References Further reading * External links ecoartnetwork ecoartspace Botanical Jewelry - examples of wearable items, made from untreated seeds of plants, known in ancient cultures as "Sacred". Environmentalism Visual arts genres Modern art Land art Contemporary art

Cultural trait

A cultural trait is a single identifiable material or non-material element within a culture, and is conceivable as an object in itself. Similar traits can be grouped together as components, or subsystems of culture; the terms sociofact and mentifact (or psychofact) were coined by biologist Julian Huxley as two of three subsystems of culture—the third being artifacts—to describe the way in which cultural traits take on a life of their own, spanning over generations. In other words, cultural traits can be categorized into three interrelated components: Artifacts — the objects, material items, and technologies created by a culture, or simply, things people make. They provide basic necessities, recreation, entertainment, and most of the things that make life easier for people. Examples include clothing, food, and shelter. Sociofacts — interpersonal interactions and social structures; i.e., the structures and organizations of a culture that influence social behaviour. This includes families, governments, education systems, religious groups, etc. Mentifact (or psychofact) — abstract concepts, or "things in the head;" i.e., the shared ideas, values, and beliefs of a culture. This can include religion, language, and ideas. Moreover, sociofacts are considered by some to be mentifacts that have been shared through artifacts. This formulation has been related to memetics and the memetic concept of culture. These concepts have been useful to anthropologists in refining the definition of culture. Development These concepts have been useful to anthropologists in refining the definition of culture, which Huxley views as contemplating artifacts, mentifacts, and sociofacts. For instance, Edward Tylor, the first academic anthropologist, included both artifacts and abstract concepts like kinship systems as elements of culture. Anthropologist Robert Aunger, however, explains that such an inclusive definition ends up encouraging poor anthropological practice because "it becomes difficult to distinguish what exactly is not part of culture." Aunger goes on to explain that, after the cognitive revolution in the social sciences in the 1960s, there is "considerable agreement" among anthropologists that a mentifactual analysis, one that assumes that culture consists of "things in the head" (i.e. mentifacts), is the most appropriate way to define the concept of culture. Sociofact The idea of the sociofact was developed extensively by David Bidney in his 1967 textbook Theoretical Anthropology, in which he used the term to refer to objects that consist of interactions between members of a social group. Bidney's 'sociofact' includes norms that "serve to regulate the conduct of the individual within society." The concept has since been used by other philosophers and social scientists in their analyses of varying kinds of social groups. For instance, in a discussion of the semiotics of the tune 'Taps', semiotician of music Charles Boilès claims that although it is a single piece of music, it can be seen as three distinct musical sociofacts: as a "last call" signal in taverns frequented by soldiers; as an "end of day" signal on military bases; and hence, symbolically, as a component of military funerals. The claim has been made that sociofactual analysis can play a decisive role for the performance of, and collaboration within, organizations. See also Meme Cultural universal References Cultural anthropology Memetics Cultural concepts Semiotics

Economic globalization

Economic globalization is one of the three main dimensions of globalization commonly found in academic literature, with the two others being political globalization and cultural globalization, as well as the general term of globalization. Economic globalization refers to the widespread international movement of goods, capital, services, technology and information. It is the increasing economic integration and interdependence of national, regional, and local economies across the world through an intensification of cross-border movement of goods, services, technologies and capital. Economic globalization primarily comprises the globalization of production, finance, markets, technology, organizational regimes, institutions, corporations, and people. While economic globalization has been expanding since the emergence of trans-national trade, it has grown at an increased rate due to improvements in the efficiency of long-distance transportation, advances in telecommunication, the importance of information rather than physical capital in the modern economy, and by developments in science and technology. The rate of globalization has also increased under the framework of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade and the World Trade Organization, in which countries gradually cut down trade barriers and opened up their current accounts and capital accounts. This recent boom has been largely supported by developed economies integrating with developing countries through foreign direct investment, lowering costs of doing business, the reduction of trade barriers, and in many cases cross-border migration. Evolution of globalization History International commodity markets, labor markets, and capital markets make up the economy and define economic globalization. Beginning as early as 6500 BCE, people in Syria were trading livestock, tools, and other items. In Sumer, an early civilization in Mesopotamia, a token system was one of the first forms of commodity money. Labor markets consist of workers, employers, wages, income, supply and demand. Labor markets have been around as long as commodity markets. The first labor markets provided workers to grow crops and tend livestock for later sale in local markets. Capital markets emerged in industries that require resources beyond those of an individual farmer. Technology World War I disrupted economic globalization, with countries adopting protectionist policies and trade barriers, slowing global trade. The 1956 invention of containerized shipping and larger ship sizes reduced costs, facilitating global trade. Globalization resumed in the 1970s as governments highlighted trade benefits. Subsequent technology advancements have accelerated global trade expansion. The follow-on advances in technology since then have played a pivotal role in the rapid expansion of global trade. Policy and government The GATT/WTO framework, which was initiated in 1947, led participating countries to reduce their tariff and non-tariff barriers to trade. Indeed, the idea of Most Favoured Nation was essential to the GATT. In order to accede, governments had to shift their economies from central planning to market driven, especially after the fall of the Soviet Union. On 27 October 1986, the London Stock Exchange enacted newly deregulated rules that enabled global interconnection of markets, with an expectation of huge increases in market activity. This event came to be known as the Big Bang. By the time the World Trade Organization was established in 1994 as the baton was passed from the GATT, it had grown to 128 countries, including Czech Republic, Slovakia and Slovenia. The year 1995 saw the WTO pass the General Agreement on Trade in Services, while the 1998 defeat of the OECD's Multilateral Agreement on Investment was a hiccup on the route to economic globalization. Multinational corporations reorganized production to take advantage of these opportunities. Labor-intensive production migrated to areas with lower labor costs, especially China, later followed by other functions as skill levels increased. Networks raised the level of wealth consumption and geographical mobility. This highly dynamic worldwide system had powerful ramifications. The World Trade Organization Ministerial Conference of 1999 and associated 1999 Seattle WTO protests were a significant step on the road to economic globalization. The People's Republic of China (2001) and the last remnants of ex-Soviet bloc countries like Ukraine (2008) and Russia (2012) were admitted much later to the WTO process after painful structural reforms. The Multilateral Convention to Implement Tax Treaty Related Measures to Prevent Base Erosion and Profit Shifting, which entered into force on 1 July 2018, is an effort to harmonize tax regimes in order to prevent multi-national firms from taking advantage of loopholes like Ireland's Green Jersey BEPS tool. Global agents International governmental organizations An intergovernmental organization or international governmental organization (IGO) is an entity created by treaty, involving two or more nations, to work in good faith, on issues of common interest. IGO's strive for peace, security and deal with economic and social questions. Examples include: The United Nations, The World Bank and on a regional level The North Atlantic Treaty Organization among others. International non-governmental organizations (NGOs) International non-governmental organizations include charities, non-profit advocacy groups, business associations, and cultural associations. International charitable activities increased after World War II and on the whole NGOs provide more economic aid to developing countries than developed country governments. Businesses Since the 1970s, multinational businesses have increasingly relied on outsourcing and subcontracting across vast geographical spaces, due to the global nature of supply chains and the production of intermediate products. Firms also engage in inter-firm alliances and rely on foreign research and development. This is in contrast to past periods where firms kept production internalized or within a localized geography. Innovations in communications and transportation technology, as well as greater economic openness and less government intervention have made a shift away from internalization more feasible. Additionally, businesses going global learn the tools to effectively interact with cultural agility; with people of many diverse cultural backgrounds, expanding their market. Immigrants International immigrants transfer significant amounts of money through remittances to lower-income relatives. Communities of immigrants in the destination country often provide new arrivals with information and ideas about how to earn money. In some cases, this has resulted in disproportionately high representation of some ethnic groups in certain industries, especially if economy success encourages more people to move from the source country. Movement of people also spreads technology and aspects of business culture, and moves accumulated financial assets. Impact Economic growth and poverty reduction Economic growth accelerated and poverty declined globally following the acceleration of globalization. According to the International Monetary Fund, growth benefits of economic globalization are widely shared. While several globalizers have seen an increase in inequality, most notably China, this increase in inequality is a result of domestic liberalization, restrictions on internal migration, and agricultural policies, rather than a result of international trade. Poverty has been reduced as evidenced by a 5.4 percent annual growth in income for the poorest fifth of the population of Malaysia. Even in China, where inequality continues to be a problem, the poorest fifth of the population saw a 3.8 percent annual growth in income. In several countries, those living below the dollar-per-day poverty threshold declined. In China, the rate declined from 20 to 15 percent and in Bangladesh the rate dropped from 43 to 36 percent. Globalizers are narrowing the per capita income gap between the rich and the globalizing nations. China, India, and Bangladesh, some of the newly industrialised nations in the world, have greatly narrowed inequality due to their economic expansion. Global supply chain The global supply chain consists of complex interconnected networks that allow companies to produce handle and distribute various goods and services to the public worldwide. Corporations manage their supply chain to take advantage of cheaper costs of production. A supply chain is a system of organizations, people, activities, information, and resources involved in moving a product or service from supplier to customer. Supply chain activities involve the transformation of natural resources, raw materials, and components into a finished product that is delivered to the end customer. Supply chains link value chains. Supply and demand can be very fickle, depending on factors such as the weather, consumer demand, and large orders placed by multinational corporations. Labor conditions and environment "Race to the bottom" Globalization is sometimes perceived as a cause of a phenomenon called the "race to the bottom" that implies that to minimize cost and increase delivery speed, businesses tend to locate operations in countries with the least stringent environmental and labor regulations. Pressure to do this is increased if competitors lower costs by the same means. This both directly results poor working conditions, low wages, job insecurity, and pollution, but also encourages governments to under-regulate in order to attract jobs and economic investment. However, if business demand is sufficiently high, the labor pool in low-wage countries becomes exhausted (as has happened in China), resulting in higher wages due to competition, and more demand from the public for government protection against exploitation and pollution. From 2003 to 2013, wages in China and India have gone up by around 10–20% a year. Health risks In developing countries with loose labor regulations, there are adverse health consequences from working long hours, and individuals burden themselves from working within vast global supply chains. Women in agriculture, for example, are often asked to work long hours handling chemicals such as pesticides and fertilizers without any protection. Although both men and women experience shortcomings with health, the final reports stated that women, with the double burden of domestic and paid work experience an increased the risk of psychological distress and suboptimal health. Strazdins concluded that negative work-family spillover especially is associated with health problems among both women and men, and negative family-work spillover is related to a poorer health status among women." It is common for the work lifestyle to bring forth adverse health conditions or even death due to weak safety measure policies. After the tragic collapse of the Rana Plaza factory in Bangladesh where over 800 deaths occurred the country has since then made efforts in boosting up their safety policies to better accommodate workers. Mistreatment In developing countries with loose labor regulations and a large supply of low-skill, low-cost workers, there are risks for mistreatment of some workers, especially women and children. Poor working conditions and sexual harassment are just some of the mistreatment faced by women in the textile supply chain. Marina Prieto-Carrón shows in her research in Central America that women in sweatshops are not even supplied with toilet paper in the bathroom every day. The reason it costs corporations more is because people can not work to their full potential in poor conditions, affecting the global marketplace. Furthermore, when corporations decide to change manufacturing rates or locations in industries that employ more women, they are often left with no job nor assistance. This kind of sudden reduction or elimination in hours is seen in industries such as the textile industry and agriculture industry, both of which employ a higher number of women than men. One solution to mistreatment of women in the supply chain is more involvement from the corporation and trying to regulate the outsourcing of their product. Global labor and fair trade movements Several movements, such as the fair trade movement and the anti-sweatshop movement, claim to promote a more socially just global economy. The fair trade movement works towards improving trade, development and production for disadvantaged producers. The fair trade movement has reached 1.6 billion US dollars in annual sales. The movement works to raise consumer awareness of exploitation of developing countries. Fair trade works under the motto of "trade, not aid", to improve the quality of life for farmers and merchants by participating in direct sales, providing better prices and supporting the community. Meanwhile, the anti-sweatshop movement is to protest the unfair treatment caused by some companies. Various transnational organizations advocate for improved labor standards in developing countries. This including labor unions, who are put at a negotiating disadvantage when an employer can relocate or outsource operations to a different country. Capital flight Capital flight occurs when assets or money rapidly flow out of a country because of that country's recent increase in unfavorable financial conditions such as taxes, tariffs, labor costs, government debt or capital controls. This is usually accompanied by a sharp drop in the exchange rate of the affected country or a forced devaluation for countries living under fixed exchange rates. Currency declines improve the terms of trade, but reduce the monetary value of financial and other assets in the country. This leads to decreases in the purchasing power of the country's assets. A 2008 paper published by Global Financial Integrity estimated capital flight to be leaving developing countries at the rate of "$850 billion to $1 trillion a year." But capital flight also affects developed countries. A 2009 article in The Times reported that hundreds of wealthy financiers and entrepreneurs had recently fled the United Kingdom in response to recent tax increases, relocating to low tax destinations such as Jersey, Guernsey, the Isle of Man and the British Virgin Islands. In May 2012 the scale of Greek capital flight in the wake of the first "undecided" legislative election was estimated at €4 billion a week. Capital flight can cause liquidity crises in directly affected countries and can cause related difficulties in other countries involved in international commerce such as shipping and finance. Asset holders may be forced into distress sales. Borrowers typically face higher loan costs and collateral requirements, compared to periods of ample liquidity, and unsecured debt is nearly impossible to obtain. Typically, during a liquidity crisis, the interbank lending market stalls. Inequality While within-country income inequality has increased throughout the globalization period, globally inequality has lessened as developing countries have experienced much more rapid growth. Economic inequality varies between societies, historical periods, economic structures or economic systems, ongoing or past wars, between genders, and between differences in individuals' abilities to create wealth. Among the various numerical indices for measuring economic inequality, the Gini coefficient is most often-cited. Economic inequality includes equity, equality of outcome and subsequent equality of opportunity. Although earlier studies considered economic inequality as necessary and beneficial, some economists see it as an important social problem. Early studies suggesting that greater equality inhibits economic growth did not account for lags between inequality changes and growth changes. Later studies claimed that one of the most robust determinants of sustained economic growth is the level of income inequality. International inequality is inequality between countries. Income differences between rich and poor countries are very large, although they are changing rapidly. Per capita incomes in China and India doubled in the prior twenty years, a feat that required 150 years in the US. According to the United Nations Human Development Report for 2013, for countries at varying levels of the UN Human Development Index the GNP per capita grew between 2004 and 2013 from 24,806 to 33,391 or 35% (very high human development), 4,269 to 5,428 or 27% (medium) and 1,184 to 1,633 or 38% (low) PPP$, respectively (PPP$ = purchasing power parity measured in United States dollars). Certain demographic changes in the developing world after active economic liberalization and international integration resulted in rising welfare and hence, reduced inequality. According to Martin Wolf, in the developing world as a whole, life expectancy rose by four months each year after 1970 and infant mortality rate declined from 107 per thousand in 1970 to 58 in 2000 due to improvements in standards of living and health conditions. Also, adult literacy in developing countries rose from 53% in 1970 to 74% in 1998 and much lower illiteracy rate among the young guarantees that rates will continue to fall as time passes. Furthermore, the reduction in fertility rates in the developing world as a whole from 4.1 births per woman in 1980 to 2.8 in 2000 indicates improved education level of women on fertility, and control of fewer children with more parental attention and investment. Consequentially, more prosperous and educated parents with fewer children have chosen to withdraw their children from the labor force to give them opportunities to be educated at school improving the issue of child labor. Thus, despite seemingly unequal distribution of income within these developing countries, their economic growth and development have brought about improved standards of living and welfare for the population as a whole. Economic development spurred by international investment or trade can increase local income inequality as workers with more education and skills can find higher-paying work. This can be mitigated with government funding of education. Another way globalization increases income inequality is by increasing the size of the market available for any particular good or service. This allows the owners of companies that service global markets to reap disproportionately larger profits. This may happen at the expense of local companies that would have otherwise been able to dominate the domestic market, which would have spread profits around to a larger number of owners. On the other hand, globalized stock markets allow more people to invest internationally, and get a share of profits from companies they otherwise could not. Resource insecurity A systematic, and possibly first large-scale, cross-sectoral analysis of water, energy and land in security in 189 countries that links national and sector consumption to sources showed that countries and sectors are highly exposed to over-exploited, insecure, and degraded such resources. The 2020 study finds that economic globalization has decreased security of global supply chains with most countries exhibiting greater exposure to resource risks via international trade – mainly from remote production sources – and that diversifying trading partners is unlikely to help nations and sectors to reduce these or to improve their resource self-sufficiency. Competitive advantages Businesses in developed countries tend to be more highly automated, have more sophisticated technology and techniques, and have better national infrastructure. For these reasons and sometimes due to economies of scale, they can sometimes out-compete similar businesses in developing countries. This is a substantial issue in international agriculture, where Western farms tend to be large and highly productive due to agricultural machinery, fertilizer, and pesticides; but developing-country farms tend to be smaller and rely heavily on manual labor. Conversely, cheaper manual labor in developing countries allowed workers there to out-compete workers in higher-wage countries for jobs in labor-intensive industries. As the theory of competitive advantage predicts, instead of each country producing all the goods and services it needs domestically, a country's economy tends to specialize in certain areas where it is more productive (though in the long term the differences may be equalized, resulting in a more balanced economy). Tax havens A tax haven is a state, country or territory where certain taxes are levied at a low rate or not at all, which are used by businesses for tax avoidance and tax evasion. Individuals and/or corporate entities can find it attractive to move themselves to areas with reduced taxation. This creates a situation of tax competition among governments. Taxes vary substantially across jurisdictions. Sovereign states have theoretically unlimited powers to enact tax laws affecting their territories, unless limited by previous international treaties. The central feature of a tax haven is that its laws and other measures can be used to evade or avoid the tax laws or regulations of other jurisdictions. In its December 2008 report on the use of tax havens by American corporations, the U.S. Government Accountability Office regarded the following characteristics as indicative of a tax haven: nil or nominal taxes; lack of effective exchange of tax information with foreign tax authorities; lack of transparency in the operation of legislative, legal or administrative provisions; no requirement for a substantive local presence; and self-promotion as an offshore financial center. A 2012 report from the Tax Justice Network estimated that between US$21 trillion and $32 trillion is sheltered from taxes in tax havens worldwide. If such hidden offshore assets are considered, many countries with governments nominally in debt would be net creditor nations. However, the tax policy director of the Chartered Institute of Taxation expressed skepticism over the accuracy of the figures. Daniel J. Mitchell of the US-based Cato Institute says that the report also assumes, when considering notional lost tax revenue, that 100% of the money deposited offshore is evading payment of tax. The tax shelter benefits result in a tax incidence disadvantaging the poor. Many tax havens are thought to have connections to "fraud, money laundering and terrorism." Accountants' opinions on the propriety of tax havens have been evolving, as have the opinions of their corporate users, governments, and politicians, although their use by Fortune 500 companies and others remains widespread. Reform proposals centering on the Big Four accountancy firms have been advanced. Some governments appear to be using computer spyware to scrutinize corporations' finances. Cultural effects Economic globalization may affect culture. Populations may mimic the international flow of capital and labor markets in the form of immigration and the merger of cultures. Foreign resources and economic measures may affect different native cultures and may cause assimilation of a native people. As these populations are exposed to the English language, computers, western music, and North American culture, changes are being noted in shrinking family size, immigration to larger cities, more casual dating practices, and gender roles are transformed. Yu Xintian noted two contrary trends in culture due to economic globalization. Yu argued that culture and industry not only flow from the developed world to the rest, but trigger an effort to protect local cultures. He notes that economic globalization began after World War II, whereas internationalization began over a century ago. George Ritzer wrote about the McDonaldization of society and how fast food businesses spread throughout the United States and the rest of the world, attracting other places to adopt fast food culture. Ritzer describes other businesses such as The Body Shop, a British cosmetics company, that have copied McDonald's business model for expansion and influence. In 2006, 233 of 280 or over 80% of new McDonald's opened outside the US. In 2007, Japan had 2,828 McDonald's locations. Global media companies export information around the world. This creates a mostly one-way flow of information, and exposure to mostly western products and values. Companies like CNN, Reuters and the BBC dominate the global airwaves with western points of view. Other media news companies such as Qatar's Al Jazeera network offer a different point of view, but reach and influence fewer people. Migration "With an estimated 210 million people living outside their country of origin (International Labour Organization [ILO] 2010), international migration has touched the lives of almost everyone in both the sending and receiving countries of the Global South and the Global North". Because of advances made in technology, human beings as well as goods are able to move through different countries and regions with relative ease. See also Capitalist peace Economic union Fiscal localism Foreign direct investment Free trade Globalization Internationalization Jihad vs. McWorld Lists of free trade agreements Military globalization Mundialization Neoliberalism Trade globalization World economy Notes References External links

Philosophy of education

The philosophy of education is the branch of applied philosophy that investigates the nature of education as well as its aims and problems. It also examines the concepts and presuppositions of education theories. It is an interdisciplinary field that draws inspiration from various disciplines both within and outside philosophy, like ethics, political philosophy, psychology, and sociology. Many of its theories focus specifically on education in schools but it also encompasses other forms of education. Its theories are often divided into descriptive theories, which provide a value-neutral description of what education is, and normative theories, which investigate how education should be practiced. A great variety of topics is discussed in the philosophy of education. Some studies provide a conceptual analysis of the fundamental concepts of education. Others center around the aims or purpose of education, like passing on knowledge and the development of the abilities of good reasoning, judging, and acting. An influential discussion concerning the epistemic aims of education is whether education should focus mainly on the transmission of true beliefs or rather on the abilities to reason and arrive at new knowledge. In this context, many theorists emphasize the importance of critical thinking in contrast to indoctrination. Another debate about the aims of education is whether the primary beneficiary is the student or the society to which the student belongs. Many of the more specific discussions in the philosophy of education concern the contents of the curriculum. This involves the questions of whether, when, and in what detail a certain topic, like sex education or religion, should be taught. Other debates focus on the specific contents and methods used in moral, art, and science education. Some philosophers investigate the relation between education and power, often specifically regarding the power used by modern states to compel children to attend school. A different issue is the problem of the equality of education and factors threatening it, like discrimination and unequal distribution of wealth. Some philosophers of education promote a quantitative approach to educational research, which follows the example of the natural sciences by using wide experimental studies. Others prefer a qualitative approach, which is closer to the methodology of the social sciences and tends to give more prominence to individual case studies. Various schools of philosophy have developed their own perspective on the main issues of education. Existentialists emphasize the role of authenticity while pragmatists give particular prominence to active learning and discovery. Feminists and postmodernists often try to uncover and challenge biases and forms of discrimination present in current educational practices. Other philosophical movements include perennialism, classical education, essentialism, critical pedagogy, and progressivism. The history of the philosophy of education started in ancient philosophy but only emerged as a systematic branch of philosophy in the latter half of the 20th century. Definition The philosophy of education is the branch of philosophy that examines the nature, aims, and problems of education. As the philosophical study of education, it investigates its topic similar to how other discipline-specific branches of philosophy, like the philosophy of science or the philosophy of law, study their topics. A central task for the philosophy of education is to make explicit the various fundamental assumptions and disagreements at work in its field and to evaluate the arguments raised for and against the different positions. The issue of education has a great many manifestations in various fields. Because of this, both the breadth and the influence of the philosophy of education are significant and wide-ranging, touching many other branches of philosophy, such as ethics, political philosophy, epistemology, metaphysics, and philosophy of mind. Its theories are often formulated from the perspective of these other philosophical disciplines. But due to its interdisciplinary nature, it also attracts contributions from scholars belonging to fields outside the domain of philosophy. While there is wide agreement on the general topics discussed in the philosophy of education, it has proven difficult to give a precise definition of it. The philosophy of education belongs mainly to applied philosophy. According to some definitions, it can be characterized as an offshoot of ethics. But not everyone agrees with this characterization since the philosophy of education has a more theoretical side as well, which includes the examination of the fundamental concepts and theories of education as well as their philosophical implications. These two sides are sometimes referred to as the outward and the inward looking nature of the philosophy of education. Its topics can range from very general questions, like the nature of the knowledge worth teaching, to more specific issues, like how to teach art or whether public schools should implement standardized curricula and testing. The problem of education was already an important topic in ancient philosophy and has remained so to the present day. But it only emerged as a distinct branch of philosophy in the latter half of the 20th century, when it became the subject of a systematic study and analysis. The term "education" can refer either to the process of educating or to the field of study investigating education as this process. This ambiguity is also reflected on the level of the philosophy of education, which encompasses the study of the philosophical presuppositions and issues both of education as a process and as a discipline. Many works in the philosophy of education focus explicitly or implicitly on the education happening in schools. But in its widest sense, education takes place in various other fields as well, such as at home, in libraries, in museums, or in the public media. Different types of education can be distinguished, such as formal and informal education or private and public education. Subdivisions Different subdivisions of the philosophy of education have been suggested. One categorization distinguishes between descriptive and normative issues. Descriptive theories aim to describe what education is and how to understand its related concepts. This includes also epistemological questions, which ask not whether a theory about education is true or false, but how one can arrive at the knowledge to answer such questions. Normative theories, on the other hand, try to give an account of how education should be practiced or what is the right form of education. Some normative theories are built on a wider ethical framework of what is right or good and then arrive at their educational normative theories by applying this framework to the practice of education. But the descriptive and the normative approaches are intertwined and cannot always be clearly separated since descriptive findings often directly imply various normative attitudes. Another categorization divides topics in the philosophy of education into the nature and aims of education on the one hand, and the methods and circumstances of education on the other hand. The latter section may again be divided into concrete normative theories and the study of the conceptual and methodological presuppositions of these theories. Other classifications additionally include areas for topics such as the role of reasoning and morality as well as issues pertaining to social and political topics and the curriculum. The theories within the philosophy of education can also be subdivided based on the school of philosophy they belong to. Various schools of philosophy, such as existentialism, pragmatism, Marxism, postmodernism, and feminism, have developed their own perspective on the main issues of education. They often include normative theories about how education should or should not be practiced and are in most cases controversial. Another approach is to simply list all topics discussed in the philosophy of education. Among them are the issues and presuppositions concerning sex education, science education, aesthetic education, religious education, moral education, multicultural education, professional education, theories of teaching and learning, the measurement of learning, knowledge and its value, cultivating reason, epistemic and moral aims of education, authority, fallibilism, and fallibility. Finally, yet another way that philosophy of education is often tacitly divided is in terms of western versus non-western and “global south” perspectives. For many generations, philosophy of education has maintained a relatively ethnocentric orientation, with little attention paid to ideas from outside Europe and North America, but this is starting to change in the 21st century due to decolonization and related movements. Main topics Fundamental concepts of education The starting point of many philosophical inquiries into a field is the examination and clarification of the fundamental concepts used in this field, often in the form of conceptual analysis. This approach is particularly prominent in the analytic tradition. It aims to make ambiguities explicit and to uncover various implicit and potentially false assumptions associated with these terms. Theorists in this field often emphasize the importance of this form of investigation since all subsequent work on more specific issues already has to assume at least implicitly what their central terms mean to demarcate their field. For example, in order to study what constitutes good education, one has to have a notion of what the term "education" means and how to achieve, measure, and evaluate it. Definitions of education can be divided into thin and thick definitions. Thin definitions are neutral and descriptive. They usually emphasize the role of the transmission of knowledge and understanding in education. Thick definitions include additional normative components, for example, by stating that the process in question has to have certain positive results to be called education. According to one thick definition, education means that the person educated has acquired knowledge and intellectual skills, values these factors, and has thus changed for the better. These characteristics can then be used to distinguish education from other closely related terms, such as "indoctrination". Other fundamental notions in the philosophy of education include the concepts of teaching, learning, student, schooling, and rearing. Aims of education A central question in the philosophy of education concerns the aims of education, i.e. the question of why people should be educated and what goals should be pursued in the process of education. This issue is highly relevant for evaluating educational practices and products by assessing how well they manage to realize these goals. There is a lot of disagreement and various theories have been proposed concerning the aims of education. Prominent suggestions include that education should foster knowledge, curiosity, creativity, rationality, and critical thinking while also promoting the tendency to think, feel, and act morally. The individual should thereby develop as a person, and achieve self-actualization by realizing their potential. Some theorists emphasize the cultivation of liberal ideals, such as freedom, autonomy, and open-mindedness, while others stress the importance of docility, obedience to authority, and ideological purity, sometimes also with a focus on piety and religious faith. Many suggestions concern the social domain, such as fostering a sense of community and solidarity and thus turning the individual into a productive member of society while protecting them from the potentially negative influences of society. The discussion of these positions and the arguments cited for and against them often include references to various disciplines in their justifications, such as ethics, psychology, anthropology, and sociology. There is wide consensus concerning certain general aims of education, like that it should foster all students, help them in the development of their ability to reason, and guide them in how to judge and act. But these general characteristics are usually too vague to be of much help and there are many disagreements about the more specific suggestions of what education should aim for. Some attempts have been made to provide an overarching framework of these different aims. According to one approach, education should at its core help the individual lead a good life. All the different more specific goals are aims of education to the extent that they serve this ultimate purpose. On this view, it may be argued that fostering rationality and autonomy in the students are aims of education to the extent that increased rationality and autonomy will result in the student leading a better life. The different theories of the aims of education are sometimes divided into goods-based, skills-based, and character-based accounts. Goods-based accounts hold that the ultimate aim of education is to produce some form of epistemic good, such as truth, knowledge, and understanding. Skills-based accounts, on the other hand, see the development of certain skills, like rationality as well as critical and independent thinking as the goal of education. For character-based accounts, the character traits or virtues of the learner play the central role, often with an emphasis on moral and civic traits like kindness, justice, and honesty. Epistemic Many theories emphasize the epistemic aims of education. According to the epistemic approach, the central aim of education has to do with knowledge, for example, to pass on knowledge accumulated in the societal effort from one generation to the next. This process may be seen both as the development of the student's mind as well as the transmission of a valuable heritage. Such an approach is sometimes rejected by pragmatists, who emphasize experimentation and critical thinking over the transmission of knowledge. Others have argued that this constitutes a false dichotomy: that the transmission of knowledge and the development of a rational and critical mind are intertwined aims of education that depend on and support each other. In this sense, education aims also at fostering the ability to acquire new knowledge. This includes both instilling true beliefs in the students as well as teaching the methods and forms of evidence responsible for verifying existing beliefs and arriving at new knowledge. It promotes the epistemic autonomy of students and may help them challenge unwarranted claims by epistemic authorities. In its widest sense, the epistemic approach includes various related goals, such as imparting true beliefs or knowledge to the students as well as teaching dispositions and abilities, such as rationality, critical thinking, understanding, and other intellectual virtues. Critical thinking and indoctrination Critical thinking is often cited as one of the central aims of education. There is no generally accepted definition of critical thinking. But there is wide agreement that it is reasonable, reflective, careful, and focused on determining what to believe or how to act. It has clarity and rationality as its standards and includes a metacognitive component monitoring not just the solution of the problem at hand but also ensuring that it complies with its own standards in the process. In this sense, education is not just about conveying many true beliefs to the students. Instead, the students' ability to arrive at conclusions by themselves and the disposition to question pre-existing beliefs should also be fostered, often with the goal of benefitting not just the student but society at large. But not everyone agrees with the positive role ascribed to critical thinking in education. Objections are often based on disagreements about what it means to reason well. Some critics argue that there is no universally correct form of reasoning. According to them, education should focus more on teaching subject-specific skills and less on imparting a universal method of thinking. Other objections focus on the allegation that critical thinking is not as neutral, universal, and presuppositionless as some of its proponents claim. On this view, it involves various implicit biases, like egocentrism or distanced objectivity, and culture-specific values arising from its roots in the philosophical movement of the European Enlightenment. The problem of critical thinking is closely connected to that of indoctrination. Many theorists hold that indoctrination is in important ways different from education and should be avoided in education. But others contend that indoctrination should be part of education or even that there is no difference between the two. These different positions depend a lot on how "indoctrination" is to be defined. Most definitions of indoctrination agree that its goal is to get the student to accept and embrace certain beliefs. It has this in common with most forms of education but differs from it in other ways. According to one definition, the belief acquisition in indoctrination happens without regard for the evidential support of these beliefs, i.e. without presenting proper arguments and reasons for adopting them. According to another, the beliefs are instilled in such a way as to discourage the student to question or assess for themselves the believed contents. In this sense, the goals of indoctrination are exactly opposite to other aims of education, such as rationality and critical thinking. In this sense, education tries to impart not just beliefs but also make the students more open-minded and conscious of human fallibility. An intimately related issue is whether the aim of education is to mold the mind of the pupil or to liberate it by strengthening its capacity for critical and independent inquiry. An important consequence of this debate concerns the problem of testimony, i.e to what extent students should trust the claims of teachers and books. It has been argued that this issue depends a lot on the age and the intellectual development of the student. In the earlier stages of education, a high level of trust on the side of the students may be necessary. But the more their intellectual capacities develop, the more they should use them when trying to assess the plausibility of claims and the reasons for and against them. In this regard, it has been argued that, especially for young children, weaker forms of indoctrination may be necessary while they still lack the intellectual capacities to evaluate the reasons for and against certain claims and thus to critically assess them. In this sense, one can distinguish unavoidable or acceptable forms of indoctrination from their avoidable or unacceptable counterparts. But this distinction is not always affirmed and some theorists contend that all forms of indoctrination are bad or unacceptable. Individual and society A recurrent source of disagreement about the aims of education concerns the question of who is the primary beneficiary of education: the individual educated or the society having this individual as its member. In many cases, the interests of both are aligned. On the one hand, many new opportunities in life open to the individual through education, especially concerning their career. On the other hand, education makes it more likely that the person becomes a good, law-abiding, and productive member of society. But this issue becomes more problematic in cases where the interests of the individual and society conflict with each other. This poses the question of whether individual autonomy should take precedence over communal welfare. According to comprehensive liberals, for example, education should emphasize the self-directedness of the students. On this view, it is up to the student to choose their own path in life. The role of education is to provide them with the necessary resources but it does not direct the student with respect to what constitutes an ethically good path in life. This position is usually rejected by communitarians, who stress the importance of social cohesion by being part of the community and sharing a common good. Curriculum An important and controversial issue in the philosophy of education concerns the contents of the curriculum, i.e. the question of what should be taught to students. This includes both the selection of subjects to be taught and the consideration of arguments for and against the inclusion of a particular topic. This issue is intimately tied to the aims of education: one may argue that a certain subject should be included in the curriculum because it serves one of the aims of education. While many positions about what subjects to include in the curriculum are controversial, some particular issues stand out where these controversies go beyond the academic discourse to a wide public discourse, like questions about sexual and religious education. Controversies in sex education involve both biological aspects, such as the functioning of sex organs, and social aspects, such as sexual practices and gender identities. Disagreements in this area concern which aspects are taught and in which detail as well as to which age groups these teachings should be directed. Debates on religious education include questions like whether religion should be taught as a distinct subject and, if so, whether it should be compulsory. Other questions include which religion or religions should be taught and to what degree religious views should influence other topics, such as ethics or sex education. Another prominent topic in this field concerns the subject of moral education. This field is sometimes referred to as "educational ethics". Disagreements in this field concern which moral beliefs and values should be taught to the students. This way, many of the disagreements in moral philosophy are reflected in the field of moral education. Some theorists in the Kantian tradition emphasize the importance of moral reasoning and enabling children to become morally autonomous agents who can tell right from wrong. Theorists in the Aristotelian tradition, on the other hand, focus more on moral habituation through the development of virtues that concern both perception, affect, and judgment in regard to moral situations. A related issue, heavily discussed in ancient philosophy, is the extent to which morality can be taught at all instead of just being an inborn disposition. Various discussions also concern the role of art and aesthetics in public education. It has been argued that the creativity learned in these areas can be applied to various other fields and may thereby benefit the student in various ways. It has been argued that aesthetic education also has indirect effects on various other issues, such as shaping the student's sensibilities in the fields of morality and politics as well as heightening their awareness of self and others. Some researchers reject the possibility of objectivity in general. They use this claim to argue against universal forms of education, which they see as hiding particular worldviews, beliefs, and interests under a false cover. This is sometimes utilized to advance an approach focused on more diversity, for example, by giving more prominence in education to the great variety of cultures, customs, languages, and lifestyles without giving preference to any of them. Different approaches to solving these disputes are employed. In some cases, psychology in the field of child development, learning, and motivation can provide important general insights. More specific questions about the curriculum of a particular subject, such as mathematics, are often strongly influenced by the philosophy of this specific discipline, such as the philosophy of mathematics. Power The problem of power is another issue in the philosophy of education. Of specific interest on this topic is that the modern states compel children to attend school, so-called compulsory education. The children and their parents usually have few to no ways of opting out or changing the established curriculum. An important question in this respect is why or whether modern states are justified to use this form of power. For example, various liberationist movements belonging to the fields of deschooling and unschooling reject this power and argue that the children's welfare is best served in the absence of compulsory schooling in general. This is sometimes based on the idea that the best form of learning does not happen while studying but instead occurs as a side-effect while doing something else. This position is often rejected by pointing out that it is based on overly optimistic presuppositions about the children's natural and unguided development of rationality. While some objections focus on compulsory education in general, a less radical and more common criticism concerns specific compulsory topics in the curriculum, for example, in relation to sexuality or religion. Another contemporary debate in the United States concerns the practice of standardized testing: it has been argued that this discriminates against certain racial, cultural, or religious minorities since the standardized test may implicitly assume various presuppositions not shared by these minorities. Other issues in relation to power concern the authority and responsibility teachers have towards their students. Postmodern theorists often see established educational practices as instruments of power used by elites in society to further their own interests. Important aspects in this regard are the unequal power relation between the state and its institutions in contrast to the individual as well as the control that can thus be employed due to the close connection between power and knowledge, specifically the knowledge passed on through education. Equality A recurrent demand on public education is that all students should be treated equally and in a fair manner. One reason for this demand is that education plays a central role for the child's path and prospects in life, which should not be limited by unfair or arbitrary external circumstances. But there are various disagreements about how this demand is best understood and whether it is applicable in all cases. An initial problem concerns what is meant by "equality". In the field of education, it is often understood as equality of opportunity. In this sense, the demand for equality implies that education should open the same opportunities to everyone. This means, among other things, that students from higher social classes should not enjoy a competitive advantage over others. One difficulty with this demand, when understood in a wide sense, is that there are many sources of educational inequality and it is not always in the best interest to eliminate all of them. For example, parents who are concerned with their young children's education may read them bedtime stories early on and thereby provide them with a certain advantage over other children who do not enjoy this privilege. But disallowing such practices to level the field would have serious negative side-effects. A weaker position on this issue does not demand full equality but holds instead that educational policies should ensure that certain factors, like race, native language, and disabilities, do not pose obstacles to the equality of opportunity. A closely related topic is whether all students, both high and low performers, should be treated equally. According to some, more resources should be dedicated to low performers, to help them get to an average level, while others recommend a preferential treatment for high performers in order to help them fully develop their exceptional abilities and thereby benefit society at large. A similar problem is the issue of specialization. It concerns the question of whether all students should follow the same curriculum or to what extent they should specialize early on in specific fields according to their interests and skills. Marxist critiques of the school systems in capitalist societies often focus on the inequality they cause by sorting students for different economic positions. While overtly this process happens based on individual effort and desert, they argue that this just masks and reinforces the underlying influence of the preexisting social class structure. This is sometimes integrated into a wider Marxist perspective on society which holds that education in capitalist societies plays the role of upholding this inequality and thereby reproduces the capitalist relations of production. Other criticisms of the dominant paradigms in education are often voiced by feminist and postmodern theorists. They usually point to alleged biases and forms of discrimination present in current practices that should be eliminated. Feminists often hold that traditional education is overly man-oriented and thereby oppresses women in some form. This bias was present to severe degrees in earlier forms of education and a lot of progress has been made towards more gender-equal forms of education. Nonetheless, feminists often contend that certain problems still persist in contemporary education. Some argue, for example, that this manifests itself in the prominence given to cognitive development in education, which is said to be associated primarily with masculinity in contrast to a more feminine approach based on emotion and intuition. A related criticism holds that there is an overemphasis on abilities belonging to the public sphere, like reason and objectivity, in contrast to equally important characteristics belonging to the private sphere, like compassion and empathy. Epistemology The philosophy of education is also interested in the epistemology of education. This term is often used to talk about the epistemic aims of education, i.e. questions like whether educators should aim at transmitting justified true beliefs rather than merely true beliefs or should additionally foster other epistemic virtues like critical thinking. In a different sense, the epistemology of education concerns the issue of how we arrive at knowledge on educational matters. This is especially relevant in the field of educational research, which is an active field of investigation with many studies being published on a regular basis. It is also quite influential in regard to educational policy and practice. Epistemological questions in this field concern the objectivity of its insights. An important methodological divide in this area, often referred to as the "paradigm wars", is between the quantitative or statistical approach in contrast to the qualitative or ethnographical approach. The quantitative approach usually focuses on wide experimental studies and employs statistical methods to uncover the general causal factors responsible for educational phenomena. It has been criticized based on the claim that its method, which is inspired by the natural sciences, is inappropriate for understanding the complex cultural and motivational patterns investigated by the social sciences. The qualitative approach, on the other hand, gives more weight to particular case studies for reaching its conclusions. Its opponents hold that this approach lacks the methodological rigor to arrive at well-warranted knowledge. The mixed-method research is a recent contemporary approach in which the methods of both camps are combined. The question of the most promising approach is relevant to how funding budgets are spent on research, which in its turn has important implications for policymaking. Others One question concerns how the learners are to be conceptualized. John Locke sees the mind as a blank slate or a tabula rasa that passively absorbs information and is filled with contents through experience. This view contrasts with a more pragmatist perspective, which in its emphasis on practice sees students not as passive absorbers but as active learners that should be encouraged to discover and learn things by themselves. Another disputed topic is the role of testing in public education. Some theorists have argued that it is counterproductive since it puts undue pressure on the students. But testing also plays various critical roles, such as providing feedback on the learning progress both to the student, their parents, and their teachers. Concrete discussions on the role of testing often focus less on whether it should be done at all and more on how much importance should be ascribed to the test results. This also includes questions about the form of testing, for example, whether it should be standardized. Standardized tests present the same questions and scoring system to all students taking the test and are often motivated by a desire for objective and fair evaluations both of students and schools. Opponents have argued that this approach tends to favor certain social groups over others and severely limits the creativity and effectiveness of teachers. Philosophical movements Existentialist The existentialist sees the world as one's personal subjectivity, where goodness, truth, and reality are individually defined. Reality is a world of existing, truth subjectively chosen, and goodness a matter of freedom. The subject matter of existentialist classrooms should be a matter of personal choice. Teachers view the individual as an entity within a social context in which the learner must confront others' views to clarify his or her own. Character development emphasizes individual responsibility for decisions. Real answers come from within the individual, not from outside authority. Examining life through authentic thinking involves students in genuine learning experiences. Existentialists are opposed to thinking about students as objects to be measured, tracked, or standardized. Such educators want the educational experience to focus on creating opportunities for self-direction and self-actualization. They start with the student, rather than on curriculum content. Perennialism Perennialists believe that one should teach the things that one deems to be of everlasting importance to all people everywhere. They believe that the most important topics develop a person. Since details of fact change constantly, these cannot be the most important. Therefore, one should teach principles, not facts. Since people are human, one should teach first about humans, not machines or techniques. Since people are people first, and workers second if at all, one should teach liberal topics first, not vocational topics. The focus is primarily on teaching reasoning and wisdom rather than facts, the liberal arts rather than vocational training. Classical education The Classical education movement advocates a form of education based in the traditions of Western culture, with a particular focus on education as understood and taught in the Middle Ages. The term "classical education" has been used in English for several centuries, with each era modifying the definition and adding its own selection of topics. By the end of the 18th century, in addition to the trivium and quadrivium of the Middle Ages, the definition of a classical education embraced study of literature, poetry, drama, philosophy, history, art, and languages. In the 20th and 21st centuries it is used to refer to a broad-based study of the liberal arts and sciences, as opposed to a practical or pre-professional program. Classical Education can be described as rigorous and systematic, separating children and their learning into three rigid categories, Grammar, Dialectic, and Rhetoric. Essentialism According to educational essentialism, there are certain essential facts about the world that every student needs to learn and master. It is a form of traditional education that relies on long-standing and established subjects and teaching methods. Essentialists usually focus on subjects like reading, writing, mathematics, and science, usually starting with very basic skills while progressively increasing complexity. They prefer a teacher-centered approach, meaning that the teacher acts as the authority figure guiding the learning activity while students are expected to follow their lead. Social reconstructionism and critical pedagogy Critical pedagogy is an "educational movement, guided by passion and principle, to help students develop consciousness of freedom, recognize authoritarian tendencies, and connect knowledge to power and the ability to take constructive action." Based in Marxist theory, critical pedagogy draws on radical democracy, anarchism, feminism, and other movements for social justice. Democratic education Democratic education is a theory of learning and school governance in which students and staff participate freely and equally in a school democracy. In a democratic school, there is typically shared decision-making among students and staff on matters concerning living, working, and learning together. Progressivism Educational progressivism is the belief that education must be based on the principle that humans are social animals who learn best in real-life activities with other people. Progressivists, like proponents of most educational theories, claim to rely on the best available scientific theories of learning. Most progressive educators believe that children learn as if they were scientists, following a process similar to John Dewey's model of learning known as "the pattern of inquiry": 1) Become aware of the problem. 2) Define the problem. 3) Propose hypotheses to solve it. 4) Evaluate the consequences of the hypotheses from one's past experience. 5) Test the likeliest solution. Unschooling Unschooling is a range of educational philosophies and practices centered on allowing children to learn through their natural life experiences, including child directed play, game play, household responsibilities, work experience, and social interaction, rather than through a more traditional school curriculum. Unschooling encourages exploration of activities led by the children themselves, facilitated by the adults. Unschooling differs from conventional schooling principally in the thesis that standard curricula and conventional grading methods, as well as other features of traditional schooling, are counterproductive to the goal of maximizing the education of each child. Contemplative education Contemplative education focuses on bringing introspective practices such as mindfulness and yoga into curricular and pedagogical processes for diverse aims grounded in secular, spiritual, religious and post-secular perspectives. Contemplative approaches may be used in the classroom, especially in tertiary or (often in modified form) in secondary education. Parker Palmer is a recent pioneer in contemplative methods. The Center for Contemplative Mind in Society founded a branch focusing on education, The Association for Contemplative Mind in Higher Education. Contemplative methods may also be used by teachers in their preparation; Waldorf education was one of the pioneers of the latter approach. In this case, inspiration for enriching the content, format, or teaching methods may be sought through various practices, such as consciously reviewing the previous day's activities; actively holding the students in consciousness; and contemplating inspiring pedagogical texts. Zigler suggested that only through focusing on their own spiritual development could teachers positively impact the spiritual development of students. History Ancient Plato Plato's educational philosophy was grounded in a vision of an ideal Republic wherein the individual was best served by being subordinated to a just society due to a shift in emphasis that departed from his predecessors. The mind and body were to be considered separate entities. In the dialogues of Phaedo, written in his "middle period" (360 BCE), Plato expressed his distinctive views about the nature of knowledge, reality, and the soul:When the soul and body are united, then nature orders the soul to rule and govern, and the body to obey and serve. Now which of these two functions is akin to the divine? and which to the mortal? Does not the divine appear ... to be that which naturally orders and rules, and the mortal to be that which is subject and servant?On this premise, Plato advocated removing children from their mothers' care and raising them as wards of the state, with great care being taken to differentiate children suitable to the various castes, the highest receiving the most education, so that they could act as guardians of the city and care for the less able. Education would be holistic, including facts, skills, physical discipline, and music and art, which he considered the highest form of endeavor. Plato believed that talent was distributed non-genetically and thus must be found in children born in any social class. He built on this by insisting that those suitably gifted were to be trained by the state so that they might be qualified to assume the role of a ruling class. What this established was essentially a system of selective public education premised on the assumption that an educated minority of the population were, by virtue of their education (and inborn educability), sufficient for healthy governance. Plato's writings contain some of the following ideas: Elementary education would be confined to the guardian class till the age of 18, followed by two years of compulsory military training and then by higher education for those who qualified. While elementary education made the soul responsive to the environment, higher education helped the soul to search for truth which illuminated it. Both boys and girls receive the same kind of education. Elementary education consisted of music and gymnastics, designed to train and blend gentle and fierce qualities in the individual and create a harmonious person. At the age of 20, a selection was made. The best students would take an advanced course in mathematics, geometry, astronomy and harmonics. The first course in the scheme of higher education would last for ten years. It would be for those who had a flair for science. At the age of 30 there would be another selection; those who qualified would study dialectics and metaphysics, logic and philosophy for the next five years. After accepting junior positions in the army for 15 years, a man would have completed his theoretical and practical education by the age of 50. Aristotle Only fragments of Aristotle's treatise On Education are still in existence. We thus know of his philosophy of education primarily through brief passages in other works. Aristotle considered human nature, habit and reason to be equally important forces to be cultivated in education. Thus, for example, he considered repetition to be a key tool to develop good habits. The teacher was to lead the student systematically; this differs, for example, from Socrates' emphasis on questioning his listeners to bring out their own ideas (though the comparison is perhaps incongruous since Socrates was dealing with adults). Aristotle placed great emphasis on balancing the theoretical and practical aspects of subjects taught. Subjects he explicitly mentions as being important included reading, writing and mathematics; music; physical education; literature and history; and a wide range of sciences. He also mentioned the importance of play. One of education's primary missions for Aristotle, perhaps its most important, was to produce good and virtuous citizens for the polis. All who have meditated on the art of governing mankind have been convinced that the fate of empires depends on the education of youth. Medieval Ibn Sina In the medieval Islamic world, an elementary school was known as a maktab, which dates back to at least the 10th century. Like madrasahs (which referred to higher education), a maktab was often attached to a mosque. In the 11th century, Ibn Sina (known as Avicenna in the West), wrote a chapter dealing with the maktab entitled "The Role of the Teacher in the Training and Upbringing of Children", as a guide to teachers working at maktab schools. He wrote that children can learn better if taught in classes instead of individual tuition from private tutors, and he gave a number of reasons for why this is the case, citing the value of competition and emulation among pupils as well as the usefulness of group discussions and debates. Ibn Sina described the curriculum of a maktab school in some detail, describing the curricula for two stages of education in a maktab school. Ibn Sina wrote that children should be sent to a maktab school from the age of 6 and be taught primary education until they reach the age of 14. During which time, he wrote that they should be taught the Qur'an, Islamic metaphysics, language, literature, Islamic ethics, and manual skills (which could refer to a variety of practical skills). Ibn Sina refers to the secondary education stage of maktab schooling as the period of specialization, when pupils should begin to acquire manual skills, regardless of their social status. He writes that children after the age of 14 should be given a choice to choose and specialize in subjects they have an interest in, whether it was reading, manual skills, literature, preaching, medicine, geometry, trade and commerce, craftsmanship, or any other subject or profession they would be interested in pursuing for a future career. He wrote that this was a transitional stage and that there needs to be flexibility regarding the age in which pupils graduate, as the student's emotional development and chosen subjects need to be taken into account. The empiricist theory of 'tabula rasa' was also developed by Ibn Sina. He argued that the "human intellect at birth is rather like a tabula rasa, a pure potentiality that is actualized through education and comes to know" and that knowledge is attained through "empirical familiarity with objects in this world from which one abstracts universal concepts" which is developed through a "syllogistic method of reasoning; observations lead to prepositional statements, which when compounded lead to further abstract concepts." He further argued that the intellect itself "possesses levels of development from the material intellect (al-‘aql al-hayulani), that potentiality that can acquire knowledge to the active intellect (al-‘aql al-fa‘il), the state of the human intellect in conjunction with the perfect source of knowledge." Ibn Tufail In the 12th century, the Andalusian-Arabian philosopher and novelist Ibn Tufail (known as "Abubacer" or "Ebn Tophail" in the West) demonstrated the empiricist theory of 'tabula rasa' as a thought experiment through his Arabic philosophical novel, Hayy ibn Yaqzan, in which he depicted the development of the mind of a feral child "from a tabula rasa to that of an adult, in complete isolation from society" on a desert island, through experience alone. Some scholars have argued that the Latin translation of his philosophical novel, Philosophus Autodidactus, published by Edward Pococke the Younger in 1671, had an influence on John Locke's formulation of tabula rasa in "An Essay Concerning Human Understanding". Modern Michel de Montaigne Child education was among the psychological topics that Michel de Montaigne wrote about. His essays On the Education of Children, On Pedantry, and On Experience explain the views he had on child education. Some of his views on child education are still relevant today. Montaigne's views on the education of children were opposed to the common educational practices of his day. He found fault both with what was taught and how it was taught. Much of the education during Montaigne's time was focused on the reading of the classics and learning through books.Montaigne disagreed with learning strictly through books. He believed it was necessary to educate children in a variety of ways. He also disagreed with the way information was being presented to students. It was being presented in a way that encouraged students to take the information that was taught to them as absolute truth. Students were denied the chance to question the information. Therefore, students could not truly learn. Montaigne believed that, to learn truly, a student had to take the information and make it their own. At the foundation Montaigne believed that the selection of a good tutor was important for the student to become well educated. Education by a tutor was to be conducted at the pace of the student.He believed that a tutor should be in dialogue with the student, letting the student speak first. The tutor also should allow for discussions and debates to be had. Such a dialogue was intended to create an environment in which students would teach themselves. They would be able to realize their mistakes and make corrections to them as necessary. Individualized learning was integral to his theory of child education. He argued that the student combines information already known with what is learned and forms a unique perspective on the newly learned information. Montaigne also thought that tutors should encourage the natural curiosity of students and allow them to question things.He postulated that successful students were those who were encouraged to question new information and study it for themselves, rather than simply accepting what they had heard from the authorities on any given topic. Montaigne believed that a child's curiosity could serve as an important teaching tool when the child is allowed to explore the things that the child is curious about. Experience also was a key element to learning for Montaigne. Tutors needed to teach students through experience rather than through the mere memorization of information often practised in book learning.He argued that students would become passive adults, blindly obeying and lacking the ability to think on their own. Nothing of importance would be retained and no abilities would be learned. He believed that learning through experience was superior to learning through the use of books. For this reason he encouraged tutors to educate their students through practice, travel, and human interaction. In doing so, he argued that students would become active learners, who could claim knowledge for themselves. Montaigne's views on child education continue to have an influence in the present. Variations of Montaigne's ideas on education are incorporated into modern learning in some ways. He argued against the popular way of teaching in his day, encouraging individualized learning. He believed in the importance of experience, over book learning and memorization. Ultimately, Montaigne postulated that the point of education was to teach a student how to have a successful life by practicing an active and socially interactive lifestyle. John Locke In Some Thoughts Concerning Education and Of the Conduct of the Understanding John Locke composed an outline on how to educate this mind in order to increase its powers and activity: "The business of education is not, as I think, to make them perfect in any one of the sciences, but so to open and dispose their minds as may best make them capable of any, when they shall apply themselves to it." "If men are for a long time accustomed only to one sort or method of thoughts, their minds grow stiff in it, and do not readily turn to another. It is therefore to give them this freedom, that I think they should be made to look into all sorts of knowledge, and exercise their understandings in so wide a variety and stock of knowledge. But I do not propose it as a variety and stock of knowledge, but a variety and freedom of thinking, as an increase of the powers and activity of the mind, not as an enlargement of its possessions." Locke expressed the belief that education maketh the man, or, more fundamentally, that the mind is an "empty cabinet", with the statement, "I think I may say that of all the men we meet with, nine parts of ten are what they are, good or evil, useful or not, by their education." Locke also wrote that "the little and almost insensible impressions on our tender infancies have very important and lasting consequences." He argued that the "associations of ideas" that one makes when young are more important than those made later because they are the foundation of the self: they are, put differently, what first mark the tabula rasa. In his Essay, in which is introduced both of these concepts, Locke warns against, for example, letting "a foolish maid" convince a child that "goblins and sprites" are associated with the night for "darkness shall ever afterwards bring with it those frightful ideas, and they shall be so joined, that he can no more bear the one than the other." "Associationism", as this theory would come to be called, exerted a powerful influence over eighteenth-century thought, particularly educational theory, as nearly every educational writer warned parents not to allow their children to develop negative associations. It also led to the development of psychology and other new disciplines with David Hartley's attempt to discover a biological mechanism for associationism in his Observations on Man (1749). Jean-Jacques Rousseau Jean-Jacques Rousseau, though he paid his respects to Plato's philosophy, rejected it as impractical due to the decayed state of society. Rousseau also had a different theory of human development; where Plato held that people are born with skills appropriate to different castes (though he did not regard these skills as being inherited), Rousseau held that there was one developmental process common to all humans. This was an intrinsic, natural process, of which the primary behavioral manifestation was curiosity. This differed from Locke's 'tabula rasa' in that it was an active process deriving from the child's nature, which drove the child to learn and adapt to its surroundings. Rousseau wrote in his book Emile that all children are perfectly designed organisms, ready to learn from their surroundings so as to grow into virtuous adults, but due to the malign influence of corrupt society, they often fail to do so. Rousseau advocated an educational method which consisted of removing the child from society—for example, to a country home—and alternately conditioning him through changes to his environment and setting traps and puzzles for him to solve or overcome. Rousseau was unusual in that he recognized and addressed the potential of a problem of legitimation for teaching. He advocated that adults always be truthful with children, and in particular that they never hide the fact that the basis for their authority in teaching was purely one of physical coercion: "I'm bigger than you." Once children reached the age of reason, at about 12, they would be engaged as free individuals in the ongoing process of their own. He once said that a child should grow up without adult interference and that the child must be guided to suffer from the experience of the natural consequences of his own acts or behaviour. When he experiences the consequences of his own acts, he advises himself. "Rousseau divides development into five stages (a book is devoted to each). Education in the first two stages seeks to the senses: only when Émile is about 12 does the tutor begin to work to develop his mind. Later, in Book 5, Rousseau examines the education of Sophie (whom Émile is to marry). Here he sets out what he sees as the essential differences that flow from sex. 'The man should be strong and active; the woman should be weak and passive' (Everyman edn: 322). From this difference comes a contrasting education. They are not to be brought up in ignorance and kept to housework: Nature means them to think, to will, to love to cultivate their minds as well as their persons; she puts these weapons in their hands to make up for their lack of strength and to enable them to direct the strength of men. They should learn many things, but only such things as suitable' (Everyman edn.: 327)." Émile Immanuel Kant Immanuel Kant believed that education differs from training in that the former involves thinking whereas the latter does not. In addition to educating reason, of central importance to him was the development of character and teaching of moral maxims. Kant was a proponent of public education and of learning by doing. Charlotte Mason Charlotte Mason was a British educator who invested her life in improving the quality of children's education. Her ideas led to a method used by some homeschoolers. Mason's philosophy of education is probably best summarized by the principles given at the beginning of each of her books. Two key mottos taken from those principles are "Education is an atmosphere, a discipline, a life" and "Education is the science of relations." She believed that children were born persons and should be respected as such; they should also be taught the Way of the Will and the Way of Reason. Her motto for students was "I am, I can, I ought, I will." Charlotte Mason believed that children should be introduced to subjects through living books, not through the use of "compendiums, abstracts, or selections." She used abridged books only when the content was deemed inappropriate for children. She preferred that parents or teachers read aloud those texts (such as Plutarch and the Old Testament), making omissions only where necessary. 20th and 21st century Rudolf Steiner (Waldorf education) Waldorf education (also known as Steiner or Steiner-Waldorf education) is a humanistic approach to pedagogy based upon the educational philosophy of the Austrian philosopher Rudolf Steiner, the founder of anthroposophy. Now known as Waldorf or Steiner education, his pedagogy emphasizes a balanced development of cognitive, affective/artistic, and practical skills (head, heart, and hands). Schools are normally self-administered by faculty; emphasis is placed upon giving individual teachers the freedom to develop creative methods. Steiner's theory of child development divides education into three discrete developmental stages predating but with close similarities to the stages of development described by Piaget. Early childhood education occurs through imitation; teachers provide practical activities and a healthy environment. Steiner believed that young children should meet only goodness. Elementary education is strongly arts-based, centered on the teacher's creative authority; the elementary school-age child should meet beauty. Secondary education seeks to develop the judgment, intellect, and practical idealism; the adolescent should meet truth. Learning is interdisciplinary, integrating practical, artistic, and conceptual elements. The approach emphasizes the role of the imagination in learning, developing thinking that includes a creative as well as an analytic component. The educational philosophy's overarching goals are to provide young people the basis on which to develop into free, morally responsible and integrated individuals, and to help every child fulfill his or her unique destiny, the existence of which anthroposophy posits. Schools and teachers are given considerable freedom to define curricula within collegial structures. John Dewey In Democracy and Education: An Introduction to the Philosophy of Education, John Dewey stated that education, in its broadest sense, is the means of the "social continuity of life" given the "primary ineluctable facts of the birth and death of each one of the constituent members in a social group". Education is therefore a necessity, for "the life of the group goes on." Dewey was a proponent of Educational Progressivism and was a relentless campaigner for reform of education, pointing out that the authoritarian, strict, pre-ordained knowledge approach of modern traditional education was too concerned with delivering knowledge, and not enough with understanding students' actual experiences. In 1896, Dewey opened the Laboratory School at the University of Chicago in an institutional effort to pursue together rather than apart "utility and culture, absorption and expression, theory and practice, [which] are [indispensable] elements in any educational scheme. As the unified head of the departments of Philosophy, Psychology and Pedagogy, John Dewey articulated a desire to organize an educational experience where children could be more creative than the best of progressive models of his day. Transactionalism as a pragmatic philosophy grew out of the work he did in the Laboratory School. The two most influential works that stemmed from his research and study were The Child and the Curriculum (1902) and Democracy and Education (1916). Dewey wrote of the dualisms that plagued educational philosophy in the latter book: "Instead of seeing the educative process steadily and as a whole, we see conflicting terms. We get the case of the child vs. the curriculum; of the individual nature vs. social culture." Dewey found that the preoccupation with facts as knowledge in the educative process led students to memorize "ill-understood rules and principles" and while second-hand knowledge learned in mere words is a beginning in study, mere words can never replace the ability to organize knowledge into both useful and valuable experience. Maria Montessori The Montessori method arose from Dr. Maria Montessori's discovery of what she referred to as "the child's true normal nature" in 1907, which happened in the process of her experimental observation of young children given freedom in an environment prepared with materials designed for their self-directed learning activity. The method itself aims to duplicate this experimental observation of children to bring about, sustain and support their true natural way of being. William Heard Kilpatrick William Heard Kilpatrick was a US American philosopher of education and a colleague and a successor of John Dewey. He was a major figure in the progressive education movement of the early 20th century. Kilpatrick developed the Project Method for early childhood education, which was a form of Progressive Education organized curriculum and classroom activities around a subject's central theme. He believed that the role of a teacher should be that of a "guide" as opposed to an authoritarian figure. Kilpatrick believed that children should direct their own learning according to their interests and should be allowed to explore their environment, experiencing their learning through the natural senses. Proponents of Progressive Education and the Project Method reject traditional schooling that focuses on memorization, rote learning, strictly organized classrooms (desks in rows; students always seated), and typical forms of assessment. William Chandler Bagley William Chandler Bagley taught in elementary schools before becoming a professor of education at the University of Illinois, where he served as the Director of the School of Education from 1908 until 1917. He was a professor of education at Teachers College, Columbia, from 1917 to 1940. An opponent of pragmatism and progressive education, Bagley insisted on the value of knowledge for its own sake, not merely as an instrument, and he criticized his colleagues for their failure to emphasize systematic study of academic subjects. Bagley was a proponent of educational essentialism. A. S. Neill A. S. Neill founded Summerhill School, the oldest existing democratic school in Suffolk, England, in 1921. He wrote a number of books that now define much of contemporary democratic education philosophy. Neill believed that the happiness of the child should be the paramount consideration in decisions about the child's upbringing, and that this happiness grew from a sense of personal freedom. He felt that deprivation of this sense of freedom during childhood, and the consequent unhappiness experienced by the repressed child, was responsible for many of the psychological disorders of adulthood. Martin Heidegger Martin Heidegger's philosophizing about education was primarily related to higher education. He believed that teaching and research in the university should be unified and that students should be taught "to focus on and explicitly investigate the ontological presuppositions which implicitly guide research in each domain of knowledge,” an approach he believed would "encourage revolutionary transformation in the sciences and humanities." Jean Piaget Jean Piaget was a Swiss developmental psychologist known for his epistemological studies with children. His theory of cognitive development and epistemological view are together called "genetic epistemology". Piaget placed great importance on the education of children. As the Director of the International Bureau of Education, he declared in 1934 that "only education is capable of saving our societies from possible collapse, whether violent, or gradual." Piaget created the International Centre for Genetic Epistemology in Geneva in 1955 and directed it until 1980. According to Ernst von Glasersfeld, Jean Piaget is "the great pioneer of the constructivist theory of knowing." Jean Piaget described himself as an epistemologist, interested in the process of the qualitative development of knowledge. As he says in the introduction of his book Genetic Epistemology: "What the genetic epistemology proposes is discovering the roots of the different varieties of knowledge, since its elementary forms, following to the next levels, including also the scientific knowledge." Mortimer Jerome Adler Mortimer Jerome Adler was an American philosopher, educator, and popular author. As a philosopher he worked within the Aristotelian and Thomistic traditions. He lived for the longest stretches in New York City, Chicago, San Francisco, and San Mateo, California. He worked for Columbia University, the University of Chicago, Encyclopædia Britannica, and Adler's own Institute for Philosophical Research. Adler was married twice and had four children. Adler was a proponent of educational perennialism. Harry S. Broudy Harry S. Broudy's philosophical views were based on the tradition of classical realism, dealing with truth, goodness, and beauty. However he was also influenced by the modern philosophy existentialism and instrumentalism. In his textbook Building a Philosophy of Education he has two major ideas that are the main points to his philosophical outlook: The first is truth and the second is universal structures to be found in humanity's struggle for education and the good life. Broudy also studied issues on society's demands on school. He thought education would be a link to unify the diverse society and urged the society to put more trust and a commitment to the schools and a good education. Jerome Bruner Another important contributor to the inquiry method in education is Jerome Bruner. His books The Process of Education and Toward a Theory of Instruction are landmarks in conceptualizing learning and curriculum development. He argued that any subject can be taught in some intellectually honest form to any child at any stage of development. This notion was an underpinning for his concept of the "spiral" (helical) curriculum which posited the idea that a curriculum should revisit basic ideas, building on them until the student had grasped the full formal concept. He emphasized intuition as a neglected but essential feature of productive thinking. He felt that interest in the material being learned was the best stimulus for learning rather than external motivation such as grades. Bruner developed the concept of discovery learning which promoted learning as a process of constructing new ideas based on current or past knowledge. Students are encouraged to discover facts and relationships and continually build on what they already know. Paulo Freire A Brazilian philosopher and educator committed to the cause of educating the impoverished peasants of his nation and collaborating with them in the pursuit of their liberation from what he regarded as "oppression", Paulo Freire is best known for his attack on what he called the "banking concept of education", in which the student was viewed as an empty account to be filled by the teacher. Freire also suggests that a deep reciprocity be inserted into our notions of teacher and student; he comes close to suggesting that the teacher-student dichotomy be completely abolished, instead promoting the roles of the participants in the classroom as the teacher-student (a teacher who learns) and the student-teacher (a learner who teaches). In its early, strong form this kind of classroom has sometimes been criticized on the grounds that it can mask rather than overcome the teacher's authority. Aspects of the Freirian philosophy have been highly influential in academic debates over "participatory development" and development more generally. Freire's emphasis on what he describes as "emancipation" through interactive participation has been used as a rationale for the participatory focus of development, as it is held that 'participation' in any form can lead to empowerment of poor or marginalised groups. Freire was a proponent of critical pedagogy. "He participated in the import of European doctrines and ideas into Brazil, assimilated them to the needs of a specific socio-economic situation, and thus expanded and refocused them in a thought-provoking way" John Holt In 1964 John Holt published his first book, How Children Fail, asserting that the academic failure of schoolchildren was not despite the efforts of the schools, but actually because of the schools. How Children Fail ignited a firestorm of controversy. Holt was catapulted into the American national consciousness to the extent that he made appearances on major TV talk shows, wrote book reviews for Life magazine, and was a guest on the To Tell The Truth TV game show. In his follow-up work, How Children Learn, published in 1967, Holt tried to elucidate the learning process of children and why he believed school short circuits that process. Nel Noddings Nel Noddings' first sole-authored book Caring: A Feminine Approach to Ethics and Moral Education (1984) followed close on the 1982 publication of Carol Gilligan's ground-breaking work in the ethics of care In a Different Voice. While her work on ethics continued, with the publication of Women and Evil (1989) and later works on moral education, most of her later publications have been on the philosophy of education and educational theory. Her most significant works in these areas have been Educating for Intelligent Belief or Unbelief (1993) and Philosophy of Education (1995). Noddings' contribution to education philosophy centers around the ethic of care. Her belief was that a caring teacher-student relationship will result in the teacher designing a differentiated curriculum for each student, and that this curriculum would be based around the students' particular interests and needs. The teacher's claim to care must not be based on a one time virtuous decision but an ongoing interest in the students' welfare. Professional organizations and associations See also Education sciences Methodology Learning theory (education) Outline of educational aims Pedagogy Philosophy education References Further reading Classic and Contemporary Readings in the Philosophy of Education, by Steven M. Cahn, 1997, . A Companion to the Philosophy of Education (Blackwell Companions to Philosophy), ed. by Randall Curren, Paperback edition, 2006, . The Blackwell Guide to the Philosophy of Education, ed. by Nigel Blake, Paul Smeyers, Richard Smith, and Paul Standish, Paperback edition, 2003, . Philosophy of Education (Westview Press, Dimension of Philosophy Series), by Nel Noddings, Paperback edition, 1995, . Andre Kraak, Michael Young Education in Retrospect: Policy And Implementation Since 1990 Daan Thoomes, The necessity of education. In: The History of education and childhood. Radboud University, Nijmegen, 2000 External links "Philosophy of Education". In Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy Encyclopedia of Philosophy of Education Thinkers of Education. UNESCO-International Bureau of Education website Education studies

Colour revolution

The colour revolutions (sometimes coloured revolutions) were a series of often non-violent protests and accompanying (attempted or successful) changes of government and society that took place in post-Soviet states (particularly Georgia, Ukraine, and Kyrgyzstan) and the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia during the early 21st century. The aim of the colour revolutions was to establish Western-style liberal democracies. They were primarily triggered by election results widely viewed as falsified. The colour revolutions were marked by the usage of the internet as a method of communication, as well as a strong role of non-governmental organizations in the protests. Some of these movements have been successful in their goal of removing the government, such as the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia's Bulldozer Revolution (2000), Georgia's Rose Revolution (2003), Ukraine's Orange Revolution (2004), Kyrgyzstan's Tulip Revolution (2005) and Armenia's Velvet Revolution (2018). They have been described by political scientists Valerie Jane Bunce and Seva Gunitsky as a "wave of democracy," between the Revolutions of 1989 and the 2010–2012 Arab Spring. Russia, China, and Iran have accused the Western world of orchestrating color revolutions to expand its influence. Background Student movements The first of these was Otpor! ('Resistance!') in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, founded at Belgrade University in October 1998 and began protesting against Miloševic during the Kosovo War. Most of them were already veterans of anti-Milošević demonstrations such as the 1996–97 protests and the 9 March 1991 protest. Many of its members were arrested or beaten by the police. Despite this, during the presidential campaign in September 2000, Otpor! launched its Gotov je (He's finished) campaign that galvanized Serbian discontent with Milošević and resulted in his defeat. Members of Otpor! have inspired and trained members of related student movements, including Kmara in Georgia, PORA in Ukraine, Zubr in Belarus, and MJAFT! in Albania. These groups have been explicit and scrupulous in their non-violent resistance, as advocated and explained in Gene Sharp's writings. Successful protests Serbia In the 2000 Yugoslavian general election, activists that opposed the government of Slobodan Milošević created a unified opposition and engaged in civic mobilization through get-out-the-vote campaigns. This approach had been used in other parliamentary elections in Bulgaria (1997), Slovakia (1998), and Croatia (2000). However, election results were contested with the Federal Election Commission announcing that opposition candidate Vojislav Koštunica had not received the absolute majority necessary to avoid a runoff election despite some political sources believing he had earned nearly 55% of the vote. Discrepancies in vote totals and the incineration of election documents by authorities lead the opposition alliance to accuse the government of electoral fraud. Protests erupted in Belgrade, culminating in the overthrow of Slobodan Milošević. The demonstrations were supported by the youth movement Otpor!, some of whose members were later involved in revolutions in other countries. These demonstrations are usually considered to be the first example of the peaceful revolutions that followed in former Soviet states. Despite the nationwide protesters not adopting a colour or a specific symbol, the slogan "Gotov je" become a defining symbol in retrospect, celebrating the success of the protests. The protests have come to be known as the Bulldozer Revolution due to the use of a wheel loader that protesters drove into the building used by Radio Television of Serbia, which was the main broadcast arm of Milošević's government. Georgia Adjara Ukraine Kyrgyzstan (2005) Moldova There was civil unrest, described by some as a revolution, all over Moldova following the 2009 Parliamentary election, owing to the opposition's assertion that the communists had fixed the election. In the lead-up to the election, there had been an overwhelming pro-communist bias in the media, and the composition of electoral registers was subject to scrutiny. European electoral observers had concluded that there was "undue administrative influence" in the election. There had also been anger at president Vladimir Voronin, who had agreed to step down as term limits in the constitution required but who then said he would retain a key role in politics, leading to fears that there would be no real change in power. The views and actions of the Soviet-trained and Russian-speaking political elite contrasted with the majority of the country's population as a whole, which favoured a more pro-European direction. Also key to the context was the question of relations with Romania, which Moldova had been separated from after Russian occupation under the Nazi-Soviet Pact of 1939. Demands for closer relations with Romania had increased due to Romania's EU membership contrasting with economic stagnation and failure in Moldova. Under the communists, Moldova had the status of the poorest country in Europe, and international agencies had criticised the government for failing to address corruption and for limiting press freedoms. The government attempted to discredit the protests by claiming foreign involvement of Romania, but little evidence existed which suggested this was the case. Between 10,000 and 15,000 people joined protests on 6 and 7 April 2009 in the capital city of Chișinău. Some of the chants protesters were heard to say were "We want Europe", "We are Romanians" and "Down with Communism". With social media playing a role in the organisation of the protests, the internet was cut off in the capital by the government, and president Voronin declared the protesters to be "fascists intoxicated with hatred". Voronin's reaction to the protests were subject to criticism; he utilised the secret police, oversaw mass arrests, sealed the country's borders and censored media, leading to comparisons to Stalinist methods of communist repression. Amnesty International and the BBC reported on numerous cases of torture and ill-treatment and brutality towards protesters. Russia backed and supported the ruling Moldovan communist government. The only foreign leader to congratulate Voronin and Moldova after the disputed election was Russian president Dmitry Medvedev. Analysists observed that the protests appeared to be spontaneous and that they partly originated from protesters dislike of the government's increasing compliance with Russia. One of the key demands of the protests was achieved when a recount of votes in the election was accepted and ordered by president Voronin. Then, in July 2009 a new election was held in which opposition parties won a slight majority of the vote, which was seen as a decisive success for the four pro-Western, pro-European parties. One of the factors believed to have led to the opposition victory was the anger at the way the communist government had handled the April protests. The deputy leader of the opposition Liberal Party stated that "Democracy has won". The opposition alliance (the Alliance for European Integration) created a governing coalition that pushed the Communist party into opposition. Armenia Unsuccessful protests Belarus Jeans Revolution By March 2006, authoritarian and pro-Russian president Alexander Lukashenko had ruled Belarus for twelve years, and was aiming for a third term after term limits were cancelled by a dubious referendum in 2004 that was judged to not be free and fair internationally. Lukashenko had faced widespread international criticism for crushing dissent, neglecting human rights and restricting civil society. By this point the Belarus parliament did not contain any opposition members and acted as a "rubber stamp" parliament. Subsequently, it was after Lukashenko was declared the winner of the disputed 2006 presidential election that mass protests began against his rule. The main challenger to Lukashenko in the election was Alexander Milinkevich, who advocated liberal democratic values and who was supported by a coalition of the major opposition parties. International observers noted intimidation and harassment of opposition campaigners including Milinkevich during the campaign, and police disrupted his election meetings on numerous occasions whilst also detaining his election agents and confiscating his campaign material. Another opposition candidate, Alyaksandr Kazulin, was beaten up by police and held for several hours, which led to international outrage. The entirety of Belarus media was controlled by Lukashenko's government and the opposition candidates had no access to it or representation on it. In the lead up to the vote, Lukashenko's regime expelled a number of foreign election observers, preventing them from overseeing the vote's standards. The regime also further limited the freedoms of independent and foreign journalists, with it being noted by analysts that Lukashenko was attempting to prevent a repeat of the popular uprisings which had ousted authoritarian governments in the Georgian and Ukrainian colour revolutions. As had previously been the case, Russia generally supported the authoritarian Belarusian authorities, with some top-level Russian officials openly declaring their wish for a Lukashenko victory. Analysts noted how it was an aim of Russia to prevent more Georgia or Ukraine-style colour revolutions, and that Russia desired to keep Lukashenko in power to prevent Belarus from turning towards the west. Lukashenko was contentiously declared the winner of the election, with official results granting him 83% of the vote. International monitors severely criticised the legitimacy of the poll. The opposition and Milinkevich immediately called for protests. Immediately after the official results were announced, 30,000 protested in the capital of Minsk. CBS News said that this alone was "an enormous turnout in a country where police usually suppress unauthorized gatherings swiftly and brutally". Thousands of protestors then maintained a tent protest camp on October Square for several days and nights, which failed to be broken up by police and indicated that the opposition had gained a foothold. Subsequently, on Friday 24 March, riot police stormed the camp and wrestled around fifty people into trucks and detained hundreds of others. The next day, Saturday 25 March 2006, a large opposition rally took place, despite police attempting to prevent protesters gathering at October Square. Alyaksandr Kazulin was among many protesters arrested as they attempted to march on a jail where many of the democracy activists taken from the tent camp had been imprisoned. In total there were 40,000 protestors. The opposition originally used as a symbol the white-red-white flag of Belarus prior to 1995; the movement has had significant connections with that in neighbouring Ukraine. During the Orange Revolution, some white-red-white flags were seen being waved in Kyiv. During the 2006 protests, some called it the "Jeans Revolution" or "Denim Revolution," blue jeans being considered a symbol for freedom. Some protesters cut up jeans into ribbons and hung them in public places. Lukashenko had previously indicated his plans to crush any potential election protests, saying: "In our country, there will be no pink or orange, or even banana revolution." On 24 February 2005, he said, "They [the West] think that Belarus is ready for some 'orange' or, what is a rather frightening option, 'blue' or 'cornflower blue' revolution. Such 'blue' revolutions are the last thing we need". On 19 April 2005, he further commented: "All these coloured revolutions are pure and simple banditry." Lukashenko later himself apparently admitted that the 2006 election was rigged, being quoted in Belarusian media as saying: "last presidential elections were rigged; I already told this to the Westerners. [...] 93.5% voted for the President Lukashenko [sic]. They said it's not a European number. We made it 86. This really happened. And if [one is to] start recounting the votes, I don't know what to do with them. Before the elections they told us that if we showed the European numbers, our elections would be accepted. We were planning to make the European numbers. But, as you can see, this didn't help either." 2020 Belarusian presidential election After the 2020 Belarusian presidential election, there were another wave of mass protests to challenge Lukashenko's authority. The protests started claiming fraud after incumbent president Alexander Lukashenko was re-elected. The main opposition candidate Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya declared herself the winner, saying that she won by a large margin. She then set up the “Coordination Council,” which was recognized as the legitimate interim government by the European Parliament. As of December 2020, some of the media states that the revolution failed and that Lukashenko managed to prevent a repeat of the Euromaidan. Russia In September 2011, Russian president Dmitry Medvedev, who had ruled for four years in a more liberal direction than his predecessor Vladimir Putin, declared that Putin would run again in the upcoming presidential election. Putin had previously had to step down and make way for Medvedev to become president in 2008 due to limits on consecutive presidential terms, but the plans for his return were now made public. However, many Russians appeared to find the choreographed move to allow Medvedev and Putin to simply swap positions brazen and displeasing. In November, Putin suffered a notable humiliation when he was loudly booed by the 20,000 strong crowd when attending and speaking at a public and televised fight bout, which indicated that there was opposition to him again returning to the presidency. State TV edited out the boos to hide the opposition to him, but videos of it quickly spread online. Then, Putin's ruling party was controversially declared the winner of the parliamentary elections, despite well-documented accusations and evidence of fraud. Independent estimates showed that over a million votes may have been altered. The belief that the election had been rigged led to mass protests starting. State TV purposely ignored the protests, even after more than 1,000 arrests and the key organisers being targetted. The protests began on 4 December 2011 in the Russian capital of Moscow against the election results, leading to the arrests of over 500 people. On 10 December, protests erupted in tens of cities across the country; a few months later, they spread to hundreds both inside the country and abroad. The protests were described as "Snow Revolution". It derives from December—the month when the revolution had started—and from the white ribbons that the protesters wore. The focus of the protests were the ruling party, United Russia, and Putin. Protests intensified after Putin dubiously won the 2012 Russian presidential election by a preposterous margin. Video footage was discovered showing examples of vote rigging, such as an individual secretly and repeatedly feeding ballot papers into a voting machine. At a victory rally held in suspicious circumstances only minutes after polls closed and before vote-counting was even completed, Putin was seen to be showing emotion and apparently crying as he was abruptly declared the winner. With the background of the mass protests, Putin started his third term amid chaotic circumstances; he responded by becoming markedly more authoritarian, and soon further reduced human rights and civil liberties. At the time it was noted that it was possible that he would rule until 2024 when the next consecutive term limit would take effect, but in fact the constitution was changed in 2020 in controversial circumstances, which allowed him to rule until 2036 without having to step down again like he had in 2008-2012. Boris Nemtsov, one of the leaders of the protest movement, was later assassinated with the apparent involvement of the Russian security services (and the possible involvement of Putin himself) in 2015. Another of the key leaders, Alexei Navalny, was poisoned in 2020, apparently by the FSB, and then was imprisoned in a labour colony on charges widely considered politically motivated before dying in suspicious circumstances in 2024 shortly before the presidential election, aged only 47. Vladimir Kara-Murza, another key figure in the protests, later survived suspected poisonings in 2015 and 2017 before being imprisoned for 25 years on charges widely considered politically motivated in 2022. Ilya Yashin, another key leader of the protests, was likewise another figure convicted on politically-motivated charges after Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine. Protest figure Dmitry Bykov was also poisoned in 2019, having been trailed by the same FSB agents who poisoned Navalny in 2020. Opposition International geopolitics scholars Paul J. Bolt and Sharyl N. Cross state that "Moscow and Beijing share almost indistinguishable views on the potential domestic and international security threats posed by colored revolutions, and both nations view these revolutionary movements as being orchestrated by the United States and its Western democratic partners to advance geopolitical ambitions." In Russia According to Anthony Cordesman of the Center for Strategic and International Studies, Russian military leaders view the "colour revolutions" as a "new US and European approach to warfare that focuses on creating destabilizing revolutions in other states as a means of serving their security interests at low cost and with minimal casualties." Government figures in Russia, such as Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu (in office from 2012 to 2024) and Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov (in office from 2004), have characterized colour revolutions as externally-fuelled acts with a clear goal of influencing the internal affairs that destabilize the economy, conflict with the law and represent a new form of warfare. Russian President Vladimir Putin stated in November 2014 that Russia must prevent any colour revolutions in Russia: "We see what tragic consequences the wave of so-called colour revolutions led to. For us, this is a lesson and a warning. We should do everything necessary so that nothing similar ever happens in Russia". In December 2023 Putin stated that "the so-called color revolutions" had "been used by the Western elites in many world regions more than once" as "methods of such destabilization". He added "But these scenarios have failed to work and I am convinced will never work in Russia, a free, independent and sovereign state." The 2015 presidential decree The Russian Federation's National Security Strategy cites foreign-sponsored regime change among "main threats to public and national security" including: In the aftermath of the colour revolutions, the term "colour revolution" has been used as a pejorative term to refer to protests which are believed to be a result of influence by foreign countries. Euromaidan, the 2018 Armenian revolution, the 2019 protests in Georgia, the 2019–2020 Hong Kong protests, and the 2020–2021 Belarusian protests have been described by pro-Kremlin outlets as being "colour revolutions" aimed at destabilising the respective governments of each country. In China Motivated in part by its desire to prevent colour revolutions, in 2009 China banned YouTube, Twitter, and Facebook. The 2015 policy white paper "China's Military Strategy" by the State Council Information Office said that "anti-China forces have never given up their attempt to instigate a 'color revolution' in this country." In 2018, General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party Xi Jinping accused unnamed foreign forces of attempting to plot a colour revolution. Pattern of revolution Michael McFaul identified seven stages of successful political revolutions common in colour revolutions: A semi-autocratic rather than fully autocratic regime An unpopular incumbent A united and organized opposition An ability to quickly drive home the point that voting results were falsified Enough independent media to inform citizens about the falsified vote A political opposition capable of mobilizing tens of thousands or more demonstrators to protest electoral fraud Divisions among the regime's coercive forces See also People power Civil resistance Revolutions of 1989 Arab Spring Spring Revolutions (disambiguation) United States involvement in regime change Post-Soviet conflicts References Further reading Dawn Brancati: Democracy Protests: Causes, Significance, and Consequences. Cambridge University Press, 2016. Donnacha Ó Beacháin and Abel Polese, eds. The colour Revolutions in the Former Soviet Republics: Successes and Failures. Routledge, 2010. Valerie J. Bunce and Sharon L. Wolchik: Defeating Authoritarian Leaders in Postcommunist Countries. Cambridge University Press, 2011 Valerie J. Bunce. (2017). The Prospects for a Color Revolution in Russia. Daedalus (journal). Steven Levitsky and Lucan A. Way: Competitive Authoritarianism: Hybrid Regimes After the Cold War. Cambridge University Press, 2010 Pavol Demes and Joerg Forbrig (eds.). Reclaiming Democracy: Civil Society and Electoral Change in Central and Eastern Europe. German Marshall Fund, 2007. Joerg Fobrig (Ed.): Revisiting Youth Political Participation: Challenges for research and democratic practice in Europe. Council of Europe, Publishing Division, Strasbourg 2005, Adam Roberts and Timothy Garton Ash (eds.), Civil Resistance and Power Politics: The Experience of Non-violent Action from Gandhi to the Present, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2009. . US edition. On Google Joshua A. Tucker: Enough! Electoral Fraud, Collective Action Problems, and Post-Communist coloured Revolutions. 2007. Perspectives on Politics, 5(3): 537–553. Michael McFaul, Transitions from Post Communism. July 2005. Journal of Democracy, 16(3): 5–19. 21st-century revolutions Nonviolent revolutions Overthrow of Slobodan Milošević Revolutionary waves

Rotational symmetry

Rotational symmetry, also known as radial symmetry in geometry, is the property a shape has when it looks the same after some rotation by a partial turn. An object's degree of rotational symmetry is the number of distinct orientations in which it looks exactly the same for each rotation. Certain geometric objects are partially symmetrical when rotated at certain angles such as squares rotated 90°, however the only geometric objects that are fully rotationally symmetric at any angle are spheres, circles and other spheroids. Formal treatment Formally the rotational symmetry is symmetry with respect to some or all rotations in -dimensional Euclidean space. Rotations are direct isometries, i.e., isometries preserving orientation. Therefore, a symmetry group of rotational symmetry is a subgroup of (see Euclidean group). Symmetry with respect to all rotations about all points implies translational symmetry with respect to all translations, so space is homogeneous, and the symmetry group is the whole . With the modified notion of symmetry for vector fields the symmetry group can also be . For symmetry with respect to rotations about a point we can take that point as origin. These rotations form the special orthogonal group , the group of orthogonal matrices with determinant 1. For this is the rotation group . In another definition of the word, the rotation group of an object is the symmetry group within , the group of direct isometries; in other words, the intersection of the full symmetry group and the group of direct isometries. For chiral objects it is the same as the full symmetry group. Laws of physics are SO(3)-invariant if they do not distinguish different directions in space. Because of Noether's theorem, the rotational symmetry of a physical system is equivalent to the angular momentum conservation law. Discrete rotational symmetry Rotational symmetry of order , also called -fold rotational symmetry, or discrete rotational symmetry of the th order, with respect to a particular point (in 2D) or axis (in 3D) means that rotation by an angle of (180°, 120°, 90°, 72°, 60°, 51 °, etc.) does not change the object. A "1-fold" symmetry is no symmetry (all objects look alike after a rotation of 360°). The notation for -fold symmetry is or simply . The actual symmetry group is specified by the point or axis of symmetry, together with the . For each point or axis of symmetry, the abstract group type is cyclic group of order , . Although for the latter also the notation is used, the geometric and abstract should be distinguished: there are other symmetry groups of the same abstract group type which are geometrically different, see cyclic symmetry groups in 3D. The fundamental domain is a sector of Examples without additional reflection symmetry: , 180°: the dyad; letters Z, N, S; the outlines, albeit not the colors, of the yin and yang symbol; the Union Flag (as divided along the flag's diagonal and rotated about the flag's center point) , 120°: triad, triskelion, Borromean rings; sometimes the term trilateral symmetry is used; , 90°: tetrad, swastika , 60°: hexad, Star of David (this one has additional reflection symmetry) , 45°: octad, Octagonal muqarnas, computer-generated (CG), ceiling is the rotation group of a regular -sided polygon in 2D and of a regular -sided pyramid in 3D. If there is e.g. rotational symmetry with respect to an angle of 100°, then also with respect to one of 20°, the greatest common divisor of 100° and 360°. A typical 3D object with rotational symmetry (possibly also with perpendicular axes) but no mirror symmetry is a propeller. Examples Multiple symmetry axes through the same point For discrete symmetry with multiple symmetry axes through the same point, there are the following possibilities: In addition to an -fold axis, perpendicular 2-fold axes: the dihedral groups of order . This is the rotation group of a regular prism, or regular bipyramid. Although the same notation is used, the geometric and abstract should be distinguished: there are other symmetry groups of the same abstract group type which are geometrically different, see dihedral symmetry groups in 3D. 4×3-fold and 3×2-fold axes: the rotation group of order 12 of a regular tetrahedron. The group is isomorphic to alternating group . 3×4-fold, 4×3-fold, and 6×2-fold axes: the rotation group O of order 24 of a cube and a regular octahedron. The group is isomorphic to symmetric group . 6×5-fold, 10×3-fold, and 15×2-fold axes: the rotation group  of order 60 of a dodecahedron and an icosahedron. The group is isomorphic to alternating group . The group contains 10 versions of and 6 versions of (rotational symmetries like prisms and antiprisms). In the case of the Platonic solids, the 2-fold axes are through the midpoints of opposite edges, and the number of them is half the number of edges. The other axes are through opposite vertices and through centers of opposite faces, except in the case of the tetrahedron, where the 3-fold axes are each through one vertex and the center of one face. Rotational symmetry with respect to any angle Rotational symmetry with respect to any angle is, in two dimensions, circular symmetry. The fundamental domain is a half-line. In three dimensions we can distinguish cylindrical symmetry and spherical symmetry (no change when rotating about one axis, or for any rotation). That is, no dependence on the angle using cylindrical coordinates and no dependence on either angle using spherical coordinates. The fundamental domain is a half-plane through the axis, and a radial half-line, respectively. Axisymmetric and axisymmetrical are adjectives which refer to an object having cylindrical symmetry, or axisymmetry (i.e. rotational symmetry with respect to a central axis) like a doughnut (torus). An example of approximate spherical symmetry is the Earth (with respect to density and other physical and chemical properties). In 4D, continuous or discrete rotational symmetry about a plane corresponds to corresponding 2D rotational symmetry in every perpendicular plane, about the point of intersection. An object can also have rotational symmetry about two perpendicular planes, e.g. if it is the Cartesian product of two rotationally symmetry 2D figures, as in the case of e.g. the duocylinder and various regular duoprisms. Rotational symmetry with translational symmetry 2-fold rotational symmetry together with single translational symmetry is one of the Frieze groups. A rotocenter is the fixed, or invariant, point of a rotation. There are two rotocenters per primitive cell. Together with double translational symmetry the rotation groups are the following wallpaper groups, with axes per primitive cell: p2 (2222): 4×2-fold; rotation group of a parallelogrammic, rectangular, and rhombic lattice. p3 (333): 3×3-fold; not the rotation group of any lattice (every lattice is upside-down the same, but that does not apply for this symmetry); it is e.g. the rotation group of the regular triangular tiling with the equilateral triangles alternatingly colored. p4 (442): 2×4-fold, 2×2-fold; rotation group of a square lattice. p6 (632): 1×6-fold, 2×3-fold, 3×2-fold; rotation group of a hexagonal lattice. 2-fold rotocenters (including possible 4-fold and 6-fold), if present at all, form the translate of a lattice equal to the translational lattice, scaled by a factor 1/2. In the case translational symmetry in one dimension, a similar property applies, though the term "lattice" does not apply. 3-fold rotocenters (including possible 6-fold), if present at all, form a regular hexagonal lattice equal to the translational lattice, rotated by 30° (or equivalently 90°), and scaled by a factor 4-fold rotocenters, if present at all, form a regular square lattice equal to the translational lattice, rotated by 45°, and scaled by a factor 6-fold rotocenters, if present at all, form a regular hexagonal lattice which is the translate of the translational lattice. Scaling of a lattice divides the number of points per unit area by the square of the scale factor. Therefore, the number of 2-, 3-, 4-, and 6-fold rotocenters per primitive cell is 4, 3, 2, and 1, respectively, again including 4-fold as a special case of 2-fold, etc. 3-fold rotational symmetry at one point and 2-fold at another one (or ditto in 3D with respect to parallel axes) implies rotation group p6, i.e. double translational symmetry and 6-fold rotational symmetry at some point (or, in 3D, parallel axis). The translation distance for the symmetry generated by one such pair of rotocenters is times their distance. See also Ambigram Axial symmetry Crystallographic restriction theorem Lorentz symmetry Point groups in three dimensions Screw axis Space group Translational symmetry References External links Rotational Symmetry Examples from Math Is Fun Symmetry Binocular rivalry

Ad hoc

Ad hoc is a Latin phrase meaning literally for this. In English, it typically signifies a solution designed for a specific purpose, problem, or task rather than a generalized solution adaptable to collateral instances (compare with a priori). Common examples include ad hoc committees and commissions created at the national or international level for a specific task, and the term is often used to describe arbitration (ad hoc arbitration). In other fields, the term could refer to a military unit created under special circumstances (see task force), a handcrafted network protocol (e.g., ad hoc network), a temporary collaboration among geographically-linked franchise locations (of a given national brand) to issue advertising coupons, or a purpose-specific equation in mathematics or science. Ad hoc can also function as an adjective describing temporary, provisional, or improvised methods to deal with a particular problem, the tendency of which has given rise to the noun adhocism. This concept highlights the flexibility and adaptability often required in problem-solving across various domains. In everyday language, "ad hoc" is sometimes used informally to describe improvised or makeshift solutions, emphasizing their temporary nature and specific applicability to immediate circumstances. Styling Style guides disagree on whether Latin phrases like ad hoc should be italicized. The trend is not to use italics. For example, The Chicago Manual of Style recommends that familiar Latin phrases that are listed in the Webster's Dictionary, including "ad hoc", not be italicized. Hypothesis In science and philosophy, ad hoc means the addition of extraneous hypotheses to a theory to save it from being falsified. Ad hoc hypotheses compensate for anomalies not anticipated by the theory in its unmodified form. Scientists are often skeptical of scientific theories that rely on frequent, unsupported adjustments to sustain them. Ad hoc hypotheses are often characteristic of pseudo-scientific subjects such as homeopathy. In the military In the military, ad hoc units are created during unpredictable situations, when the cooperation between different units is suddenly needed for fast action, or from remnants of previous units which have been overrun or otherwise whittled down. In governance In national and sub-national governance, ad hoc bodies may be established to deal with specific problems not easily accommodated by the current structure of governance or to address multi-faceted issues spanning several areas of governance. In the UK and other commonwealth countries, ad hoc Royal Commissions may be set up to address specific questions as directed by parliament. In diplomacy In diplomacy, diplomats may be appointed by a government as special envoys, or diplomats who serve on a ad hoc basis due to the possibility that such envoys' offices may either not be retained by a future government or may only exist during the duration of a relevant cause. Networking The term ad hoc networking typically refers to a system of network elements that combine to form a network requiring little or no planning. See also Ad hoc testing Ad infinitum Ad libitum Adhocracy Democracy Heuristic House rule Russell's teapot Inductive reasoning Confirmation bias Cherry picking References Further reading External links Latin words and phrases

Political ideologies in the United States

American political ideologies conventionally align with the left–right political spectrum, with most Americans identifying as conservative, liberal, or moderate. Contemporary American conservatism includes social conservatism and fiscal conservatism. The former ideology developed as a response to communism and the civil rights movement, while the latter developed as a response to the New Deal. Contemporary American liberalism includes social liberalism and progressivism, developing during the Progressive Era and the Great Depression. Besides conservatism and liberalism, the United States has a notable libertarian movement, developing during the mid-20th century as a revival of classical liberalism. Historical political movements in the United States have been shaped by ideologies as varied as republicanism, populism, separatism, fascism, socialism, monarchism, and nationalism. Political ideology in the United States began with the country's formation during the American Revolution, when republicanism challenged the preexisting monarchism that had defined the colonial governments. After the formation of an independent federal government, republicanism split into new ideologies, including classical republicanism, Jeffersonian democracy, and Jacksonian democracy. In the years preceding the American Civil War, abolitionism and secessionism became prominent. Progressivism developed at the beginning of the 20th century, evolving into modern liberalism over the following decades, while modern conservatism developed in response. The Cold War popularized anti-communism and neoconservatism among conservatives, while the civil rights movement popularized support for racial justice among liberals. Populist movements grew in the early-21st century, including Progressivism and Trumpism. Americans of different demographic groups are likely to hold different political beliefs. Men, white Americans, the elderly, Christians, and people without college degrees are more likely to be conservative, while women, African Americans, young adults, non-Christians, and people with college degrees are more likely to be liberal. Conservatism and liberalism in the United States are different from conservatism and liberalism in other parts of the world, and ideology in the United States is defined by individualism rather than collectivism. History Early republicanism Political ideology in the United States first developed during the American Revolution as a dispute between monarchism and republicanism. Republican ideas developed gradually over the 18th century and challenged monarchism directly through the Declaration of Independence in 1776. The monarchists, known as Loyalists, advocated that the Thirteen Colonies retain their colonial status under the monarchy of Great Britain, while the republicans, known as Patriots, advocated independence from Great Britain and the establishment of a liberal government based on popular sovereignty with no king and no inherited aristocracy. Instead, republicans advocated an elite based on achievement, and that elite had a duty to provide leadership. Patriot victory made republicanism into the foundational ideology of the United States. Advocates of republicanism at the time emphasized the importance of Enlightenment values (such as civic virtue and benevolence) to republican ideology and their vision of society involved a select group of elites that represented the people and served in government. The Constitution of the United States was ratified in 1789 to establish republicanism as the governmental system of the United States, introducing traditions such as separation of powers and federalism to the country. Early American republicanism was the first major liberal ideology in the United States, and it became the foundation for both modern conservatism and modern liberalism. As the federal government evolved in the 1790s, the classical republican ideals of civic virtue and aristocracy were challenged by more liberal ideas of democracy and self-interest. The Federalist Party was founded by Alexander Hamilton to support political candidates that advocated classical republicanism, stronger federal government, and the American School of economics, while the Democratic-Republican Party was founded by Thomas Jefferson to support political candidates that advocated the agrarian and anti-federalist ideals of Jeffersonian democracy. The Federalists saw most of their support in New England, with the other states supporting the Democratic-Republicans. The influence of Federalists declined during the 1800s, and Jeffersonian democracy came to be the only major ideology during the Era of Good Feelings. The Democratic-Republican Party fractured in the 1820s as a result of the political rivalry between John Quincy Adams and Andrew Jackson. Jackson established his ideology of Jacksonian democracy, and the Democratic Party was created to support Jackson. Much like Jefferson, Jackson supported popular democracy, rule by the people over elites, and minimal government intervention in the economy. However, the Democratic Party was not a direct successor to the Democratic-Republican Party, and they differed in other areas. Unlike Jefferson, Jackson's Democrats advocated political patronage and a stronger executive branch. The National Republican Party was created to oppose Jackson, advocating government intervention in the economy and opposing unrestrained individualism. Anti-Masonry also saw prominence at this time, and the National Republican Party merged with the Anti-Masonic Party in 1833 to form the Whig Party. The Whig Party and the Democratic Party became the two major parties. The Whigs advocated for the American System, which consisted of protectionism through tariffs, a national bank, and internal improvements. Slavery and the Civil War Slavery had been present in North America since colonial times, but it did not become a major political issue in the United States until the 1830s. National political ideology was not as influential during this period, with sectional politics between the northern and southern states driving political activity. All of the northern states had abolished slavery by 1805, but it was still widely practiced in the southern states until the Civil War (1861–1865). Abolitionism had been present in the United States since the country's foundation, but this period of sectionalism brought it into the mainstream, and by the 1840s slavery had become the nation's primary political issue. The Republican Party was formed after the collapse of the Whig Party in the 1850s to reflect the political ideologies of the northern states. It immediately replaced the Whig Party as a major political party, supporting social mobility, egalitarianism, and limitations on slavery. The two major political factions of the Republican Party were the Radical Republicans, who supported total abolition of slavery and strong action against the secessionist states, and the moderates, who supported concessions with the southern states. At the same time, some nationalist Americans advocated expansionism and manifest destiny, seeking to acquire additional territory. Many of these individuals wished for additional territory to create additional slave states. Secessionism became prominent in South Carolina during the Nullification crisis in 1832. Secessionists opposed the protectionist tariffs of 1828 and 1832, threatening to secede if the federal government attempted to enforce them. Secession and military conflict were averted by a compromise tariff in 1833. The secessionist movement in South Carolina grew more popular in the 1850s as the issue of slavery became more contentious. In 1861, fearing that the federal government would restrict or abolish slavery, South Carolina was the first of 11 states to secede from the United States and form the Confederate States of America, prompting the Civil War. Democrats in the northern states were split between the War Democrats that supported military action to prevent secession and the Copperheads that opposed military action. During the Reconstruction era from 1865 to 1877, politics focused on resolving the issues of the Civil War. The ratification of the Thirteenth Amendment abolished slavery in the United States, and ideologies based on the issue of slavery were made irrelevant. The Radical Republicans supported liberal reforms during Reconstruction to advance the rights of African Americans, including suffrage and education for freedmen. White supremacy was a major ideology in the southern states, and restrictions on the rights of African Americans saw widespread support in the region, often enforced through both political and violent means. The conservative Bourbon Democrats were prominent in the south during this period, supporting fiscal conservatism or classical liberalism, and setting the foundation for the period of conservative Democratic control in the region known as Solid South. The Gilded Age The Gilded Age took place between the 1870s and 1900. During this time, the Republican Party fractured on the issue of the spoils system in the federal government. Senator Roscoe Conkling led the conservative Stalwarts, who supported the traditional political machine and wished to retain the spoils system. Those that opposed Conkling, especially supporters of Senator James G. Blaine, made up the liberal Half-Breeds, who supported civil service reform to abolish the spoils system. The Stalwarts primarily resided in the three states most influenced by machine politics: New York, Pennsylvania, and Illinois. They were also prevalent among southern Republicans, though the Solid South was overwhelmingly Democratic. The Democratic Party continued to be divided by sectional politics during the Gilded Age. Ideologies based on monetary issues produced conflict within both major parties. Silverites opposed the nation's de facto gold standard and supported a return to bimetallism. Small government ideals were still prominent at this time, with neither major party seeking to expand the government. By the 1870s, both major political parties supported industrialization, and in response, supporters of populist agrarianism established the People's Party in 1892. The Panic of 1893 accelerated these disputes, causing a major party realignment. The People's Party was absorbed by the Democratic Party, and the conservative Bourbon Democrats lost influence. Populism, agrarianism, and bimetallism became the dominant ideologies in the Democratic Party, led by William Jennings Bryan. Other major ideological groups during the Gilded Age include the Mugwumps, the Greenbacks, and the Prohibitionists. The Mugwumps were a loosely formed collection of anti-corruption conservatives that left the Republican Party. The Greenbacks were the largest of a series of labor related movements that advocated an increased money supply, increased government regulation, and an income tax. The Prohibitionists were a single-issue group that advocated prohibition of alcohol. The Progressive Era In the 1890s and 1900s, progressivism developed as a major political ideology in the United States. Progressives opposed the effects of industrialization in the United States, supporting major governmental and societal reform to counteract them. These reforms were inspired by the moral ethos of evangelicalism and the development of the social sciences. Progressives sought to end corruption, increase public participation in government, and expand government with the goal of improving society. The progressive movement resulted in the rejection of laissez-faire capitalism in the United States and the foundation of welfare capitalism. Progressives came from multiple political traditions and developed many new political ideas. Progressives typically supported direct democracy and oversaw several reforms that gave more voting power to the citizens. These reforms included the implementation of primary elections to choose party candidates and the direct election of senators through the ratification of the Seventeenth Amendment. Regarding social issues, progressives typically believed that the government was best fit to make decisions about behavior through social control. The most prominent example of this was the prohibition on alcohol in the 1920s. Progressives also advocated for compulsory sterilization of those deemed "unfit". Progressives in the early-20th century raised first-wave feminism and women's suffrage into the mainstream, guaranteeing universal suffrage to all women through the ratification of the Nineteenth Amendment. The Democrats during the Progressive Era moved away from the conservative, small government ideology under which they had operated in the late-19th century. The Democratic Party at this time did not advocate a single ideological system but was composed of several competing populist factions that opposed the Republican Party. The Democrats adopted a reformed view of democracy in which political candidates sought support directly rather than through intermediaries such as political machines. Many progressive reforms became popular within the Democratic Party to increase direct democracy and give citizens more power over government operations, and they also adopted the idea of the Living Constitution during this period. During the presidency of Woodrow Wilson, Wilsonianism was developed as a liberal internationalist foreign relations ideology. Republicans during the Progressive Era were divided between a conservative faction and a progressive faction. Theodore Roosevelt split from the Republican Party in 1912, and his supporters formed the short-lived Progressive Party. This party advocated a strong collectivist government and a large number of social and political reforms. Far-left ideologies also saw brief popularity during this time. The Socialist Party of America was led by Eugene V. Debs and advocated for collective ownership of many industries. The anarchist movement in the United States was responsible for several terrorist attacks during the 1910s. The Red Scare, a strong backlash to these leftist movements, formed in 1919. The New Deal coalition During the Great Depression, small government conservatism became less popular, and Franklin D. Roosevelt formed the New Deal coalition. The Democratic Party at this time expanded on the reformist beliefs of progressivism, establishing social liberalism and welfare capitalism as the predominant liberal ideology in the United States. Supporters of Roosevelt's liberalism advocated financial reform, increased government regulation, and social welfare programs, encapsulated in the New Deal. Conservative Republicans and southern conservative Democrats formed the conservative coalition during Roosevelt's second term. Following the presidencies of Roosevelt and Truman, however, the Democratic Party moved away from populism in the 1950s. American liberalism also shifted its perspective on poverty during this time, emphasizing it as a long term social issue rather than a crisis that could be fixed with a sufficient response. The Republican Party's progressive wing had dissipated in the build up to the Great Depression. The party instead began to advocate for small business, equal opportunity, and individualism. These ideas became the foundation of modern fiscal conservatism that would define the Republican Party through the 20th century. The foundations of modern social conservatism were also developed by the Republican Party of the 1920s and 1930s, with Herbert Hoover emphasizing politics as a means to protect the American family and American morality. Rather than strengthening of government to do good as advocated by progressivism, conservative Republicans sought to restrict the government to prevent harm. The Republican Party came out strongly against the New Deal programs of the 1930s, arguing that "big government" threatened to become tyrannical. American entry into World War II was debated between isolationists and interventionists from the onset of conflict in the European theatre in 1939 until the attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941. During the war, an ideology of self-sacrifice was promoted and adopted by the American people, including both military service and home front activities such as rationing. After the end of the war, interventionism persisted through programs such as the Marshall Plan. Fascism briefly saw popularity in the 1930s, though it was no longer relevant after World War II. Cold War and the Civil Rights Era The Cold War began in 1947, causing a shift in foreign policy. Americanism developed as its own distinct conservative ideology that rejected foreign ideas and communism in particular. The United States as a whole supported liberal democracy and capitalism in contrast with Marxism–Leninism which was supported by the Soviet Union. Anti-communism was prevalent in the United States during the Cold War, while American communist organizations typically operated in secret and often conducted espionage in collaboration with the Soviet Union. Among conservatives, this anti-communism overlapped with anti-liberalism as McCarthyism, in which all political opponents of conservatives were accused of communist sympathies. Neoconservatism also developed within the conservative movement, made up of former Democrats that were disillusioned with the party's liberalism. The Vietnam War took place during the Cold War, causing a significant anti-war movement within the contemporary counterculture. Both the anti-war movement and the war itself were unpopular with the public. Libertarianism developed as a minor ideology in the 1960s, and Libertarian Party was founded in 1971 after the gold standard was abolished by President Nixon. In the 1960s, national politics focused heavily on the civil rights movement, and the New Deal coalition ended as support for civil rights and racial justice became major aspects of liberalism in the United States. Civil rights legislation such as the Civil Rights Act of 1964 alienated the conservative Southern Democrats. White supremacy was widespread in the southern United States, with third-party white supremacist candidates winning in southern states in the 1948 and 1968 presidential elections. Political ideology evolved significantly in the African American community during the civil rights movement as the community developed its own political voice. The two most prominent civil rights ideologies were the liberal ideology of racial integration through political demonstration championed by Martin Luther King Jr. and the separatist ideology of Black nationalism championed by Malcolm X. Other civil rights ideologies included liberal ideas of incentivizing integration through private action, socialist ideas of forgoing race issues in favor of class issues, and Black conservative ideas of personal responsibility for African Americans. Conservatives opposed government intervention designed to increase employment for African Americans and opposed extending civil rights protections, believing that these policies would hurt African Americans economically and would make the United States a liberal welfare state. Reagan Era Though conservatives opposed welfare spending during the New Deal era, this opposition did not become a core tenet of American conservatism until the 1970s. Southern conservatives were united under the Republican Party at this time through the Southern strategy. Conservatism had been seen as a dying ideology following the defeat of Barry Goldwater in the 1964 presidential election, but the Reagan administration in the 1980s returned American conservatism to the political mainstream. The Reagan coalition brought together segregationists, businessmen, conservatives, neoconservatives, libertarians, and the religious new right, including Christian fundamentalists, Evangelicals, Catholics and Jews. They rejected the leftward shift of the country in the previous decades, instead advocating laissez-faire economics and traditional values while opposing communism and the civil rights movement. Social conservatism became a prominent ideology in politics during the Reagan Era, fueled by opposition to abortion and the Equal Rights Amendment. The Tuesday Group was founded in 1995 to represent the moderate wing of the Republican Party in Congress. Liberals in the 1970s and 1980s expanded their focus on inclusivity and minority rights. In the 1990s, support for conservative policies resulted in Third Way politics to become popular in the Democratic Party, led by the New Democrats. This ideology consisted of support for free trade, free markets, and reduction of government spending. The left-wing Congressional Progressive Caucus, the centrist and conservative Blue Dog Coalition, and the Third Way New Democrat Coalition formed in the 1990s to represent different factions of the Democratic Party in Congress. 21st century After the September 11 attacks, neoconservatism became a dominant force in the conservative movement, and conservatives supported the Bush Doctrine, a foreign policy principle that encouraged foreign military involvement as the Bush administration pursued the war on terror. The peace movement subsequently resurged in the United States in response to the War in Afghanistan and the Iraq War. In the years following the September 11 attacks, a distinct form of patriotism developed based on American values, democracy promotion, and nationality derived from principle. Following the end of the Cold War, the focus of American anti-communism shifted to China as it became a world power. The early-21st century saw the emergence or reemergence of several social issues as subjects of political debate. Liberals increasingly expressed support for LGBT rights (including same-sex marriage) while conservatives predominantly expressed opposition to LGBT rights. Among young single women, the percentage of them identifying as liberal increased from about 15 percent in the early 1980s to 32 percent in the 2020s. The past decade has seen single young men move slightly to the right and single young women move significantly to the left, meaning that the ideological divide between the sexes is widening. Illegal immigration became more prominent as a political issue, with liberals advocating pluralism and conservatives advocating nativism. The COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 became a political issue in which liberals supported COVID-19 lockdowns and the use of face masks while conservatives opposed such measures and considered the pandemic a non-issue. The 2010s were marked by increasing polarization and populism among candidates and voters. The Tea Party movement formed as a libertarian, right-wing populist and conservative response to the election of Barack Obama in 2008. Members of the movement advocated for smaller government, lower taxes, and decreased government spending. This populism in turn led to Trumpism following the election of Donald Trump in 2016. Right-wing populism during this period focused on protectionist fiscal conservatism as well as cultural issues surrounding immigration and identity politics. Trumpism also incorporated an opposition to democratic norms and an acceptance of political conspiracy theories as mainstream ideas. Left-wing populism became more influential during the 2010s, beginning with the Occupy movement in 2011. Left-wing populist ideologies popularized in the 2010s include social democracy and democratic socialism due to the popularity of politicians such as Bernie Sanders. Prominent ideologies Political ideology in the United States is usually described with the left–right spectrum. Liberalism is the predominant left-leaning ideology and conservatism is the predominant right-leaning ideology. Those who hold beliefs between liberalism and conservatism or a mix of beliefs on this scale are called moderates. Within this system, there are different ways to divide these ideologies even further and determine one's ideology. Ideological positions can be divided into social issues and economic issues, and the positions a person holds on social or economic policy might be different than their position on the political spectrum. The United States has a de facto two-party system. The political parties are flexible and have undergone several ideological shifts over time. Since the mid-20th century, the Democratic Party has typically supported liberal policies and the Republican Party has typically supported conservative policies. Third parties play a minor role in American politics, and members of third parties rarely hold office at the federal level. Instead, ideas with popular support are often adopted by one of the two major parties. Conservatism Modern conservatism in the United States traces its origins to the small government principles of the Republican Party in the 1920s, and it developed through opposition to communism, the New Deal coalition and the civil rights movement in the mid-20th century. The rise of the Reagan coalition led to the election of Ronald Reagan in 1980, establishing conservatism as a major ideology in the United States. This coalition advocated laissez-faire economics, social conservatism, and anti-communism, with support from libertarians, northern businessmen, southern segregationists, and the Christian right. In the early 21st century, right-wing populism and neo-nationalism gained considerable influence among the conservative movement. Right-wing populism became the predominant conservative faction in response to the increasing liberalization of society, beginning with the Tea Party movement of 2009 and continuing with the presidency of Donald Trump. There are several different schools of thought within American conservatism. Social conservatives and the Christian right advocate traditional values, decentralization, and religious law, fearing that the United States is undergoing moral decline. Fiscal conservatives (or classical liberals) advocate small government, tax cuts, and lower government spending. Americans that identify as conservative will typically support most or all of these ideas to some extent, arguing that small government and traditional values are closely linked. American right-wing populists advocate tax cuts, protectionism, and opposition to immigration, framing politics as a battle against "elites" from above and "subversives" from below. Conservatism in the United States does not advocate a unified foreign policy ideology, though common tenets include support for American hegemony, promotion of free markets abroad, and combat readiness. Realism was prominent in conservative foreign policy during the mid-20th century, advocating cautious advances in influence through diplomacy to advance American interests. Support for realism fell among conservatives during the Reagan administration in favor of American exceptionalism and more aggressive anti-communism. Neoconservatives form an interventionist wing of the conservative movement, advocating peace through strength and the use of force to promote democracy and combat threats abroad. Other conservative ideologies support isolationism and limited involvement in foreign affairs. As of 2021, over one-third of the American public self-identifies as conservative. The Republican Party represents conservatives in the United States, with 74% of Republicans identifying as conservative, compared to only 12% of Democrats. As of 2022, Republican leaning voters are more likely than Democrats to prioritize the issues of immigration, the budget deficit, and strengthening the military. A Pew Research study in 2015 found that the most reliable Republican demographics were Mormons and Evangelicals, particularly white Americans in each group. Liberalism Modern liberalism in the United States originates from the reforms advocated by the progressive movement of the early 20th century. Franklin D. Roosevelt implemented the New Deal in response to the Great Depression, and the New Deal programs defined social liberalism in the United States, establishing it as a major ideology. In the 1960s, it expanded to include support for the civil rights movement. Following the rise of the Reagan coalition in the 1980s and the shift toward conservatism in the United States, American liberals adopted Third Way liberalism. A movement of left-wing populism emerged within liberalism following the Great Recession and Occupy Wall Street. Liberalism in the United States is founded on support for strong civil liberties, cultural liberalism, and cultural pluralism. Liberal social beliefs include support for more government intervention to fight poverty and other social issues through programs such as welfare and a social safety net, as well as opposition to government intervention in moral and social behavior. Liberal economic beliefs include support for a mixed economy that uses a capitalist system maintained with economic interventionism and regulation, as well as opposition to both laissez-faire capitalism and socialism as means to distribute economic resources. Keynesian economics commonly factor into liberal economic policy. Those that identify as liberal will typically support liberal economic policies as a means to support liberal social policies. Liberals within the modern progressive movement support greater redistribution of wealth, increases to the federal minimum wage, a mandatory single-payer healthcare system, and environmental justice. Liberal internationalism is a key component of American foreign policy, supporting increased involvement in the affairs of other countries to promote liberalism and seek liberal peace. This ideology was first developed in the United States as Wilsonianism during World War I, replacing the expansionism of the Roosevelt Corollary. Liberal internationalism has been the dominant foreign policy ideology of the United States since the 1950s. Realism grew in popularity among liberals in the early-21st century in response to the interventionist neoconservatism of the Bush administration. Progressive Americans support pacifism and antihegemonism in foreign policy. As of 2021, about one quarter of the American public self-identifies as liberal, making it the smallest of the mainstream ideological groups. The Democratic Party represents liberals in the United States, with 50% of Democrats identifying as liberal, compared to only 4% of Republicans. As of 2022, Democratic leaning voters are more likely than Republicans to prioritize the issues of the COVID-19 pandemic, climate change, race, and poverty. A Pew Research study in 2015 found that the most reliable Democratic demographics were African Americans, atheists, and Asian Americans. Moderates Moderates prioritize compromise and pragmatism, and moderate politics vary depending on the political circumstances of the era. During the American Revolution, moderates generally supported the ideas of the revolutionary Patriots, but they were concerned about the potential consequences of open revolution. During the Civil War, southern moderates opposed secession, while northern moderates advocated a more gradual response to slavery than the total abolitionism and enforcement of civil rights proposed by Radical Republicans. During Reconstruction, moderate Republicans sought to increase support for civil rights in the South instead of implementing them through force. In the 1950s, Dwight D. Eisenhower operated under his policy of "Modern Republicanism" that promoted moderate politics in response to the New Deal coalition and the Conservative coalition. Moderates identify as neither liberal nor conservative, holding a mix of beliefs that does not necessarily correspond to either group. They typically believe that issues are too complex for simple partisan solutions to work and that the two major political parties are too ideological. Some policy stances have strong support from moderates, including background checks on gun purchases and investing in renewable energy. Beyond a resistance to the terms liberal and conservative, there is little that unites moderates ideologically, and moderates can hold a variety of political positions. As of 2021, over one-third of the American public self-identifies as moderate. Self-identified moderates make up about one-third of the Democratic Party, about one-fifth of the Republican Party, and about half of independents. Minor ideologies Fascism Fascism never achieved success in American politics. There were, however, prominent American supporters of fascism in the 1930s, including Henry Ford. Charles Coughlin, at one point the second most popular radio host in the United States, openly advocated fascist ideals during his program. A minority of Americans at the time were also sympathetic to fascism because of its antisemitism, its anti-communism, and what was perceived as its economic success. Antisemitism in the United States was common at the time, and many antisemitic groups openly expressed these views. The Friends of New Germany and its successor the German American Bund represented the largest Nazi organizations in the United States, which is estimated to have had 25,000 members. Present day Nazism is called Neo-Nazism. Many factors have been proposed that cause someone to radicalize and adopt Nazism, including a traumatic past, a search for meaning through extremism, and a propensity to violence or aggression. A 2017 poll found that 9% of Americans believe neo-Nazi beliefs are "acceptable". The Federal Bureau of Investigation recognized neo-Nazis as a major domestic terror threat in 2020. The words "fascist" and "Nazi" are sometimes used erroneously as epithets to describe political figures and ideologies, but these uses of the terms are generally disputed by academics that study the subject. The mid-2010s saw the brief rise in the alt-right movement, which was characterized by its sympathy to fascist ideologies and opposition to multiracial liberal democracy. Libertarianism Developed in the mid-20th century as a revival of classical liberalism, libertarianism in the United States (dominantly right-libertarianism) is founded on the ideas of severely limited government, with supporters of libertarianism advocating fiscal conservatism and reduction of social programs, social liberalism, and isolationist foreign policy. Libertarians make up a notable minority group in American politics, with about 11% of Americans saying that the term describes them well as of 2014. Men were twice as likely to identify with the term as women, and Democrats were half as likely to identify with the term as Republicans or independents. As of 2013, 68% of libertarians were men, 94% of libertarians were white, and 62% of libertarians were under the age of 50. Religiously, 50% of libertarians were Protestant, 27% were religiously unaffiliated, and 11% were Catholic. Libertarianism is promoted by the Libertarian Party, the largest minor party in the United States. Libertarians in the United States typically vote for the Republican Party, with only a small portion voting for the Democratic Party or the Libertarian Party. Some libertarians have begun voting for the Democratic Party since 2020 in response to the rise of right-wing populism in the Republican Party. Some major think tanks in the United States operate from a libertarian perspective, including the Cato Institute and the Reason Foundation. Monarchism Before the American Revolution, the Thirteen Colonies were ruled by the Crown of Great Britain. The Founding Fathers of the United States largely rejected monarchism in favor of republicanism, and the Revolutionary War was fought to free the colonies from monarchy. About one-fifth of Americans during the revolution were part of the loyalist faction that wished to remain a monarchy under the British crown, and after the United States became an independent country, thousands of loyalists emigrated to Britain or to other colonies. Following the revolution, some individuals supported the continuation of monarchism in the United States. Most notably, Alexander Hamilton proposed an elective monarchy as the American system of government, favoring a strong executive with lifetime rule. Other supporters of monarchism at the time include the military officers that advocated in the Newburgh letter that George Washington become a monarch and the alleged Prussian scheme that sought to put the United States under the rule of Prince Henry of Prussia. No major monarchist movements have emerged since the 18th century. The Constantian Society advocated monarchy in the late 20th century, but it did not see mainstream success. Elements of monarchism still exist, however, in the function of the United States presidency. The office had many of its functions based on those of the British monarch, including its status as a unitary executive, its capacity over foreign affairs, and powers such as the presidential veto. Dark Enlightenment, a fringe neoreactionary movement that emerged in the late 2000s whose adherents include Curtis Yarvin, Peter Thiel, and Steve Bannon, largely rejects democracy and advocates for the implementation of either an absolute monarchy or a style of governance similar to a monarchy. Separatism Many separatist movements have advocated secession from the United States, though none have achieved major support since the American Civil War. The most significant separatist movement was secessionism in the southern United States in the 1860s. Politicians from the southern states declared independence and established the Confederate States of America, an unrecognized government led by Jefferson Davis, resulting in the American Civil War. Following the Civil War, the states were reincorporated into the union, and the Supreme Court ruled that unilateral secession was unconstitutional in Texas v. White. The Republic of Texas was created when it seceded from Mexico before ultimately joining the United States. Since the admission of Texas as a state, various Texas secession movements have developed. A common misconception purports that Texas reserved the right to secede when it was admitted, but no such legal provision exists. Since at least the 1970s, various groups within the Pacific Northwest have advocated for the region to separate and form its own nation, largely based on the strong cultural, environmental, and demographic similarities the various states in the region share. Notable examples include the Cascadia independence movement, which advocates for Oregon, Washington, and the Canadian province of British Columbia to separate based on their economic, environmental, and cultural ties, and the Northwest Territorial Imperative, in which white supremacists advocated creating an ethnostate in the region due to its largely white demographics and isolated geography. The status of Puerto Rico in the United States has long been debated, with independence being considered as an alternative to statehood. Other notable separatist groups in the United States include Ka Lahui Hawaii and the Alaskan Independence Party, both of which have had membership in the tens of thousands. Other notable proposals for secession have been suggested in the past. The Kentucky Resolution by Thomas Jefferson threatened secession in response to the Alien and Sedition Acts in 1798. The Nullification crisis represented another threat of secession in 1832. In the 21st century, political polarization has resulted in higher support for a division of the United States. As of 2021, two-thirds of Republicans in Southern states support a renewed Confederacy. Some extremist groups support racial separatism, which advocates separatism on the basis of race or ethnicity instead of geography. White separatism and Black separatism advocate the creation of ethnostates along racial lines. Socialism Socialists advocate the abolition of private property and social hierarchy in favor of collective ownership of the means of production. The Socialist Party of America was founded in 1901, and it saw moderate success as a third party, electing two members to Congress and running Eugene V. Debs as a notable third-party candidate in the 1912 and 1920 presidential elections. At the same time, anarchism gained a following in the United States and became the motivating ideology behind a wave of left-wing terrorism, including several bombings and the assassination of William McKinley. Following the Russian Revolution, socialism was negatively received by Americans, and strong social backlash to socialism resulted in the Red Scare. Anti-socialism and anti-communism began to play a larger role in American politics during the Cold War. The New Left briefly existed as a socialist movement in the 1960s and 1970s. In the 21st century, perceptions of socialism have improved in the United States, especially among young Americans. , the Democratic Socialists of America is the largest socialist group in the United States, reporting over 92,000 members and having elected members to Congress under the Democratic Party. This group advocates democratic socialism, including the nationalization of major industries and the transfer of other industries from private ownership to workers' ownership. The words "socialist" and "communist" are sometimes used erroneously as epithets to describe political figures and ideologies. Many politicians, political groups, and policies in the United States have been referred to as socialist despite supporting welfare capitalism with government programs and regulations. When polled, a significant portion of Americans were unable to accurately identify what socialism was, believing it to refer to government spending, welfare programs, equal rights, or liberalism, and 23 percent had no opinion. Demographics of ideological groups Men in the United States tend to be slightly more conservative than women. As of 2021, 41% of men identified as conservative, compared to 32% of women. Voter turnout tends to be slightly higher among women than among men. A gender gap has been found to exist in voting patterns, with women more likely to vote for the Democratic Party since the 1970s. Military intervention and the death penalty are significantly more popular among men than women, while gun control and social welfare programs are significantly more popular among women than men. Men that identify with hypermasculinity and women that identify with hyperfemininity have been found to lean more conservative than those that do not. Race is correlated with partisanship in the United States. White Americans are more likely to support Republican candidates. The majority of African Americans have been Democrats since 1936, and they continue to be seen as a reliable voting bloc for the Democratic Party, with as many as 82% of African Americans identifying as Democrats in 2000. Black political candidates are generally perceived as more liberal than white candidates. Asian Americans do not have a shared national and political identity, and as such are not considered a distinct voting bloc, though they have increasingly supported the Democratic Party in the 21st century. Native Americans slightly favor the Democratic Party, though Native American tribes are often separated from American society and do not participate heavily in national politics. Younger Americans tend to lean liberal, while older Americans tend to lean conservative. As of 2021, 23% of Americans aged 18 to 29 are conservative, compared to 45% of Americans aged 65 and up. Likewise, 34% of Americans aged 18 to 29 are liberal compared to 21% aged 65 and up. Americans' political ideologies generally do not change much as they grow older, but ideological shifts in one's life are more likely to move to the right than to the left. Younger voters and older voters typically consider the same factors when voting. After reaching their mid-60s, correct voting sharply declines among voters, with a majority of elderly voters in their 80s and 90s casting votes that contradict their stated beliefs. This is attributed to decreasing cognitive capabilities as well as an ability to access up-to-date information due to slower manual dexterity and difficulty using technology. As of 2014, Christians make up 85% of conservatives and 52% of liberals, non-Christian faiths make up 3% of conservatives and 10% of liberals, and the religiously unaffiliated make up 11% of conservatives and 36% of liberals. A majority of Mormons and Evangelical Protestants and a plurality of Catholics in the United States identify as conservative, while a plurality of Buddhists, Hindus, Jews, and the irreligious identify as liberal. Identifying with a religious tradition has been found to reduce political participation, but participation in church activities has been found to increase political participation. Religious Americans that believe in a God who intervenes in human affairs are less likely to participate in politics. Political beliefs and religious beliefs in the United States are closely intertwined, with both affecting the other. Highly educated Americans are more likely to be liberal. In 2015, 44% of Americans with college degrees identified as liberal, while 29% identified as conservative. Americans without college experience were about equally likely to identify as liberal or conservative, with roughly half identifying as having mixed political values. This divide primarily exists between educated and uneducated white voters, and it marks a reversal of previous trends where college-educated whites were more conservative. Several reasons for this phenomenon have been proposed, including college graduates spending more time in liberal cities, a prioritization of science over traditional authority, college students being exposed to new ideas, and conservative distrust of higher education. Income is not a major factor in political ideology. In 2021, each income group had a nearly identical distribution of ideologies, matching the general population. Comparison to global politics While liberal and conservative are the primary ideological descriptors in the United States, they do not necessarily correlate to usage of the terms in other countries. In the United States, liberalism refers specifically to social liberalism and cultural liberalism, and it leans farther to the left than liberalism in other countries. Conservatism is derived from the traditions of a society, so American conservatism reflects the ideas of classical liberalism and Christian belief that were dominant in the early history of the United States. The American conception of freedom is distinct on the world stage, with freedom often recognized as limitations on state power rather than obligations of the state. The right to property is given high priority, and taxes are particularly unpopular. Activism and personal participation in politics are encouraged, and civic engagement is considered a trait of good citizenship. Membership in civic organizations and participation in protests are common forms of civic engagement. Equal opportunity is typically more popular than equality of outcome. Historically, the ideology of the United States was based in constitutional republicanism. This came directly in opposition to the monarchism and aristocracy of European kingdoms and of Great Britain in particular. This political history of constitutional republicanism is closely related to that of South America. Both regions have a shared history of colonialism, revolutionary war, federalist republicanism, and presidential systems. Political traits that are sometimes considered distinct to the United States are also common in South America, including common ideological positions on religion, crime, economy, national identity, multiculturalism, and guns. Political ideology is one of the primary factors to which the Cold War is attributed, and it affects how the United States operates as a global superpower. American ideology is centered in liberal democracy and capitalism, and global politics in second half of the 20th century was defined by its opposition to the Marxism–Leninism of the Soviet Union and the Eastern Bloc. The United States has undertaken nation-building in several countries, directly influencing the political systems of the Philippines, Germany, Austria, Japan, Somalia, Haiti, Bosnia, Kosovo, Afghanistan, and Iraq. American politics is dominated by individualist ideology instead of the collectivist ideology that influences politics in some European countries. American citizens expect less influence and intervention by the government and are less likely to accept government intervention compared to citizens of European countries. Ideologies that advocate collective rights are not well received by American voters if they come at the cost of individual rights. Americans and Western Europeans have a similar conception of democracy and governance, prioritizing a free judiciary and fair elections at about equal levels. Americans and Western Europeans are also similarly progressive on issues such as LGBT rights and gender equality. Americans, however, place higher priority on freedom of religion than Western European countries, and Americans are more likely to believe that individual success is within a person's control. Both social democracy and nativism have become more prominent in the 21st century United States, resembling their counterparts in many European countries. Democracy in both the United States and European countries are threatened by rising anti-establishmentism and the resulting extremism and polarization. The two-party system and Congressional gridlock make the United States more susceptible to polarization than countries with other systems, though this structure also prevents extremist parties from taking power. See also Anarchism in the United States Pacifism in the United States Factions in the Democratic Party (United States) Factions in the Republican Party (United States) Pew Research Center political typology Political culture of the United States Politics of the United States Red states and blue states Southernization References Bibliography Wood, Gordon S. "Classical Republicanism and the American Revolution." Chicago-Kent Law Review 66 (1990): 13+ online. United States Political movements in the United States

Pre-industrial society

Pre-industrial society refers to social attributes and forms of political and cultural organization that were prevalent before the advent of the Industrial Revolution, which occurred from 1750 to 1850. Pre-industrial refers to a time before there were machines and tools to help perform tasks en masse. Pre-industrial civilization dates back to centuries ago, but the main era known as the pre-industrial society occurred right before the industrial society. Pre-Industrial societies vary from region to region depending on the culture of a given area or history of social and political life. Europe was known for its feudal system and the Italian Renaissance. The term "pre-industrial" is also used as a benchmark for environmental conditions before the development of industrial society: for example, the Paris Agreement, adopted in Paris on 12 December, 2015 and in force from 4 November, 2016, "aims to limit global warming to well below 2, preferably to 1.5 degrees celsius, compared to pre-industrial levels." The date for the end of the "pre-industrial era" is not defined. Common attributes Limited production Extreme agricultural economy Limited division of labor. In pre-industrial societies, production was relatively simple and the number of specialized crafts was limited. Limited variation of social classes Parochialism—Communications were limited between communities in pre-industrial societies. Few had the opportunity to see or hear beyond their own village. Industrial societies grew with the help of faster means of communication, having more information at hand about the world, allowing knowledge transfer and cultural diffusion between them. Populations grew at substantial rates Social classes: peasants and lords Subsistence level of living Population dependent on peasants for food People were located in villages rather than in cities Economic systems Hunter gather society Commodity market Mercantilism Subsistence agriculture Subsistence Labor conditions Harsh working conditions had been prevalent long before the Industrial Revolution took place. Pre-industrial society was very static, and child labour, dirty living conditions, and long working hours were not as equally prevalent before the Industrial Revolution. See also Agrarian society Industrialisation Modernization theory Traditional society Dependency Theory Imperialism Hunter gatherers Low technology Transhumance Nomads Pastoral nomads Nomadic Post-industrial society Proto-industrialization References Bibliography Grinin, L. 2007. Periodization of History: A theoretic-mathematical analysis. In: History & Mathematics. Ed. by Leonid Grinin, Victor de Munck, and Andrey Korotayev. Moscow: KomKniga/URSS. P.10-38. . Sociological terminology Industrial Revolution

Free love

Free love is a social movement that accepts all forms of love. The movement's initial goal was to separate the state from sexual and romantic matters such as marriage, birth control, and adultery. It stated that such issues were the concern of the people involved and no one else. The movement began during the 19th century and was advanced by hippies during the 1960s and early 70s. Principles Much of the free love tradition reflects a liberal philosophy that seeks freedom from state regulation and church interference in personal relationships. According to this concept, the free unions of adults (or persons at or above the age of consent) are legitimate relations which should be respected by all third parties whether they are emotional or sexual relations. In addition, some free love writing has argued that both men and women have the right to sexual pleasure without social or legal restraints. In the Victorian era, this was a radical notion. Later, a new theme developed, linking free love with radical social change and depicting it as a harbinger of a new anti-authoritarian, anti-repressive sensibility. According to the modern stereotype, earlier middle-class Americans wanted the home to be a place of stability in an uncertain world. To this mentality are attributed strongly defined gender roles, which led to a minority reaction in the form of the free-love movement. While the phrase free love is often associated with promiscuity in the popular imagination, especially in reference to the counterculture of the 1960s and 1970s, historically, the free-love movement has not advocated multiple sexual partners or short-term sexual relationships. Rather, it has argued that sexual relations that are freely entered into should not be regulated by law, and may be initiated or terminated by the parties involved at will. Nevertheless, it has been acknowledged that many men who participated in the free love movement also saw free love as a way to get free sex. The term "sex radical" is often used interchangeably with the term "free lover". By whatever name, advocates had two strong beliefs: opposition to the idea of forced sexual activity in a relationship and advocacy for a woman to use her body in any way that she pleases. Laws of particular concern to free love movements have included those that prevent an unmarried couple from living together, and those that regulate :adultery and :divorce, as well as :age of consent, :birth control, :homosexuality, :abortion, and sometimes :prostitution; although not all free-love advocates agree on these issues. The abrogation of individual rights in marriage is also a concern—for example, some jurisdictions do not recognize spousal rape, or they treat it less seriously than non-spousal rape. Free-love movements since the 19th century have also defended the right to publicly discuss sexuality and have battled obscenity laws. Relationship to feminism The history of free love is entwined with the history of feminism. From the late 18th century, leading feminists, such as Mary Wollstonecraft, have challenged the institution of marriage, and many have advocated its abolition. According to feminist critique, a married woman was solely a wife and mother, denying her the opportunity to pursue other occupations; sometimes this was legislated, as with bans on married women and mothers being employed as teachers. In 1855, free love advocate Mary Gove Nichols (1810–1884) described marriage as the "annihilation of woman", explaining that women were considered to be men's property in law and public sentiment, making it possible for tyrannical men to deprive their wives of all freedom. For example, the law often allowed a husband to beat his wife. Free-love advocates argued that many children were born into unloving marriages out of compulsion, but should instead be the result of choice and affection—yet children born out of wedlock did not have the same rights as children with married parents. In 1857, in the Social Revolutionist, Minerva Putnam complained that "in the discussion of free love, no woman has attempted to give her views on the subject" and challenged every woman reader to "rise in the dignity of her nature and declare herself free." The figureheads of the free love movement were often men, both in leading organizations and contributing to its ideology. Almost all books endorsing free love in the 1850s were by men, except for Mary Gove Nichols's 1855 autobiography. This was the first full-length case against marriage written by a woman. Of the four major free-love periodicals in the Reconstruction era, half had woman editors. To proponents of free love, the act of sex was not just about reproduction. Access to birth control was considered a means to women's independence, and leading birth-control activists also embraced free love. Sexual radicals remained focused on their attempts to uphold a woman's right to control her body and to freely discuss issues such as contraception, marital-sex abuse (emotional and physical), and sexual education. These people believed that by talking about female sexuality, they would help empower women. To help achieve this goal, such radical thinkers relied on the written word, books, pamphlets, and periodicals, and by these means the movement was sustained for over fifty years, spreading the message of free love all over the United States. However, many feminists would point out that the 1960s free love movement did not significantly change views about women's role in mainstream America. Haight-Ashbury Free Clinic founder Dr. David Smith, who was a prominent participant in the 1967 Summer of Love, acknowledged in 2007 how many of the men who participated in the event viewed women as prone. History Early precedents A number of utopian social movements throughout history have shared a vision of free love. An early Christian sect known as the Adamites existed in North Africa in the 2nd, 3rd and 4th centuries and rejected marriage. They practiced nudism and believed themselves to be without original sin. In the 6th century, adherents of Mazdakism in pre-Muslim Persia apparently supported a kind of free love in the place of marriage. One folk story from the period that contains a mention of a free-love (and nudist) community under the sea is "The Tale of Abdullah the Fisherman and Abdullah the Merman" from The Book of One Thousand and One Nights. Karl Kautsky, writing in 1895, noted that a number of "communistic" movements throughout the Middle Ages also rejected marriage. Typical of such movements, the Cathars of 10th to 14th century Western Europe freed followers from all moral prohibition and religious obligation, but respected those who lived simply, avoided the taking of human or animal life, and were celibate. Women had an uncommon equality and autonomy, even as religious leaders. The Cathars and similar groups (the Waldenses, Apostle brothers, Beghards and Beguines, Lollards, and Hussites) were branded as heretics by the Roman Catholic Church and suppressed. Other movements shared their critique of marriage but advocated free sexual relations rather than celibacy, such as the Brethren of the Free Spirit, Taborites, and Picards. Free love was an element in radical thinking during the "English Revolution" of 1640–1660, most strongly associated with the "Ranters". There were also perceptive critiques, within these radical movements, such as Gerrard Winstanley: The mother and child begotten in this manner is like to have the worst of it, for the man will be gone and leave them ... after he hath had his pleasure. ..... By seeking their own freedom they embondage others. Enlightenment thought The ideals of free love found their champion in one of the earliest English feminists, Mary Wollstonecraft. In her writings, Wollstonecraft challenged the institution of marriage, and advocated its abolition. Her novels criticized the social construction of marriage and its effects on women. In her first novel, Mary: A Fiction written in 1788, the heroine is forced into a loveless marriage for economic reasons. She finds love in relationships with another man and a woman. The novel, Maria: or, The Wrongs of Woman, never finished but published in 1798, revolves around the story of a woman imprisoned in an asylum by her husband. Maria finds fulfilment outside of marriage, in an affair with a fellow inmate. Wollstonecraft makes it clear that "women had strong sexual desires and that it was degrading and immoral to pretend otherwise." Wollstonecraft felt that women should not give up freedom and control of their sexuality, and thus did not marry her partner, Gilbert Imlay, despite the two conceiving and having a child together in the midst of the Terror of the French Revolution. Though the relationship ended badly, due in part to the discovery of Imlay's infidelity, and not least because Imlay abandoned her for good, Wollstonecraft's belief in free love survived. She later developed a relationship with the anarchist William Godwin, who shared her free love ideals, and published on the subject throughout his life. However, the two did decide to marry, just months before her death from complications in parturition. A member of Wollstonecraft's circle of notable radical intellectuals in England was the Romantic poet William Blake, who explicitly compared the sexual oppression of marriage to slavery in works such as Visions of the Daughters of Albion (1793), published five years after Wollstonecraft's Mary. Blake was critical of the marriage laws of his day, and generally railed against traditional Christian notions of chastity as a virtue. At a time of tremendous strain in his marriage, in part due to Catherine's apparent inability to bear children, he directly advocated bringing a second wife into the house. His poetry suggests that external demands for marital fidelity reduce love to mere duty rather than authentic affection, and decries jealousy and egotism as a motive for marriage laws. Poems such as "Why should I be bound to thee, O my lovely Myrtle-tree?" and "Earth's Answer" seem to advocate multiple sexual partners. In his poem "London" he speaks of "the Marriage-Hearse" plagued by "the youthful Harlot's curse", the result alternately of false Prudence and/or Harlotry. Visions of the Daughters of Albion is widely (though not universally) read as a tribute to free love since the relationship between Bromion and Oothoon is held together only by laws and not by love. For Blake, law and love are opposed, and he castigates the "frozen marriage-bed". In Visions, Blake writes: Blake believed that humans were "fallen", and that a major impediment to a free love society was corrupt human nature, not merely the intolerance of society and the jealousy of men, but the inauthentic hypocritical nature of human communication. He also seems to have thought that marriage should afford the joy of love, but that in reality it often does not, as a couple's knowledge of being chained often diminishes their joy: In an act understood to support free love, the child of Wollstonecraft and Godwin, Mary, took up with the then still-married English romantic poet Percy Bysshe Shelley in 1814 at the young age of sixteen. Shelley wrote in defence of free love in the prose notes of Queen Mab (1813), in his essay On Love, and in the poem Epipsychidion (1821). Utopian socialism Sharing the free-love ideals of the earlier social movements—as well as their feminism, pacifism, and simple communal life—were the utopian socialist communities of early-nineteenth-century France and Britain, associated with writers and thinkers such as Henri de Saint-Simon and Charles Fourier in France, and Robert Owen in England. Fourier, who coined the term feminism, argued for true freedom, without suppressing passions: the suppression of passions is not only destructive to the individual, but to society as a whole. He argued that all sexual expressions should be enjoyed as long as people are not abused, and that "affirming one's difference" can actually enhance social integration. Origins of the movement The eminent sociologist Herbert Spencer argued in his Principles of Sociology for the implementation of free divorce. Claiming that marriage consists of two components, "union by law" and "union by affection", he argued that with the loss of the latter union, legal union should lose all meaning and dissolve automatically, without the legal requirement for a divorce. Free love particularly stressed women's rights since most sexual laws discriminated against women: for example, marriage laws and anti-birth control measures. United States Free love began to coalesce into a movement in the mid- to late 19th century. The term was coined by the Christian socialist writer John Humphrey Noyes, although he preferred to use the term 'complex marriage'. Noyes founded the Oneida Community in 1848, a utopian community that "[rejected] conventional marriage both as a form of legalism from which Christians should be free and as a selfish institution in which men exerted rights of ownership over women". He found scriptural justification: "In the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like the angels in heaven" (Matt. 22:30). Noyes also supported eugenics; and only certain people (including Noyes himself) were allowed to become parents. Another movement was established in Berlin Heights, Ohio. In 1852, a writer named Marx Edgeworth Lazarus published a tract entitled "Love vs. Marriage pt. 1", in which he portrayed marriage as "incompatible with social harmony and the root cause of mental and physical impairments." Lazarus intertwined his writings with his religious teachings, a factor that made the Christian community more tolerable to the free love idea. Elements of the free-love movement also had links to abolitionist movements, drawing parallels between slavery and "sexual slavery" (marriage), and forming alliances with black activists. American feminist Victoria Woodhull (1838–1927), the first woman to run for presidency in the U.S. in 1872, was also called "the high priestess of free love". In 1871, Woodhull wrote: "Yes, I am a Free Lover. I have an inalienable, constitutional and natural right to love whom I may, to love as long or as short a period as I can; to change that love every day if I please, and with that right neither you nor any law you can frame have any right to interfere". The women's suffrage movement, free love and Spiritualism were three strongly linked movements at the time, and Woodhull was also a spiritualist leader. Like Noyes, she also supported eugenics. Fellow social reformer and educator Mary Gove Nichols was happily married (to her second husband), and together they published a newspaper and wrote medical books and articles. Both Woodhull and Nichols eventually repudiated free love. Publications of the movement in the second half of the 19th century included Nichols' Monthly, The Social Revolutionist, Woodhull & Claflin's Weekly (ed. Victoria Woodhull and her sister Tennessee Claflin), The Word (ed. Ezra Heywood), Lucifer, the Light-Bearer (ed. Moses Harman) and the German-language Detroit newspaper Der Arme Teufel (ed. Robert Reitzel). Organisations included the New England Free Love League, founded with the assistance of American libertarian socialist Benjamin Tucker as a spin-off from the New England Labor Reform League (NELRL). A minority of freethinkers also supported free love. The most radical free love journal was The Social Revolutionist, published in 1856–1857 by John Patterson. The first volume consisted of twenty writers, of which only one was a woman. Sex radicals were not alone in their fight against marriage ideals. Some other nineteenth-century Americans saw this social institution as flawed, but hesitated to abolish it. Groups such as the Shakers, the Oneida Community, and the Latter-day Saints were wary of the social notion of marriage. These organizations and sex radicals believed that true equality would never exist between the sexes as long as the church and the state continued to work together, worsening the problem of subordination of wives to their husbands. Free-love movements continued into the early 20th century in bohemian circles in New York's Greenwich Village. A group of Villagers lived free-love ideals and promoted them in the political journal The Masses and its sister publication The Little Review, a literary journal. Incorporating influences from the writings of the English thinkers and activists Edward Carpenter and Havelock Ellis, women such as Emma Goldman campaigned for a range of sexual freedoms, including homosexuality and access to contraception. Other notable figures among the Greenwich-Village scene who have been associated with free love include Edna St. Vincent Millay, Max Eastman, Crystal Eastman, Floyd Dell, Mabel Dodge Luhan, Ida Rauh, Hutchins Hapgood, and Neith Boyce. Dorothy Day also wrote passionately in defense of free love, women's rights, and contraception—but later, after converting to Catholicism, she criticized the sexual revolution of the sixties. The development of the idea of free love in the United States was also significantly impacted by the publisher of Playboy magazine, Hugh Hefner, whose activities and persona over more than a half century popularized the idea of free love to some of the general public. United Kingdom Free love was a central tenet of the philosophy of the Fellowship of the New Life, founded in 1883 by the Scottish intellectual Thomas Davidson. Fellowship members included many illustrious intellectuals of the day, who went on to radically challenge accepted Victorian notions of morality and sexuality, including poets Edward Carpenter and John Davidson, animal rights activist Henry Stephens Salt, sexologist Havelock Ellis, feminists Edith Lees, Emmeline Pankhurst and Annie Besant and writers H. G. Wells, Bernard Shaw, Bertrand Russell and Olive Schreiner. Its objective was "The cultivation of a perfect character in each and all," and believed in the transformation of society through setting an example of clean simplified living for others to follow. Many of the Fellowship's members advocated pacifism, vegetarianism and simple living. Edward Carpenter was an early activist for the rights of homosexuals. He became interested in progressive education, especially providing information to young people on the topic of sexual education. For Carpenter, sexual education meant forwarding a clear analysis of the ways in which sex and gender were used to oppress women, contained in Carpenter's radical work Love's Coming-of-Age. In it he argued that a just and equal society must promote the sexual and economic freedom of women. The main crux of his analysis centred on the negative effects of the institution of marriage. He regarded marriage in England as both enforced celibacy and a form of prostitution. The best-known British advocate of free love was the philosopher Bertrand Russell, later Third Earl Russell, who said that he did not believe he really knew a woman until he had made love with her. Russell consistently addressed aspects of free love throughout his voluminous writings, and was not personally content with conventional monogamy until extreme old age. His most famous work on the subject was Marriage and Morals, published in 1929. The book heavily criticizes the Victorian notions of morality regarding sex and marriage. Russell argued that the laws and ideas about sex of his time were a potpourri from various sources, which were no longer valid with the advent of contraception, as the sexual acts are now separated from the conception. He argued that family is most important for the welfare of children, and as such, a man and a woman should be considered bound only after her first pregnancy. Marriage and Morals prompted vigorous protests and denunciations against Russell shortly after the book's publication. A decade later, the book cost him his professorial appointment at the City College of New York due to a court judgment that his opinions made him "morally unfit" to teach. Contrary to what many people believed, Russell did not advocate an extreme libertine position. Instead, he felt that sex, although a natural impulse like hunger or thirst, involves more than that, because no one is "satisfied by the bare sexual act". He argued that abstinence enhances the pleasure of sex, which is better when it "has a large psychical element than when it is purely physical". Russell noted that for a marriage to work requires that there "be a feeling of complete equality on both sides; there must be no interference with mutual freedom; there must be the most complete physical and mental intimacy; and there must be a certain similarity in regard to standards of value". He argued that it was, in general, impossible to sustain this mutual feeling for an indefinite length of time, and that the only option in such a case was to provide for either the easy availability of divorce, or the social sanction of extra-marital sex. Russell's view on marriage changed as he went through personal struggles of subsequent marriages; in his autobiography he writes, "I do not know what I think now about the subject of marriage. There seem to be insuperable objections to every general theory about it. Perhaps easy divorce causes less unhappiness than any other system, but I am no longer capable of being dogmatic on the subject of marriage." Russell was also a very early advocate of repealing sodomy laws. France An important propagandist of free love was individualist anarchist Émile Armand. He advocated naturism and polyamory in what he termed la camaraderie amoureuse. He wrote many propagandist articles on this subject such as "De la liberté sexuelle" (1907) where he advocated not only a vague free love but also multiple partners, which he called "plural love". In the individualist anarchist journal L'en dehors he and others continued in this way. Armand seized this opportunity to outline his theses supporting revolutionary sexualism and camaraderie amoureuse that differed from the traditional views of the partisans of free love in several respects. Later Armand submitted that from an individualist perspective nothing was reprehensible about making "love", even if one did not have very strong feelings for one's partner. "The camaraderie amoureuse thesis", he explained, "entails a free contract of association (that may be annulled without notice, following prior agreement) reached between anarchist individualists of different genders, adhering to the necessary standards of sexual hygiene, with a view toward protecting the other parties to the contract from certain risks of the amorous experience, such as rejection, rupture, exclusivism, possessiveness, unicity, coquetry, whims, indifference, flirtatiousness, disregard for others, and prostitution." He also published Le Combat contre la jalousie et le sexualisme révolutionnaire (1926), followed over the years by Ce que nous entendons par liberté de l'amour (1928), La Camaraderie amoureuse ou "chiennerie sexuelle" (1930), and, finally, La Révolution sexuelle et la camaraderie amoureuse (1934), a book of nearly 350 pages comprising most of his writings on sexuality. In a text from 1937, he mentioned among the individualist objectives the practice of forming voluntary associations for purely sexual purposes of heterosexual, homosexual, or bisexual nature or of a combination thereof. He also supported the right of individuals to change sex and stated his willingness to rehabilitate forbidden pleasures, non-conformist caresses (he was personally inclined toward voyeurism), as well as sodomy. This led him to allocate more and more space to what he called "the sexual non-conformists", while excluding physical violence. His militancy also included translating texts from people such as Alexandra Kollontai and Wilhelm Reich and establishments of free love associations which tried to put into practice la camaraderie amoureuse through actual sexual experiences. Free love advocacy groups active during this time included the Association d'Études sexologiques and the Ligue mondiale pour la Réforme sexuelle sur une base scientifique. USSR After the October Revolution in Russia, Alexandra Kollontai became the most prominent woman in the Soviet administration. Kollontai was also a champion of free love. However, Clara Zetkin recorded that Lenin opposed free love as "completely un-Marxist, and moreover, anti-social". Zetkin also recounted Lenin's denunciation of plans to organise Hamburg's women prostitutes into a "special revolutionary militant section": he saw this as "corrupt and degenerate". Despite the traditional marital lives of Lenin and most Bolsheviks, they believed that sexual relations were outside the jurisdiction of the state. The Soviet government abolished centuries-old Czarist regulations on personal life, which had prohibited homosexuality and made it difficult for women to obtain divorce permits or to live singly. However, by the end of the 1920s, Stalin had taken control of the Communist Party and begun to implement socially conservative policies. Homosexuality was classified as a mental disorder, and free love was further demonized. Recent With the Summer of Love in 1967, the eccentricities of the beat generation became a nationally recognized movement. Despite the developing sexual revolution and the influence of the Beatniks in this new counterculture social rebellion, it has been acknowledged that the New Left movement was arguably the most prominent advocate of free love during the late 1960s. Many among the counterculture youth sided with New Left arguments that marriage was a symbol of the traditional capitalist culture which supported war. "Make Love Not War" became a popular slogan in the counterculture movement which denounced both war and capitalism. Images from the pro-socialist May 1968 uprising in France, which occurred as the anti-war protests were escalating throughout the United States, would provide a significant source of morale to the New Left cause as well. Canadian Justice Minister, and future Prime Minister, Pierre Elliot Trudeau's 20 December 1967 statement "there's no place for the state in the bedrooms of the nation" was a very public declaration justifying his government's decriminalization of sexual activity between same sex partners in Canada, following 1967's Summer of Love. See also Notes References Further reading "The recurring movements of free love" by Saskia Poldervaart Victoria Woodhull, Free Lover: Sex, Marriage And Eugenics in the Early Speeches of Victoria Woodhull, Seattle: Inkling, 2005, Stoehr, Taylor, ed. Free Love in America: A Documentary History, New York: AMS Press, 1977 Sears, Hal, The Sex Radicals: Free Love in High Victorian America, Lawrence, KS: The Regents Press of Kansas, 1977 Spurlock, John Free Love: Marriage and Middle Class Radicalism, 1825–1860, New York: New York University Press, 1987 Joanne E. Passet, Sex Radicals and the Quest for Women's Equality, Champaign: University of Illinois Press, 2003, Martin Blatt, Free Love and Anarchism: The Biography of Ezra Heywood, Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1989 "Emile Armand and la camaraderie amourouse. Revolutionary sexualism and the struggle against jealousy." by Francis Rousin Barbara Goldsmith, Other Powers: The Age of Suffrage, Spiritualism, and the Scandalous Victoria Woodhull, 1999, Goldman, Emma, Marriage and Love, New York: Mother Earth Publishing Association, 1911 Françoise Basch, Rebelles américaines au XIXe siècle : marriage, amour libre et politique, Paris : Méridiens Klincksieck, 1990 Curt von Westernhagen, Wagner, Cambridge, 1978, . Hippie movement Love Sexual revolution

Contemporary Sant Mat movements

Contemporary Sant Mat Movements, mostly among the Radha Soami tradition, are esoteric philosophy movements active in the United States, Europe, Australia, Latin America, and especially India. These movements assert that Sant Mat shares a lineage with Sikhism and contains elements of thought found in Hinduism, such as karma and reincarnation. They further assert that Sant Mat also contains elements found in Sufism and has inspired and influenced a number of religious groups and organizations. They refer to this spiritual path as the "Science of the Soul" or 'Sant Mat', meaning 'teachings of the saints'. More recently it has been described as "The Way of Life" or "Living the Life of Soul". It incorporates a practical yoga system known as Surat Shabd Yoga. Contemporary Sant Mat movements claim to incorporate a personal and private path of spiritual development in the common tradition of mystics past and present. They discuss the irrelevance of rituals, priestly class, mandatory contributions, or compulsory gatherings. Introduction The basic teaching of contemporary Sant Mat, as described by its Masters, is that everything lies inside us and that God is within. The outside world is only an image or a reflection of the inner reality. So self-knowledge or knowledge of the higher self and God-knowledge (taken as a practical project rather than a theoretical inquiry) are the topics of Sant Mat. Kirpal Singh describes Sant Mat as a synonym for Surat Shabd Yoga, the yoga of the Sound Current, or more simply Shabd yoga, a meditation technique he asserts was taught and practiced originally in northern India. Singh writes that practitioners of Shabd yoga position the path as not requiring the physical torture of penance and austerities that marked many of the yogas and spiritual paths throughout the ages. Thus it is sometimes called "Sehaj" (easy) yoga. Widely accepted translations of the Indian term "Sant Mat" are "Teachings of the Saints" and "Path of the Masters". These are both incidentally the titles of prominent works on the subject. Another commonly accepted definition of the term is found in Man Know Thyself by Sant Kirpal Singh: However, terminology, names, and groups are not considered to be of any importance in Sant Mat: Origins Sant Mat (literally, "school of the Sants") was a loosely associated group of teachers that assumed prominence in the northern part of the Indian sub-continent from about the 13th century. Their teachings are distinguished theologically by inward loving devotion to a divine principle, and socially by an egalitarianism opposed to the qualitative distinctions of the Indian caste hierarchy and to the religious differences between Hinduism and Islam. Geographical reach Contemporary Sant Mat movements exist all over the world. Radha Soami Satsang Beas, the mission begun by Jaimal Singh at the turn of the 19th century, has its headquarters known as "Dera Baba Jaimal Singh", near the river Beas in northern India since 1891. His master Shiv Dayal Singh had perhaps 500 initiates, and if one wanted to see the Master it was necessary to travel to his home in Agra. His lineage continues at Radhasoami Satsang Dayalbagh, Agra in India. The Dayalbagh Agra lineage follow Shiv Dayal Singh - Salig Ram -Maharaj Sahab - Kamta Prasad Sinha- Anand Swarup - Gurcharan Das Mehta - Makund Behari Lal and recently (Since 2003 Prem Saran Satsangi. Jaimal Singh had perhaps 2500 initiates and did not travel more than a few hundred miles from Beas while he was a Master. Sawan Singh did not travel outside of India, but is believed to have had as many as one lac (100,000) initiates, some of whom were foreigners. Jagat Singh also did not travel outside India. Charan Singh did travel overseas and the present master Gurinder Singh, travels to nearly 90 countries. Today the Radha Soami Satsang Beas is leading the way forward and encompassing all the teachings of the saints. Sant Kirpal Singh visited Europe and the United States in 1955 and 1963, and Europe, America, and Latin America in 1972. The various spiritual leaders who claim to lead this movement now frequently travel all over the world. General tenets The most central tenet is the need to be initiated by a living Master or Satguru ("sat" meaning true and "guru" meaning Master or Spiritual Teacher). "Competent Master" is another common formulation: the Master must be competent in the sense of having been commissioned by God, not just a person who feels like working in the role of a guru: It is a sad affair that there are thousands of imitators, of false copies, but it doesn't mean that the world is devoid of truth and that a Master is not available to the people...It has always been a law that at least one complete master would be on earth to bring God's truth to the people. One such Master can benefit the entire world just as one sun can glorify and light up the entire world. [16] Technically speaking Sant Mat practice involves listening to the Inner Sound, contemplating Inner Light, and (eventually) leaving the human body at will - a practice sometimes referred to as "dying while living". The principal intent is to awaken the Soul and unite it with God. Sant Mat is a practical and not a theoretical investigation. Contemporary Sant Mat movements claim to be different in a radical sense from other disciplines or kinds of knowledge which can be taught. It claims to be a meta-knowledge or method of going beyond knowledge and deprecates the mind and mental processes, at all times describing a dichotomy between the mind and the soul, in which the mind is only a negative copy or imitation of the soul. The mind is to become still and quiet so that the soul can begin to experience itself. The second essential tenet is the mystical role of the Sound Current: Prajapatir vai idam-agree asit Tasya vak dvitiya asit Vak vai Paramam Brahma (from Vedas) In the beginning was Prajapati (the Creator), With Him was the Vak (the Word), And the Vak (the Word) was verily the Supreme Brahman. Proponents compare this with the verses of John 1 John to assert their special use of comparative religion (seeking the common thread in all religions and esoteric phenomena). Naam or Word , written by Sant Kirpal Singh, explores this theme. It asserts that the Sound Current is the esoteric form of God which is available to human beings. The Guru, who is a human being, has merged with the Sound Current in such a manner that he is a living manifestation of it (the Word made flesh). However, not just the Guru can achieve this, but all human beings are inherently privileged in this way Helping factors Beyond the two main tenets, Contemporary Sant Mat movements emphasize an ethical lifestyle and selfless service. They assert that these are not spirituality as such, but are necessary preparation for true spirituality to commence. A self-introspective diary or daily diary tracking ethical lifestyle in five cardinal disciplines is sometimes recommended as a way to self-monitor one's own ethical condition. The five cardinal virtues tracked by the diary are Ahimsa or Nonviolence, Truthfulness, Chastity, love for all regardless of caste, creed, wealth, or intellectual attainments (i.e., Humility), and finally the maintenance of a strict Vegetarian diet. Drugs and alcohol are also to be avoided, as is the company of worldly-minded people. Selfless Service or Seva means devoting oneself to mental, physical, or financial service to the Guru, and the sangat (or devotees). Mental service means keeping constant remembrance of God by means of repetition of the Mantra (known as Simran) or by other means keeping the Guru in mind. Physical service means doing some physical work, as in the situation where one helps dig a well at an ashram or gives a talk about the Master to the public. Financial service means giving money to the mission of the Master (to his organization) instead of spending it on oneself. The concept of Financial Seva is quite similar to tithing as known generally in Christianity. Also, just as a very general rule, at least 10% of one's time should be spent in meditation. Practices Contemporary Sant Mat movements assert that the "Master" or Guru is provided by God as the channel through which God manifests in the world - God is believed to be unknowable and inconceivable, so he has created Gurus as a way in which to be available. Only humans are capable of interacting with a Master, as other forms of life are asserted to be incapable of doing so. Teachers of contemporary Sant Mat movements claim to teach a spiritual path which is intentionally easier than others described in the ancient scriptures as it requires nothing more than sitting quietly and looking and listening within. Specifics of this process include connecting one's soul or attention, called Surat (soul) with the inner Current of Light and Sound of God, the Shabd. Adherents believe this Sound Current cannot be heard by the uninitiated; it is made manifest at the time of initiation. An essential component of the practice involves sitting still with eyes closed, with one's attention focused at the "third eye center", located between and behind the two eyebrows, while (mentally) repeating one or more mantras given by the Guru to the disciple at the time of initiation. This is called simran (repetition) and its primary function is to still the mind while remembering (or being connected to) the Guru via the mantra he provided. However listening to the Sound Current by plugging the ears with the thumbs and listening at the right side or above is equally as important. Sound is considered to be the source of the Light, and to contain everything required. The concept of Satsang is also a common thread in contemporary Sant Mat movements' practices. Satsang means literally "gathering of Truth." These gatherings serve as the formal meeting place of the Master and his devotees when he is present in physical form, but also, more often, follow the tradition of early Christianity and take place in the homes of disciples or in any convenient location as times of remembrance of the Master and the need for meditation. In contemporary Sant Mat movements, not everyone automatically qualifies for Initiation; many teachers require that prospective followers be spiritually “ready”. This was especially true in earlier times, when people made more time available. There are definite criteria for judging whether or not a person is indeed ready for initiation: they must be ready to eschew drugs and alcohol, lead a disciplined and chaste lifestyle, avoid spiritual healing and other forms of meditation, and commit to several hours of meditation per day. Sects There are many sects/movements within contemporary Sant Mat movements, with different leaders and varying belief systems. Examples include Advait Mat and Radha Soami with following sub-lineages: the Radha Soami Satsang Beas, Radha Soami Satsang Dayalbagh, Radha Swami Satsang, Dinod, Ruhani Satsang, and also the Science of Spirituality (SOS) with Sawan Kirpal Ruhani Mission and Dera Sacha Sauda. The work of David C. Lane provides a partial catalogue of various sects related to the Radha Soami Satsang Beas and attempts to study their formation from a socio-economic point of view.<ref>Lane, David, The Radhasoami tradition: A Critical History of Guru Successorship (1992). Garland Publishers, New York </ref> Mark Juergensmeyer has also extensively studied groups related to Radha Soami Satsang Beas. Related movements The new religious movement Eckankar is considered by some to be an offshoot of the Sant Mat tradition. Paul Twitchell, who founded Eckankar, was an initiate of Kirpal Singh. The similar to Eckancar American syncretistic Movement of Spiritual Inner Awareness was founded in 1971 by John-Roger Hinkins. The "Quan Yin Method" of meditation promoted though the spiritual teachings of Ching Hai, a former student of Thakar Singh, also has notable similarities to Sant Mat. The Elan Vital, formerly Divine Light Mission, founded by Hans Maharaj and succeeded by his sons Prem Rawat and Satpal Maharaj, was characterized as part of the Sant Mat tradition.Kranenborg, Reender (Dutch language) Neohindoeïstische bewegingen in Nederland : een encyclopedisch overzicht, published by Kampen Kok cop. (2002) Satpal Maharaj also established the Manav Utthan Sewa Samiti. See also Param Sant Kirpal Singh Sant Darshan Singh Rajinder Singh (Sant Mat) Sant Baljit Singh Ajaib Singh Sirio Carrapa Baba Faqir Chand Bhagat Munshi Ram Thakar Singh Kanwar Saheb Gurus of Shabdism References Further reading The Radhasoami tradition: A Critical History of Guru Successorship'', by David C. Lane, Garland Publishers, New York 1992 External links Sant Mat, Kabir Panth, and Radhasoami Guru Lineage Charts Pier Franco Marcenaro - Living Sant Mat Master official websites Esoteric schools of thought Contemporary Sant Mat Sikh groups and sects

Tacit knowledge

Tacit knowledge or implicit knowledge—as opposed to formalized, codified or explicit knowledge—is knowledge that is difficult to express or extract; therefore it is more difficult to transfer to others by means of writing it down or verbalizing it. This can include motor skills, personal wisdom, experience, insight, and intuition. For example, knowing that London is in the United Kingdom is a piece of explicit knowledge; it can be written down, transmitted, and understood by a recipient. In contrast, the ability to speak a language, ride a bicycle, knead dough, play a musical instrument, or design and use complex equipment requires all sorts of knowledge which is not always known explicitly, even by expert practitioners, and which is difficult or impossible to explicitly transfer to other people. Overview Origin The term tacit knowing is attributed to Michael Polanyi's Personal Knowledge (1958). In his later work, The Tacit Dimension (1966), Polanyi made the assertion that "we can know more than we can tell." He states not only that there is knowledge that cannot be adequately articulated by verbal means, but also that all knowledge is rooted in tacit knowledge. While this concept made most of its impact on philosophy of science, education and knowledge management—all fields involving humans—it was also, for Polanyi, a means to show humankind's evolutionary continuity with animals. Polanyi describes that many animals are creative, some even have mental representations, but can only possess tacit knowledge. This excludes humans, however, who developed the capability of articulation and therefore can transmit partially explicit knowledge. This relatively modest difference then turns into a big practical advantage, but there is no unexplained evolutionary gap. Definition Tacit knowledge can be defined as skills, ideas and experiences that are possessed by people but are not codified and may not necessarily be easily expressed. With tacit knowledge, people are not often aware of the knowledge they possess or how it can be valuable to others. Effective transfer of tacit knowledge generally requires extensive personal contact, regular interaction, and trust. This kind of knowledge can only be revealed through practice in a particular context and transmitted through social networks. To some extent it is "captured" when the knowledge holder joins a network or a community of practice. Some examples of daily activities and tacit knowledge are: riding a bike, playing the piano, driving a car, hitting a nail with a hammer, putting together pieces of a complex jigsaw puzzle, and interpreting a complex statistical equation. In the field of knowledge management, the concept of tacit knowledge refers to knowledge that cannot be fully codified. An individual can acquire tacit knowledge without language. Apprentices, for example, work with their mentors and learn craftsmanship not only through language but also by observation, imitation, and practice. The key to acquiring tacit knowledge is experience. Without some form of shared experience, it is extremely difficult for people to share each other's thinking processes. Terrain Tacit knowledge can be divided according to the terrain. Terrains affect the process of changing tacit knowledge into explicit knowledge. Terrains are of three kinds: Relational tacit knowledge: Relational tacit knowledge could be made explicit, but not made explicit for reasons that touch on deep principles that have to do with either the nature or location of knowledge of the way humans are made. This knowledge refers to things we could describe in principle if someone put effort into describing them. Somatic tacit knowledge: Somatic tacit knowledge has to do with properties of individuals bodies and brains as physical things. It includes things our bodies can do but we cannot describe how, like riding a bike. In principle it is possible for it to be explicated as the outcome of research done by human scientists. Collective tacit knowledge: Collective tacit knowledge is a kind of knowledge that we do not know how to make explicit and that we cannot envisage how to explicate. It is the domain of knowledge that is located in society, such as the rules for language - it has to do with the way society is constituted. Embodied knowledge Tacit knowledge has been described as “know-how” as opposed to “know-what” (facts). This distinction between “know-how” and “know-what” is considered to date back to a 1945 paper by Gilbert Ryle given to the Aristotelian Society in London. In his paper, Ryle argues against the (intellectualist) position that all knowledge is knowledge of Propositions (“know-what”), and therefore the view that some knowledge can only be defined as “know-how”. Ryle's argument has, in some contexts, come to be called "anti-intellectualist". There are further distinctions such as "know-why" (science) or "know-who" (networking). Tacit knowledge involves learning and skill but not in a way that can be written down. On this account, knowing-how or “embodied knowledge” is characteristic of the expert, who acts, makes judgments, and so forth without explicitly reflecting on the principles or rules involved. The expert works without having a theory of his or her work; he or she just performs skillfully without deliberation or focused attention. Embodied knowledge represents a learned capability of a human body's nervous and endocrine systems. Differences from explicit knowledge Although it is possible to distinguish conceptually between explicit and tacit knowledge, they are not separate and discrete in practice. The interaction between these two modes of knowing is vital for the creation of new knowledge. Tacit knowledge can be distinguished from explicit knowledge in three major areas: Codifiability and mechanism of transferring knowledge: Explicit knowledge can be codified (for example, 'can you write it down' or 'put it into words' or 'draw a picture'), and easily transferred without the knowing subject. In contrast, tacit knowledge is intuitive and unarticulated knowledge that cannot be communicated, understood or used without the 'knowing subject'. Unlike the transfer of explicit knowledge, the transfer of tacit knowledge requires close interaction and the buildup of shared understanding and trust among them. Main methods for the acquisition and accumulation: Explicit knowledge can be generated through logical deduction and acquired through practical experience in the relevant context. In contrast, tacit knowledge can only be acquired through practical experience in the relevant context. Potential of aggregation and modes of appropriation: Explicit knowledge can be aggregated at a single location, stored in objective forms, and appropriated without the participation of the knowing subject. Tacit knowledge, in contrast, is personal and contextual; it is distributed across knowing subjects, and cannot easily be aggregated. The realization of its full potential requires the close involvement and cooperation of the knowing subject. The process of transforming tacit knowledge into explicit or specifiable knowledge is known as codification, articulation, or specification. The tacit aspects of knowledge are those that cannot be codified, but can only be transmitted via training or gained through personal experience. There is a view against the distinction, where it is believed that all propositional knowledge (knowledge that) is ultimately reducible to practical knowledge (knowledge how). Nonaka–Takeuchi model Ikujiro Nonaka proposed a model of knowledge creation that explains how tacit knowledge can be converted to explicit knowledge, both of which can be converted into organisational knowledge. While introduced by Nonaka in 1990, the model was further developed by Hirotaka Takeuchi and is thus known as the Nonaka–Takeuchi model. In this model, tacit knowledge is presented variously as uncodifiable ("tacit aspects of knowledge are those that cannot be codified") and codifiable ("transforming tacit knowledge into explicit knowledge is known as codification"). This ambiguity is common in the knowledge management literature. Assuming that knowledge is created through the interaction between tacit and explicit knowledge, the Nonaka–Takeuchi model postulates four different modes of knowledge conversion: from tacit knowledge to tacit knowledge, or socialization; from tacit knowledge to explicit knowledge, or externalization; from explicit knowledge to explicit knowledge, or combination; and from explicit knowledge to tacit knowledge, or internalization. Nonaka's view may be contrasted with Polanyi's original view of "tacit knowing". Polanyi believed that while declarative knowledge may be needed for acquiring skills, it is unnecessary for using those skills once the novice becomes an expert. Indeed, it does seem to be the case that, as Polanyi argued, when people acquire a skill, they acquire a corresponding understanding that defies articulation. Examples One of the most convincing examples of tacit knowledge is facial recognition: one knows a person's face, and can recognize it among a thousand, indeed a million. Yet, people usually cannot tell how they recognize that face, so most of this cannot be put into words. When one sees a face, they are not conscious about their knowledge of the individual features (eye, nose, mouth), but rather see and recognize the face as a whole. Another example of tacit knowledge is the notion of language itself: it is not possible to learn a language just by being taught the rules of grammar—a native-speaker picks it up at a young age, almost entirely unaware of the formal grammar which they may be taught later. Other examples are how to ride a bike, how tight to make a bandage, or knowing whether a senior surgeon feels an intern may be ready to learn the intricacies of surgery; this can only be learned through personal experimentation. Harry M. Collins showed that Western laboratories long had difficulties in successfully replicating an experiment that a team led by Vladimir Braginsky at Moscow State University had been conducting for 20 years (the experiment was measuring the quality, Q, factors of sapphire). Western scientists became suspicious of the Russian results and it was only when Russian and Western scientists conducted the measurements collaboratively that the trust was reestablished. Collins argues that laboratory visits enhance the possibility for the transfer of tacit knowledge. The Bessemer steel process is another example: Henry Bessemer sold a patent for his advanced steelmaking process and was subsequently sued by the purchasers after they could not get it to work. In the end, Bessemer set up his own steel company because he knew how to do it, even though he could not convey it to his patent users. When Matsushita (now Panasonic) started developing its automatic home bread-making machine in 1985, an early problem was how to mechanize the dough-kneading process, a process that takes a master baker years of practice to perfect. To learn this tacit knowledge, a member of the software development team, Ikuko Tanaka, decided to volunteer herself as an apprentice to the head baker of the Osaka International Hotel, who was reputed to produce the area's best bread. After a period of imitation and practice, one day she observed that the baker was not only stretching, but also twisting the dough in a particular fashion ("twisting stretch"), which turned out to be important in the success of his method. The Matsushita home bakery team drew together eleven members from completely different specializations and cultures: product planning, mechanical engineering, control systems, and software development. The "twisting stretch" motion was finally achieved by a prototype machine after a year of iterative experimentation by the engineers and team members working closely together, combining their explicit knowledge. For example, the engineers added ribs to the inside of the dough case in order to hold the dough better as it is being churned. Another team member suggested a method (later patented) to add yeast at a later stage in the process, thereby preventing the yeast from over-fermenting in high temperatures. During the COVID-19 pandemic, increased remote work seems to have influenced the informal exchange of tacit knowledge among workers, which has subsequently led to an adverse effect on the variety of outputs produced by remote workers. See also References Further reading Nonaka, Ikujiro. 1990. Management of Knowledge Creation. Tokyo: Nihon Keizai Shinbun-sha. Cognitive psychology Knowledge management Psychology of learning

Cultural dissonance

In sociology and cultural studies, cultural dissonance is a sense of discord, disharmony, confusion, or conflict experienced by people in the midst of change in their cultural environment. The changes are often unexpected, unexplained or not understandable due to various types of cultural dynamics. Studies into cultural dissonance take on a wide socio-cultural scope of analysis that inquire into economics, politics, values, learning styles, cultural factors, such as language, tradition, ethnicity, cultural heritage, cultural history, educational formats, classroom design, and even socio-cultural issues such as ethnocentrism, racism and their respective historical legacies in the cultures. Research Research topics in cultural dissonance tend to be interdisciplinary drawing from a wide range of disciplines and applying the findings to equally diverse fields and industries. Education Winifred L. Macdonald concluded in her thesis that, "... shared markers of language and ethnicity were not sufficient to ensure that the cultural differences in education systems were not experienced by the families." Macdonald also observed that cultural dissonance is sometimes said to inhibit socio-cultural adaptation. Susan Black, an education research consultant, wrote an article in the American School Board Journal of the National School Board Association that summarized some of the actions recommended by some researchers in education-related cultural dissonance. The recommendations for educators included: Recognize ethnocentrism Know and understand the student's cultural heritage Understand social, economic and political issues and values in different cultures Adopt the attitude that students—all students—can learn Create genuinely caring classrooms where all students are appreciated and accepted. Other general findings include: Geneva Gay (University of Washington in Seattle, Washington), proposed that differences can erupt into cultural clashes Researchers at the Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory notes that many anecdotal case studies show how culturally responsive practices improve students' behavior and achievement. Second-generation immigrants In their book Children of Immigration, Carola and Marcelo Suárez-Orozco discuss dissonance as it relates to Latinos in the United States. Suarez Orozco found that second-generation Hispanics face more acute forms of cultural dissonance than their first generation parents. They also noticed that second-generation individuals also face "special difficulties" that lead to "three general patterns of adjustment" attempts to synthesize two cultural traditions passing as a member of the dominant group developing of defensive identity such as gang membership Refugees of war Suárez-Orozco also compared the experience of exiles from Cuba being reunited with family members with the "...alienated refugees from war-torn Central America..." as they worked through their own adjustment issues, and concluded that Central Americans had to deal with more cultural dissonance than their Cuban counterparts. Law enforcement Larry A. Gould wrote a paper for Northern Arizona University: In sports Tracy Taylor wrote a paper for the Journal of Sport and Social Issues. In it she wrote: Cultural dissonance in popular culture Side 2 of the Firesign Theatre's 1968 album, Waiting for the Electrician or Someone Like Him, features a humorous 18-minute radio drama of a traveler experiencing cultural dissonance on his arrival in a foreign country. For example, the traveler struggles to communicate his wish to send a telegram, only to be informed that yes, his telegram has been sent, at considerable cost, and that he will be receiving it in about an hour. See also Anomie Cognitive dissonance Culture Culture shock Propaganda Gaslighting References Further reading Cultural studies Cultural politics Social dynamics Majority–minority relations

Constructivism (art)

Constructivism is an early twentieth-century art movement founded in 1915 by Vladimir Tatlin and Alexander Rodchenko. Abstract and austere, constructivist art aimed to reflect modern industrial society and urban space. The movement rejected decorative stylization in favour of the industrial assemblage of materials. Constructivists were in favour of art for propaganda and social purposes, and were associated with Soviet socialism, the Bolsheviks and the Russian avant-garde. Constructivist architecture and art had a great effect on modern art movements of the 20th century, influencing major trends such as the Bauhaus and De Stijl movements. Its influence was widespread, with major effects upon architecture, sculpture, graphic design, industrial design, theatre, film, dance, fashion and, to some extent, music. Beginnings Constructivism was a post-World War I development of Russian Futurism, and particularly of the 'counter reliefs' of Vladimir Tatlin, which had been exhibited in 1915. The term itself was invented by the sculptors Antoine Pevsner and Naum Gabo, who developed an industrial, angular style of work, while its geometric abstraction owed something to the Suprematism of Kazimir Malevich. Constructivism first appears as a term in Gabo's Realistic Manifesto of 1920. Aleksei Gan used the word as the title of his book Constructivism, printed in 1922. Constructivism as theory and practice was derived largely from a series of debates at the Institute of Artistic Culture (INKhUK) in Moscow, from 1920 to 1922. After deposing its first chairman, Wassily Kandinsky, for his 'mysticism', The First Working Group of Constructivists (including Liubov Popova, Alexander Vesnin, Rodchenko, Varvara Stepanova, and the theorists Aleksei Gan, Boris Arvatov and Osip Brik) would develop a definition of Constructivism as the combination of faktura: the particular material properties of an object, and tektonika, its spatial presence. Initially the Constructivists worked on three-dimensional constructions as a means of participating in industry: the OBMOKhU (Society of Young Artists) exhibition showed these three dimensional compositions, by Rodchenko, Stepanova, Karl Ioganson and the Stenberg brothers. Later the definition would be extended to designs for two-dimensional works such as books or posters, with montage and factography becoming important concepts. Art in the service of the Revolution As much as involving itself in designs for industry, the Constructivists worked on public festivals and street designs for the post-October revolution Bolshevik government. Perhaps the most famous of these was in Vitebsk, where Malevich's UNOVIS Group painted propaganda plaques and buildings (the best known being El Lissitzky's poster Beat the Whites with the Red Wedge (1919)). Inspired by Vladimir Mayakovsky's declaration 'the streets our brushes, the squares our palettes', artists and designers participated in public life during the Civil War. A striking instance was the proposed festival for the Comintern congress in 1921 by Alexander Vesnin and Liubov Popova, which resembled the constructions of the OBMOKhU exhibition as well as their work for the theatre. There was a great deal of overlap during this period between Constructivism and Proletkult, the ideas of which concerning the need to create an entirely new culture struck a chord with the Constructivists. In addition some Constructivists were heavily involved in the 'ROSTA Windows', a Bolshevik public information campaign of around 1920. Some of the most famous of these were by the poet-painter Vladimir Mayakovsky and Vladimir Lebedev. The constructivists tried to create works that would make the viewer an active viewer of the artwork. In this it had similarities with the Russian Formalists' theory of 'making strange', and accordingly their main theorist Viktor Shklovsky worked closely with the Constructivists, as did other formalists like the Arch Bishop. These theories were tested in theatre, particularly with the work of Vsevolod Meyerhold, who had established what he called 'October in the theatre'. Meyerhold developed a 'biomechanical' acting style, which was influenced both by the circus and by the 'scientific management' theories of Frederick Winslow Taylor. Meanwhile, the stage sets by the likes of Vesnin, Popova and Stepanova tested Constructivist spatial ideas in a public form. A more populist version of this was developed by Alexander Tairov, with stage sets by Aleksandra Ekster and the Stenberg brothers. These ideas would influence German directors like Bertolt Brecht and Erwin Piscator, as well as the early Soviet cinema. Tatlin, 'Construction Art' and Productivism The key work of Constructivism was Vladimir Tatlin's proposal for the Monument to the Third International (Tatlin's Tower) (1919–20) which combined a machine aesthetic with dynamic components celebrating technology such as searchlights and projection screens. Gabo publicly criticised Tatlin's design saying, "Either create functional houses and bridges or create pure art, not both." This had already caused a major controversy in the Moscow group in 1920 when Gabo and Pevsner's Realistic Manifesto asserted a spiritual core for the movement. This was opposed to the utilitarian and adaptable version of Constructivism held by Tatlin and Rodchenko. Tatlin's work was immediately hailed by artists in Germany as a revolution in art: a 1920 photograph shows George Grosz and John Heartfield holding a placard saying 'Art is Dead – Long Live Tatlin's Machine Art', while the designs for the tower were published in Bruno Taut's magazine Frühlicht. The tower was never built, however, due to a lack of money following the revolution. Tatlin's tower started a period of exchange of ideas between Moscow and Berlin, something reinforced by El Lissitzky and Ilya Ehrenburg's Soviet-German magazine Veshch-Gegenstand-Objet which spread the idea of 'Construction art', as did the Constructivist exhibits at the 1922 Russische Ausstellung in Berlin, organised by Lissitzky. A Constructivist International was formed, which met with Dadaists and De Stijl artists in Germany in 1922. Participants in this short-lived international included Lissitzky, Hans Richter, and László Moholy-Nagy. However the idea of 'art' was becoming anathema to the Russian Constructivists: the INKhUK debates of 1920–22 had culminated in the theory of Productivism propounded by Osip Brik and others, which demanded direct participation in industry and the end of easel painting. Tatlin was one of the first to attempt to transfer his talents to industrial production, with his designs for an economical stove, for workers' overalls and for furniture. The Utopian element in Constructivism was maintained by his 'letatlin', a flying machine which he worked on until the 1930s. Constructivism and consumerism In 1921, the New Economic Policy was established in the Soviet Union, which opened up more market opportunities in the Soviet economy. Rodchenko, Stepanova, and others made advertising for the co-operatives that were now in competition with other commercial businesses. The poet-artist Vladimir Mayakovsky and Rodchenko worked together and called themselves "advertising constructors". Together they designed eye-catching images featuring bright colours, geometric shapes, and bold lettering. The lettering of most of these designs was intended to create a reaction, and function emotionally – most were designed for the state-owned department store Mosselprom in Moscow, for pacifiers, cooking oil, beer and other quotidian products, with Mayakovsky claiming that his 'nowhere else but Mosselprom' verse was one of the best he ever wrote. Additionally, several artists tried to work with clothes design with varying success: Varvara Stepanova designed dresses with bright, geometric patterns that were mass-produced, although workers' overalls by Tatlin and Rodchenko never achieved this and remained prototypes. The painter and designer Lyubov Popova designed a kind of Constructivist flapper dress before her early death in 1924, the plans for which were published in the journal LEF. In these works, Constructivists showed a willingness to involve themselves in fashion and the mass market, which they tried to balance with their Communist beliefs. LEF and Constructivist cinema The Soviet Constructivists organised themselves in the 1920s into the 'Left Front of the Arts', who produced the influential journal LEF, (which had two series, from 1923 to 1925 and from 1927 to 1929 as New LEF). LEF was dedicated to maintaining the avant-garde against the critiques of the incipient Socialist Realism, and the possibility of a capitalist restoration, with the journal being particularly scathing about the 'NEPmen', the capitalists of the period. For LEF the new medium of cinema was more important than the easel painting and traditional narratives that elements of the Communist Party were trying to revive then. Important Constructivists were very involved with cinema, with Mayakovsky acting in the film The Young Lady and the Hooligan (1919), Rodchenko's designs for the intertitles and animated sequences of Dziga Vertov's Kino Eye (1924), and Aleksandra Ekster designs for the sets and costumes of the science fiction film Aelita (1924). The Productivist theorists Osip Brik and Sergei Tretyakov also wrote screenplays and intertitles, for films such as Vsevolod Pudovkin's Storm over Asia (1928) or Victor Turin's Turksib (1929). The filmmakers and LEF contributors Dziga Vertov and Sergei Eisenstein as well as the documentarist Esfir Shub also regarded their fast-cut, montage style of filmmaking as Constructivist. The early Eccentrist movies of Grigori Kozintsev and Leonid Trauberg (The New Babylon, Alone) had similarly avant-garde intentions, as well as a fixation on jazz-age America which was characteristic of the philosophy, with its praise of slapstick-comedy actors like Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton, as well as of Fordist mass production. Like the photomontages and designs of Constructivism, early Soviet cinema concentrated on creating an agitating effect by montage and 'making strange'. Photography and photomontage Although originated in Germany, photomontage was a popular art form for Constructivists to create visually striking art and a method to convey change; "". The Constructivists were early developers of the techniques of photomontage. Gustav Klutsis' 'Dynamic City' and 'Lenin and Electrification' (1919–20) are the first examples of this method of montage, which had in common with Dadaism the collaging together of news photographs and painted sections. Lissitzky's 'The Constructor' is one of many examples of photomontage that utilises photo collage to create a multi-layer composition. This brought forth the Constuctor's artistic vision and technique of utilising 2D space with limited technology. However Constructivist montages would be less 'destructive' than those of Dadaism. Perhaps the most famous of these montages was Rodchenko's illustrations of the Mayakovsky poem About This. LEF also helped popularise a distinctive style of photography, involving jagged angles and contrasts and abstract use of light, which paralleled the work of László Moholy-Nagy in Germany: The major practitioners of this included, along with Rodchenko, Boris Ignatovich and Max Penson, among others. Kulagina, collaborating with Klutiso, utilised the use of photomontage to create political and personal posters of representative subjects from women in the workforce to satirise the humour of the local government. This also shared many characteristics with the early documentary movement. Constructivist graphic design The book designs of Rodchenko, El Lissitzky and others such as Solomon Telingater and Anton Lavinsky were a major inspiration for the work of radical designers in the West, particularly Jan Tschichold. Many Constructivists worked on the design of posters for everything from cinema to political propaganda: the former represented best by the brightly coloured, geometric posters of the Stenberg brothers (Georgii and Vladimir Stenberg), and the latter by the agitational photomontage work of Gustav Klutsis and Valentina Kulagina. In Cologne in the late 1920s Figurative Constructivism emerged from the Cologne Progressives, a group which had links with Russian Constructivists, particularly Lissitzky, since the early twenties. Through their collaboration with Otto Neurath and the Gesellschafts- und Wirtschaftsmuseum such artists as Gerd Arntz, Augustin Tschinkel and Peter Alma affected the development of the Vienna Method. This link was most clearly shown in A bis Z, a journal published by Franz Seiwert, the principal theorist of the group. They were active in Russia working with IZOSTAT and Tschinkel worked with Ladislav Sutnar before he emigrated to the US. The Constructivists' main early political patron was Leon Trotsky, and it began to be regarded with suspicion after the expulsion of Trotsky and the Left Opposition in 1927–28. The Communist Party would gradually favour realist art during the course of the 1920s (as early as 1918 Pravda had complained that government funds were being used to buy works by untried artists). However it was not until about 1934 that the counter-doctrine of Socialist Realism was instituted in Constructivism's place. Many Constructivists continued to produce avant-garde work in the service of the state, such as Lissitzky, Rodchenko and Stepanova's designs for the magazine USSR in Construction. Constructivist architecture Constructivist architecture emerged from the wider constructivist art movement. After the Russian Revolution of 1917, it turned its attentions to the new social demands and industrial tasks required of the new regime. Two distinct threads emerged, the first was encapsulated in Antoine Pevsner's and Naum Gabo's Realist manifesto which was concerned with space and rhythm, the second represented a struggle within the Commissariat for Enlightenment between those who argued for pure art and the Productivists such as Alexander Rodchenko, Varvara Stepanova and Vladimir Tatlin, a more socially oriented group who wanted this art to be absorbed in industrial production. A split occurred in 1922 when Pevsner and Gabo emigrated. The movement then developed along socially utilitarian lines. The productivist majority gained the support of the Proletkult and the magazine LEF, and later became the dominant influence of the architectural group O.S.A., directed by Alexander Vesnin and Moisei Ginzburg. Legacy A number of Constructivists would teach or lecture at the Bauhaus schools in Germany, and some of the VKhUTEMAS teaching methods were adopted and developed there. Gabo established a version of Constructivism in England during the 1930s and 1940s that was adopted by architects, designers and artists after World War I (see Victor Pasmore), and John McHale. Joaquín Torres García and Manuel Rendón were instrumental in spreading Constructivism throughout Europe and Latin America. Constructivism had an effect on the modern masters of Latin America such as: Carlos Mérida, Enrique Tábara, Aníbal Villacís, Édgar Negret, Theo Constanté, Oswaldo Viteri, Estuardo Maldonado, Luis Molinari, Carlos Catasse, João Batista Vilanova Artigas and Oscar Niemeyer, to name just a few. There have also been disciples in Australia, the painter George Johnson being the best known. In New Zealand, the sculptures of Peter Nicholls show the influence of constructivism. In the 1980s graphic designer Neville Brody used styles based on Constructivist posters that initiated a revival of popular interest. Also during the 1980s designer Ian Anderson founded The Designers Republic, a successful and influential design company which used constructivist principles. Deconstructivism So-called Deconstructivist architecture shares elements of approach with Constructivism (its name refers more to the deconstruction literary approach). It was developed by architects Zaha Hadid, Rem Koolhaas and others during the late 20th and early 21st centuries. Zaha Hadid by her sketches and drawings of abstract triangles and rectangles evokes the aesthetic of constructivism. Though similar formally, the socialist political connotations of Russian constructivism are deemphasized by Hadid's deconstructivism. Rem Koolhaas' projects revive another aspect of constructivism. The scaffold and crane-like structures represented by many constructivist architects are used for the finished forms of his designs and buildings. Artists closely associated with Constructivism Ella Bergmann-Michel – (1896–1971) Norman Carlberg, sculptor (1928–2018) Avgust Černigoj – (1898–1985) John Ernest – (1922–1994) Naum Gabo – (1890–1977) Moisei Ginzburg, architect (1892–1946) Hermann Glöckner, painter and sculptor (1889–1987) Erwin Hauer – (1926–2017) Hildegard Joos, painter (1909–2005) Gustav Klutsis – (1895–1938) Katarzyna Kobro – (1898–1951) Srečko Kosovel – (1904–1926) Jan Kubíček – (1927–2013) El Lissitzky – (1890–1941) Ivan Leonidov – architect (1902–1959) Richard Paul Lohse – painter and designer (1902–1988) Peter Lowe – (1938–) Louis Lozowick – (1892–1973) Berthold Lubetkin – architect (1901–1990) Thilo Maatsch – (1900–1983) Estuardo Maldonado – (1930–) Kenneth Martin – (1905–1984) Mary Martin – (1907–1969) Konstantin Medunetsky – (1899–1935) Konstantin Melnikov – architect (1890–1974) Vadim Meller – (1884–1962) László Moholy-Nagy – (1895–1946) Murayama Tomoyoshi – (1901–1977) Victor Pasmore – (1908–1998) Laszlo Peri – artist and architect (1899–1967) Antoine Pevsner – (1886–1962) Lyubov Popova – (1889–1924) Alexander Rodchenko – (1891–1956) Kurt Schwitters – (1887–1948) Franz Wilhelm Seiwert - (1894-1933) Manuel Rendón Seminario – (1894–1982) Willi Sandforth - (1922-2017) - German painter and designer Vladimir Shukhov – architect (1853–1939) Anton Stankowski – painter and designer (1906–1998) Jeffrey Steele – (1931–2021) Georgii and Vladimir Stenberg – poster designers and sculptors (1900–1933, 1899–1982) Varvara Stepanova (1894–1958) Władysław Strzemiński – painter (1893–1952) Vladimir Tatlin (1885–1953) Joaquín Torres García (1874–1949) Vasiliy Yermilov (1894–1967) Alexander Vesnin – architect, painter and designer (1883–1957) See also Anti-art Cubist sculpture British Constructivists Systems Group References Further reading Russian Constructivist Posters, edited by Elena Barkhatova. . Bann, Stephen. The Documents of 20th-Century Art: The Tradition of Constructivism. The Viking Press. 1974. SBN 670-72301-0 Heller, Steven, and Seymour Chwast. Graphic Style from Victorian to Digital. New ed. New York: Harry N. Abrams, Inc., 2001. 53–57. Lodder, Christina. Russian Constructivism. Yale University Press; Reprint edition. 1985. Rickey, George. Constructivism: Origins and Evolution. George Braziller; Revised edition. 1995. Alan Fowler. Constructivist Art in Britain 1913–2005. University of Southampton. 2006. PhD Thesis. Simon, Joshua (2013). Neomaterialism. Berlin: Sternberg Press. . Gubbins, Pete. 2017. Constructivism to Minimal Art: from Revolution via Evolution (Winterley: Winterley Press). Galvez, Paul. “Self-Portrait of the Artist as a Monkey-Hand.” October, vol. 93, 2000, pp. 109–37. JSTOR, https://doi.org/10.2307/779159. Accessed 15 Apr. 2023. External links Resource on constructivism, focusing primarily on the movement in Russia and east-central Europe Documentary on Constructivist architecture Constructivist Book Covers Russian Constructivism. MoMA.org International Constructivism. MoMA.org The Influence of Interpersonal Relationships on the Functioning of the Constructivist Network – an article by Michał Wenderski Collection: "Soviet Constructivist Film Posters" from the University of Michigan Museum of Art Art movements Modern art Russian avant-garde Russian art movements Architectural styles Abstract art

Social movement

A social movement is a loosely organized effort by a large group of people to achieve a particular goal, typically a social or political one. This may be to carry out a social change, or to resist or undo one. It is a type of group action and may involve individuals, organizations, or both. Social movements have been described as "organizational structures and strategies that may empower oppressed populations to mount effective challenges and resist the more powerful and advantaged elites". They represent a method of social change from the bottom within nations. On the other hand, some social movements do not aim to make society more egalitarian, but to maintain or amplify existing power relationships. For example, scholars have described fascism as a social movement. Political science and sociology have developed a variety of theories and empirical research on social movements. For example, some research in political science highlights the relation between popular movements and the formation of new political parties as well as discussing the function of social movements in relation to agenda setting and influence on politics. Sociologists distinguish between several types of social movement examining things such as scope, type of change, method of work, range, and time frame. Some scholars have argued that modern Western social movements became possible through education (the wider dissemination of literature) and increased mobility of labor due to the industrialization and urbanization of 19th-century societies. It is sometimes argued that the freedom of expression, education and relative economic independence prevalent in the modern Western culture are responsible for the unprecedented number and scope of various contemporary social movements. Many of the social movements of the last hundred years grew up, like the Mau Mau in Kenya, to oppose Western colonialism. Social movements have been and continue to be closely connected with democratic political systems. Occasionally, social movements have been involved in democratizing nations, but more often they have flourished after democratization. Over the past 200 years, they have become part of a popular and global expression of dissent. Modern movements often use technology and the internet to mobilize people globally. Adapting to communication trends is a common theme among successful movements. Research is beginning to explore how advocacy organizations linked to social movements in the U.S. and Canada use social media to facilitate civic engagement and collective action. Definitions Mario Diani argues that nearly all definitions share three criteria: "a network of informal interactions between a plurality of individuals, groups and/or organizations, engaged in a political or cultural conflict, on the basis of a shared collective identity" Sociologist Charles Tilly defines social movements as a series of contentious performances, displays and campaigns by which ordinary people make collective claims on others. For Tilly, social movements are a major vehicle for ordinary people's participation in public politics. He argues that there are three major elements to a social movement: Campaigns: a sustained, organized public effort making collective claims of target authorities; Repertoire (repertoire of contention): employment of combinations from among the following forms of political action: creation of special-purpose associations and coalitions, public meetings, solemn processions, vigils, rallies, demonstrations, petition drives, statements to and in public media, and pamphleteering; and WUNC displays: participants' concerted public representation of worthiness, unity, numbers, and commitments on the part of themselves and/or their constituencies. Sidney Tarrow defines a social movement as "collective challenges [to elites, authorities, other groups or cultural codes] by people with common purposes and solidarity in sustained interactions with elites, opponents and authorities." He specifically distinguishes social movements from political parties and advocacy groups. The sociologists John McCarthy and Mayer Zald define as a social movement as "a set of opinions and beliefs in a population which represents preferences for changing some elements of the social structure and/or reward distribution of a society." According to Paul van Seeters and Paul James, defining a social movement entails a few minimal conditions of 'coming together': History Beginning The early growth of social movements was connected to broad economic and political changes in England in the mid-18th century, including political representation, market capitalization, and proletarianization. The first mass social movement catalyzed around the controversial political figure John Wilkes. As editor of the paper The North Briton, Wilkes vigorously attacked the new administration of Lord Bute and the peace terms that the new government accepted at the 1763 Treaty of Paris at the end of the Seven Years' War. Charged with seditious libel, Wilkes was arrested after the issue of a general warrant, a move that Wilkes denounced as unlawful – the Lord Chief Justice eventually ruled in Wilkes favour. As a result of this, Wilkes became a figurehead to the growing movement for popular sovereignty among the middle classes – people began chanting "Wilkes and Liberty" in the streets. After a later period of exile brought about by further charges of libel and obscenity, Wilkes stood for the Parliamentary seat at Middlesex, where most of his support was located. When Wilkes was imprisoned in the King's Bench Prison on 10 May 1768, a mass movement of support emerged, with large demonstrations in the streets under the slogan "No liberty, no King." Stripped of the right to sit in Parliament, Wilkes became an Alderman of London in 1769, and an activist group called the Society for the Supporters of the Bill of Rights began aggressively promoting his policies. This was the first ever sustained social movement: it involved public meetings, demonstrations, the distribution of pamphlets on an unprecedented scale and the mass petition march. However, the movement was careful not to cross the line into open rebellion; it tried to rectify the faults in governance through appeals to existing legal precedents and was conceived of as an extra-Parliamentary form of agitation to arrive at a consensual and constitutional arrangement. The force and influence of this social movement on the streets of London compelled the authorities to concede to the movement's demands. Wilkes was returned to Parliament, general warrants were declared unconstitutional, and press freedom was extended to the coverage of Parliamentary debates. A much larger movement of anti-Catholic protest was triggered by the Papists Act 1778, which eliminated a number of the penalties and disabilities endured by Roman Catholics in England, and formed around Lord George Gordon, who became the President of the Protestant Association in 1779. The Association had the support of leading Calvinist religious figures, including Rowland Hill, Erasmus Middleton, and John Rippon. Gordon was an articulate propagandist and he inflamed the mob with fears of Papism and a return to absolute monarchical rule. The situation deteriorated rapidly, and in 1780, after a meeting of the Protestant Association, its members subsequently marched on the House of Commons to deliver a petition demanding the repeal of the Act, which the government refused to do. Soon, large riots broke out across London and embassies and Catholic owned businesses were attacked by angry mobs. Other political movements that emerged in the late 18th century included the British abolitionist movement against slavery (becoming one between the sugar boycott of 1791 and the second great petition drive of 1806), and possibly the upheaval surrounding the French and American Revolutions. In the opinion of Eugene Black (1963), "...association made possible the extension of the politically effective public. Modern extra parliamentary political organization is a product of the late eighteenth century [and] the history of the age of reform cannot be written without it. Growth and spread From 1815, Britain after victory in the Napoleonic Wars entered a period of social upheaval characterised by the growing maturity of the use of social movements and special-interest associations. Chartism was the first mass movement of the growing working-class in the world. It campaigned for political reform between 1838 and 1848 with the People's Charter of 1838 as its manifesto – this called for universal suffrage and the implementation of the secret ballot, amongst other things. The term "social movements" was introduced in 1848 by the German Sociologist Lorenz von Stein in his book Socialist and Communist Movements since the Third French Revolution (1848) in which he introduced the term "social movement" into scholarly discussions – actually depicting in this way political movements fighting for the social rights understood as welfare rights. The labor movement and socialist movement of the late 19th century are seen as the prototypical social movements, leading to the formation of communist and social democratic parties and organisations. These tendencies were seen in poorer countries as pressure for reform continued, for example in Russia with the Russian Revolution of 1905 and of 1917, resulting in the collapse of the Czarist regime around the end of the First World War. In 1945, Britain after victory in the Second World War entered a period of radical reform and change. In the post-war period, feminism, gay rights movement, peace movement, civil rights movement, anti-nuclear movement and environmental movement emerged, often dubbed the new social movements They led, among other things, to the formation of green parties and organisations influenced by the new left. Some find in the end of the 1990s the emergence of a new global social movement, the anti-globalization movement. Some social movement scholars posit that with the rapid pace of globalization, the potential for the emergence of new type of social movement is latent—they make the analogy to national movements of the past to describe what has been termed a global citizens movement. Key processes Several key processes lie behind the history of social movements. Urbanization led to larger settlements, where people of similar goals could find each other, gather and organize. This facilitated social interaction between scores of people, and it was in urban areas that those early social movements first appeared. Similarly, the process of industrialization which gathered large masses of workers in the same region explains why many of those early social movements addressed matters such as economic wellbeing, important to the worker class. Many other social movements were created at universities, where the process of mass education brought many people together. With the development of communication technologies, creation and activities of social movements became easier – from printed pamphlets circulating in the 18th century coffeehouses to newspapers and Internet, all those tools became important factors in the growth of the social movements. Finally, the spread of democracy and political rights like the freedom of speech made the creation and functioning of social movements much easier. Mass mobilization Nascent social movements often fail to achieve their objectives because they fail to mobilize sufficient numbers of people. Srdja Popovic, author of Blueprint for Revolution, and spokesperson for OTPOR!, says that movements succeed when they address issues that people actually care about. "It's unrealistic to expect people to care about more than what they already care about, and any attempt to make them do so is bound to fail." Activists too often make the mistake of trying to convince people to address their issues. A mobilization strategy aimed at large-scale change often begins with action a small issue that concerns many people. Popovic also argues that a social movement has little chance of growing if it relies on boring speeches and the usual placard waving marches. He argues for creating movements that people actually want to join. OTPOR! succeeded because it was fun, funny, and invented graphic ways of ridiculing dictator Slobodan Milosevic. It turned fatalism and passivity into action by making it easy, even cool, to become a revolutionary, branding itself within hip slogans, rock music and street theatre. Tina Rosenberg, in Join the Club, How Peer Pressure can Transform the World, shows how movements grow when there is a core of enthusiastic players who encourage others to join them. Types Sociologists distinguish between several types of social movement: Scope: reform movement - movements advocating changing some norms or laws. Examples of such a movement would include a trade union with a goal of increasing workers rights, a green movement advocating a set of ecological laws, or a movement supporting introduction of a capital punishment or the right to abortion. Some reform movements may aim for a change in custom and moral norms, such as condemnation of pornography or proliferation of some religion. radical movement - movements dedicated to changing value systems in a fundamental way. Examples would include the Civil Rights Movement which demanded full civil rights and equality under the law to all Americans, regardless of race; the Polish Solidarity (Solidarność) movement which demanded the transformation of a Stalinist political and economic system into a democracy; or the South African shack dwellers' movement Abahlali baseMjondolo which demands the full inclusion of shack dwellers into the life of cities. Type of change: innovation movement - movements which want to introduce or change particular norms, values, etc. The singularitarianism movement advocating deliberate action to effect and ensure the safety of the technological singularity is an example of an innovation movement. conservative movement - movements which want to preserve existing norms, values, etc. For example, the anti-technology 19th century Luddites movement or the modern movement opposing the spread of the genetically modified food could be seen as conservative movements in that they aimed to fight specific technological changes. Targets: group-focus movements - focused on affecting groups or society in general, for example, advocating the change of the political system. Some of these groups transform into or join a political party, but many remain outside the reformist party political system. individual-focused movements - focused on affecting individuals. Most religious movements would fall under this category. Methods of work: peaceful movements - various movements which use nonviolent means of protest as part of a campaign of nonviolent resistance, also often called civil resistance. The American Civil Rights Movement, Polish Solidarity movement or the nonviolent, civil disobedience-orientated wing of the Indian independence movement would fall into this category. violent movements - various movements which resort to violence; they are usually armed and in extreme cases can take a form of a paramilitary or terrorist organization. Examples: the Rote Armee Fraktion, Al-Qaida. Old and new: old movements - movements for change have existed for many centuries. Most of the oldest recognized movements, dating to late 18th and 19th centuries, fought for specific social groups, such as the working class, peasants, whites, aristocrats, Protestants, men. They were usually centered around some materialistic goals like improving the standard of living or, for example, the political autonomy of the working class. new movements - movements which became dominant from the second half of the 20th century. Notable examples include the American civil rights movement, second-wave feminism, gay rights movement, environmentalism and conservation efforts, opposition to mass surveillance, etc. They are usually centered around issues that go beyond but are not separate from class. Range: global movements - social movements with global (transnational) objectives and goals. Movements such as the first (where Marx and Bakunin met), second, third and fourth internationals, the World Social Forum, the Peoples' Global Action and the anarchist movement seek to change society at a global level. local movements - most of the social movements have a local scope. They are focused on local or regional objectives, such as protecting a specific natural area, lobbying for the lowering of tolls in a certain motorway, or preserving a building about to be demolished for gentrification and turning it into a social center. Identification of supporters A difficulty for scholarship of movements is that for most, neither insiders to a movement nor outsiders apply consistent labels or even descriptive phrases. Unless there is a single leader who does, or a formal system of membership agreements, activists will typically use diverse labels and descriptive phrases that require scholars to discern when they are referring to the same or similar ideas, declare similar goals, adopt similar programs of action, and use similar methods. There can be great differences in the way that is done, to recognize who is and who is not a member or an allied group: Insiders: Often exaggerate the level of support by considering people supporters whose level of activity or support is weak, but also reject those that outsiders might consider supporters because they discredit the cause, or are even seen as adversaries Outsiders: Those not supporters who may tend to either underestimate or overestimate the level or support or activity of elements of a movement, by including or excluding those that insiders would exclude or include. It is often outsiders rather than insiders that apply the identifying labels for a movement, which the insiders then may or may not adopt and use to self-identify. For example, the label for the levellers political movement in 17th-century England was applied to them by their antagonists, as a term of disparagement. Yet admirers of the movement and its aims later came to use the term, and it is the term by which they are known to history. Caution must always be exercised in any discussion of amorphous phenomena such as movements to distinguish between the views of insiders and outsiders, supporters and antagonists, each of whom may have their own purposes and agendas in characterization or mischaracterization of it. Dynamics Social movements have a life cycle: they are created, they grow, they achieve successes or failures and eventually, they dissolve and cease to exist. They are more likely to evolve in the time and place which is friendly to the social movements: hence their evident symbiosis with the 19th century proliferation of ideas like individual rights, freedom of speech and civil disobedience. Social movements occur in liberal and authoritarian societies but in different forms. These new movements are activated by a wish for change in social customs, ethics and values which oppress certain communities. The birth of a social movement needs what sociologist Neil Smelser calls an initiating event: a particular, individual event that will begin a chain reaction of events in the given society leading to the creation of a social movement. The root of this event must be the result of some common discontent among a community. Hence, making emergence the first step to a social movement. This discontent will act as the chain that links common people together, as they share the same experiences and feelings of oppression. "Within this stage, social movements are very preliminary and there is little to no organization. Instead this stage can be thought of as widespread discontent (Macionis, 2001; Hopper, 1950)." Emergence is prior to any sort of organized resistance to the condition of society. Jonathan Christiansen's essay on the four stages of social movement dissects further into the historical sociology of how each stage affects the whole movement. The Civil Rights Movement's early stages are an example of the public display of protest that is utilized to push a movement into the next stages. "It was not until after the Brown v. the Board of Education Supreme court decision (1954), which outlawed segregation in Public schools, and following the arrest of Rosa Parks in Montgomery, Alabama for refusing to comply with segregation laws on city buses by giving up her bus seat to a white man, that the American Civil Rights Movement would proceed to the next stage – coalescence." The impact of a black woman, Rosa Parks, riding in the whites-only section of the bus (although she was not acting alone or spontaneously—typically activist leaders lay the groundwork behind the scenes of interventions designed to spark a movement). This leads into coalesce because now the common dilemma and source of oppression is being pinned down, allowing for organizations and appearance to the public eye to be established. The Polish Solidarity movement, which eventually toppled the communist regimes of Eastern Europe, developed after trade union activist Anna Walentynowicz was fired from work. The South African shack dwellers' movement Abahlali baseMjondolo grew out of a road blockade in response to the sudden selling off of a small piece of land promised for housing to a developer. Such an event is also described as a volcanic model – a social movement is often created after a large number of people realize that there are others sharing the same value and desire for a particular social change. This third stage, bureaucratization, is when movements must become more organized, centered around a more systematic model. The set up and system for going about the construct must be more formal, with people taking on specific roles and responsibilities. "In this phase their political power is greater than in the previous stages in that they may have more regular access to political elites." In this stage, one organization may take over another one in order to obtain a greater status and formal alliance. This 'taking over' may be a positive or negative move for organizations. Ella Baker, an activist who played a role in the NAACP, had proposed to the students of the student movement to start their own organization. This becomes known as the SNCC, the student nonviolent coordinating committee (1960s). The students could have joined forces with the SCLC, an already existing organization, but that would have been a poor bureaucratizing decision, as they would succumb to old ideologies. New and progressive ideas that challenge prior authority are crucial to social change. The declining of a social movement does not necessarily mean failure. There are multiple routes in which a movement may take before proceeding into decline. Success of a movement would result in permanent changes within the society and/or government that would result in a loss of need for protest. Failure is often the result of the incapability to keep a common focus, and work towards the goal in mind. "Failure of social movements due to organizational or strategic failings is common for many organizations". Such a route would result in the gradual breaking up of an organization, and out of the stages of movement. Co-optation results when people or groups are integrated and shift away from the social movement's initial concerns and values. Repression is another example, when the movement is slowly wiped away from the public platform through means of an outside force, usually being the government. The last route into declining is going mainstream, which is generally perceived as an overall success. This is when goals of the movement are taken into society as a part of daily life, making it a 'social norm.' For example, birth control is still a greatly debated topic on a government level, but it has been accepted into social life as a common thing that exists. It is important to recognize that though movements may disintegrate and cease to be active, the impact that they have in the social realm is success in its own way. It sparks the notion in new generations that the possibility to organize and make change is there. Theories Sociologists have developed several theories related to social movements [Kendall, 2005]. Some of the better-known approaches are outlined below. Chronologically they include: Marxist theory (1880s) collective behavior/collective action theories (1950s) relative deprivation theory (1960s) value-added theory (1960s) resource mobilization (1970s) political process theory (1980s) framing theory (1980s) (closely related to social constructionist theory) new social movement theory (1980s) Deprivation theory Deprivation theory argues that social movements have their foundations among people who feel deprived of some good(s) or resource(s). According to this approach, individuals who are lacking some good, service, or comfort are more likely to organize a social movement to improve (or defend) their conditions. There are two significant problems with this theory. First, since most people feel deprived at one level or another almost all the time, the theory has a hard time explaining why the groups that form social movements do when other people are also deprived. Second, the reasoning behind this theory is circular – often the only evidence for deprivation is the social movement. If deprivation is claimed to be the cause but the only evidence for such is the movement, the reasoning is circular. Mass society theory Mass society theory argues that social movements are made up of individuals in large societies who feel insignificant or socially detached. Social movements, according to this theory, provide a sense of empowerment and belonging that the movement members would otherwise not have. Very little support has been found for this theory. Aho (1990), in his study of Idaho Christian Patriotism, did not find that members of that movement were more likely to have been socially detached. In fact, the key to joining the movement was having a friend or associate who was a member of the movement. Structural strain theory Social Strain Theory, is the "proposal that pressure derived from social factors, such as lack of income or lack of quality education, drives individuals to commit crime." structural conduciveness - people come to believe their society has problems structural strain - people experience deprivation growth and spread of a solution - a solution to the problems people are experiencing is proposed and spreads precipitating factors - discontent usually requires a catalyst (often a specific event) to turn it into a social movement lack of social control - the entity that is to be changed must be at least somewhat open to the change; if the social movement is quickly and powerfully repressed, it may never materialize mobilization - this is the actual organizing and active component of the movement; people do what needs to be done This theory is also subject to circular reasoning as it incorporates, at least in part, deprivation theory and relies upon it, and social/structural strain for the underlying motivation of social movement activism. However, social movement activism is, like in the case of deprivation theory, often the only indication that there was strain or deprivation. Resource mobilization theory Resource mobilization theory emphasizes the importance of resources in social movement development and success. Resources are understood here to include: knowledge, money, media, labor, solidarity, legitimacy, and internal and external support from power elite. The theory argues that social movements develop when individuals with grievances are able to mobilize sufficient resources to take action.The emphasis on resources offers an explanation why some discontented/deprived individuals are able to organize while others are not. In contrast to earlier collective behavior perspectives on social movements—which emphasized the role of exceptional levels of deprivation, grievance, or social strain in motivating mass protest—Resource Mobilization perspectives hold "that there is always enough discontent in any society to supply the grass-roots support for a movement if the movement is effectively organized and has at its disposal the power and resources of some established elite group" Movement emergence is contingent upon the aggregation of resources by social movement entrepreneurs and movement organizations, who use these resources to turn collective dissent in to political pressure. Members are recruited through networks; commitment is maintained by building a collective identity, and through interpersonal relationships. Resource Mobilization Theory views social movement activity as "politics by other means": a rational and strategic effort by ordinary people to change society or politics. The form of the resources shapes the activities of the movement (e.g., access to a TV station will result in the extensive use TV media). Movements develop in contingent opportunity structures that influence their efforts to mobilize; and each movement's response to the opportunity structures depends on the movement's organization and resources Critics of this theory argue that there is too much of an emphasis on resources, especially financial resources. Some movements are effective without an influx of money and are more dependent upon the movement members for time and labor (e.g., the civil rights movement in the U.S.). Political process theory Political process theory is similar to resource mobilization in many regards, but tends to emphasize a different component of social structure that is important for social movement development: political opportunities. Political process theory argues that there are three vital components for movement formation: insurgent consciousness, organizational strength, and political opportunities. Insurgent consciousness refers back to the ideas of deprivation and grievances. The idea is that certain members of society feel like they are being mistreated or that somehow the system is unjust. The insurgent consciousness is the collective sense of injustice that movement members (or potential movement members) feel and serves as the motivation for movement organization. Organizational strength falls inline with resource-mobilization theory, arguing that in order for a social movement to organize it must have strong leadership and sufficient resources. Political opportunity refers to the receptivity or vulnerability of the existing political system to challenge. This vulnerability can be the result of any of the following (or a combination thereof): growth of political pluralism decline in effectiveness of repression elite disunity; the leading factions are internally fragmented a broadening of access to institutional participation in political processes support of organized opposition by elites One of the advantages of the political process theory is that it addresses the issue of timing or emergence of social movements. Some groups may have the insurgent consciousness and resources to mobilize, but because political opportunities are closed, they will not have any success. The theory, then, argues that all three of these components are important. Critics of the political process theory and resource-mobilization theory point out that neither theory discusses movement culture to any great degree. This has presented culture theorists an opportunity to expound on the importance of culture. One advance on the political process theory is the political mediation model, which outlines the way in which the political context facing movement actors intersects with the strategic choices that movements make. An additional strength of this model is that it can look at the outcomes of social movements not only in terms of success or failure but also in terms of consequences (whether intentional or unintentional, positive or negative) and in terms of collective benefits. Framing perspective Reflecting the cultural turn in the social sciences and humanities more broadly, recent strains of social movement theory and research add to the largely structural concerns seen in the resource mobilization and political process theories by emphasizing the cultural and psychological aspects of social movement processes, such as collectively shared interpretations and beliefs, ideologies, values and other meanings about the world. In doing so, this general cultural approach also attempts to address the free-rider problem. One particularly successful take on some such cultural dimensions is manifested in the framing perspective on social movements. While both resource mobilization theory and political process theory include, or at least accept, the idea that certain shared understandings of, for example, perceived unjust societal conditions must exist for mobilization to occur at all, this is not explicitly problematized within those approaches. The framing perspective has brought such shared understandings to the forefront of the attempt to understand movement creation and existence by, e.g., arguing that, in order for social movements to successfully mobilize individuals, they must develop an injustice frame. An injustice frame is a collection of ideas and symbols that illustrate both how significant the problem is as well as what the movement can do to alleviate it,Like a picture frame, an issue frame marks off some part of the world. Like a building frame, it holds things together. It provides coherence to an array of symbols, images, and arguments, linking them through an underlying organizing idea that suggests what is essential – what consequences and values are at stake. We do not see the frame directly, but infer its presence by its characteristic expressions and language. Each frame gives the advantage to certain ways of talking and thinking, while it places others out of the picture.Important characteristics of the injustice frames include: Facts take on their meaning by being embedded in frames, which render them relevant and significant or irrelevant and trivial. People carry around multiple frames in their heads. Successful reframing involves the ability to enter into the worldview of our adversaries. All frames contain implicit or explicit appeals to moral principles. In emphasizing the injustice frame, culture theory also addresses the free-rider problem. The free-rider problem refers to the idea that people will not be motivated to participate in a social movement that will use up their personal resources (e.g., time, money, etc.) if they can still receive the benefits without participating. In other words, if person X knows that movement Y is working to improve environmental conditions in his neighborhood, he is presented with a choice: join or not join the movement. If he believes the movement will succeed without him, he can avoid participation in the movement, save his resources, and still reap the benefits – this is free-riding. A significant problem for social movement theory has been to explain why people join movements if they believe the movement can/will succeed without their contribution. Culture theory argues that, in conjunction with social networks being an important contact tool, the injustice frame will provide the motivation for people to contribute to the movement. Framing processes includes three separate components: Diagnostic frame: the movement organization frames what is the problem or what they are critiquing Prognostic frame: the movement organization frames what is the desirable solution to the problem Motivational frame: the movement organization frames a "call to arms" by suggesting and encouraging that people take action to solve the problem Social networking For more than ten years, social movement groups have been using the Internet to accomplish organizational goals. It has been argued that the Internet helps to increase the speed, reach and effectiveness of social movement-related communication as well as mobilization efforts, and as a result, it has been suggested that the Internet has had a positive impact on the social movements in general. The systematic literature review of Buettner & Buettner analyzed the role of Twitter during a wide range of social movements (2007 WikiLeaks, 2009 Moldova, 2009 Austria student protest, 2009 Israel-Gaza, 2009 Iran green revolution, 2009 Toronto G20, 2010 Venezuela, 2010 Germany Stuttgart21, 2011 Egypt, 2011 England, 2011 US Occupy movement, 2011 Spain Indignados, 2011 Greece Aganaktismenoi movements, 2011 Italy, 2011 Wisconsin labor protests, 2012 Israel Hamas, 2013 Brazil Vinegar, 2013 Turkey). Many discussions have been generated recently on the topic of social networking and the effect it may play on the formation and mobilization of social movement. For example, the emergence of the Coffee Party first appeared on the social networking site, Facebook. The party has continued to gather membership and support through that site and file sharing sites, such as Flickr. The 2009–2010 Iranian election protests also demonstrated how social networking sites are making the mobilization of large numbers of people quicker and easier. Iranians were able to organize and speak out against the election of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad by using sites such as Twitter and Facebook. This in turn prompted widespread government censorship of the web and social networking sites. The sociological study of social movements is quite new. The traditional view of movements often perceived them as chaotic and disorganized, treating activism as a threat to the social order. The activism experienced in the 1960s and 1970s shuffled in a new world opinion about the subject. Models were now introduced to understand the organizational and structural powers embedded in social movements. See also List of social movements Civil resistance Counterculture of the 1960s Countermovement Moral shock New social movements Nonviolent resistance Political movement Reform movement Revolutionary movement Social defence Social equality Teaching for social justice Union organizer Online social movements References Further reading David F. Aberle. 1966. The Peyote Religion among the Navaho. Chicago: Aldine. James Alfred Aho. 1990. Politics of Righteousness: Idaho Christian Patriotism. Washington: University of Washington Press. Paul Almeida. 2019. Social Movements: The Structure of Collective Mobilization. Berkeley: University of California Press. Herbert G. Blumer 1969. "Collective Behavior." In Alfred McClung Lee, ed., Principles of Sociology. Third Edition. New York: Barnes & Noble Books, pp. 65–121. Mark Chaves. 1997. Ordaining Women: Culture and Conflict in Religious Organizations. Cambridge: Harvard University Press. Graeme Chesters and Ian Welsh. Complexity and Social Movements: Multitudes at the Edge of Chaos Routledge 2006. Mario Diani and Doug McAdam, Social movements and networks, Oxford University Press, 2003. Susan Eckstei, ed. Power and Popular Protest: Latin American Social Movements, Updated Edition, University of California Press 2001. Anthony Giddens. 1985. The Nation-State and Violence. Cambridge, England: Polity Press. Jeff Goodwin and James M. Jasper. 2009. The Social Movements Reader. Malden, Massachusetts: Wiley-Blackwell. Angelique Haugerud, No Billionaire Left Behind: Satirical Activism in America, Stanford University Press, 2013. James M. Jasper. 1997. The Art of Moral Protest: Culture, Biography, and Creativity in Social Movements. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. James M. Jasper. 2014. Protest: A Cultural Introduction to Social Movements. Polity Press. Diana Kendall, Sociology In Our Times, Thomson Wadsworth, 2005. William Kornhauser. 1959. The Politics of Mass Society. New York: Free Press. Donna Maurer. 2002. Vegetarianism: Movement or Moment? Philadelphia: Temple University Press. Armand L. Mauss. 1975. Social Problems of Social Movements. Philadelphia: Lippincott. Denton E. Morrison. 1978. "Some Notes toward Theory on Relative Deprivation, Social Movements, and Social Change." In Louis E. Genevie, ed., Collective Behavior and Social Movements. Itasca, Ill.: Peacock. pp. 202–209. Immanuel Ness, ed. Encyclopedia of American Social Movements, 2004. . Jeff Pugh. 2008. "Vectors of Contestation: Social Movements and Party Systems in Ecuador and Colombia." Latin American Essays XXI: 46-65. Adam Roberts and Timothy Garton Ash (eds.), Civil Resistance and Power Politics: The Experience of Non-violent Action from Gandhi to the Present, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2009. . Neil J. Smelser. 1962. Theory of Collective Behavior. New York: Free Press. David Snow, Sarah A. Soule and Hanspeter Kriesi, ed. Blackwell Companion to Social Movements, Blackwell, 2004. Suzanne Staggenborg, Social Movements, Oxford University Press, 2008. Sidney Tarrow, Power in Movement: Collective Action, Social Movements and Politics, Cambridge University Press, 1994. Charles Tilly, 1978. From Mobilization to Revolution. Reading, Massachusetts: Addison-Wesley, 1978. Charles Tilly, Social Movements, 1768–2004, Boulder, CO, Paradigm Publishers, 2004 262 pp.  (hardback) / (paperback) Leonard Weinberg, 2013. Democracy and Terrorism. New York: Routledge, 2013. Quintan Wiktorowicz, Islamic Activism: A Social Movement Theory Approach, Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2004. Marco G. Giugni, How Social Movements Matter, University of Minnesota Press, 1999, Rod Bantjes, Social Movements in a Global Context, CSPI, 2007, Michael Barker, Conform or Reform? Social Movements and the Mass Media, Fifth-Estate-Online - International Journal of Radical Mass Media Criticism. February 2007. Fifth-estate-online.co.uk Dennis Chong, Collective Action and the Civil Rights Movement, University of Chicago Press, 1991, External links Mobilization - journal Interface: a Journal For and About Social Movements Comparative politics Social change

Androphilia and gynephilia

Androphilia and gynephilia are terms used in behavioral science to describe sexual orientation, as an alternative to a gender binary homosexual and heterosexual conceptualization. Androphilia describes sexual attraction to men and/or masculinity; gynephilia describes the sexual attraction to women and/or femininity. Ambiphilia describes the combination of both androphilia and gynephilia in a given individual, or bisexuality. The terms are used for identifying a person's objects of attraction without attributing a sex assignment or gender identity to the person. They may be used when describing intersex, transgender, and non-binary people. Historical use Androphilia Magnus Hirschfeld, an early-20th century German sexologist and physician, divided homosexual men into four groups: paedophiles, who are most attracted to prepubescent youth, ephebophiles, who are most attracted to youths from puberty up to the early twenties; androphiles, who are most attracted to persons between the early twenties and fifty; and gerontophiles, who are most attracted to older men, up to senile old age. According to Karen Franklin, Hirschfeld considered ephebophilia "common and nonpathological, with ephebophiles and androphiles each making up about 45% of the homosexual population." The term androsexuality is occasionally used as a synonym for androphilia. Alternate uses in biology and medicine In biology, androphilic is sometimes used as a synonym for anthropophilic, describing parasites who have a host preference for humans versus non-human animals. Androphilic is also sometimes used to describe certain proteins and androgen receptors. Gynephilia A version of the term appeared in Ancient Greek. In Idyll 8, line 60, Theocritus uses as a euphemistic adjective to describe Zeus's lust for women. Sigmund Freud used the term gynecophilic to describe his case study Dora. He also used the term in correspondence. The variant spelling gynophilia is also sometimes used. Rarely, the term gynesexuality has also been used as a synonym. Sexual interest in adults Following Hirschfeld, androphilia and gynephilia are sometimes used in taxonomies which specify sexual interests based on age ranges, which John Money called chronophilia. In such schemes, sexual attraction to adults is called teleiophilia or adultophilia. In this context, androphilia and gynephilia are gendered variants meaning "attraction to adult males" and "attraction to adult females", respectively. Psychologist Dennis Howitt writes: Definition is primarily an issue of theory, not merely classification, since classification implies a theory, no matter how rudimentary. Freund et al. (1984) used Latinesque words to classify sexual attraction along the dimensions of sex and age: Gynephilia. Sexual interest in physically adult women Androphilia. Sexual interest in physically adult males Androphilia and gynephilia scales The nine-item Gynephilia Scale was created to measure erotic interest in physically mature females, and the thirteen-item Androphilia Scale was created to measure erotic interest in physically mature males. The scales were developed by Kurt Freund and Betty Steiner in 1982. They were later modified by Ray Blanchard in 1985, as the Modified Androphilia–Gynephilia Index (MAGI). Gender identity and expression Magnus Hirschfeld distinguished between gynephilic, bisexual, androphilic, asexual, and narcissistic or automonosexual gender-variant persons. Since then, some psychologists have proposed using homosexual transsexual and heterosexual transsexual or non-homosexual transsexual. Psychobiologist James D. Weinrich has described this split among psychologists: "The mf transsexuals who are attracted to men (whom some call 'homosexual' and others call 'androphilic') are in the lower left-hand corner of the XY table, in order to line them up with the ordinary homosexual (androphilic) men in the lower right. Finally, there are the mf transsexuals who are attracted to women (whom some call heterosexual and others call gynephilic or lesbian)." The use of homosexual transsexual and related terms have been applied to transgender people since the middle of the 20th century, though concerns about the terms have been voiced since then. Harry Benjamin said in 1966: ....it seems evident that the question "Is the transsexual homosexual?" must be answered "yes" and "no." "Yes," if his anatomy is considered; "no" if his psyche is given preference. What would be the situation after corrective surgery has been performed and the sex anatomy now resembles that of a woman? Is the "new woman" still a homosexual man? "Yes," if pedantry and technicalities prevail. "No" if reason and common sense are applied and if the respective patient is treated as an individual and not as a rubber stamp. Many sources, including some supporters of the typology, criticize this choice of wording as confusing and degrading. Biologist Bruce Bagemihl writes "...the point of reference for "heterosexual" or "homosexual" orientation in this nomenclature is solely the individual's genetic sex prior to reassignment (see for example, Blanchard et al. 1987, Coleman and Bockting, 1988, Blanchard, 1989). These labels thereby ignore the individual's personal sense of gender identity taking precedence over biological sex, rather than the other way around." Bagemihl goes on to take issue with the way this terminology makes it easy to claim transsexuals are really homosexual males seeking to escape from stigma. Leavitt and Berger stated in 1990 that "The homosexual transsexual label is both confusing and controversial among males seeking sex reassignment. Critics argue that the term "homosexual transsexual" is "heterosexist", "archaic", and demeaning because it labels people by sex assigned at birth instead of their gender identity. Benjamin, Leavitt, and Berger have all used the term in their own work. Sexologist John Bancroft also recently expressed regret for having used this terminology, which was standard when he used it, to refer to transsexual women. He says that he now tries to choose his words more sensitively. Sexologist Charles Allen Moser is likewise critical of the terminology. Use of androphilia and gynephilia was proposed and popularized by psychologist Ron Langevin in the 1980s. Psychologist Stephen T. Wegener writes, "Langevin makes several concrete suggestions regarding the language used to describe sexual anomalies. For example, he proposes the terms gynephilic and androphilic to indicate the type of partner preferred regardless of an individual's gender identity or dress. Those who are writing and researching in this area would do well to adopt his clear and concise vocabulary." Psychiatrist Anil Aggrawal explains why the terms are useful in a glossary: Androphilia – The romantic and/or sexual attraction to adult males. The term, along with gynephilia, is needed to overcome immense difficulties in characterizing the sexual orientation of transmen and transwomen. For instance, it is difficult to decide whether a transman erotically attracted to males is a heterosexual female or a homosexual male; or a transwoman erotically attracted to females is a heterosexual male or a lesbian female. Any attempt to classify them may not only cause confusion but arouse offense among the affected subjects. In such cases, while defining sexual attraction, it is best to focus on the object of their attraction rather than on the sex or gender of the subject. Sexologist Milton Diamond, who prefers the term gynecophilia, writes, "The terms heterosexual, homosexual, and bisexual are better used as adjectives, not nouns, and are better applied to behaviors, not people." Diamond has encouraged using the terms androphilic, gynecophilic, and ambiphilic to describe the sexual-erotic partners one prefers (andro = male, gyneco = female, ambi = both, philic = to love). Such terms eliminate the need to specify the subject and focus instead on the desired partner. This usage is particularly advantageous when discussing the partners of transsexual or intersexed individuals. These newer terms also do not carry the social weight of the former ones." Psychologist Rachel Ann Heath writes, "The terms homosexual and heterosexual are awkward, especially when the former is used with, or instead of, gay and lesbian. Alternatively, I use gynephilic and androphilic to refer to sexual preference for women and men, respectively. Gynephilic and androphilic derive from the Greek meaning love of a woman and love of a man respectively. So a gynephilic man is a man who likes women, that is, a heterosexual man, whereas an androphilic man is a man who likes men, that is, a gay man. For completeness, a lesbian is a gynephilic woman, a woman who likes other women. Gynephilic transsexed woman refers to a woman of transsexual background whose sexual preference is for women. Unless homosexual and heterosexual are more readily understood terms in a given context, this more precise terminology will be used throughout the book. Since homosexual, gay, and lesbian are often associated with bigotry and exclusion in many societies, the emphasis on sexual affiliation is both appropriate and socially just." Author Helen Boyd agrees, writing, "It would be much more accurate to define sexual orientation as either 'androphilic' (loving men) and 'gynephilic' (loving women) instead." Sociomedical scientist Rebecca Jordan-Young challenges researchers like Simon LeVay, J. Michael Bailey, and Martin Lalumiere, who she says "have completely failed to appreciate the implications of alternative ways of framing sexual orientation." Gender in non-Western cultures Some researchers advocate use of the terminology to avoid bias inherent in Western conceptualizations of human sexuality. Writing about the Samoan fa'afafine demographic, sociologist Johanna Schmidt writes: Kris Poasa, Ray Blanchard and Kenneth Zucker (2004) also present an argument that suggests that fa'afafine fall under the rubric of 'transgenderal homosexuality', applying the same birth order equation to fa'afafine's families as have been used with 'homosexual transsexuals'. While no explicit causal relationship is offered, Poasa, Blanchard, and Zucker's use of the term 'homosexual transsexual' to refer to male-to-female transsexuals who are sexually oriented towards men draws an apparent link between sexual orientation and gender identity. This link is reinforced by mention of the fact that similar birth order equations have been found for 'homosexual men'. The possibility of sexual orientation towards (masculine) men emerging from (rather than causing) feminine gendered identities is not considered. Schmidt argues that in cultures where a third gender is recognized, a term like "homosexual transsexual" does not align with cultural categories. She cites the work of Paul Vasey and Nancy Bartlett: "Vasey and Bartlett reveal the cultural specificity of concepts such as homosexuality, they continue to use the more 'scientific' (and thus presumably more 'objective') terminology of androphilia and gynephilia (sexual attraction to men or masculinity and women or femininity respectively) to understand the sexuality of fa'afafine and other Samoans." Researcher Sam Winter has presented a similar argument: Terms such as 'homosexual' and heterosexual (and 'gay', 'lesbian', 'bisexual', etc.) are Western conceptions. Many Asians are unfamiliar with them, there being no easy translation into their native languages or sexological worldviews. However, I take the opportunity to put on record that I consider an androphilic transwoman (ie one sexually attracted to men) to be heterosexual because of her attraction to a member of another gender and a gynephilic transwoman (ie one attracted to women) as homosexual because she has a same-gender preference. My usage is contrary to much Western literature (particularly medical) which persists in referring to androphilic transwomen and gynephilic transman as homosexual (indeed as homosexual transsexual males and females, respectively). See also Androgynophilia Attraction to transgender people Classification of transsexual and transgender people Effeminacy Demisexuality Femininity Gender-blind Gender expression Gender neutrality Index of human sexuality articles Masculinity Pansexuality Queer Queer heterosexuality Romantic orientation Sexual identity Sexual fluidity Sexuality Tomboy Transgender sexuality References Bibliography Hames RB, Garfield ZH, & Garfield MJ (2017). Is Male Androphilia a Context-Dependent Cross-Cultural Universal? Archives of Sexual Behavior, volume 46, p. 132, Sexual orientation Interpersonal attraction

Heterotopia (space)

Heterotopia is a concept elaborated by philosopher Michel Foucault to describe certain cultural, institutional and discursive spaces that are somehow "other": disturbing, intense, incompatible, contradictory or transforming. Heterotopias are worlds within worlds, mirroring and yet upsetting what is outside. Foucault provides examples: ships, cemeteries, bars, brothels, prisons, gardens of antiquity, fairs, Muslim baths and many more. Foucault outlines the notion of heterotopia on three occasions between 1966 and 1967. A lecture given by Foucault to a group of architects in 1967 is the most well-known explanation of the term. His first mention of the concept is in his preface to The Order of Things, and refers to texts rather than socio-cultural spaces. Etymology Heterotopia follows the template established by the notions of utopia and dystopia. The prefix hetero- is from Ancient Greek ἕτερος (héteros, "other, another, different") and is combined with the Greek morpheme τόπος (topos) and means "place". A utopia is an idea or an image that is not real but represents a perfected version of society, such as Thomas More's book or Le Corbusier's drawings. As Walter Russell Mead has written, "Utopia is a place where everything is good; dystopia is a place where everything is bad; heterotopia is where things are different — that is, a collection whose members have few or no intelligible connections with one another." In Foucault Foucault uses the term heterotopia to describe spaces that have more layers of meaning or relationships to other places than immediately meet the eye. In general, a heterotopia is a physical representation or approximation of a utopia, or a parallel space (such as a prison) that contains undesirable bodies to make a real utopian space possible. Foucault explains the link between utopias and heterotopias using the example of a mirror. A mirror is a utopia because the image reflected is a "placeless place", an unreal virtual place that allows one to see one's own visibility. However, the mirror is also a heterotopia, in that it is a real object. The heterotopia of the mirror is at once absolutely real, relating with the real space surrounding it, and absolutely unreal, creating a virtual image. Foucault articulates several possible types of heterotopia or spaces that exhibit dual meanings: A crisis heterotopia is a separate space like a boarding school or a motel room where activities like coming of age or a honeymoon take place out of sight. Foucault describes the crisis heterotopia as "reserved for individuals who are, in relation to society and to the human environment in which they live, in a state of crisis". He also points that crisis heterotopias are constantly disappearing from society and being replaced by the following heterotopia of deviation. Heterotopias of deviation are institutions where we place individuals whose behavior is outside the norm (hospitals, asylums, prisons, rest homes). A heterotopia can be a single real place that juxtaposes several spaces. A garden can be a heterotopia, if it is a real space meant to be a microcosm of various environments, with plants from around the world. Heterotopias of time, such as museums, enclose in one place objects from all times and styles. They exist in time, but also exist outside of time, because they are built and preserved to be physically insusceptible to time's ravages. Heterotopias of ritual or purification are spaces that are isolated and penetrable, yet not as freely accessible as a public place. Either entry to the heterotopia is compulsory, as with imprisonment, or entry requires special rituals or gestures, like in a sauna or a hammam. Heterotopia has a function in relation to all of the remaining spaces. The two functions are: the heterotopia of illusion, which creates a space of illusion that exposes every real space; and the heterotopia of compensation, which creates a real space—a space that is other. Foucault's elaborations on heterotopias were published in an article entitled Des espaces autres (Of Other Spaces). In the article, Foucault calls for a society with many heterotopias, not only as a space with several places of or for the affirmation of difference, but also as a means of escape from authoritarianism and repression, stating metaphorically that if people take the ship as the utmost heterotopia, then a society without ships is inherently a repressive one. In the work of other authors Human geographers often connected to the postmodernist school have been using the term – and the author's propositions – to help understand the contemporary emergence of (cultural, social, political, economic) difference and identity as a central issue in larger multicultural cities. The idea of place (more often related to ethnicity and gender and less often to the social class issue) as a heterotopic entity has been gaining attention in the current context of postmodern, post-structuralist theoretical discussion (and political practice) in geography and other spatial social sciences. The concept of a heterotopia has also been discussed in relation to spaces in which learning takes place, such as institutes of tertiary education. There is an extensive debate with theorists, such as David Harvey, who remain focused on the matter of class domination as the central determinant of social heteronomy. The geographer Edward Soja has worked with this concept in dialogue with the works of Henri Lefebvre concerning urban space in the book Thirdspace. Mary Franklin-Brown uses the concept of heterotopia in an epistemological context to examine the thirteenth century encyclopedias of Vincent of Beauvais and Ramon Llull as conceptual spaces where many possible ways of knowing are brought together without attempting to reconcile them. New media scholar Hye Jean Chung applies the concept of heterotopia to describe the multiple superimposed layers of spaciality and temporality observed in highly digitized audiovisual media. According to Chung, a heterotopic perception of digital media is to grasp the globally dispersed labor structure of multinational capitalism that produces the audiovisual representations of various spacio-temporalities. In literature The concept of heterotopia has had a significant impact on literature, especially science fiction, fantasy, and other speculative genres. Many readers consider the worlds of China Miéville and other weird fiction writers to be heterotopias insofar as they are worlds of radical difference which are transparent to, or of indifference to, their inhabitants. Samuel Delany's 1976 novel Trouble on Triton is subtitled An Ambiguous Heterotopia and was written partly in dialogue with Ursula K. Le Guin's science fiction novel The Dispossessed, which is subtitled An Ambiguous Utopia. See also References Further reading Difference Human geography Michel Foucault Postmodernism Queer theory Utopian theory

Cyberspace

Cyberspace is an interconnected digital environment. It is a type of virtual world popularized with the rise of the Internet. The term entered popular culture from science fiction and the arts but is now used by technology strategists, security professionals, governments, military and industry leaders and entrepreneurs to describe the domain of the global technology environment, commonly defined as standing for the global network of interdependent information technology infrastructures, telecommunications networks and computer processing systems. Others consider cyberspace to be just a notional environment in which communication over computer networks occurs. The word became popular in the 1990s when the use of the Internet, networking, and digital communication were all growing dramatically; the term cyberspace was able to represent the many new ideas and phenomena that were emerging. As a social experience, individuals can interact, exchange ideas, share information, provide social support, conduct business, direct actions, create artistic media, play games, engage in political discussion, and so on, using this global network. Cyberspace users are sometimes referred to as cybernauts. The term cyberspace has become a conventional means to describe anything associated with general computing, the Internet and the diverse Internet culture. The U.S. government recognizes the interdependent network of information technology infrastructures and cyber-physical systems operating across this medium as part of the US national critical infrastructure. Amongst individuals on cyberspace, there is believed to be a code of shared rules and ethics mutually beneficial for all to follow, referred to as cyberethics. Many view the right to privacy as most important to a functional code of cyberethics. Such moral responsibilities go hand in hand when working online with global networks, specifically when opinions are involved with online social experiences. According to Chip Morningstar and F. Randall Farmer, cyberspace is defined more by the social interactions involved rather than its technical implementation. In their view, the computational medium in cyberspace is an augmentation of the communication channel between real people; the core characteristic of cyberspace is that it offers an environment that consists of many participants with the ability to affect and influence each other. They derive this concept from the observation that people seek richness, complexity, and depth within a virtual world. Etymology The term "cyberspace" first appeared in the visual arts in the late 1960s, when Danish artist Susanne Ussing (1940–1998) and her partner architect Carsten Hoff (b. 1934) constituted themselves as Atelier Cyberspace. Under this name the two made a series of installations and images entitled "sensory spaces" that were based on the principle of open systems adaptable to various influences, such as human movement and the behaviour of new materials. Atelier Cyberspace worked at a time when the Internet did not exist and computers were more or less off-limit to artists and creative engagement. In a 2015 interview with Scandinavian art magazine Kunstkritikk, Carsten Hoff recollects that although Atelier Cyberspace did try to implement computers, they had no interest in the virtual space as such: In the same interview, Hoff continues: The works of Atelier Cyberspace were originally shown at a number of Copenhagen venues and have later been exhibited at The National Gallery of Denmark in Copenhagen as part of the exhibition "What's Happening?" The term "cyberspace" first appeared in fiction in the 1980s in the work of cyberpunk science fiction author William Gibson, first in his 1982 short story "Burning Chrome" and later in his 1984 novel Neuromancer. In the next few years, the word became prominently identified with online computer networks. The portion of Neuromancer cited in this respect is usually the following: Now widely used, the term has since been criticized by Gibson, who commented on the origin of the term in the 2000 documentary No Maps for These Territories: Metaphorical Don Slater uses a metaphor to define cyberspace, describing the "sense of a social setting that exists purely within a space of representation and communication ... it exists entirely within a computer space, distributed across increasingly complex and fluid networks." The term "Cyberspace" started to become a de facto synonym for the Internet, and later the World Wide Web, during the 1990s, especially in academic circles and activist communities. Author Bruce Sterling, who popularized this meaning, credits John Perry Barlow as the first to use it to refer to "the present-day nexus of computer and telecommunications networks". Barlow describes it thus in his essay to announce the formation of the Electronic Frontier Foundation (note the spatial metaphor) in June 1990: As Barlow, and the EFF continued public education efforts to promote the idea of "digital rights", the term was increasingly used during the Internet boom of the late 1990s. Virtual environments Although the present-day, loose use of the term "cyberspace" no longer implies or suggests immersion in a virtual reality, current technology allows the integration of a number of capabilities (sensors, signals, connections, transmissions, processors, and controllers) sufficient to generate a virtual interactive experience that is accessible regardless of a geographic location. It is for these reasons cyberspace has been described as the ultimate tax haven. In 1989, Autodesk, an American multinational corporation that focuses on 2D and 3D design software, developed a virtual design system called Cyberspace. Recent definitions of Cyberspace Although several definitions of cyberspace can be found both in scientific literature and in official governmental sources, there is no fully agreed official definition yet. According to F. D. Kramer there are 28 different definitions of the term cyberspace. The most recent draft definition is the following: The Joint Chiefs of Staff of the United States Department of Defense define cyberspace as one of five interdependent domains, the remaining four being land, air, maritime, and space. See United States Cyber Command Cyberspace as an Internet metaphor While cyberspace should not be confused with the Internet, the term is often used to refer to objects and identities that exist largely within the communication network itself, so that a website, for example, might be metaphorically said to "exist in cyberspace". According to this interpretation, events taking place on the Internet are not happening in the locations where participants or servers are physically located, but "in cyberspace". The philosopher Michel Foucault used the term heterotopias, to describe such spaces which are simultaneously physical and mental. Firstly, cyberspace describes the flow of digital data through the network of interconnected computers: it is at once not "real", since one could not spatially locate it as a tangible object, and clearly "real" in its effects. There have been several attempts to create a concise model about how cyberspace works since it is not a physical thing that can be looked at. Secondly, cyberspace is the site of computer-mediated communication (CMC), in which online relationships and alternative forms of online identity were enacted, raising important questions about the social psychology of Internet use, the relationship between "online" and "offline" forms of life and interaction, and the relationship between the "real" and the virtual. Cyberspace draws attention to remediation of culture through new media technologies: it is not just a communication tool but a social destination and is culturally significant in its own right. Finally, cyberspace can be seen as providing new opportunities to reshape society and culture through "hidden" identities, or it can be seen as borderless communication and culture. The "space" in cyberspace has more in common with the abstract, mathematical meanings of the term (see space) than physical space. It does not have the duality of positive and negative volume (while in physical space, for example, a room has the negative volume of usable space delineated by positive volume of walls, Internet users cannot enter the screen and explore the unknown part of the Internet as an extension of the space they are in), but spatial meaning can be attributed to the relationship between different pages (of books as well as web servers), considering the unturned pages to be somewhere "out there." The concept of cyberspace, therefore, refers not to the content being presented to the surfer, but rather to the possibility of surfing among different sites, with feedback loops between the user and the rest of the system creating the potential to always encounter something unknown or unexpected. Video games differ from text-based communication in that on-screen images are meant to be figures that actually occupy a space and the animation shows the movement of those figures. Images are supposed to form the positive volume that delineates the empty space. A game adopts the cyberspace metaphor by engaging more players in the game, and then figuratively representing them on the screen as avatars. Games do not have to stop at the avatar-player level, but current implementations aiming for more immersive playing space (i.e. Laser tag) take the form of augmented reality rather than cyberspace, fully immersive virtual realities remaining impractical. Although the more radical consequences of the global communication network predicted by some cyberspace proponents (i.e. the diminishing of state influence envisioned by John Perry Barlow) failed to materialize and the word lost some of its novelty appeal, it remains current . Some virtual communities explicitly refer to the concept of cyberspace, for example Linden Lab calling their customers "Residents" of Second Life, while all such communities can be positioned "in cyberspace" for explanatory and comparative purposes (as did Sterling in The Hacker Crackdown, followed by many journalists), integrating the metaphor into a wider cyber-culture. The metaphor has been useful in helping a new generation of thought leaders to reason through new military strategies around the world, led largely by the US Department of Defense (DoD). The use of cyberspace as a metaphor has had its limits, however, especially in areas where the metaphor becomes confused with physical infrastructure. It has also been critiqued as being unhelpful for falsely employing a spatial metaphor to describe what is inherently a network. Alternate realities in philosophy and art Predating computers A forerunner of the modern ideas of cyberspace is the Cartesian notion that people might be deceived by an evil demon that feeds them a false reality. This argument is the direct predecessor of modern ideas of a brain in a vat and many popular conceptions of cyberspace take Descartes's ideas as their starting point. Visual arts have a tradition, stretching back to antiquity, of artifacts meant to fool the eye and be mistaken for reality. This questioning of reality occasionally led some philosophers and especially theologians to distrust art as deceiving people into entering a world which was not real (see Aniconism). The artistic challenge was resurrected with increasing ambition as art became more and more realistic with the invention of photography, film (see Arrival of a Train at La Ciotat), and immersive computer simulations. Influenced by computers Philosophy American counterculture exponents like William S. Burroughs (whose literary influence on Gibson and cyberpunk in general is widely acknowledged) and Timothy Leary were among the first to extol the potential of computers and computer networks for individual empowerment. Some contemporary philosophers and scientists (e.g. David Deutsch in The Fabric of Reality) employ virtual reality in various thought experiments. For example, Philip Zhai in Get Real: A Philosophical Adventure in Virtual Reality connects cyberspace to the Platonic tradition: Note that this brain-in-a-vat argument conflates cyberspace with reality, while the more common descriptions of cyberspace contrast it with the "real world". Cyber-Geography The “Geography of Notopia” (Papadimitriou, 2006) theorizes about the complex interplay of cyber-cultures and the geographical space. This interplay has several philosophical and psychological facets (Papadimitriou, 2009). A New Communication Model The technological convergence of the mass media is the result of a long adaptation process of their communicative resources to the evolutionary changes of each historical moment. Thus, the new media became (plurally) an extension of the traditional media in cyberspace, allowing to the public access information in a wide range of digital devices. In other words, it is a cultural virtualization of human reality as a result of the migration from physical to virtual space (mediated by the ICTs), ruled by codes, signs and particular social relationships. Forwards, arise instant ways of communication, interaction and possible quick access to information, in which we are no longer mere senders, but also producers, reproducers, co-workers and providers. New technologies also help to "connect" people from different cultures outside the virtual space, which was unthinkable fifty years ago. In this giant relationships web, we mutually absorb each other's beliefs, customs, values, laws and habits, cultural legacies perpetuated by a physical-virtual dynamics in constant metamorphosis (ibidem). In this sense, Professor Doctor Marcelo Mendonça Teixeira created, in 2013, a new model of communication to the virtual universe, based in Claude Elwood Shannon (1948) article "A Mathematical Theory of Communication". Art Having originated among writers, the concept of cyberspace remains most popular in literature and film. Although artists working with other media have expressed interest in the concept, such as Roy Ascott, "cyberspace" in digital art is mostly used as a synonym for immersive virtual reality and remains more discussed than enacted. Computer crime Cyberspace also brings together every service and facility imaginable to expedite money laundering. One can purchase anonymous credit cards, bank accounts, encrypted global mobile telephones, and false passports. From there one can pay professional advisors to set up IBCs (International Business Corporations, or corporations with anonymous ownership) or similar structures in OFCs (Offshore Financial Centers). Such advisors are loath to ask any penetrating questions about the wealth and activities of their clients, since the average fees criminals pay them to launder their money can be as much as 20 percent. 5-level model In 2010, a five-level model was designed in France. According to this model, cyberspace is composed of five layers based on information discoveries: 1) language, 2) writing, 3) printing, 4) Internet, 5) Etc., i.e. the rest, e.g. noosphere, artificial life, artificial intelligence, etc., etc. This original model links the world of information to telecommunication technologies. See also Augmented browsing Artificial intelligence Autonomy Computer security Cyber-HUMINT Cyberwarfare Cyber security standards Framework Programmes for Research and Technological Development Wired glove Online magazine Cybersex Crypto-anarchism Digital pet Esports Global commons Information superhighway Infosphere Internet art Legal aspects of computing Wikipedia:Link surfing Real life Metaverse Mixed reality Multi-agent system Noosphere Simulated reality Social software Computer program Sentience Telepresence Virtual world Virtual reality World Wide Web Further reading Branch, J. (2020). "What's in a Name? Metaphors and Cybersecurity." International Organization. References Sources Cyberculture, The key Concepts, edited by David Bell, Brian D.Loader, Nicholas Pleace and Douglas Schuler Christine Buci-Glucksmann, "L’art à l’époque virtuel", in Frontières esthétiques de l’art, Arts 8, Paris: L’Harmattan, 2004 William Gibson. Neuromancer:20th Anniversary Edition. New York:Ace Books, 2004. Oliver Grau: Virtual Art. From Illusion to Immersion, MIT-Press, Cambridge 2003. (4 Auflagen). David Koepsell, The Ontology of Cyberspace, Chicago: Open Court, 2000. Irvine, Martin. "Postmodern Science Fiction and Cyberpunk", retrieved 2006-07-19. Slater, Don 2002, 'Social Relationships and Identity Online and Offline', in L.Lievrouw and S.Livingston (eds), The Handbook of New Media, Sage, London, pp533–46. Sterling, Bruce. The Hacker Crackdown: Law and Disorder On the Electronic Frontier. Spectra Books, 1992. Zhai, Philip. Get Real: A Philosophical Adventure in Virtual Reality. New York: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 1998. Teixeira, Marcelo Mendonça (2012). Cyberculture: From Plato To The Virtual Universe. The Architecture of Collective Intelligence. Munich: Grin Verlag. External links A Declaration of the Independence of Cyberspace by John Perry Barlow Peculiarities of Cyberspace by Albert Benschop Sex, Religion and Cyberspace by Richard Thieme Brains in a vat philosophical argument against the idea that we could be in cyberspace and not know it by Hilary Putnam Cyberspace as a Domain In which the Air Force Flies and Fights, Speech by Secretary of the Air Force Michael Wynne Cyberpunk themes History of the Internet Hyperreality Information Age Virtual reality William Gibson 1980s neologisms

Technological convergence

Technological convergence is the tendency for technologies that were originally unrelated to become more closely integrated and even unified as they develop and advance. For example, watches, telephones, television, computers, and social media platforms began as separate and mostly unrelated technologies, but have converged in many ways into an interrelated telecommunication, media, and technology industry. Definitions "Convergence is a deep integration of knowledge, tools, and all relevant activities of human activity for a common goal, to allow society to answer new questions to change the respective physical or social ecosystem. Such changes in the respective ecosystem open new trends, pathways, and opportunities in the following divergent phase of the process". Siddhartha Menon defines convergence as integration and digitalization. Integration, here, is defined as "a process of transformation measure by the degree to which diverse media such as phone, data broadcast and information technology infrastructures are combined into a single seamless all purpose network architecture platform". Digitalization is not so much defined by its physical infrastructure, but by the content or the medium. Jan van Dijk suggests that "digitalization means breaking down signals into bytes consisting of ones and zeros". Convergence is defined by Blackman (1998) as a trend in the evolution of technology services and industry structures. Convergence is later defined more specifically as the coming together of telecommunications, computing and broadcasting into a single digital bit-stream. Mueller stands against the statement that convergence is really a takeover of all forms of media by one technology: digital computers. Acronyms Some acronyms for converging scientific or technological fields include: NBIC (Nanotechnology, Biotechnology, Information technology and Cognitive science) GNR (Genetics, Nanotechnology and Robotics) GRIN (Genetics, Robotics, Information, and Nano processes) GRAIN (Genetics, Robotics, Artificial Intelligence, and Nanotechnology) BANG (Bits, Atoms, Neurons, Genes) Biotechnology A 2010 citation analysis of patent data shows that biomedical devices are strongly connected to computing and mobile telecommunications, and that molecular bioengineering is strongly connected to several IT fields. Bioconvergence is the integration of biology with engineering. Possible areas of bioconvergence include: Materials inspired by biology (such as in electronics) DNA data storage Medical technologies: Omics-based profiling Miniaturized drug delivery Tissue reconstruction Traceable pharmaceutical packaging More efficient bioreactors Digital convergence Digital convergence is the inclination for various digital innovations and media to become more similar with time. It enables the convergence of access devices and content as well as the industry participant operations and strategy. This is how this type of technological convergence creates opportunities, particularly in the area of product development and growth strategies for digital product companies. The same can be said in the case of individual content creators, such as vloggers on YouTube. The convergence in this example is demonstrated in the involvement of the Internet, home devices such as smart television, camera, the YouTube application, and digital content. In this setup, there are the so-called "spokes", which are the devices that connect to a central hub (such as a PC or smart TV). Here, the Internet serves as the intermediary, particularly through its interactivity tools and social networking, in order to create unique mixes of products and services via horizontal integration. The above example highlights how digital convergence encompasses three phenomena: previously stand-alone devices are being connected by networks and software, significantly enhancing functionalities; previously stand-alone products are being converged onto the same platform, creating hybrid products in the process; and, companies are crossing traditional boundaries such as hardware and software to provide new products and new sources of competition. Another example is the convergence of different types of digital contents. According to Harry Strasser, former CTO of Siemens "[digital convergence will substantially impact people's lifestyle and work style]". Cellphones The functions of the cellphone changes as technology converges. Because of technological advancement, a cellphone functions as more than just a phone: it can also contain an Internet connection, video players, MP3 players, gaming, and a camera. Their areas of use have increased over time, partly substituting for other devices. A mobile convergence device is one that, if connected to a keyboard, monitor, and mouse, can run applications as a desktop computer would. Convergent operating systems include the Linux operating systems Ubuntu Touch, Plasma Mobile and PureOS. Convergence can also refer to being able to run the same app across different devices and being able to develop apps for different devices (such as smartphones, TVs and desktop computers) at once, with the same code base. This can be done via Linux applications that adapt to the device they are being used on (including native apps designed for such via frameworks like Kirigami) or by the use of multi-platform frameworks like the Quasar framework that use tools such as Apache Cordova, Electron and Capacitor, which can increase the userbase, the pace and ease of development and the number of reached platforms while decreasing development costs. The Internet The role of the Internet has changed from its original use as a communication tool to easier and faster access to information and services, mainly through a broadband connection. The television, radio and newspapers were the world's media for accessing news and entertainment; now, all three media have converged into one, and people all over the world can read and hear news and other information on the Internet. The convergence of the Internet and conventional TV became popular in the 2010s, through Smart TV, also sometimes referred to as "Connected TV" or "Hybrid TV", (not to be confused with IPTV, Internet TV, or with Web TV). Smart TV is used to describe the current trend of integration of the Internet and Web 2.0 features into modern television sets and set-top boxes, as well as the technological convergence between computers and these television sets or set-top boxes. These new devices most often also have a much higher focus on online interactive media, Internet TV, over-the-top content, as well as on-demand streaming media, and less focus on traditional broadcast media like previous generations of television sets and set-top boxes always have had. Social movements The integration of social movements in cyberspace is one of the potential strategies that social movements can use in the age of media convergence. Because of the neutrality of the Internet and the end-to-end design, the power structure of the Internet was designed to avoid discrimination between applications. Mexico's Zapatistas campaign for land rights was one of the most influential case in the information age; Manuel Castells defines the Zapatistas as "the first informational guerrilla movement". The Zapatista uprising had been marginalized by the popular press. The Zapatistas were able to construct a grassroots, decentralized social movement by using the Internet. The Zapatistas Effect, observed by Cleaver, continues to organize social movements on a global scale. A sophisticated webmetric analysis, which maps the links between different websites and seeks to identify important nodal points in a network, demonstrates that the Zapatistas cause binds together hundreds of global NGOs. The majority of the social movement organized by Zapatistas targets their campaign especially against global neoliberalism. A successful social movement not only need online support but also protest on the street. Papic wrote, "Social Media Alone Do Not Instigate Revolutions", which discusses how the use of social media in social movements needs good organization both online and offline. Media Media technological convergence is the tendency that as technology changes, different technological systems sometimes evolve toward performing similar tasks. It is the interlinking of computing and other information technologies, media content, media companies and communication networks that have arisen as the result of the evolution and popularization of the Internet as well as the activities, products and services that have emerged in the digital media space. Generally, media convergence refers to the merging of both old and new media and can be seen as a product, a system or a process. Jenkins states that convergence is, "the flow of content across multiple media platforms, the cooperation between multiple media industries, and the migratory behaviour of media audiences who would go almost anywhere in search of the kinds of entertainment experiences they wanted". According to Jenkins, there are five areas of convergence: technological, economic, social or organic, cultural, and global. Media convergence is not just a technological shift or a technological process, it also includes shifts within the industrial, cultural, and social paradigms that encourage the consumer to seek out new information. Convergence, simply put, is how individual consumers interact with others on a social level and use various media platforms to create new experiences, new forms of media and content that connect us socially, and not just to other consumers, but to the corporate producers of media in ways that have not been as readily accessible in the past. However, Lugmayr and Dal Zotto argued, that media convergence takes place on technology, content, consumer, business model, and management level. They argue that media convergence is a matter of evolution and can be described through the triadic phenomena of convergence, divergence, and coexistence. Today's digital media ecosystems coexist, as e.g., mobile app stores provide vendor lock-ins into particular eco-systems; some technology platforms are converging under one technology, due to, for example, the usage of common communication protocols as in digital TV; and other media are diverging, as, for example, media content offerings are more and more specializing and provides a space for niche media. Closely linked to the multilevel process of media convergence are also several developments in different areas of the media and communication sector which are also summarized under the term of media deconvergence. Many experts view this as simply being the tip of the iceberg, as all facets of institutional activity and social life such as business, government, art, journalism, health, and education, are increasingly being carried out in these digital media spaces across a growing network of information and communication technology devices. Also included in this topic is the basis of computer networks, wherein many different operating systems are able to communicate via different protocols. Convergent services, such as VoIP, IPTV, Smart TV, and others, tend to replace the older technologies and thus can disrupt markets. IP-based convergence is inevitable and will result in new service and new demand in the market. When the old technology converges into the public-owned common, IP based services become access-independent or less dependent. The old service is access-dependent. Advances in technology bring the ability for technological convergence that Rheingold believes can alter the "social-side effects," in that "the virtual, social and physical world are colliding, merging and coordinating." It was predicted in the late 1980s, around the time that CD-ROM was becoming commonplace, that a digital revolution would take place, and that old media would be pushed to one side by new media. Broadcasting is increasingly being replaced by the Internet, enabling consumers all over the world the freedom to access their preferred media content more easily and at a more available rate than ever before. However, when the dot-com bubble of the 1990s suddenly popped, that poured cold water over the talk of such a digital revolution. In today's society, the idea of media convergence has once again emerged as a key point of reference as newer as well as established media companies attempt to visualize the future of the entertainment industry. If this revolutionary digital paradigm shift presumed that old media would be increasingly replaced by new media, the convergence paradigm that is currently emerging suggests that new and old media would interact in more complex ways than previously predicted. The paradigm shift that followed the digital revolution assumed that new media was going to change everything. When the dot com market crashed, there was a tendency to imagine that nothing had changed. The real truth lay somewhere in between as there were so many aspects of the current media environment to take into consideration. Many industry leaders are increasingly reverting to media convergence as a way of making sense in an era of disorientating change. In that respect, media convergence in theory is essentially an old concept taking on a new meaning. Media convergence, in reality, is more than just a shift in technology. It alters relationships between industries, technologies, audiences, genres and markets. Media convergence changes the rationality media industries operate in, and the way that media consumers process news and entertainment. Media convergence is essentially a process and not an outcome, so no single black box controls the flow of media. With proliferation of different media channels and increasing portability of new telecommunications and computing technologies, we have entered into an era where media constantly surrounds us. Media convergence requires that media companies rethink existing assumptions about media from the consumer's point of view, as these affect marketing and programming decisions. Media producers must respond to newly empowered consumers. Conversely, it would seem that hardware is instead diverging whilst media content is converging. Media has developed into brands that can offer content in a number of forms. Two examples of this are Star Wars and The Matrix. Both are films, but are also books, video games, cartoons, and action figures. Branding encourages expansion of one concept, rather than the creation of new ideas. In contrast, hardware has diversified to accommodate media convergence. Hardware must be specific to each function. While most scholars argue that the flow of cross-media is accelerating, O'Donnell suggests, especially between films and video game, the semblance of media convergence is misunderstood by people outside of the media production industry. The conglomeration of media industry continues to sell the same story line in different media. For example, Batman is in comics, films, anime, and games. However, the data to create the image of batman in each media is created individually by different teams of creators. The same character and the same visual effect repetitively appear in different media is because of the synergy of media industry to make them similar as possible. In addition, convergence does not happen when the game of two different consoles is produced. No flows between two consoles because it is faster to create game from scratch for the industry. One of the more interesting new media journalism forms is virtual reality. Reuters, a major international news service, has created and staffed a news “island” in the popular online virtual reality environment Second Life. Open to anyone, Second Life has emerged as a compelling 3D virtual reality for millions of citizens around the world who have created avatars (virtual representations of themselves) to populate and live in an altered state where personal flight is a reality, altered egos can flourish, and real money ( were spent during the 24 hours concluding at 10:19 a.m. eastern time January 7, 2008) can be made without ever setting foot into the real world. The Reuters Island in Second Life is a virtual version of the Reuters real-world news service but covering the domain of Second Life for the citizens of Second Life (numbering 11,807,742 residents as of January 5, 2008). Media convergence in the digital era means the changes that are taking place with older forms of media and media companies. Media convergence has two roles, the first is the technological merging of different media channels – for example, magazines, radio programs, TV shows, and movies, now are available on the Internet through laptops, iPads, and smartphones. As discussed in Media Culture (by Campbell), convergence of technology is not new. It has been going on since the late 1920s. An example is RCA, the Radio Corporation of America, which purchased Victor Talking Machine Company and introduced machines that could receive radio and play recorded music. Next came the TV, and radio lost some of its appeal as people started watching television, which has both talking and music as well as visuals. As technology advances, convergence of media change to keep up. The second definition of media convergence Campbell discusses is cross-platform by media companies. This usually involves consolidating various media holdings, such as cable, phone, television (over the air, satellite, cable) and Internet access under one corporate umbrella. This is not for the consumer to have more media choices, this is for the benefit of the company to cut down on costs and maximize its profits. As stated in the article Convergence Culture and Media Work by Mark Deuze, “the convergence of production and consumption of media across companies, channels, genres, and technologies is an expression of the convergence of all aspects of everyday life: work and play, the local and the global, self and social identity." History Communication networks were designed to carry different types of information independently. The older media, such as television and radio, are broadcasting networks with passive audiences. Convergence of telecommunication technology permits the manipulation of all forms of information, voice, data, and video. Telecommunication has changed from a world of scarcity to one of seemingly limitless capacity. Consequently, the possibility of audience interactivity morphs the passive audience into an engaged audience. The historical roots of convergence can be traced back to the emergence of mobile telephony and the Internet, although the term properly applies only from the point in marketing history when fixed and mobile telephony began to be offered by operators as joined products. Fixed and mobile operators were, for most of the 1990s, independent companies. Even when the same organization marketed both products, these were sold and serviced independently. In the 1990s, an implicit and often explicit assumption was that new media was going to replace the old media and Internet was going to replace broadcasting. In Nicholas Negroponte's Being Digital, Negroponte predicts the collapse of broadcast networks in favor of an era of narrow-casting. He also suggests that no government regulation can shatter the media conglomerate. "The monolithic empires of mass media are dissolving into an array of cottage industries... Media barons of today will be grasping to hold onto their centralized empires tomorrow.... The combined forces of technology and human nature will ultimately take a stronger hand in plurality than any laws Congress can invent." The new media companies claimed that the old media would be absorbed fully and completely into the orbit of the emerging technologies. George Gilder dismisses such claims saying, "The computer industry is converging with the television industry in the same sense that the automobile converged with the horse, the TV converged with the nickelodeon, the word-processing program converged with the typewriter, the CAD program converged with the drafting board, and digital desktop publishing converged with the Linotype machine and the letterpress." Gilder believes that computers had come not to transform mass culture but to destroy it. Media companies put media convergence back to their agenda after the dot-com bubble burst. In 1994, Knight Ridder promulgated the concept of portable magazines, newspaper, and books: "Within news corporations it became increasingly obvious that an editorial model based on mere replication in the Internet of contents that had previously been written for print newspapers, radio, or television was no longer sufficient." The rise of digital communication in the late 20th century has made it possible for media organizations (or individuals) to deliver text, audio, and video material over the same wired, wireless, or fiber-optic connections. At the same time, it inspired some media organizations to explore multimedia delivery of information. This digital convergence of news media, in particular, was called "Mediamorphosis" by researcher Roger Fidler in his 1997 book by that name. Today, we are surrounded by a multi-level convergent media world where all modes of communication and information are continually reforming to adapt to the enduring demands of technologies, "changing the way we create, consume, learn and interact with each other". Convergence culture Henry Jenkins determines convergence culture to be the flow of content across multiple media platforms, the cooperation between multiple media industries, and the migratory behavior of media audiences who will go almost anywhere in search of the kinds of entertainment experiences they want. The convergence culture is an important factor in transmedia storytelling. Convergence culture introduces new stories and arguments from one form of media into many. Transmedia storytelling is defined by Jenkins as a process "where integral elements of a fiction get dispersed systematically across multiple delivery channels for the purpose of creating a unified and coordinated entertainment experience. Ideally, each medium makes its own unique contribution to the unfolding of the story". For instance, The Matrix starts as a film, which is followed by two other instalments, but in a convergence culture it is not constrained to that form. It becomes a story not only told in the movies but in animated shorts, video games and comic books, three different media platforms. Online, a wiki is created to keep track of the story's expanding canon. Fan films, discussion forums, and social media pages also form, expanding The Matrix to different online platforms. Convergence culture took what started as a film and expanded it across almost every type of media. Bert is Evil (images) Bert and Bin Laden appeared in CNN coverage of anti-American protest following September 11. The association of Bert and Bin Laden links back to the Ignacio's Photoshop project for fun. Convergence culture is a part of participatory culture. Because average people can now access their interests on many types of media they can also have more of a say. Fans and consumers are able to participate in the creation and circulation of new content. Some companies take advantage of this and search for feedback from their customers through social media and sharing sites such as YouTube. Besides marketing and entertainment, convergence culture has also affected the way we interact with news and information. We can access news on multiple levels of media from the radio, TV, newspapers, and the Internet. The Internet allows more people to be able to report the news through independent broadcasts and therefore allows a multitude of perspectives to be put forward and accessed by people in many different areas. Convergence allows news to be gathered on a much larger scale. For instance, photographs were taken of torture at Abu Ghraib. These photos were shared and eventually posted on the Internet. This led to the breaking of a news story in newspapers, on TV, and the Internet. Media scholar Henry Jenkins has described the media convergence with participatory culture as: Appliances Some media observers expect that we will eventually access all media content through one device, or "black box". As such, media business practice has been to identify the next "black box" to invest in and provide media for. This has caused a number of problems. Firstly, as "black boxes" are invented and abandoned, the individual is left with numerous devices that can perform the same task, rather than one dedicated for each task. For example, one may own both a computer and a video games console, subsequently owning two DVD players. This is contrary to the streamlined goal of the "black box" theory, and instead creates clutter. Secondly, technological convergence tends to be experimental in nature. This has led to consumers owning technologies with additional functions that are harder, if not impractical, to use rather than one specific device. Many people would only watch the TV for the duration of the meal's cooking time, or whilst in the kitchen, but would not use the microwave as the household TV. These examples show that in many cases technological convergence is unnecessary or unneeded. Furthermore, although consumers primarily use a specialized media device for their needs, other "black box" devices that perform the same task can be used to suit their current situation. As a 2002 Cheskin Research report explained: "...Your email needs and expectations are different whether you're at home, work, school, commuting, the airport, etc., and these different devices are designed to suit your needs for accessing content depending on where you are- your situated context." Despite the creation of "black boxes", intended to perform all tasks, the trend is to use devices that can suit the consumer's physical position. Due to the variable utility of portable technology, convergence occurs in high-end mobile devices. They incorporate multimedia services, GPS, Internet access, and mobile telephony into a single device, heralding the rise of what has been termed the "smartphone," a device designed to remove the need to carry multiple devices. Convergence of media occurs when multiple products come together to form one product with the advantages of all of them, also known as the black box. This idea of one technology, concocted by Henry Jenkins, has become known more as a fallacy because of the inability to actually put all technical pieces into one. For example, while people can have email and Internet on their phone, they still want full computers with Internet and email in addition. Mobile phones are a good example, in that they incorporate digital cameras, MP3 players, voice recorders, and other devices. For the consumer, it means more features in less space; for media conglomerates it means remaining competitive. However, convergence has a downside. Particularly in initial forms, converged devices are frequently less functional and reliable than their component parts (e.g., a mobile phone's web browser may not render some web pages correctly, due to not supporting certain rendering methods, such as the iPhone browser not supporting Flash content). As the number of functions in a single device escalates, the ability of that device to serve its original function decreases. As Rheingold asserts, technological convergence holds immense potential for the "improvement of life and liberty in some ways and (could) degrade it in others". He believes the same technology has the potential to be "used as both a weapon of social control and a means of resistance". Since technology has evolved in the past ten years or so, companies are beginning to converge technologies to create demand for new products. This includes phone companies integrating 3G and 4G on their phones. In the mid 20th century, television converged the technologies of movies and radio, and television is now being converged with the mobile phone industry and the Internet. Phone calls are also being made with the use of personal computers. Converging technologies combine multiple technologies into one. Newer mobile phones feature cameras, and can hold images, videos, music, and other media. Manufacturers now integrate more advanced features, such as video recording, GPS receivers, data storage, and security mechanisms into the traditional cellphone. Telecommunications Telecommunications convergence or network convergence describes emerging telecommunications technologies, and network architecture used to migrate multiple communications services into a single network. Specifically, this involves the converging of previously distinct media such as telephony and data communications into common interfaces on single devices, such as most smart phones can make phone calls and search the web. Messaging Combination services include those that integrate SMS with voice, such as voice SMS. Providers include Bubble Motion, Jott, Kirusa, and SpinVox. Several operators have launched services that combine SMS with mobile instant messaging (MIM) and presence. Text-to-landline services also exist, where subscribers can send text messages to any landline phone and are charged at standard rates. The text messages are converted into spoken language. This service has been popular in America, where fixed and mobile numbers are similar. Inbound SMS has been converging to enable reception of different formats (SMS, voice, MMS, etc.). In April 2008, O2 UK launched voice-enabled shortcodes, adding voice functionality to the five-digit codes already used for SMS. This type of convergence is helpful for media companies, broadcasters, enterprises, call centres and help desks who need to develop a consistent contact strategy with the consumer. Because SMS is very popular today, it became relevant to include text messaging as a contact possibility for consumers. To avoid having multiple numbers (one for voice calls, another one for SMS), a simple way is to merge the reception of both formats under one number. This means that a consumer can text or call one number and be sure that the message will be received. Mobile "Mobile service provisions" refers not only to the ability to purchase mobile phone services, but the ability to wirelessly access everything: voice, Internet, audio, and video. Advancements in WiMAX and other leading edge technologies provide the ability to transfer information over a wireless link at a variety of speeds, distances, and non-line-of-sight conditions. Multi-play Multi-play is a marketing term describing the provision of different telecommunication services, such as Internet access, television, telephone, and mobile phone service, by organizations that traditionally only offered one or two of these services. Multi-play is a catch-all phrase; usually, the terms triple play (voice, video and data) or quadruple play (voice, video, data and wireless) are used to describe a more specific meaning. A dual play service is a marketing term for the provisioning of the two services: it can be high-speed Internet (digital subscriber line) and telephone service over a single broadband connection in the case of phone companies, or high-speed Internet (cable modem) and TV service over a single broadband connection in the case of cable TV companies. The convergence can also concern the underlying communication infrastructure. An example of this is a triple play service, where communication services are packaged allowing consumers to purchase TV, Internet, and telephony in one subscription. The broadband cable market is transforming as pay-TV providers move aggressively into what was once considered the telco space. Meanwhile, customer expectations have risen as consumer and business customers alike seek rich content, multi-use devices, networked products and converged services including on-demand video, digital TV, high speed Internet, VoIP, and wireless applications. It is uncharted territory for most broadband companies. A quadruple play service combines the triple play service of broadband Internet access, television, and telephone with wireless service provisions. This service set is also sometimes humorously referred to as "The Fantastic Four" or "Grand Slam". A fundamental aspect of the quadruple play is not only the long-awaited broadband convergence but also the players involved. Many of them, from the largest global service providers to whom we connect today via wires and cables to the smallest of startup service providers are interested. Opportunities are attractive: the big three telecom services – telephony, cable television, and wireless—could combine their industries. In the UK, the merger of NTL: Telewest and Virgin Mobile resulted in a company offering a quadruple play of cable television, broadband Internet, home telephone, and mobile telephone services. Home network Early in the 21st century, home LAN convergence so rapidly integrated home routers, wireless access points, and DSL modems that users were hard put to identify the resulting box they used to connect their computers to their Internet service. A general term for such a combined device is a residential gateway. VoIP The U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has not been able to decide how to regulate VoIP (Internet Telephony) because the convergent technology is still growing and changing. In addition to its growth, FCC is tentative to set regulation on VoIP in order to promote competition in the telecommunication industry. There is not a clear line between telecommunication service and the information service because of the growth of the new convergent media. Historically, telecommunication is subject to state regulation. The state of California concerned about the increasing popularity of Internet telephony will eventually obliterate funding for the Universal Service Fund. Some states attempt to assert their traditional role of common carrier oversight onto this new technology. Meisel and Needles (2005) suggests that the FCC, federal courts, and state regulatory bodies on access line charges will directly impact the speed in which Internet telephony market grows. On one hand, the FCC is hesitant to regulate convergent technology because VoIP with different feature from the old Telecommunication; no fixed model to build legislature yet. On the other hand, the regulations is needed because Service over the Internet might be quickly replaced telecommunication service, which will affect the entire economy. Convergence has also raised several debates about classification of certain telecommunications services. As the lines between data transmission, and voice and media transmission are eroded, regulators are faced with the task of how best to classify the converging segments of the telecommunication sector. Traditionally, telecommunication regulation has focused on the operation of physical infrastructure, networks, and access to network. No content is regulated in the telecommunication because the content is considered private. In contrast, film and Television are regulated by contents. The rating system regulates its distribution to the audience. Self-regulation is promoted by the industry. Bogle senior persuaded the entire industry to pay 0.1 percent levy on all advertising and the money was used to give authority to the Advertising Standards Authority, which keeps the government away from setting legislature in the media industry. The premises to regulate the new media, two-ways communications, concerns much about the change from old media to new media. Each medium has different features and characteristics. First, Internet, the new medium, manipulates all form of information – voice, data and video. Second, the old regulation on the old media, such as radio and Television, emphasized its regulation on the scarcity of the channels. Internet, on the other hand, has the limitless capacity, due to the end-to-end design. Third, Two-ways communication encourages interactivity between the content producers and the audiences. "...Fundamental basis for classification, therefore, is to consider the need for regulation in terms of either market failure or in the public interests"(Blackman). The Electronic Frontier Foundation, founded in 1990, is a non profit organization that defends free speech, privacy, innovation, and consumer rights. The Digital Millennium Copyright Act regulates and protect the digital content producers and consumers. Trends Network neutrality is an issue. Wu and Lessig set out two reasons for network neutrality: firstly, by removing the risk of future discrimination, it incentivizes people to invest more in the development of broadband applications; secondly, it enables fair competition between applications without network bias. The two reasons also coincide with FCC's interest to stimulate investment and enhance innovation in broadband technology and services. Despite regulatory efforts of deregulation, privatization, and liberalization, the infrastructure barrier has been a negative factor in achieving effective competition. Kim et al. argues that IP dissociates the telephony application from the infrastructure and Internet telephony is at the forefront of such dissociation. The neutrality of the network is very important for fair competition. As the former FCC Charman Michael Copps put it: "From its inception, the Internet was designed, as those present during the course of its creating will tell you, to prevent government or a corporation or anyone else from controlling it. It was designed to defeat discrimination against users, ideas and technologies". Because of these reasons, Shin concludes that regulator should make sure to regulate application and infrastructure separately. The layered model was first proposed by Solum and Chug, Sicker, and Nakahata. Sicker, Warbach and Witt have supported using a layered model to regulate the telecommunications industry with the emergence of convergence services. Many researchers have different layered approach, but they all agree that the emergence of convergent technology will create challenges and ambiguities for regulations. The key point of the layered model is that it reflects the reality of network architecture, and current business model. The layered model consists of: Access layer – where the physical infrastructure resides: copper wires, cable, or fiber optic. Transport layer – the provider of service. Application layer – the interface between the data and the users. Content layer – the layer which users see. Shin combines the layered model and network neutrality as the principle to regulate the convergent media industry. Robotics Medical applications of robotics have become increasingly prominent in the robotics literature. The use of robots in service sectors is much less than the use of robots in manufacturing. See also Computer multitasking (the software equivalent of a converged device) Dongle (can facilitate inclusion of non-converged devices) Digital rhetoric Generic Access Network History of science and technology UMA Today IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) Mobile VoIP Next Generation Networks Next generation network services Post-convergent Second screen References Bibliography Further reading External links Amdocs MultiPlay Strategy WhitePaper Technology Convergence Update with Bob Brown – Video Crossover devices Digital media History of telecommunications Science and technology studies Technological change Telecommunications systems Technology systems

Situational sexual behavior

Situational sexual behavior is a type of sexual behavior which differs from that which the person normally exhibits, due to a social environment that in some way permits, encourages, or compels the behavior in question. This can include situations where a person's preferred sexual behavior may not be possible, so rather than refraining from sexual activity completely, they may engage in substitute sexual behaviors. Overview One example of situation-specific sexual behavior would be a person who self-identifies as heterosexual, but will sexually interact with a member of the same sex when lacking other opportunities, such as among soldiers, among prison inmates, among college students, or in similar single-sex communities and institutions. Likewise, a person who self-identifies as gay or lesbian (either at the time, or later) may sexually interact with a member of the opposite sex if a same-sex relationship seems unfeasible. Some people change their sexual behavior depending on the situation or at different points in their life. For example, some men and women in a university may engage in bisexual activities, but only in that environment. Experimentation of this sort is more common among adolescents and young adults, both male and female. Some colloquialisms for this trend include "heteroflexible", "BUG" (Bisexual Until Graduation), or "LUG" (Lesbian Until Graduation). In prison, heterosexual-identified men who have sex with men view their homosexual acts as being "situation specific" and may not consider themselves bisexual. These men often describe how they imagine being with a woman while taking part in sexual activity with a male inmate. During masturbation, they picture past sexual experiences with women. They take part in homosexual activity due to having no “heterosexual outlets”. In some cultures, sexual relationships with women were unobtainable for many men, because women were sequestered and strictly forbidden from engaging in extramarital sex. This may have resulted in higher numbers of men, especially unmarried men, engaging in homosexual behavior. Examples of this include pederasty in ancient Greece and bacha bazi in Afghanistan. Recent Western surveys have found that about 87% of women and 93% of men identify themselves as "completely heterosexual". An analysis of 67 studies found that the lifetime prevalence of sex between men (regardless of orientation) was 3-5% for East Asia, 6-12% for South and South East Asia, 6-15% for Eastern Europe, and 6-20% for Latin America. The World Health Organization estimates a worldwide prevalence of men who have sex with men between 3 and 16%. History Ancient Greece Situational sexual behavior in Ancient Greece refers to the diverse range of sexual practices and norms that characterized this historical period, roughly spanning from the 9th century BCE to the 4th century CE. In Ancient Greece, the prevailing view of sexuality was markedly different from contemporary perspectives. The Greeks did not categorize sexual orientation in the way it is understood today. Instead, they focused on the distinction between active and passive roles in sexual relationships. It was considered acceptable for adult males to engage in sexual relationships with younger, often adolescent, males, as part of an educational and mentorship system known as pederasty. This practice was a cultural institution rather than a universally accepted norm, with variations in acceptance and prevalence among different city-states. While pederasty was one aspect of situational sexual behavior, it did not define the entirety of Greek sexual practices. Heterosexual relationships, marriage, and procreation were fundamental societal expectations, and the institution of marriage held significant importance. However, extramarital affairs and relationships outside the bounds of conventional marriage were not uncommon, and various forms of non-normative sexual behaviors were evident in different contexts. The portrayal of sexuality in Ancient Greek literature, drama, and art also provides insights into the complexities of sexual behavior during this period. Works such as the dialogues of Plato, the poetry of Sappho, and the comedies of Aristophanes offer glimpses into the diverse expressions of love and desire. Additionally, the erotic imagery on pottery and in sculpture reveals a nuanced understanding of sexuality, where depictions of intimate relationships were often integrated into daily life and public spaces. Ancient China Concubinage in Ancient China, called pínfēi, was a complex and deeply ingrained social institution that played a significant role in shaping the dynamics of sexual behavior within the confines of the imperial court and aristocratic households. Unlike monogamous marriages, where a man had only one formal wife, the practice of maintaining concubines allowed men to have additional female companions with varying degrees of recognition and status. In the context of situational sexual behavior, the concubine system provided a framework within which sexual relationships could exist outside the bounds of a primary marital union. While the primary wife held the highest social status and was typically the legal spouse, concubines were women who entered into less formalized unions with men, often possessing fewer legal rights and social privileges. The acceptance and prevalence of concubinage varied across different dynasties and regions in Ancient China. The reasons for taking concubines were diverse and could include factors such as the desire for additional heirs, political alliances, or social standing. While the primary wife was responsible for managing the household and ensuring the continuation of the family line, concubines might bear children who, depending on the circumstances, could inherit the family name and resources. The hierarchical nature of the concubine system meant that the primary wife held a superior position, and the ranking of concubines was often determined by the order in which they entered the household or the favor bestowed upon them by the man. This structure had implications for the dynamics of situational sexual behavior, as relationships with concubines could be marked by power imbalances and competition among women for the favor of the man. Societal attitudes toward concubinage were complex and evolved over time. While the system was widely accepted and institutionalized, it was not without criticism. Some Confucian scholars expressed reservations about the moral implications of maintaining multiple sexual partners, advocating for the primacy of monogamous unions. Religion Hinduism Ancient Hindu texts, such as the Vedas, Upanishads, and the two major epics, the Mahabharata and the Ramayana, provide glimpses into the complex attitudes towards sexuality. Hinduism traditionally recognizes four main goals in life, known as Purusharthas, one of which is Kama, representing desire, including sexual desire. The Kama Sutra, an ancient Indian text attributed to Vatsyayana, is a well-known treatise on the art of love and sexual behavior, emphasizing not only the physical aspects but also the psychological and emotional dimensions of intimate relationships. The concept of dharma, or righteous living, is central to Hindu ethics, and it guides individuals in their moral and social responsibilities. While Hindu scriptures often advocate for sexual restraint and fidelity within the institution of marriage, they also acknowledge the legitimacy of desire and the importance of fulfilling one's marital duties. The Mahabharata, for example, contains stories that explore the complexities of relationships, including instances of polyandry and extramarital affairs, reflecting the diversity of human experiences. The diversity of Hindu traditions and sects contributes to varying perspectives on situational sexual behavior. Some sects, like the Nath and Tantric traditions, incorporate rituals and practices that explore the integration of spirituality and sexuality. Tantra, in particular, emphasizes the harmonization of opposites, including the union of masculine and feminine energies. In contemporary Hinduism, attitudes towards sexuality can vary widely. Urbanization, globalization, and changing social norms have influenced how individuals practice their faith and navigate issues related to sexuality. Many Hindus today seek a balance between traditional values and modern perspectives, leading to diverse approaches to situational sexual behavior. Christianity Christianity, as a global religion with numerous denominations, lacks a uniform stance on issues related to sexuality, and beliefs and practices can vary widely among adherents. The foundational texts of Christianity, including the Bible, address various aspects of human relationships and sexuality. The New Testament, for instance, contains teachings attributed to Jesus Christ and letters from apostles that touch upon ethical considerations and moral conduct. Traditional Christian teachings emphasize the sacredness of marriage, fidelity, and the importance of sexual relations within the bounds of marriage. The Catholic Church, one of the largest Christian denominations, has historically held a conservative stance on sexual ethics. The Catechism of the Catholic Church highlights the significance of marital fidelity and condemns premarital and extramarital sex. The use of contraception is also generally discouraged within this tradition. Protestant Christianity encompasses a wide spectrum of beliefs and practices, ranging from conservative to liberal interpretations. While some Protestant denominations align closely with traditional teachings on sexual ethics, others may adopt more permissive views, recognizing the importance of responsible and consensual sexual conduct within the context of committed relationships. Contemporary Christian discussions on situational sexual behavior often involve debates on issues such as premarital sex, contraception, homosexuality, and divorce. In more liberal Christian circles, there is an increasing acknowledgment of the diverse expressions of human sexuality and a move towards inclusivity. Some progressive Christian communities affirm LGBTQ+ relationships and challenge traditional norms around gender and sexuality. Within the broader Christian landscape, there are also denominations and communities that integrate more contemplative or mystical perspectives, exploring the spiritual dimensions of sexuality. Additionally, some Christian thinkers draw inspiration from the concept of agape, or selfless love, as a guiding principle in discussions about sexual ethics. Islam Situational sexual behavior in Islam is shaped by the teachings of the Quran, the Hadith (sayings and actions of Muhammad), and diverse cultural interpretations within the global Muslim community. The Quran, considered by Muslims as the literal word of God as revealed to Muhammad, contains principles and guidelines relevant to sexual conduct. The Quran emphasizes the sanctity of marriage and promotes the idea that sexual relations are permissible within the confines of a lawful marital relationship. The family, as the fundamental unit of society, is accorded great importance, and marital relations are encouraged as a means of companionship, procreation, and mutual support. Islamic teachings generally prohibit premarital and extramarital sex, considering them violations of the moral and legal boundaries established by Islam. The Quran explicitly states the importance of chastity and modesty, encouraging both men and women to lower their gaze. Adultery is condemned, and punishments for such offenses are outlined, although enforcement practices vary among Muslim-majority countries. In Islam, the concept of "zina" refers to illicit sexual relations and includes premarital sex, adultery, and homosexuality. Islamic jurisprudence provides guidelines for legal and moral consequences for those found guilty of engaging in zina, but interpretations of these consequences can differ among various sects and cultural contexts. Issues related to contraception, family planning, and reproductive health are also discussed within the context of Islam. While some scholars advocate for responsible family planning within the bounds of Islamic ethics, others may emphasize the importance of procreation and the family as a cornerstone of Islamic society. Judaism Judaism places a strong emphasis on the sanctity of marriage and family life. The Torah upholds the institution of marriage as a sacred covenant, encouraging sexual relations within the bounds of a lawful marital relationship. Premarital and extramarital sexual conduct are generally discouraged, and adultery is considered a serious transgression. The concept of "taharat hamishpacha," or family purity, is an integral aspect of Jewish marital relations. This set of laws outlines guidelines for sexual conduct within the context of a woman's menstrual cycle, emphasizing periods of abstinence and intimacy during specific times. Jewish ethics emphasize the importance of consent, communication, and mutual respect within marital relationships. While the tradition encourages procreation and views children as a blessing, it also recognizes the broader purposes of marriage, including companionship and emotional support. Within the diverse Jewish tradition, there are differences in interpretation and practice among various denominations and cultural contexts. Orthodox Judaism tends to adhere more strictly to traditional teachings, while Reform and Conservative Judaism may allow for greater flexibility in certain aspects of sexual behavior. Modern examples Prisons Prisons, as confined environments with restricted personal freedoms, present unique challenges in managing and regulating sexual behavior among inmates. Incarceration often leads to heightened levels of stress, isolation, and power imbalances, creating an environment where situational sexual behavior can manifest. The dynamics may involve consensual relationships, coercion, or non-consensual encounters. In some instances, the power dynamics among inmates may contribute to sexual exploitation and abuse. Prison administrations worldwide implement varying policies to address and regulate sexual behavior among inmates. Many jurisdictions strictly prohibit any form of sexual activity, considering it a violation of prison rules. Authorities aim to maintain a secure and orderly environment while also addressing the potential for abuse and exploitation. Advocates argue for policies that prioritize the prevention of sexual violence, protection of vulnerable inmates, and access to education and rehabilitation programs to address the underlying factors contributing to such behavior. Military Situationally induced sexual behavior in the military refers to instances where individuals within the armed forces engage in sexual activities influenced by specific circumstances or environments unique to military settings. Such behaviors can encompass a range of actions, from consensual relationships to instances of sexual harassment or assault. The military environment, characterized by close living quarters, hierarchical structures, and high-stress situations, may contribute to the emergence of situational sexual behavior. Factors such as deployment, isolation, and the power dynamics inherent in military relationships can play a role in shaping these behaviors. Addressing situational sexual behavior in the military is a multifaceted challenge, requiring a combination of preventive measures, education, and robust policies. Military organizations globally strive to create a culture that promotes respect, consent, and professionalism while addressing issues of sexual misconduct through training programs, reporting mechanisms, and support services for affected individuals. College Situational sexual behavior in college refers to instances where individuals engage in sexual activities influenced by specific circumstances or environments within an academic setting. College life, marked by increased independence, social interactions, and exploration of personal relationships, can give rise to a variety of situational sexual behaviors. Factors contributing to situational sexual behavior in college may include newfound freedom, peer influences, and the dynamic social environment. Parties, dormitory living, and academic stress can create situations where individuals may engage in consensual sexual activities or form relationships. While many instances of situational sexual behavior in college are consensual and reflective of personal choices, it is crucial to address potential challenges, such as communication, consent, and the impact of alcohol or substance use. Educational institutions often implement programs and policies to promote healthy relationships, consent education, and resources for addressing issues of sexual misconduct. Bacha bazi Bacha bazi, translated as "boy play" in Dari, is a controversial and exploitative form of situational sexual behavior with deep cultural roots in parts of Afghanistan. In this practice, young boys, often from vulnerable backgrounds, are coerced or forced into sexual relationships with older men, who may act as patrons or mentors. This culturally complex phenomenon blends elements of traditional entertainment, power dynamics, and exploitation. Bacha bazi is characterized by the grooming and dressing of boys in feminine attire, with performances involving singing and dancing at social gatherings. Despite being officially condemned by Afghan authorities, the practice persists in some regions due to a combination of poverty, societal norms, and the influence of powerful individuals. The ethical implications and human rights concerns associated with Bacha bazi have led to increased international attention and efforts to address this form of situational sexual behavior. Human rights organizations, governmental bodies, and activists work to raise awareness, advocate for policy changes, and provide support to those affected, striving to eliminate the exploitation of vulnerable individuals in this context. The complex interplay of cultural, social, and economic factors makes the eradication of Bacha Bazi a challenging and ongoing endeavor. Psychological perspective Sexual fluidity Sexual fluidity, the concept that an individual's sexual orientation can be flexible and may change over time, can have implications for situational sexual behavior. Sexual fluidity suggests that an individual's attractions and desires may not be fixed and can be influenced by various factors, including situational contexts. In the realm of situational sexual behavior, sexual fluidity implies that an individual's response to specific circumstances or environments may lead to shifts in their sexual behavior or preferences. For example, someone who identifies as primarily heterosexual or homosexual may find themselves engaging in situational sexual behaviors that deviate from their usual patterns due to unique situations, such as the dynamics of a particular social setting or the influence of personal relationships like engaging in homosexual acts during a threesome. Understanding sexual fluidity in the context of situational sexual behavior emphasizes the importance of acknowledging the diversity and variability of human sexuality. It highlights that sexual behavior is not always rigidly tied to fixed orientations and can be influenced by a range of situational factors. Social identity Social identities can significantly influence situational sexual behaviors, as individuals navigate complex interactions shaped by cultural, societal, and personal factors. Social identities, such as gender, race, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, and sexual orientation, play a crucial role in shaping one's attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors in various situations. The impact of social identities on situational sexual behaviors is evident in cultural norms, societal expectations, and interpersonal dynamics. For example, individuals may engage in certain sexual behaviors or adhere to specific relationship norms based on societal expectations associated with their social identity. Power dynamics related to gender, for instance, can influence how individuals navigate consent and communication in sexual situations as seen in military and prison settings. Furthermore, social identities contribute to the formation of communities and subcultures, influencing the norms and practices within those groups. These norms can, in turn, shape situational sexual behaviors within specific social contexts. Ethical considerations Informed consent Informed consent is a voluntary, clear, and explicit agreement between all parties involved, ensuring that individuals have a comprehensive understanding of the nature and implications of the sexual activity. This includes awareness of potential risks, the ability to freely express boundaries, and the assurance that consent can be withdrawn at any point. The ethical foundation of situational sexual behavior rests on the principle of informed consent, emphasizing respect for autonomy, communication, and a shared understanding of the dynamics at play. Practicing informed consent is not only a legal requirement in many jurisdictions but also a fundamental aspect of fostering healthy, respectful, and consensual interactions. Power dynamics Power imbalances, often present in hierarchical structures or relationships, can impact the ability of individuals to freely express their desires, set boundaries, or give genuine consent. Ethical considerations in situational sexual behavior necessitate an awareness of power differentials and a commitment to ensuring equitable and consensual interactions. Addressing and mitigating power imbalances is essential for promoting a safe and respectful environment, free from coercion or exploitation, and fostering relationships based on mutual respect and understanding. See also Homosexual panic Prison sexuality Sex tourism Situational offender References Further reading Human sexuality

Place identity

Place identity or place-based identity refers to a cluster of ideas about place and identity in the fields of geography, urban planning, urban design, landscape architecture, interior design, spatial design, environmental psychology, ecocriticism and urban sociology/ecological sociology. Place identity is sometimes called urban character, neighbourhood character or local character. Place identity has become a significant issue in the last 25 years in urban planning and design. Place identity concerns the meaning and significance of places for their inhabitants and users, and how these meanings contribute to individuals' conceptualizations of self. Place identity also relates to the context of modernity, history and the politics of representation. In other words, historical determinism, which intersects historical events, social spaces and groups by gender, class, ethnicity. In this way, it explores how spaces have evolved over time by exploring the social constructs through time and the development of space, place and power. To the same extent, the politics of representation is brought into context, as the making of place identity in a community also relates to the exclusion or inclusion in a community. Through this, some have argued that place identity has become an area for social change because it gives marginalized communities agency over their own spaces. In the same respect, it is argued that place identity has also been used to intervene social change and perpetuate oppression from a top-down approach by creating segregated spaces for marginalized communities. Place attachment and sense of place In some ways it is related to the concepts of place attachment and sense of place. Place identity is largely related to the concepts of community formation because it recognizes that geographical spaces do not solely bond a community together but rather there are social bonds that account for community formation. Those social forces often are feelings of belonging and security, which involve theoretical formations of community. Theoretical formations of community, which were identified in Community: Seeking Safety in an Insecure World (Bauman, 2001) act as bonds formed by similar locality, culture, language, kinship and/or experiences. In addition, identity also conceptualizes feelings of security and freedom as one is able to self-identify and especially when it comes to being able to foster agency over community formation. In addition, the similar and shared experiences of culture, language and locality foster the sense of community. This fostering of community is largely seen as an extension of agency because when a community is able to achieve a sense of place and place attachment, this allows for individuals to reinforce their own identities and strengthen their bonds within their community. Methodology Methodologies for understanding place identity primarily involve qualitative techniques, such as interviewing, participant observation, discourse analysis and mapping a range of physical elements. Some urban planners, urban designers and landscape architects use forms of deliberative planning, design charettes and participatory design with local communities as a way of working with place identity to transform existing places as well as create new ones. This kind of planning and design process is sometimes referred to as placemaking. Case studies The following case studies are examples of how place identity is researched on the field. Cape Cod, Massachusetts In a study by Lee Cuba and David M. Hummon (1993), they focus on Cape Cod, Massachusetts residents and how social and environmental factors are associated with place identity. Place identity in regards to "at-homeness" was defined by existence, affiliations, and locus. Community members were asked if they feel at home in Cape Cod to measure the positive responses for existence. The open-ended responses to why community members feel at home were used to measure place affiliation. A close-ended question, "Do you associate feeling at home with living in this particular house or apartment, with living in this community, or with living on the Cape, in general?" was used to measure locus. Most respondents reported they did feel "at home". Michigan and the Great Lakes Michigan and the Great Lakes are analyzed to see the values and connections shared within the residents of Michigan. A questionnaire was given to Michigan residents to see how attached the residents are. The questionnaire consisted of statements and the statements were evaluated through the five-point Likert scale. As a result, the data revealed "Michigan's voters have developed a strong sense of place regarding the state". These two case studies shows that place has a lot more to offer than just a physical location. Understanding how to measure a sense of place assists policy makers in decision making and in creating potential policy implementation. Policymakers will take the community's issues into consideration during the planning process earlier and more thoroughly once they understand the values of a community in relation to place identity. See also Community of place, a community of people bound together because of where they frequently spend time Nature connectedness, the extent to which individuals include nature as part of their identity Neighborhood character, the look and feel of an area Social architecture, design of an environment to encourage desired social behaviors Urban vitality, the quality of spaces in cities that attract people References General references Cuba, L. & Hummon, D.M. (1993). A place to call home: Identification with dwelling, community, and region. The Sociological Quarterly, 34 (1), 111-131. Hague, C. and Jenkins, P. (Eds) (2005). Place identity, planning and participation, London; New York : Routledge, 2005. (hard cover) 0415262429 (soft cover) 0203646754 (ebook) Proshansky, H. M. (1978). 'The city and self-identity', Journal of Environment and Behaviour, Vol. 10, pp. 57–83 Nanzer, B. (2004). Measuring sense of place: A scale of Michigan. Administrative Theory & Praxis, 26 (3), 362-382. Proshansky, H. M., Fabian, A. K. and Kaminoff, R. (1983). 'Place-identity: Physical world socialization of the self', Journal of Environmental Psychology, Vol. 3, pp. 57–83 Relph, E (1976) Place and placelessness. London: Pion, 1976 Urban studies and planning terminology Geography Urban design

Tourist attraction

A tourist attraction is a place of interest that tourists visit, typically for its inherent or an exhibited natural or cultural value, historical significance, natural or built beauty, offering leisure and amusement. Types Places of natural beauty such as beaches, tropical island resorts, national parks, mountains, deserts and forests, are examples of traditional tourist attractions which people may visit. Cultural tourist attractions can include historical places, sites of significant historic event, monuments, ancient temples, zoos, aquaria, museums and art galleries, botanical gardens, buildings and structures (such as forts, castles, libraries, former prisons, skyscrapers, bridges), theme parks and carnivals, living history museums, public art (sculptures, statues, murals), ethnic enclave communities, historic trains and cultural events. Factory tours, industrial heritage, creative art and crafts workshops are the object of cultural niches like industrial tourism and creative tourism. Many tourist attractions are also landmarks. But sports events such as a soccer game, Formula 1 race or sailing regatta can also attract tourists. Tourists' expectations when visiting a particular place are related to several features of the chosen destination: culture, architecture, gastronomy, infrastructure, landscape, events, shopping, etc. These features attract people to the destination and contribute to the overall experience of the trip. The ultimate primary purpose of attractions is to attract the customer's attention so that they can come to a specific location and explore the various attractions on vacation. In the travel and tourism industry, attractions therefore play a particularly important role as this attracts tourists from all over the world. Tourist attractions are also created to capitalize on legends such as a supposed UFO crash site near Roswell, New Mexico and the alleged Loch Ness monster sightings in Scotland. Ethnic communities may become tourist attractions, such as Chinatowns in the United States and the black British neighborhood of Brixton in London, England. Tourists also look for special local culinary experiences such as street kitchens in Asian metropolises or the coffeehouse culture in Central Europe. In particular, cultural property and the individual places of the UNESCO World Heritage Site have developed into tourist attractions. If too many tourists frequent individual places, this can lead to environmental pollution and resistance from the local population, such as in Barcelona or Venice. With regard to this whole subject, there are already lists of destinations that are not recommended to tourists. There are innumerable lists and reviews of tourist attractions. Visitor statistics, cultural significance, beauty or age are used and these always reflect the author's personal assessments. Sometimes it is particularly emphasized that this particular tourist attraction has not yet been in the focus of the international tourism industry. Some of the sights are internationally known or target the national or local market. Some attractions are reserved for the local population or are rarely advertised because the main traffic routes and main airports are too far away. In the United States, owners and marketers of attractions advertise tourist attractions on billboards along the sides of highways and roadways, especially in remote areas. Tourist attractions often distribute free promotional brochures to be displayed in rest areas, information centers, fast food restaurants, and motel rooms or lobbies. While some tourist attractions provide visitors a memorable experience for a reasonable admission charge or even for free, others may be of low quality and overprice their goods and services (such as admission, food, and souvenirs) in order to profit excessively from tourists. Such places are commonly known as tourist traps. Within cities, rides on boats and sightseeing buses are sometimes popular. Examples Human-made attractions Natural tourist attractions Cultural tourist attractions Novelty attractions Novelty attractions are oddities such as the "biggest ball of twine" in Cawker City, Kansas, the Corn Palace in Mitchell, South Dakota, or Carhenge in Alliance, Nebraska, where old cars serve in the place of stones in a replica of Stonehenge. Novelty attractions are not limited to the American Midwest, but are part of Midwestern culture. Tourist destination A tourist destination is a city, town, or other area that is significantly dependent on revenues from tourism, or "a country, state, region, city, or town which is marketed or markets itself as a place for tourists to visit". It may contain one or more tourist attractions and possibly some "tourist traps". Fátima town, for example, is a popular tourist destination in Portugal. Siem Reap town is a popular tourist destination in Cambodia, mainly owing to its proximity to the Angkor temples. The Loire valley, the third tourist destination in France, is a good example of a region marketed and branded as a place for tourists to visit, mainly known for its Châteaux of the Loire valley. A tropical island resort is an island or archipelago that depends on tourism as its source of revenue. The Bahamas in the Caribbean, Bali in Indonesia, Phuket in Thailand, Hawaii in the United States, Fiji in the Pacific, and Santorini and Ibiza in the Mediterranean are examples of popular island resorts. France, the United States, and Spain were the three most popular international destinations in 2017. The total number of international travelers arriving in those countries was about 234 million, contributing 8.9%, 7.7%, and 14.9%, respectively, to the total GDP of those countries. Although some years back, Africa was lean on tourism, the continent is currently regarded as the second fastest growing tourism region with over 67 million tourists visits to Africa in 2018. Ethiopia, with a growth rate of 48.6% in 2018, is at the top of the list of African tourist centers. Other tourist locations in Africa include Cape Town, South Africa, Giza Necropolis, Egypt, The Maasai Mara National Reserve, Kenya, Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe and Zambia. From the tourism industry supply perspective, a destination is usually defined by a geo-political boundary, and destination marketing is most commonly funded by governments. From the traveler perspective, a destination might be perceived quite differently. Economic impact and protection Tourism generates substantial economic benefits for both host countries and tourists' home countries. Especially in developing countries, one of the primary motivations for a region to promote itself as a tourism destination is the expected economic benefit. According to the World Tourism Organization, 698 million people travelled to a foreign country in 2000, spending more than US$478 billion. International tourism receipts combined with passenger transport currently total more than US$575 billion – making tourism the world's number one export earner. Tourist attractions can: contribute to government revenues; direct contributions are generated by taxes on incomes from tourism employment and tourism businesses, and by direct levies on tourists, such as departure taxes provide employment support conservation of habitats, species and historic sites stimulate infrastructure investment contribute to local economies provide foreign currency earnings In the event of war, many tourist attractions are a special goal in order to cause lasting damage to the enemy or to finance the war. International attempts are therefore made to protect and preserve these economic and cultural foundations of a community, city or country. There is intensive cooperation between the United Nations, UNESCO and Blue Shield International on the protection of cultural goods and UNESCO World Heritage Sites. However, cooperation between organizations and state authorities is not enough to prevent destruction, robbery and looting. The founding president of Blue Shield International Karl von Habsburg summed it up with the words: “Without the local community and without the local participants, that would be completely impossible”. See also Cultural tourism Impacts of tourism Lists of tourist attractions Overtourism Tourism World Heritage Site Sustainable Tourism World Tourism Day References External links Attraction Recreation Attraction

Paradigm shift

A paradigm shift is a fundamental change in the basic concepts and experimental practices of a scientific discipline. It is a concept in the philosophy of science that was introduced and brought into the common lexicon by the American physicist and philosopher Thomas Kuhn. Even though Kuhn restricted the use of the term to the natural sciences, the concept of a paradigm shift has also been used in numerous non-scientific contexts to describe a profound change in a fundamental model or perception of events. Kuhn presented his notion of a paradigm shift in his influential book The Structure of Scientific Revolutions (1962). Kuhn contrasts paradigm shifts, which characterize a Scientific Revolution, to the activity of normal science, which he describes as scientific work done within a prevailing framework or paradigm. Paradigm shifts arise when the dominant paradigm under which normal science operates is rendered incompatible with new phenomena, facilitating the adoption of a new theory or paradigm. As one commentator summarizes: History The nature of scientific revolutions has been studied by modern philosophy since Immanuel Kant used the phrase in the preface to the second edition of his Critique of Pure Reason (1787). Kant used the phrase "revolution of the way of thinking" to refer to Greek mathematics and Newtonian physics. In the 20th century, new developments in the basic concepts of mathematics, physics, and biology revitalized interest in the question among scholars. Original usage In his 1962 book The Structure of Scientific Revolutions, Kuhn explains the development of paradigm shifts in science into four stages: Normal science – In this stage, which Kuhn sees as most prominent in science, a dominant paradigm is active. This paradigm is characterized by a set of theories and ideas that define what is possible and rational to do, giving scientists a clear set of tools to approach certain problems. Some examples of dominant paradigms that Kuhn gives are: Newtonian physics, caloric theory, and the theory of electromagnetism. Insofar as paradigms are useful, they expand both the scope and the tools with which scientists do research. Kuhn stresses that, rather than being monolithic, the paradigms that define normal science can be particular to different people. A chemist and a physicist might operate with different paradigms of what a helium atom is. Under normal science, scientists encounter anomalies that cannot be explained by the universally accepted paradigm within which scientific progress has thereto been made. Extraordinary research – When enough significant anomalies have accrued against a current paradigm, the scientific discipline is thrown into a state of crisis. To address the crisis, scientists push the boundaries of normal science in what Kuhn calls “extraordinary research”, which is characterized by its exploratory nature. Without the structures of the dominant paradigm to depend on, scientists engaging in extraordinary research must produce new theories, thought experiments, and experiments to explain the anomalies. Kuhn sees the practice of this stage – “the proliferation of competing articulations, the willingness to try anything, the expression of explicit discontent, the recourse to philosophy and to debate over fundamentals” – as even more important to science than paradigm shifts. Adoption of a new paradigm – Eventually a new paradigm is formed, which gains its own new followers. For Kuhn, this stage entails both resistance to the new paradigm, and reasons for why individual scientists adopt it. According to Max Planck, "a new scientific truth does not triumph by convincing its opponents and making them see the light, but rather because its opponents eventually die, and a new generation grows up that is familiar with it." Because scientists are committed to the dominant paradigm, and paradigm shifts involve gestalt-like changes, Kuhn stresses that paradigms are difficult to change. However, paradigms can gain influence by explaining or predicting phenomena much better than before (i.e., Bohr's model of the atom) or by being more subjectively pleasing. During this phase, proponents for competing paradigms address what Kuhn considers the core of a paradigm debate: whether a given paradigm will be a good guide for problems – things that neither the proposed paradigm nor the dominant paradigm are capable of solving currently. Aftermath of the scientific revolution – In the long run, the new paradigm becomes institutionalized as the dominant one. Textbooks are written, obscuring the revolutionary process. Features Paradigm shifts and progress A common misinterpretation of paradigms is the belief that the discovery of paradigm shifts and the dynamic nature of science (with its many opportunities for subjective judgments by scientists) are a case for relativism: the view that all kinds of belief systems are equal. Kuhn vehemently denies this interpretation and states that when a scientific paradigm is replaced by a new one, albeit through a complex social process, the new one is always better, not just different. Incommensurability These claims of relativism are, however, tied to another claim that Kuhn does at least somewhat endorse: that the language and theories of different paradigms cannot be translated into one another or rationally evaluated against one another—that they are incommensurable. This gave rise to much talk of different peoples and cultures having radically different worldviews or conceptual schemes—so different that whether or not one was better, they could not be understood by one another. However, the philosopher Donald Davidson published the highly regarded essay "On the Very Idea of a Conceptual Scheme" in 1974 arguing that the notion that any languages or theories could be incommensurable with one another was itself incoherent. If this is correct, Kuhn's claims must be taken in a weaker sense than they often are. Furthermore, the hold of the Kuhnian analysis on social science has long been tenuous, with the wide application of multi-paradigmatic approaches in order to understand complex human behaviour. Gradualism vs. sudden change Paradigm shifts tend to be most dramatic in sciences that appear to be stable and mature, as in physics at the end of the 19th century. At that time, physics seemed to be a discipline filling in the last few details of a largely worked-out system. In The Structure of Scientific Revolutions, Kuhn wrote, "Successive transition from one paradigm to another via revolution is the usual developmental pattern of mature science" (p. 12). Kuhn's idea was itself revolutionary in its time as it caused a major change in the way that academics talk about science. Thus, it could be argued that it caused or was itself part of a "paradigm shift" in the history and sociology of science. However, Kuhn would not recognise such a paradigm shift. In the social sciences, people can still use earlier ideas to discuss the history of science. Philosophers and historians of science, including Kuhn himself, ultimately accepted a modified version of Kuhn's model, which synthesizes his original view with the gradualist model that preceded it. Examples Natural sciences Some of the "classical cases" of Kuhnian paradigm shifts in science are: 1543 – The transition in cosmology from a Ptolemaic cosmology to a Copernican one. 1543 – The acceptance of the work of Andreas Vesalius, whose work De humani corporis fabrica corrected the numerous errors in the previously held system of human anatomy created by Galen. 1687 – The transition in mechanics from Aristotelian mechanics to classical mechanics. 1783 – The acceptance of Lavoisier's theory of chemical reactions and combustion in place of phlogiston theory, known as the chemical revolution. The transition in optics from geometrical optics to physical optics with Augustin-Jean Fresnel's wave theory. 1826 – The discovery of hyperbolic geometry. 1830 to 1833 – Geologist Charles Lyell published Principles of Geology, which not only put forth the concept of uniformitarianism, which was in direct contrast to the popular geological theory, at the time, catastrophism, but also utilized geological proof to determine that the age of the Earth was older than 6,000 years, which was previously held to be true. 1859 – The revolution in evolution from goal-directed change to Charles Darwin's natural selection. 1880 – The germ theory of disease began overtaking Galen's miasma theory. 1905 – The development of quantum mechanics, which replaced classical mechanics at microscopic scales. 1887 to 1905 – The transition from the luminiferous aether present in space to electromagnetic radiation in spacetime. 1919 – The transition between the worldview of Newtonian gravity and general relativity. 1920 – The emergence of the modern view of the Milky Way as just one of countless galaxies within an immeasurably vast universe following the results of the Smithsonian's Great Debate between astronomers Harlow Shapley and Heber Curtis. 1952 – Chemists Stanley Miller and Harold Urey perform an experiment which simulated the conditions on the early Earth that favored chemical reactions that synthesized more complex organic compounds from simpler inorganic precursors, kickstarting decades of research into the chemical origins of life. 1964 – The discovery of cosmic microwave background radiation leads to the big bang theory being accepted over the steady state theory in cosmology. 1965 – The acceptance of plate tectonics as the explanation for large-scale geologic changes. 1969 – Astronomer Victor Safronov, in his book Evolution of the protoplanetary cloud and formation of the Earth and the planets, developed the early version of the current accepted theory of planetary formation. 1974 – The November Revolution, with the discovery of the J/psi meson, and the acceptance of the existence of quarks and the Standard Model of particle physics. 1960 to 1985 – The acceptance of the ubiquity of nonlinear dynamical systems as promoted by chaos theory, instead of a laplacian world-view of deterministic predictability. Social sciences In Kuhn's view, the existence of a single reigning paradigm is characteristic of the natural sciences, while philosophy and much of social science were characterized by a "tradition of claims, counterclaims, and debates over fundamentals." Others have applied Kuhn's concept of paradigm shift to the social sciences. The movement known as the cognitive revolution moved away from behaviourist approaches to psychology and the acceptance of cognition as central to studying human behavior. Anthropologist Franz Boas published The Mind of Primitive Man, which integrated his theories concerning the history and development of cultures and established a program that would dominate American anthropology in the following years. His research, along with that of his other colleagues, combatted and debunked the claims being made by scholars at the time, given scientific racism and eugenics were dominant in many universities and institutions that were dedicated to studying humans and society. Eventually anthropology would apply a holistic approach, utilizing four subcategories to study humans: archaeology, cultural, evolutionary, and linguistic anthropology. At the turn of the 20th century, sociologists, along with other social scientists developed and adopted methodological antipositivism, which sought to uphold a subjective perspective when studying human activities pertaining to culture, society, and behavior. This was in stark contrast to positivism, which took its influence from the methodologies utilized within the natural sciences. First proposed by Ferdinand de Saussure in 1879, the laryngeal theory in Indo-European linguistics postulated the existence of "laryngeal" consonants in the Proto-Indo-European language (PIE), a theory that was confirmed by the discovery of the Hittite language in the early 20th century. The theory has since been accepted by the vast majority of linguists, paving the way for the internal reconstruction of the syntax and grammatical rules of PIE and is considered one of the most significant developments in linguistics since the initial discovery of the Indo-European language family. The adoption of radiocarbon dating by archaeologists has been proposed as a paradigm shift because of how it greatly increased the time depth the archaeologists could reliably date objects from. Similarly the use of LIDAR for remote geospatial imaging of cultural landscapes, and the shift from processual to post-processual archaeology have both been claimed as paradigm shifts by archaeologists. The emergence of three-phase traffic theory created by Boris Kerner in vehicular traffic science as an alternative theory to classical (standard) traffic flow theories. Applied sciences More recently, paradigm shifts are also recognisable in applied sciences: In medicine, the transition from "clinical judgment" to evidence-based medicine. In Artificial Intelligence, the transition from a knowledge-based to a data-driven paradigm has been discussed from 2010. Other uses The term "paradigm shift" has found uses in other contexts, representing the notion of a major change in a certain thought pattern—a radical change in personal beliefs, complex systems or organizations, replacing the former way of thinking or organizing with a radically different way of thinking or organizing: M. L. Handa, a professor of sociology in education at O.I.S.E. University of Toronto, Canada, developed the concept of a paradigm within the context of social sciences. He defines what he means by "paradigm" and introduces the idea of a "social paradigm". In addition, he identifies the basic component of any social paradigm. Like Kuhn, he addresses the issue of changing paradigms, the process popularly known as "paradigm shift". In this respect, he focuses on the social circumstances that precipitate such a shift. Relatedly, he addresses how that shift affects social institutions, including the institution of education. The concept has been developed for technology and economics in the identification of new techno-economic paradigms as changes in technological systems that have a major influence on the behaviour of the entire economy (Carlota Perez; earlier work only on technological paradigms by Giovanni Dosi). This concept is linked to Joseph Schumpeter's idea of creative destruction. Examples include the move to mass production and the introduction of microelectronics. Two photographs of the Earth from space, "Earthrise" (1968) and "The Blue Marble" (1972), are thought to have helped to usher in the environmentalist movement, which gained great prominence in the years immediately following distribution of those images. Hans Küng applies Thomas Kuhn's theory of paradigm change to the entire history of Christian thought and theology. He identifies six historical "macromodels": 1) the apocalyptic paradigm of primitive Christianity, 2) the Hellenistic paradigm of the patristic period, 3) the medieval Roman Catholic paradigm, 4) the Protestant (Reformation) paradigm, 5) the modern Enlightenment paradigm, and 6) the emerging ecumenical paradigm. He also discusses five analogies between natural science and theology in relation to paradigm shifts. Küng addresses paradigm change in his books, Paradigm Change in Theology and Theology for the Third Millennium: An Ecumenical View. In the later part of the 1990s, 'paradigm shift' emerged as a buzzword, popularized as marketing speak and appearing more frequently in print and publication. In his book Mind The Gaffe, author Larry Trask advises readers to refrain from using it, and to use caution when reading anything that contains the phrase. It is referred to in several articles and books as abused and overused to the point of becoming meaningless. The concept of technological paradigms has been advanced, particularly by Giovanni Dosi. Criticism In a 2015 retrospective on Kuhn, the philosopher Martin Cohen describes the notion of the paradigm shift as a kind of intellectual virus – spreading from hard science to social science and on to the arts and even everyday political rhetoric today. Cohen claims that Kuhn had only a very hazy idea of what it might mean and, in line with the Austrian philosopher of science Paul Feyerabend, accuses Kuhn of retreating from the more radical implications of his theory, which are that scientific facts are never really more than opinions whose popularity is transitory and far from conclusive. Cohen says scientific knowledge is less certain than it is usually portrayed, and that science and knowledge generally is not the 'very sensible and reassuringly solid sort of affair' that Kuhn describes, in which progress involves periodic paradigm shifts in which much of the old certainties are abandoned in order to open up new approaches to understanding that scientists would never have considered valid before. He argues that information cascades can distort rational, scientific debate. He has focused on health issues, including the example of highly mediatised 'pandemic' alarms, and why they have turned out eventually to be little more than scares. See also (author of Paradigm Shift) References Citations Sources External links MIT 6.933J – The Structure of Engineering Revolutions. From MIT OpenCourseWare, course materials (graduate level) for a course on the history of technology through a Kuhnian lens. Change Cognition Concepts in epistemology Concepts in the philosophy of science Consensus reality Critical thinking Epistemology of science Historiography of science Innovation Philosophical theories Reasoning Scientific Revolution Thomas Kuhn

Education reform

Education reform is the name given to the goal of changing public education. The meaning and education methods have changed through debates over what content or experiences result in an educated individual or an educated society. Historically, the motivations for reform have not reflected the current needs of society. A consistent theme of reform includes the idea that large systematic changes to educational standards will produce social returns in citizens' health, wealth, and well-being. As part of the broader social and political processes, the term education reform refers to the chronology of significant, systematic revisions made to amend the educational legislation, standards, methodology, and policy affecting a nation's public school system to reflect the needs and values of contemporary society. 18th century, classical education instruction from an in-home personal tutor, hired at the family's expense, was primarily a privilege for children from wealthy families. Innovations such as encyclopedias, public libraries, and grammar schools all aimed to relieve some of the financial burden associated with the expenses of the classical education model. Motivations during the Victorian era emphasized the importance of self-improvement. Victorian education focused on teaching commercially valuable topics, such as modern languages and mathematics, rather than classical liberal arts subjects, such as Latin, art, and history. Motivations for education reformists like Horace Mann and his proponents focused on making schooling more accessible and developing a robust state-supported common school system. John Dewey, an early 20th-century reformer, focused on improving society by advocating for a scientific, pragmatic, or democratic principle-based curriculum. Whereas Maria Montessori incorporated humanistic motivations to "meet the needs of the child". In historic Prussia, a motivation to foster national unity led to formal education concentrated on teaching national language literacy to young children, resulting in Kindergarten. The history of educational pedagogy in the United States has ranged from teaching literacy and proficiency of religious doctrine to establishing cultural literacy, assimilating immigrants into a democratic society, producing a skilled labor force for the industrialized workplace, preparing students for careers, and competing in a global marketplace. Education inequality is also a motivation for education reform, seeking to address problems of a community. Motivations for education reform Education reform, in general, implies a continual effort to modify and improve the institution of education. Over time, as the needs and values of society change, attitudes towards public education change. As a social institution, education plays an integral role in the process of socialization. "Socialization is broadly composed of distinct inter- and intra-generational processes. Both involve the harmonization of an individual's attitudes and behaviors with that of their socio-cultural milieu." Educational matrices mean to reinforce those socially acceptable informal and formal norms, values, and beliefs that individuals need to learn in order to be accepted as good, functioning, and productive members of their society. Education reform is the process of constantly renegotiating and restructuring the educational standards to reflect the ever-evolving contemporary ideals of social, economic, and political culture. Reforms can be based on bringing education into alignment with a society's core values. Reforms that attempt to change a society's core values can connect alternative education initiatives with a network of other alternative institutions. Education reform has been pursued for a variety of specific reasons, but generally most reforms aim at redressing some societal ills, such as poverty-, gender-, or class-based inequities, or perceived ineffectiveness. Current education trends in the United States represent multiple achievement gaps across ethnicities, income levels, and geographies. As McKinsey and Company reported in a 2009 analysis, "These educational gaps impose on the United States the economic equivalent of a permanent national recession." Reforms are usually proposed by thinkers who aim to redress societal ills or institute societal changes, most often through a change in the education of the members of a class of people—the preparation of a ruling class to rule or a working class to work, the social hygiene of a lower or immigrant class, the preparation of citizens in a democracy or republic, etc. The idea that all children should be provided with a high level of education is a relatively recent idea, and has arisen largely in the context of Western democracy in the 20th century. The "beliefs" of school districts are optimistic that quite literally "all students will succeed", which in the context of high school graduation examination in the United States, all students in all groups, regardless of heritage or income will pass tests that in the introduction typically fall beyond the ability of all but the top 20 to 30 percent of students. The claims clearly renounce historical research that shows that all ethnic and income groups score differently on all standardized tests and standards based assessments and that students will achieve on a bell curve. Instead, education officials across the world believe that by setting clear, achievable, higher standards, aligning the curriculum, and assessing outcomes, learning can be increased for all students, and more students can succeed than the 50 percent who are defined to be above or below grade level by norm referenced standards. States have tried to use state schools to increase state power, especially to make better soldiers and workers. This strategy was first adopted to unify related linguistic groups in Europe, including France, Germany and Italy. Exact mechanisms are unclear, but it often fails in areas where populations are culturally segregated, as when the U.S. Indian school service failed to suppress Lakota and Navaho, or when a culture has widely respected autonomous cultural institutions, as when the Spanish failed to suppress Catalan. Many students of democracy have desired to improve education in order to improve the quality of governance in democratic societies; the necessity of good public education follows logically if one believes that the quality of democratic governance depends on the ability of citizens to make informed, intelligent choices, and that education can improve these abilities. Politically motivated educational reforms of the democratic type are recorded as far back as Plato in The Republic. In the United States, this lineage of democratic education reform was continued by Thomas Jefferson, who advocated ambitious reforms partly along Platonic lines for public schooling in Virginia. Another motivation for reform is the desire to address socio-economic problems, which many people see as having significant roots in lack of education. Starting in the 20th century, people have attempted to argue that small improvements in education can have large returns in such areas as health, wealth and well-being. For example, in Kerala, India in the 1950s, increases in women's health were correlated with increases in female literacy rates. In Iran, increased primary education was correlated with increased farming efficiencies and income. In both cases some researchers have concluded these correlations as representing an underlying causal relationship: education causes socio-economic benefits. In the case of Iran, researchers concluded that the improvements were due to farmers gaining reliable access to national crop prices and scientific farming information. History Classical education As taught from the 18th to the 19th century, Western classical education curriculums focused on concrete details like "Who?", "What?", "When?", "Where?". Unless carefully taught, large group instruction naturally neglects asking the theoretical "Why?" and "Which?" questions that can be discussed in smaller groups. Classical education in this period also did not teach local (vernacular) languages and culture. Instead, it taught high-status ancient languages (Greek and Latin) and their cultures. This produced odd social effects in which an intellectual class might be more loyal to ancient cultures and institutions than to their native vernacular languages and their actual governing authorities. 18th century Child-study Jean-Jacques Rousseau, father of the Child Study Movement, centered the child as an object of study. In Emile: Or, On Education, Rousseau's principal work on education lays out an educational program for a hypothetical newborn's education through adulthood. Rousseau provided a dual critique of the educational vision outlined in Plato's Republic and that of his society in contemporary Europe. He regarded the educational methods contributing to the child's development; he held that a person could either be a man or a citizen. While Plato's plan could have brought the latter at the expense of the former, contemporary education failed at both tasks. He advocated a radical withdrawal of the child from society and an educational process that utilized the child's natural potential and curiosity, teaching the child by confronting them with simulated real-life obstacles and conditioning the child through experience rather intellectual instruction. Rousseau ideas were rarely implemented directly, but influenced later thinkers, particularly Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi and Friedrich Wilhelm August Fröbel, the inventor of the kindergarten. National identity European and Asian nations regard education as essential to maintaining national, cultural, and linguistic unity. In the late 18th century (~1779), Prussia instituted primary school reforms expressly to teach a unified version of the national language, "Hochdeutsch". One significant reform was kindergarten whose purpose was to have the children participate in supervised activities taught by instructors who spoke the national language. The concept embraced the idea that children absorb new language skills more easily and quickly when they are young The current model of kindergarten is reflective of the Prussian model. In other countries, such as the Soviet Union, France, Spain, and Germany, the Prussian model has dramatically improved reading and math test scores for linguistic minorities. 19th century England In the 19th century, before the advent of government-funded public schools, Protestant organizations established Charity Schools to educate the lower social classes. The Roman Catholic Church and governments later adopted the model. Designed to be inexpensive, Charity schools operated on minimal budgets and strived to serve as many needy children as possible. This led to the development of grammar schools, which primarily focused on teaching literacy, grammar, and bookkeeping skills so that the students could use books as an inexpensive resource to continue their education. Grammar was the first third of the then-prevalent system of classical education. Educators Joseph Lancaster and Andrew Bell developed the monitorial system, also known as "mutual instruction" or the "Bell–Lancaster method". Their contemporary, educationalist and writer Elizabeth Hamilton, suggested that in some important aspects the method had been "anticipated" by the Belfast schoolmaster David Manson. In the 1760s Manson had developed a peer-teaching and monitoring system within the context of what he called a "play school" that dispensed with "the discipline of the rod". (More radically, Manson proposed the "liberty of each [child] to take the quantity [of lessons] agreeable to his inclination"). Lancaster, an impoverished Quaker during the early 19th century in London and Bell at the Madras School of India developed this model independent of one another. However, by design, their model utilizes more advanced students as a resource to teach the less advanced students; achieving student-teacher ratios as small as 1:2 and educating more than 1000 students per adult. The lack of adult supervision at the Lancaster school resulted in the older children acting as disciplinary monitors and taskmasters. To provide order and promote discipline the school implemented a unique internal economic system, inventing a currency called a Scrip. Although the currency was worthless in the outside world, it was created at a fixed exchange rate from a student's tuition and student's could use scrip to buy food, school supplies, books, and other items from the school store. Students could earn scrip through tutoring. To promote discipline, the school adopted a work-study model. Every job of the school was bid-for by students, with the largest bid winning. However, any student tutor could auction positions in his or her classes to earn scrip. The bids for student jobs paid for the adult supervision. Lancaster promoted his system in a piece called Improvements in Education that spread widely throughout the English-speaking world. Lancaster schools provided a grammar-school education with fully developed internal economies for a cost per student near $40 per year in 1999 U.S. dollars. To reduce cost and motivated to save up scrip, Lancaster students rented individual pages of textbooks from the school library instead of purchasing the textbook. Student's would read aloud their pages to groups. Students commonly exchanged tutoring and paid for items and services with receipts from down tutoring. The schools did not teach submission to orthodox Christian beliefs or government authorities. As a result, most English-speaking countries developed mandatory publicly paid education explicitly to keep public education in "responsible" hands. These elites said that Lancaster schools might become dishonest, provide poor education, and were not accountable to established authorities. Lancaster's supporters responded that any child could cheat given the opportunity, and that the government was not paying for the education and thus deserved no say in their composition. Though motivated by charity, Lancaster claimed in his pamphlets to be surprised to find that he lived well on the income of his school, even while the low costs made it available to the most impoverished street children. Ironically, Lancaster lived on the charity of friends in his later life. Modern reformist Although educational reform occurred on a local level at various points throughout history, the modern notion of education reform is tied with the spread of compulsory education. Economic growth and the spread of democracy raised the value of education and increased the importance of ensuring that all children and adults have access to free, high-quality, effective education. Modern education reforms are increasingly driven by a growing understanding of what works in education and how to go about successfully improving teaching and learning in schools. However, in some cases, the reformers' goals of "high-quality education" has meant "high-intensity education", with a narrow emphasis on teaching individual, test-friendly subskills quickly, regardless of long-term outcomes, developmental appropriateness, or broader educational goals. Horace Mann In the United States, Horace Mann (1796 – 1859) of Massachusetts used his political base and role as Secretary of the Massachusetts State Board of Education to promote public education in his home state and nationwide. Advocating a substantial public investment be made in education, Mann and his proponents developed a strong system of state supported common schools.. His crusading style attracted wide middle class support. Historian Ellwood P. Cubberley asserts: No one did more than he to establish in the minds of the American people the conception that education should be universal, non-sectarian, free, and that its aims should be social efficiency, civic virtue, and character, rather than mere learning or the advancement of sectarian ends. In 1852, Massachusetts passed a law making education mandatory. This model of free, accessible education spread throughout the country and in 1917 Mississippi was the final state to adopt the law. John Dewey John Dewey, a philosopher and educator based in Chicago and New York, helped conceptualize the role of American and international education during the first four decades of the 20th century. An important member of the American Pragmatist movement, he carried the subordination of knowledge to action into the educational world by arguing for experiential education that would enable children to learn theory and practice simultaneously; a well-known example is the practice of teaching elementary physics and biology to students while preparing a meal. He was a harsh critic of "dead" knowledge disconnected from practical human life. Dewey criticized the rigidity and volume of humanistic education, and the emotional idealizations of education based on the child-study movement that had been inspired by Rousseau and those who followed him. Dewey understood that children are naturally active and curious and learn by doing. Dewey's understanding of logic is presented in his work "Logic, the Theory of Inquiry" (1938). His educational philosophies were presented in "My Pedagogic Creed", The School and Society, The Child and Curriculum, and Democracy and Education (1916). Bertrand Russell criticized Dewey's conception of logic, saying "What he calls "logic" does not seem to me to be part of logic at all; I should call it part of psychology." Dewey left the University of Chicago in 1904 over issues relating to the Dewey School. Dewey's influence began to decline in the time after the Second World War and particularly in the Cold War era, as more conservative educational policies came to the fore. Administrative progressives The form of educational progressivism which was most successful in having its policies implemented has been dubbed "administrative progressivism" by historians. This began to be implemented in the early 20th century. While influenced particularly in its rhetoric by Dewey and even more by his popularizers, administrative progressivism was in its practice much more influenced by the Industrial Revolution and the concept economies of scale. The administrative progressives are responsible for many features of modern American education, especially American high schools: counseling programs, the move from many small local high schools to large centralized high schools, curricular differentiation in the form of electives and tracking, curricular, professional, and other forms of standardization, and an increase in state and federal regulation and bureaucracy, with a corresponding reduction of local control at the school board level. (Cf. "State, federal, and local control of education in the United States", below) (Tyack and Cuban, pp. 17–26) These reforms have since become heavily entrenched, and many today who identify themselves as progressives are opposed to many of them, while conservative education reform during the Cold War embraced them as a framework for strengthening traditional curriculum and standards. More recent methods, instituted by groups such as the think tank Reform's education division, and S.E.R. have attempted to pressure the government of the U.K. into more modernist educational reform, though this has met with limited success. Public school reform in the United States In the United States, public education is characterized as "any federally funded primary or secondary school, administered to some extent by the government, and charged with educating all citizens. Although there is typically a cost to attend some public higher education institutions, they are still considered part of public education." Colonial America In what would become the United States, the first public school was established in Boston, Massachusetts, on April 23, 1635. Puritan schoolmaster Philemon Pormont led instruction at the Boston Latin School. During this time, post-secondary education was a commonly utilized tool to distinguish one's social class and social status. Access to education was the "privilege of white, upper-class, Christian male children" in preparation for university education in ministry. In colonial America, to maintain Puritan religious traditions, formal and informal education instruction focused on teaching literacy. All colonists needed to understand the written language on some fundamental level in order to read the Bible and the colony's written secular laws. Religious leaders recognized that each person should be "educated enough to meet the individual needs of their station in life and social harmony." The first compulsory education laws were passed in Massachusetts between 1642 and 1648 when religious leaders noticed not all parents were providing their children with proper education. These laws stated that all towns with 50 or more families were obligated to hire a schoolmaster to teach children reading, writing, and basic arithmetic."In 1642 the General Court passed a law that required heads of households to teach all their dependents — apprentices and servants as well as their own children — to read English or face a fine. Parents could provide the instruction themselves or hire someone else to do it. Selectmen were to keep 'a vigilant eye over their brethren and neighbors,' young people whose education was neglected could be removed from their parents or masters."The 1647 law eventually led to establishing publicly funded district schools in all Massachusetts towns, although, despite the threat of fines, compliance and quality of public schools were less than satisfactory."Many towns were 'shamefully neglectful' of children's education. In 1718 '...by sad experience, it is found that many towns that not only are obliged by law, but are very able to support a grammar school, yet choose rather to incur and pay the fine or penalty than maintain a grammar school."When John Adams drafted the Massachusetts Constitution in 1780, he included provisions for a comprehensive education law that guaranteed public education to "all" citizens. However, access to formal education in secondary schools and colleges was reserved for free, white males. During the 17th and 18th centuries, females received little or no formal education except for home learning or attending Dame Schools. Likewise, many educational institutions maintained a policy of refusing to admit Black applicants. The Virginia Code of 1819 outlawed teaching enslaved people to read or write. Post-revolution Soon after the American Revolution, early leaders, like Thomas Jefferson and John Adams, proposed the creation of a more "formal and unified system of publicly funded schools" to satiate the need to "build and maintain commerce, agriculture and shipping interests". Their concept of free public education was not well received and did not begin to take hold on until the 1830s. However, in 1790, evolving socio-cultural ideals in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania led to the first significant and systematic reform in education legislation that mandated economic conditions would not inhibit a child's access to education:"Constitution of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania – 1790 ARTICLE VII Section I. The legislature shall, as soon as conveniently may be, provide, by law, for the establishment of schools throughout the state, in such manner that the poor may be taught gratis." Reconstruction and the American Industrial Revolution During Reconstruction, from 1865 to 1877, African Americans worked to encourage public education in the South. With the U.S. Supreme Court decision in Plessy v. Ferguson, which held that "segregated public facilities were constitutional so long as the black and white facilities were equal to each other", this meant that African American children were legally allowed to attend public schools, although these schools were still segregated based on race. However, by the mid-twentieth century, civil rights groups would challenge racial segregation. During the second half of the nineteenth century (1870 and 1914), America's Industrial Revolution refocused the nation's attention on the need for a universally accessible public school system. Inventions, innovations, and improved production methods were critical to the continued growth of American manufacturing. To compete in the global economy, an overwhelming demand for literate workers that possessed practical training emerged. Citizens argued, "educating children of the poor and middle classes would prepare them to obtain good jobs, thereby strengthen the nation's economic position." Institutions became an essential tool in yielding ideal factory workers with sought-after attitudes and desired traits such as dependability, obedience, and punctuality. Vocationally oriented schools offered practical subjects like shop classes for students who were not planning to attend college for financial or other reasons. Not until the latter part of the 19th century did public elementary schools become available throughout the country. Although, it would be longer for children of color, girls, and children with special needs to attain access free public education. Mid 20th and early 21st century (United states) Civil rights reform Systemic bias remained a formidable barrier. From the 1950s to the 1970s, many of the proposed and implemented reforms in U.S. education stemmed from the civil rights movement and related trends; examples include ending racial segregation, and busing for the purpose of desegregation, affirmative action, and banning of school prayer. In the early 1950s, most U.S. public schools operated under a legally sanctioned racial segregation system. Civil Rights reform movements sought to address the biases that ensure unequal distribution of academic resources such as school funding, qualified and experienced teachers, and learning materials to those socially excluded communities. In the early 1950s, the NAACP lawyers brought class-action lawsuits on behalf of black schoolchildren and their families in Kansas, South Carolina, Virginia, and Delaware, petitioning court orders to compel school districts to let black students attend white public schools. Finally, in 1954, the U.S. Supreme Court rejected that framework with Brown v. Board of Education and declared state-sponsored segregation of public schools unconstitutional. In 1964, Title VI of the Civil Rights Act "prohibited discrimination on the basis of race, color, and national origin in programs and activities receiving federal financial assistance." Educational institutions could now utilize public funds to implement in-service training programs to assist teachers and administrators in establishing desegregation plans. In 1965, the Higher Education Act (HEA) authorizes federal aid for postsecondary students. The Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA) represents the federal government's commitment to providing equal access to quality education; including those children from low-income families, limited English proficiency, and other minority groups. This legislation had positive retroactive implications for Historically Black Colleges and Universities, more commonly known as HBCUs."The Higher Education Act of 1965, as amended, defines an HBCU as: "…any historically black college or university that was established prior to 1964, whose principal mission was, and is, the education of black Americans, and that is accredited by a nationally recognized accrediting agency or association determined by the Secretary [of Education] to be a reliable authority as to the quality of training offered or is, according to such an agency or association, making reasonable progress toward accreditation."Known as the Bilingual Education Act, Title VII of ESEA, offered federal aid to school districts to provide bilingual instruction for students with limited English speaking ability. The Education Amendments of 1972 (Public Law 92-318, 86 Stat. 327) establishes the Education Division in the U.S. Department of Health, Education, and Welfare and the National Institute of Education. Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 states, "No person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance." Equal Educational Opportunities Act of 1974 - Civil Rights Amendments to the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965:"Title I: Bilingual Education Act - Authorizes appropriations for carrying out the provisions of this Act. Establishes, in the Office of Education, an Office of Bilingual Education through which the Commissioner of Education shall carry out his functions relating to bilingual education. Authorizes appropriations for school nutrition and health services, correction education services, and ethnic heritage studies centers. Title II: Equal Educational Opportunities and the Transportation of Students: Equal Educational Opportunities Act - Provides that no state shall deny equal educational opportunity to an individual on account of his or her race, color, sex, or national origin by means of specified practices... Title IV: Consolidation of Certain Education Programs: Authorizes appropriations for use in various education programs including libraries and learning resources, education for use of the metric system of measurement, gifted and talented children programs, community schools, career education, consumers' education, women's equity in education programs, and arts in education programs. Community Schools Act - Authorizes the Commissioner to make grants to local educational agencies to assist in planning, establishing, expanding, and operating community education programs Women's Educational Equity Act - Establishes the Advisory Council on Women's Educational Programs and sets forth the composition of such Council. Authorizes the Commissioner of Education to make grants to, and enter into contracts with, public agencies, private nonprofit organizations, and individuals for activities designed to provide educational equity for women in the United States. Title V: Education Administration: Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA)- Provides that no funds shall be made available under the General Education Provisions Act to any State or local educational agency or educational institution which denies or prevents the parents of students to inspect and review all records and files regarding their children. Title VII: National Reading Improvement Program: Authorizes the Commissioner to contract with State or local educational agencies for the carrying out by such agencies, in schools having large numbers of children with reading deficiencies, of demonstration projects involving the use of innovative methods, systems, materials, or programs which show promise of overcoming such reading deficiencies."In 1975, The Education for All Handicapped Children Act (Public Law 94-142) ensured that all handicapped children (age 3-21) receive a "free, appropriate public education" designed to meet their special needs. 1980–1989: A Nation at Risk During the 1980s, some of the momentum of education reform moved from the left to the right, with the release of A Nation at Risk, Ronald Reagan's efforts to reduce or eliminate the United States Department of Education. "[T]he federal government and virtually all state governments, teacher training institutions, teachers' unions, major foundations, and the mass media have all pushed strenuously for higher standards, greater accountability, more "time on task," and more impressive academic results". Per the shift in educational motivation, families sought institutional alternatives, including "charter schools, progressive schools, Montessori schools, Waldorf schools, Afrocentric schools, religious schools - or home school instruction in their communities." In 1984 President Reagan enacted the Education for Economic Security Act In 1989, the Child Development and Education Act of 1989 authorized funds for Head Start Programs to include child care services. In the latter half of the decade, E. D. Hirsch put forth an influential attack on one or more versions of progressive education. Advocating an emphasis on "cultural literacy"—the facts, phrases, and texts. See also Uncommon Schools. 1990-1999: standards-based education model In 1994, the land grant system was expanded via the Elementary and Secondary Education Act to include tribal colleges. Most states and districts in the 1990s adopted outcome-based education (OBE) in some form or another. A state would create a committee to adopt standards, and choose a quantitative instrument to assess whether the students knew the required content or could perform the required tasks. In 1992 The National Commission on Time and Learning, Extension revise funding for civic education programs and those educationally disadvantaged children." In 1994 the Improving America's Schools Act (IASA) reauthorized the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965; amended as The Eisenhower Professional Development Program; IASA designated Title I funds for low income and otherwise marginalized groups; i.e., females, minorities, individuals with disabilities, individuals with limited English proficiency (LEP). By tethering federal funding distributions to student achievement, IASA meant use high stakes testing and curriculum standards to hold schools accountable for their results at the same level as other students. The Act significantly increased impact aid for the establishment of the Charter School Program, drug awareness campaigns, bilingual education, and technology. In 1998 The Charter School Expansion Act amended the Charter School Program, enacted in 1994. 2000–2015: No Child Left Behind Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2001 appropriated funding to repair educational institution's buildings as well as repair and renovate charter school facilities, reauthorized the Even Start program, and enacted the Children's Internet Protection Act. The standards-based National Education Goals 2000, set by the U.S. Congress in the 1990s, were based on the principles of outcomes-based education. In 2002, the standards-based reform movement culminated as the No Child left Behind Act of 2001 where achievement standard were set by each individual state. This federal policy was active until 2015 in the United States . An article released by CBNC.com said a principal Senate Committee will take into account legislation that reauthorizes and modernizes the Carl D. Perkins Act. President George Bush approved this statute in 2006 on August 12, 2006. This new bill will emphasize the importance of federal funding for various Career and Technical (CTE) programs that will better provide learners with in-demand skills. Pell Grants are specific amount of money is given by the government every school year for disadvantaged students who need to pay tuition fees in college. At present, there are many initiatives aimed at dealing with these concerns like innovative cooperation between federal and state governments, educators, and the business sector. One of these efforts is the Pathways to Technology Early College High School (P-TECH). This six-year program was launched in cooperation with IBM, educators from three cities in New York, Chicago, and Connecticut, and over 400 businesses. The program offers students in high school and associate programs focusing on the STEM curriculum. The High School Involvement Partnership, private and public venture, was established through the help of Northrop Grumman, a global security firm. It has given assistance to some 7,000 high school students (juniors and seniors) since 1971 by means of one-on-one coaching as well as exposure to STEM areas and careers. 2016–2021: Every Student Succeeds Act The American Reinvestment and Recovery Act, enacted in 2009, reserved more than $85 billion in public funds to be used for education. The 2009 Council of Chief State School Officers and the National Governors Association launch the Common Core State Standards Initiative. In 2012 the Obama administration launched the Race to the Top competition aimed at spurring K–12 education reform through higher standards."The Race to the Top – District competition will encourage transformative change within schools, targeted toward leveraging, enhancing, and improving classroom practices and resources. The four key areas of reform include: Development of rigorous standards and better assessments Adoption of better data systems to provide schools, teachers, and parents with information about student progress Support for teachers and school leaders to become more effective Increased emphasis and resources for the rigorous interventions needed to turn around the lowest-performing schools"In 2015, under the Obama administration, many of the more restrictive elements that were enacted under No Child Left Behind (NCLB, 2001), were removed in the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA, 2015) which limits the role of the federal government in school liability. Every Student Succeeds Act reformed educational standards by "moving away from such high stakes and assessment based accountability models" and focused on assessing student achievement from a holistic approach by utilizing qualitative measures. Some argue that giving states more authority can help prevent considerable discrepancies in educational performance across different states. ESSA was approved by former President Obama in 2015 which amended and empowered the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965. The Department of Education has the choice to carry out measures in drawing attention to said differences by pinpointing lowest-performing state governments and supplying information on the condition and progress of each state on different educational parameters. It can also provide reasonable funding along with technical aid to help states with similar demographics collaborate in improving their public education programs. Social and emotional learning: strengths-based education model This uses a methodology that values purposeful engagement in activities that turn students into self-reliant and efficient learners. Holding on to the view that everyone possesses natural gifts that are unique to one's personality (e.g. computational aptitude, musical talent, visual arts abilities), it likewise upholds the idea that children, despite their inexperience and tender age, are capable of coping with anguish, able to survive hardships, and can rise above difficult times. Trump administration In 2017, Betsy DeVos was instated as the 11th Secretary of Education. A strong proponent of school choice, school voucher programs, and charter schools, DeVos was a much-contested choice as her own education and career had little to do with formal experience in the US education system. In a Republican-dominated senate, she received a 50–50 vote - a tie that was broken by Vice President Mike Pence. Prior to her appointment, DeVos received a BA degree in business economics from Calvin College in Grand Rapids, Michigan and she served as chairman of an investment management firm, The Windquest Group. She supported the idea of leaving education to state governments under the new K-12 legislation. DeVos cited the interventionist approach of the federal government to education policy following the signing of the ESSA. The primary approach to that rule has not changed significantly. Her opinion was that the education movement populist politics or populism encouraged reformers to commit promises which were not very realistic and therefore difficult to deliver. On July 31, 2018, President Donald Trump signed the Strengthening Career and Technical Education for the 21st Century Act (HR 2353) The Act reauthorized the Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Act, a $1.2 billion program modified by the United States Congress in 2006. A move to change the Higher Education Act was also deferred. The legislation enacted on July 1, 2019, replaced the Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education (Perkins IV) Act of 2006. Stipulations in Perkins V enables school districts to make use of federal subsidies for all students' career search and development activities in the middle grades as well as comprehensive guidance and academic mentoring in the upper grades. At the same time, this law revised the meaning of "special populations" to include homeless persons, foster youth, those who left the foster care system, and children with parents on active duty in the United States armed forces. Barriers to reform Education inequalities facing students of color Another factor to consider in education reform is that of equity and access. Contemporary issues in the United States regarding education faces a history of inequalities that come with consequences for education attainment across different social groups. Racial and socioeconomic class segregation A history of racial, and subsequently class, segregation in the U.S. resulted from practices of law. Residential segregation is a direct result of twentieth century policies that separated by race using zoning and redlining practices, in addition to other housing policies, whose effects continue to endure in the United States. These neighborhoods that have been segregated de jure—by force of purposeful public policy at the federal, state, and local levels—disadvantage people of color as students must attend school near their homes. With the inception of the New Deal between 1933 and 1939, and during and following World War II, federally funded public housing was explicitly racially segregated by the local government in conjunction with federal policies through projects that were designated for Whites or Black Americans in the South, Northeast, Midwest, and West. Following an ease on the housing shortage post-World War II, the federal government subsidized the relocation of Whites to suburbs. The Federal Housing and Veterans Administration constructed such developments on the East Coast in towns like Levittown on Long Island, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Delaware. On the West Coast, there was Panorama City, Lakewood, Westlake, and Seattle suburbs developed by Bertha and William Boeing. As White families left for the suburbs, Black families remained in public housing and were explicitly placed in Black neighborhoods. Policies such as public housing director, Harold Ickes', "neighborhood composition rule" maintained this segregation by establishing that public housing must not interfere with pre-existing racial compositions of neighborhoods. Federal loan guarantees were given to builders who adhered to the condition that no sales were made to Black families and each deed prohibited re-sales to Black families, what the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) described as an "incompatible racial element". In addition, banks and savings intuitions refused loans to Black families in White suburbs and Black families in Black neighborhoods. In the mid-twentieth century, urban renewal programs forced low-income black residents to reside in places farther from universities, hospitals, or business districts and relocation options consisted of public housing high-rises and ghettos. This history of de jure segregation has impacted resource allocation for public education in the United States, with schools continuing to be segregated by race and class. Low-income White students are more likely than Black students to be integrated into middle-class neighborhoods and less likely to attend schools with other predominantly disadvantaged students. Students of color disproportionately attend underfunded schools and Title I schools in environments entrenched in environmental pollution and stagnant economic mobility with limited access to college readiness resources. According to research, schools attended by primarily Hispanic or African American students often have high turnover of teaching staff and are labeled high-poverty schools, in addition to having limited educational specialists, less available extracurricular opportunities, greater numbers of provisionally licensed teachers, little access to technology, and buildings that are not well maintained. With this segregation, more local property tax is allocated to wealthier communities and public schools' dependence on local property taxes has led to large disparities in funding between neighboring districts. The top 10% of wealthiest school districts spend approximately ten times more per student than the poorest 10% of school districts. Racial wealth gap This history of racial and socioeconomic class segregation in the U.S. has manifested into a racial wealth divide. With this history of geographic and economic segregation, trends illustrate a racial wealth gap that has impacted educational outcomes and its concomitant economic gains for minorities. Wealth or net worth—the difference between gross assets and debt—is a stock of financial resources and a significant indicator of financial security that offers a more complete measure of household capability and functioning than income. Within the same income bracket, the chance of completing college differs for White and Black students. Nationally, White students are at least 11% more likely to complete college across all four income groups. Intergenerational wealth is another result of this history, with White college-educated families three times as likely as Black families to get an inheritance of $10,000 or more. 10.6% of White children from low-income backgrounds and 2.5% of Black children from low-income backgrounds reach the top 20% of income distribution as adults. Less than 10% of Black children from low-income backgrounds reach the top 40%. Access to early childhood education These disadvantages facing students of color are apparent early on in early childhood education. By the age of five, children of color are impacted by opportunity gaps indicated by poverty, school readiness gap, segregated low-income neighborhoods, implicit bias, and inequalities within the justice system as Hispanic and African American boys account for as much as 60% of total prisoners within the incarceration population. These populations are also more likely to experience adverse childhood experiences (ACEs). High-quality early care and education are less accessible to children of color, particularly African American preschoolers as findings from the National Center for Education Statistics show that in 2013, 40% of Hispanic and 36% White children were enrolled in learning center-based classrooms rated as high, while 25% of African American children were enrolled in these programs. 15% of African American children attended low ranking center-based classrooms. In home-based settings, 30% of White children and over 50% of Hispanic and African American children attended low rated programs. Contemporary issues (United States) Overview In the first decade of the 21st century, several issues are salient in debates over further education reform: Longer school day or school year After-school tutoring Charter schools, school choice, or school vouchers Smaller class sizes Improved teacher quality Improved training Higher credential standards Generally higher pay to attract more qualified applicants Performance bonuses ("merit pay") Firing low-performing teachers Internet and computer access in schools Track and reduce drop-out rate Track and reduce absenteeism English-only vs. bilingual education Mainstreaming or fully including students with special educational needs, rather than placing them in separate special schools Content of curriculum standards and textbooks What to teach, at what age, and to which students. Discussion points include the age at which children should learn to read, and the primary mathematical subject that is taught to adolescents – algebra, or statistics or personal finances. Funding, neglected infrastructure, and adequacy of educational supplies Student rights Education inequalities facing students of color Private interest in American charter schools Charter schools public independent institutions in which both the cost and risk are fully funded by the taxpayers. Some charter schools are nonprofit in name only and are structured in ways that individuals and private enterprises connected to them can make money. Other charter schools are for-profit. In many cases, the public is largely unaware of this rapidly changing educational landscape, the debate between public and private/market approaches, and the decisions that are being made that affect their children and communities. Critics have accused for-profit entities, (education management organizations, EMOs) and private foundations such as the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the Eli and Edythe Broad Foundation, and the Walton Family Foundation of funding Charter school initiatives to undermine public education and turn education into a "Business Model" which can make a profit. In some cases a school's charter is held by a non-profit that chooses to contract all of the school's operations to a third party, often a for-profit, CMO. This arrangement is defined as a vendor-operated school, (VOS). School choice Economists, such as the late Nobel laureate Milton Friedman, advocate for school choice to promote excellence in education through competition and choice. Proponents claim that a competitive market for schooling provides a workable method of accountability for results. Public education vouchers permit guardians to select and pay any school, public or private, with public funds that were formerly allocated directly to local public schools. The theory is that children's guardians will naturally shop for the best schools for their children, much as is already done at college level. Many reforms based on school choice have led to slight to moderate improvements. Some teachers' union members see those improvements as insufficient to offset the decreased teacher pay and job security. For instance, New Zealand's landmark reform in 1989, during which schools were granted substantial autonomy, funding was devolved to schools, and parents were given a free choice of which school their children would attend, led to moderate improvements in most schools. It was argued that the associated increases in inequity and greater racial stratification in schools nullified the educational gains. Others, however, argued that the original system created more inequity, due to lower income students being required to attend poorer performing inner city schools and not being allowed school choice or better educations that are available to higher income inhabitants of suburbs. Thus, it was argued that school choice promoted social mobility and increased test scores, especially in the cases of low income students. Similar results have been found in other jurisdictions. The small improvements produced by some school choice policies seem to reflect weaknesses in the ways that choice is implemented, rather than a failure of the basic principle itself. Teacher tenure Critics of teacher tenure claim that the laws protect ineffective teachers from being fired, which can be detrimental to student success. Tenure laws vary from state to state, but generally they set a probationary period during which the teacher proves themselves worthy of the lifelong position. Probationary periods range from one to three years. Advocates for tenure reform often consider these periods too short to make such an important decision; especially when that decision is exceptionally hard to revoke. Due process restriction protect tenured teachers from being wrongfully fired; however these restrictions can also prevent administrators from removing ineffective or inappropriate teachers. A 2008 survey conducted by the US Department of Education found that, on average, only 2.1% of teachers are dismissed each year for poor performance. In October 2010 Apple Inc. CEO Steve Jobs had a consequential meeting with U.S. President Barack Obama to discuss U.S. competitiveness and the nation's education system. During the meeting Jobs recommended pursuing policies that would make it easier for school principals to hire and fire teachers based on merit. In 2012 tenure for school teachers was challenged in a California lawsuit called Vergara v. California. The primary issue in the case was the impact of tenure on student outcomes and on equity in education. On June 10, 2014, the trial judge ruled that California's teacher tenure statute produced disparities that "shock the conscience" and violate the equal protection clause of the California Constitution. Funding levels According to a 2005 report from the OECD, the United States is tied for first place with Switzerland when it comes to annual spending per student on its public schools, with each of those two countries spending more than $11,000 (in U.S. currency). Despite this high level of funding, U.S. public schools lag behind the schools of other rich countries in the areas of reading, math, and science. A further analysis of developed countries shows no correlation between per student spending and student performance, suggesting that there are other factors influencing education. Top performers include Singapore, Finland and Korea, all with relatively low spending on education, while high spenders including Norway and Luxembourg have relatively low performance. One possible factor is the distribution of the funding. In the US, schools in wealthy areas tend to be over-funded while schools in poorer areas tend to be underfunded. These differences in spending between schools or districts may accentuate inequalities, if they result in the best teachers moving to teach in the most wealthy areas. The inequality between districts and schools led to 23 states instituting school finance reform based on adequacy standards that aim to increase funding to low-income districts. A 2018 study found that between 1990 and 2012, these finance reforms led to an increase in funding and test scores in the low income districts; which suggests finance reform is effective at bridging inter-district performance inequalities. It has also been shown that the socioeconomic situation of the students family has the most influence in determining success; suggesting that even if increased funds in a low income area increase performance, they may still perform worse than their peers from wealthier districts. Starting in the early 1980s, a series of analyses by Eric Hanushek indicated that the amount spent on schools bore little relationship to student learning. This controversial argument, which focused attention on how money was spent instead of how much was spent, led to lengthy scholarly exchanges. In part the arguments fed into the class size debates and other discussions of "input policies." It also moved reform efforts towards issues of school accountability (including No Child Left Behind) and the use of merit pay and other incentives. There have been studies that show smaller class sizes and newer buildings (both of which require higher funding to implement) lead to academic improvements. It should also be noted that many of the reform ideas that stray from the traditional format require greater funding. According to a 1999 article, William J. Bennett, former U.S. Secretary of Education, argued that increased levels of spending on public education have not made the schools better, citing the following statistics: Internationally Education for All EDUCATION FOR ALL THROUGHOUT LIFE The EFA Assessment 2000 was launched in July 1998 with an aim to help countries to identify both problems and prospects for further progress of EFA, and to strengthen their capacity to improve and monitor the provision and outcomes of basic education. Some 179 countries set up National Assessment Groups which collected quantitative data focusing on eighteen core indicators and carried out case-studies to collect qualitative information. Education 2030 Agenda refers to the global commitment of the Education for All movement to ensure access to basic education for all. It is an essential part of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. The roadmap to achieve the Agenda is the Education 2030 Incheon Declaration and Framework for Action, which outlines how countries, working with UNESCO and global partners, can translate commitments into action. The United Nations, over 70 ministers, representatives of member-countries, bilateral and multilateral agencies, regional organizations, academic institutions, teachers, civil society, and the youth supported the Framework for Action of the Education 2030 platform. The Framework was described as the outcome of continuing consultation to provide guidance for countries in implementing this Agenda. At the same time, it mobilizes various stakeholders in the new education objectives, coordination, implementation process, funding, and review of Education 2030. Thailand In 1995, the minister of education, Sukavich Rangsitpol, launched a series of education reforms in 1995 with the intention of the education reform is to realize the potential of Thai people to develop themselves for a better quality of life and to develop the nation for a peaceful co-existence in the global community. Since December 1995, activities have been conducted in four main areas: · School reform. Efforts have been stepped up to standardize the quality of education in all levels and types of schools and educational institutions. Educational coverage has been expanded. · Teacher reform. Training and recruitment of teachers have been reformed urgently and comprehensively both in public and private schools. Educational administrators and personnel have been developed continuously. Curriculum reform. Curriculum and teaching-learning processes have been reformed on an urgent basis in order to raise educational quality of all types and levels. · Administrative reform. Through devolution, educational institutions have been empowered to make administrative decisions and to offer appropriate educational services which are as consistent as possible with the local lifestyle and conditions. Provincial organizations have been strengthened to facilitate devolution while private participation of the family and community have been promoted and supported. School-based management (SBM) in Thailand implemented in 1997 in the course of a reform aimed at overcoming a profound crisis in the educación system. Establish effective Provincial Education Councils with strong community membership. The purpose of decentralization is to ensure that local education needs are met, there should be a close relationship between community representatives and officials . Thus, decentralization will require a careful balance between the guidance of community selected representatives and government officials. To representing local needs and priorities. The 1995 Education Reform results in 40,000 schools under the Education Reform in 1997. Project were required to improve their school environment and encourage the local community to be involved in school administration and management. Those schools could later accepted 4.35 students aged between 3-17years old from poor families in remote areas .Thereafter Thailand was successfully established Education For All (EFA). Thus, Thailand received 1997 ACEID awards for excellence in education from UNESCO in 1997 According to UNESCO, Thailand education reform has led to the following results: The educational budget increased from 133 billion baht in 1996 to 163 billion baht in 1997 (22.5% increase) Since 1996, first grade students have been taught English as a second or foreign language and computer literacy. Professional advancement from teacher level 6 to teacher level 7 without having to submit academic work for consideration was approved by the Thai government. Free 12 years education for all children provided by the government. The Eighth Thailand's National Social and Economic Development Plan was also written to support the implemented of education reform program. This program was later added to the 1997 Constitution of Thailand and gave access to all citizens. World Bank report that after the 1997 Asian financial crisis Income in the northeast, the poorest part of Thailand, has risen by 46 percent from 1998 to 2006. Nationwide poverty fell from 21.3 to 11.3 percent. Learning crisis The learning crisis is the reality that while the majority of children around the world attend school, a large proportion of them are not learning. A World Bank study found that "53 percent of children in low- and middle-income countries cannot read and understand a simple story by the end of primary school." While schooling has increased rapidly over the last few decades, learning has not followed suit. Many practitioners and academics call for education system reform in order to address the learning needs of all children. Digital education The movement to use computers more in education naturally includes many unrelated ideas, methods, and pedagogies since there are many uses for digital computers. For example, the fact that computers are naturally good at math leads to the question of the use of calculators in math education. The Internet's communication capabilities make it potentially useful for collaboration, and foreign language learning. The computer's ability to simulate physical systems makes it potentially useful in teaching science. More often, however, debate of digital education reform centers around more general applications of computers to education, such as electronic test-taking and online classes. Another viable addition to digital education has been blended learning. In 2009, over 3 million K-12 students took an online course, compared to 2000 when 45,000 took an online course. Blended learning examples include pure online, blended, and traditional education. Research results show that the most effective learning takes place in a blended format. This allows children to view the lecture ahead of time and then spend class time practicing, refining, and applying what they have previously learned. The idea of creating artificial intelligence led some computer scientists to believe that teachers could be replaced by computers, through something like an expert system; however, attempts to accomplish this have predictably proved inflexible. The computer is now more understood to be a tool or assistant for the teacher and students. Harnessing the richness of the Internet is another goal. In some cases classrooms have been moved entirely online, while in other instances the goal is more to learn how the Internet can be more than a classroom. Web-based international educational software is under development by students at New York University, based on the belief that current educational institutions are too rigid: effective teaching is not routine, students are not passive, and questions of practice are not predictable or standardized. The software allows for courses tailored to an individual's abilities through frequent and automatic multiple intelligences assessments. Ultimate goals include assisting students to be intrinsically motivated to educate themselves, and aiding the student in self-actualization. Courses typically taught only in college are being reformatted so that they can be taught to any level of student, whereby elementary school students may learn the foundations of any topic they desire. Such a program has the potential to remove the bureaucratic inefficiencies of education in modern countries, and with the decreasing digital divide, help developing nations rapidly achieve a similar quality of education. With an open format similar to Wikipedia, any teacher may upload their courses online and a feedback system will help students choose relevant courses of the highest quality. Teachers can provide links in their digital courses to webcast videos of their lectures. Students will have personal academic profiles and a forum will allow students to pose complex questions, while simpler questions will be automatically answered by the software, which will bring you to a solution by searching through the knowledge database, which includes all available courses and topics. The 21st century ushered in the acceptance and encouragement of internet research conducted on college and university campuses, in homes, and even in gathering areas of shopping centers. Addition of cyber cafes on campuses and coffee shops, loaning of communication devices from libraries, and availability of more portable technology devices, opened up a world of educational resources. Availability of knowledge to the elite had always been obvious, yet provision of networking devices, even wireless gadget sign-outs from libraries, made availability of information an expectation of most persons. Cassandra B. Whyte researched the future of computer use on higher education campuses focusing on student affairs. Though at first seen as a data collection and outcome reporting tool, the use of computer technology in the classrooms, meeting areas, and homes continued to unfold. The sole dependence on paper resources for subject information diminished and e-books and articles, as well as online courses, were anticipated to become increasingly staple and affordable choices provided by higher education institutions according to Whyte in a 2002 presentation. Digitally "flipping" classrooms is a trend in digital education that has gained significant momentum. Will Richardson, author and visionary for the digital education realm, points to the not-so-distant future and the seemingly infinite possibilities for digital communication linked to improved education. Education on the whole, as a stand-alone entity, has been slow to embrace these changes. The use of web tools such as wikis, blogs, and social networking sites is tied to increasing overall effectiveness of digital education in schools. Examples exist of teacher and student success stories where learning has transcended the classroom and has reached far out into society. The media has been instrumental in pushing formal educational institutions to become savvier in their methods. Additionally, advertising has been (and continues to be) a vital force in shaping students and parents thought patterns. Technology is a dynamic entity that is constantly in flux. As time presses on, new technologies will continue to break paradigms that will reshape human thinking regarding technological innovation. This concept stresses a certain disconnect between teachers and learners and the growing chasm that started some time ago. Richardson asserts that traditional classroom's will essentially enter entropy unless teachers increase their comfort and proficiency with technology. Administrators are not exempt from the technological disconnect. They must recognize the existence of a younger generation of teachers who were born during the Digital Age and are very comfortable with technology. However, when old meets new, especially in a mentoring situation, conflict seems inevitable. Ironically, the answer to the outdated mentor may be digital collaboration with worldwide mentor webs; composed of individuals with creative ideas for the classroom. See also Anti-schooling activism Blab school Block scheduling Certificate of Initial Mastery Criterion-referenced test Educational philosophies Female education High school graduation examination Higher-order thinking Inquiry-based Science Learning crisis Learning environment Learning space Merit pay Multiculturalism Political correctness Project-based learning Special Assistance Program Student-centered learning Sudbury model democratic schools Sudbury Valley School Teaching for social justice University reform Web literacy References Sources Further reading Comer, J.P. (1997). Waiting for a Miracle: Why Schools Can't Solve Our Problems- and How We Can. New York: Penguin Books. Cuban, L. (2003). Why Is It So Hard to Get Good Schools? New York: Teachers College, Columbia University. Darling-Hammond, Linda. (1997) The Right to Learn: A Blueprint for Creating Schools that Work. Jossey-Bass. Dewey, J. and Dewey, E. (1915). Schools of To-morrow. New York: E.P. Dutton and Company. Gatto, John Taylor (1992). Dumbing Us Down: The Hidden Curriculum of Compulsory Schooling. Canada: New Society Publishers. Glazek, S.D. and Sarason, S.B. (2007). Productive Learning: Science, Art, and Einstein's Relativity in Education Reform. New York: Sage Publications, Inc. Goodland, J.I. and Anderson, R.H. (1959 and 1987). The Nongraded Elementary School. New York: Harcourt, Brace and Company. James, Laurie. (1994) Outrageous Questions: Legacy of Bronson Alcott and America's One-Room Schools New York. Katz, M.B. (1971). Class, Bureaucracy, and Schools: The Illusion of Educational Change in America. New York: Praeger Publishers. Kliebard, Herbert. (1987) The Struggle for the American Curriculum. New York : Routledge & Kegan Paul. Kohn, A. (1999). The Schools Our Children Deserve: Moving Beyond Traditional Classrooms and 'Tougher Standards. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co. Murphy, J.H. and Beck, L.G. (1995). School-Based Management as Ravitch, D. (1988). The Great School Wars: A History of the New York City Public Schools. New York: Basic Books, Inc. Sarason, S.B. (1996). Revisiting 'The Culture of the School and the Problem of Change. New York: Teachers College Press. Sarason, S.B. (1990). The Predictable Failure of Educational Reform: Can We Change Course Before Its Too Late? San Francisco: Josey-Bass, Inc. Sizer, T.R. (1984). Horace's Compromise: The Dilemma of the American High School. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company. Tough, Paul. (2008). Whatever It Takes: Geoffrey Canada's Quest to Change Harlem and America. New York: Houghton Mifflin Company. Tough, Paul. (2012). How Children Succeed. New York: Houghton Mifflin Company. Tyack, David and Cuban, Larry. (1995) Tinkering Toward Utopia: A Century of Public School Reform. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. Zwaagstra, Michael; Clifton, Rodney; and Long, John. (2010) What's Wrong with Our Schools: and How We Can Fix Them''. Rowman & Littlefield. External links Education issues History of education

Cultural policy

Cultural policy is the government actions, laws and programs that regulate, protect, encourage and financially (or otherwise) support activities related to the arts and creative sectors, such as painting, sculpture, music, dance, literature, and filmmaking, among others and culture, which may involve activities related to language, heritage and diversity. The idea of cultural policy was developed at UNESCO in the 1960s. Generally, this involves governments setting in place processes, legal classifications, regulations, legislation and institutions (e.g., galleries, museums, libraries, opera houses, etc.) which promote and facilitate cultural diversity and creative expressions in a range of art forms and creative activities. Cultural policies vary from one country to another, but generally they aim to improve the accessibility of arts and creative activities to citizens and promote the artistic, musical, ethnic, sociolinguistic, literary and other expressions of all people in a country. In some countries, especially since the 1970s, there is an emphasis on supporting the culture of Indigenous peoples and marginalized communities and ensuring that cultural industries (e.g., filmmaking or TV production) are representative of a country's diverse cultural heritage and ethnic and linguistic demographics. Cultural policy can be done at a nation-state level, at a sub-national level (e.g., U.S. states or Canadian provinces), at a regional level or at a municipal level (e.g., a city government creating a museum or arts centre). Examples of cultural policy-making at the nation-state level could include anything from funding music education or theatre programs at little to no cost, to hosting corporate-sponsored art exhibitions in a government museum, to establishing legal codes (such as the U.S. Internal Revenue Service's 501(c)(3) tax designation for not-for-profit enterprises) and creating political institutions (such as the various ministries of culture and departments of culture and the National Endowment for the Humanities and the National Endowment for the Arts in the United States), arts granting councils, and cultural institutions such as galleries and museums. Similar significant organisations in the United Kingdom include the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS), and Arts Council England. Throughout much of the twentieth century, many of the activities that compose cultural policy in the 2010s were governed under the title of "arts policy". Arts policy includes direct funding to artists, creators and art institutions and indirect funding to artists and arts institutions through the tax system (e.g., by making donations to arts charities tax-deductible). However, as Kevin Mulcahy has observed, "cultural policy encompasses a much broader array of activities than were addressed under arts policy. Whereas arts policy was effectively limited to addressing aesthetic concerns (e.g., funding art galleries and opera houses), the significance of the transformation to cultural policy can be observed in its demonstrable emphases on cultural identity, valorization of indigineity [Indigenous people's culture] and analyses of historical dynamics (such as hegemony and colonialism)." A general trend in Western industrialized nations is a shift, since the 1970s and 1980s, away from solely supporting a small number of relatively elite, professionalized art forms and institutions (e.g., Classical music, painting, sculpture, art galleries) to also supporting amateur and community cultural and creative activities (e.g., community theatre) and cultural forms which were not considered part of the Western canon by previous generations (e.g., traditional music such as blues, World music, and so on). History Prior to the twentieth century, the arts were typically supported by the patronage of the church, aristocrats such as kings and queens, and wealthy merchants. During the nineteenth century, artists increased their use of the private marketplace to earn revenue. For example, the composer Beethoven put on public concerts in the 19th century for which admission was charged. During the twentieth century, governments began to take over some of the arts patronage roles. Governments' first efforts to support culture were typically the establishment of archives, museums and libraries. Over the twentieth century, governments established a range of other institutions, such as arts councils and departments of culture. The first departments of culture typically supported the major arts that are part of the Western canon, such as painting and sculpture, and the major performing arts (Classical music and theatre). Arts policy In the twentieth century, Western governments in the U.K., Canada, Australia, New Zealand and many European nations developed arts policy measures to promote, support and protect the arts, artists and arts institutions. These governments' arts policy initiatives generally had two aims: supporting excellence in the arts and broadening access to the arts by citizens. An example of an arts policy initiative that supports excellence would be a government grant program which provides funding to the highest-achieving artists in the country. A concrete example would be a literary prize of $100,000 for the best fiction authors from the country, as selected by a panel of top experts. An example of an arts policy initiative that aims at increasing access to the arts would be a music in the schools program funded by the government. A concrete example would be a program which funded an orchestra or jazz quartet and paid them to play free concerts in elementary schools. This would enable children from lower- and middle-income families to hear live music. The two goals, supporting excellence and broadening access, are often trade-offs, as any increase in emphasis on one policy objective typically has an adverse effect on the other goal. To give an example, if a hypothetical country has a $12 million per year grant program for orchestras in the country, if the government focuses on the goal of supporting musical excellence, it may decide to provide $4 million per year to the three top orchestras in the country, as determined by a panel of independent professional music critics, conductors and music professors. This decision would strongly support the goal of enhancing excellence, as funding would only go to the top musical groups. However, this approach would only enable citizens in three cities to have access to professional orchestras. On the other hand, if the government was focusing on broadening access to symphony concerts, it might direct the independent panel to pick 12 orchestras in the country, with the stipulation that only one orchestra per city be selected. By proving $1 million per year to 12 orchestras in 12 cities, this would enable citizens from 12 cities in the country to see live orchestra shows. However, by funding 12 orchestras, this would mean that funding would go to ensembles that do not meet the highest standards of excellence. Thus, excellence and broadening access are often trade-offs. Theoretical approaches Cultural policy, while a small part of the budgets of even the most generous of governments, governs a sector of immense complexity. It entails "a large, heterogeneous set of individuals and organizations engaged in the creation, production, presentation, distribution, and preservation of and education about aesthetic heritage, and entertainment activities, products and artifacts". A cultural policy necessarily encompasses a broad array of activities and typically involves public support for: Heritage, battlefield and historic preservation sites Zoos, botanical gardens, arboretums, aquariums, parks Libraries and museums (fine arts, scientific, historical) Visual arts (film, painting, sculpture, pottery, architecture) Performing arts (symphonic, chamber and choral music; jazz, hip-hop and folk music; ballet, ballroom and modern dance; opera and musical theatre; circus performances, rodeos and marching bands) Public humanities programs (public broadcasting, creative writing, poetry) Some governments may place policy areas from this list in other ministries or departments. For example, national parks may be assigned to an environment department, or public humanities may be delegated to an education department. Since culture is a public good (i.e., contributes a public value to society for which it is hard to exclude non-payers, as all of society benefits from arts and culture) and something that is generally viewed as a merit good, governments have pursued programs to promote greater accessibility. In this way of thinking, significant aesthetic works such as paintings and sculptures should be made broadly available to the public. In other words, "high culture" should not be the exclusive preserve of a particular social class or of a metropolitan location. Rather, the benefits of the highest reaches of cultural excellence should be made in an egalitarian manner; national cultural treasures should be accessible without regard to the impediments of class circumstances, educational attainment or place of habitation. A democratic state cannot be seen as simply indulging the aesthetic preferences of a few, however enlightened, or of overtly infusing art with political values. Consequently, a democratic cultural policy must articulate its purposes in ways that demonstrate how the public interest is being served. These purposes have often been expressed as involving either the creation of cultural democracy or the democratization of culture. The objective of cultural democratization is the aesthetic enlightenment, enhanced dignity, and educational development of the general citizenry. "Dissemination was the key concept with the aim of establishing equal opportunity for all citizens to participate in publicly organized and financed cultural activities". To further this goal, performances and exhibitions are low cost; public art education promotes equality of aesthetic opportunity; national institutions tour and perform in work places, retirement homes and housing complexes. As indicated earlier, the "democratization of culture" is a top-down approach that promulgates certain forms of cultural programming that are deemed to be a public good. Clearly, such an objective is open to criticism for what is termed cultural elitism; that is, the assumption that some aesthetic expressions are inherently superior - at least as determined by a cognoscenti concerned with the acquisition of cultural capital. "The problem with this policy [is] that, fundamentally, it intend[s] to create larger audiences for performances whose content [is] based on the experience of society's privileged groups. In sum, it has... taken for granted that the cultural needs of all society's members [are] alike". The objective of cultural democracy, on the other hand, is to provide for a more participatory (or populist) approach in the definition and provision of cultural opportunities. The coupling of the concept of democratization of culture to cultural democracy has a pragmatic as well as a philosophical component. Cultural patronage in democratic governments is markedly different from patronage by wealthy individuals or corporations. Private or politically paramount patrons are responsible only to themselves and are free to indulge in their tastes and preferences. Democratic governments, on the other hand, are responsible to the electorate and are held accountable for their policy decisions. The two objectives just discussed - dissemination of high culture and participation in a broader range of cultural activities - evoke a related debate about the content of public culture: "elitist" or "populist." Elitism Proponents of the elitist position argue that cultural policy should emphasize aesthetic quality as the determining criterion for public subvention. This view is typically supported by the major cultural organizations, creative artists in the traditionally defined field of the fine arts, cultural critics, and the well-educated, well-to-do audiences for these art forms. Ronald Dworkin terms this the "lofty approach," which "insists that art and culture must reach a certain degree of sophistication, richness, and excellence in order for human nature to flourish, and that the state must provide this excellence if the people will not or cannot provide it for themselves". Advocates of the elitist position generally focus on supporting the creation, preservation and performance of works of the Western canon, a group of artworks that are viewed as the best artistic and cultural products of Western society. Populism By contrast, the populist position advocates defining culture broadly and inclusively and making this culture broadly available. The populist approach emphasizes a less traditional and more pluralist notion of artistic merit and consciously seeks to create a policy of cultural diversity. With a focus on personal enhancement, the populist's position posits very limited boundaries between amateur and professional arts activities. Indeed, the goal is to provide opportunities for those outside the professional mainstream. To give an example, whereas an elite approach advocates support for professional musicians, particularly those from Classical music, a populist approach would advocate support for amateur, community singers and musicians. "Proponents of populism are frequently advocates of minority arts, folk arts, ethnic arts, or counter-cultural activities" as Kevin V. Mulcahy said. Cultural "elitists," on the other hand, argue in support of excellence over amateurism and favor an emphasis on aesthetic discipline over "culture as everything." There are "two key tensions for national cultural policy between the goals of excellence versus access, and between government roles as facilitator versus architect". Kevin V. Mulcahy argued that in effect, elitism is cultural democracy as populism is to the democratization of culture. Unfortunately, there has been a tendency to see these positions as mutually exclusive, rather than complementary. "Elitists" are denounced as "high brow snobs" advocating an esoteric culture which focuses on art music and the types of art seen in museums and galleries; populists are dismissed as "pandering philistines" promoting a trivialized and commercialized culture, as they endorse the value of popular music and folk art. However, these mutual stereotypes belie complementariness between two bookends of an artistically autonomous and politically accountable cultural policy. There is a synthesis that can be termed a "latitudinarian approach" to public culture; that is, one that is aesthetically inclusive and broadly accessible. Glocalization of arts Musicologists David Hebert and Mikolaj Rykowski write that when "music is recognized as invaluable cultural heritage, entailing unique artefacts of intellectual property, new developments in this field then become acknowledged as important forms of social innovation;" However, they caution policy-makers that with glocalization, the rise of "'big data' offers unprecedentedly powerful tools but also inevitably entails many risks for all kinds of artists (both musicians and their collaborators in other arts) as well as the sustainability of traditional cultural practices." Viewpoints Such a public-cultural policy would remain faithful to the highest standards of excellence from a broad range of aesthetic expressions while providing the widest possible access to people from different geographic locales, socio-economic strata, and educational background, as Dr. Mulcahy said. In conceiving of public policy as an opportunity to provide alternatives not readily available in the marketplace, public cultural agencies would be better positioned to complement the efforts of the private sector rather than duplicate their activities. Similarly, cultural agencies can promote community development by supporting artistic heritages that are at a competitive disadvantage in a cultural world that is increasingly profit-driven. In sum, excellence should be viewed as the achievements of greatness from a horizontal, rather than a vertical, perspective and a cultural policy as supporting the totality of these varieties of excellence. These attitudes about a public cultural responsibility stand in marked contrast to much of the rest of the world, where culture is a question of historic patrimony, or the national identities of peoples, whether in independent states or regions within more powerful states. Inevitably, sensitive issues are involved in any discussion of culture as a public policy. However, given the demands in a democratic system that public policies show a return to the taxpayer, cultural policy has frequently argued for support on the basis of utility. It can be argued that there is a parity between the state's responsibility for its citi' social-economic-physical needs and their access to culture and opportunities for artistic self-expression. However, the aesthetic dimension of public policy has never been widely perceived as intuitively obvious or politically imperative. Accordingly, the cultural sector has often argued its case from the secondary, ancillary benefits that result from public support for programs that are seemingly only aesthetic in nature. Cultural policy is not typically justified solely on the grounds that it is a good-in-itself, but rather that it yields other good results. The future of cultural policy would seem to predict an increasingly inexorable demand that the arts "carry their own weight" rather than rely on a public subsidy to pursue "art for art's sake". Kevin V. Mulcahy dubbed this "cultural Darwinism" is most pronounced in the United States where public subsidy is limited and publicly supported aesthetic activities are expected to demonstrate a direct public benefit. Non-American cultural institutions are less constrained by the need to maintain diversified revenue streams that demand high levels of earned income and individual and corporate donations to compensate for limited government appropriations. On the other hand, cultural institutions everywhere are increasingly market-driven in their need for supplementary funds and as a justification for continued public support. The American model of an essentially privatized culture is increasingly attractive to governments seeking to curtail their cultural subsidies. In a system of mixed funding, public culture can nurture the arts groups and cultural activities that contribute to individual self-worth and community definition even if counting for less in the economic bottom-line. At root, a cultural policy is about creating public spheres that are not dependent upon profit motives nor validated by commercial values. As political democracy is dependent upon the existence of civil society and socio-economic pluralism, cultural policy stands as an essential public commitment in realizing these fundamental preconditions. One of the available and yet underappreciated tools in cultural policy at the national level is the reduction of VAT rates for cultural goods and services. Economic theory can be used to explain how reduced fiscal rates are expected to decrease prices and increase quantities of consumed cultural goods and services. Fiscal policy can be an important part of cultural policy, in particular the VAT rate discounts on cultural consumption, yet it receives less attention than deserved. Scope At the international level UNESCO is in charge of cultural policy. Contact information for ministries of culture and national arts councils in 160 countries is available from the website of the International Federation of Arts Councils and Culture Agencies (IFACCA). On a local scale, subnational (e.g., state or provincial governments), city and local governments offer citizens and local authorities the opportunity to develop arts and culture with the Agenda 21 for Culture. Research Cultural Policy Research (or Cultural Policy Studies) is a field of academic inquiry that grew out of Cultural Studies in the 1990s. A quarter of a century later, by now both “Cultural Policy Research” and "Cultural Policy Studies" each match almost 100 million entries in the World Wide Web. Cultural Policy Research grew out of the idea that cultural studies should not only be critical, but also try to be useful. The Princeton University e.g. founded its Center for Arts and Cultural Policy Studies 1994 “to improve the clarity, accuracy and sophistication of discourse about the nation's artistic and cultural life.” The scientific approach is genuinely interdisciplinary, combining social sciences, a wide range of the humanities, jurisprudence and economics. As all political sciences do, the research focuses on the content dimension (policy), the formal-institutional dimension (polity) and the practical dimension (politics), particularly affecting decision processes and the results obtained. Cultural Policy Research asks: What do the actors and agents in the Cultural Policy sphere actually do when they do what they do? Which purposes they do pursue by that? What are their goals and which means do they use? What is the result of their action for society and for the citizens’ intellectual and artistic freedom? Among the many departments of Cultural Policy Studies around the world, there are several UNESCO Chairs in Cultural Policy from the programme launched in 1992 by the UNESCO to promote international inter-university cooperation: (412) Vilnius, Lithuania :UNESCO Chair in Cultural Policy and Cultural Management (1998), Vilnius Academy of Arts (436) Debrecen, Hungary: UNESCO Chair in Cultural Policy and Cultural Management (1999), Lajos Kossuth University of Arts and Sciences, Debrecen (454) Lomé, Togo: Chaire UNESCO sur les politiques culturelles pour le développement (1999), Centre régional d'action culturelle (CRAC) (527) Girona, Spain / Catalunya: Chaire UNESCO en matière de Politiques et de Coopération Culturelles (2001), Universitat de Girona (546) Barcelona, Spain / Catalunya: Chaire UNESCO d'études interculturelles (2001), Université Pompeu Febra de Barcelone (572) Barcelona, Spain / Catalunya: Chaire UNESCO de Diversité linguistique et culturelle (2002), Institut d'Etudes catalanes (654) Thessaloniki, Greece: Chaire UNESCO de politique interculturelle pour une citoyenneté active et solidaire (2004), Université de Macédoine (827) Kazan, Russia-Tatarstan: UNESCO Chair in Eurosian studies, Cultural Diversity and Cultural Policies (2008), Kazan State University (851) Buenos Aires, Argentine: Chaire UNESCO d’esthétique et sociologie de la différence et de la diversité culturelle en Argentine (2009), Universidad Nacional Tres de Febrero (978) Hildesheim, Germany: UNESCO Chair in Cultural Policy for the Arts in Development ”(2012), Department of Cultural Policy at University of Hildesheim. See also Arts council Cultural Institutions Studies Walden Two#Cultural engineering Cultural subsidy Cultural diplomacy Cultural policies of the European Union Cultural policy in Abu Dhabi Cultural policy of the United States Social policy References Bibliography Madden, C, 2009, 'The Independence of Government Arts Funding: A Review', D'Art Topics in Arts Policy, No. 9, International Federation of Arts Councils and Culture Agencies, Sydney, www.ifacca.org/themes Marcello Sorce Keller, "Why is Music so Ideological, Why Do Totalitarian States Take It So Seriously: A Personal View from History, and the Social Sciences", Journal of Musicological Research, XXVI(2007), no. 2–3, pp. 91–122; Marja Heimonen & David G. Hebert, "Pluralism and Minority Rights in Music Education: Implications of the Legal and Social Philosophical Dimensions," Visions of Research in Music Education, Vol.15 (2010). Mario d'Angelo, Paul Vesperini, Cultural Policies in Europe (a series in four volumes) : 1) A comparative Approach 2) Regions and Decentralization 3) Method and Practice of Evaluation 4) Local Issues, Council of Europe Publishing, Strasbourg, 1999–2001. Philippe Poirrier (Ed.), Pour une histoire des politiques culturelles dans le monde, 1945-2011, La Documentation française, Paris, 2011. Dave O'Brien, Cultural Policy: Management, Value and Modernity in the Creative Industries, Routledge, Abingdon, 2014. Tony Bennett, Culture, A reformer's Science, SAGE, London, 1998. Jim McGuigan, Rethinking Cultural Policy, Open University Press, Milton Keynes, 2004. External links International Federation of Arts Councils and Culture Agencies United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization Les Rencontres - Association of European Cities and Regions for Culture Compendium - Cultural Policies and Trends in Europe Social policy Art and culture law Cultural concepts

Contemporary philosophy

Contemporary philosophy is the present period in the history of Western philosophy beginning at the early 20th century with the increasing professionalization of the discipline and the rise of analytic and continental philosophy. The phrase "contemporary philosophy" is a piece of technical terminology in philosophy that refers to a specific period in the history of Western philosophy (namely the philosophy of the 20th and 21st centuries). However, the phrase is often confused with modern philosophy (which refers to an earlier period in Western philosophy), postmodern philosophy (which refers to some philosophers' criticisms of modern philosophy), and with a non-technical use of the phrase referring to any recent philosophic work. Professionalization Process Professionalization is the social process by which any trade or occupation establishes the group norms of conduct, acceptable qualifications for membership of the profession, a professional body or association to oversee the conduct of members of the profession, and some degree of demarcation of the qualified from unqualified amateurs. The transformation into a profession brings about many subtle changes to a field of inquiry, but one more readily identifiable component of professionalization is the increasing irrelevance of "the book" to the field: "research communiqués will begin to change in ways [...] whose modern end products are obvious to all and oppressive to many. No longer will [a member's] researches usually be embodied in books addressed [...] to anyone who might be interested in the subject matter of the field. Instead they will usually appear as brief articles addressed only to professional colleagues, the men whose knowledge of a shared paradigm can be assumed and who prove to be the only one able to read the papers addressed to them." Philosophy underwent this process toward the end of the 19th century, and it is one of the key distinguishing features of the contemporary philosophy era in Western philosophy. Germany was the first country to professionalize philosophy. At the end of 1817, Hegel was the first philosopher to be appointed professor by the State, namely by the Prussian Minister of Education, as an effect of Napoleonic reform in Prussia. In the United States, the professionalisation grew out of reforms to the American higher-education system largely based on the German model. James Campbell describes the professionalisation of philosophy in America as follows: Professionalization in England was similarly tied to developments in higher-education. In his work on T.H. Green, Denys Leighton discusses these changes in British philosophy and Green's claim to the title of Britain's first professional academic philosopher: The result of professionalization for philosophy has meant that work being done in the field is now almost exclusively done by university professors holding a doctorate in the field publishing in highly technical, peer-reviewed journals. While it remains common among the population at large for a person to have a set of religious, political or philosophical views that they consider their "philosophy", these views are rarely informed or connected to the work being done in professional philosophy today. Furthermore, unlike many of the sciences for which there has come to be a healthy industry of books, magazines, and television shows meant to popularize science and communicate the technical results of a scientific field to the general populace, works by professional philosophers directed at an audience outside the profession remain rare. Philosopher Michael Sandel's book "Justice: What's the Right Thing to Do?" and Harry Frankfurt's "On Bullshit" are examples of works that hold the uncommon distinction of having been written by professional philosophers but directed at and ultimately popular among a broader audience of non-philosophers. Both works became New York Times best sellers. Professional philosophy today Not long after their formation, the Western Philosophical Association and portions of the American Psychological Association merged with the American Philosophical Association to create what is today the main professional organization for philosophers in the United States: the American Philosophical Association. The association has three divisions: Pacific, Central and Eastern. Each division organises a large annual conference. The biggest of these is the Eastern Division Meeting, which usually attracts around 2,000 philosophers and takes place in a different east coast city each December. The Eastern Division Meeting is also the USA's largest recruitment event for philosophy jobs, with numerous universities sending teams to interview candidates for academic posts. Among its many other tasks, the association is responsible for administering many of the profession's top honors. For example, the Presidency of a Division of the American Philosophical Association is considered to be a professional honor and the American Philosophical Association Book Prize is one of the oldest prizes in philosophy. The largest academic organization devoted to specifically furthering the study of continental philosophy is the Society for Phenomenology and Existential Philosophy. Concerning professional journals today, a 2018 survey of professional philosophers asked them to rank the highest quality "general" philosophy journals in English, yielding the following top 20: {| cellspacing="9"; cellpadding="0"; |+ style="background:#efefef;" | Table of prominent professional journals in contemporary philosophy |- | 1. Philosophical Review | 6. Australasian Journal of Philosophy | 11. Synthese | 16. Proceedings of the Aristotelian Society |- | 2. Mind | 7. Philosophers' Imprint | 12. Canadian Journal of Philosophy | 17. The Monist |- | 3. Noûs | 8. Philosophical Studies | 13. Erkenntnis | 18. European Journal of Philosophy |- | 4. Journal of Philosophy | 9. Philosophical Quarterly | 14. American Philosophical Quarterly | 19. Journal of the American Philosophical Association |- | 5. Philosophy and Phenomenological Research | 10. Analysis | 15. Pacific Philosophical Quarterly | 20. Thought | |} Concerning continental philosophy specifically, a 2012 survey of mostly professional philosophers asked them to rank the highest quality "continental tradition" philosophy journals in English. Listing the survey's top 6 results: {| cellspacing="4"; cellpadding="1"; |+ style="background:#efefef;" | Table of prominent professional journals in continental philosophy |- | 1. European Journal of Philosophy | 4. Inquiry |- | 2. Philosophy and Phenomenological Research | 5. Archiv für Geschichte der Philosophie |- | 3. Journal of the History of Philosophy | 6. British Journal for the History of Philosophy |} The Philosophy Documentation Center publishes a well-known Directory of American Philosophers which is the standard reference work for information about philosophical activity in the United States and Canada. The directory is published every two years, alternating with its companion volume, the International Directory of Philosophy and Philosophers (the only edited source for extensive information on philosophical activity in Africa, Asia, Australasia, Europe, and Latin America). Since the start of the 21st century, philosophers have also seen the growing utilization of blogs as a means of professional exchange. A few notable milestones in this development include an informal listing of philosophy blogs begun by philosopher David Chalmers which has since become a widely used resource by the profession, the establishment of a partnership between ethics blog PEA Soup and the prominent journal Ethics to post featured articles for online discussion on the blog, and the role of blogs like What is it Like to be a Woman in Philosophy? in bringing attention to the experience of women in the profession. The analytic–continental divide The beginning of the divide Contemporary continental philosophy began with the work of Franz Brentano, Edmund Husserl, Adolf Reinach, and Martin Heidegger and the development of the philosophical method of phenomenology. This development was roughly contemporaneous with work by Gottlob Frege and Bertrand Russell inaugurating a new philosophical method based on the analysis of language via modern logic (hence the term "analytic philosophy"). Analytic philosophy dominates in the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia and the English speaking world. Continental philosophy prevails in Europe, including Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Portugal and parts of the United States. Some philosophers, such as Richard Rorty and Simon Glendinning, argue that this "analytic–continental" divide is inimical to the discipline as a whole. Others, such as John Searle, claim that continental philosophy, especially post-structuralist continental philosophy, should be expunged, on grounds that it is "BS". Analytic and continental philosophy share a common Western philosophical tradition up to Immanuel Kant. Afterwards, analytic and continental philosophers differ on the importance and influence of subsequent philosophers on their respective traditions. For instance, the German idealism school developed out of the work of Kant in the 1780s and 1790s and culminated in Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel, who is viewed highly by many continental philosophers. Conversely, Hegel is viewed as a relatively minor figure for the work of analytic philosophers. Analytic philosophy The analytic program in philosophy is ordinarily dated to the work of English philosophers Bertrand Russell and G.E. Moore in the early 20th century, building on the work of the German philosopher and mathematician Gottlob Frege. They turned away from then-dominant forms of Hegelianism (objecting in particular to its idealism and purported obscurity) and began to develop a new sort of conceptual analysis based on recent developments in logic. The most prominent example of this new method of conceptual analysis is Russell's 1905 paper "On Denoting", a paper that is widely seen to be the exemplar of the analytic program in philosophy. Although contemporary philosophers who self-identify as "analytic" have widely divergent interests, assumptions, and methods—and have often rejected the fundamental premises that defined the analytic movement between 1900 and 1960—analytic philosophy, in its contemporary state, is usually taken to be defined by a particular style characterized by precision and thoroughness about a narrow topic, and resistance to "imprecise or cavalier discussions of broad topics." Some analytic philosophers at the end of the 20th century, such as Richard Rorty, have called for a major overhaul of the analytic philosophic tradition. In particular, Rorty has argued that analytic philosophers must learn important lessons from the work of continental philosophers. Some authors, such as Paul M. Livingston and Shaun Gallagher contend that there exist valuable insights common to both traditions while others, such as Timothy Williamson, have called for even stricter adherence to the methodological ideals of analytic philosophy: The "crude stereotypes" that Williamson refers to in the above passage are these: that analytic philosophers produce carefully argued and rigorous analyses of trivially small philosophic puzzles, while continental philosophers produce profound and substantial results but only by deducing them from broad philosophical systems which themselves lack supporting arguments or clarity in their expression. Williamson himself seems to here distance himself from these stereotypes, but does accuse analytic philosophers of too often fitting the critical stereotype of continental philosophers by moving "too fast" to reach substantial results via poor arguments. Continental philosophy The history of continental philosophy is taken to begin in the early 1900s because its institutional roots descend directly from those of phenomenology. As a result, Edmund Husserl has often been credited as the founding figure in continental philosophy. Although, since analytic and continental philosophy have such starkly different views of philosophy after Kant, continental philosophy is also often understood in an extended sense to include any post-Kant philosophers or movements important to continental philosophy but not analytic philosophy. The term "continental philosophy", like "analytic philosophy", marks a broad range of philosophical views and approaches not easily captured in a definition. It has even been suggested that the term may be more pejorative than descriptive, functioning as a label for types of western philosophy rejected or disliked by analytic philosophers. Nonetheless, certain descriptive rather than merely pejorative features have been seen to typically characterize continental philosophy: First, continental philosophers generally reject scientism, the view that the natural sciences are the best or most accurate way of understanding all phenomena. Second, continental philosophy usually considers experience as determined at least partly by factors such as context, space and time, language, culture, or history. Thus continental philosophy tends toward historicism, where analytic philosophy tends to treat philosophy in terms of discrete problems, capable of being analyzed apart from their historical origins. Third, continental philosophers tend to take a strong interest in the unity of theory and practice, and tend to see their philosophical inquiries as closely related to personal, moral, or political transformation. Fourth, continental philosophy has an emphasis on metaphilosophy (i.e. the study of the nature, aims, and methods of philosophy). This emphasis can also be found in analytic philosophy, but with starkly different results. Another approach to approximating a definition of continental philosophy is by listing some of the philosophical movements that are or have been central in continental philosophy: German idealism, phenomenology, existentialism (and its antecedents, such as the thought of Kierkegaard and Nietzsche), hermeneutics, structuralism, post-structuralism, deconstruction, French feminism, and the critical theory of the Frankfurt School and some other branches of Western Marxism. Bridging the divide An increasing number of contemporary philosophers have contested the value and plausibility of distinguishing analytic and continental philosophy. Some philosophers, like Richard J. Bernstein and A. W. Moore have explicitly attempted to reconcile these traditions, taking as a point of departure certain themes shared by notable scholars in each tradition. See also Analytic philosophy Experimental philosophy – An emerging field of philosophical inquiry that makes use of empirical data—often gathered through surveys which probe the intuitions of ordinary people—in order to inform research on long-standing and unsettled philosophical questions. Logical positivism – The first and dominant school in analytic philosophy for the first half of the 20th century. Naturalism – The view that only natural laws and forces operate in the universe. Ordinary language philosophy – The dominant school in analytic philosophy in the middle of 20th century. Quietism – In metaphilosophy, the view that the role of philosophy is therapeutic or remedial. Postanalytic philosophy – Postanalytic philosophy describes a detachment and challenge to mainstream analytic philosophy by philosophers like Richard Rorty. Continental philosophy Deconstruction – An approach (whether in philosophy, literary analysis, or in other fields) where one conducts textual readings with a view to demonstrate that the text is not a discrete whole, instead containing several irreconcilable, contradictory meanings. Existentialism – Existential philosophy is the "explicit conceptual manifestation of an existential attitude" that begins with a sense of disorientation and confusion in the face of an apparently meaningless or absurd world. Phenomenology – Phenomenology is primarily concerned with making the structures of consciousness, and the phenomena which appear in acts of consciousness, objects of systematic reflection and analysis. Poststructuralism – Structuralism was a fashionable movement in France in the 1950s and 1960s, that studied the underlying structures inherent in cultural products (such as texts), post-structuralism derive from critique of structuralist premises. Specifically, post-structuralism holds that the study of underlying structures is itself culturally conditioned and therefore subject to myriad biases and misinterpretations. Postmodern philosophy – Postmodern philosophy is skeptical or nihilistic toward many of the values and assumptions of philosophy that derive from modernity, such as humanity having an essence which distinguishes humans from animals, or the assumption that one form of government is demonstrably better than another. Social constructionism – A central concept in continental philosophy, a social construction is a concept or practice that is the creation (or artifact) of a particular group. Speculative realism-Speculative realism is a philosophical movement that seeks to overcome the limitations of anthropocentric and correlationist thinking by exploring the reality of objects beyond human perception and representation. Critical theory – Critical theory is the examination and critique of society and culture, drawing from knowledge across the social sciences and humanities. Frankfurt School – The term "Frankfurt School" is an informal term used to designate the thinkers affiliated with the Institute for Social Research or who were influenced by it. Western philosophy Notes Footnotes and references Works cited Further reading The professionalization of philosophy Campbell, James, A Thoughtful Profession: The Early Years of the American Philosophical Association. Open Court Publishing (2006) The Analytic / Continental divide James Chase & Jack Reynolds, "Analytic versus Continental: Arguments on the Methods and Value of Philosophy" Durham: Acumen (2011) James Luchte,'Martin Heidegger and Rudolf Carnap: Radical Phenomenology, Logical Positivism and the Roots of the Continental/Analytic Divide,' Philosophy Today, Vol. 51, No. 3, 241–260 (Fall, 2007) Levy, Neil "Analytic and Continental Philosophy: Explaining the Differences", Metaphilosophy. Vol. 34, No. 3, April (2003) Prado, C.G. A House Divided: Comparing Analytic and Continental Philosophy Humanity Books (2003) Weinberg, Justin An Empirical Approach to the Analytic-Continental Divide (2021) Daily Nous. https://dailynous.com/2021/10/01/empirical-approach-analytic-continental-divide/ Analytic Philosophy Dummett, Michael Origins of Analytical Philosophy. Harvard University Press (1996) Floyd, Juliet Future Pasts: The Analytic Tradition in Twentieth-Century Philosoph Oxford University Press (2001) Glock, Hans-Johann What is Analytic Philosophy?. Cambridge University Press (2008) Martinich, A.P. Analytic Philosophy: An Anthology (Blackwell Philosophy Anthologies). Wiley-Blackwell (2001) Martinich, A.P. A Companion to Analytic Philosophy (Blackwell Companions to Philosophy). Wiley-Blackwell (2005) Soames, Scott, Philosophical Analysis in the Twentieth Century, Volume 1: The Dawn of Analysis. Princeton University Press (2005) Soames, Scott, Philosophical Analysis in the Twentieth Century, Volume 2: The Age of Meaning. Princeton University Press (2005) Stroll, Avrum Twentieth-Century Analytic Philosophy. Columbia University Press (2001) Williamson, Timothy The Philosophy of Philosophy (The Blackwell / Brown Lectures in Philosophy). Wiley-Blackwell (2008) Continental Philosophy Cutrofello, Andrew Continental Philosophy: A Contemporary Introduction. Routledge (2005) External links The Philosophical Gourmet Report's description of "Analytic" and "Continental" philosophy

Sui generis

( , ) is a Latin phrase that means "of its/their own kind" or "in a class by itself", therefore "unique". Several disciplines use the term to refer to unique entities. These include: Biology, for species that do not fit into a genus that includes other species (its own genus) Creative arts, for artistic works that go beyond conventional genre boundaries (its own genre) Law, when a special and unique interpretation of a case or authority is necessary (its own special case) Intellectual property rights, for types of works not falling under general copyright law but protected through separate statutes Philosophy, to indicate an idea, an entity, or a reality that cannot be reduced to a lower concept or included in a higher concept (its own category) Biology In the taxonomical structure "genus → species", a species is described as if its genus was created to classify it (i.e., its uniqueness at the time of classification merited the creation of a new genus, the sole member of which was initially the species). A species that is the sole extant member of its genus (e.g., the genus Homo) is not necessarily ; extinctions may have eliminated other congeneric species. A sui generis genus may also be called a monotypic genus. Creative arts A book, movie, television series, or other artistic creation is called when it does not fit into standard genre boundaries. Movie critic Richard Schickel identifies Joe Versus the Volcano as a movie. Film critic Michael Brooke used the term to describe Fantastic Planet, a 1973 Franco-Czech sci-fi animated film directed by René Laloux. Law In law, it is a term of art used to identify a legal classification that exists independently of other categorizations, either because of its singularity or due to the specific creation of an entitlement or obligation. For example, a court's contempt powers arise sui generis and not from statute or rule. The New York Court of Appeals has used the term in describing cooperative apartment corporations, mostly because this form of housing is considered real property for some purposes and personal property for other purposes. When citing cases and other authorities, lawyers and judges may refer to "a case", or "a authority", meaning it is a special one confined to its own facts and, therefore, may not be of broader application. Intellectual property law Generally speaking, protection for intellectual property extends to intellectual creations to incentivize innovation and depends upon the nature of the work and its characteristics. The main types of intellectual property law are: copyright, which protects creative works; patent, which protects invention; trade secret, which protects information not generally known or readily ascertainable that is valuable to the secret holder; and trademark, which protects branding and other exclusive properties of products and services. Any matter that meets these criteria can be protected. statutes exist in many countries that extend intellectual property protection to matter that does not meet characteristic definitions: integrated circuit layouts, ship hull designs, fashion designs in France, databases, or plant varieties require statutes because of their unique characteristics. The United States, Japan, Australia, and many EU countries protect the topography of semiconductor chips and integrated circuits under sui generis laws, which borrow some aspects from patent or copyright law. In the U.S., this law is known as the Semiconductor Chip Protection Act of 1984. Statutory law In statutory interpretation, sui generis refers to the problem of giving meaning to groups of words where one of the words is ambiguous or inherently unclear. In road traffic law, a statute may require consideration of large vehicles separately from other vehicles. The word "large" is ambiguous per se but may be considered "heavy". The relevant legislation (in Australian law) contain sections called "Terms used" or "Definitions" that itemise all words deemed ambiguous and confers specific interpretations consistent with natural language. One indicates "heavy vehicle" means a vehicle with a GVM over 4.5 tons, and GVM means "gross vehicle mass", the maximum loaded mass of the vehicle. Further explanations cover various contingencies. Thus, "large" is equivalent to "heavy" and is (for this unique case) clearly defined sui generis. In U.S. attorney admissions, an applicant for admission to the practice of law may be referred to the state committee on character and fitness, where proceedings are "neither civil nor criminal, but are sui generis". Town planning law In town and country planning in the United Kingdom, in particular, relating to the Town and Country Planning (Use Classes) Order 1987, many common types of land use are categorised into specific "use classes". Change of use of land within a use class does not require planning permission; changing between use classes might require planning permission, and approval is always needed if the new use is . Examples of uses include embassies, theatres, amusement arcades, laundrettes, taxi or vehicle hire businesses, petrol filling stations, scrapyards, nightclubs, motor car showrooms, retail warehouses, clubs and hostels. As of 1 September 2020 following the Town and Country Planning (Use Classes) (Amendment) (England) Regulations 2020, the following uses were added as sui generis: public houses, wine bars, or drinking establishments (previously Class A4) drinking establishments with expanded food provision (previously Class A4) hot food takeaways (previously Class A5) venues for live music performance cinemas (previously Class D2(a)) concert halls (previously D2(b)) bingo halls (previously D2(c)) dance halls (previously D2(d)) The grant of private hire vehicle (taxicab) operators licences by local authorities frequently has a condition that the appropriate sui generis change of use planning permission is granted to those premises to ensure those businesses cannot trade lawfully without the relevant planning consent. International law When applied to international law, "" refers to situations which are distinct and thus not easily categorized under existing legal frameworks or conventions. in international law may suggest novel legal frameworks to address unprecedented issues using a new set of legal principles. For example, the legal status of the internet or space law. Sui generis systems can be crucial in international law because they allow the international community to develop adaptive legal responses to emerging global challenges and contexts that are not adequately addressed by traditional international law. They often also serve as precursors to the evolution of wider customary international law or the development of new treaties and conventions. The uniqueness of legal regimes can sometimes make them challenging to interpret, enforce, or harmonize with existing legal frameworks. Philosophy Analytic philosophy often uses the expression to indicate an idea, an entity, or a reality that cannot be reduced to a lower concept or included in a higher concept. G. E. Moore, for example, refuted reductive ethical naturalism in moral theories like utilitarianism by arguing that moral properties (like good or bad) could not be reduced to or equated with non-moral properties (like pleasure) because moral properties are sui generis. This can be seen in Moore's open-question argument. Politics and society In political philosophy, the unparalleled development of the European Union as compared with other international organizations has led to its designation as a geopolitical entity. The legal nature of the EU is widely debated because its mixture of intergovernmental and supranational elements causes it to share characteristics with both confederal and federal entities. It is generally considered more than a confederation but less than a federation, thus being appropriately classified as an instance of neither political form. Compared to other international organizations, the EU is often considered "sui generis" because its legal system comprehensively rejects any use of retaliatory sanctions by one member state against another. A similar case that led to the use of the label is the relationship of New Caledonia relative to France because the legal status of New Caledonia can aptly be said to lie somewhere between a French overseas collectivity and a sovereign nation. Although other examples of such status for further dependent or disputed territories may exist, this arrangement is unique within the French realm. The legal status of the Holy See is also described as a entity possessing an international personality. The Sovereign Military Order of Malta has likewise been described as a " primary subject of public international law". Another entity widely considered to have sui generis international legal personality is the International Committee of the Red Cross. In local government, a entity does not fit with a country's general scheme of local governance. For example, in England, the City of London and the Isles of Scilly are the two sui generis localities, as their forms of local government are both (for historical or geographical reasons) very different from those of elsewhere in the country. In a press conference during which reporters were trying to analyse his political personality, Huey Long said "say that I am sui generus, and let it go at that". The Joint Council of Municipalities in Croatia is a council of municipalities in the east of the country that was formed after the Erdut Agreement and UNTAES mission aimed at protection of the rights of the ethnic Serb community in the region and is, as such, unique form of local cooperation and minority self-government in Croatia. Sociology In sociology, methodological holists argue that social phenomena exist in their own right (sui generis) and are not reducible to the actions of individuals. For example, Emile Durkheim argued that the suicide rate was a social phenomenon sui generis (existing over and above the actions of individuals) In a social constructionist perspective, " is what has been externalized, then internalized in the overall public and becomes a part of society that exists in its construct. It is not something that is not thought to have been created because it is embedded in everyone's way of thinking and being. Instances include love, going to school, or clothing belonging to a specific gender. These examples are sui generis for they exist in society and are widely accepted without thoughts of where they come from or how they were created. See also List of Latin phrases Hapax legomenon, a word or term only found once within a language history or body of work New Caledonia, a sui generis collectivity of overseas France References Latin legal terminology Exceptionalism Set index articles

Loevinger's stages of ego development

Loevinger's stages of ego development are proposed by developmental psychologist Jane Loevinger (1918–2008) and conceptualize a theory based on Erik Erikson's psychosocial model and the works of Harry Stack Sullivan (1892–1949) in which "the ego was theorized to mature and evolve through stages across the lifespan as a result of a dynamic interaction between the inner self and the outer environment". Loevinger's theory contributes to the delineation of ego development, which goes beyond the fragmentation of trait psychology and looks at personality as a meaningful whole. Development Loevinger conceived of an ego-development system which closely resembles moral development, but is broader in scope and uses empirical methods of study. She created an objective test of mothers' attitudes to problems in family life, which Loevinger called the Family Problems Scale. Although this first test did not yield the expected results, she noted a strong similarity between authoritarian family ideology and the authoritarian personality concept being developed at UC Berkeley in the early 1960s. Loevinger noticed that the women who were at the extreme ends of the authoritarian scale also tended to be the most immature. These women tended to agree with such statements as "[a] mother should be her daughter's best friend", at the same time endorsing punitive behavior. She also observed that a liberal, non-authoritarian personality was not the opposite of a high authoritarian personality; anomie (a disorganized and detached social style) was the opposite of high authoritarianism, indicating a curvilinear relationship. Loevinger theorized that this was because the Authoritarian Family Ideology scale measured just authoritarianism, but a broader concept which affected the other constructs she measured. By combining this theoretical framework with Sullivan and Grant's interpersonal-maturity continuum, she created the concept of ego development. Loevinger then developed the Washington University Sentence Completion Test, the primary method of determining ego development on her scale. Stages Loevinger describes the ego as a process, rather than a thing; it is the frame of reference (or lens) one uses to construct and interpret one's world. This contains impulse control and character development with interpersonal relations and cognitive preoccupations, including self-concept. Sullivan (1958) proposed four levels of "interpersonal maturity and interpersonal integration": impulsive, conformist, conscientious, and autonomous. Developing from that initial framework, Loevinger completed a developmental model of nine sequential stages, each representing a progressively more-complex way of perceiving oneself in relation to the world. Every stage provides a frame of reference to organize and define experience over an individual's life: "Since each new ego stage or frame of reference builds on the previous one and integrates it, no one can skip a stage ... One has not yet acquired the interpersonal logic." As the adult ego develops, Loevinger considered the emergence of a sense of self-awareness in which one becomes aware of discrepancies between conventions and one's behavior. For some, development reaches a plateau and does not continue; for others, greater ego integration and differentiation continue. Loevinger proposed eight or nine stages of ego in development, six of which occur in adulthood: conformist, conscientious-conformist, conscientious, individualistic, autonomous, and integrated. She believed that most adults were at the conscientious-conformist level. Pre-Social (E1) The baby, which is at the mercy of the world around it (and its own needs), really has no ego to speak of until it begins to differentiate itself from its caregivers and the demands of the outer environment. Impulsive (E2) The child "asserts his growing sense of self", and views the world in egocentric terms; "the child is preoccupied with bodily impulses, particularly (age-appropriate) sexual and aggressive ones." Immersed in the moment, they view the world solely in terms of how things affect him or her. Impulses affirm a sense of self, but are "curbed by the environment." When someone meets the child's needs, they are considered "good"; if they do not meet his or her needs, they are considered "bad" (often resulting in impulsive retaliation, such as running away or running home). Discipline is viewed by the child as restraint; rewards and punishments are seen as "nice to me" or "mean to me". The child's "needs and feelings are experienced mostly in bodily modes," and "the child's orientation at this stage is almost exclusively to the present rather than to past or future." Self-Protective (E3) The self-protective stage is "the first step towards self-control of impulses. The Self-Protective person has the notion of blame, but he externalizes it to other people or to circumstances." At this level, the child "craves a morally prescribed, rigidly enforced, unchanging order"; if maintained too long, "an older child or adult who remains here may become opportunistic, deceptive, and preoccupied with control ... naive instrumental hedonism". Although a degree of conceptual cohesion has been reached, morality is essentially a matter of anticipating rewards and punishments (with the motto "Don't Get Caught"). Conformist (E4) "Most children around school age ... progress to the next stage, conformity." Individuals begin to view themselves and others as conforming to socially-approved codes or norms. Loevinger describes this stage as having "the greatest cognitive simplicity. There is a right way and a wrong way and it is the same for everyone ... or broad classes of people". One example of groups conforming at this age is by gender: boys and girls; individuals are invested in belonging to, and obtaining the approval of, groups. Behaviour is judged externally, not by intentions, and this concept of "belonging to the group (family or peers) is most valued." "The child starts to identify his welfare with that of the group"; for the stage "to be consolidated, there must be a strong element of trust." An ability to understand rules of the group appears; a group member's disapproval becomes a sanction, in addition to the fear of punishment. Rules and norms, however, are not yet distinguished. "While the Conformist likes and trusts other people within his own group, he may define that group narrowly and reject any or all outgroups, and stereotypes roles on the principle of social desirability: people are what they ought to be." Self-Aware (E5) Loevinger considered the Self-Aware (also known as Conscientious-Conformist) stage the "model for adults in our society," and thought that few passed the stage before at least age twenty-five. The stage has two characteristics; "An increase in self-awareness and the capacity to imagine multiple possibilities in situations ... [was] a stable position in mature life, one marked by the development of 'rudimentary self-awareness and self-criticism. "However, the closeness of the self to norms and expectations reveal[s] the transitional nature of these conceptions, midway between the group stereotypes of the Conformist and the appreciation for individual differences at higher levels." She believed that the level produces a "deepened interest in interpersonal relations." Conscientious (E6) At "the conscientious stage ... individuals at this level, and even more often at higher levels, refer spontaneously to psychological development." Internalization of rules is complete by this stage, although "exceptions and contingencies are recognized." Goals and ideals are acknowledged, and there is a new sense of responsibility; guilt is triggered by hurting another, rather than by breaking rules. "The tendency to look at things in a broader social context" is offset by a self seen as apart from the group, but from another's point of view; as a result, "descriptions of people are more realistic ... [with] more complexities." Standards are self-chosen, and are distinguished from manners; people are seen in terms of their motives, not just their actions. A conscientious person "sees life as presenting choices; s/he holds the origin of his own destiny ... aspires to achievement, ad astra per aspera". Individualistic (E7) During this stage, persons demonstrate a respect for individuality and interpersonal ties. According to Loevinger, "To proceed beyond the Conscientious Stage, a person must become more tolerant of himself and of others ... out of the recognition of individual differences and of complexities of circumstances". The individualistic ego has a broad-minded tolerance of, and respect for, the autonomy of oneself and others. With a new distancing from role identities, "moralism begins to be replaced by an awareness of inner conflict" and the new stage is "marked by a heightened sense of individuality and a concern for emotional dependence." Subjective experience is opposed to objective reality, inner reality to outward appearance: "vivid and personal versions of ideas presented as cliches at lower levels". A growing concern for psychological causality and development goes hand-in-hand with "greater complexity in conceptions of interpersonal interaction." Autonomous (E8) Loevinger described this stage as the "freeing of the person from oppressive demands of conscience in the preceding stage." People at this stage are "synthesizers", able to conceptually integrate ideas. The autonomous person "recognizes the limitations to autonomy, that emotional interdependence is inevitable", and may experience a "confrontation with the limitations of abilities and roles as part of deepening self-acceptance." "Self-fulfillment becomes a frequent goal, partly supplanting achievement", and there may be a greater "capacity to acknowledge and to cope with inner conflicts" (such as that between needs and duties). "A high toleration for ambiguity ... [and] conceptual complexity" (the capacity to embrace polarity, complexity and multiple facets, and to integrate ideas) and "respect for other people's need for autonomy in clear terms" are other features of the autonomous stage. Integrated (E9) According to Loevinger, this stage is rarely attained. At the integrated stage, "learning is understood as unavoidable ... the unattainable is renounced." The ego exhibits wisdom, broad empathy towards oneself and others, and a capacity to be aware of inner conflicts (like the individualistic ego) or to tolerate them (like the autonomous ego) and make peace with them. "Reconciling inner conflicts  ... [and the] cherishing of individuality" are key elements of self-actualization, along with a formed identity which includes "reconciliation to one's destiny." Possible Tenth Stage: Flowing (E10) As differentiation increases, the model of ego development has found broader acceptance among international researchers. Therefore, a new stage E10 — identified as “Flowing” (i.e., “Fließende”) — has been mentioned in the context of "Ich-Entwicklung" (i.e., “Ego Development”), the German equivalent of Loevinger's stages. "Need to evaluate things and persons is abandoned. Merging with the world, no more holding, but engaging in the flow of things. Playful alternation between seriousness and triviality, intermingling of different states of consciousness, thinking in time cycles and historical dimensions, full acceptance of differences and people as they are." Critical response Susanne Cook-Greuter has refined Loevinger's sentence-completion test instrument and her definitions and distinctions among the stages of ego development, and has explored the relationship between the highest stages and ego transcendence. According to Drew Westen, Loevinger's model suffers from a lack of clinical grounding, and "like Kohlberg's theory ... it confuses content and structure." Based on the assessment of verbalized material, "the measure focuses so heavily on conscious verbal responses, it does not discriminate intelligent, liberal people with severe ego defects from those who actually are quite integrated." However, the extent of her research adds weight to her findings. "Loevinger's (1976) model of development is derived entirely from empirical research using her sentence completion test [...] The manuals contain hundreds of actual completions, organized by exemplary categories." For a long time, Loevinger's research was hardly well known within the German-speaking community. In 2016, Binder published a detailed compilation in Germany on the current state of discussion, which also parallels the stages found by Loevinger with those of Kegan. In the meantime, the system is more frequently cited and used in coaching and organizational development practice and reflection in the German-speaking world, often comparing and combining Loevinger's findings with other approaches to personality development. See also Piaget's theory of cognitive development Erik Erikson Erikson's stages of psychosocial development James W. Fowler Lawrence Kohlberg Lawrence Kohlberg's stages of moral development Robert Kegan Clare W. Graves Graves's emergent cyclical levels of existence Don Edward Beck Spiral Dynamics Ken Wilber Integral theory (Ken Wilber) Pierre Janet References Sources Aging, The Individual, and Society, 8th edition, by Susan M. Hillier and Georgia M. Barrow. Developmental stage theories

Folklore studies

Folklore studies (also known as folkloristics, tradition studies or folk life studies in the UK) is the branch of anthropology devoted to the study of folklore. This term, along with its synonyms, gained currency in the 1950s to distinguish the academic study of traditional culture from the folklore artifacts themselves. It became established as a field across both Europe and North America, coordinating with (German), (Norwegian), and (Swedish), among others. Overview A 1982 UNESCO document titled "Recommendation on the Safeguarding of Traditional Culture and Folklore" declared a global need to establish provisions protecting folklore from varying dangers identified in the document. UNESCO further published the Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage in 2003. The American Folklife Preservation Act (P.L. 94-201) passed in 1976 by the United States Congress in conjunction with the Bicentennial Celebration included a definition of folklore, also called folklife: "...[Folklife] means the traditional expressive culture shared within the various groups in the United States: familial, ethnic, occupational, religious, regional; expressive culture includes a wide range of creative and symbolic forms such as custom, belief, technical skill, language, literature, art, architecture, music, play, dance, drama, ritual, pageantry, handicraft; these expressions are mainly learned orally, by imitation, or in performance, and are generally maintained without benefit of formal instruction or institutional direction." This law in conjunction with other legislation was designed to protect the natural and cultural heritage of the United States in alignment with efforts to promote and protect the cultural diversity of the United States and recognize it as a national strength and a resource worthy of protection. The term folklore contains component parts folk and lore. The word folk originally applied to rural, frequently poor and illiterate peasants. A contemporary definition of folk is a social group which includes two or more persons with common traits, who express their shared identity through distinctive traditions. "Folk is a flexible concept which can refer to a nation as in American folklore or to a single family." This expanded social definition of folk expands the material considered to be folklore artifacts to include "things people make with words (verbal lore), things they make with their hands (material lore), and things they make with their actions (customary lore)". The folklorist studies the traditional artifacts of a group and the groups within which these customs, traditions and beliefs are transmitted. Transmission of folk artifacts is necessary to their preservation over time outside of study by cultural archaeologist. Beliefs and customs are passed informally within a folk group mainly anonymously and in multiple variants. This is in contrast to high culture, characterized by recognition by the elites of a given society and identified as specific works created by individuals. The folklorist study the significance of these beliefs, customs and objects for the group. In folklore studies "folklore means something – to the tale teller, to the song singer, to the fiddler, and to the audience or addressees". The field assumes cultural units would not be passed along unless they had some continued relevance within the group, though their meaning can shift and morph with time. Folklore is a naturally occurring and necessary component of any social group. Folklore does not need to be old; it continues through the modern day. It is created, transmitted, and used to establish "us" and "them" within a given group. The unique nature of a culture's folklore requires the development of methods of study by the culture at hand for effective identification and research. As a modern academic discipline, folklore studies straddles the space between the social sciences and the humanities. The study of folklore originated in Europe in the first half of the 19th century with a focus on the oral folklore of the rural peasant populations. The "Kinder- und Hausmärchen" of the Brothers Grimm, first published 1812, is the best known collection of the verbal folklore of the European peasantry. This interest in stories, sayings and songs, i.e. verbal lore, continued throughout the 19th century and aligned the fledgling discipline of folklore studies with literature and mythology. By the turn into the 20th century, European folklorists remained focused on the oral folklore of the homogeneous peasant populations in their regions, while the American folklorists, led by Franz Boas, chose to consider Native American cultures in their research, and included the totality of their customs and beliefs as folklore. This distinction aligned American folklore studies with cultural anthropology and ethnology. American folklorists thus used the same data collection techniques as these fields in their own field research. This the diverse alliance of folklore studies with other academic fields offers a variety of theoretical vantage points and research tools to the field of folklore studies even as it continues to be a point of discussion within the field. Public folklore is a relatively new offshoot of folklore studies, starting after the Second World War and modeled on the work of Alan Lomax and Ben Botkin in the 1930s. Lomax and Botkin emphasized applied folklore, with modern public sector folklorists working to document, preserve and present the beliefs and customs of diverse cultural groups in their region. These positions are often affiliated with museums, libraries, arts organizations, public schools, historical societies, etc. The most renowned of these is the American Folklife Center at the Smithsonian, which hosts the Smithsonian Folklife Festival every summer in Washington, DC. Public folklore differentiates itself from the academic folklore supported by universities, in which collection, research and analysis are primary goals. Terminology The field of folklore studies uses a wide-variety of sometimes synonymous terms. Folklore was the original term used in this discipline. Its synonym, folklife, came into circulation in the second half of the 20th century, at a time when some researchers felt that the term folklore was too closely tied exclusively to oral lore. The new term folklife, along with its synonym folk culture, is meant to include all aspects of a culture, not just the oral traditions. Folk process is used to describe the refinement and creative change of artifacts by community members within the folk tradition that defines the folk process. Professionals within this field, regardless of the other words they use, consider themselves to be folklorists. Other terms which might be confused with folklore are popular culture and vernacular culture. However, pop culture tends to be in demand for a limited time, mass-produced and communicated using mass media. Individually, these tend to be labeled fads, and disappear as quickly as they appear. The term vernacular culture differs from folklore in its overriding emphasis on a specific locality or region. For example, vernacular architecture denotes the standard building form of a region, using the materials available and designed to address functional needs of the local economy. Folk architecture is a subset of this, in which the construction is not done by a professional architect or builder, but by an individual putting up a needed structure in the local style. Therefore, all folklore is vernacular culture, but not all vernacular culture necessarily folklore. In addition to these terms, folklorism refers to "material or stylistic elements of folklore [presented] in a context which is foreign to the original tradition." This definition, offered by the folklorist Hermann Bausinger, does not discount the validity of meaning expressed in these "second hand" traditions. Many Walt Disney films and products belong in this category of folklorism; fairy tales become animated film characters, stuffed animals and bed linens. These manifestations of folklore traditions have their own significance for their audience. Fakelore refers to artifacts which might be termed pseudo-folklore, manufactured items claiming to be traditional. The folklorist Richard Dorson coined this word, clarifying it in his book "Folklore and Fakelore". Current thinking within the discipline is that this term places undue emphasis on the origination of the artifact as a sign of authenticity of the tradition. Adjacently, the adjective folkloric is used to designate materials having the character of folklore or tradition, at the same time making no claim to authenticity. Methodology There are several goals of active folklore research. The first objective is to identify tradition bearers within a social group and to collect their lore, preferably in situ. Once collected, these data need to be documented and preserved to enable further access and study. The documented lore is then available to be analyzed and interpreted by folklorists and other cultural historians, and can become the basis for studies of either individual customs or comparative studies. There are multiple venues, be they museums, journals or folk festivals to present the research results. The final step in this methodology involves advocating for these groups in their distinctiveness. The specific tools needed by folklorists to do their research are manifold. The researchers must be comfortable in fieldwork; going out to meet their informants where they live, work, and perform. They need to access archives housing a vast array of unpublished folklore collections. They will want work with folk museums, to both view the collections, and present their own findings. Bibliographies maintained by libraries and on line contain an important trove of articles from around the world. The use of indexes allow them to view and use the categorization of artifacts which have already been established. All work by a folklorist must be appropriately annotated in order to provide identifiable sources of the work. For all folklorists terminology becomes a skill to master as they rub elbows not only with related academic fields but also with the colloquial understanding (what exactly is a fairy tale?). This shared vocabulary, with varying and sometimes divergent shades of meaning, needs to be used thoughtfully and consistently. The use of printed sources to locate and identify further variants of a folk tradition is a necessary adjunct to the field research. Because the transmission of folk artifacts preceded and ignored the establishment of national and political boundaries, it is important to cultivate international connections to folklorists in neighboring countries and around the world to compare both the artifacts researched and the methodology used. A knowledge of the history of folklore studies is called for to identify the direction and more importantly the biases which the field has taken in the past, enabling us to temper the current analysis with more impartiality. The folklorist also rubs shoulders with researchers, tools and inquiries of neighboring fields: literature, anthropology, cultural history, linguistics, geography, musicology, sociology, psychology. This is just a partial list of the fields of study related to folklore studies, all of which are united by a common interest in subject matter. History From antiquities to lore It is well-documented that the term folklore was coined in 1846 by the Englishman William Thoms. He fabricated it for use in an article published in the August 22, 1846 issue of The Athenaeum. Thoms consciously replaced the contemporary terminology of popular antiquities or popular literature with this new word. Folklore was to emphasize the study of a specific subset of the population: the rural, mostly illiterate peasantry. In his published call for help in documenting antiquities, Thoms was echoing scholars from across the European continent to collect artifacts of older, mostly oral cultural traditions still flourishing among the rural populace. In Germany the Brothers Grimm had first published their "Kinder- und Hausmärchen" in 1812. They continued throughout their lives to collect German folk tales to include in their collection. In Scandinavia, intellectuals were also searching for their authentic Teutonic roots and had labeled their studies Folkeminde (Danish) or Folkermimne (Norwegian). Throughout Europe and America, other early collectors of folklore were at work. Thomas Crofton Croker published fairy tales from southern Ireland and, together with his wife, documented keening and other Irish funeral customs. Elias Lönnrot is best known for his collection of epic Finnish poems published under the title Kalevala. John Fanning Watson in the United States published the "Annals of Philadelphia". With increasing industrialization, urbanization, and the rise in literacy throughout Europe in the 19th century, folklorists were concerned that the oral knowledge and beliefs, the lore of the rural folk would be lost. It was posited that the stories, beliefs and customs were surviving fragments of a cultural mythology of the region, pre-dating Christianity and rooted in pagan peoples and beliefs. This thinking goes in lockstep with the rise of nationalism across Europe. Some British folklorists, rather than lamenting or attempting to preserve rural or pre-industrial cultures, saw their work as a means of furthering industrialization, scientific rationalism, and disenchantment. As the need to collect these vestiges of rural traditions became more compelling, the need to formalize this new field of cultural studies became apparent. The British Folklore Society was established in 1878 and the American Folklore Society was established a decade later. These were just two of a plethora of academic societies founded in the latter half of the 19th century by educated members of the emerging middle class. For literate, urban intellectuals and students of folklore the folk was someone else and the past was recognized as being something truly different. Folklore became a measure of the progress of society, how far we had moved forward into the industrial present and indeed removed ourselves from a past marked by poverty, illiteracy and superstition. The task of both the professional folklorist and the amateur at the turn of the 20th century was to collect and classify cultural artifacts from the pre-industrial rural areas, parallel to the drive in the life sciences to do the same for the natural world. "Folk was a clear label to set materials apart from modern life…material specimens, which were meant to be classified in the natural history of civilization. Tales, originally dynamic and fluid, were given stability and concreteness by means of the printed page." Viewed as fragments from a pre-literate culture, these stories and objects were collected without context to be displayed and studied in museums and anthologies, just as bones and potsherds were gathered for the life sciences. Kaarle Krohn and Antti Aarne were active collectors of folk poetry in Finland. The Scotsman Andrew Lang is known for his 25 volumes of Andrew Lang's Fairy Books from around the world. Francis James Child was an American academic who collected English and Scottish popular ballads and their American variants, published as the Child Ballads. In the United States, Mark Twain was a charter member of the American Folklore Society. Both he and Washington Irving drew on folklore to write their stories. The 1825 novel Brother Jonathan by John Neal is recognized as the most extensive literary use of American folklore of its time. Aarne–Thompson and the historic–geographic method By the beginning of the 20th century these collections had grown to include artifacts from around the world and across several centuries. A system to organize and categorize them became necessary. Antti Aarne published a first classification system for folktales in 1910. It was later expanded into the Aarne–Thompson classification system by Stith Thompson and remains the standard classification system for European folktales and other types of oral literature. As the number of classified artifacts grew, similarities were noted in items which had been collected from very different geographic regions, ethnic groups and epochs. In an effort to understand and explain the similarities found in tales from different locations, the Finnish folklorists Julius and Kaarle Krohne developed the Historical-Geographical method, also called the Finnish method. Using multiple variants of a tale, this investigative method attempted to work backwards in time and location to compile the original version from what they considered the incomplete fragments still in existence. This was the search for the "Urform", which by definition was more complete and more "authentic" than the newer, more scattered versions. The historic-geographic method has been succinctly described as a "quantitative mining of the resulting archive, and extraction of distribution patterns in time and space". It is based on the assumption that every text artifact is a variant of the original text. As a proponent of this method, Walter Anderson proposed additionally a Law of Self-Correction, i.e. a feedback mechanism which would keep the variants closer to the original form. It was during the first decades of the 20th century that Folklore Studies in Europe and America began to diverge. The Europeans continued with their emphasis on oral traditions of the pre-literate peasant, and remained connected to literary scholarship within the universities. By this definition, folklore was completely based in the European cultural sphere; any social group that did not originate in Europe was to be studied by ethnologists and cultural anthropologists. In this light, some twenty-first century scholars have interpreted European folkloristics as an instrument of internal colonialism, in parallel with the imperialistic dimensions of early 20th century cultural anthropology and Orientalism. Unlike contemporary anthropology, however, many early European folklorists were themselves members of the prioritized groups that folkloristics was intended to study; for instance, Andrew Lang and James George Frazer were both themselves Scotsmen and studied rural folktales from towns near where they grew up. In contrast to this, American folklorists, under the influence of the German-American Franz Boas and Ruth Benedict, sought to incorporate other cultural groups living in their region into the study of folklore. This included not only customs brought over by northern European immigrants, but also African Americans, Acadians of eastern Canada, Cajuns of Louisiana, Hispanics of the American southwest, and Native Americans. Not only were these distinct cultural groups all living in the same regions, but their proximity to each other caused their traditions and customs to intermingle. The lore of these distinct social groups, all of them Americans, was considered the bailiwick of American folklorists, and aligned American folklore studies more with ethnology than with literary studies. Great Depression and the Federal Writers' Project Then came the 1930s and the worldwide Great Depression. In the United States the Federal Writers' Project was established as part of the WPA. Its goal was to offer paid employment to thousands of unemployed writers by engaging them in various cultural projects around the country. These white collar workers were sent out as field workers to collect the oral folklore of their regions, including stories, songs, idioms and dialects. The most famous of these collections is the Slave Narrative Collection. The folklore collected under the auspices of the Federal Writers Project during these years continues to offer a goldmine of primary source materials for folklorists and other cultural historians. As chairman of the Federal Writers' Project between 1938 and 1942, Benjamin A. Botkin supervised the work of these folklore field workers. Both Botkin and John Lomax were particularly influential during this time in expanding folklore collection techniques to include more detailing of the interview context. This was a significant move away from viewing the collected artifacts as isolated fragments, broken remnants of an incomplete pre-historic whole. Using these new interviewing techniques, the collected lore became embedded in and imbued with meaning within the framework of its contemporary practice. The emphasis moved from the lore to the folk, i.e. the groups and the people who gave this lore meaning within contemporary daily living. German folklore in the Third Reich In Europe during these same decades, folklore studies were drifting in a different direction. Throughout the 19th century folklore had been tied to romantic ideals of the soul of the people, in which folk tales and folksongs recounted the lives and exploits of ethnic folk heroes. Folklore chronicled the mythical origins of different peoples across Europe and established the beginnings of national pride. By the first decade of the 20th century there were scholarly societies as well as individual folklore positions within universities, academies, and museums. However, the study of German had yet to be defined as an academic discipline. In the 1920s this originally apolitical movement was coopted by nationalism in several European countries, including Germany, where it was absorbed into emerging Nazi ideology. The vocabulary of German such as (folk), (race), (tribe), and (heritage) were frequently referenced by the Nazi Party. Their expressed goal was to re-establish what they perceived as the former purity of the Germanic peoples of Europe. The German anti-Nazi philosopher Ernst Bloch was one of the main analysts and critics of this ideology. "Nazi ideology presented racial purity as the means to heal the wounds of the suffering German state following World War I. Hitler painted the ethnic heterogeneity of Germany as a major reason for the country's economic and political weakness, and he promised to restore a German realm based on a cleansed, and hence strong, German people. Racial or ethnic purity" was the goal of the Nazis, intent on forging a Greater Germanic Reich. In the postwar years, departments of folklore were established in multiple German universities. However an analysis of just how folklore studies supported the policies of the Third Reich did not begin until 20 years after World War II in West Germany. Particularly in the works of Hermann Bausinger and Wolfgang Emmerich in the 1960s, it was pointed out that the vocabulary current in was ideally suited for the kind of ideology that the National Socialists had built up. It was then another 20 years before convening the 1986 Munich conference on folklore and National Socialism. This continues to be a difficult and painful discussion within the German folklore community. After World War II Following World War II, the discussion continued about whether to align folklore studies with literature or ethnology. Within this discussion, many voices were actively trying to identify the optimal approach to take in the analysis of folklore artifacts. One major change had already been initiated by Franz Boas. Culture was no longer viewed in evolutionary terms; each culture has its own integrity and completeness, and was not progressing either toward wholeness or toward fragmentation. Individual artifacts must have meaning within the culture and for individuals themselves in order to assume cultural relevance and assure continued transmission. Because the European folklore movement had been primarily oriented toward oral traditions, a new term, folklife, was introduced to represent the full range of traditional culture. This included music, dance, storytelling, crafts, costume, foodways and more. In this period, folklore came to refer to the event of doing something within a given context, for a specific audience, using artifacts as necessary props in the communication of traditions between individuals and within groups. Beginning in the 1970s, these new areas of folklore studies became articulated in performance studies, where traditional behaviors are evaluated and understood within the context of their performance. It is the meaning within the social group that becomes the focus for these folklorists, foremost among them Richard Baumann and Barbara Kirshenblatt-Gimblett. Enclosing any performance is a framework which signals that the following is something outside of ordinary communication. For example, "So, have you heard the one…" automatically flags the following as a joke. A performance can take place either within a cultural group, re-iterating and re-enforcing the customs and beliefs of the group. Or it can be performance for an outside group, in which the first goal is to set the performers apart from the audience. This analysis then goes beyond the artifact itself, be it dance, music or story-telling. It goes beyond the performers and their message. As part of performance studies, the audience becomes part of the performance. If any folklore performance strays too far from audience expectations, it will likely be brought back by means of a negative feedback loop at the next iteration. Both performer and audience are acting within the "Twin Laws" of folklore transmission, in which novelty and innovation is balanced by the conservative forces of the familiar. Even further, the presence of a folklore observer at a performance of any kind will influence the performance itself in subtle and not-so-subtle ways. Because folklore is firstly an act of communication between parties, it is incomplete without inclusion of the reception in its analysis. The understanding of folklore performance as communication leads directly into modern linguistic theory and communication studies. Words both reflect and shape our worldview. Oral traditions, particularly in their stability over generations and even centuries, provide significant insight into the ways in which insiders of a culture see, understand, and express their responses to the world around them. Three major approaches to folklore interpretation were developed during the second half of the 20th century. Structuralism in folklore studies attempts to define the structures underlying oral and customary folklore. Once classified, it was easy for structural folklorists to lose sight of the overarching issue: what are the characteristics which keep a form constant and relevant over multiple generations? Functionalism in folklore studies also came to the fore following World War II; as spokesman, William Bascom formulated the 4 functions of folklore. This approach takes a more top-down approach to understand how a specific form fits into and expresses meaning within the culture as a whole. A third method of folklore analysis, popular in the late 20th century, is the Psychoanalytic Interpretation, championed by Alan Dundes. His monographs, including a study of homoerotic subtext in American football and anal-erotic elements in German folklore, were not always appreciated and involved Dundes in several major folklore studies controversies during his career. True to each of these approaches, and any others one might want to employ (political, women's issues, material culture, urban contexts, non-verbal text, ad infinitum), whichever perspective is chosen will spotlight some features and leave other characteristics in the shadows. With the passage in 1976 of the American Folklife Preservation Act, folklore studies in the United States came of age. This legislation follows in the footsteps of other legislation designed to safeguard more tangible aspects of our national heritage worthy of protection. This law also marks a shift in our national awareness; it gives voice to the national understanding that diversity within the country is a unifying feature, not something that separates us. "We no longer view cultural difference as a problem to be solved, but as a tremendous opportunity. In the diversity of American folklife we find a marketplace teeming with the exchange of traditional forms and cultural ideas, a rich resource for Americans". This diversity is celebrated annually at the Smithsonian Folklife Festival and many other folklife festivals around the country. Global folklore studies Folklore studies and nationalism in Turkey Folklore interest sparked in Turkey around the second half of the nineteenth century when the need to determine a national language came about. Their writings consisted of vocabulary and grammatical rule from the Arabic and Persian language. Although the Ottoman intellectuals were not affected by the communication gap, in 1839, the Tanzimat reform introduced a change to Ottoman literature. A new generation of writers with contact to the West, especially France, noticed the importance of literature and its role in the development of institutions. Following the models set by Westerners, the new generation of writers returned to Turkey bringing the ideologies of novels, short stories, plays and journalism with them. These new forms of literature were set to enlighten the people of Turkey, influencing political and social change within the country. However, the lack of understanding for the language of their writings limited their success in enacting change. Using the language of the "common people" to create literature, influenced the Tanzimat writers to gain interest in folklore and folk literature. In 1859, writer Sinasi, wrote a play in simple enough language that it could be understood by the masses. He later produced a collection of four thousand proverbs. Many other poets and writers throughout the Turkish nation began to join in on the movement including Ahmet Midhat Efendi who composed short stories based on the proverbs written by Sinasi. These short stories, like many folk stories today, were intended to teach moral lessons to its readers. Folklore studies in Chile The study of folklore in Chile was developed in a systematic and pioneering way since the late 19th century. In the work of compiling the popular traditions of the Chilean people and of the original peoples, they stood out, not only in the study of national folklore, but also in Latin America. Ramón Laval, Julio Vicuña, Rodolfo Lenz, José Toribio Medina, Tomás Guevara, Félix de Augusta, and Aukanaw, among others, generated an important documentary and critical corpus around oral literature, autochthonous languages, regional dialects, and peasant and indigenous customs. They published, mainly during the first decades of the 20th century, linguistic and philological studies, dictionaries, comparative studies between the national folklores of Ibero-America, compilations of stories, poetry, and religious traditions. In 1909, at the initiative of Laval, Vicuña and Lenz, the Chilean Folklore Society was founded, the first of its kind in America. Two years later, it would merge with the recently created Chilean Society of History and Geography. 21st century With the advent of the digital age, the question once again foregrounds itself concerning the relevance of folklore in this new century. Although the profession in folklore grows and the articles and books on folklore topics proliferate, the traditional role of the folklorist is indeed changing. Globalization The United States is known as a land of immigrants; with the exception of the first Indian nations, everyone originally came from somewhere else. Americans are proud of their cultural diversity. For folklorists, this country represents a trove of cultures rubbing elbows with each other, mixing and matching into exciting combinations as new generations come up. It is in the study of their folklife that we begin to understand the cultural patterns underlying the different ethnic groups. Language and customs provide a window into their view of reality. "The study of varying worldviews among ethnic and national groups in America remains one of the most important unfinished tasks for folklorists and anthropologists." Contrary to a widespread concern, we are not seeing a loss of diversity and increasing cultural homogenization across the land. In fact, critics of this theory point out that as different cultures mix, the cultural landscape becomes multifaceted with the intermingling of customs. People become aware of other cultures and pick and choose different items to adopt from each other. One noteworthy example of this is the Jewish Christmas Tree, a point of some contention among American Jews. Public sector folklore was introduced into the American Folklore Society in the early 1970s. These public folklorists work in museums and cultural agencies to identify and document the diverse folk cultures and folk artists in their region. Beyond this, they provide performance venues for the artists, with the twin objectives of entertainment and education about different ethnic groups. Given the number of folk festivals held around the world, it becomes clear that the cultural multiplicity of a region is presented with pride and excitement. Public folklorists are increasingly being involved in economic and community development projects to elucidate and clarify differing world views of the social groups impacted by the projects. Computerized databases and big data Once folklore artifacts have been recorded on the World Wide Web, they can be collected in large electronic databases and even moved into collections of big data. This compels folklorists to find new ways to collect and curate these data. Along with these new challenges, electronic data collections provide the opportunity to ask different questions, and combine with other academic fields to explore new aspects of traditional culture. Computational humor is just one new field that has taken up the traditional oral forms of jokes and anecdotes for study, holding its first dedicated conference in 1996. This takes us beyond gathering and categorizing large joke collections. Scholars are using computers firstly to recognize jokes in context, and further to attempt to create jokes using artificial intelligence. Binary thinking of the computer age As we move forward in the digital age, the binary thinking of the 20th century structuralists remains an important tool in the folklorist's toolbox. This does not mean that binary thinking was invented in recent times along with computers; only that we became aware of both the power and the limitations of the "either/or" construction. In folklore studies, the multiple binaries underlying much of the theoretical thinking have been identified – {dynamicism : conservatism}, {anecdote : myth}, {process : structure}, {performance : tradition}, {improvisation : repetition}, {variation : traditionalism}, {repetition : innovation}; not to overlook the original binary of the first folklorists: {traditional : modern} or {old : new}. Bauman re-iterates this thought pattern in claiming that at the core of all folklore is the dynamic tension between tradition and variation (or creativity). Noyes uses similar vocabulary to define [folk] group as "the ongoing play and tension between, on the one hand, the fluid networks of relationship we constantly both produce and negotiate in everyday life and, on the other, the imagined communities we also create and enact but that serve as forces of stabilizing allegiance." This thinking only becomes problematic in light of the theoretical work done on binary opposition, which exposes the values intrinsic to any binary pair. Typically, one of the two opposites assumes a role of dominance over the other. The categorization of binary oppositions is "often value-laden and ethnocentric", imbuing them with illusory order and superficial meaning. Linear and non-linear concepts of time Another baseline of western thought has also been thrown into disarray in the recent past. In western culture, we live in a time of progress, moving forward from one moment to the next. The goal is to become better and better, culminating in perfection. In this model time is linear, with direct causality in the progression. "You reap what you sow", "A stitch in time saves nine", "Alpha and omega", the Christian concept of an afterlife all exemplify a cultural understanding of time as linear and progressive. In folklore studies, going backwards in time was also a valid avenue of exploration. The goal of the early folklorists of the historic-geographic school was to reconstruct from fragments of folk tales the Urtext of the original mythic (pre-Christian) world view. When and where was an artifact documented? Those were the important questions posed by early folklorists in their collections. Armed with these data points, a grid pattern of time-space coordinates for artifacts could be plotted. Awareness has grown that different cultures have different concepts of time (and space). In his study "The American Indian Mind in a Linear World", Donald Fixico describes an alternate concept of time. "Indian thinking" involves "'seeing' things from a perspective emphasizing that circles and cycles are central to world and that all things are related within the Universe." He then suggests that "the concept of time for Indian people has been such a continuum that time becomes less relevant and the rotation of life or seasons of the year are stressed as important." In a more specific example, the folklorist Barre Toelken describes the Navajo as living in circular times, which is echoed and re-enforced in their sense of space, the traditional circular or multi-sided hogan. Lacking the European mechanistic devices of marking time (clocks, watches, calendars), they depended on the cycles of nature: sunrise to sunset, winter to summer. Their stories and histories are not marked by decades and centuries, but remain close in, as they circle around the constant rhythms of the natural world. Within the last decades our time scale has expanded from unimaginably small (nanoseconds) to unimaginably large (deep time). In comparison, our working concept of time as {past : present : future} looks almost quaint. How do we map "tradition" into this multiplicity of time scales? Folklore studies has already acknowledged this in the study of traditions which are either done in an annual cycle of circular time (ex. Christmas, May Day), or in a life cycle of linear time (ex. baptisms, weddings, funerals). This needs to be expanded to other traditions of oral lore. For folk narrative is NOT a linear chain of isolated tellings, going from one single performance on our time-space grid to the next single performance. Instead it fits better into a non-linear system, where one performer varies the story from one telling to the next, and the performer's understudy starts to tell the story, also varying each performance in response to multiple factors. Cybernetics Cybernetics was first developed in the 20th century; it investigates the functions and processes of systems. The goal in cybernetics is to identify and understand a system's closed signaling loop, in which an action by the system generates a change in the environment, which in turn triggers feedback to the system and initiates a new action. The field has expanded from a focus on mechanistic and biological systems to an expanded recognition that these theoretical constructs can also be applied to many cultural and societal systems, including folklore. Once divorced from a model of tradition that works solely on a linear time scale (i.e. moving from one folklore performance to the next), we begin to ask different questions about how these folklore artifacts maintain themselves over generations and centuries. The oral tradition of jokes as an example is found across all cultures, and is documented as early as 1600 B.C. Whereas the subject matter varies widely to reflect its cultural context, the form of the joke remains remarkably consistent. According to the theories of cybernetics and its secondary field of autopoiesis, this can be attributed to a closed loop auto-correction built into the system maintenance of oral folklore. Auto-correction in oral folklore was first articulated by the folklorist Walter Anderson in his monograph on the King and the Abbot published 1923. To explain the stability of the narrative, Anderson posited a “double redundancy”, in which the performer has heard the story from multiple other performers, and has himself performed it multiple times. This provides a feedback loop between repetitions at both levels to retain the essential elements of the tale, while at the same time allowing for the incorporation of new elements. Another characteristic of cybernetics and autopoiesis is self-generation within a system. Once again looking to jokes, we find new jokes generated in response to events on a continuing basis. The folklorist Bill Ellis accessed internet humor message boards to observe in real time the creation of topical jokes following the 9/11 terrorist attack in the United States. "Previous folklore research has been limited to collecting and documenting successful jokes, and only after they had emerged and come to folklorists' attention. Now, an Internet-enhanced collection creates a time machine, as it were, where we can observe what happens in the period before the risible moment, when attempts at humour are unsuccessful.", that is before they have successfully mapped into the traditional joke format. Second-order cybernetics states that the system observer affects the systemic interplay; this interplay has long been recognized as problematic by folklorists. The act of observing and noting any folklore performance raises without exception the performance from an unconscious habitual acting within a group, to and for themselves, to a performance for an outsider. "Naturally the researcher's presence changes things, in the way that any new entrant to a social setting changes things. When people of different backgrounds, agendas, and resources interact, there are social risks, and where representation and publication are taking place, these risks are exacerbated..." Scholarly organizations and journals American Folklore Society International Society for Ethnology and Folklore Journal of American Folklore Journal of Folklore Research The Society for Folk Life Studies The Folklore Society Western Folklore Cultural Analysis Notable folklorists For a list of notable folklorists, go to the category list. Associated theories and methods Cultural Heritage Environmental Determinism Ethnology Ethnopoetics, a method of recording text versions of oral poetry or narrative performances (i.e., verbal lore) Fine Art Functionalism (philosophy of mind) Mimesis Motif-Index of Folk-Literature Museum folklore Performance Studies Romantic Nationalism Social Evolution Structuralism See also Memetics Ethnomusicology Ethnography Notes Citations References External links A Guide to Conducting Ethnographic Research (PDF). . Introduction to Ethnographic Research, 101: The Basics (PDF) (archived 26 April 2012) "What is Folklore?" from Utah State University (archived 26 April 2012)

Problematization

Problematization is a process of stripping away common or conventional understandings of a subject matter in order to gain new insights. This method can be applied to a term, writing, opinion, ideology, identity, or person. Practitioners consider the concrete or existential elements of these subjects. Analyzed as challenges (problems), practitioners may seek to transform the situations under study. It is a method of defamiliarization of common sense. Problematization is a critical thinking and pedagogical dialogue or process and may be considered demythicisation. Rather than taking the common knowledge (myth) of a situation for granted, problematization poses that knowledge as a problem, allowing new viewpoints, consciousness, reflection, hope, and action to emerge. What may make problematization different from other forms of criticism is its target, the context and details, rather than the pro or con of an argument. More importantly, this criticism does not take place within the original context or argument, but draws back from it, re-evaluates it, leading to action which changes the situation. Rather than accepting the situation, one emerges from it, abandoning a focalised viewpoint. To problematize a statement, for example, one asks simple questions: Who is making this statement? For whom is it intended? Why is this statement being made here, now? Whom does this statement benefit? Whom does it harm? Problematization (Foucault) For Michel Foucault, problematization serves as the overarching concept of his work in "History of Madness". He treats it both as an object of inquiry and a specific form of critical analysis. As an object of inquiry, problematization is described as a process of objects becoming problems by being “characterized, analyzed, and treated” as such. As a form of analysis, problematization seeks to answer the questions of “how and why certain things (behavior; phenomena, processes) became a problem”. Foucault does not distinguish clearly problematization as an object of inquiry from problematization as a way of inquiry. Problematization as a specific form of critical analysis is a form of “re-problematization”. History of Thought Problematization is the core of his “history of thought” which stands in sharp contrast to "history of ideas" ("the analysis of attitudes and types of action") as well as "history of mentalities" ("the analysis of systems of representation"). The history of thought refers to an inquiry of what it is, in a given society and epoch, “what allows one to take a step back from his way of acting or reacting, to present it to oneself as an object of thought and question it as to its meaning, its conditions and its goals”. Therefore, thought is described as a form of self-detachment from one's own action that allows “to present it to oneself as an object of thought [and] to question it as to its meaning, its conditions, and its goals". Thought is the reflection of one's own action “as a problem”. According to Foucault, the notions of thought and problematization are closely linked: to problematize is to engage in “work of thought”. Crucially, then, Foucault implies that our way of reflecting upon ourselves as individuals, as political bodies, as scientific disciplines or other, has a history and, consequently, imposes specific (rather than universal or a priori) structures upon thought. Responses To Problems A central element in the problematization analysis are responses to problems. The analysis of a specific problematization is “the history of an answer (…) to a certain situation”. However, Foucault stresses that "most of the time different responses [...] are proposed". His analytical interest focuses on finding at the root of those diverse and possibly contrasting answers, the conditions of possibility of their simultaneous appearance, i.e. “the general form of problematization”. This sets Foucauldian problematization apart from many other approaches in that it invites researchers to view opposing scientific theories or political views, and indeed contradictory enunciations in general as responses to the same problematization rather than as the manifestations of mutually excluding discourses. It is this level of problematizations and discourses that Foucault refers to when establishing that Foucault's “history of thought” seeks to answer the question of "how [...] a particular body of knowledge [is] able to be constituted?". Engaging in Problematization Engaging in problematization entails questioning beliefs held to be true by society. Ultimately, this intellectual practice is “to participate in the formation of a political will”. It also carves out elements that “pose problems for politics”. At the same time, it also requires self-reflection on behalf of the intellectual, since problematization is to investigate into the ontological question of the present and to determine a distinguishing “element of the present". This element is decisive for the “process that concerns thought, knowledge, and philosophy” in which the intellectual is part of as “element and actor". By questioning the present, or “contemporaneity”, “as an event”, the analyst constitutes the event's “meaning, value, philosophical particularity” but relies at the same time on it, for he/she “find[s] both [his/her] own raison d’être and the grounds for what [he/she] says” in the event itself. Actor-Network Theory The term also had a different meaning when used in association with actor–network theory (ANT), and especially the "sociology of translation" to describe the initial phase of a translation process and the creation of a network. According to Michel Callon, problematization involves two elements: Interdefinition of actors in the network Definition of the problem/topic/action program, referred to as an obligatory passage point (OPP) Criticism In Literary Criticism, An Autopsy Mark Bauerlein writes: The act of problematizing has obvious rhetorical uses. It sounds rigorous and powerful as a weapon in the fight against lax and dishonest inquiry. Also, for trained critics, problematizing x is one of the easiest interpretative gestures to make. In the most basic instance, all one has to do is add quotation marks to x, to say "Walden is a 'classic'" instead of "Walden is a classic." The scarequotes cause a hesitation over the term and imply a set of other problematizing questions: what is a "classic"? what does it presuppose? in what contexts is it used? what does it do? what educational and political purposes does it serve? Instead of being a familiar predicate in scholarship, one readers casually assimilate without much notice, "classic" now stands out from the flow of discourse. The questions hover around its use and, until they are resolved, the use of "classic" is impaired. Usually, such questions yield ready answers, but their readiness does not cut into the apparent savviness of the critics asking them. This is another advantage of the term "problematize": it is a simple procedure, but it sounds like an incisive investigative pursuit. References External links Postmodern theory

Morphology (architecture and engineering)

Morphology in architecture is the study of the evolution of form within the built environment. Often used in reference to a particular vernacular language of building, this concept describes changes in the formal syntax of buildings and cities as their relationship to people evolves and changes. Often morphology describes processes, such as in the evolution of a design concept from first conception to production, but can also be understood as the categorical study in the change of buildings and their use from a historical perspective. Similar to genres of music, morphology concertizes 'movements' and arrives at definitions of architectural 'styles' or typologies. Paradoxically morphology can also be understood to be the qualities of a built space which are style-less or irreducible in quality. Some ideological influences on morphology which are usually cultural or philosophical in origin include: Indigenous architecture, Classical architecture, Baroque architecture, Modernism, Postmodernism, Deconstructionism, Brutalism, and Futurism. Recent contemporary advances in analytic and cross platform tools such as 3d printing, virtual reality, and building information modeling make the current contemporary typology formally difficult to pinpoint into one holistic definition. Advances in the study of Architectural (formal) morphology have the potential to influence or foster new fields of study in the realms of the arts, cognitive science, psychology, behavioral science, neurology, mapping, linguistics, and other as yet unknown cultural spatial practices or studies based upon social and environmental knowledge games. Often architectural morphologies are reflexive or indicative of political influences of their time and perhaps more importantly, place. Other influences on the morphological form of the urban environment include architects, builders, developers, and the social demographic of the particular location Urban morphology provides an understanding of the form, establishment and reshaping processes, spatial structure and character of human settlements through an analysis of historical development processes and the constituent parts that compose settlements. Urban morphology is used as a method of determining transformation processes of urban fabrics by which buildings (both residential and commercial), architects, streets and monuments act as elements of a multidimensional form in a dynamic relationship where built structures shape and are shaped by the open space around them. Urban places act as evolutionary open systems that are continually shaped and transformed by social and political events and by the market forces. History Urban morphology as an organised scientific study began formally in the 19th century due to the expansion of reliable topographic maps and reproducible plans. However, architecture has existed far longer, with the first surviving written work on the subject known as De architectura, written by Roman architect and engineer Marcus Vitruvius Pollio between 30 and 15 BCE. Here, Vitruvius detailed the three principals of architecture firmitas, utilitas, venustas. Translated to modern English as durability, utility and beauty. Archaeologists have studied the ruins of ancient cities such as Mesopotamia, Egypt and Minoan to show evidence that urban planning dates back to the Bronze Age, through visible patterns of paved streets lined in right angles. Originally, town planning was used as a mechanism for armed defence. The decline of the Roman Empire in 395 AD saw cities in Europe expand incoherently without formal urban planning. The Renaissance era saw urban hubs expand with enlarged extensions to allow for advancements that took place during the industrial age. It was then that urban planning became a formalised study, used to allow citizens with healthier working conditions. Theory The theory of morphology extends many different disciplines including architectural theory branching from the philosophy of art, engineering, linguistics, culture and sociology. However, advances in information technology, the development of a globalised 24-hour economy through the three leading world cities New York, London and Tokyo and their smaller counterparts have profoundly influenced the world's urban systems. Currently, there is more than 300 metropolitan regions that house more than one million people and through steadily global population increases metropolitan regions will continue to increase in size. Rapid urbanisation commonly causes challenges within urban places, for example, traffic jams, high cost of living, lack of green space, biodiversity loss, air pollution and other anthropogenic environmental effects. As a result, urban planners, geographers and architects have put forth numerous theoretical models with aim to improve understanding upon the functionality, aesthetic nature and environmental sustainability. However, it is widely accepted that there are four theoretical explanations to the morphological pattern of a city. Concentric Zone Model Although many models have been developed in geography and urban planning fields, encompassing assorted complexities one which holds its widely used and early status is the concentric zone model. The concentric Zone Model provided a stylized description of the urban form, derived from Ernest Burgess's 1920's idea: the bid-rent curve. This implicated that the core central zone of a city becomes used as the Central Business District, then surrounded in turn by a zone of transition between areas of profession and that of working-class suburbs. This is then followed by middle-class suburbs, and finally situated on the outside ring of the city is a zone of commuters. Opposers have argued that this is a normative model that presents an idealistic and only hypothetical model of a city, when in fact current land use is a part of a more complicated three-dimensional system. This model led to the acceptance of modern-day terms such as “inner city” and the “suburban ring”. The development of Burgess’ theory stemmed from three main assumptions upon the pattern and morphological structure of urban growth: The linear progression of society moves from traditional to modern which brings forth the changing construction of social relations An individual's agency-based approach to the urban processes without structural constraints which explains the urban condition The concept of the city as a unified “whole” Sectoral model The Sectoral Model, proposed by economist Homer Hoyt in 1939, explores the notion that the development of cities is centralised around transportation lines where wedges of residential land is concentrated by social class. Although, this model acts as a highly generalised theory does not equally represent urban morphologies of the developing world. Leaders in the field state that the twenty first century global economy's tendency towards capital reduces the demand for labour and in turn causing growing unemployment. This leads to the notion that innovations in transport play a significant role in the accessibility of city's surface. For example, the wide implementation of suburban railway networks and motor buses were expected to have proportionately impact the higher increases in periphery land prices. Contrastingly, it is expected that in periods of low innovation within the transport sector land values would have been proportionately higher closer to the city centre. Although, opposers to this theory suggest that the fact that transport innovations are typically closely associated with increases in building and development activity which in itself is known to raise land values and thus, it is difficult to assess the relative strengths and underlying influences. Thus, the commercial, industrial and residential components within the urban this model's land-use pattern are susceptible to the locational analysis and their attempt to maximise profits by substituting higher rent for increased transport costs from the city centre and vice versa. This acts as an alternative model to the ‘original’ urban morphology model by Burgess with proposed a city as a concentric being which adequately kept each land use activity within its proposed circle. However, in reality it is often the addition of varying transport options within differing locations that allow for the formation of individual sectors for each land use task. Multiple Nuclei Model This model developed by Harris and Ullman in their 1945 book “The Nature of Cities” further expands on previous morphological theories to provide a model which encompasses the issues that arise over large territorial expanse and growing population. Where previous theories have provided the idea that a city must only have one Central Business District (CBD), the Multiple Nuclei Model has more than one CBD. Rather, this model postulates that there are a number of different growth nuclei, each of which influences the distribution of people, activities and land uses within the area. Each nucleus is a highly specialised subset of the city's urban form and activities as each area is marketed to the demographic within the area from retail, manufacturing, education, health and residential areas. Thus, allows for highly diversified economic functions over an extensive geographical area. This forms a kind of urban mosaic in which the city's spatial geometry is made up of differing nuclei that are no longer organised around a single centre, where the CBD still acts as a functional and important nucleus to the city. One popular weakness to the multiple nuclei model is the premise that distinctions and boundaries between nuclei zones are distinct borders, however this is largely unheard of practically. This model requires the use of four basic principles: Certain activities require specialised facilities located in only one or a few sections of the metropolis. For example, manufacturing areas requiring large blocks of undeveloped land located near rail lines. Certain like activities profit from adjacent congregation, as seen in the clustering of retail establishments into malls and shopping centres Certain unlike activities are antagonistic or detrimental to each other, as seen in the case of manufacturing plants and upper-class residential developments. Certain activities are unable to afford the costs of the most desirable locations, as seen in the case of low-income residential areas and high land with a much sought-after view. One real-world example of this model is the multiple nuclei form of New York City, New York. The cluster of high-end retail institutions within the city deemed the naming of New York's “diamond district” which is one specialised subset of the city's economy and function. Agents of Morphology It is argued that urban structure develops irrespective of its objective development by legalisation from government of developers which attempt to control the shape of urban structure. Each agent within the urban landscape – developers, architects, builders, urban planners, and politicians – attempt to pursue their own goals for both the functional and aesthetic qualities of land use. Initially, the occurrence of an action of change is proceeded by a developer. Advancements It has been proven that a significant challenge of the twenty first century will be to establish effective links between urban morphologies, efficiency and resilience of urban place in the future. Urban resilience refers to the ability of an urban place to adapt, grow and evolve when it is placed under stress events. Most climate scientists agree that warmer Earth surface temperatures increase the frequency and severity of natural disasters, with these events becoming 5 times as common in recent years. With this, urban microclimates have endured extreme changes, largely due to the combination of global warming and rapid urbanisation. It is known that nearly a quarter of the world's population resides in areas where heat exposure us rising dramatically, in some cases to the point where habitability is questioned. Thus, in order to maintain environmental sustainability into the future adaption to housing and the wider urban fabric is deemed essential. One method for this is the restricting of housing using advancements in engineering to provide innovation and increase the suitability of architecture. References Architecture Civil engineering

Learning styles

Learning styles refer to a range of theories that aim to account for differences in individuals' learning. Although there is ample evidence that individuals express personal preferences on how they prefer to receive information, few studies have found validity in using learning styles in education. Many theories share the proposition that humans can be classified according to their "style" of learning, but differ on how the proposed styles should be defined, categorized and assessed. A common concept is that individuals differ in how they learn. The idea of individualized learning styles became popular in the 1970s. This has greatly influenced education despite the criticism that the idea has received from some researchers. Proponents recommend that teachers run a needs analysis to assess the learning styles of their students and adapt their classroom methods to best fit each student's learning style. Critics claim that there is no consistent evidence that better student outcomes result from identifying an individual student's learning style and teaching for specific learning styles. Since 2012, learning styles have often been referred to as a "neuromyth" in education. There is evidence of empirical and pedagogical problems related to forcing learning tasks to "correspond to differences in a one-to-one fashion". Studies contradict the widespread "meshing hypothesis" that a student will learn best if taught in a method deemed appropriate for the student's learning style. However, a 2020 systematic review suggested that a majority (89%) of educators around the world continue to believe that the meshing hypothesis is correct. Studies further show that teachers cannot assess the learning style of their students accurately. In one study, students were asked to take an inventory of their learning styles. After nearly 400 students completed the inventory, 70% did not use study habits that matched their preferred learning method. This study also indicated that students who used study methods that matched their preferred learning style performed no better on tests than students who did not. Overview of models There are many different learning styles models; one literature review identified 71 different models. Only a few models are described below. David Kolb's model David A. Kolb's model is based on his experiential learning model, as explained in his book Experiential Learning. Kolb's model outlines two related approaches toward grasping experience: Concrete Experience and Abstract Conceptualization, as well as two related approaches toward transforming experience: Reflective Observation and Active Experimentation. According to Kolb's model, the ideal learning process engages all four of these modes in response to situational demands; they form a learning cycle from experience to observation to conceptualization to experimentation and back to experience. In order for learning to be effective, Kolb postulated, all four of these approaches must be incorporated. As individuals attempt to use all four approaches, they may tend to develop strengths in one experience-grasping approach and one experience-transforming approach, leading them to prefer one of the following four learning styles: Accommodator = Concrete Experience + Active Experiment: strong in "hands-on" practical doing (e.g., physical therapists) Converger = Abstract Conceptualization + Active Experiment: strong in practical "hands-on" application of theories (e.g., engineers) Diverger = Concrete Experience + Reflective Observation: strong in imaginative ability and discussion (e.g., social workers) Assimilator = Abstract Conceptualization + Reflective Observation: strong in inductive reasoning and creation of theories (e.g., philosophers) Kolb's model gave rise to the Learning Style Inventory, an assessment method used to determine an individual's learning style. According to this model, individuals may exhibit a preference for one of the four styles—Accommodating, Converging, Diverging and Assimilating—depending on their approach to learning in Kolb's experiential learning model. Although Kolb's model is widely used, a 2013 study pointed out that Kolb's Learning Style Inventory, among its other weaknesses, incorrectly dichotomizes individuals on the abstract/concrete and reflective/action dimensions of experiential learning (in much the same way as the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator does in a different context), and proposed instead that these dimensions be treated as continuous rather than dichotomous/binary variables. In an article that addressed Kolb's work through 2005, Mark K. Smith reviewed some critiques of Kolb's model, and identified six key issues regarding the model: The model doesn't adequately address the process of reflection; The claims it makes about the four learning styles are extravagant; It doesn't sufficiently address the fact of different cultural conditions and experiences; The idea of stages/steps doesn't necessarily match reality; It has only weak empirical evidence; The relationship between learning processes and knowledge is more complex than Kolb draws it. Peter Honey and Alan Mumford's model Peter Honey and Alan Mumford adapted Kolb's experiential learning model. First, they renamed the stages in the learning cycle to accord with managerial experiences: having an experience, reviewing the experience, concluding from the experience, and planning the next steps. Second, they aligned these stages to four learning styles named: Activist Reflector Theorist Pragmatist These learning styles are not innate to an individual but rather are developed based on an individual's experiences and preferences. Based on this model, the Honey and Mumford's Learning Styles Questionnaire (LSQ) was developed to allow individuals to assess and reflect on how they consume information and learn from their experiences. It serves as an alternative to Kolb's LSI as it directly asks about common behaviors found in the workplace compared to judging how an individual learns. Having completed the self-assessment, managers are encouraged to focus on strengthening underutilized styles in order to become better equipped to learn from a wide range of everyday experiences. A MORI survey commissioned by The Campaign for Learning in 1999 found the Honey and Mumford LSQ to be the most widely used system for assessing preferred learning styles in the local government sector in the UK. Learning modalities Walter Burke Barbe and colleagues proposed three learning modalities (often identified by the acronym VAK): Visualizing modality Auditory modality Kinesthetic modality Barbe and colleagues reported that learning modality strengths can occur independently or in combination (although the most frequent modality strengths, according to their research, are visual or mixed), they can change over time, and they become integrated with age. They also pointed out that learning modality strengths are different from preferences; a person's self-reported modality preference may not correspond to their empirically measured modality strength. This disconnect between strengths and preferences was confirmed by a subsequent study. Nevertheless, some scholars have criticized the VAK model. Psychologist Scott Lilienfeld and colleagues have argued that much use of the VAK model is nothing more than pseudoscience or a psychological urban legend. Neil Fleming's VAK/VARK model Neil Fleming's VARK model and inventory expanded upon earlier notions of sensory modalities such as the VAK model of Barbe and colleagues and the representational systems (VAKOG) in neuro-linguistic programming. The four sensory modalities in Fleming's model are: Visual learning Aural learning Reading/writing learning Kinesthetic learning While the fifth modality isn't considered one of the four learning styles, it covers those who fit equally among two or more areas, or without one frontrunner: Multimodality (MM) Fleming claimed that visual learners have a preference for seeing (visual aids that represent ideas using methods other than words, such as graphs, charts, diagrams, symbols, etc.). Subsequent neuroimaging research has suggested that visual learners convert words into images in the brain and vice versa, but some psychologists have argued that this "is not an instance of learning styles, rather, it is an instance of ability appearing as a style". Likewise, Fleming claimed that auditory learners best learn through listening (lectures, discussions, tapes, etc.), and tactile/kinesthetic learners prefer to learn via experience—moving, touching, and doing (active exploration of the world, science projects, experiments, etc.). Students can use the model and inventory to identify their preferred learning style and, it is claimed, improve their learning by focusing on the mode that benefits them the most. Fleming's model also posits two types of multimodality. This means that not everyone has one defined preferred modality of learning; some people may have a mixture that makes up their preferred learning style. There are two types of multimodality learners: VARK type one learners are able to assimilate their learning style to those around them. VARK type two learners need to receive input or output in all of their preferred styles. They will continue to work until all preferred learning areas have been met. Gregorc & Butler's model Anthony Gregorc and Kathleen Butler organized a model describing different learning styles rooted in the way individuals acquire and process information differently. This model posits that an individual's perceptual abilities are the foundation of his or her specific learning strengths, or learning styles. In this model, there are two perceptual qualities: concrete and abstract, and two ordering abilities: random and sequential. Concrete perceptions involve registering information through the five senses, while abstract perceptions involve the understanding of ideas, qualities, and concepts which cannot be seen. In regard to the two ordering abilities, sequential ordering involves the organization of information in a linear, logical way, and random ordering involves the organization of information in chunks and in no specific order. The model posits that both of the perceptual qualities and both of the ordering abilities are present in each individual, but some qualities and ordering abilities are more dominant within certain individuals. There are four combinations of perceptual qualities and ordering abilities based on dominance: concrete sequential, abstract random, abstract sequential, and concrete random. The model posits that individuals with different combinations learn in different ways—they have different strengths, different things make sense to them, different things are difficult for them, and they ask different questions throughout the learning process. The validity of Gregorc's model has been questioned by Thomas Reio and Albert Wiswell following experimental trials. Gregorc argues that his critics have "scientifically-limited views" and that they wrongly repudiate the "mystical elements" of "the spirit" that can only be discerned by a "subtle human instrument". Cognitive approaches Anthony Grasha and Sheryl Riechmann, in 1974, formulated the Grasha-Reichmann Learning Style Scale. It was developed to analyze the attitudes of students and how they approach learning. The test was originally designed to provide teachers with insight on how to approach instructional plans for college students. Grasha's background was in cognitive processes and coping techniques. Unlike some models of cognitive styles which are relatively nonjudgmental, Grasha and Riechmann distinguish between adaptive and maladaptive styles. The names of Grasha and Riechmann's learning styles are: avoidant participative competitive collaborative dependent independent Aiming to explain why aptitude tests, school grades, and classroom performance often fail to identify real ability, Robert Sternberg listed various cognitive dimensions in his book Thinking Styles. Several other models are also often used when researching cognitive styles; some of these models are described in books that Sternberg co-edited, such as Perspectives on Thinking, Learning, and Cognitive Styles. NASSP model In the 1980s, the National Association of Secondary School Principals (NASSP) formed a task force to study learning styles. The task force defined three broad categories of style—cognitive, affective, and physiological—and 31 variables, including the perceptual strengths and preferences from the VAK model of Barbe and colleagues, but also many other variables such as need for structure, types of motivation, time of day preferences, and so on. They defined a learning style as "a gestalt—not an amalgam of related characteristics but greater than any of its parts. It is a composite of internal and external operations based in neurobiology, personality, and human development and reflected in learner behavior." Cognitive styles are preferred ways of perception, organization and retention. Affective styles represent the motivational dimensions of the learning personality; each learner has a personal motivational approach. Physiological styles are bodily states or predispositions, including sex-related differences, health and nutrition, and reaction to physical surroundings, such as preferences for levels of light, sound, and temperature. According to the NASSP task force, styles are hypothetical constructs that help to explain the learning (and teaching) process. They posited that one can recognize the learning style of an individual student by observing his or her behavior. Learning has taken place only when one observes a relatively stable change in learner behavior resulting from what has been experienced. Assessment methods A 2004 non-peer-reviewed literature review criticized most of the main instruments used to identify an individual's learning style. In conducting the review, Frank Coffield and his colleagues selected 13 of the most influential models of the 71 models they identified, including most of the models described in this article. They examined the theoretical origins and terms of each model, and the instrument that purported to assess individuals against the learning styles defined by the model. They analyzed the claims made by the author(s), external studies of these claims, and independent empirical evidence of the relationship between the learning style identified by the instrument and students' actual learning. Coffield's team found that none of the most popular learning style theories had been adequately validated through independent research. This means that even if the underlying theories were sound, educators are frequently unable to correctly identify the theoretically correct learning style for any given student, so the theory would end up being misapplied in practice. Learning Style Inventory The Learning Style Inventory (LSI) is connected with David A. Kolb's model and is used to determine a student's learning style. Previous versions of the LSI have been criticized for problems with validity, reliability, and other issues. Version 4 of the Learning Style Inventory replaces the four learning styles of previous versions with nine new learning styles: initiating, experiencing, imagining, reflecting, analyzing, thinking, deciding, acting, and balancing. The LSI is intended to help employees or students "understand how their learning style impacts upon problem solving, teamwork, handling conflict, communication and career choice; develop more learning flexibility; find out why teams work well—or badly—together; strengthen their overall learning." A completely different Learning Styles Inventory is associated with a binary division of learning styles, developed by Richard Felder and Linda Silverman. In Felder and Silverman's model, learning styles are a balance between pairs of extremes such as: Active/Reflective, Sensing/Intuitive, Verbal/Visual, and Sequential/Global. Students receive four scores describing these balances. Like the LSI mentioned above, this inventory provides overviews and synopses for teachers. NASSP Learning Style Profile The NASSP Learning Style Profile (LSP) is a second-generation instrument for the diagnosis of student cognitive styles, perceptual responses, and study and instructional preferences. The LSP is a diagnostic tool intended as the basis for comprehensive style assessment with students in the sixth to twelfth grades. It was developed by the National Association of Secondary School Principals research department in conjunction with a national task force of learning style experts. The Profile was developed in four phases with initial work undertaken at the University of Vermont (cognitive elements), Ohio State University (affective elements), and St. John's University (physiological/environmental elements). Rigid validation and normative studies were conducted using factor analytic methods to ensure strong construct validity and subscale independence. The LSP contains 23 scales representing four higher order factors: cognitive styles, perceptual responses, study preferences and instructional preferences (the affective and physiological elements). The LSP scales are: analytic skill, spatial skill, discrimination skill, categorizing skill, sequential processing skill, simultaneous processing skill, memory skill, perceptual response: visual, perceptual response: auditory, perceptual response: emotive, persistence orientation, verbal risk orientation, verbal-spatial preference, manipulative preference, study time preference: early morning, study time preference: late morning, study time preference: afternoon, study time preference: evening, grouping preference, posture preference, mobility preference, sound preference, lighting preference, temperature preference. Other methods Other methods (usually questionnaires) used to identify learning styles include Neil Fleming's VARK Questionnaire and Jackson's Learning Styles Profiler. Many other tests have gathered popularity and various levels of credibility among students and teachers. In the classroom For a teacher to use the learning styles model, the teacher has to be able to correctly match each student to a learning style. This is a generally unsuccessful exercise due to inappropriate tools. For an assessment tool to be useful, it needs to be a valid test, which is to say that it actually has to put all of the "style A" students in the "A" group, all of the "style B" students in the "B" group, and so forth. Research indicates that very few, if any, of the psychometric tests promoted in conjunction with the learning styles idea have the necessary validity to be useful in practice. Some models, such as Anthony Gregorc's Gregorc Style Delineator, are "theoretically and psychometrically flawed" and "not suitable for the assessment of individuals". Furthermore, knowing a student's learning style does not seem to have any practical value for the student. In 2019, the American Association of Anatomists published a study that investigated whether learning styles had any effect on the final outcomes of an anatomy course. The study found that even when being told they had a specific learning style, the students did not change their study habits, and those students that did use their theoretically dominant learning style had no greater success in the course; specific study strategies, unrelated to learning style, were positively correlated with final course grade. Dunn and Dunn Various researchers have attempted to hypothesize ways in which learning style theory can be used in the classroom. Two such scholars are Rita Dunn and Kenneth Dunn, who build upon a learning modalities approach. Although learning styles will inevitably differ among students in the classroom, Dunn and Dunn say that teachers should try to make changes in their classroom that will be beneficial to every learning style. Some of these changes include room redesign, the development of small-group techniques, and the development of "contract activity packages". Redesigning the classroom involves locating dividers that can be used to arrange the room creatively (such as having different learning stations and instructional areas), clearing the floor area, and incorporating students' thoughts and ideas into the design of the classroom. Dunn and Dunn's "contract activity packages" are educational plans that use: a clear statement of the learning need; multisensory resources (auditory, visual, tactile, kinesthetic); activities through which the newly mastered information can be used creatively; the sharing of creative projects within small groups; at least three small-group techniques; a pre-test, a self-test, and a post-test. Dunn and Dunn's learning styles model is widely used in schools in the United States, and 177 articles have been published in peer-reviewed journals referring to this model. However, the conclusion of a review by Coffield and colleagues was: "Despite a large and evolving research programme, forceful claims made for impact are questionable because of limitations in many of the supporting studies and the lack of independent research on the model." Sprenger's Differentiation Another scholar who believes that learning styles should have an effect on the classroom is Marilee Sprenger in Differentiation through Learning Styles and Memory. She bases her work on three premises: Teachers can be learners, and learners teachers. We are all both. Everyone can learn under the right circumstances. Learning is fun! Make it appealing. Sprenger details how to teach in visual, auditory, or tactile/kinesthetic ways. Methods for visual learners include ensuring that students can see words written, using pictures, and drawing timelines for events. Methods for auditory learners include repeating words aloud, small-group discussion, debates, listening to books on tape, oral reports, and oral interpretation. Methods for tactile/kinesthetic learners include hands-on activities (experiments, etc.), projects, frequent breaks to allow movement, visual aids, role play, and field trips. By using a variety of teaching methods from each of these categories, teachers cater to different learning styles at once, and improve learning by challenging students to learn in different ways. James W. Keefe and John M. Jenkins have incorporated learning style assessment as a basic component in their "personalized instruction" model of schooling. Six basic elements constitute the culture and context of personalized instruction. The cultural components—teacher role, student learning characteristics, and collegial relationships—establish the foundation of personalization and ensure that the school prizes a caring and collaborative environment. The contextual factors—interactivity, flexible scheduling, and authentic assessment—establish the structure of personalization. According to Keefe and Jenkins, cognitive and learning style analysis have a special role in the process of personalizing instruction. The assessment of student learning style, more than any other element except the teacher role, establishes the foundation for a personalized approach to schooling: for student advisement and placement, for appropriate retraining of student cognitive skills, for adaptive instructional strategy, and for the authentic evaluation of learning. Some learners respond best in instructional environments based on an analysis of their perceptual and environmental style preferences: most individualized and personalized teaching methods reflect this point of view. Other learners, however, need help to function successfully in any learning environment. If a youngster cannot cope under conventional instruction, enhancing his cognitive skills may make successful achievement possible. Many of the student learning problems that learning style diagnosis attempts to solve relate directly to elements of the human information processing system. Processes such as attention, perception and memory, and operations such as integration and retrieval of information are internal to the system. Any hope for improving student learning necessarily involves an understanding and application of information processing theory. Learning style assessment can provide a window to understanding and managing this process. At least one study evaluating teaching styles and learning styles, however, has found that congruent groups have no significant differences in achievement from incongruent groups. Furthermore, learning style in this study varied by demography, specifically by age, suggesting a change in learning style as one gets older and acquires more experience. While significant age differences did occur, as well as no experimental manipulation of classroom assignment, the findings do call into question the aim of congruent teaching–learning styles in the classroom. Educational researchers Eileen Carnell and Caroline Lodge concluded that learning styles are not fixed and that they are dependent on circumstance, purpose and conditions. Criticism Learning style theories have been criticized by many scholars and researchers. Some psychologists and neuroscientists have questioned the scientific basis for separating out students based on learning style. According to Susan Greenfield the practice is "nonsense" from a neuroscientific point of view: "Humans have evolved to build a picture of the world through our senses working in unison, exploiting the immense interconnectivity that exists in the brain." Similarly, Christine Harrington argued that since all students are multisensory learners, educators should teach research-based general learning skills. Many educational psychologists have shown that there is little evidence for the efficacy of most learning style models, and furthermore, that the models often rest on dubious theoretical grounds. According to professor of education Steven Stahl, there has been an "utter failure to find that assessing children's learning styles and matching to instructional methods has any effect on their learning." Professor of education Guy Claxton has questioned the extent that learning styles such as VARK are helpful, particularly as they can have a tendency to label children and therefore restrict learning. Similarly, psychologist Kris Vasquez pointed out a number of problems with learning styles, including the lack of empirical evidence that learning styles are useful in producing student achievement, but also her more serious concern that the use of learning styles in the classroom could lead students to develop self-limiting implicit theories about themselves that could become self-fulfilling prophecies that are harmful, rather than beneficial, to the goal of serving student diversity. Some research has shown that long-term retention can better be achieved under conditions that seem more difficult, and that teaching students only in their preferred learning style is not effective. Psychologists Scott Lilienfeld, Barry Beyerstein, and colleagues listed as one of the "50 great myths of popular psychology" the idea that "students learn best when teaching styles are matched to their learning styles", and they summarized some relevant reasons not to believe this "myth". Other critiques Coffield and his colleagues and Mark Smith are not alone in their judgements. In 2005, Demos, a UK think tank, published a report on learning styles prepared by a group chaired by David Hargreaves that included Usha Goswami from the University of Cambridge and David Wood from the University of Nottingham. The Demos report said that the evidence for learning styles was "highly variable", and that practitioners were "not by any means always frank about the evidence for their work". Cautioning against interpreting neuropsychological research as supporting the applicability of learning style theory, John Geake, Professor of Education at the UK's Oxford Brookes University, and a research collaborator with Oxford University's Centre for Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging of the Brain, commented in 2005: "We need to take extreme care when moving from the lab to the classroom. We do remember things visually and aurally, but information isn't defined by how it was received." The work of Daniel T. Willingham, a cognitive psychologist and neuroscientist, has argued that there is not enough evidence to support a theory describing the differences in learning styles amongst students. In his 2009 book Why Don't Students Like School, he claimed that a cognitive styles theory must have three features: "it should consistently attribute to a person the same style, it should show that people with different abilities think and learn differently, and it should show that people with different styles do not, on average, differ in ability". He concluded that there are no theories that have these three crucial characteristics, not necessarily implying that cognitive styles don't exist but rather stating that psychologists have been unable to "find them". In a 2008 self-published YouTube video titled "Learning Styles Don't Exist", Willingham concluded by saying: "Good teaching is good teaching and teachers don't need to adjust their teaching to individual students' learning styles." 2009 APS critique In late 2009, the journal Psychological Science in the Public Interest of the Association for Psychological Science (APS) published a report on the scientific validity of learning styles practices. The panel of experts that wrote the article, led by Harold Pashler of the University of California, San Diego, concluded that an adequate evaluation of the learning styles hypothesis—the idea that optimal learning demands that students receive instruction tailored to their learning styles—requires a particular kind of study. Specifically, students should be grouped into the learning style categories that are being evaluated (e.g., visual learners vs. verbal learners), and then students in each group must be randomly assigned to one of the learning methods (e.g., visual learning or verbal learning), so that some students will be "matched" and others will be "mismatched". At the end of the experiment, all students must sit for the same test. If the learning style hypothesis is correct, then, for example, visual learners should learn better with the visual method, whereas auditory learners should learn better with the auditory method. As disclosed in the report, the panel found that studies utilizing this essential research design were virtually absent from the learning styles literature. In fact, the panel was able to find only a few studies with this research design, and all but one of these studies were negative findings—that is, they found that the same learning method was superior for all kinds of students. Examples of such negative findings include the research of Laura J. Massa and Richard E. Mayer, as well as more recent research since the 2009 review. Furthermore, the panel noted that, even if the requisite finding were obtained, the benefits would need to be large, and not just statistically significant, before learning style interventions could be recommended as cost-effective. That is, the cost of evaluating and classifying students by their learning style, and then providing customized instruction would need to be more beneficial than other interventions (e.g., one-on-one tutoring, after school remediation programs, etc.). As a consequence, the panel concluded, "at present, there is no adequate evidence base to justify incorporating learning styles assessments into general educational practice. Thus, limited education resources would better be devoted to adopting other educational practices that have strong evidence base, of which there are an increasing number." The article incited critical comments from some defenders of learning styles. The Chronicle of Higher Education reported that Robert Sternberg from Tufts University spoke out against the paper: "Several of the most-cited researchers on learning styles, Mr. Sternberg points out, do not appear in the paper's bibliography." This charge was also discussed by Science, which reported that Pashler said, "Just so... most of [the evidence] is 'weak'." The Chronicle reported that even David A. Kolb partly agreed with Pashler; Kolb said: "The paper correctly mentions the practical and ethical problems of sorting people into groups and labeling them. Tracking in education has a bad history." Subsequent critiques A 2015 review paper examined the studies of learning styles completed after the 2009 APS critique, giving particular attention to studies that used the experimental methods advocated for by Pashler et al. The findings were similar to those of the APS critique: the evidence for learning styles was virtually nonexistent while evidence contradicting it was both more prevalent and used more sound methodology. Follow-up studies concluded that learning styles had no effect on student retention of material whereas another explanation, dual coding, had a substantial impact on it and held more potential for practical application in the classroom. A 2017 research paper from the UK found that 90% of academics agreed there are "basic conceptual flaws" with learning styles theory, yet 58% agreed that students "learn better when they receive information in their preferred learning style", and 33% reported that they used learning styles as a method in the past year. It concluded that it might be better to use methods that are "demonstrably effective". See also References Further reading External links The Biggest Myth In Education by Veritasium Different Types Of Learning Styles According To The VARK Model Learning theory (education) Alternative therapies for developmental and learning disabilities

New materialism

New materialism is a broad field within contemporary philosophy which seek to engage with the traditions of materialist philosophy as well as develop new articulations between intellectual currents in science and philosophy. New Materialists often draw on Gilles Deleuze and Félix Guattari's theories of the rhizome, as well as materialist interpretations of Baruch Spinoza's concept of immanence. Many philosophical tendencies are associated with new materialism, in such a way that the field resists a common definition. Common characteristics of New Materialists include the rejection of representationalism, humanism, and the intrinsic distinction of subjectivity and knowledge. New materialism also shares a critical reaction to the theoretical dominance of radical constructionism as well as the normative and analytic political theory. Some theoreticians also emphasize the critique of the deficits and inconsistencies of previous paradigms of materialism, such as phenomenology and Marxism. Origin The terms 'new materialisms'/'neo-materialisms' were independently coined by Manuel DeLanda and Rosi Braidotti, respectively, during the second half of the 1990s. Both sought to name an emerging cultural theory that intended to abandon the privilege of the human dimension of a dualist ontology, alternatively developing an analysis of how these oppositions – nature/culture; mind/matter; human/non-human – were historically and intellectually produced. DeLanda and Braidotti shared their base on the work of Gilles Deleuze and Félix Guattari, which attempted to rescue from the marginality of history of philosophy the 'minor tradition' of materialism. Reception As of 2024, new materialism has been well-received in a wide range of disciplines in contemporary academia, from environmental studies to philosophy. Frequently referenced works include Karen Barad's Meeting the Universe Halfway and Jane Bennett's Vibrant Matter. New Materialists emphasise how Cartesian binaries around human and nature have caused many issues in the world by ignoring social complexity. New materialism been championed for its more integrated approach that considers material and immaterial, biological, and social aspects as interconnected processes rather than distinct entities. Criticism Ecologist Andreas Malm has called New Materialism 'idealism of the most useless sort', stating that the approach has little use for climate action or changing our relationship with nature, since it denies distinctions between humanity and nature. Malm argues that this supports the status quo rather than challenging it. He also expresses frustration with the writing style of many New Materialists, claiming that they resist distinctions between things, making their writing impenetrable. Associated theorists Karen Barad Jane Bennett Rosi Braidotti Donna Haraway Isabelle Stengers Rick Dolphijn Manuel DeLanda Catherine Malabou Quentin Meillassoux Bruno Latour Arturo Escobar Levi Bryant Thomas Nail Tim Ingold See also Posthumanism Agential realism Speculative realism References Bibliography Materialism Political ecology Contemporary philosophy Philosophical schools and traditions

Environmental design

Environmental design is the process of addressing surrounding environmental parameters when devising plans, programs, policies, buildings, or products. It seeks to create spaces that will enhance the natural, social, cultural and physical environment of particular areas. Classical prudent design may have always considered environmental factors; however, the environmental movement beginning in the 1940s has made the concept more explicit. Environmental design can also refer to the applied arts and sciences dealing with creating the human-designed environment. These fields include architecture, geography, urban planning, landscape architecture, and interior design. Environmental design can also encompass interdisciplinary areas such as historical preservation and lighting design. In terms of a larger scope, environmental design has implications for the industrial design of products: innovative automobiles, wind power generators, solar-powered equipment, and other kinds of equipment could serve as examples. Currently, the term has expanded to apply to ecological and sustainability issues. Core Principals 1. Sustainability - Minimizing the environmental impact of human activities through the use of renewable resources, energy-efficient technologies, and eco-friendly materials. 2. Functionality - Designing spaces that are practical, accessible, and tailored to the needs and behaviors of the people who will use them. 3. Aesthetics - Incorporating elements of visual appeal, sensory experience, and emotional connection into the design. 4. Holistic Approach - Considering the interconnected social, economic, and ecological factors that shape the environment. Modern Uses Today, environmental design is applied across a wide range of scales, from small-scale residential projects to large-scale urban planning initiatives. Key areas of focus include: - Sustainable architecture and green building - Landscape architecture and urban planning - Transportation design and infrastructure - Industrial design and product development - Interior design and space planning Environmental designers often collaborate with experts from disciplines such as engineering, ecology, sociology, and public policy to create holistic solutions that address the complex challenges of modern environments. History The first traceable concepts of environmental designs focused primarily on solar heating, which began in Ancient Greece around 500 BCE. At the time, most of Greece had exhausted its supply of wood for fuel, leading architects to design houses that would capture the solar energy of the sun. The Greeks understood that the position of the sun varies throughout the year. For a latitude of 40 degrees in summer the sun is high in the south, at an angle of 70 degrees at the zenith, while in winter, the sun travels a lower trajectory, with a zenith of 26 degrees. Greek houses were built with south-facing façades which received little to no sun in the summer but would receive full sun in the winter, warming the house. Additionally, the southern orientation also protected the house from the colder northern winds. This clever arrangement of buildings influenced the use of the grid pattern of ancient cities. With the north–south orientation of the houses, the streets of Greek cities mainly ran east–west. The practice of solar architecture continued with the Romans, who similarly had deforested much of their native Italian Peninsula by the first century BCE. The Roman heliocaminus, literally 'solar furnace', functioned with the same aspects of the earlier Greek houses. The numerous public baths were oriented to the south. Roman architects added glass to windows to allow for the passage of light and to conserve interior heat as it could not escape. The Romans also used greenhouses to grow crops all year long and to cultivate the exotic plants coming from the far corners of the Empire. Pliny the Elder wrote of greenhouses that supplied the kitchen of the Emperor Tiberius during the year. Along with the solar orientation of buildings and the use of glass as a solar heat collector, the ancients knew other ways of harnessing solar energy. The Greeks, Romans and Chinese developed curved mirrors that could concentrate the sun's rays on an object with enough intensity to make it burn in seconds. The solar reflectors were often made of polished silver, copper or brass. Early roots of modern environmental design began in the late 19th century with writer/designer William Morris, who rejected the use of industrialized materials and processes in wallpaper, fabrics and books his studio produced. He and others, such as John Ruskin felt that the industrial revolution would lead to harm done to nature and workers. The narrative of Brian Danitz and Chris Zelov's documentary film Ecological Design: Inventing the Future asserts that in the decades after World War II, "The world was forced to confront the dark shadow of science and industry." From the middle of the twentieth century, thinkers like Buckminster Fuller have acted as catalysts for a broadening and deepening of the concerns of environmental designers. Nowadays, energy efficiency, appropriate technology, organic horticulture and agriculture, land restoration, New Urbanism, and ecologically sustainable energy and waste systems are recognized considerations or options and may each find application. By integrating renewable energy sources such as solar photovoltaic, solar thermal, and even geothermal energy into structures, it is possible to create zero emission buildings, where energy consumption is self-generating and non-polluting. It is also possible to construct "energy-plus buildings" which generate more energy than they consume, and the excess could then be sold to the grid. In the United States, the LEED Green Building Rating System rates structures on their environmental sustainability. Environmental design and planning Environmental design and planning is the moniker used by several Ph.D. programs that take a multidisciplinary approach to the built environment. Typically environmental design and planning programs address architectural history or design (interior or exterior), city or regional planning, landscape architecture history or design, environmental planning, construction science, cultural geography, or historic preservation. Social science methods are frequently employed; aspects of sociology or psychology can be part of a research program. The concept of "environmental" in these programs is quite broad and can encompass aspects of the natural, built, work, or social environments. Areas of research Architecture Construction science Ecology Environmental impact design Environmental planning Environmental psychology Environmental sociology Historic preservation Landscape architecture Sociology of architecture Sustainability Urban planning Academic programs The following universities offer a Ph.D. in environmental design and planning: Clemson University, College of Architecture, Arts and Humanities (Now called "Planning, Design, and the Built Environment") Arizona State University, College of Design Kansas State University University of Calgary (technically the Ph.D. is in "environmental design," but encompasses the same scope as the other programs) Virginia Tech until recently offered the degree program, but has since replaced it with programs in "architecture and design research" and "planning, governance, and globalization". Fanshawe College in London, Ontario Canada offers an honours bachelor's degree called "Environmental Design and planning. Related programs University of Missouri, Columbia: Ph.D. in Human Environmental Sciences (PDF file) with emphasis in Architectural Studies. Texas A & M University offers a Ph.D. in architecture that emphasizes environmental design. Examples Examples of the environmental design process include use of roadway noise computer models in design of noise barriers and use of roadway air dispersion models in analyzing and designing urban highways. Designers consciously working within this more recent framework of philosophy and practice seek a blending of nature and technology, regarding ecology as the basis for design. Some believe that strategies of conservation, stewardship, and regeneration can be applied at all levels of scale from the individual building to the community, with benefit to the human individual and local and planetary ecosystems. Specific examples of large scale environmental design projects include: Boston Transportation Planning Review BART – Bay Area Rapid Transit System Daly City Turn-back project and airport extension. Metropolitan Portland, Oregon light rail system See also Green building Green development Land recycling Passive solar building design Sustainable development Ecological design References 6. External links Environment Historic preservation

Inglehart–Welzel cultural map of the world

The Inglehart–Welzel cultural map of the world is a scatter plot created by political scientists Ronald Inglehart and Christian Welzel based on the World Values Survey and European Values Survey. It depicts closely linked cultural values that vary between societies in two predominant dimensions: traditional versus secular-rational values on the vertical y-axis and survival versus self-expression values on the horizontal x-axis. Moving upward on this map reflects the shift from traditional values to secular-rational ones and moving rightward reflects the shift from survival values to self-expression values. According to the authors: "These two dimensions explain more than 70 percent of the cross-national variance in a factor analysis of ten indicators—and each of these dimensions is strongly correlated with scores of other important orientations." The values are connected to the economic development of a country, most strongly with what fraction of sector of a given country's economy is in manufacturing or services, though, the authors stress that socio-economic status is not the sole factor determining a country's location, as their religious and cultural historical heritage is also an important factor. Values Analysis of the World Values Survey data by Inglehart and Welzel asserts that there are two major dimensions of cross-cultural variation in the world: x-axis: Survival values versus self-expression values y-axis: Traditional values versus secular–rational values. The map is a chart in which countries are positioned based on their scores for the two values mapped on the x-axis (survival values versus self-expression values) and the y-axis (traditional values versus secular-rational values). The map shows where societies are located in these two dimensions. Clusters of countries reflect their shared values and not geographical closeness. Traditional values emphasize the importance of religion, parent-child ties, deference to authority, absolute standards and traditional family values. People who embrace these values also reject divorce, abortion, euthanasia and suicide. Societies that embrace these values have high levels of national pride and a nationalistic outlook. Secular-rational values have the opposite preferences to the traditional values. Societies that embrace these values place less emphasis on religion, traditional family values and authority. Divorce, abortion, euthanasia and suicide are seen as relatively acceptable. The shift from traditional to secular-rational values has been described by Engelbrekt and Nygren as "essentially the replacement of religion and superstition with science and bureaucracy as the basis of behaviour and authority relations in a society". Survival values place emphasis on economic and physical security. They are linked with a relatively ethnocentric outlook and low levels of trust and tolerance. Self-expression values give high priority to subjective well-being, self-expression and quality of life. Some values more common in societies that embrace these values include environmental protection, growing tolerance of foreigners, gays and lesbians and gender equality, rising demands for participation in decision-making in economic and political life (autonomy and freedom from central authority), interpersonal trust, political moderation, and a shift in child-rearing values from emphasis on hard work toward imagination and tolerance. The shift from survival to self-expression also represents the transition from industrial society to post-industrial society, as well as embracing democratic values. The shift from traditional to secular-rational values has a strong correlation (0.65) with the fraction of a country's economy that is in the industrial sector, while the shift from survival to self-expression values is unrelated to the size of the country's industrial sector, but has a strong correlation (0.73) with the size of the country's service sector. Clusters A 2017 version of the map had countries divided into nine clusters: the English-speaking, Latin America, Catholic Europe, Protestant Europe, African-Islamic, Baltic, South Asian, Orthodox and Confucian clusters. In previous studies, the African-Islamic cluster was split into two (the African cluster and the Islamic cluster) and the Baltic states did not have their own cluster. Another proposed way to cluster the societies is by material wealth, with the poorer societies at the bottom of both axes, and richer at the top. Country-specific analysis Out of Western world countries, the United States is among the most conservative (as one of the most downwards-located countries), together with highly conservative Catholic countries such as Ireland and Poland. Simoni concludes that "On the traditional/secular dimension, the United States ranks far below other rich societies, with levels of religiosity and national pride comparable with those found in some developing societies." Asian societies are distributed in the traditional/secular dimension in two clusters, with more secular Confucian societies at the top, and more traditional South Asian ones at the center of the map. Russia is among the most survival-value oriented countries, and at the other end, Sweden ranks highest on the self-expression chart. It has also been found that basic cultural values overwhelmingly apply on national lines, with cross-border intermixtures being relatively rare. This is true even between countries with shared cultural histories. Additionally, even cultural clusters of countries do not intermix much across borders. This suggests nations are culturally meaningful units. History The map is updated and modified regularly along with the new waves of data from the World Values Survey. The different versions are available at the website of the World Values Survey. An early version of the map was published by Ronald Inglehart in 1997 with the dimensions named "Traditional vs. Secular-Rational Authority" and "Survival vs. Well-being". Inglehart and Welzel revised this map in 2005 and named the dimensions "Traditional vs. Secular-Rational Values" and "Survival vs. Self-expression Values". This map and its various updates are generally referred to as the Inglehart–Welzel Cultural Map. Welzel published a quite different map in 2013 with two closely related dimensions named "Emancipative Values" and "Secular Values", where Emancipative Values provide the main variable behind his theory of human empowerment. Other cultural maps have been published by Shalom Schwartz, Michael Minkov, and by Stankov, Lee and Vijver. Reception The cultural map has generally been well received and it is often cited or referred to. In 2009 Arno Tausch described it as "one of the most famous pieces of Inglehart's research tradition". Likewise, a number of scholars have referred to it as famous (Niels-Christian Fritsche in 2009, Elisabeth Staksrud in 2016, Manfred Buchroithner in 2020, Luigi Curini and Robert Franzese, likewise in 2020). Despite its popularity, several scholars, have questioned whether the two dimensions represent adequate and useful measures of cultural differences. In 2007 Majima and Savage have questioned which measures of culture are most adequate and whether the measured change over time is real, and Bomhoff and Gu in 2012 have argued that East Asian attitudes and values are not adequately reflected. In 2010 calculations by Beugelsdijk and Welzel suggested that the split into two factors or dimensions is only weakly justified by the data, and that a single-factor solution might be appropriate. In 2013 Welzel has suggested that the two dimensions may be combined under a common framework of human empowerment. Similarly, Inglehart in 2018 finds that a single factor combining cultural values reflects modernization quite well. According to Agner Fog's 2020 research, a meta-analysis of studies of cultural differences finds that many other studies of cultural differences have resulted in similar factors, but rotated differently. The common practice of factor rotation has obscured the similarity between different studies with different orientations of the axes on the cultural maps. The unrotated solution has the strongest factor or dimension corresponding to a line from the lower left to the upper right of Inglehart and Welzel's map, combining the two dimensions. This combined dimension may be interpreted as development or modernization. It combines a lot of economic, technological, institutional, and psychological variables that happen to be strongly correlated with each other. An unrotated second factor or dimension corresponds to a vertical line on Inglehart and Welzel's map, reflecting the special cultural values of East Asian cultures. In 2020 Fred Dervin, Robyn Moloney and Ashley Simpson criticized the map for "cultural essentialism and potential racism" due to generalizations and simplifications which stigmatize developing countries and label them as being inferior to predominantly White, European, Christian countries. See also Hofstede's cultural dimensions theory Nolan Chart Theory of Basic Human Values References External links A video showing changes over time on a similar map The new 2020 World Cultural Map has been released, The 2020 map is the provisional version of the WVS wave 7 map with the final map to be released in Fall 2021 upon the completion of the wave. The new 2020 World Cultural Map has been released, 04 Feb 2022 04 feb 2021 EV000190.JPG, The provisional version of the WVS wave 7 map. New Rules for WVS Database Citation Sociological theories Cross-cultural psychology Maps

Quaternary sector of the economy

The quaternary sector of the economy is based upon the economic activity that is associated with either the intellectual or knowledge-based economy. This consists of information technology; media; research and development; information-based services such as information-generation and information-sharing; and knowledge-based services such as consultation, entertainment, broadcasting, mass media, telecommunication, education, information technology, financial planning, blogging, and designing. Other definitions describe the quaternary sector as pure services. This may consist of the entertainment industry, to describe media and culture, and government. This may be classified into an additional quinary sector. The term reflects the analysis of the three-sector model of the economy, in which the primary sector produces raw materials used by the secondary sector to produce goods, which are then distributed to consumers by the tertiary sector. Contrary to this implied sequence, however, the quaternary sector does not process the output of the tertiary sector. It has only limited and indirect connections to the industrial economy characterized by the three-sector model. In a modern economy, the generation, analysis and dissemination of information is important enough to warrant a separate sector instead of being a part of the tertiary sector. This sector evolves in well-developed countries where the primary and secondary sectors are a minority of the economy, and requires a highly educated workforce. For example, the tertiary and quaternary sectors form the largest part of the UK economy, employing 76% of the workforce. See also Indigo Era References +4 National accounts

Setting (narrative)

A setting (or backdrop) is the time and geographic location within a narrative, either non-fiction or fiction. It is a literary element. The setting initiates the main backdrop and mood for a story. The setting can be referred to as story world or milieu to include a context (especially society) beyond the immediate surroundings of the story. Elements of setting may include culture, historical period, geography, and hour. Along with the plot, character, theme, and style, setting is considered one of the fundamental components of fiction. Role Setting may refer to the social milieu in which the events of a novel occur. The elements of the story setting include the passage of time, which may be static in some stories or dynamic in others with, for example, changing seasons. A setting can take three basic forms. One is the natural world, or in an outside place. In this setting, the natural landscapes of the world play an important part in a narrative, along with living creatures and different times of weather conditions and seasons. The second form exists as the cultural and historical background in which the narrative resides. Past events that have impacted the cultural background of characters or locations are significant in this way. The third form of a setting is a public or private place that has been created/maintained and/or resided in by people. Examples of this include a house, a park, a street, a school, etc. Types Setting may take various forms: Alternate history Campaign setting Constructed world (Worldbuilding) Dream world Dystopia Fantasy world Fictional city Fictional country Fictional crossover Fictional location Fictional universe Future history Imaginary world Mythical place Parallel universe Planets in science fiction Simulated reality Utopia Virtual reality See also British regional literature Index of fictional places Landscape List of fictional universes Setting List of narrative techniques Worldbuilding Notes References Creative works Narratology

Bohemianism

Bohemianism is a social and cultural movement that has, at its core, a way of life away from society's conventional norms and expectations. The term originates from the French bohème and spread to the English-speaking world. It was used to describe mid-19th-century non-traditional lifestyles, especially of artists, writers, journalists, musicians, and actors in major European cities. Bohemian is a 19th-century historical and literary topos that places the milieu of young metropolitan artists and intellectuals—particularly those of the Latin Quarter in Paris—in a context of poverty, hunger, appreciation of friendship, idealization of art and contempt for money. Based on this topos, the most diverse real-world subcultures are often referred to as "bohemian" in a figurative sense, especially (but by no means exclusively) if they show traits of a precariat. Bohemians were associated with unorthodox or anti-establishment political or social viewpoints expressed through free love, frugality, and—in some cases—simple living, van dwelling or voluntary poverty. A more economically privileged, wealthy, or even aristocratic bohemian circle is sometimes referred to as haute bohème (literally "Upper Bohemian"). The term bohemianism emerged in France in the early 19th century out of perceived similarities between the urban Bohemians and the Romani people; La bohème was a common term for the Romani people of France, who were thought to have reached France in the 15th century via Bohemia (the western part of modern Czech Republic). Bohemianism and its adjective bohemian in this specific context are not connected to the native inhabitants of the historical region of Bohemia (the Czechs). Origins European bohemianism Literary and artistic bohemians were associated in the French imagination with the roving Roma people, often pejoratively referred to as "gypsies". Romani were called bohémiens in French because they were believed to have come to France from Bohemia. The title character in Carmen (1875), a French opera by Georges Bizet set in the Spanish city of Seville, is referred to as a bohémienne in Meilhac and Halévy's libretto. Her signature aria declares love itself to be a "gypsy child" (enfant de Bohême), going where it pleases and obeying no laws. Henri Murger's 1845 collection of short stories, Scènes de la vie de bohème (Scenes of Bohemian Life), was written to glorify and legitimize the bohemian lifestyle. Murger's collection formed the basis of Giacomo Puccini's 1896 opera La bohème. In England, bohemian in this sense initially was popularised in William Makepeace Thackeray's 1848 novel Vanity Fair. Public perceptions of the alternative lifestyles supposedly led by artists were further molded by George du Maurier's romanticized best-selling novel of Bohemian culture Trilby (1894). The novel outlines the fortunes of three expatriate English artists, their Irish model, and two colourful Central European musicians, in the artist quarter of Paris. In Spanish literature, the Bohemian impulse can be seen in Ramón del Valle-Inclán's 1920 play Luces de Bohemia. In his song "La Bohème", Charles Aznavour described the Bohemian lifestyle in Montmartre. The 2001 film Moulin Rouge! also imagines the Bohemian lifestyle of actors and artists in Montmartre at the turn of the 20th century. American bohemianism In the 1850s, Bohemian culture started to become established in the United States via immigration. In New York City in 1857, a group of 15 to 20 young, cultured journalists flourished as self-described bohemians until the American Civil War began in 1861. This group gathered at a German bar on Broadway called Pfaff's beer cellar. Members included their leader Henry Clapp Jr., Ada Clare, Walt Whitman, Fitz Hugh Ludlow, and actress Adah Isaacs Menken. Similar groups in other cities were broken up as well by the Civil War and reporters spread out to report on the conflict. During the war, correspondents began to assume the title bohemian, and newspapermen in general took up the moniker. Bohemian became synonymous with newspaper writer. In 1866, war correspondent Junius Henri Browne, who wrote for the New York Tribune and Harper's Magazine, described bohemian journalists such as he was, as well as the few carefree women and lighthearted men he encountered during the war years. San Francisco journalist Bret Harte first wrote as "The Bohemian" in The Golden Era in 1861, with this persona taking part in many satirical doings, the lot published in his book Bohemian Papers in 1867. Harte wrote, "Bohemia has never been located geographically, but any clear day when the sun is going down, if you mount Telegraph Hill, you shall see its pleasant valleys and cloud-capped hills glittering in the West..." Mark Twain included himself and Charles Warren Stoddard in the bohemian category in 1867. By 1872, when a group of journalists and artists who gathered regularly for cultural pursuits in San Francisco were casting about for a name, the term bohemian became the main choice, and the Bohemian Club was born. Club members who were established and successful, pillars of their community, respectable family men, redefined their own form of bohemianism to include people like them who were bons vivants, sportsmen, and appreciators of the fine arts. Club member and poet George Sterling responded to this redefinition: Despite his views, Sterling associated with the Bohemian Club, and caroused with artist and industrialist alike at the Bohemian Grove. Canadian composer Oscar Ferdinand Telgmann and poet George Frederick Cameron wrote the song "The Bohemian" in the 1889 opera Leo, the Royal Cadet. The impish American writer and Bohemian Club member Gelett Burgess, who coined the word blurb, supplied this description of the amorphous place called Bohemia: In New York City, the pianist Rafael Joseffy formed an organization of musicians in 1907 with friends, such as Rubin Goldmark, called "The Bohemians (New York Musicians' Club)". Near Times Square, Joel Rinaldo presided over "Joel's Bohemian Refreshery", where the Bohemian crowd gathered from before the turn of the 20th century until Prohibition began to bite. Jonathan Larson's musical Rent, and specifically the song "La Vie Boheme", portrayed the postmodern Bohemian culture of New York in the late 20th century. In May 2014, a story on NPR suggested, after a century and a half, some Bohemian ideal of living in poverty for the sake of art had fallen in popularity among the latest generation of American artists. In the feature, a recent graduate of the Rhode Island School of Design related "her classmates showed little interest in living in garrets and eating ramen noodles." People The term has become associated with various artistic or academic communities and is used as a generalized adjective describing such people, environs, or situations: bohemian (boho—informal) is defined in The American College Dictionary as "a person with artistic or intellectual tendencies, who lives and acts with no regard for conventional rules of behavior". Many prominent European and American figures of the 19th and 20th centuries belonged to the bohemian subculture, and any comprehensive "list of bohemians" would be tediously long. Bohemianism has been approved of by some bourgeois writers such as Honoré de Balzac, but most conservative cultural critics do not condone bohemian lifestyles. In Bohemian Manifesto: a Field Guide to Living on the Edge, author Laren Stover breaks down the bohemian into five distinct mind-sets or styles, as follows: Beat: also drifters, but non-materialist and art-focused Dandy: no money, but try to appear as if they have it by buying and displaying expensive or rare items – such as brands of alcohol Gypsy: the expatriate types, they create their own Gypsy ideal of nirvana wherever they go Nouveau: bohemians that are rich who attempt to join traditional bohemianism with contemporary culture Zen: "post-beat", focus on spirituality rather than art Aimée Crocker, an American world traveler, adventuress, heiress, and mystic, was dubbed the "queen of Bohemia" in the 1910s by the world press for living an uninhibited, sexually liberated, and aggressively non-conformist life in San Francisco, New York, and Paris. She spent the bulk of her fortune inherited from her father Edwin B. Crocker, a railroad tycoon and art collector, on traveling all over the world (lingering the longest in Hawaii, India, Japan, and China) and partying with famous artists of her time such as Oscar Wilde, Robert Louis Stevenson, Mark Twain, the Barrymores, Enrico Caruso, Isadora Duncan, Henri Matisse, Auguste Rodin, and Rudolph Valentino. Crocker had countless affairs and married five times in five different decades of her life, each man being in his twenties. She was famous for her tattoos and pet snakes and was reported to have started the first Buddhist colony in Manhattan. Spiritually inquisitive, Crocker had a ten-year affair with occultist Aleister Crowley and was a devoted student of Hatha Yoga. Maxwell Bodenheim, an American poet and novelist, was known as the king of Greenwich Village Bohemians during the 1920s and his writing brought him international fame during the Jazz Age. In the 20th-century United States, the bohemian impulse was famously seen in the 1940s hipsters, the 1950s Beat generation (exemplified by writers such as William S. Burroughs, Allen Ginsberg, Jack Kerouac, and Lawrence Ferlinghetti), the much more widespread 1960s counterculture, and 1960s and 1970s hippies. Rainbow Gatherings may be seen as another contemporary worldwide expression of the bohemian impulse. An American example is Burning Man, an annual participatory arts festival held in the Nevada desert. In 2001, political and cultural commentator David Brooks contended that much of the cultural ethos of well-to-do middle-class Americans is Bohemian-derived, coining the oxymoron "Bourgeois Bohemians" or "Bobos". A similar term in Germany is Bionade-Biedermeier, a 2007 German neologism combining Bionade (a trendy lemonade brand) and Biedermeier (an era of introspective Central European culture between 1815 and 1848). The coinage was introduced in 2007 by Henning Sußebach, a German journalist, in an article that appeared in Zeitmagazin concerning Berlin's Prenzlauer Berg lifestyle. The hyphenated term gained traction and has been quoted and referred to since. A German ARD TV broadcaster used the title Boheme and Biedermeier in a 2009 documentary about Berlin's Prenzlauer Berg. The main focus was on protagonists, that contributed to the image of a paradise for the (organic and child-raising) well-to-do, depicting cafés where "Bionade-Biedermeier sips from Fair-Trade". See also Related terms Art colony Avant-garde Bohemian Club Bohemian Rhapsody Bohemian style La Boheme Magazine Boho-chic Counterculture Counterculture of the 1960s Gentrification History of modern Western subcultures Lumpenproletariat Precariat Simple living Slumming Spiral of silence Youth culture Youth subculture Related cultures or movements Beat Generation Beatnik Bloomsbury Group Crusties Dandy Diggers Folk culture Freetown Christiania Freighthopping Goth Grunge Gutter punk Hippie Hipster (1940s subculture) Hipster (contemporary subculture) Libertine Merry Pranksters Nomads Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood Punk Sydney Push References Bibliography Parry, Albert. (2005.) Garretts & Pretenders: A History of Bohemianism in America, Cosimo, Inc. Further reading Richardson, Joanna (1969). The Bohemians: La Vie de Boheme in Paris 1830–1914. London: Macmillan A study of the beat lifestyle of the 1950s and 1960s Tarnoff, Benjamin (2014) The Bohemians: Mark Twain and the San Francisco Writers Who Reinvented American Literature. Penguin Books. . External links Bohemianism and Counter-Culture (Archived from the original) Bohemianism, BBC Radio 4 discussion with Hermione Lee, Virginia Nicholson and Graham Robb (In Our Time, Oct. 9, 2003) Bohemia Kingdom of Bohemia Slavic culture Cultural appropriation 19th-century neologisms Gay Nineties Itinerant living Lifestyles Romani history Underground culture

Cultural rights

The cultural rights movement has provoked attention to protect the rights of groups of people, or their culture, in similar fashion to the manner in which the human rights movement has brought attention to the needs of individuals throughout the world. Protecting culture Cultural rights are rights related to art and culture, both understood in a large sense. The objective of these rights is to guarantee that people and communities have an access to culture and can participate in the culture of their selection. Cultural rights are human rights that aim at assuring the enjoyment of culture and its components in conditions of equality, human dignity and non-discrimination. They are rights related to themes such as language; cultural and artistic production; participation in cultural life; cultural heritage; intellectual property rights; author's rights; minorities and access to culture, among others. Focusing less on the preservation of cultures as an end in itself and more on the realization of "ecological" relations between cultural groups as a condition for equitable interactions and the potential for organic cultural change, Meyjes proposes the interchangeable terms "cultural justice", "ethno-cultural justice" and intercultural justice — which he defines as the principle of maximally accommodating the culturally-specific values and practices of minority groups and their members, in the form of rights, within the overall legal, regulatory, or policy limits of the institution, community, or society concerned (also see universalization). Preservation of minority cultures Cultural rights of groups focus on such things as religious and ethnic minorities and indigenous societies that are in danger of disappearing. Cultural rights include a group's ability to preserve its way of life, such as child rearing, continuation of language, and security of its economic base in the nation, which it is located. The related notion of indigenous intellectual property rights (IPR) has arisen in attempt to conserve each society's culture base and essentially prevent ethnocide. The cultural rights movement has been popularized because much traditional cultural knowledge has commercial value, like ethno-medicine, cosmetics, cultivated plants, foods, folklore, arts, crafts, songs, dances, costumes, and rituals. Studying ancient cultures may reveal evidence about the history of the human race and shed more light on our origin and successive cultural development. However, the study, sharing and commercialization of such cultural aspects can be hard to achieve without infringing upon the cultural rights of those who are a part of that culture. Cultural rights should be taken into consideration also by local policies. In that sense, the Agenda 21 for culture, the first document with worldwide mission that advocates establishing the groundwork of an undertaking by cities and local governments for cultural development, includes as cultural rights as one of the principles and states: “Local governments recognize that cultural rights are an integral part of human rights, taking as their reference the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948)”. Cultural anthropology "Cultural rights are vested not in individuals but in groups, such as religious and ethnic minorities and indigenous societies." All cultures are brought up differently, therefore cultural rights include a group's ability to preserve its culture, to raise its children in the ways it forebears, to continue its language, and to not be deprived of its economic base by the nation in which it is located." Anthropologists sometimes choose not to study some cultures beliefs and rights, because they believe that it may cause misbehavior, and they choose not to turn against different diversities of cultures. Although anthropologists sometimes do turn away from studying different cultures they still depend a lot on what they study at different archaeological sites. See also Collective rights Cultural diversity Cultural property Ethnic group Human rights Right to science and culture References Sources External links Cultural Rights in the 20th Century", BBC Radio 4 discussion with Homi Bhabha and John Gray (In Our Time, Dec. 10. 1998) Cultural studies Human rights

Figurative art

Figurative art, sometimes written as figurativism, describes artwork (particularly paintings and sculptures) that is clearly derived from real object sources and so is, by definition, representational. The term is often in contrast to abstract art: Since the arrival of abstract art the term figurative has been used to refer to any form of modern art that retains strong references to the real world. Painting and sculpture can therefore be divided into the categories of figurative, representational and abstract, although, strictly speaking, abstract art is derived (or abstracted) from a figurative or other natural source. However, "abstract" is sometimes used as a synonym of non-representational art and non-objective art, i.e. art which has no derivation from figures or objects. Figurative art is not synonymous with figure painting (art that represents the human figure), although human and animal figures are frequent subjects. Formal elements The formal elements, those aesthetic effects created by design, upon which figurative art is dependent, include line, shape, color, light and dark, mass, volume, texture, and perspective, although these elements of design could also play a role in creating other types of imagery—for instance abstract, or non-representational or non-objective two-dimensional artwork. The difference is that in figurative art these elements are deployed to create an impression or illusion of form and space, and, usually, to create emphasis in the narrative portrayed. Evolution Figurative art is itself based upon a tacit understanding of abstracted shapes: the figure sculpture of Greek antiquity was not naturalistic, for its forms were idealized and geometric. Ernst Gombrich referred to the strictures of this schematic imagery, the adherence to that which was already known, rather than that which is seen, as the "Egyptian method", an allusion to the memory-based clarity of imagery in Egyptian art. Eventually idealization gave way to observation, and a figurative art which balanced ideal geometry with greater realism was seen in Classical sculpture by 480 B.C. The Greeks referred to the reliance on visual observation as mimesis. Until the time of the Impressionists, figurative art was characterized by attempts to reconcile these opposing principles. From the early Renaissance, Mannerism and the Baroque through 18th-, 19th- and 20th-century painting Figurative art has steadily broadened its parameters. An important landmark in the evolution of figurative art is the first known reclining nude in Western painting in Sleeping Venus (1510) by Giorgione. It introduced the female nude as subject and started a long line of famous paintings. Nicolas Poussin (1594–1665), a French painter in the classical style whose work predominantly features clarity, logic, and order, and favors line over color, served as an alternative to the more narrative Baroque style of the 17th century. He was a major inspiration for such classically oriented artists as Jacques-Louis David, Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres and Paul Cézanne. The rise of the Neoclassical art of Jacques-Louis David ultimately engendered the realistic reactions of Gustave Courbet and Édouard Manet leading to the multi-faceted figurative art of the 20th century. In November, 2018, scientists reported the discovery of the oldest known figurative art painting, over 40,000 (perhaps as old as 52,000) years old, of an unknown animal, in the cave of Lubang Jeriji Saléh on the Indonesian island of Borneo. Architecture, townscape History painting Human forms Landscape, seascape Still life Cave painting See also Illustration Narrative art Neofigurative Art Stuckism Notes and references External links Figurative art at TATE.org

Post-Fordism

Post-Fordism is a term used to describe the growth of new production methods defined by flexible production, the individualization of labor relations and fragmentation of markets into distinct segments, after the demise of Fordist production. It was widely advocated by French Marxist economists and American labor economists in the 1970s and 1980s. Definitions of the nature and scope of post-Fordism vary considerably and are a matter of debate among scholars. Fordism was the dominant model of production organization from the 1910s to the 1960s, which led to the massive growth of the American manufacturing sector and the establishment of the US as an industrial powerhouse. It was characterized by the assembly-line model, perfected by Henry Ford. Some post-Fordist theorists argue that the end of the superiority of the US economy is explained by the end of Fordism. Post-Fordist consumption is marked by increased consumer choice and identity. As such, retailers seek to collect consumer data through increased information technology to understand trends and changing demand. Production networks, therefore, demand greater flexibility in their workforce, leading to more varied job roles for employees and more individualized labour relations, and more flexible modes of production to react to changing consumer demand, such as lean manufacturing. Overview Post-Fordism is characterized by the following attributes: Small-batch production Economies of scope Specialized products and jobs New information technologies Emphasis on types of consumers in contrast to the previous emphasis on social class The rise of the service and the white-collar worker The feminisation of the work force Consumption and production Post-Fordist consumption is marked by individualism and consumer choice. Patterns of consumption are oriented toward lifestyle and identity and consumption is a key part of the culture. The consumer has become a 'global dictator' which determines the organization of production and retailers seek to process consumer data to react to patterns of consumer demand. As such, there is a strong link between post-Fordism and the rise of information technology. Post-Fordist production prioritizes increased flexibility, in particular lean production and just-in-time production methods. This creates an economic geography of greater interaction between suppliers and manufacturers. For labor markets, this has necessitated a shift from the division of labor to being more adaptable to different roles in production, however, it has also led to more involvement in and knowledge of the labor process and greater autonomy over work. There is an increase in non-standard forms of employment. Theoretical approaches According to geographer Ash Amin, post-Fordism is commonly divided into three schools of thought: the regulation school, flexible specialization, and neo-Schumpeterianism. Regulation school The regulation approach (also called the neo-Marxist or French Regulation School) was designed to address the paradox of how capitalism has both a tendency towards crisis, change and instability as well as an ability to stabilize institutions, rules, and norms. The theory is based on two key concepts. "Regimes of Accumulation" refer to systems of production and consumption, such as Fordism and post-Fordism. "Modes of Regulation" refer to the written and unwritten laws of society which control the Regime of Accumulation and determine its form. According to regulation theory, every Regime of Accumulation will reach a crisis point at which the Mode of Regulation will no longer support it, and society will be forced to find new rules and norms, forming a new Mode of Regulation. This will begin a new Regime of Accumulation, which will eventually reach a crisis, and so forth. Proponents of Regulation theory include Michel Aglietta, Robert Boyer, Bob Jessop, and Alain Lipietz. Flexible specialization Proponents of the flexible specialization approach (also known as the neo-Smithian approach) believe that fundamental changes in the international economy, especially in the early 1970s, forced firms to switch from mass production to a new tactic known as flexible specialization. Instead of producing generic goods, firms now found it more profitable to produce diverse product lines targeted at different groups of consumers, appealing to their sense of taste and fashion. Instead of investing huge amounts of money in the mass production of a single product, firms now needed to build intelligent systems of labor and machines that were flexible and could quickly respond to the whims of the market. The technology associated initially with flexible production was the numerical control technology, which was developed in the United States in the 1950s; however, the CNC, developed in Japan, later replaced it. The development of the computer was very important to the technology of flexible specialization. Not only could the computer change the characteristics of the goods being produced, but it could also analyze data to order supplies and produce goods in accordance with current demand. These types of technology made adjustments simple and inexpensive, making smaller specialized production runs economically feasible. Flexibility and skill in labor were also important. The workforce was now divided into a skill-flexible core and a time-flexible periphery. Flexibility and variety in the skills and knowledge of the core workers and the machines used for production allowed for the specialized production of goods. Modern just-in-time manufacturing is one example of a flexible approach to production. Likewise, the production structure began to change on the sector level. Instead of a single firm manning the assembly line from raw materials to finished products, the production process became fragmented as individual firms specialized in their areas of expertise. As evidence for this theory of specialization, proponents claim that Marshallian "industrial districts," or clusters of integrated firms, have developed in places like Silicon Valley, Jutland, Småland, and several parts of Italy. Neo-Schumpeterianism The new-Schumpeterian approach to post-Fordism is based upon the theory of Kondratiev waves (also known as long waves). The theory holds that a "techno-economic paradigm" (Perez) characterizes each long wave. Fordism was the techno-economic paradigm of the fourth Kondratiev wave, and post-Fordism is thus the techno-economic paradigm of the fifth, which is dominated by information and communication technology. Notable Neo-Schumpeterian thinkers comprise Carlota Perez and Christopher Freeman, as well as Michael Storper and Richard Walker. Post-Fordist theory in Italy In Italy, post-Fordism has been theorised by the long wave of workerism or autonomia. Major thinkers of this tendency include the Swiss-Italian economist Christian Marazzi, Antonio Negri, Paolo Virno, Carlo Vercellone, Maurizio Lazzarato. Marazzi's Capital and Language takes as its starting point the fact that the extreme volatility of financial markets is generally attributed to the discrepancy between the "real economy" (that of material goods produced and sold) and the more speculative monetary-financial economy. But this distinction has long ceased to apply in the post-Fordist New Economy, in which both spheres are structurally affected by language and communication. In Capital and Language Marazzi argues that the changes in financial markets and the transformation of labor into immaterial labor (that is, its reliance on abstract knowledge, general intellect, and social cooperation) are two sides of a new development paradigm: financialization through and thanks to the rise of the new economy. In terms of the development of the 'technical and political class-composition', in the post-Fordist era the crisis explains at the same time 'high points of the capitalist development' and how new technological tools develop and work altogether (money form, linguistic conventions, capital and language). Changes from Fordism to post-Fordism Post-Fordism brought on new ways of looking at consumption and production. The saturation of key markets brought on a turn against mass consumption and a pursuit of higher living standards. This shift brought a change in how the market was viewed from a production standpoint. Rather than being viewed as a mass market to be served by mass production, the consumers began to be viewed as different groups pursuing different goals who could be better served with small batches of specialized goods. Mass markets became less important while markets for luxury, custom, or positional goods became more significant. Production became less homogeneous and standardized and more diverse and differentiated as organizations and economies of scale were replaced with organizations and economies of scope. The changes in production with the shift from Fordism to post-Fordism were accompanied by changes in the economy, politics, and prominent ideologies. In the economic realm, post-Fordism brought the decline of regulation and production by the nation-state and the rise of global markets and corporations. Mass marketing was replaced by flexible specialization, and organizations began to emphasize communication more than command. The workforce changed with an increase in internal marketing, franchising, and subcontracting and a rise in part-time, temp, self-employed, and home workers. Politically, class-based political parties declined and social movements based on region, gender, or race increased. Mass unions began to vanish and were instead replaced by localized plant-based bargaining. Cultural and ideological changes included the rise in individualist modes of thought and behavior and a culture of entrepreneurialism. Following the shift in production and acknowledging the need for more knowledge-based workers, education became less standardized and more specialized. Prominent ideologies that arose included fragmentation and pluralism in values, post-modern eclecticism, and populist approaches to culture. Examples Italy One of the primary examples of specialized post-Fordist production took place in a region known as the Third Italy. The First Italy included the areas of large-scale mass production, such as Turin, Milan, and Genoa, and the Second Italy described the undeveloped South. The Third Italy, however, was where clusters of small firms and workshops developed in the 1970s and 1980s in the central and northeast regions of the country. Regions of the Third Italy included Tuscany, Umbria, Marche, Emilia-Romagna, Veneto, Friuli, and Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol. Each region specialized in a range of loosely related products and each workshop usually had five to fifty workers and often less than ten. The range of products in each region reflected the post-Fordist shift to economies of scope. Additionally, these workshops were known for producing high quality products and employing highly skilled, well-paid workers. The workshops were very design-oriented and multidisciplinary, involving collaboration between entrepreneurs, designers, engineers and workers. Japan There were several post-World War II changes in production in Japan that caused post-Fordist conditions to develop. First, there were changes to company structure, including the replacement of independent trade unions with pro-management, company-based unions; the development of a core of permanent male multi-skilled workers; and the development of a periphery of untrained temporary and part-time employees, who were mostly female. Second, after World War II, Japan was somewhat isolated because of import barriers and foreign investment restrictions, and as a result, Japan began to experiment with production techniques. Third, as imported technologies became more available, Japan began to replicate, absorb, and improve them, with many improvements deriving from modifications for local conditions. Fourth, Japan began to concentrate on the need for small-batch production and quick changeover of product lines to serve the demand for a wide range of products in a relatively small market. Because of informal price-fixing, competition was based not on price but rather on product differentiation. As a result, production became less standardized and more specialized, particularly across different companies. Fifth, Japan began to build long-term supply and subcontracting networks, which contrasted with the vertically integrated, Fordist American corporations. Sixth, because small and medium-size manufacturers produced a wide range of products, there was a need for affordable multipurpose equipment as opposed to the specialized, costly production machinery in Fordist industries in the United States. Technology for flexible production was significant in Japan and particularly necessary for smaller producers. The smaller producers also found it necessary to reduce costs. As a result, Japan became one of the main users of robots and CNC. Over time, these six changes in production in Japan were institutionalized. Criticisms The main criticism of post-Fordism asserts that post-Fordism mistakes the nature of the Fordist revolution and that Fordism was not in crisis, but was simply evolving and will continue to evolve. Other critics believe that post-Fordism does exist, but coexists with Fordism. The automobile industry has combined Fordist and post-Fordist strategies, using both mass production and flexible specialization. Ford introduced flexibility into mass production, so that Fordism could continue to evolve. Those who advocate post-Fordism, however, note that criticism that focuses primarily on flexible specialization ignores post-Fordist changes in other areas of life and that flexible specialization cannot be looked at alone when examining post-Fordism. Another criticism is that post-Fordism relies too heavily on the examples of the Third Italy and Japan. Some believe that Japan is neither Fordist nor post-Fordist and that vertical disintegration and mass production go hand in hand. Others argue that the new, smaller firms in Italy did not develop autonomously, but are a product of the vertical disintegration of the large Fordist firms who contracted lower value-added work to smaller enterprises. Other criticisms argue that flexible specialization is not happening on any great scale, and smaller firms have always existed alongside mass production. Another main criticism is that we are too much in the midst to judge whether or not there really is a new system of production. The term "post-Fordism" is gradually giving way in the literature to a series of alternative terms such as the knowledge economy, cognitive capitalism, the cognitive-cultural economy and so on. This change of vocabulary is also associated with a number of important conceptual shifts (see sections above). See also Civil society Social innovation Total quality management Notes References Baca, George (2004) "Legends of Fordism: Between Myth, History, and Foregone Conclusions," Social Analysis,48(3): 169–178. Gielen, Pascal (2015 - 3rd ed.), The Murmuring of the Artistic Multitude. Global Art, Politics and Post-Fordism. Valiz: Amsterdam, Production economics Economic systems Production and manufacturing

Conceptual art

Conceptual art, also referred to as conceptualism, is art in which the concept(s) or idea(s) involved in the work are prioritized equally to or more than traditional aesthetic, technical, and material concerns. Some works of conceptual art may be constructed by anyone simply by following a set of written instructions. This method was fundamental to American artist Sol LeWitt's definition of conceptual art, one of the first to appear in print: Tony Godfrey, author of Conceptual Art (Art & Ideas) (1998), asserts that conceptual art questions the nature of art, a notion that Joseph Kosuth elevated to a definition of art itself in his seminal, early manifesto of conceptual art, Art after Philosophy (1969). The notion that art should examine its own nature was already a potent aspect of the influential art critic Clement Greenberg's vision of Modern art during the 1950s. With the emergence of an exclusively language-based art in the 1960s, however, conceptual artists such as Art & Language, Joseph Kosuth (who became the American editor of Art-Language), and Lawrence Weiner began a far more radical interrogation of art than was previously possible (see below). One of the first and most important things they questioned was the common assumption that the role of the artist was to create special kinds of material objects. Through its association with the Young British Artists and the Turner Prize during the 1990s, in popular usage, particularly in the United Kingdom, "conceptual art" came to denote all contemporary art that does not practice the traditional skills of painting and sculpture. One of the reasons why the term "conceptual art" has come to be associated with various contemporary practices far removed from its original aims and forms lies in the problem of defining the term itself. As the artist Mel Bochner suggested as early as 1970, in explaining why he does not like the epithet "conceptual", it is not always entirely clear what "concept" refers to, and it runs the risk of being confused with "intention". Thus, in describing or defining a work of art as conceptual it is important not to confuse what is referred to as "conceptual" with an artist's "intention". Precursors The French artist Marcel Duchamp paved the way for the conceptualists, providing them with examples of prototypically conceptual works — the readymades, for instance. The most famous of Duchamp's readymades was Fountain (1917), a standard urinal-basin signed by the artist with the pseudonym "R.Mutt", and submitted for inclusion in the annual, un-juried exhibition of the Society of Independent Artists in New York (which rejected it). The artistic tradition does not see a commonplace object (such as a urinal) as art because it is not made by an artist or with any intention of being art, nor is it unique or hand-crafted. Duchamp's relevance and theoretical importance for future "conceptualists" was later acknowledged by US 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". In 1956 the founder of Lettrism, Isidore Isou, developed the notion of a work of art which, by its very nature, could never be created in reality, but which could nevertheless provide aesthetic rewards by being contemplated intellectually. This concept, also called Art esthapériste (or "infinite-aesthetics"), derived from the infinitesimals of Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz – quantities which could not actually exist except conceptually. The current incarnation of the Isouian movement, Excoördism, self-defines as the art of the infinitely large and the infinitely small. Origins In 1961, philosopher and artist Henry Flynt coined the term "concept art" in an article bearing the same name which appeared in the proto-Fluxus publication An Anthology of Chance Operations. Flynt's concept art, he maintained, devolved from his notion of "cognitive nihilism", in which paradoxes in logic are shown to evacuate concepts of substance. Drawing on the syntax of logic and mathematics, concept art was meant jointly to supersede mathematics and the formalistic music then current in serious art music circles. Therefore, Flynt maintained, to merit the label concept art, a work had to be a critique of logic or mathematics in which a linguistic concept was the material, a quality which is absent from subsequent "conceptual art". The term assumed a different meaning when employed by Joseph Kosuth and by the English Art and Language group, who discarded the conventional art object in favour of a documented critical inquiry, that began in Art-Language: The Journal of Conceptual Art in 1969, into the artist's social, philosophical, and psychological status. By the mid-1970s they had produced publications, indices, performances, texts and paintings to this end. In 1970 Conceptual Art and Conceptual Aspects, the first dedicated conceptual-art exhibition, took place at the New York Cultural Center. The critique of formalism and of the commodification of art Conceptual art emerged as a movement during the 1960s – in part as a reaction against formalism as then articulated by the influential New York art critic Clement Greenberg. According to Greenberg Modern art followed a process of progressive reduction and refinement toward the goal of defining the essential, formal nature of each medium. Those elements that ran counter to this nature were to be reduced. The task of painting, for example, was to define precisely what kind of object a painting truly is: what makes it a painting and nothing else. As it is of the nature of paintings to be flat objects with canvas surfaces onto which colored pigment is applied, such things as figuration, 3-D perspective illusion and references to external subject matter were all found to be extraneous to the essence of painting, and ought to be removed. Some have argued that conceptual art continued this "dematerialization" of art by removing the need for objects altogether, while others, including many of the artists themselves, saw conceptual art as a radical break with Greenberg's kind of formalist Modernism. Later artists continued to share a preference for art to be self-critical, as well as a distaste for illusion. However, by the end of the 1960s it was certainly clear that Greenberg's stipulations for art to continue within the confines of each medium and to exclude external subject matter no longer held traction. Conceptual art also reacted against the commodification of art; it attempted a subversion of the gallery or museum as the location and determiner of art, and the art market as the owner and distributor of art. Lawrence Weiner said: "Once you know about a work of mine you own it. There's no way I can climb inside somebody's head and remove it." Many conceptual artists' work can therefore only be known about through documentation which is manifested by it, e.g., photographs, written texts or displayed objects, which some might argue are not in and of themselves the art. It is sometimes (as in the work of Robert Barry, Yoko Ono, and Weiner himself) reduced to a set of written instructions describing a work, but stopping short of actually making it—emphasising the idea as more important than the artifact. This reveals an explicit preference for the "art" side of the ostensible dichotomy between art and craft, where art, unlike craft, takes place within and engages historical discourse: for example, Ono's "written instructions" make more sense alongside other conceptual art of the time. Language and/as art Language was a central concern for the first wave of conceptual artists of the 1960s and early 1970s. Although the utilisation of text in art was in no way novel, only in the 1960s did the artists Lawrence Weiner, Edward Ruscha, Joseph Kosuth, Robert Barry, and Art & Language begin to produce art by exclusively linguistic means. Where previously language was presented as one kind of visual element alongside others, and subordinate to an overarching composition (e.g. Synthetic Cubism), the conceptual artists used language in place of brush and canvas, and allowed it to signify in its own right. Of Lawrence Weiner's works Anne Rorimer writes, "The thematic content of individual works derives solely from the import of the language employed, while presentational means and contextual placement play crucial, yet separate, roles." The British philosopher and theorist of conceptual art Peter Osborne suggests that among the many factors that influenced the gravitation toward language-based art, a central role for conceptualism came from the turn to linguistic theories of meaning in both Anglo-American analytic philosophy, and structuralist and post structuralist Continental philosophy during the middle of the twentieth century. This linguistic turn "reinforced and legitimized" the direction the conceptual artists took. Osborne also notes that the early conceptualists were the first generation of artists to complete degree-based university training in art. Osborne later made the observation that contemporary art is post-conceptual in a public lecture delivered at the Fondazione Antonio Ratti, Villa Sucota in Como on July 9, 2010. It is a claim made at the level of the ontology of the work of art (rather than say at the descriptive level of style or movement). The American art historian Edward A. Shanken points to the example of Roy Ascott who "powerfully demonstrates the significant intersections between conceptual art and art-and-technology, exploding the conventional autonomy of these art-historical categories." Ascott, the British artist most closely associated with cybernetic art in England, was not included in Cybernetic Serendipity because his use of cybernetics was primarily conceptual and did not explicitly utilize technology. Conversely, although his essay on the application of cybernetics to art and art pedagogy, "The Construction of Change" (1964), was quoted on the dedication page (to Sol LeWitt) of Lucy R. Lippard's seminal Six Years: The Dematerialization of the Art Object from 1966 to 1972, Ascott's anticipation of and contribution to the formation of conceptual art in Britain has received scant recognition, perhaps (and ironically) because his work was too closely allied with art-and-technology. Another vital intersection was explored in Ascott's use of the thesaurus in 1963 telematic connections:: timeline, which drew an explicit parallel between the taxonomic qualities of verbal and visual languages – a concept that would be taken up in Joseph Kosuth's Second Investigation, Proposition 1 (1968) and Mel Ramsden's Elements of an Incomplete Map (1968). Contemporary history Proto-conceptualism has roots in the rise of Modernism with, for example, Manet (1832–1883) and later Marcel Duchamp (1887–1968). The first wave of the "conceptual art" movement extended from approximately 1967 to 1978. Early "concept" artists like Henry Flynt (1940– ), Robert Morris (1931–2018), and Ray Johnson (1927–1995) influenced the later, widely accepted movement of conceptual art. Conceptual artists like Dan Graham, Hans Haacke, and Lawrence Weiner have proven very influential on subsequent artists, and well-known contemporary artists such as Mike Kelley or Tracey Emin are sometimes labeled "second- or third-generation" conceptualists, or "post-conceptual" artists (the prefix Post- in art can frequently be interpreted as "because of"). Contemporary artists have taken up many of the concerns of the conceptual art movement, while they may or may not term themselves "conceptual artists". Ideas such as anti-commodification, social and/or political critique, and ideas/information as medium continue to be aspects of contemporary art, especially among artists working with installation art, performance art, art intervention, net.art, and electronic/digital art. Revival Neo-conceptual art describes art practices in the 1980s and particularly 1990s to date that derive from the conceptual art movement of the 1960s and 1970s. These subsequent initiatives have included the Moscow Conceptualists, United States neo-conceptualists such as Sherrie Levine and the Young British Artists, notably Damien Hirst and Tracey Emin in the United Kingdom. Notable examples 1913 : Bicycle Wheel (Roue de bicyclette) by Marcel Duchamp. Assisted readymade. Bicycle wheel mounted by its fork on a painted wooden stool. The first readymade, even though he did not have the idea for readymades until two years later. The original was lost. Also, recognized as the first kinetic sculpture. 1914 : Bottle Rack (also called Bottle Dryer or Hedgehog) (Egouttoir or Porte-bouteilles or Hérisson) by Marcel Duchamp. Readymade. A galvanized iron bottle drying rack that Duchamp bought as an "already made" sculpture, but it gathered dust in the corner of his Paris studio. Two years later in 1916, in correspondence from New York with his sister, Suzanne Duchamp in France, he expresses a desire to make it a readymade. Suzanne, looking after his Paris studio, has already disposed of it. 1915 : In Advance of the Broken Arm (En prévision du bras cassé) by Marcel Duchamp. Readymade. Snow shovel on which Duchamp carefully painted its title. The first piece the artist officially called a "readymade". 1916–17 : Apolinère Enameled, 1916–1917. Rectified readymade. An altered Sapolin paint advertisement. 1917 : Fountain by Marcel Duchamp, described in an article in The Independent as the invention of conceptual art. It is also an early example of an Institutional Critique 1917 : Hat Rack (Porte-chapeaux), , by Marcel Duchamp. Readymade. A wooden hatrack. 1919 : L.H.O.O.Q. by Marcel Duchamp. Rectified readymade. Pencil on a reproduction of Leonardo da Vinci's Mona Lisa on which he drew a goatee and moustache titled with a coarse pun. 1921 : Why Not Sneeze, Rose Sélavy? by Marcel Duchamp. Assisted readymade. Marble cubes in the shape of sugar lumps with a thermometer and cuttle bones in a small bird cage. 1921 : Belle Haleine, Eau de Voilette by Marcel Duchamp. Assisted readymade. An altered perfume bottle in the original box. 1952 : The premiere of American experimental composer John Cage's work, 4′33″, a three-movement composition, performed by pianist David Tudor on August 29, 1952, in Maverick Concert Hall, Woodstock, New York, as part of a recital of contemporary piano music. It is commonly perceived as "four minutes thirty-three seconds of silence". 1953 : Robert Rauschenberg produces Erased De Kooning Drawing, a drawing by Willem de Kooning which Rauschenberg erased. It raised many questions about the fundamental nature of art, challenging the viewer to consider whether erasing another artist's work could be a creative act, as well as whether the work was only "art" because the famous Rauschenberg had done it. 1955 : Rhea Sue Sanders creates her first text pieces of the series pièces de complices, combining visual art with poetry and philosophy, and introducing the concept of complicity: the viewer must accomplish the art in her/his imagination. 1958: George Brecht invents the Event Score which would become a central feature of Fluxus. Brecht, Dick Higgins, Allan Kaprow, Al Hansen, Jackson MacLow and others studied with John Cage between 1958 and 1959 at the New School leading directly to the creation of Happenings, Fluxus and Henry Flynt's concept art. Event Scores are simple instructions to complete everyday tasks which can be performed publicly, privately, or not at all. 1958: Wolf Vostell Das Theater ist auf der Straße/The theater is on the street. The first Happening in Europe. 1961: Piero Manzoni exhibited Artist's Shit, tins purportedly containing his own feces (although since the work would be destroyed if opened, no one has been able to say for sure). He put the tins on sale for their own weight in gold. He also sold his own breath (enclosed in balloons) as Bodies of Air, and signed people's bodies, thus declaring them to be living works of art either for all time or for specified periods. (This depended on how much they are prepared to pay). Marcel Broodthaers and Primo Levi are amongst the designated "artworks". 1962: Artist Barrie Bates rebrands himself as Billy Apple, erasing his original identity to continue his exploration of everyday life and commerce as art. By this stage, many of his works are fabricated by third parties. 1962: Yves Klein presents Immaterial Pictorial Sensitivity in various ceremonies on the banks of the Seine. He offers to sell his own "pictorial sensitivity" (whatever that was – he did not define it) in exchange for gold leaf. In these ceremonies the purchaser gave Klein the gold leaf in return for a certificate. Since Klein's sensitivity was immaterial, the purchaser was then required to burn the certificate whilst Klein threw half the gold leaf into the Seine. (There were seven purchasers.) 1962: FLUXUS Internationale Festspiele Neuester Musik in Wiesbaden with George Maciunas, Wolf Vostell, Nam June Paik and others. 1963: George Brecht's collection of Event-Scores, Water Yam, is published as the first Fluxkit by George Maciunas. 1964: Yoko Ono publishes Grapefruit: A Book of Instructions and Drawings, an example of heuristic art, or a series of instructions for how to obtain an aesthetic experience. 1965: Art & Language founder Michael Baldwin's Mirror Piece. Instead of paintings, the work shows a variable number of mirrors that challenge both the visitor and Clement Greenberg's theory. Joseph Kosuth dates the concept of One and Three Chairs to the year 1965. The presentation of the work consists of a chair, its photo, and an enlargement of a definition of the word "chair". Kosuth chose the definition from a dictionary. Four versions with different definitions are known. 1966: Conceived in 1966 The Air Conditioning Show of Art & Language is published as an article in 1967 in the November issue of Arts Magazine. 1967: Mel Ramsden's first 100% Abstract Paintings. The painting shows a list of chemical components that constitutes the substance of the painting. 1968: Michael Baldwin, Terry Atkinson, David Bainbridge and Harold Hurrell found Art & Language. 1968: Lawrence Weiner relinquishes the physical making of his work and formulates his "Declaration of Intent", one of the most important conceptual art statements following LeWitt's "Paragraphs on Conceptual Art". The declaration, which underscores his subsequent practice, reads: "1. The artist may construct the piece. 2. The piece may be fabricated. 3. The piece need not be built. Each being equal and consistent with the intent of the artist the decision as to condition rests with the receiver upon the occasion of receivership." 1969: The first generation of New York alternative exhibition spaces are established, including Billy Apple's APPLE, Robert Newman's Gain Ground, where Vito Acconci produced many important early works, and 112 Greene Street. 1973-1979: Mary Kelly makes her Post-Partum Document, composed of six separate parts charting the first six years of caring for her son. Through a psychoanalytical and feminist lens, the work explores the mother-child relationship and examines her son's evolving sense of self as well as her own. 1982: The opera Victorine by Art & Language was to be performed in the city of Kassel for documenta 7 and shown alongside Art & Language Studio at 3 Wesley Place Painted by Actors, but the performance was cancelled. 1990: Ashley Bickerton and Ronald Jones included in "Mind Over Matter: Concept and Object" exhibition of "third generation Conceptual artists" at the Whitney Museum of American Art. 1991: Ronald Jones exhibits objects and text, art, history and science rooted in grim political reality at Metro Pictures Gallery. 1991: Charles Saatchi funds Damien Hirst and the next year in the Saatchi Gallery exhibits his The Physical Impossibility of Death in the Mind of Someone Living, a shark in formaldehyde in a vitrine. 1992: Maurizio Bolognini starts to "seal" his Programmed Machines: hundreds of computers are programmed and left to run ad infinitum to generate inexhaustible flows of random images which nobody would see. 1999: Tracey Emin is nominated for the Turner Prize. Part of her exhibit is My Bed, her dishevelled bed, surrounded by detritus such as condoms, blood-stained knickers, bottles and her bedroom slippers. 2001: Martin Creed wins the Turner Prize for Work No. 227: The lights going on and off, an empty room in which the lights go on and off. 2003: damali ayo exhibits at the Center of Contemporary Art, Seattle, WA Flesh Tone #1: Skinned, a collaborative self-portrait where she asked paint mixers from local hardware stores to create house paint to match various parts of her body, while recording the interactions. 2005: Simon Starling wins the Turner Prize for Shedboatshed, a wooden shed which he had turned into a boat, floated down the Rhine and turned back into a shed again. 2014: Olaf Nicolai creates the Memorial for the Victims of Nazi Military Justice on Vienna's Ballhausplatz after winning an international competition. The inscription on top of the three-step sculpture features a poem by Scottish poet Ian Hamilton Finlay (1924–2006) with just two words: all alone. 2019: Maurizio Cattelan sells two editions of Comedian, which appears as a banana duct taped to a wall, for US$120,000 each, garnering significant media attention. Notable conceptual artists Kevin Abosch (born 1969) Marina Abramović (born 1946) Vito Acconci (1940–2017) Bas Jan Ader (1942–1975) Vikky Alexander (born 1959) Francis Alÿs (born 1959) Billy Apple (1935-2021) Shusaku Arakawa (1936–2010) Keith Arnatt (1930–2008) Roy Ascott (born 1934) Michael Asher (1943–2012) Mireille Astore (born 1961) damali ayo (born 1972) Abel Azcona (born 1988) John Baldessari (1931–2020) Adina Bar-On (born 1951) NatHalie Braun Barends Artur Barrio (born 1945) Robert Barry (born 1936) Lothar Baumgarten (1944–2018) Joseph Beuys (1921–1986) Adolf Bierbrauer (1915–2012) Mark Bloch (born 1956) Mel Bochner (born 1940) Marinus Boezem (born 1934) Maurizio Bolognini (born 1952) Allan Bridge (1945–1995) Marcel Broodthaers (1924–1976) Stanley Brouwn (1935-2017) Chris Burden (1946–2015) Daniel Buren (born 1938) María Teresa Burga Ruiz (1935–2021) Victor Burgin (born 1941) Donald Burgy (born 1937) Maris Bustamante (born 1949) John Cage (1912–1992) Sophie Calle (born 1953) Graciela Carnevale (born 1942) Roberto Chabet (1937–2013) Greg Colson (born 1956) Martin Creed (born 1968) Cory Danziger (born 1977) Christopher D'Arcangelo (1955–1979) Jack Daws (born 1970) Jeremy Deller (born 1966) Agnes Denes (born 1938) Jan Dibbets (born 1941) Braco Dimitrijević (born 1948) Mark Divo (born 1966) Brad Downey (born 1980) Marcel Duchamp (1887–1968) Olafur Eliasson (born 1967) Noemí Escandell (1942–2019) Ken Feingold (born 1952) Teresita Fernández (born 1968) Fluxus Henry Flynt (born 1940) Andrea Fraser (born 1965) Jens Galschiøt (born 1954) Kendell Geers (born 1968) Thierry Geoffroy (born 1961) Jochen Gerz (born 1940) Gilbert and George Gilbert (born 1943) George (born 1942) Manav Gupta (born 1967) Felix Gonzalez-Torres (1957–1996) Allan Graham (born 1943) Dan Graham (1942-2022) Genco Gulan (born 1969) Cai Guo-Qiang (born 1957) Hans Haacke (born 1936) Iris Häussler (born 1962) Oliver Herring (born 1964) Andreas Heusser (born 1976) Susan Hiller (1940–2019) Jenny Holzer (born 1950) Greer Honeywill (born 1945) Zhang Huan (born 1965) Douglas Huebler (1924–1997) Irma Hünerfauth (1907–1998) Peter Hutchinson (born 1930) Industry of the Ordinary David Ireland (1930–2009) Alfredo Jaar (born 1956) Ray Johnson (1927–1995) Ronald Jones (1952–2019) Ilya Kabakov (1933-2023) On Kawara (1932–2014) Jonathon Keats (born 1971) Mary Kelly (born 1941) Yves Klein (1928–1962) John Knight (artist) (born 1945) Joseph Kosuth (born 1945) Barbara Kruger (born 1945) Yayoi Kusama (born 1929) Magali Lara (born 1956) John Latham (1921–2006) Matthieu Laurette (born 1970) Sol LeWitt (1928–2007) Annette Lemieux (born 1957) Elliott Linwood (born 1956) Noah Lyon (born 1979) Richard Long (born 1945) Mark Lombardi (1951–2000) George Maciunas (1931–1978) Teresa Margolles (born 1963) María Evelia Marmolejo (born 1958) Piero Manzoni (1933–1963) Tom Marioni (born 1937) Phyllis Mark (1921–2004) Danny Matthys (born 1947) Allan McCollum (born 1944) Cildo Meireles (born 1948) Ana Mendieta (1948-1985) Marta Minujín (born 1943) Linda Montano (born 1942) Robert Morris (artist) (1931–2018) N.E. Thing Co. Ltd. (Iain & Ingrid Baxter) Iain (born 1936) Ingrid (born 1938) Maurizio Nannucci (born 1939) Bruce Nauman (born 1941) Olaf Nicolai (born 1962) Margaret Noble (born 1972) Yoko Ono (born 1933) Roman Opałka (1931–2011) Dennis Oppenheim (1938–2011) Adrian Piper (born 1948) William Pope.L (1955-2023) Liliana Porter (born 1941) Michele Pred (born 1966) Dmitri Prigov (1940–2007) Arne Quinze (born 1971) Guillem Ramos-Poquí (born 1944) Charles Recher (1950–2017) Jim Ricks (born 1973) Lotty Rosenfeld (1943–2020) Martha Rosler (born 1943) Allen Ruppersberg (born 1944) Santiago Sierra (born 1966) Bodo Sperling (born 1952) Stelarc (born 1946) M. Vänçi Stirnemann (born 1951) Hiroshi Sugimoto (born 1948) Stephanie Syjuco (born 1974) Hakan Topal (born 1972) Endre Tot (born 1937) David Tremlett (born 1945) Tucumán arde (1968) Jacek Tylicki (born 1951) Mierle Laderman Ukeles (born 1939) Wolf Vostell (1932–1998) Mark Wallinger (born 1959) Theodore Wan (1953-1987) Gillian Wearing (born 1963) Peter Weibel (1945-2023) Lawrence Weiner (1942-2021) Roger Welch (born 1946) Christopher Williams (born 1956) David Woodard (born 1964) xurban collective See also Anti-art ART/MEDIA Body art Classificatory disputes about art Conceptual architecture Danger music Experiments in Art and Technology Found object Generative art Gutai group Information art Intermedia List of invisible artworks Land art Olfactory art Post-conceptual art Postmodern art Relational art Something Else Press Systems art References Further reading Books Charles Harrison, Essays on Art & Language, MIT Press, 1991 Charles Harrison, Conceptual Art and Painting: Further essays on Art & Language, MIT press, 2001 Ermanno Migliorini, Conceptual Art, Florence: 1971 Klaus Honnef, Concept Art, Cologne: Phaidon, 1972 Ursula Meyer, ed., Conceptual Art, New York: Dutton, 1972 Lucy R. Lippard, Six Years: the Dematerialization of the Art Object From 1966 to 1972. 1973. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1997. Gregory Battcock, ed., Idea Art: A Critical Anthology, New York: E. P. Dutton, 1973 Jürgen Schilling, Aktionskunst. Identität von Kunst und Leben? Verlag C.J. Bucher, 1978, . Juan Vicente Aliaga & José Miguel G. Cortés, ed., Arte Conceptual Revisado/Conceptual Art Revisited, Valencia: Universidad Politécnica de Valencia, 1990 Thomas Dreher, Konzeptuelle Kunst in Amerika und England zwischen 1963 und 1976 (Thesis Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität, München), Frankfurt am Main: Peter Lang, 1992 Robert C. Morgan, Conceptual Art: An American Perspective, Jefferson, NC/London: McFarland, 1994 Robert C. Morgan, Art into Ideas: Essays on Conceptual Art, Cambridge et al.: Cambridge University Press, 1996 Charles Harrison and Paul Wood, Art in Theory: 1900–1990, Blackwell Publishing, 1993 Tony Godfrey, Conceptual Art, London: 1998 Alexander Alberro & Blake Stimson, ed., Conceptual Art: A Critical Anthology, Cambridge, Massachusetts, London: MIT Press, 1999 Michael Newman & Jon Bird, ed., Rewriting Conceptual Art, London: Reaktion, 1999 Anne Rorimer, New Art in the 60s and 70s: Redefining Reality, London: Thames & Hudson, 2001 Peter Osborne, Conceptual Art (Themes and Movements), Phaidon, 2002 (See also the external links for Robert Smithson) Alexander Alberro. Conceptual art and the politics of publicity. MIT Press, 2003. Michael Corris, ed., Conceptual Art: Theory, Practice, Myth, Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press, 2004 Daniel Marzona, Conceptual Art, Cologne: Taschen, 2005 John Roberts, The Intangibilities of Form: Skill and Deskilling in Art After the Readymade, London and New York: Verso Books, 2007 Peter Goldie and Elisabeth Schellekens, Who's afraid of conceptual art?, Abingdon [etc.] : Routledge, 2010. – VIII, 152 p. : ill. ; 20 cm hbk : hbk : pbk : pbk Essays Andrea Sauchelli, 'The Acquaintance Principle, Aesthetic Judgments, and Conceptual Art, Journal of Aesthetic Education (forthcoming, 2016). Exhibition catalogues Diagram-boxes and Analogue Structures, exh.cat. London: Molton Gallery, 1963. January 5–31, 1969, exh.cat., New York: Seth Siegelaub, 1969 When Attitudes Become Form, exh.cat., Bern: Kunsthalle Bern, 1969 557,087, exh.cat., Seattle: Seattle Art Museum, 1969 Konzeption/Conception, exh.cat., Leverkusen: Städt. Museum Leverkusen et al., 1969 Conceptual Art and Conceptual Aspects, exh.cat., New York: New York Cultural Center, 1970 Art in the Mind, exh.cat., Oberlin, Ohio: Allen Memorial Art Museum, 1970 Information, exh.cat., New York: Museum of Modern Art, 1970 Software, exh.cat., New York: Jewish Museum, 1970 Situation Concepts, exh.cat., Innsbruck: Forum für aktuelle Kunst, 1971 Art conceptuel I, exh.cat., Bordeaux: capcMusée d’art contemporain de Bordeaux, 1988 L'art conceptuel, exh.cat., Paris: ARC–Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, 1989 Christian Schlatter, ed., Art Conceptuel Formes Conceptuelles/Conceptual Art Conceptual Forms, exh.cat., Paris: Galerie 1900–2000 and Galerie de Poche, 1990 Reconsidering the Object of Art: 1965–1975, exh.cat., Los Angeles: Museum of Contemporary Art, 1995 Global Conceptualism: Points of Origin, 1950s–1980s, exh.cat., New York: Queens Museum of Art, 1999 Open Systems: Rethinking Art c. 1970, exh.cat., London: Tate Modern, 2005 Art & Language Uncompleted: The Philippe Méaille Collection, MACBA Press, 2014 Light Years: Conceptual Art and the Photograph 1964–1977, exh.cat., Chicago: Art Institute of Chicago, 2011 External links Art & Language Uncompleted: The Philippe Méaille Collection, MACBA Official site of the Château de Montsoreau-Museum of Contemporary Art Light Years: Conceptual Art and the Photograph, 1964–1977 at the Art Institute of Chicago Sol LeWitt, "Paragraphs on Conceptual Art" Conceptualism pdf file of An Anthology of Chance Operations (1963) containing Henry Flynt's "Concept Art" essay at UbuWeb conceptual artists, books on conceptual art and links to further reading Arte Conceptual y Posconceptual. La idea como arte: Duchamp, Beuys, Cage y Fluxus – PDF UCM Art Contemporary art movements Visual arts media Concepts in aesthetics The arts

Creative technology

Creative technology is a broadly interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary field combining computing, design, art and the humanities. The field of creative technology encompasses art, digital product design, digital media or an advertising and media made with a software-based, electronic and/or data-driven engine. Examples include multi-sensory experiences made using computer graphics, video production, digital music, digital cinematography, virtual reality, augmented reality, video editing, software engineering, 3D printing, the Internet of Things, CAD/CAM and wearable technology. In the artistic field, new media art and internet art are examples of work being done using creative technology. Performances, interactive installations and other immersive experiences take museum-going to the next level and may serve as research processes for humans' artistic and emotional integration with machines. Some believe that "creativity has the potential to be revolutionised with technology", or view the field of creative technology as helping to "disrupt" the way people today interact with computers, and usher in a more integrated, immersive experience. Description Creative technology has been defined as "the blending of knowledge across multiple disciplines to create new experiences or products" that meet end user and organizational needs. A more specific conceptualization describes it as the combination of information, holographic systems, sensors, audio technologies, image, and video technologies, among others with artistic practices and methods. The central characteristic is identified as an ability to do things better. Creative technology is also seen as the intersection of new technology with creative initiatives such as fashion, art, advertising, media and entertainment. As such, it is a way to make connections between countries seeking to update their culture; a winter 2015 Forbes article tells of 30 creative technology startups from the UK making the rounds in Singapore, Kuala Lumpur and New York City in an effort to raise funds and make connections. Applications Creative technology facilities may be organized as arts, research or job development entities, such as the UK's Foundation for Art and Creative Technology which has presented hundreds of new media and digital artworks from around the world, or a recently established $20.5 million project in Hawaii specializing in film industry job training and workforce development programs which plans to offer robotics, computer labs, recording studios and editing bays, pitched as a "game-changing" opportunity to bring new skills and jobs to Kauai. Degrees in this field were designed to address needs for cross-disciplinary interaction and aim to develop lateral thinking skills across more rigidly defined academic areas. Some educators have complained that creative technology tools, though "widely available", are difficult to use for young populations. The first major corporation to have a corporate officer bearing the title creative technology was The Walt Disney Company, which gave it first to the imagineer, Bran Ferren in 1993, who eventually became Disney's president of creative technology in 1998. At about the same time, the first educational research center in the United States was created to bridge these disciplines across industry, academia and the defense communities, designated the University of Southern California's, Institute for Creative Technologies. The ICT was established with funding by the US Army. Marketers and advertisers are also looking toward the power of creative technology to re-engage customers. The UK's Marketing Agencies Association is promoting creative technology as a way to build a more connected and personalized engagement with prospective customers, which launched a Creative Technology Initiative in early 2015. Industry associations and developers, arts organizations and agency creatives alike call for more investment in technology, which has lagged behind the sea change in the industry that is introducing more technology into creative fields such as Google. Many advertising agencies and other businesses have begun to create internal labs for research in creative technology. For example, Unilever created its Foundry Project as a way for the company to "embrace the mentality of hacking, deploying and scaling"; they share their discoveries and view the lab as a way to incorporate technology into the company, drive experimentation and engage with strategic partners. The Adobe Creative Technologies lab collaborated with the MIT Media Lab, one of the most notable endeavors in the creative technology field, to give artists the ability to draw geometric designs with a computer without having to master text-based programming or math. Examples "Creativeapplications.Net (CAN) is a community of creative practitioners working at the intersection of art, media and technology." A pepper grinder that disabled wifi in the household when twisted was introduced by the head of creative technology at agency Clemenger BBDO. ZKM has an annual prize for creative apps, the App Art Awards ITP (the Interactive Telecommunications Program) has a class in "Creative Computing" "The Eyeo Festival brings together a rich intersection of people doing fascinating things with technology. Artists, data designers, creative coders, AI & XR explorers, storytellers, researchers, technology & platform developers all cross paths and share inspiration at Eyeo" Artist Jake Lee-High created an interactive street experience for the premiere of Showtime (TV network) Penny Dreadful "Fake Love promotes major brands with immersive, wildly imaginative multimedia spectacles, from light-projected racetracks for Lexus to virtual reality (VR) videos for the New York Times Company" The works of Becky Stern, an electronics and fashion artist based in New York City. "You’re waving your hands in-front of a big screen and the designs and patterns mimic your movements; You walk into a company’s lobby and a digital wall displays a beautiful, abstract visualization based on the company's sales data" FIT has an annual Creative Technology Exhibition Careers Professionals who work in the field of creative technology tend to have a background as developers and may work in digital or entertainment media, with an advertising agency or in a new electronic product development role. In an advertising agency setting, a professional with a job description including creative technology may be a designer who became interested in technology, or a developer who focuses on the bigger picture of experience design. Department heads in creative technology may be charged with integrating new technologies into the agency's departments, leveraging partnerships with cutting edge providers and platforms. For example, the head of creative technology at Grey Global Group in New York "created an in-house lab... which highlights new tech each month with exhibits, events and workshops." Members of the team may have the ability to both write computer code and build electronics for prototypes. The creative technologist job title is likely to refer to a developer who understands the creative process and (often) the world of advertising. The person is actually making and coding and may be building web projects, mobile apps and other digital experiences. They are trying out new concepts and ideas, and modifying; this is recognized as similar to the artistic process but applied to media, advertising and other creative industries. Creative technologists have been referred to as technology-focussed individuals who either sit within or work closely with the creative team, recognizing that siloed departments of technology and design have historically led to bad agency work. Responsibilities described in a 2014 job posting for "Creative Technologist" at Google included "collaborating on the ideation and development of 'never been done before' digital experiences in partnership with top brands and agencies", and "contributing to the development of cutting edge prototypes in the field of creative technology". There are several resources that list companies that work in the field of creative technology. Academic degree A Master or Bachelor degree in creative technologies or creative technology is a broadly interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary course of study combining fields of computer technology, design, art and the humanities. Established as a modern degree addressing needs for cross-disciplinary interaction, one of its fundamental objectives is to develop lateral thinking skills across more rigidly defined academic areas recognized as a valuable component in expanding technological horizons. The Creative Technology & Design (CT&D) subject area at Fashion Institute of Technology offers specialized courses and both credit and non-credit programs. According to FIT's web site, the mission of this transdisciplinary subject area is to elevate students’ understanding of advanced design concepts, as well as their command of cutting-edge technologies. The Creative Technology 2-year portfolio program at Miami Ad School description reads, "You are a techie with creative passion and talent – or – a creative with a knack for tech...It's about how we integrate machine learning and artificial intelligence into a creative environment". Creative Technology is also seen as an industry and skill set for the emerging economy, as in this quote by a University of Texas at Austin dean at the opening of a new school at the University presumed to become the largest academic unit in the college: "The School of Design and Creative Technologies moves UT Austin more assertively into emerging creative, commercial disciplines that are driving culture and economies in the 21st century". Tools There are a wide range of tools that are utilized by creative technologists. Below is a short list, but there are several other extensive lists available. Arduino - an open-source electronics platform based on easy-to-use hardware and software. Raspberry Pi – a low-cost computer the size of a credit card that runs Linux Processing - a java-family programming language and development environment promoting software literacy within the visual arts and visual literacy within technology. p5.js - the javascript implementation of Processing Cinder - a professional library for creative coding in C++. OpenFrameworks - a C++ toolkit for teaching creative coding. Max - a visual data-flow programming language for music and multimedia JavaScript - the language of web browsers, including HTML5. TouchDesigner - a visual programming language for creative technology applications References External links Creative Technology & Design Subject Area at Fashion Institute of Technology Minor in Creative Technologies for Performative Practice at The New School Creative Technology degrees at Auckland University of Technology School of Design and Creative Technologies at University of Texas at Austin Art & Technology Major at Sogang University Creative Technology Degree at University of Twente Art and Technology Studies at School of the Art Institute of Chicago Technology by type

Cultural lag

The difference between material culture and non-material culture is known as cultural lag. The term cultural lag refers to the notion that culture takes time to catch up with technological innovations, and the resulting social problems that are caused by this lag. In other words, cultural lag occurs whenever there is an unequal rate of change between different parts of culture causing a gap between material and non-material culture. Subsequently, cultural lag does not only apply to this idea only, but also relates to theory and explanation. It helps by identifying and explaining social problems to predict future problems in society. The term was first coined in William F. Ogburn's 1922 work Social Change with Respect to Culture and Original Nature. As explained by James W. Woodward, when the material conditions change, changes are occasioned in the adaptive culture, but these changes in the adaptive culture do not synchronize exactly with the change in the material culture, this delay is the culture lag. If people fail to adjust to the rapid environmental and technological changes it will cause a lag or a gap between the cultures. This resonates with ideas of technological determinism, which means that technology determines the development of its cultural values and social structure. That is, it can presuppose that technology has independent effects on society at large. However it does not necessarily assign causality to technology. Rather cultural lag focuses examination on the period of adjustment to new technologies. According to sociologists William F. Ogburn, cultural lag is a common societal phenomenon due to the tendency of material culture to evolve and change rapidly and voluminously while non-material culture tends to resist change and remain fixed for a far longer period of time. This is because ideals and values are much harder to change than physical things are. Due to the opposing nature of these two aspects of culture, adaptation of new technology becomes rather difficult. This can cause a disconnect between people and their society or culture. This distinction between material and non-material culture is also a contribution of Ogburn's 1922 work on social change. Ogburn's classic example of cultural lag was the period of adaptation when automobiles became faster and more efficient. It took some time for society to start building infrastructure that would tailor mainly to the new, more efficient, vehicles. This is because people are not comfortable with change and it takes them a little time to adapt. Hence, the term cultural lag. Social Change With Respect to Culture and Original Nature (1922) Social Change with Respect to Culture and Original Nature is a 1922 work by Ogburn. This work was crucial in drawing attention to issues with social changes and responses. In this work he first coined the term 'cultural lag' to describe a lag between material and non-material cultures. Ogburn states that there is a gap between traditional cultural values and the technical realities in the world. This work was innovative at the time of its release and brought light to the issues of 'cultural lag' and the possible solutions that could fix these issues. This was not the first time these issues have been looked at, but this is the first time that real solutions were presented. Ogburn's theory was not widely accepted at first due to people having different interpretations of the work. In the book he also details the four factors of technical development, which are: invention, accumulation, diffusion, and adjustment. In the work he suggests that primary engine of change and progress is technology, but that it is tempered by social responses. The book had mixed a mixed response because many interpreted his findings in many different ways. Works on Cultural Lag Social Change With Respect to Culture and Original Nature (1922) By: William F. Ogburn In Social Change with Respect to Culture and Original Nature, renowned sociologist William F. Ogburn coins the term 'cultural lag'. Ogburn states his thesis of cultural lag in this work. He says that the source of most modern social change is material culture. His theory of cultural lag suggests that a period of maladjustment occurs when the non-material culture is struggling to adapt to new material conditions. The rapid changes material culture force other parts of culture to change, but the rate of change in these other parts of culture is much slower. He states that people live in a state of 'maladjustment' because of this. Ogburn makes claims that he played a considerable role in solving the issue of social evolution. He goes on to say that the fours solving factors of social evolution are: invention, exponential accumulation, diffusion, and adjustment. This work was unique and innovative at the time of its publication. On Culture and Change (1964) By: William F. Ogburn On Culture and Change is a work by William F. Ogburn which is a collection of 25 works from the years 1912–1961. It is an examination of social change and culture from the perspective of a sociologist. The 25 topics discussed in the work are separated into four topics: social evolution, social trends, short-run changes, and the subjective in the social sciences. This collection of works examines culture and social change in the world. The findings and information in On Culture and Change continues to be influential and useful to this day. Future Shock (1970) By: Alvin Toffler In Future Shock, Alvin Toffler outlines the shattering stress and disorientation that rapid change people feel when they are subjected to too much change in too short of a time. Toffler says that society is undergoing a transformation from an industrial society to a "super-industrial" society. He states that this accelerating rate of change is causing people to feel disconnected from the culture. Toffler argues that balance is needed between the accelerated rates of change in society and the limited pace of human response. Toffler says that it is not impossible to attempt to slow or even control the rapid change and that it is possible for the future to arrive before society is ready for it. Toffler says that the only way to keep equilibrium would be to create social and new personal regulators. Strategies need to be put in place so that rapid culture change can be shaped and controlled. Cultural Lag: Conception & Theory (1997) By: Richard L. Brinkman, June E. Brinkman In Cultural Lag: Conception & Theory, Richard & June Brinkman go into what the theory and concept of cultural lag actually is. They go into detail about the points supporting and the points disputing the concept of cultural lag. They evaluate Ogburn's claims about cultural lag and make them more understandable. The work evaluates the existence of cultural lag and its ability to possibly predict and describe cultural change in society. The work also goes into the relevance of the concept of cultural lag to socioeconomic policies in the world. Material and non-material culture Material and non-material culture both are a big part of the theory of cultural lag. The theory states that material culture evolves and changes much quicker than non-material culture. Material culture being physical things, such as technology & infrastructure, and non-material culture being non-physical things, such as religion, ideals, and rules. Non-material culture lags behind material culture because the pace of human response is much slower than the pace of material change. New inventions and physical things that make people's lives easier are developed every single day, things such as religions and ideals are not. This is why there is cultural lag, if there is an invention created that goes against people's ideals it will take some time in order for them to accept the new invention and use it. Material culture Material culture is a term used by sociologists that refers to all physical objects that humans create that give meaning or define a culture. These are physical things that can be touched, felt, tasted, or observed with a sense. The term can include things like houses, churches, machines, furniture, or anything else for which a person may have some sentiment. The term can also include some things that cannot be seen but can be used. Things like the internet and television are also covered under the material culture definition. Material culture changes rapidly and changes depending where in the world somebody is. The environment may present different challenges in different parts of the world that is why material culture is so different everywhere. For example, houses in the heart of Tokyo are going to be smaller than the houses in Austin, Texas. Non-material culture Non-material culture is a term used by sociologists that refers to non-physical things such as ideas, values, beliefs, and rules that shape a culture. There are different belief systems everywhere in the world, different religions, myths, and legends that people may believe in. These non-physical things can be information passed down from past generations or new ideas thought up by somebody in today's world. Non-Material culture tends to lag behind material culture because it is easier to create a physical object that people will use than it is to create a system of beliefs or ideals that people will use and follow. Non-material culture tends to be very different wherever in the world someone is. This is because people from different backgrounds and areas in the world were raised on different ideals and beliefs that help shape society and culture. Problems with cultural lag Cultural lag creates problems for a society in a multitude of ways. The issue of cultural lag tends to permeate any discussion in which the implementation of some new technology is a topic. For example, the advent of stem cell research has given rise to many new, potentially beneficial medical technologies; however these new technologies have also raised serious ethical questions about the use of stem cells in medicine. In this example, the cultural lag is the fear of people to use a new possibly beneficial medical practices because of ethical issues. This shows that there really is a disconnect between material culture (Stem cell research) and non-material culture (Issues with ethics). Cultural lag is seen as an issue because failure to develop broad social consensus on appropriate applications of modern technology may lead to breakdowns in social solidarity and the rise of social conflict. Another issue that cultural lag causes is the rise of social conflict. Sometimes, people realize that they are disconnected with what is going on in society and they try to do everything they can to get back into the loop. This may result in a race to eliminate the cultural lag. For example, in the 1980s the arms race was in full effect. This is partly because one country discovered how to efficiently and safely use the widely thought unsafe nuclear power/energy. Once the United States was able to successfully harvest nuclear energy into a weapon many other countries realized that maybe nuclear energy isn't that bad and started to build weapons of mass destruction of their own. Issues can also arise when an aspect of culture changes so rapidly that society is unable to prepare or adjust to it. This is seen in the example of cars overtaking other modes of transportation in the past. Since the production and ownership of cars increased so rapidly society was unable to keep up with it. Broader roads, traffic rules, and separate lanes for horses did not come until some time after automobiles became a part of the mainstream culture. This caused dangerous situations for pedestrians and the people driving these new automobiles. Sometimes society is not ready for the future and this could cause dangerous situations for certain people or groups of people. See also Behavioural change theories Disruptive innovation I-Change Model Pace of innovation Progress trap Transtheoretical model Value network References Conclusion Disruptive innovation Not invented here Progress trap Zeitgeist Culture Technology in society

Sapphism

Sapphism is an umbrella term for any woman attracted to women or in a relationship with another woman, regardless of their sexual orientations, and encompassing the romantic love between women. The term is inclusive of individuals who are lesbian, bisexual, pansexual, aromantic, asexual, or queer. There are also sapphic people who are non-binary or genderqueer. Etymology The term sapphism has been used since the 1890s, and derives from Sappho, a Greek poet whose verses mainly focused on love between women and her own homosexual passions. She was born on the Greek island Lesbos, which also inspired the term lesbianism. Sappho's work is one of the few ancient references to sapphic love. Her poetry, significant in quality, is a rare example of female sexuality separated from reproduction in history. Use The term sapphic encompasses the experiences of lesbians and bisexual women, for example, among other plurisexual and multiromantic individuals. Asexual and aromantic women who are attracted to a woman are also sapphic. Some sapphic individuals may be non-binary or genderqueer, using the term more broadly. There are also equivalent terms for relationships between men (Achillean, named in reference of Achilles and Patroclus, or Vincian, referencing sexuality of Leonardo da Vinci), between a man and a woman (duaric), and involving at least one non-binary person (diamoric or enbian). Sapphic is also used in LGBT literature for works involving at least one relationship between women, regardless if they are lesbian or not. See also Androphilia and gynephilia Gray asexuality History of lesbianism LGBT slang Monosexuality Pomosexuality Questioning (sexuality and gender) Sexual diversity Terminology of homosexuality Tribadism Unlabeled sexuality Uranian (sexuality) Women who have sex with women (WSW) References Queer Lesbianism Bisexuality LGBTQ terminology Plurisexuality Pansexuality

Postliberalism

Postliberalism is an emergent political philosophy that critiques and seeks to move beyond the dominant liberal paradigm of the late 20th and early 21st centuries. Proponents argue that liberalism, with its emphasis on individual rights, free markets, and limited government, has failed to adequately address societal challenges such as economic inequality, environmental degradation, social alienation, family breakdown, and a perceived loss of community and social cohesion. Postliberals advocate for a more communitarian approach that prioritizes the common good, social solidarity, and the cultivation of virtue, often drawing on traditional moral and religious frameworks. They tend to be skeptical of unconstrained individualism, instead seeing individuals as more tightly bound up in networks of obligations in families, communities, tribes, and faiths, arguing for a greater role for the state in shaping culture and promoting shared values. Postliberal thinkers come from both the left and the right, and the movement is associated with a diverse range of ideas, including economic nationalism, localism, and a critique of liberal democracy itself. History Postliberalism has adherents on both the political left and right. It first developed in the United Kingdom out of a movement within the Labour Party called Blue Labour. Early British theorists included John Gray, Maurice Glasman, Phillip Blond, Adrian Pabst, John Milbank, and Jon Cruddas. British postliberalism remains a broadly centre-left ideology that grew out of Christian socialism. In the 2020s, some factions within the Conservative Party have adopted elements of postliberalism and national conservatism. In the United States, postliberalism has been more influential among conservatives critical of the fusionist synthesis of free markets and traditional values that developed in the 1950s such as Patrick Deneen, Rod Dreher, and Adrian Vermeule, as well as the Israeli conservative philosopher Yoram Hazony. Ideology Communitarianism The postliberal critique contends that liberalism, in both its economic and cultural forms, undermines the social and communal bonds on which human flourishing depends. Central to postliberal thought is the idea that human beings are not purely autonomous individuals but are shaped by their social and cultural contexts. Postliberals argue that the liberal focus on individual rights and freedoms has undermined the importance of community, family, and tradition in providing a sense of meaning and belonging. They maintain that a healthy society requires a shared sense of purpose and a commitment to the common good, which liberalism has failed to provide. Drawing on a reading of social contract theorists like Thomas Hobbes and John Locke, as well as J. S. Mill and John Rawls, postliberals argue liberalism promotes an atomized individualism at odds with human sociability. Patrick Deneen argues that liberalism, while claiming neutrality, influences people to approach commitments and relationships with flexibility, treating them as interchangeable and open to renegotiation, thereby encouraging loose connections. Some postliberal feminists such as Louise Perry, Nina Power, Christine Emba, and Mary Harrington argue that the sexual revolution of the 1960s gave rise to a set of sexual ethics and norms that prioritized individual autonomy, reproductive rights, and sexual libertinism and that this has proved harmful to women. Pluralism Postliberals also challenge the liberal conception of the state as a neutral arbiter between competing interests. They argue that the state should actively promote a particular vision of the good life, based on the values and traditions of the community it serves. This may involve measures to protect and promote traditional institutions such as the family, religion, and local associations, as well as a more restrictive approach to issues such as immigration and cultural diversity. "Postliberals reject the fiction of a purely neutral state, instead suggesting that the state should play an active role in promoting the common good and ensuring social cohesion." Liberal philosophers such as John Rawls have characterized liberalism as a political regime in which the state is (or should seek to be) neutral with regard to personal values and conceptions of the good life. Criticizing this claim, Patrick Deneen argues that any society "ultimately can't be neutral on questions about what it is we value as a society. If we're going to be a society in any sense, if we're going to be a kind of order in any sense, there are always going to be fundamental beliefs and fundamental commitments that are going to be predominant." As an alternative, postliberals advocate a politics oriented towards the common good, seeking to balance individual rights with social responsibilities. Others focus on economic issues, critiquing the outcomes of liberal capitalism and proposing alternative models that are more regulated and socially embedded. Some postliberals also emphasize the importance of cultural traditions, national identity, and environmental conservation. Free market In the economic realm, postliberals criticize the liberal commitment to free markets, arguing that it has led to the concentration of wealth and power in the hands of a few, while leaving many people behind, fostering stratification between cosmopolitan elites and rooted working classes. They advocate for a more interventionist role for the state in managing the economy, including protectionist policies, and measures to reduce economic inequality, protect workers' rights, and promote the development of local communities. English philosopher John Gray has argued that "the unfettered free market and globalization undermined the very foundations of a modern open market economy". Patrick Deneen similarly argued:The expansion of liberalism rests upon a vicious and reinforcing cycle in which state expansion secures the end of individual fragmentation, in turn requiring further state expansion to control a society without shared norms, practices, or beliefs. Liberalism thus increasingly requires a legal and administrative regime, driven by the imperative of replacing all nonliberal forms of support for human flourishing (such as schools, medicine, and charity), and hollowing any deeply held sense of shared future or fate among the citizenry. International relations Postliberal approaches to international relations and global politics have been most fully developed by John Milbank, Adrian Pabst, and Patrick J. Deneen. Postliberalism attributes the crisis in international relations to an intensifying liberalism that it argues undermines itself. Unlike John Ikenberry’s perspective, which posits that the liberal international order is threatened by illiberal forces and requires more liberalism to counteract this threat, postliberals perceive the rise of illiberal forces as a response to what they view as liberalism's inherent contradictions. Pabst suggests that the emergence of populism and civilization states reflects a reaction against global politics that, in their view, neglects national and local concerns, idealizes utopian visions over real places, and emphasizes individual identity at the expense of shared belonging. They argue that liberalism, which no longer promotes a substantive good, becomes ambiguous, fostering individual freedoms while failing to manage the resulting forces both internationally and nationally. According to this viewpoint, liberalism lacks an inherent, preordained purpose. The United States-led liberal order established after World War II is seen by some scholars as mirroring the trajectory of domestic liberalism. Milbank and Pabst contend that US hegemony treats nation-states as large-scale liberal egos, grounded in American individualism and voluntarism, and disseminated through imperial means to achieve national goals. Since the 1970s, they argue, global governance has strengthened state power and expanded individual freedoms domestically, while diminishing local decision-making and distancing authority from national democratic forums. According to their analysis, "Enlightenment liberalism ironically threatens to turn war into an unlimited action against an enemy of civilization as such", which resonates with the ideas of German jurist Carl Schmitt. They believe this expansionist liberal universalism has contributed to the rise of civilizational blocs. Criticism Critics argue that specifying the content of the common good in presently pluralistic societies presents challenges. Liberal critics argue that more statist versions of postliberalism risk excessively curtailing individual liberty in their visions of using state power to enforce a substantive conception of the good, while other postliberals point to a more pluralistic understanding. Critics on the left argue that postliberalism endorses socially reactionary attitudes and that this is morally objectionable. One critic observed that "because of its alleged interest in the public good but its conservative (Republican) orientation, postliberalism is ultimately incoherent." Socialist critic J. J. Porter has accused postliberalism of ultimately undermining its own conditions of possibility, saying that "it wants to preserve many of the fruits of liberalism while doing away with the structure from which they grow". Critics on the free-market right argue that postliberalism’s embrace of economic planning and regulation and skepticism of the free market risks damaging economic growth. Other conservative critics observed that postliberalism undervalues the importance of individual freedom and the economic benefits of free market capitalism. Relation to other ideologies Elements of postliberal political ideas have been integral to the development of Blue Labour and, more recently, national conservatism and factions within the British Conservative Party. Many analysts have also identified the substantial influence of Catholic social teaching on postliberalism itself. Some scholars have noted the influence of American historian and cultural critic Christopher Lasch on postliberalism. Impact on politics Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and his political party, Fidesz, have been considered by many to be postliberal or national conservative in character. In a speech given by Orbán on 14 September 2023, he said: "The postliberal era we look forward to, which will replace the current progressive-liberal era, will not come automatically. Someone has to make it happen. And who will make it happen, if not us?" In the United Kingdom, many members of the New Conservatives faction of the Conservative Party, such as Danny Kruger and Miriam Cates, have either self-identified with postliberalism or been considered by others to be aligned with it. On the British left, the Blue Labour tradition has featured some members of Parliament or life peers in the House of Lords including Jon Cruddas and Lord Maurice Glasman, while postliberal writers Adrian Pabst and Sebastian Milbank have argued that the leader of the Labour Party, Sir Keir Starmer, has shown some interest in policies advocated by Blue Labour thinkers. In the United States, several Republican politicians have been identified with postliberal and national conservative ideas, particularly Senators JD Vance, Josh Hawley, and Marco Rubio. Prominent figures Writers John Gray Patrick Deneen John Milbank Adrian Pabst Yoram Hazony Sohrab Ahmari Frank Furedi Adrian Vermeule Christine Emba Robert Heinlein Politicians Viktor Orbán Balázs Orbán Jon Cruddas Maurice Glasman Danny Kruger Miriam Cates JD Vance Josh Hawley Marco Rubio Ryszard Legutko See also Blue Labour National conservatism Illiberal democracy Syncretic politics Radical orthodoxy Integralism Common good constitutionalism References Communitarianism Conservatism Reactionary Democratic backsliding Josh Hawley Marco Rubio JD Vance

Dorian Electra

Dorian Electra Fridkin Gomberg (born June 25, 1992) is an American singer and songwriter. Electra is known for their non-conforming fashion, queer aesthetics, and experimental pop sound. Their debut studio album, Flamboyant, was released in 2019, followed by their second studio album, My Agenda, in 2020. They released their third studio album, Fanfare, in 2023. Electra is genderfluid and uses they/them pronouns. Early life Electra was born in Houston, Texas to a Jewish family. Their father is Paul Gomberg (known as "the Rockstar Realtor" in Houston), originally from Beverly Hills. Their mother is artist and jewelry designer Paula Fridkin. Electra graduated from School of the Woods, a Montessori high school in Houston. Electra was the founder of their high school's philosophy club. They then attended Shimer College, a Great Books school in Chicago, Illinois, from 2010 to 2014. Career 2010-2017: Early videos and first singles Electra first drew national attention in 2010 with the music video "I'm in Love with Friedrich Hayek", which lauded the philosophy of the Austrian economist Friedrich Hayek and garnered commentary from the modern Austrian theory professor Steven Horwitz. In 2011, they released two more videos, "Roll with the Flow" and "We Got it 4 Cheap". Both were covered by mainstream political media. "We Got it 4 Cheap" came in second in the Lloyd V. Hackley Endowment's "Supply and Demand Video Contest". In 2012, they interned at production company Emergent Order. Emergent Order had previously published "Fear the Boom and Bust", a similar Hayek-oriented rap video. Electra then produced a new, similarly economics-oriented pop video, "FA$T CA$H", with the support of an award from the Moving Picture Institute. In September 2012, Electra released the music video "Party Milk", which they describe as an attempt to merge common party scene symbolism with 'something' one would never associate with a party, but that everyone is familiar with in another context. In 2014, Electra (as Dorian Electra & the Electrodes) released a music video called "What Mary Didn't Know", based on Frank Jackson's philosophical thought experiment of the same name (from 1986). 2015 saw the release of Electra's video "Forever Young: A Love Song to Ray Kurzweil", a tribute to the futurist Ray Kurzweil. In 2016, Electra released "Ode to the Clitoris" on Refinery29, detailing the scientific history of the clitoris, from Ancient Greece through to modern, 3D models. In an interview, Electra stated it was to "desensitize people to the word CLITORIS and help bring it more into popular consciousness." In June 2016 Electra released "Mind Body Problem" through Bullett Media, a song and video "about femininity as a performance—when being a 'woman' feels like putting on a costume and the costume doesn't seem to come off with the clothes". Electra was also creating a web series, at the time, under their drag king persona 'Don Bogman', a used car salesman. Electra continued their music video series, via Refinery29, about intersectional feminism and queer histories with "The History of Vibrators" (2016), the "Dark History of High Heels" (2016), "2000 Years of Drag" (2016), and "Control" (2017). These videos focused on the histories of intersectional feminist and queer issues, collaborating with many artists, including Imp Queen, London Jade, The Vixen, Lucy Stoole, Eva Young, Zuri Marley, K Rizz, and Chynna. "2000 Years of Drag" was accepted and screened at The East Village Queer Film Festival, NewFest, Fringe! Queer Film & Arts Fest, TWIST: Seattle Queer Film Festival, Austin Gay & Lesbian International Film Festival, Art All Night - Trenton: 6th Annual Film Festival, Desperado LGBT Film Festival, QUEER-Streifen Regensburg, Filmfest , Flatpack Film Festival, and CINEMQ. In 2017, Electra released the single "Jackpot" through Grindr's digital publication Into More, a song that "addresses gender fluidity, but in a more subtle, less explicitly educational way." Later that year, Electra was featured on the Charli XCX track "Femmebot", with Mykki Blanco, on the mixtape Pop 2. 2018-2022: Flamboyant and My Agenda In 2018, Electra released three new tracks, "Career Boy", "VIP", and "Man to Man". Electra's frequent creative collaborator, Weston Allen, co-directed and edited this music video series. In 2019, Electra released their debut album, Flamboyant. In August 2019, Electra embarked on the Flamboyant: Chapter I Tour, which lasted until November 2019. They began the second leg, Flamboyant: Chapter II, in early 2020. However, in March of the same year, the rest of the tour dates were postponed due to COVID-19 restrictions. In 2020, Electra released the single "Thirsty (For Love)", a collaboration with fans. They also released a deluxe version of Flamboyant later that year. Following this, they released the singles "Sorry Bro (I Love You)", "Give Great Thanks", "Gentleman", and "M'Lady". On September 21, 2020, Electra announced their second studio album My Agenda, featuring appearances from Rebecca Black, Sega Bodega, Lil Mariko, Mood Killer, Faris Badwan, Pussy Riot, Village People, and Dylan Brady, among others. It was released on October 16, 2020, and is described as exploring "crisis in masculinity". The satirical project had visuals parodying online conservative subcultures, featuring alt-right conspiracy theories, alpha males, and trilby-donning incels. 2023-present: Fanfare On April 7, 2023, Electra released the single "Freak Mode". It was followed by "Sodom & Gomorrah" on June 2. On July 19, they released the single "Anon" and announced their third studio album Fanfare for October 6. Two more singles, "Puppet" and "Idolize", were released on August 31 and on October 3, respectively. All five singles were accompanied by a music video. Fanfare explores themes of celebrity and fandom in the social media age. On October 13, Electra announced Fanfare: The World Tour, which was scheduled to visit the Americas and Europe and lasted from October 2023 to March 2024. Personal life Electra is queer and genderfluid, and uses they/them pronouns. They have been diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. Discography Albums Studio albums Instrumental albums Demo albums Singles As lead artist As a featured artist Other charted songs Music videos "I'm in Love with Friedrich Hayek" (2010) "Roll with the Flow" (2011) "We Got It 4 Cheap" (2011) "Party Milk" "Fast Ca$h" (2012) "What Mary Didn't Know" (2015) "Forever Young: A Love Song To Ray Kurzweil" (2015) "Ode to the Clitoris" (2016) "Mind Body Problem" (2016) "The History of Vibrators" (2016) "Dark History of High Heels" (2016) "2000 Years of Drag" (2016) "Control" (2017) "Jackpot" (2017) "Career Boy" (2018) "V.I.P." (feat. K Rizz) (2018) "Man to Man" (2018) "Flamboyant" (2019) "Daddy Like" (2019) "Adam & Steve" (2019) "Guyliner" (2020) "Malibu" (Guest appearance) (2020) "Sorry Bro (I Love You)" (2020) "Give Great Thanks" (2020) "Gentleman / M'Lady" (2020) "Edgelord" (feat. Rebecca Black) (2020) "F the World" (2020) "Friday (Remix)" (Guest appearance) (2021) "Shape of You" (2021) "Positions" (2021) "Ram It Down" (feat. Mood Killer, Lil Mariko & Lil Texas) (2021) "Feels Like We Only Go Backwards" (2021) "Happy" (feat. 645AR) (2021) "My Agenda" (feat. Village People & Pussy Riot) (2021) "My Agenda" (Anamanaguchi Remix) (feat. Village People & Pussy Riot) (2022) "Shinigami Eyes" (Grimes song) (Guest appearance) (2022) "Freak Mode" (2023) "Sodom & Gomorrah" (2023) "anon" (2023) "Puppet" (2023) "Idolize" (2023) References External links 1992 births Living people Singers from Houston Shimer College alumni Singer-songwriters from Texas 21st-century American singer-songwriters Non-binary singers Non-binary songwriters American LGBTQ singers American LGBTQ songwriters Queer singer-songwriters Transgender Jews Jewish American musicians Electropop musicians Experimental pop musicians Baroque pop musicians Transgender non-binary people LGBTQ people from Texas Transgender singers Transgender songwriters 21st-century American Jews 21st-century American LGBTQ people Genderfluid people Genderfluid songwriters American transgender writers American non-binary writers American transgender musicians American non-binary musicians Hyperpop musicians People with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder American musicians with disabilities Singers with disabilities

Music and politics

The connection between music and politics has been seen in many cultures. People in the past and present – especially politicians, politically-engaged musicians and listeners – hold that music can 'express' political ideas and ideologies, such as rejection of the establishment ('anti-establishment') or protest against state or private actions, including war through anti-war songs, but also energize national sentiments and nationalist ideologies through national anthems and patriotic songs. Because people attribute these meanings and effects to the music they consider political, music plays an important role in political campaigns, protest marches as well as state ceremonies. Much (but not all) of the music that is considered political or related to politics are songs, and many of these are topical songs, i.e. songs with topical lyrics, made for a particular time and place. Introduction Although the use of music to mobilise political activists (and their audiences) as well as to enhance the impact of political rituals on political actors and people observing the rituals from the outside suggests that music in political contexts has an impact on participants and audiences, it is not clear how or to what extent general audiences relate to music in political contexts. Songs can be used to "transport" (or more precisely: accompany) lyrics with a political message. Like any political message, the political message of a song text set to music cannot be understood independently of its contemporary political context. It may have been clear to contemporaries, but historians studying past texts (with or without music) need to reconstruct the political 'content' of the lyrics and the political contexts in order to fully understand the texts (here: lyrics). In this everyday musical discourse, participants use the term "political music" to refer to songs (i.e. a combination of music with lyrics the latter set to the music and performed vocally). The political lyrics of such songs can in turn refer to an unlimited spectrum of political subjects, i.e. articulate both state-affirming and partisan opinions, or call for concrete political action. Additionally, a distinction can be made between the use of lyrics that raise awareness and support the formation of a certain political 'consciousness' and lyrics 'as advocacy'. Participants in the informed discourse about music are aware that music itself is not political. If music listeners (including performers, composers, politicians and authorities who know music because they listen to it) "see" a relationship between certain music and politics, this is because, as a result of consequential logic, they attribute to this music the capacity to initiate certain (political) beliefs or behaviours in listeners. This relationship is also due to the specific functioning of music as a sign system, which is primarily based on similarities, structural analogies and associations that listeners construct between the music they listen to and non-musical things and phenomena. Furthermore, some forms of music may be deemed political by cultural association, irrespective of political content, as evidenced by the way Western pop/rock bands such as The Beatles were censored by the State in the Eastern Bloc in the 1960s and 1970s, while being embraced by younger people as symbolic of social change. This points to the possibilities for discrepancy between the political intentions of musicians (if any), and reception of their music by wider society. Conversely, there is the possibility of the meaning of deliberate political content being missed by its intended audience, reasons for which could include obscurity or delivery of message, or audience indifference or antipathy. It is difficult to predict how audiences will respond to political music, in terms of aural or even visual cues. For example, Bleich and Zillmann found that "counter to expectations, highly rebellious students did not enjoy defiant rock videos more than did their less rebellious peers, nor did they consume more defiant rock music than did their peers", suggesting there may be little connection between behaviour and musical taste. Pedelty and Keefe argue that "It is not clear to what extent the political messages in and around music motivate fans, become a catalyst for discussion, [or] function aesthetically". However, in contrast they cite research that concludes, based on interpretive readings of lyrics and performances with a strong emphasis on historical contexts and links to social groups, that "given the right historical circumstances, cultural conditions, and aesthetic qualities, popular music can help bring people together to form effective political communities". Recent research has also suggested that in many schools around the world, including in modern democratic nations, music education has sometimes been used for the ideological purpose of instilling patriotism in children, and that particularly during wartime patriotic singing can escalate to inspire destructive jingoism. Plato wrote: "musical innovation is full of danger to the whole state, and ought to be prohibited. When modes of music change, the fundamental laws of the state always change with them;" although this was written as a warning it can be taken as a revolutionary statement that music is much more than just melodies and harmonies but an important movement in the life of all human beings. Folk music American folk revival The song "We Shall Overcome" is perhaps the best-known example of political folk music, in this case a rallying-cry for the US Civil Rights Movement. Pete Seeger was involved in the popularisation of the song, as was Joan Baez. During the early part of the 20th century, poor working conditions and class struggle lead to the growth of the Labour movement and numerous songs advocating social and political reform. The most famous songwriter of the early 20th century "Wobblies" was Joe Hill. Later, from the 1940s through the 1960s, groups like the Almanac Singers and The Weavers were influential in reviving this type of socio-political music. Woody Guthrie's "This Land Is Your Land" is one of the most famous American folk songs and its lyrics exemplify Guthrie's socialistic patriotism. Pete Seeger's "Where Have All the Flowers Gone?", was a popular anti-war protest song. Many of these types of songs became popular during the Vietnam War era. "Blowin' in the Wind", by Bob Dylan, was a hit for Peter, Paul and Mary, and suggested that a younger generation was becoming more aware of global problems than many of the older generation. In 1964, Joan Baez had a top-ten hit in the UK with "There but for Fortune" (by Phil Ochs); it was a plea for the innocent victim of prejudice or inhumane policies. Many topical songwriters with social and political messages emerged from the folk music revival of the 1960s, including Bob Dylan, Joan Baez, Phil Ochs, Tom Paxton, Buffy Sainte-Marie, Judy Collins, Arlo Guthrie, and others. The folk revival can be considered as a political re-invention of traditional song, a development encouraged by Left-leaning folk record labels and magazines such as Sing Out! and Broadside. The revival began in the 1930s and continued after World War II. Folk songs of this time gained popularity by using old hymns and songs but adapting the lyrics to fit the current social and political conditions. Archivists and artists such as Alan Lomax, Lead Belly and Woody Guthrie were crucial in popularising folk music, and the latter began to be known as the Lomax singers. This was an era of folk music in which some artists and their songs expressed clear political messages with the intention of swaying public opinion and recruiting support. In the UK, Ewan MacColl and A. L. Lloyd performed similar roles, with Lloyd as folklorist and MacColl (often with Peggy Seeger) releasing dozens of albums which blended traditional songs with newer political material influenced by their Communist activism. In the later, post-war revival, folk music found a new audience with college students, partly since universities provided the organisation necessary for sustaining music trends and an expanded, impressionable audience looking to rebel against the older generation. Nevertheless, the rhetoric of the United States government during the Cold War era was very powerful and in some ways overpowered the message of folk artists, such as in relation to public opinion regarding Communist-backed political causes. Various Gallup Polls that were conducted during this time suggest that Americans consistently saw Communism as a threat; for example, a 1954 poll shows that at the time 51% of Americans said that admitted Communists should be arrested, and in relation to music 64% of respondents said that if a radio singer is an admitted Communist he should be fired. Leading figures in the American folk revival such as Seeger, Earl Robinson and Irwin Silber were or had been members of the Communist Party, while others such as Guthrie (who had written a column for CPUSA magazine New Masses), Lee Hays and Paul Robeson were considered fellow travellers. As McCarthyism began to dominate the United States population and government, it was more difficult for folk artists to travel and perform since folk was pushed out of mainstream music. Artists were blacklisted, denounced by politicians and the media, and in the case of the 1949 Peekskill Riots, subject to mob attack. In general, the significance of lyrics within folk music reduced as it became influenced by rock and roll. However, during the popular folk revival's last phase in the early 1960s, new folk artists such as Bob Dylan and Phil Ochs began writing their own, original topical music, as opposed to mainly adapting traditional folksong. Contemporary Western folk music Although public attention shifted to rock music from the mid-1960s, folk singers such as Joan Baez and Tom Paxton continued to address political concerns in their music and activism. Baez's 1974 Gracias a la Vida album was a response to events in Chile and included versions of songs by Nueva Canción Chilena singer-songwriters Violeta Parra and Victor Jara. Paxton albums such as Outward Bound and Morning Again continued to highlight political issues. They were joined by other activist musicians such as Holly Near, Ray Korona, Charlie King, Anne Feeney, Jim Page, Utah Phillips and more recently David Rovics. In the UK, the Ewan MacColl tradition of political folk has been continued since the 1960s by singer-songwriters such as Roy Bailey, Leon Rosselson and Dick Gaughan. Since the 1980s, a number of artists have blended folk protest with influences from punk and elsewhere to produce topical and political songs for a modern independent rock music audience, including Billy Bragg, Attila the Stockbroker, Robb Johnson, Alistair Hulett, The Men They Couldn't Hang, TV Smith, Chumbawamba and more recently Chris T-T and Grace Petrie. Ireland In Ireland, the Wolfe Tones is perhaps the best known band in the folk protest/rebel music tradition, recording political material since the late 1960s including songs by Dominic Behan on albums such as Let the People Sing and Rifles of the I.R.A. Christy Moore has also recorded much political material, including on debut solo album Paddy on the Road, produced by and featuring songs by Dominic Behan, and on albums such as Ride On (including "Viva la Quinta Brigada"), Ordinary Man and various artists LP H Block to which Moore contributed "Ninety Miles from Dublin", in response to the Republican prisoners' blanket protest of the late 1970s. Earlier in the decade, The Barleycorn had held the #1 spot on the Irish charts for five weeks in 1972 with their first release "The Men Behind the Wire", about internment, with all profits going to the families of internees; Republican label R&O Records likewise released several records around this time to fundraise for the same cause, including the live album Smash Internment, recorded in Long Kesh, and The Wolfhounds' recording of Paddy McGuigan's "The Boys of the Old Brigade". Chicano folk Chicano folk music has long been a platform for political resistance and social commentary. From the 1960s and onward, Chicano musicians used their music to express their personal experiences of discrimination and oppression faced as Mexican-Americans in the United States. Political themes like the fight for immigrant rights, labor struggles, Chicano identity, and police brutality have been common subjects of their music. Through their music, Chicano musicians have also encouraged community empowerment, activism, and unity throughout the development of the Chicano Movement. Joan Baez is the most recognized figure of this movement. Folk music around the world Folk music had a strong connection with politics internationally. Hungary, for instance, experimented with a form of liberal Communism in the late Cold War era, which was reflected in much of their folk music. During the late twentieth century folk music was crucial in Hungary, Romania, Czechoslovakia and Yugoslavia as it allowed ethnicities to express their national identity in a time of political uncertainty and chaos. In Communist China, exclusively national music was promoted. A flautist named Zhao Songtim – a member of the Zhejiang Song-and-Dance Troupe – attended an Arts festival in 1957 in Mexico but was punished for his international outlook by being expelled from the Troupe, and from 1966 to 1970 underwent "re-education". In 1973 he returned to the Troupe but was expelled again following accusations. An example of folk music being used for conservative, rather than radical, political ends is shown by the cultural activities of Edward Lansdale, a CIA chief who dedicated part of his career to counter-insurgency in the Philippines and Vietnam. Lansdale believed that the government's best weapon against Communist rebellion was the support and trust of the population. In 1953 he arranged for the release of a campaign song widely credited with helping to elect Philippine president Ramon Magsaysay, an important US anti-communist ally. In 1965, intrigued by local Vietnamese customs and traditions, and the potential use of 'applied folklore' as a technique of raising consciousness, he began to record and curate tapes of folk songs for intelligence purposes. He also urged performers such as Phạm Duy to write and perform patriotic songs to raise morale in South Vietnam. Duy had written topical songs popular during the anti-French struggle but then broke with the Communist-dominated Viet Minh. Blues and African-American music Blues songs have the reputation of being resigned to fate rather than fighting against misfortune, but there have been exceptions. Bessie Smith recorded protest song "Poor Man Blues" in 1928. Josh White recorded "When Am I Going to be Called a Man" in 1936 – at this time it was common for white men to address black men as "boy" – before releasing two albums of explicitly political material, 1940's Chain Gang and 1941's Southern Exposure: An Album of Jim Crow Blues. Lead Belly's "Bourgeois Blues" and Big Bill Broonzy's "Black, Brown and White" (aka "Get Back") protested racism. Billie Holiday recorded and popularized the song "Strange Fruit" in 1939. Written by Communist Lewis Allan, and also recorded by Josh White and Nina Simone, it addressed Southern racism, specifically the lynching of African-Americans, and was performed as a protest song in New York venues, including Madison Square Gardens. In the post-war era, J.B. Lenoir gained a reputation for political and social comment; his record label pulled the planned release of 1954 single "Eisenhower Blues" due to its title and later material protested civil rights, racism and the Vietnam War. John Lee Hooker also sang 'I Don't Wanna Go to Vietnam" on 1969 album Simply the Truth. Paul Robeson, singer, actor, athlete, and civil rights activist, was investigated by the FBI and was called before the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) for his outspoken political views. The State Department denied Robeson a passport and issued a "stop notice" at all ports, effectively confining him to the United States. In a symbolic act of defiance against the travel ban, labour unions in the U.S. and Canada organised a concert at the International Peace Arch on the border between Washington state and the Canadian province of British Columbia on May 18, 1952. Robeson stood on the back of a flat bed truck on the U.S. side of the border and performed a concert for a crowd on the Canadian side, variously estimated at between 20,000 and 40,000 people. He returned to perform a second concert at the Peace Arch in 1953, and over the next two years two further concerts were scheduled. Jazz The development of new genres of jazz through experimentation was inherently connected to the social movements of their respective times, especially during the Civil Rights and Black Power movements of the '60's and '70's. The development of avant-garde, free, and Afrofuturist jazz was heavily connected to the desire to break free from societal norms and express the desire for a free voice. The music was also grounded in the Black Nationalists movements, and through their music, artists sought to reconnect African Americans with the traditional sounds of their ancestors. In the development of avant-garde jazz, mainstream jazz magazines and critics (predominantly owned and operated by White people) harshly criticized the music and framed it as incoherent. Unlike earlier forms of jazz, improvisation was central to avant-garde and many artists did not notate their music so that it followed a free expression of their emotions. However, as the mainstream jazz apparatus looked down upon Black musicians it praised White artists like John Cage. Cage and other musicians were heavily influenced by avant-garde sound, but their music was highly regarded by the media and hailed as genius. Black musicians strived to break new grounds in music through the development of jazz to create methods of expression and autonomy. Meanwhile, structures of power within the jazz industry continuously placed pressures on this "new thing" so that it would assimilate in to normalized cultural standards, thus destroying its significance as a call for social and political change. The experimentation of certain artists, like Sun Ra, directly called for the liberation of the African American and a return to African traditions. In his Afrofuturist science fiction film, Space is the Place, Sun Ra creates a colony for Black people on a distant planet in the cosmos far away from the antagonisms of white society. This messaging remained consistent through Afrofuturist music as it contradicted Euro-American musical rules. Unfortunately, the politics of jazz replicated the patriarchy of general society. Along with the portrayals of jazz as black music, it followed the belief that jazz experimentalism was masculine. Throughout jazz music and academia, women are left behind and forgotten despite the crucial role they play. For example, Alice Coltrane had a largely successful career by paving the way of new sounds through Far Eastern influences and spiritualism. Yet, many of her accomplishments were overlooked because her husband, John Coltrane, had a more "relevant" career. Gender and womanhood are simple social constructs, similar to race, that have been replicated to create a hierarchy in jazz and academia. Recently there have been calls to recognize the importance of Black women in the development of jazz as authors like Sherrie Tucker encourage readers to listen to the stylistic differences to understanding the role gender plays in jazz. Dance music Disco Disco, contrary to popular belief, originated in Black queer communities and offered these communities a form of salvation or safe haven from social turmoil during the 1970s, in the Bronx and other parts of New York. It was agreed by many members prominent in the Disco scene that the music was about love and the vitality of "absorbing the feeling", but the question regarding its political import received mixed responses. Although the songs themselves may not have explicitly made political claims, it's important to note that disco, for many, was a "form of escape" and noted a "dissolve of restrictions on black/gay people". The spirit of the 60s as well as the experience of Vietnam and black/gay liberation spurred the almost-frenzied energy pertinent in these discotheques. Not only did discos allow marginalized individuals an opportunity to express their sexuality and appreciate one another's diversity, they had the ability to influence popular music. Although once mutually exclusive, discotheques allowed for the coming together of black music and pop; this shows how disco music not only led to a social appreciation for diversity, but offered a platform on which Black artists could succeed. The eventual commercialization of disco set in motion its decline. This new commodified disco, very different than its diverse and queer roots, idealized the white individual and favored heteronormative relations. This not only allowed for the roots of such a diverse movement to be lost, but the erasure of the liberation and escapism it offered many minorities. Latin American music Latin American music has been intertwined with politics across the years. 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s protest songs played a critical role in the fight against authoritarian regimes in countries like Chile, Argentina, and Brazil. Today, Latin American musicians continue to tackle pressing social and political issues like immigration, inequality, and corruption through their work. As economist and musician Sumangala Damodaran explains, lyrics intertwined with activism are shaping the vast region's political landscape, creating a repertoire of new genres, and inspiring new generations of artists to do the same. Some notable political issues across the region include discrimination, toxic masculinity, and colonization. Musical artists from across Latin America have contributed to the fight political issues occurring in their specific countries, like Bad Bunny for Puerto Rico and Los Tigres del Norte for Mexico. Throughout history, artists across Latin America have used music as a political tool to bring awareness to social issues. Nueva Canción Nueva canción or "New Song" is a musical movement that emerged in Latin America in the late 1950s and early 1960s. In a Remezcla article, Julyssa Lopez discloses that the genre focused on socially and politically conscious lyrics, often addressing the oppression and inequality experienced by marginalized communities, especially the Indigenous culture. Global languages and cultures professor Robert Neustadt affirms that artists like Violeta Parra, Victor Jara, and Inti-Ilimani used their music to speak out against censorship, state violence, and human rights abuses. Nueva canción was relevant because it gave voice and visibility to social and political issues and provided a platform for marginalized communities to express their struggles and resistance through music. It also played a significant role in the fight against oppressive regimes and contributed to the development of cultural identity and social consciousness in Latin America. Salsa Salsa is most known for its rhythm and inclusion of various instruments. Cumbia is characterized by its energetic rhythm and fusion of African, Indigenous, and European influences. It has evolved over time, incorporating various musical styles and instruments, and continues to dominate dance floors in Latin America and beyond. Cumbia's relevance lies in its ability to bring people together, celebrate hybridity of the Latin American culture, while also serving as a marker of race and class differences in Latin American countries like Puerto, Rico, and Venezuela. Political themes in salsa have included racial discrimination, white supremacy, colonialism, sexism, homophobia, environmental disaster. Reggaeton As a musical genre born out of the Caribbean and Latin American regions, Reggaeton frequently engages with the tropes of other popular musical genres like love, money, and sexual conquests; but has also been used as a form of social commentary and has played a significant role in promoting social change. Reggaeton often addresses issues such as poverty, racism, police brutality, and political corruption in its lyrics. Additionally, many Reggaeton artists use their platforms to speak out against inequalities and social issues by organizing concerts, rallies, and charity events to raise awareness and funds for various social justice causes. Reggaeton also serves as a vehicle for empowering marginalized communities, particularly Black communities, Latin American people, women, and the LGBTQ+ community. Throughout its history, people have come to believe Reggaeton has become more than just a music genre but a voice for social justice and activism. Bad Bunny Bad Bunny, whose real name is Benito Antonio Martinez Ocasio, is a Puerto Rican singer, rapper, and songwriter. He is known for his multiple chart-topping hits like “Titi Me Pregunto,” “DÁKITI”, “Yonaguni,” and “Callaita.” He also was the most listened to artists in 2022. Additionally, Bad Bunny is recognized for his various awards, record-breaking achievement, and collaborations with major artist around the world. One of his music video, "Yo Perreo Sola", translating to I twerk alone, from his second album YHLQMDLG caused controversy as he dressed up in 3 drag outfits. His music video became the most-watched Latin music video in 2020. In his most recent album, Un Verano Sin Ti, released May 2022, the 16th track was named “El Apagón,” translated to "The Blackout." Rather than just releasing a music video, he worked with Puerto Rican reporter Bianca Graulau to produce a 18-minute documentary about the impact of US colonialism on the island and the displacement of Puerto Ricans. The documentary, “El Apagón" functions as a political statement from Puerto Rico about the ongoing modern-day colonization of the island, which has been happening since 1917. The song was inspired by Act 22, which is a law passed in the United States after Hurricane Maria which offered tax incentives to people in the US relocating to Puerto Rico. The law allows U.S. citizens to avoid paying taxes on their property, income, and wealth in Puerto Rico if they become bona fide residents. To qualify as a bona fide resident, a person must be a U.S. citizen who actively earns income from another country, has no intention of moving back to the United States, and has a permanent address in the other country. It caused many millionaires and investors to buy multiple properties on the island, which has led to the displacement of many Puerto Ricans from their homes. The law was intended to improve the economy, but it has failed to do so. Ivy Queen Ivy Queen, also known as "La Reina del Reggaetón" (The Queen of Reggaeton), has been a prominent figure in Latin music since the beginning of her musical career in 1995. Throughout her career, she has produced hits like “Quiero Bailar” and “Quiero Saber” while also using her platform to advocate for social justice, particularly by crating narrative-based lyrics and videos exploring topics mentioning femininity, domestic violence, inequality, and sexuality. Gender and Women's studies scholar Dana E. Goldman explains that Ivy Queen's engagement with gender throughout her lyrics encourages dialogue to challenge gender norms, especially since male singers tend to perform Reggaeton more frequently and often express a desire for unattainable women or lament heartbreak. Regional Mexican Music Regional Mexican music encompasses diverse Spanish language genres originating in Mexico, such as mariachi, banda, duranguense, nortenos, grupo, corridos, and more. These genres hold significant popularity among Spanish-speaking audiences. They are deeply rooted in Mexican identity and cultural traditions. Each genre serves as a platform for various forms of activism, addressing issues such as gun violence, immigration, drug crime, governmental matters in Mexico and the United States, and corruption through their powerful lyrics. Los Tigres Del Norte Los Tigres Del Norte is California-based norteño musical group that has used their platform on a variety of issues. The group consisted of four brothers and their cousin. Originally undocumented immigrants, they formed the group in 1968 while residing in San Jose, California. They initially arrived in the United States with temporary visas to perform for incarcerated individuals, which marked the beginning of their journey as a grupo. In 2013, Los Tigres del Norte, the renowned musical group, took the spotlight at a significant immigration rally in Washington D.C., advocating for immigration reform. During the rally, they performed their popular songs "La Jaula de Oro," "Vivir En Las Sombras," and "Tres Veces Mojado." It's worth noting that this rally was not their only one, as they also organized an immigration rally at the National Mall in Hollywood in October of the same year. During the rally, their aim was to consistently address their themes. After each song, they engaged in discussions to reflect upon the messages conveyed. One of their biggest hits is "La Jaula de Oro," meaning "The Gilded Cage." This song has been performed numerous times and delves into the life of an immigrant and their American-born child who feels disconnected from their cultural heritage. The powerful message conveyed is, "What value does money hold when I feel trapped in this promising nation?" Los Tigres Del Norte also tackle the topic of prison reform in their music. In 2019, they gave a memorable performance inside Folsom Prison, located in California, which led to the creation of a song called "La Prisión de Folsom" (Folsom Prison). This performance was influenced by the legendary musician Johnny Cash. It is worth noting that the majority of the inmates present during the performance were Hispanic and Black, reflecting the demographic composition of the entire prison system. Los Tigres Del Norte documented their experience at Folsom Prison in a Netflix documentary titled "Los Tigres del Norte at Folsom Prison." The documentary explores the grupo's impact on inmates, both prior to and following their time in prison. Rock music Many rock artists, as varied as Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, Bruce Springsteen, Little Steven, Rage Against the Machine, Radiohead, Manic Street Preachers, Megadeth, Enter Shikari, Architects, Muse, System of a Down, Sonic Boom Six and Drive-By Truckers have had openly political messages in their music. The use of political lyrics and the taking of political stances by rock musicians can be traced back to the 1960s counterculture, specifically the influence of the early career of Bob Dylan, itself shaped by the politicised folk revival. 1960s–70s counterculture During the 1960s and early 1970s counterculture era, musicians such as John Lennon commonly expressed protest themes in their music, for example on the Plastic Ono Band's 1969 single "Give Peace a Chance". Lennon later devoted an entire album to politics and wrote the song Imagine, widely considered to be a peace anthem. Its lyrics invoke a world without religion, national borders or private property. In 1962–63, Bob Dylan sang about the evils of war, racism and poverty on his trademark political albums "The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan" and "The Times They Are a-Changin'" (released in 1964), popularising the cause of the Civil Rights Movement. Dylan was influenced by the folk revival, as well as by the Beat writers, and the political beliefs of the young generation of the era. In turn, while Dylan's political phase comes under the 'folk' category, he was known as a rock artist from 1965 and remained associated with an anti-establishment stance that influenced other musicians – such as the British Invasion bands – and the rock music audience, by broadening the spectrum of subjects that could be addressed in popular song. The MC5 (Motor City 5) came out of the Detroit, Michigan underground scene of the late 1960s, and embodied an aggressive evolution of garage rock which was often fused with socio-political and countercultural lyrics, such as in the songs "Motor City Is Burning", (a John Lee Hooker cover adapting the story of the Detroit Race Riot (1943) to the 1967 12th Street Detroit Riot), and "American Ruse" (which discusses U.S. police brutality as well as pollution, prison, materialism and rebellion). They had ties to radical leftist groups such as Up Against the Wall Motherfuckers and John Sinclair's White Panther Party. MC5 was the only band to perform a set before the August 1968 Democratic Convention in Chicago, as part of the Yippies' Festival of Life where an infamous riot subsequently broke out between police and students protesting the April assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. and the Vietnam War. Other rock groups that conveyed specific political messages in the late 1960s/early 1970s – often in regard to the Vietnam War – include The Fugs, Country Joe and the Fish, Jefferson Airplane, Creedence Clearwater Revival, and Third World War, while some bands, such as The Beatles, The Rolling Stones and Hawkwind, referenced political issues occasionally and in a more observational than engaged way, e.g. in songs like "Revolution", "Street Fighting Man", "Salt of the Earth" and "Urban Guerrilla". Punk rock Notable punk rock bands, such as Crass, Conflict, Sex Pistols, The Clash, Dead Kennedys, Black Flag, Refused, American Standards, Discharge, MDC, Aus-Rotten, Billy Talent, Anti-Flag, and Leftöver Crack have used political and sometimes controversial lyrics that attack the establishment, sexism, capitalism, racism, speciesism, colonialism, and other phenomena they see as sources of social problems. Since the late 1970s, punk rock has been associated with various left-wing or anti-establishment ideologies, including anarchism and socialism. Punk's DIY culture held an attraction for some on the Left, suggesting affinity with the ideals of workers' control, and empowerment of the powerless (though it is arguable that the punk movement's partial focus on apathy towards the establishment, combined with the fact that in many situations, punk rock music generated income for major record companies, and the notable similarities between some strains of anarchism and capitalism, meant that the punk movement ran contrary to left-wing ideologies) – and the genre as a whole came, largely through the Sex Pistols, to be associated with anarchism. The sincerity of the early punk bands has been questioned – some critics saw their referencing of revolutionary politics as a provocative pose rather than an ideology – but bands such as Crass and Dead Kennedys later emerged who held strong anarchist views, and over time this association strengthened, as they went on to influence other bands in the UK anarcho-punk and US hardcore subgenres, respectively. The Sex Pistols song "God Save the Queen" was banned from broadcast by the BBC in 1977 due to its presumed anti-Royalism, partly due to its apparent equation of the monarchy with a "fascist regime". The following year, the release of debut Crass album The Feeding Of the 5000 was initially obstructed when pressing plant workers refused to produce it due to sacrilegious lyrical content. Crass later faced court charges of obscenity related to their Penis Envy album, as the Dead Kennedys later did over their Frankenchrist album artwork. The Clash are regarded as pioneers of political punk, and were seen to represent a progressive, socialistic worldview compared to the apparently anti-social or nihilistic attack of many early punk bands. Partly inspired by 1960s protest music such as the MC5, their stance influenced other first and second wave punk/new wave bands such as The Jam, The Ruts, Stiff Little Fingers, Angelic Upstarts, TRB and Newtown Neurotics, and inspired a lyrical focus on subjects such as racial tension, unemployment, class resentment, urban alienation and police violence, as well as imperialism. Partially credited with aligning punk and reggae, The Clash's anti-racism helped to cement punk's anti-fascist politics, and they famously headlined the first joint Rock Against Racism (RAR)/Anti Nazi League (ANL) carnival in Hackney, London, in April 1978. The RAR/ANL campaign is credited with helping to destroy the UK National Front as a credible political force, aided by the support received from punk and reggae bands. Many punk musicians, such as Vic Bondi (Articles of Faith), Joey Keithley (DOA), Tim McIlrath (Rise Against), The Crucifucks, Bad Religion, The Proletariat, Against All Authority, Dropkick Murphys and Crashdog have held and expressed left-wing views. Dead Kennedys singer Jello Biafra, as well as T.S.O.L. frontman Jack Grisham, have run as candidates for public office under left-wing platforms. However, some punk bands have expressed more populist and conservative opinions, and an ambiguous form of patriotism, beginning in the U.S. with many of the groups associated with 1980s New York hardcore, and prior to that in the UK with a small section of the Oi! movement. An extremely small minority of punk rock bands, exemplified by (1980s-era) Skrewdriver and Skullhead, have held far-right and anti-communist stances, and were consequently reviled in the broader, largely Leftist punk subculture. Latino Rock/Punk Music within the "Rock" genre have been linked to left-leaning political views, including views against racism and xenophobia. Latin punk became a movement within the Rock genre. Within the genre, issues that are prevalent specifically within the Latino communities were being discussed. The issues pertained to the violation of immigrant rights, including within the workforce. Many musicians within the genre paid homage to their cultural roots and adopted philosophies such as those that arose from the Zapatista Uprising. The movement shed light on the Chicano/Latino scene within their communities. This became a form of protest against the xenophobia that exists against the community in the US Rage Against the Machine and Tigres del Norte Lead singer of Rage Against the Machine, Zach De La Rocha is introduced by Los Tigres del Norte for their MTV Unplugged performance in 2011. Together, they perform a song of Los Tigres del Norte, "“Somos mas americanos." Zach De La Rocha is introduced as someone who “fights for the rights of us all.” Rage against the Machine is known for having socio-political commentary in their music as well as Los Tigres del Norte. Rage against the Machine's "political views and activism are central to the band's message." Zach De La Rocha has described being interested in "...spreading those ideas through art, because music has the power to cross borders, to break military sieges and to establish real dialogue." Los Tigres del Norte also have a history of displaying their political views through their music. From supporting LGBT+ rights, prison abolition, and immigrant rights. Together, they perform ‘Somos Más Americanos.’ Los Tigres Del Norte being Regional Mexican music that dates back to the 60s while Zach's musical background coming from a heavy metal and rap background which originated in the 90s. The performance gives historical and social commentary on the xenophobia and racism that is targeted against Mexican and Chicanx folks in the US. Both the group and Zach perform the song whilst adding anedoctes about the US government. One of the introductory lyrics in the song is “I have to remind them that I didn't cross the border, the border crossed me.” These words directly reference US and Mexico history. Specifically to how a significant amount of what is now considered the Southwest US, was once Mexico. These words have also become a slogan for many Latino movements and organizations in the US who aim to fight against xenophobic systems that target immigrants. The lyrics that end the song are “Somos mas americanos que todititos los Gringos." Meaning, "we are more American than all of the White people." Rock the Vote Rock the Vote is an American 501(c)(3) non-profit, non-partisan organization founded in Los Angeles in 1990 by Jeff Ayeroff for the purposes of political advocacy. Rock the Vote works to engage youth in the political process by incorporating the entertainment community and youth culture into its activities. Rock the Vote's stated mission is to "build the political clout and engagement of young people in order to achieve progressive change in our country." Hip hop Hip hop music has been associated with protest since 1982, when "The Message" by Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five became known as the first prominent rap record to make a serious “social statement”. However the first political rap release has been credited to Brother D and the Collective Effort's 1980 single “How We Gonna Make the Black Nation Rise?” which called the USA a “police state” and rapped about historical injustices such as slavery and ethnic cleansing. Later in the decade hip hop band Public Enemy became "perhaps the most well-known and influential political rap group" and released a series of records whose message and success "directed hip-hop toward an explicitly self-aware, pro-black consciousness that became the culture's signature throughout the next decade," helping to inspire a wave of politicised hip hop by artists such as X Clan, Poor Righteous Teachers, Brand Nubian, 2 Black 2 Strong and Paris. Eminem's tenth album, Kamikaze, contained many political messages, most of them revolving around his disapproval of Donald Trump being elected President of the United States. He stated he was willing to lose fans over this criticism and rapped: "And any fan of mine/who's a supporter of his/I'm drawing in the sand a line/you're either for or against," During Donald Trump's presidential campaign, Kanye West took the opportunity to support the Republican candidate by urging his fans to vote for Trump. Although West has historically been against the Republican administrations, he has been one of Donald Trumps most vocal supporters. On April 27, 2018, Kanye West and fellow rapper, T.I., released a collaboration called "Ye vs. the People" that consisted of West and T.I.'s opposing political views. The song, a conversation between the two rappers, became popular not for its musical touch, but because of the courage West and T.I. showed by releasing a controversial song in a time of high political disagreement. Reggae Jamaican Reggae of the 1970s and the 1980s is an example of influential and powerful interaction between music and politics. A top figure-head in this music was Bob Marley. Though Marley was not in favor of politics, through his politicized lyrics he was seen as a political figure. In 1978 Bob Marley's One Love Peace Concert brought Prime Minister Michael Manley and the opposition leader Edward Seaga together (leaders connected to notorious rival gang leaders, Bucky Marshall and Claude Massop, respectively), to join hands with Marley during the performance; this was the "longest and most political reggae concert ever staged, and one of the most remarkable musical events recorded." Throughout this period many reggae musicians played for and spoke or sung in support of Manley's People's National Party, a campaign credited with helping the PNP's victory in the 1972 and 1976 elections. Popular music Popular music found throughout the world contains political messages such as those concerning social issues and racism. For example, Lady Gaga's song "Born This Way" has often been known as the international gay anthem, as it discusses homosexuality in a positive light and expresses the idea that it is natural. Furthermore, the natural disaster of Hurricane Katrina received a great political response from the hip hop music community. The content of the music changed into a response showing the complex dynamic of the community, especially the black community, while also acting a sometimes contradictory protest of how the disaster was handled in the aftermath. This topic even reached beyond the locality of New Orleans, as the issue of the disaster and racism was mentioned by other rappers from other regions of the country. Pop music is common for its sensationalized and mass-produced uplifting beats. Many artists take advantage of their large followings to spread awareness of political issues in their music. Similar to Lady Gaga's "Born This Way," Macklemore's song "Same Love" also expresses support and homage to the LGBTQ+ community. Furthermore, Beyoncé's album "Lemonade" has been hailed as awe-inspiring and eye-opening with many of the songs addressing political issues such as racism, stereotyping, police brutality, and infidelity. These songs, aside from being catchy and uplifting, discuss serious issues in a lighthearted and simplified manner allowing people to understand while also commonly being influenced by the current political climate such as the violent attacks on the Bataclan Theater in Paris and the Pulse Nightclub in Orlando. Country music American country music contains numerous images of traditional values and family and religious life, as well as patriotic themes. Songs such as Merle Haggard's "The Fightin' Side of Me" and "Okie from Muskogee" have been perceived as patriotic songs showing an "us versus them" mentality directed at the counterculture or "hippies" and the anti-war crowd, though these were actually misconceptions by listeners who failed to understand their satirical nature. Many American country songs addressed political and cultural views in the 1960s and 1970s, with mainstream and independent country artists releasing singles that conveyed support for conservative candidates or military action, anti-communist statements, or, in some cases, anti-hippie sentiments often framed as humorous put-downs. These tropes have continued in such songs as Toby Keith's "Courtesy of the Red, White and Blue (The Angry American)" in 2002 and Bryan Lewis's "I Think My Dog's a Democrat" in 2016. More recent American country songs containing political messages include Keith Urban's "Female" which details the psychological and emotional impact on women of sexist language, slut-shaming, and lack of representation in politics. The lyrics of Carrie Underwood's 2018 song "Love Wins" also identifies themes of prejudice, hatred, and politics. Through this song, Underwood expresses the idea that the best way to close the political divide and strengthen what she sees to be a broken world is through unity, loving each other, and working together in times of crisis. Country artist Kacey Musgraves integrates politics into her lyrics, speaking about gay rights and cannabis consumption. Her song "Follow Your Arrow" is considered to be a radical perspective on same-sex marriage, in that it differs from the conservative point of view that is normally found in country music. African American country rapper Cowboy Troy, the stage name of Troy Lee Coleman III, incorporates real-life problems into his music, calling for societal change. He sheds light on concepts like class analysis, gender issues, and popular narratives about the "white" working class. One of his songs, "I Play Chicken With The Train," acknowledges conservative and progressive ideas that tend to be brought up in presidential elections. Although race is a rarely addressed topic in country music, some artists have made an effort to approach this theme in their songs. Brad Paisley's 2013 album Wheelhouse included the track "Accidental Racist", which became controversial, generating many negative reviews. Will Hermes, in his critique in Rolling Stone, commented: "It's probably not going to win any awards for songcraft and rapping, but in the wake of movies like Django Unchained and Lincoln, it shows how fraught racial dialogue remains in America." Paisley stated, "This song was meant to generate discussion among the people who listen to my albums." Classical music Beethoven's third symphony was originally called "Bonaparte". In 1804 Napoleon crowned himself emperor, whereupon Beethoven rescinded the dedication. The symphony was renamed "Heroic Symphony composed to Celebrate the Memory of a Great Man". Verdi's chorus of Hebrew slaves in the opera Nabucco is a kind of rallying-cry for Italians to throw off the yoke of Austrian domination (in the north) and French domination (near Rome)—the "Risorgimento". Following unification, Verdi was awarded a seat in the national parliament. In late nineteenth century England, choral music was performed by mass choirs of workers and much music was written for them, by, for example, Samuel Coleridge-Taylor and Ralph Vaughan Williams. When the young Vaughan Williams wondered what kind of music to write, Hubert Parry advised him to "write choral music as befits an Englishman and a democrat". Others, including Frederick Delius and Vaughan Williams's friend Gustav Holst also wrote choral works, often using the words of Walt Whitman. Richard Taruskin of the University of California accused John Adams of "romanticizing terrorists" in his opera The Death of Klinghoffer (1991). American classical composer Miguel del Aguila has written over 130 works many of which center on social issues such as the genocide of Native Americans during the European conquest, and the Guerra Sucia victims. More recent works like Bindfold Music deal with social injustice in contemporary US society. In the Soviet Union RAPM (The Russian Association of Proletarian Musicians) was formed in the early 1920s. In 1929 Stalin gave them his backing. Shostakovich had dedicated his first symphony to Mikhail Kvadri. In 1929 Kvardi was arrested and executed. In an article in The Worker and the Theatre, Shostakovich's Tahiti Trot (used with the ballet The Golden Age) was criticised; Ivan Yershov claimed it was part of "ideology harmful to the proletariat"". Shostakovich's response was to write his third symphony, The First of May (1929) to express "the festive mood of peaceful construction". Prokofiev wrote music to order for the Soviet Union, including Cantata for the 20th Anniversary of the October Revolution (1937). Khachaturian's ballet Spartacus (1954/6) concerns gladiator slaves who rebel against their former Roman masters. It was seen as a metaphor for the overthrow of the Czar. Similarly Prokofiev's music for the film Alexander Nevsky concerns the invasion of Teutonic knights into the Baltic States. It was seen as a metaphor for the Nazi invasion of the USSR. In general Soviet music was neo-romantic while Fascist music was neo-classical. Music in Nazi Germany Stravinsky stated in 1930, "I don't believe anyone venerates Mussolini more than I"; however by 1943 Stravinsky was banned in Nazi Germany because he had chosen to live in the USA. Beginning in 1940, Carl Orff's cantata Carmina Burana was performed at Nazi Party functions, and acquired the status of a quasi-official anthem. In 1933 Berlin Radio issued a formal ban on the broadcasting of jazz. However, it was still possible to hear swing music played by German bands. This was because of the moderating influence of Goebbels, who knew the value of entertaining the troops. In the period 1933–45 the music of Gustav Mahler, a Jewish Austrian, virtually disappeared from the concert performances of the Berlin Philharmonic. Richard Strauss's opera Die Schweigsame Frau (The Silent Woman) was banned from 1935 to 1945 because the librettist, Stefan Zweig, was a Jew. White Power music Racist music or white power music is music associated with and promoting neo-Nazism and white supremacy ideologies. Although musicologists point out that many, if not most early cultures had songs to promote themselves and denigrate any perceived enemies, the origins of Racist music is traced to the 1970s. By 2001 there were many music genres with 'white power rock' the most commonly represented band type, followed by National Socialist black metal. 'Racist country music' is mainly an American phenomena while Germany, Great Britain, and Sweden have higher concentration of white power bands. Other music genres include 'fascist experimental music' and 'racist folk music'. Contemporary white-supremacist groups include "subcultural factions that are largely organized around the promotion and distribution of racist music." According to the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission "racist music is principally derived from the far-right skinhead movement and, through the internet, this music has become perhaps the most important tool of the international neo-Nazi movement to gain revenue and new recruits." The news documentary VH1 News Special: Inside Hate Rock (2002) noted that Racist music (also called 'Hate music' and 'Skinhead rock') is "a breeding ground for home-grown terrorists." In 2004 a neo-Nazi record company launched "Project Schoolyard" to distribute free CDs of the music into the hands of up to 100,000 teenagers throughout the U.S., their website stated, "We just don't entertain racist kids ... We create them." Brian Houghton, of the National Memorial Institute for the Prevention of Terrorism, said that Racist music was a great recruiting tool, "Through music ... to grab these kids, teach them to be racists and hook them for life." By country Aware of the motivational power of music, politicians across the world seek to incorporate different songs into their campaigns. However, the viewpoints of the musicians and the politicians using their music occasionally clash. In addition to protest songs created specifically to call attention to matters of social change, musicians around the world resist politicians. Governments and leaders also assert their resistance to critical musicians in a variety of ways. Within each different national and cultural context, musician resistance and politician response is a unique relationship. Brazil Since his election as the President of Brazil in 2018, Jair Bolsonaro had become an increasingly controversial leader. Much like rightist contemporaries Donald Trump and Narendra Modi, Bolsonaro has been described as both a populist and nationalist. While Bolsonaro directly supports far-right policies on gay rights and gun ownership, more moderate conservatives also claim that he supports their interests. To gain support from Brazil's conservative voters, Bolsonaro's speeches were heavily nationalistic and patriotic. While Bolsonaro's direct appeals to the people were more limited within his national addresses, he emphasized a prideful brand of Brazilian nationalism. As a figure whose policies and actions have been deeply polarizing and divisive, Bolsonaro became a main source of scorn and criticism for Brazilian musicians both domestic and abroad. Musician Caetano Veloso, who was exiled during Brazil's military dictatorship that lasted from the 1964 to 1985, called Bolsonaro's heavy-handed nationalistic rhetoric and leadership “an utter nightmare.” While Veloso's brand of music is not protest music, he takes the opportunity to speak out and use his visibility for resistance. In August 2020, Veloso joined a chorus of prominent Brazilian figures in mocking Bolsonaro for his perceived role in an embezzlement and money laundering scheme. While some Brazilian artists like Veloso resisted mainly from their social media accounts, Brazil has a rich history of protest music against its former authoritarian dictatorship regime that is continued by many contemporary artists. Artists from all over the country had found ways to resist, criticize, and allude to Bolsonaro in their works. Troubadour Chico César took a direct approach by asserting that Bolsonaro's supporters were fascists, composer Manu da Cuíca veiled his criticism included a warning about Bolsonaro as one of the dangerous “gun-toting messiahs,” and singer Marina Iris indirectly worked in criticism against the regime as persistent themes of angst and frustration toward the current state of Brazil. These customary forms of Brazilian music, rooted in indigenous musical forms, are a key form of anti-status quo music. In response to the resistance, instead of adopting music like Trump or relying on the support of his followers like Modi, Bolsonaro drastically cut the public support and resources for musicians, film-makers, and visual artists. Many artists viewed this act as payback for their resistance. However, several right-wing Brazilian rappers took it upon themselves in the music scene to defend and support Bolsonaro. China Ethiopia India After the 2014 Lok Sabha election, Narendra Modi was sworn in Prime Minister of India. Modi, who is notable for this effective nationalistic appeal to the Indian people, quickly began to centralize power and subject both civil and foreign non-governmental organization to scrutiny. With Modi's populist support and increasing governmental power, musicians face a unique social and political landscape in their options for resistance. In May 2020, an arrest warrant was brought against singer Mainul Ahsan Noble for making derogatory comments toward Modi on Facebook. While the lawsuit was filed by a private Indian citizen who “could not accept such defamatory remarks against the PM of [India].” With India's populist turn, criticism and resistance against politicians is now riskier for musicians. The late singer S.P. Balasubrahmanyam carefully resisted the actions of Modi when he suggested that artists from Southern India were subject to different restrictions than Bollywood artists at Modi's 2019 Change Within gathering. Where Noble's overt comments ignited anger and legal action, Balasubrahmanyam's muted criticism did not draw the same response. Because Modi's populist policy choices strongly suggest to the Indian people that he is concerned with welfare of the everyday citizen, more citizens come to his aid and resistance to Modi becomes more difficult for contemporary Indian musicians. However, criticism of Modi may be less careful abroad. Desi-American punk The Kominas and several other South Asian performers organized an anti-Modi benefit in New York City to coincide with a Trump administration-organized, pro-Modi event in Houston. The New York City pro-Kashmir opposition event triggered attacks and condemnation from some Indians online, but no international legal actions against the bands and artists involved. Despite the opposition event highlighting human rights abuses regarding the military lockdown of Kashmir, the populist view of Modi as a purifier of corruption and defender of the Indian people persists among much of India. To further expand their musical acts of resistance, the Kominas are considering bringing the punk anti-Modi opposition events to different countries and even perhaps New Delhi. Philippines South Africa United States In the United States, musicians including Neil Young, the Dropkick Murphys and Explosions in the Sky have taken issue with or action against such politicians as President Donald Trump, Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker and Texas Senator Ted Cruz. These conflicts between popular musicians and politicians in the United States are common in the election cycle, but play out differently. Trump used Young's song "Rockin in the Free World" from the beginning of his presidential campaign against Hillary Clinton in 2015. While Young argued Trump was not authorized to use the song in his campaign, a Trump spokesperson stated the song was legally obtained through a license with ASCAP and that the campaign "will continue to [use his song] regardless of Neil's political views." And though the song itself, from 1989, may appear to be an endorsement of the American lifestyle, closer examination reveals criticism of the George H. W. Bush administration. This suggests that the effect of music in a political campaign cannot be limited to lyrics alone. Despite the song's pointed words and Young's continued resistance, the Trump campaign began using the song again in 2018 in his presidential reelection campaign. Similarly, in 2015, Scott Walker utilized the Dropkick Murphys' popular cover of Woody Guthrie’s "I'm Shipping Up to Boston" at a political event in Iowa. Owing heavily to disagreements over issues like unions, the band tweeted "please stop using our music in any way ... we literally hate you!!!" to Walker. While there was no threat of legal action, the band took to social media to distance themselves from Walker and resist his usage of their song. Some musicians have effectively used copyright law to resist the political use of their music. When Ted Cruz included the Explosions in the Sky song "Your Hand in Mine" in an endorsement video for Texas Governor Greg Abbott, the band tweeted they were "absolutely not okay with it." The band's label, Temporary Residence, forced the Cruz campaign to remove the video due to a violation of U.S. Copyright Law. Legally, politicians can license music without consulting the artists themselves through deals with performance rights organizations. Where the Trump campaign sidestepped consulting Young and legally licensed "Rockin' in the Free World" from such an organization (ASCAP), Cruz's effort did neither. In the United States there is also a long and complex history of public schools instilling support for the military through their musical activities, and of music teachers either endorsing or resisting these tendencies. Musicologists have noted the impact of militarism in US society, arguing that "militarism endangers music education" and that although military models are inappropriate for the education of schoolchildren in a democracy, there is evidence that "In the United States, we find an array of music education partnership projects with the military that would be unthinkable in many other countries. See also Anarcho-punk Arsch huh, Zäng ussenander Birlikte Brexit in popular culture Crust punk Ecomusicology Environmentalism in music Freedom songs Hardline (subculture) Irish rebel music List of anarchist musicians List of anti-war songs List of national anthems List of political punk songs List of socialist songs List of songs about the September 11 attacks List of songs about the Vietnam War Love Music Hate Racism March (music) Music and political warfare New musicology Nonviolent resistance Nueva canción Oi! People's Songs Political controversies in the Eurovision Song Contest Political song in Egypt Riot grrrl Rock Against Racism Northern Carnival Rock Against Sexism Role of music in World War II Stop Murder Music This machine kills fascists War song References Sources Further reading Lieberman, Robbie (1988). My Song is my Weapon: People's Songs, American Communism, and the Politics of Culture, 1930-50, Un. Of Illinois Press Perone, James E. (2004). Music of the Counterculture Era, Westport: Greenwood Press Rachel, Daniel (2016). Walls Come Tumbling Down: The Music and Politics of Rock Against Racism, 2 Tone and Red Wedge, London: Picador, Reuss, Joanne C & Reuss, Richard A. (2000). American Folk Music and Left-Wing Politics, Scarecrow Press Rodnitsky, Jerome (1976). Minstrels in the Dawn: The Folk-Protest Singer as a Cultural Hero, Chicago: Nelson Hall Serge Denisoff, R. (1971). Great Day Coming: Folk Music and the American Left. Champaign: Un. Of Illinois Press External links Music for Democracy – Music Activism Political Action Organization by Kyle Gann Written during the 2004 American Presidential election campaign. An extensive discussion in particular about modernism and Marxism between composer Gordon Downie and pianist Ian Pace. Musicology Political communication Works about politics

Abbas Kiarostami

Abbas Kiarostami ( ; 22 June 1940 – 4 July 2016) was an Iranian film director, screenwriter, poet, photographer, and film producer. An active filmmaker from 1970, Kiarostami had been involved in the production of over forty films, including shorts and documentaries. Kiarostami attained critical acclaim for directing the Koker trilogy (1987–1994), Close-Up (1990), The Wind Will Carry Us (1999), and Taste of Cherry (1997), which was awarded the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival that year. In later works, Certified Copy (2010) and Like Someone in Love (2012), he filmed for the first time outside Iran: in Italy and Japan, respectively. His films Where Is the Friend's Home? (1987), Close-Up, and The Wind Will Carry Us were ranked among the 100 best foreign films in a 2018 critics' poll by BBC Culture. Close-Up was also ranked one of the 50 greatest movies of all time in the famous decennial Sight & Sound poll conducted in 2012. Kiarostami had worked extensively as a screenwriter, film editor, art director, and producer and had designed credit titles and publicity material. He was also a poet, photographer, painter, illustrator, and graphic designer. He was part of a generation of filmmakers in the Iranian New Wave, a Persian cinema movement that started in the late 1960s and emphasized the use of poetic dialogue and allegorical storytelling dealing with political and philosophical issues. Kiarostami had a reputation for using child protagonists, for documentary-style narrative films, for stories that take place in rural villages, and for conversations that unfold inside cars, using stationary mounted cameras. He is also known for his use of Persian poetry in the dialogue, titles, and themes of his films. Kiarostami's films contain a notable degree of ambiguity, an unusual mixture of simplicity and complexity, and often a mix of fictional and documentary elements. The concepts of change and continuity, in addition to the themes of life and death, play a major role in Kiarostami's works. Early life and background Kiarostami was born in Tehran. His first artistic experience was painting, which he continued into his late teens, winning a painting competition at the age of 18 shortly before he left home to study at the University of Tehran School of Fine Arts. He majored in painting and graphic design and supported his studies by working as a traffic policeman. As a painter, designer, and illustrator, Kiarostami worked in advertising in the 1960s, designing posters and creating commercials. Between 1962 and 1966, he shot around 150 advertisements for Iranian television. In the late 1960s, he began creating credit titles for films (including Gheysar by Masoud Kimiai) and illustrating children's books. Film career 1970s In 1970 when the Iranian New Wave began with Dariush Mehrjui's film Gāv, Kiarostami helped set up a filmmaking department at the Institute for Intellectual Development of Children and Young Adults (Kanun) in Tehran. Its debut production, and Kiarostami's first film, was the twelve-minute The Bread and Alley (1970), a neo-realistic short film about a schoolboy's confrontation with an aggressive dog. Breaktime followed in 1972. The department became one of Iran's most noted film studios, producing not only Kiarostami's films but acclaimed Persian films such as The Runner and Bashu, the Little Stranger. In the 1970s, Kiarostami pursued an individualistic style of film making. When discussing his first film, he stated: Bread and Alley was my first experience in cinema and I must say a very difficult one. I had to work with a very young child, a dog, and an unprofessional crew except for the cinematographer, who was nagging and complaining all the time. Well, the cinematographer, in a sense, was right because I did not follow the conventions of film making that he had become accustomed to. Following The Experience (1973), Kiarostami released The Traveler (Mossafer) in 1974. The Traveler tells the story of Qassem Julayi, a troubled and troublesome boy from a small Iranian city. Intent on attending a football match in far-off Tehran, he scams his friends and neighbors to raise money, and journeys to the stadium in time for the game, only to meet with an ironic twist of fate. In addressing the boy's determination to reach his goal, alongside his indifference to the effects of his amoral actions, the film examined human behavior and the balance of right and wrong. It furthered Kiarostami's reputation for realism, diegetic simplicity, and stylistic complexity, as well as his fascination with physical and spiritual journeys. In 1975, Kiarostami directed two short films So Can I and Two Solutions for One Problem. In early 1976, he released Colors, followed by the fifty-four-minute film A Wedding Suit, a story about three teenagers coming into conflict over a suit for a wedding. Kiarostami then directed Report (1977). With a 112-minute runtime, it was considerably longer than his previous work. The film revolved around the life of a tax collector accused of accepting bribes; suicide was among its themes. In 1979, he produced and directed First Case, Second Case. 1980s In the early 1980s, Kiarostami directed several short films including Toothache (1980), Orderly or Disorderly (1981), and The Chorus (1982). In 1983, he directed Fellow Citizen. It was not until his release of Where Is the Friend's Home? (1987) that he began to gain recognition outside Iran. These films created the basis of his later productions. The film tells a simple account of a conscientious eight-year-old schoolboy's quest to return his friend's notebook in a neighboring village lest his friend be expelled from school. The traditional beliefs of Iranian rural people are portrayed. The film has been noted for its poetic use of the Iranian rural landscape and its realism, both important elements of Kiarostami's work. Kiarostami made the film from a child's point of view. Where Is the Friend's Home?, And Life Goes On (1992) (also known as Life and Nothing More), and Through the Olive Trees (1994) are described by critics as the Koker trilogy, because all three films feature the village of Koker in northern Iran. The films also relate to the 1990 Manjil–Rudbar earthquake, in which 40,000 people died. Kiarostami uses the themes of life, death, change, and continuity to connect the films. The trilogy was successful in France in the 1990s and other Western European countries such as the Netherlands, Sweden, Germany and Finland. But, Kiarostami did not consider the three films to comprise a trilogy. He suggested that the last two titles plus Taste of Cherry (1997) comprise a trilogy, given their common theme of the preciousness of life. In 1987, Kiarostami was involved in the screenwriting of The Key, which he edited but did not direct. In 1989, he released Homework. 1990s Kiarostami's first film of the decade was Close-Up (1990), which narrates the story of the real-life trial of a man who impersonated film-maker Mohsen Makhmalbaf, conning a family into believing they would star in his new film. The family suspects theft as the motive for this charade, but the impersonator, Hossein Sabzian, argues that his motives were more complex. The part-documentary, part-staged film examines Sabzian's moral justification for usurping Makhmalbaf's identity, questioning his ability to sense his cultural and artistic flair. Ranked No. 42 in British Film Institute's The Top 50 Greatest Films of All Time, Close-Up received praise from directors such as Quentin Tarantino, Martin Scorsese, Werner Herzog, Jean-Luc Godard, and Nanni Moretti and was released across Europe. In 1992, Kiarostami directed Life, and Nothing More..., regarded by critics as the second film of the Koker trilogy. The film follows a father and his young son as they drive from Tehran to Koker in search of two young boys who they fear might have perished in the 1990 earthquake. As the father and son travel through the devastated landscape, they meet earthquake survivors forced to carry on with their lives amid disaster. That year Kiarostami won a Prix Roberto Rossellini, the first professional film award of his career, for his direction of the film. The last film of the so-called Koker trilogy was Through the Olive Trees (1994), which expands a peripheral scene from Life and Nothing More into the central drama. Critics such as Adrian Martin have called the style of filmmaking in the Koker trilogy as "diagrammatical", linking the zig-zagging patterns in the landscape and the geometry of forces of life and the world. A flashback of the zigzag path in Life and Nothing More... (1992) in turn triggers the spectator's memory of the previous film, Where Is the Friend's Home? from 1987, shot before the earthquake. This symbolically links to the post-earthquake reconstruction in Through the Olive Trees in 1994. In 1995, Miramax Films released Through the Olive Trees in the US theaters. Kiarostami next wrote the screenplays for The Journey and The White Balloon (1995), for his former assistant Jafar Panahi. Between 1995 and 1996, he was involved in the production of Lumière and Company, a collaboration with 40 other film directors. Kiarostami won the Palme d'Or (Golden Palm) award at the Cannes Film Festival for Taste of Cherry. It is the drama of a man, Mr. Badii, determined to commit suicide. The film involved themes such as morality, the legitimacy of the act of suicide, and the meaning of compassion. Kiarostami directed The Wind Will Carry Us in 1999, which won the Grand Jury Prize (Silver Lion) at the Venice International Film Festival. The film contrasted rural and urban views on the dignity of labor, addressing themes of gender equality and the benefits of progress, by means of a stranger's sojourn in a remote Kurdish village. An unusual feature of the movie is that many of the characters are heard but not seen; at least thirteen to fourteen speaking characters in the film are never seen. 2000s In 2000, at the San Francisco Film Festival award ceremony, Kiarostami was awarded the Akira Kurosawa Prize for lifetime achievement in directing, but surprised everyone by giving it away to veteran Iranian actor Behrooz Vossoughi for his contribution to Iranian cinema. In 2001, Kiarostami and his assistant, Seifollah Samadian, traveled to Kampala, Uganda at the request of the United Nations International Fund for Agricultural Development, to film a documentary about programs assisting Ugandan orphans. He stayed for ten days and made ABC Africa. The trip was originally intended as research in preparation for the filming, but Kiarostami ended up editing the entire film from the video footage shot there. The high number of orphans in Uganda has resulted from the deaths of parents in the AIDS epidemic. Time Out editor and National Film Theatre chief programmer, Geoff Andrew, said in referring to the film: "Like his previous four features, this film is not about death but life-and-death: how they're linked, and what attitude we might adopt with regard to their symbiotic inevitability." The following year, Kiarostami directed Ten, revealing an unusual method of filmmaking and abandoning many scriptwriting conventions. Kiarostami focused on the socio-political landscape of Iran. The images are seen through the eyes of one woman as she drives through the streets of Tehran over a period of several days. Her journey is composed of ten conversations with various passengers, which include her sister, a hitchhiking prostitute, and a jilted bride and her demanding young son. This style of filmmaking was praised by a number of critics. A. O. Scott in The New York Times wrote that Kiarostami, "in addition to being perhaps the most internationally admired Iranian filmmaker of the past decade, is also among the world masters of automotive cinema...He understands the automobile as a place of reflection, observation and, above all, talk." In 2003, Kiarostami directed Five, a poetic feature with no dialogue or characterization. It consists of five long shots of nature which are single-take sequences, shot with a hand-held DV camera, along the shores of the Caspian Sea. Although the film lacks a clear storyline, Geoff Andrew argues that the film is "more than just pretty pictures". He adds, "Assembled in order, they comprise a kind of abstract or emotional narrative arc, which moves evocatively from separation and solitude to community, from motion to rest, near-silence to sound and song, light to darkness and back to light again, ending on a note of rebirth and regeneration."He notes the degree of artifice concealed behind the apparent simplicity of the imagery. In 2005, Kiarostami contributed the central section to Tickets, a portmanteau film set on a train traveling through Italy. The other segments were directed by Ken Loach and Ermanno Olmi. In 2008, Kiarostami directed the feature Shirin, which features close-ups of many notable Iranian actresses and the French actress Juliette Binoche as they watch a film based on a partly mythological Persian romance tale of Khosrow and Shirin, with themes of female self-sacrifice. The film has been described as "a compelling exploration of the relationship between image, sound and female spectatorship." That summer, he directed Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's opera Così fan tutte conducted by Christophe Rousset at Festival d'Aix-en-Provence starring with William Shimell. But the following year's performances at the English National Opera was impossible to direct because of refusal of permission to travel abroad. 2010s Certified Copy (2010), again starring Juliette Binoche, was made in Tuscany and was Kiarostami's first film to be shot and produced outside Iran. The story of an encounter between a British man and a French woman, it was entered in competition for the Palme d'Or in the 2010 Cannes Film Festival. Peter Bradshaw of The Guardian describes the film as an "intriguing oddity", and said, "Certified Copy is the deconstructed portrait of a marriage, acted with well-intentioned fervour by Juliette Binoche, but persistently baffling, contrived, and often simply bizarre – a highbrow misfire of the most peculiar sort." He concluded that the film is "unmistakably an example of Kiarostami's compositional technique, though not a successful example." Roger Ebert, however, praised the film, noting that "Kiarostami is rather brilliant in the way he creates offscreen spaces." Binoche won the Best Actress Award at Cannes for her performance in the film. Kiarostami's penultimate film, Like Someone in Love, set and shot in Japan, received largely positive reviews from critics. Kiarostami's final film 24 Frames was released posthumously in 2017. An experimental film based on 24 of Kiarostami's still photographs, 24 Frames enjoyed a highly positive critical reception, with a Rotten Tomatoes score of 92%. Film festival work Kiarostami was a jury member at numerous film festivals, most notably the Cannes Film Festival in 1993, 2002 and 2005. He was also the president of the Caméra d'Or Jury in Cannes Film Festival 2005. He was announced as the president of the Cinéfondation and short film sections of the 2014 Cannes Film Festival. Other representatives include the Venice Film Festival in 1985, the Locarno International Film Festival in 1990, the San Sebastian International Film Festival in 1996, the São Paulo International Film Festival in 2004, the Capalbio Cinema Festival in 2007 (in which he was president of the jury), and the Küstendorf Film and Music Festival in 2011. He also made regular appearances at many other film festivals across Europe, including the Estoril Film Festival in Portugal. Cinematic style Individualism Though Kiarostami has been compared to Satyajit Ray, Vittorio De Sica, Éric Rohmer, and Jacques Tati, his films exhibit a singular style, often employing techniques of his own invention. During the filming of The Bread and Alley in 1970, Kiarostami had major differences with his experienced cinematographer about how to film the boy and the attacking dog. While the cinematographer wanted separate shots of the boy approaching, a close-up of his hand as he enters the house and closes the door, followed by a shot of the dog, Kiarostami believed that if the three scenes could be captured as a whole it would have a more profound impact in creating tension over the situation. That one shot took around forty days to complete until Kiarostami was fully content with the scene. Kiarostami later commented that the breaking of scenes would have disrupted the rhythm and content of the film's structure, preferring to let the scene flow as one. Unlike other directors, Kiarostami showed no interest in staging extravagant combat scenes or complicated chase scenes in large-scale productions, instead attempting to mold the medium of film to his own specifications. Kiarostami appeared to have settled on his style with the Koker trilogy, which included a myriad of references to his own film material, connecting common themes and subject matter between each of the films. Stephen Bransford has contended that Kiarostami's films do not contain references to the work of other directors, but are fashioned in such a manner that they are self-referenced. Bransford believes his films are often fashioned into an ongoing dialectic with one film reflecting on and partially demystifying an earlier film. He continued experimenting with new modes of filming, using different directorial methods and techniques. A case in point is Ten, which was filmed in a moving automobile in which Kiarostami was not present. He gave suggestions to the actors about what to do, and a camera placed on the dashboard filmed them while they drove around Tehran. The camera was allowed to roll, capturing the faces of the people involved during their daily routine, using a series of extreme-close shots. Ten was an experiment that used digital cameras to virtually eliminate the director. This new direction towards a digital micro-cinema is defined as a micro-budget filmmaking practice, allied with a digital production basis. Kiarostami's cinema offers a different definition of film. According to film professors such as Jamsheed Akrami of William Paterson University, Kiarostami consistently tried to redefine film by forcing the increased involvement of the audience. In his later years, he also progressively trimmed the timespan within his films. Akrami thinks that this reduces filmmaking from a collective endeavor to a purer, more basic form of artistic expression. Fiction and non-fiction Kiarostami's films contain a notable degree of ambiguity, an unusual mixture of simplicity and complexity, and often a mix of fictional and documentary elements (docufiction). Kiarostami has stated, "We can never get close to the truth except through lying." The boundary between fiction and non-fiction is significantly reduced in Kiarostami's cinema. The French philosopher Jean-Luc Nancy, writing about Kiarostami, and in particular Life and Nothing More..., has argued that his films are neither quite fiction nor quite documentary. Life and Nothing More..., he argues, is neither representation nor reportage, but rather "evidence": [I]t all looks like reporting, but everything underscores (indique à l'évidence) that it is the fiction of a documentary (in fact, Kiarostami shot the film several months after the earthquake), and that it is rather a document about "fiction": not in the sense of imagining the unreal, but in the very specific and precise sense of the technique, of the art of constructing images. For the image by means of which, each time, each opens a world and precedes himself in it (s'y précède) is not pregiven (donnée toute faite) (as are those of dreams, phantasms or bad films): it is to be invented, cut and edited. Thus it is evidence, insofar as, if one day I happen to look at my street on which I walk up and down ten times a day, I construct for an instant a new evidence of my street. For Jean-Luc Nancy, this notion of cinema as "evidence", rather than as documentary or imagination, is tied to the way Kiarostami deals with life-and-death (cf. the remark by Geoff Andrew on ABC Africa, cited above, to the effect that Kiarostami's films are not about death but about life-and-death): Existence resists the indifference of life-and-death, it lives beyond mechanical "life," it is always its own mourning, and its own joy. It becomes figure, image. It does not become alienated in images, but it is presented there: the images are the evidence of its existence, the objectivity of its assertion. This thought—which, for me, is the very thought of this film [Life and Nothing More...]—is a difficult thought, perhaps the most difficult. It's a slow thought, always underway, fraying a path so that the path itself becomes thought. It is that which frays images so that images become this thought, so that they become the evidence of this thought—and not to "represent" it. In other words, wanting to accomplish more than just represent life and death as opposing forces, but rather to illustrate the way in which each element of nature is inextricably linked, Kiarostami devised a cinema that does more than just present the viewer with the documentable "facts," but neither is it simply a matter of artifice. Because "existence" means more than simply life, it is projective, containing an irreducibly fictive element, but in this "being more than" life, it is therefore contaminated by mortality. Nancy is giving a clue, in other words, toward the interpretation of Kiarostami's statement that lying is the only way to truth. Themes of life and death The concepts of change and continuity, in addition to the themes of life and death, play a major role in Kiarostami's works. In the Koker trilogy, these themes play a central role. As illustrated in the aftermath of the 1990 Manjil–Rudbar earthquake disaster, they also represent the power of human resilience to overcome and defy destruction. Unlike the Koker films, which convey an instinctual thirst for survival, Taste of Cherry explores the fragility of life and focuses on how precious it is. Some film critics believe that the assemblage of light versus dark scenes in Kiarostami's film grammar, such as in Taste of Cherry and The Wind Will Carry Us, suggests the mutual existence of life with its endless possibilities, and death as a factual moment of anyone's life. Poetry and imagery Ahmad Karimi-Hakkak, of the University of Maryland, argues that one aspect of Kiarostami's cinematic style is that he is able to capture the essence of Persian poetry and create poetic imagery within the landscape of his films. In several of his movies such as Where is the Friend's Home and The Wind Will Carry Us, classical Persian poetry is directly quoted in the film, highlighting the artistic link and intimate connection between them. This in turn reflects on the connection between the past and present, between continuity and change. The characters recite poems mainly from classical Persian poet Omar Khayyám or modern Persian poets such as Sohrab Sepehri and Forough Farrokhzad. One scene in The Wind Will Carry Us has a long shot of a wheat field with rippling golden crops through which the doctor, accompanied by the filmmaker, is riding his scooter in a twisting road. In response to the comment that the other world is a better place than this one, the doctor recites this poem of Khayyam: They promise of houries in heaven But I would say wine is better Take the present to the promises A drum sounds melodious from distance It has been argued that the creative merit of Kiarostami's adaptation of Sohrab Sepehri and Forough Farrokhzad's poems extends the domain of textual transformation. Adaptation is defined as the transformation of a prior to a new text. Sima Daad of the University of Washington contends that Kiarostami's adaptation arrives at the theoretical realm of adaptation by expanding its limit from inter-textual potential to trans-generic potential. Spirituality Kiarostami's "complex" sound-images and philosophical approach have caused frequent comparisons with "mystical" filmmakers such as Andrei Tarkovsky and Robert Bresson. While acknowledging substantial cultural differences, much of Western critical writing about Kiarostami positions him as the Iranian equivalent of such directors, by virtue of a similarly austere, "spiritual" poetics and moral commitment. Some draw parallels between certain imagery in Kiarostami's films with that of Sufi concepts. While most English-language writers, such as David Sterritt and the Spanish film professor Alberto Elena, interpret Kiarostami's films as spiritual, other critics, including David Walsh and Hamish Ford, have rated the influence of spirituality in his films as lower. Poetry, art and photography Kiarostami, along with Jean Cocteau, Satyajit Ray, Pier Paolo Pasolini, Derek Jarman, and Alejandro Jodorowsky, was a filmmaker who expressed himself in other genres, such as poetry, set designs, painting, or photography. They expressed their interpretation of the world and their understanding of our preoccupations and identities. Kiarostami was a noted photographer and poet. A bilingual collection of more than 200 of his poems, Walking with the Wind, was published by Harvard University Press. His photographic work includes Untitled Photographs, a collection of over thirty photographs, mostly of snow landscapes, taken in his hometown Tehran, between 1978 and 2003. In 1999, he also published a collection of his poems. Kiarostami also produced Mozart's opera Così fan tutte, which premiered in Aix-en-Provence in 2003 before being performed at the English National Opera in London in 2004. Riccardo Zipoli, from the Ca' Foscari University of Venice, has studied the relations and interconnections between Kiarostami's poems and his films. The results of the analysis reveal how Kiarostami's treatment of "uncertain reality" is similar in his poems and films. Kiarostami's poetry is reminiscent of the later nature poems of the Persian painter-poet Sohrab Sepehri. On the other hand, the succinct allusion to philosophical truths without the need for deliberation, the non-judgmental tone of the poetic voice, and the structure of the poem—absence of personal pronouns, adverbs, or over-reliance on adjectives—as well as the lines containing a kigo (季語, a "season word") gives much of this poetry a haikuesque characteristic. Kiarostami's three volumes of original verse, plus his selections from classical and contemporary Persian poets, including Nima, Hafez, Rumi and Saadi, were translated into English in 2015 and were published in bilingual (Persian/English) editions by Sticking Place Books in New York. Personal life In 1969, Kiarostami married Parvin Amir-Gholi. They had two sons, Ahmad and Bahman. They divorced in 1982. Kiarostami was one of the few directors who remained in Iran after the 1979 revolution, when many of his peers fled the country. He believes that it was one of the most important decisions of his career. His permanent base in Iran and his national identity have consolidated his ability as a filmmaker: When you take a tree that is rooted in the ground and transfer it from one place to another, the tree will no longer bear fruit. And if it does, the fruit will not be as good as it was in its original place. This is a rule of nature. I think if I had left my country, I would be the same as the tree. Kiarostami frequently wore dark spectacles or sunglasses, which he required because of a sensitivity to light. Illness and death In March 2016, Kiarostami was hospitalized due to intestinal bleeding and reportedly went into a coma after undergoing two operations. Sources, including a Ministry of Health and Medical Education spokesman, reported that Kiarostami was suffering from gastrointestinal cancer. On 3 April 2016, Reza Paydar, the director of Kiarostami's medical team, made a statement denying that the filmmaker had cancer. However, in late June he left Iran for treatment in a Paris hospital, where he died on 4 July 2016. The week before his death, Kiarostami had been invited to join the Academy Awards in Hollywood as part of efforts to increase the diversity of its Oscar judges. Ali Ahani, Iran's ambassador to France stated that Kiarostami's body would be transferred to Iran to be buried at Behesht-e Zahra cemetery. However, it was later announced that his body would be buried in Lavasan, a resort town about northeast of Tehran, based on his own will, after it was flown back to Tehran from Paris. His body was returned to Tehran's Imam Khomeini International Airport on 8 July 2016, while a crowd of Iranian film directors, actors, actresses and other artists were in Tehran airport to pay their respects. Mohammad Shirvani, a fellow filmmaker and close friend, quoted Kiarostami on his Facebook wall on 8 June 2016: "I do not believe I could stand and direct any more films. They [the medical team] destroyed it [his digestive system]." After this comment, a campaign was set up by Iranians on both Twitter and Facebook to investigate the possibility of medical error during Kiarostami's procedure. However, Ahmad Kiarostami, his eldest son, denied any medical error in his father's treatment after Shirvani's comment and said that his father's health was no cause for alarm. After Kiarostami's death, Head of the Iranian Medical Council Dr. Alireza Zali sent a letter to his French counterpart, Patrick Bouet, urging him to send Kiarostami's medical file to Iran for further investigation. Nine days after Kiarostami's death, on 13 July 2016, his family issued a formal complaint of medical maltreatment through Kiarostami's personal doctor. Dariush Mehrjui, another famous Iranian cinema director, also criticized the medical team that treated Kiarostami and demanded legal action. Reactions Martin Scorsese said he was "deeply shocked and saddened" by the news. Oscar-winning Iranian film-maker Asghar Farhadi – who had been due to fly to Paris to visit his friend – said he was "very sad, in total shock". Mohsen Makhmalbaf echoed the sentiment, saying Iran's cinema owes its global reputation to his fellow director, but that this visibility did not translate into greater visibility for his work in his homeland. "Kiarostami gave the Iranian cinema the international credibility that it has today," he told The Guardian. "But his films were unfortunately not seen as much in Iran. He changed the world's cinema; he freshened it and humanized it in contrast with Hollywood's rough version." Persian mystic and poet Jalal al-Din Rumi's 22nd niece Esin Celebi also expressed her condolences over the demise of Kiarostami in a separate message. Iran's representative office at the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, UNESCO also opened a memorial book for signature to honour Kiarostami. Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said on Twitter that the director's "different and profound attitude towards life and his invitation to peace and friendship" would be a "lasting achievement." Foreign Minister Mohammad-Javad Zarif also said Kiarostami's death was a loss for international cinema. In a statement, French President François Hollande praised the director for forging "close artistic ties and deep friendships" with France. Media, such as The New York Times, CNN, The Guardian, The Huffington Post, The Independent, Associated Press, Euronews and Le Monde also reacted to Kiarostami's death. The New York Times wrote: "Abbas Kiarostami, Acclaimed Iranian Filmmaker, Dies at 76" and Peter Bradshaw paid tribute to Kiarostami: "a sophisticated, self-possessed master of cinematic poetry" The crowd that had gathered for this service in Paris held a vigil by the River Seine. They then allowed the waves of the Seine to carry away photos of Kiarostami that the crowd had left floating on the river. It was a symbolic moment of saying goodbye to a film director that many Iranians have come to passionately appreciate. Funeral Artists, cultural authorities, government officials, and the Iranian people gathered to say goodbye to Kiarostami on 10 July in an emotional funeral, six days after his death in France. The ceremony was held at the Center for the Intellectual Education of Children, where he began his film-making career some 40 years before. Attendees held banners with the titles of his movies and pictures of his most famous posters, as they praised the support Kiarostami contributed to culture, and particularly to filmmaking in Iran. The ceremony was hosted by famous Iranian actor Parviz Parastooie, and included speeches by painter Aidin Aghdashlou and prize-winning film director Asghar Farhadi, who stressed his professional abilities. He was later buried in a private ceremony in the northern Tehran town of Lavasan. Sexual assault and plagiarism allegations In August 2020, Mania Akbari, who starred in Ten, accused Kiarostami of plagiarism, stating that he edited private footage shot by Akbari into the film without her permission. In her 2019 short film Letter to My Mother, Amina Maher, daughter of Akbari, who also appeared in Ten, said that her scenes in Ten were filmed without her knowledge. In 2022, Akbari and Maher revealed that they had been asking distributor to halt circulation of the film, to which MK2 has yet to respond. Consequently, the British Film Institute removed Ten from a Kiarostami retrospective. In 2022, Akbari accused Kiarostami of raping her twice, in Tehran when she was 25 and he was about 60, and in London after Ten had premiered. Reception and criticism Kiarostami has received worldwide acclaim for his work from both audiences and critics, and, in 1999, he was voted the most important Iranian film director of the 1990s by two international critics' polls. Four of his films were placed in the top six of Cinematheque Ontario's Best of the '90s poll. He has gained recognition from film theorists, critics, as well as peers such as Jean-Luc Godard, Nanni Moretti, and Chris Marker. Akira Kurosawa said of Kiarostami's films: "Words cannot describe my feelings about them ... When Satyajit Ray passed on, I was very depressed. But after seeing Kiarostami's films, I thanked God for giving us just the right person to take his place." Critically acclaimed directors such as Martin Scorsese have commented that "Kiarostami represents the highest level of artistry in the cinema." The Austrian director Michael Haneke had admired the work of Abbas Kiarostami as among the best of any living director. In 2006, The Guardians panel of critics ranked Kiarostami as the best contemporary non-American film director. Critics such as Jonathan Rosenbaum have argued that "there's no getting around the fact that the movies of Abbas Kiarostami divide audiences—in this country, in his native Iran, and everywhere else they're shown." Rosenbaum argues that disagreements and controversy over Kiarostami's movies have arisen from his style of film-making because what in Hollywood would count as essential narrative information is frequently missing from Kiarostami's films. Camera placement, likewise, often defies standard audience expectations: in the closing sequences of Life and Nothing More and Through the Olive Trees, the audience is forced to imagine the dialogue and circumstances of important scenes. In Homework and Close-Up, parts of the soundtrack are masked or silenced. Critics have argued that the subtlety of Kiarostami's cinematic expression is largely resistant to critical analysis. While Kiarostami has won significant acclaim in Europe for several of his films, the Iranian government has refused to permit the screening of his films, to which he responded "The government has decided not to show any of my films for the past 10 years... I think they don't understand my films and so prevent them being shown just in case there is a message they don't want to get out". In the wake of the September 11 attacks, Kiarostami was refused a visa to attend the New York Film Festival. The festival director, Richard Peña, who had invited him said, "It's a terrible sign of what's happening in my country today that no one seems to realize or care about the kind of negative signal this sends out to the entire Muslim world". The Finnish film director Aki Kaurismäki boycotted the festival in protest. Kiarostami had been invited by the New York Film Festival, as well as Ohio University and Harvard University. In 2005, London Film School organized a workshop as well as the festival of Kiarostami's work, titled "Abbas Kiarostami: Visions of the Artist". Ben Gibson, Director of the London Film School, said, "Very few people have the creative and intellectual clarity to invent cinema from its most basic elements, from the ground up. We are very lucky to have the chance to see a master like Kiarostami thinking on his feet." He was later made Honorary Associate. In 2007, the Museum of Modern Art and MoMA PS1 co-organized a festival of the Kiarostami's work titled Abbas Kiarostami: Image Maker. Kiarostami and his cinematic style have been the subject of several books and three films, Opening Day of Close-Up (1996), directed by Nanni Moretti, Abbas Kiarostami: The Art of Living (2003), directed by Pat Collins and Fergus Daly, and Abbas Kiarostami: A Report (2014), directed by Bahman Maghsoudlou. Kiarostami was a member of the advisory board of World Cinema Foundation. Founded by the director Martin Scorsese, its goal is to find and reconstruct world cinema films that have been long neglected. Selected honors and awards Kiarostami has won the admiration of audiences and critics worldwide and received at least seventy awards up to the year 2000. Here are some representatives: Prix Roberto Rossellini (1992) Prix Cine Decouvertes (1992) François Truffaut Award (1993) Pier Paolo Pasolini Award (1995) Federico Fellini Gold Medal, UNESCO (1997) Palme d'Or, Cannes Film Festival (1997) Honorary Golden Alexander Prize, Thessaloniki International Film Festival (1999) Silver Lion, Venice Film Festival (1999) Akira Kurosawa Award (2000) honorary doctorate, École Normale Supérieure (2003) Konrad Wolf Prize (2003) President of the Jury for Caméra d'Or Award, Cannes Festival (2005) Fellowship of the British Film Institute (2005) Gold Leopard of Honor, Locarno International Film Festival (2005) Prix Henri-Langlois Prize (2006) Honorary doctorate, University of Toulouse (2007) World's great masters, Kolkata International Film Festival (2007) Glory to the Filmmaker Award, Venice Film Festival (2008) Honorary doctorate, University of Paris (2010) Lifetime Achievement Award for Contribution to World Cinematography (BIAFF – Batumi International Art-house film Festival, 2010) Japan's Medal of Honor (2013) Austrian Decoration for Science and Art (2014) Honorary Golden Orange Prize, International Antalya Film Festival (2014) Filmography Feature films Short films Books by Kiarostami Havres : French translation by Tayebeh Hashemi and Jean-Restom Nasser, ÉRÈS (PO&PSY); Bilingual edition (3 June 2010) . Abbas Kiarostami: Cahiers du Cinéma Livres (24 October 1997) . Walking with the Wind (Voices and Visions in Film): English translation by Ahmad Karimi-Hakkak and Michael C. Beard, Harvard Film Archive; Bilingual edition (28 February 2002) . 10 (ten): Cahiers du Cinéma Livres (5 September 2002) . With Nahal Tajadod and Jean-Claude Carrière Avec le vent: P.O.L. (5 May 2002) . Le vent nous emportera: Cahiers du Cinéma Livres (5 September 2002) . La Lettre du Cinema: P.O.L. (12 December 1997) . Kiarostami, Abbas, A Wolf on Watch (Persian / English dual language), English Translation by Iman Tavassoly and Paul Cronin, Sticking Place Books (2015) Kiarostami, Abbas, With the Wind (Persian / English dual language), English Translation by Iman Tavassoly and Paul Cronin, Sticking Place Books (2015) Kiarostami, Abbas, Wind and Leaf (Persian / English dual language), English Translation by Iman Tavassoly and Paul Cronin, Sticking Place Books (2015) Kiarostami, Abbas, Wine (poetry by Hafez) (Persian / English dual language), English Translation by Iman Tavassoly and Paul Cronin, Sticking Place Books (2015) Kiarostami, Abbas, Tears (poetry by Saadi) (Persian / English dual language), English Translation by Iman Tavassoly and Paul Cronin, Sticking Place Books (2015) Kiarostami, Abbas, Water (poetry by Nima) (Persian / English dual language), English Translation by Iman Tavassoly and Paul Cronin, Sticking Place Books (2015) Kiarostami, Abbas, Fire (poetry by Rumi) (four volumes) (Persian / English dual language), English Translation by Iman Tavassoly and Paul Cronin, Sticking Place Books (2016) Kiarostami, Abbas, Night: Poetry from the Contemporary Persian Canon (two volumes) (Persian / English Dual Language), English Translation by Iman Tavassoly and Paul Cronin, Sticking Place Books (2016) Kiarostami, Abbas, Night: Poetry from the Classical Persian Canon (two volumes) (Persian / English Dual Language), English Translation by Iman Tavassoly and Paul Cronin, Sticking Place Books (2016) Kiarostami, Abbas, In the Shadow of Trees: The Collected Poetry of Abbas Kiarostami, English Translation by Iman Tavassoly and Paul Cronin, Sticking Place Books (2016) Kiarostami, Abbas, Lessons with Kiarostami (edited by Paul Cronin), Sticking Place Books (2015) Mohammed Afkhami, Sussan Babaie, Venetia Porter, Natasha Morris. "Honar: The Afkhami Collection of Modern and Contemporary Iranian Art." Phaidon Press, 2017. . See also Cinema of Iran References Bibliography Geoff Andrew, Ten (London: BFI Publishing, 2005). Erice-Kiarostami. Correspondences, 2006, , catalogue of an exhibition together with the Spanish filmmaker Víctor Erice Alberto Elena, The Cinema of Abbas Kiarostami, Saqi Books 2005, Mehrnaz Saeed-Vafa, Jonathan Rosenbaum, Abbas Kiarostami (Contemporary Film Directors), University of Illinois Press 2003 (paperback), Julian Rice, Abbas Kiarostami's Cinema of Life, Rowman & Littlefield 2020, Jean-Luc Nancy, The Evidence of Film – Abbas Kiarostami, Yves Gevaert, Belgium 2001, Jean-Claude Bernardet, Caminhos de Kiarostami, Melhoramentos; 1 edition (2004), Marco Dalla Gassa, Abbas Kiarostami, Publisher: Mani (2000) Youssef Ishaghpour, Le réel, face et pile: Le cinéma d'Abbas Kiarostami, Farrago (2000) Alberto Barbera and Elisa Resegotti (editors), Kiarostami, Electa (30 April 2004) Laurent Kretzschmar, "Is Cinema Renewing Itself?", Film-Philosophy. vol. 6 no 15, July 2002. Jonathan Rosenbaum, "Lessons from a Master," Chicago Reader, 14 June 1996 Tanya Shilina-Conte, "Abbas Kiarostami's 'Lessons of Darkness:’ Affect, Non-Representation, and Becoming-Imperceptible". Special Issue on "Abbas Kiarostami". Iran Namag, A Quarterly of Iranian Studies 2, no. 4 (Winter 2017/2018), University of Toronto, Canada Silke von Berswordt-Wallrabe et al. (eds.): Abbas Kiarostami. Images, Still and Moving, exh. cat. Situation Kunst Bochum, Museum Wiesbaden, Kunstsammlungen Chemnitz (Ostfildern: Hatje Cantz, 2012), Andreas Kramer, Jan Röhnert (ed.), Poetry and Film / Lyrik und Film. Abbas Kiarostami and / und Jim Jarmusch, Frankfurt am Main 2020 External links 1940 births 2016 deaths Akira Kurosawa Award winners Directors of Palme d'Or winners English-language film directors Fellini Gold Medalists French-language film directors Iranian contemporary artists Iranian documentary filmmakers Iranian film directors Iranian graphic designers Iranian photographers 20th-century Iranian poets Iranian screenwriters Italian-language film directors Officers of the Legion of Honour Film people from Tehran Persian-language film directors Recipients of the Austrian Cross of Honour for Science and Art Roberto Rossellini Prize recipients University of Tehran alumni Crystal Simorgh for Best Director winners Deaths from cancer in France Deaths from gastrointestinal cancer Postmodernist filmmakers 21st-century Iranian poets Poets from Tehran

Understanding Media

Understanding Media: The Extensions of Man is a 1964 book by Marshall McLuhan, in which the author proposes that the media, not the content that they carry, should be the focus of study. He suggests that the medium affects the society in which it plays a role mainly by the characteristics of the medium rather than the content. The book is considered a pioneering study in media theory. McLuhan pointed to the light bulb as an example. A light bulb does not have content in the way that a newspaper has articles or a television has programs, yet it is a medium that has a social effect; that is, a light bulb enables people to create spaces during nighttime that would otherwise be enveloped by darkness. He describes the light bulb as a medium without any content. McLuhan states that "a light bulb creates an environment by its mere presence". More controversially, he postulated that content had little effect on society—in other words, it did not matter if television broadcasts children's shows or violent programming. He noted that all media have characteristics that engage the viewer in different ways; for instance, a passage in a book could be reread at will, but a movie had to be screened again in its entirety to study any individual part of it. The book is the source of the well-known phrase "the medium is the message". It was a leading indicator of the upheaval of local cultures by increasingly globalized values. The book greatly influenced academics, writers, and social theorists. The book discussed the radical analysis of social change, how society is shaped, and reflected by communications media. Summary Throughout Understanding Media, McLuhan uses historical quotes and anecdotes to probe the ways in which new forms of media change the perceptions of societies, with specific focus on the effects of each medium as opposed to the content that is transmitted by each medium. McLuhan identified two types of media: "hot" media and "cool" media, drawing from French anthropologist Lévi-Strauss' distinction between hot and cold societies.<ref name="Taunton2019p223">Taunton, Matthew (2019) Red Britain: The Russian Revolution in Mid-Century Culture, p.223</ref> This terminology does not refer to the temperature or emotional intensity, nor some kind of classification, but to the degree of participation. Cool media are those that require high participation from users, due to their low definition (the receiver/user must fill in missing information). Since many senses may be used, they foster involvement. Conversely, hot media are low in audience participation due to their high resolution or definition. Film, for example, is defined as a hot medium, since in the context of a dark movie theater, the viewer is completely captivated, and one primary sense—visual—is filled in high definition. In contrast, television is a cool medium, since many other things may be going on and the viewer has to integrate all of the sounds and sights in the context. In Part One, McLuhan discusses the differences between hot and cool media and the ways that one medium translates the content of another medium. Briefly, "the content of a medium is always another medium". In Part Two, McLuhan analyzes each medium (circa 1964) in a manner that exposes the form, rather than the content of each medium. In order, McLuhan covers: The Spoken Word; The Written Word (i.e., manuscript or incunabulum); Roads and Paper Routes; Numbers; Clothing; Housing; Money; Clocks; The Print (i.e., pictorial lithograph or woodcut); Comics; The Printed Word (i.e., typography); The Wheel; The Bicycle and Airplane; The Photograph; The Press; The Motorcar; Ads; Games; The Telegraph; The Typewriter; The Telephone; The Phonograph; Movies; Radio; Television; Weapons; and Automation. Concept of "media" McLuhan uses interchangeably the words medium, media, and technology. For McLuhan a medium is "any extension of ourselves" or, more broadly, "any new technology". Contrastly, in addition to forms such as newspapers, television, and radio, McLuhan includes the light bulb, cars, speech, and language in his definition of media: all of these, as technologies, mediate our communication; their forms or structures affect how we perceive and understand the world around us. McLuhan says that conventional pronouncements fail in studying media because they focus on content, which blinds them to the psychic and social effects that define the medium's true significance. McLuhan observes that any medium "amplifies or accelerates existing processes", introducing a "change of scale or pace or shape or pattern into human association, affairs, and action", which results in "psychic, and social consequences". This is the real "meaning or message" brought by a medium, a social and psychic message, and it depends solely on the medium itself, regardless of the 'content' emitted by it. This is basically the meaning of "the medium is the message". To demonstrate the flaws of the common belief that the message resides in how the medium is used (the content), McLuhan provides the example of mechanization, pointing out that regardless of the product (e.g., corn flakes or Cadillacs), the impact on workers and society is the same. In a further exemplification of the common unawareness of the real meaning of media, McLuhan says that people "describe the scratch but not the itch". As an example of "media experts" who follow this fundamentally flawed approach, McLuhan quotes a statement from "General" David Sarnoff (head of RCA), calling it the "voice of the current somnambulism". Each medium "adds itself on to what we already are", realizing "amputations and extensions" to our senses and bodies, shaping them in a new technical form. As appealing as this remaking of ourselves may seem, it really puts us in a "narcissistic hypnosis" that prevents us from seeing the real nature of the media. McLuhan also says that a characteristic of every medium is that its content is always another (previous) medium. For an example in the new millennium, the Internet is a medium whose content is various media which came before it—the printing press, radio and the moving image. An overlooked, constantly repeated understanding McLuhan has is that moral judgement (for better or worse) of an individual using media is very difficult, because of the psychic effects media have on society and their users. Moreover, media and technology, for McLuhan, are not necessarily inherently "good" or "bad" but bring about great change in a society's way of life. Awareness of the changes are what McLuhan seemed to consider most important, so that, in his estimation, the only sure disaster would be a society not perceiving a technology's effects on their world, especially the chasms and tensions between generations. The only possible way to discern the real "principles and lines of force" of a medium (or structure) is to stand aside from it and be detached from it. This is necessary to avoid the powerful ability of any medium to put the unwary into a "subliminal state of Narcissus trance", imposing "its own assumptions, bias, and values" on him. Instead, while in a detached position, one can predict and control the effects of the medium. This is difficult because "the spell can occur immediately upon contact, as in the first bars of a melody". One historical example of such detachment is Alexis de Tocqueville and the medium of typography. He was in such position because he was highly literate. Instead, an historical example of the embrace of technological assumptions happened with the Western world, which, heavily influenced by literacy, took its principles of "uniform and continuous and sequential" for the actual meaning of "rational". McLuhan argues that media are languages, with their own structures and systems of grammar, and that they can be studied as such. He believed that media have effects in that they continually shape and re-shape the ways in which individuals, societies, and cultures perceive and understand the world. In his view, the purpose of media studies is to make visible what is invisible: the effects of media technologies themselves, rather than simply the messages they convey. Media studies therefore, ideally, seeks to identify patterns within a medium and in its interactions with other media. Based on his studies in New Criticism, McLuhan argued that technologies are to words as the surrounding culture is to a poem: the former derive their meaning from the context formed by the latter. Like Harold Innis, McLuhan looked to the broader culture and society within which a medium conveys its messages to identify patterns of the medium's effects. "Hot" and "cool" media In the first part of Understanding Media, McLuhan also states that different media invite different degrees of participation on the part of a person who chooses to consume a medium. Some media, such as film, were "hot" - that is, they enhance one single sense, in this case vision, in such a manner that a person does not need to exert much effort in filling in the details of a movie image. McLuhan contrasted this with "cool" TV, which he claimed requires more effort on the part of viewer to determine meaning, and comics, which due to their minimal presentation of visual detail require a high degree of effort to fill in details that the cartoonist may have intended to portray. A movie is thus said by McLuhan to be "hot", intensifying one single sense "high definition", demanding a viewer's attention, and a comic book to be "cool" and "low definition", requiring much more conscious participation by the reader to extract value. "Any hot medium allows of less participation than a cool one, as a lecture makes for less participation than a seminar, and a book for less than a dialogue." Hot media usually, but not always, provide complete involvement without considerable stimulus. For example, print occupies visual space, uses visual senses, but can immerse its reader. Hot media favour analytical precision, quantitative analysis and sequential ordering, as they are usually sequential, linear and logical. They emphasize one sense (for example, of sight or sound) over the others. For this reason, hot media also include radio, as well as film, the lecture and photography. Cool media, on the other hand, are usually, but not always, those that provide little involvement with substantial stimulus. They require more active participation on the part of the user, including the perception of abstract patterning and simultaneous comprehension of all parts. Therefore, according to McLuhan cool media include television, as well as the seminar and cartoons. McLuhan describes the term "cool media" as emerging from jazz and popular music and, in this context, is used to mean "detached". Examples of media and their messages Critiques of Understanding Media Some theorists have attacked McLuhan's definition and treatment of the word "medium" for being too simplistic. Umberto Eco, for instance, contends that McLuhan's medium conflates channels, codes, and messages under the overarching term of the medium, confusing the vehicle, internal code, and content of a given message in his framework. In Media Manifestos, Régis Debray also takes issue with McLuhan's envisioning of the medium. Like Eco, he too is ill at ease with this reductionist approach, summarizing its ramifications as follows: The list of objections could be and has been lengthened indefinitely: confusing technology itself with its use of the media makes of the media an abstract, undifferentiated force and produces its image in an imaginary "public" for mass consumption; the magical naivete of supposed causalities turns the media into a catch-all and contagious "mana"; apocalyptic millenarianism invents the figure of a homo mass-mediaticus without ties to historical and social context, and so on. Furthermore, when Wired interviewed him in 1995, Debray stated that he views McLuhan "more as a poet than a historian, a master of intellectual collage rather than a systematic analyst.... McLuhan overemphasizes the technology behind cultural change at the expense of the usage that the messages and codes make of that technology." Dwight Macdonald, in turn, reproached McLuhan for his focus on television and for his "aphoristic" style of prose, which he believes left Understanding Media filled with "contradictions, non-sequiturs, facts that are distorted and facts that are not facts, exaggerations, and chronic rhetorical vagueness". Additionally, Brian Winston’s Misunderstanding Media, published in 1986, chides McLuhan for what he sees as his technologically deterministic stances. Raymond Williams and James W. Carey further this point of contention, claiming: The work of McLuhan was a particular culmination of an aesthetic theory which became, negatively, a social theory ... It is an apparently sophisticated technological determinism which has the significant effect of indicating a social and cultural determinism ... If the medium - whether print or television – is the cause, of all other causes, all that men ordinarily see as history is at once reduced to effects. (Williams 1990, 126/7) David Carr states that there has been a long line of "academics who have made a career out of deconstructing McLuhan’s effort to define the modern media ecosystem", whether it be due to what they see as McLuhan's ignorance toward socio-historical context or the style of his argument. While some critics have taken issue with McLuhan's writing style and mode of argument, McLuhan himself urged readers to think of his work as "probes" or "mosaics" offering a toolkit approach to thinking about the media. His eclectic writing style has also been praised for its postmodern sensibilities and suitability for virtual space. Exploring theories McLuhan's theories about "the medium is the message" link culture and society. A recurrent topic is the contrast between oral cultures and print culture. Each new form of media, according to the analysis of McLuhan, shapes messages differently thereby requiring new filters to be engaged in the experience of viewing and listening to those messages. McLuhan argues that as "sequence yields to the simultaneous, one is in the world of the structure and of configuration". The main example is the passage from mechanization (processes fragmented into sequences, lineal connections) to electric speed (faster up to simultaneity, creative configuration, structure, total field). Howard Rheingold comments upon McLuhan's "the medium is the message" in relation to the convergence of technology, specifically the computer. In his book Tools for Thought Rheingold explains the notion of the universal machine - the original conception of the computer. Eventually computers will no longer use information but knowledge to operate, in effect thinking''. If in the future computers (the medium) are everywhere, then what becomes of McLuhan's message? Historical examples According to McLuhan, the French Revolution and American Revolution happened under the push of print whereas the preexistence of a strong oral culture in Britain prevented such an effect. Footnotes External links of Marshall McLuhan (author) 1964 non-fiction books Books about the media Books about hyperreality Books in philosophy of technology Canadian essays English-language books Works by Marshall McLuhan Books about media theory

Deterritorialization

In critical theory, deterritorialization is the process by which a social relation, called a territory, has its current organization and context altered, mutated or destroyed. The components then constitute a new territory, which is the process of reterritorialization. The idea was developed and proposed in the work of Gilles Deleuze and Félix Guattari. For instance, in Anti-Oedipus, they observe that the understanding of the psyche was revolutionized by Sigmund Freud's concepts of libido and polymorphous perversity, and thus the psyche was initially deterritorialized, but he then conceptualized a new territory, the Oedipus complex, an understanding of tension in the psyche that is in favor of repression, thus reterritorializing it. They also observed that capitalism is "the movement of social production that goes to the very extremes of its deterritorialization", and describe it as "the new massive deterritorialization, the conjunction of deterritorialized flows". The idea has been applied to describe the shifting of social, cultural, economic and political practices, as well as of people, objects, languages, traditions and beliefs in relation to their respective originating bodies. Some theorists have adopted a literal understanding of the word, applying it to geographical territories and their respective relations. Overview Gilles Deleuze and Félix Guattari note that deterritorialization and reterritorialization occur simultaneously. The function of deterritorialization is defined as "the movement by which one leaves a territory", also known as a "line of flight", but deterritorialization also "constitutes and extends" the territory itself. In A Thousand Plateaus, the second volume of Capitalism and Schizophrenia, they distinguish between relative and an absolute deterritorialization. Relative deterritorialization is always accompanied by reterritorialization, while positive absolute deterritorialization is more akin to the construction of a "plane of immanence", akin to Spinoza's ontological constitution of the world. There is also a negative absolute deterritorialization, for example in the subjectivation process which is described as a construction of "the face" and an establishing of "faciality". Deterritorialization and reterritorialization Mediatization works as a preferential source of deterritorialization, while it becomes a catalyser of other sources of deterritorialization (migrations, tourism, vast shopping centres, and economical transformations). As Tomlinson points out, mediatization is absolutely omnipresent in everyday contemporary cultural experiences, it therefore appears as clearly decisive in deterritorialized cultural experience. The aforementioned experience implies opening up to the world and amplifying cultural horizons through the globalized mass media. This means that globalization transforms the relation between the places where we live and our cultural activities, experiences and identities. Paradoxically, deterritorialization also includes reterritorialized manifestations, which García Canclini defines as "certain relative, partial territorial relocalizations of old and new symbolic productions". According to the concept of glocalization proposed by Robertson, deterritorialization and reterritorialization constitute both sides of the same coin of cultural globalization. Deterritorialization speaks of the loss of the "natural" relation between culture and the social and geographic territories, and describes a deep transformation of the link between our everyday cultural experiences and our configuration as preferably local beings. As Giddens argues, "the very tissue of spatial experience alters, conjoining proximity and distance in ways that have few close parallels in prior ages". Nevertheless, it is very important not to interpret the deterritorialization of localized cultural experiences as an impoverishment of cultural interaction, but as a transformation produced by the impact the growing cultural transnational connections have on the local realm, which means that deterritorialization generates a relativization and a transformation of local cultural experiences, whether it is from the local event itself or by the projection of symbolical shapes from the local event. Displacement Although the process of across-boundaries flow was imbalanced, it cannot be denied that it has profound influence on politics, economics, and culture from every dimension. Although there were imbalanced power presences in different nations, it is undeniable that people will gradually realize that in addition to their own lives around are mutually implicated in the distant shore, but also to reconcile the impact between their lives around and the distant side. That is, the flow process of beyond the boundaries not only the representatives of strengthening interdependence, but also representatives that they both have the cognitive of globalization. It formed an easily comprehensive characteristics about "superterritorial" and "transworld". In other words, the original divide in the territorial boundaries between them have lost some authority, what is the main phenomenon of deterritorialization. Therefore, no matter from what angle to explore globalization, deterritorialization has been a general consensus. The word "deterritorialization" may have different meanings. Tomlinson had pointed out that many scholars use the vocabulary of deterritorialization to explain the process of globalization, however, there are still some scholars who prefer the use of related words, such as "delocalization" or "displacement". It emphasized different point in the use of different terms, but basically we can understand the meaning of these words that is to understand the transformation between local and cultures of the global modernity. In the text of Tomlinson, however, we found that he uses "deterritorialization" to explain the phenomenon instead of using "delocalization". But we can unearth that "deterritorialization" was more focused on liberating the people from the "local", is a process which no longer just only affected by neighborhood and familiar local, but also deeply influenced by the distant place. Sociologist Anthony Giddens has defined modernity in terms of an experience of 'distanciation', in which familiar, local environments are interlaced with distant forces as a result of globalization. He has argued that related perceptions of "displacement" (and estrangement from the local community) may be mitigated by global media, which allow some broader experience of community. Disjunctive relationships However, communication technology may act not only to fill the field of local cultural significance and identity which corroded by deterritorialization, but also to establish global cultural politics. Politics of deterritorialization and the displacement of sociological will lead the struggle between state and nation. One important new feature of global cultural politics, tied to the disjunctive relationships among the various landscapes which proposed by Appadurai, is that state and nation are at each other's throats, and the hyphen that links them is now less an icon of conjuncture than an index of disjuncture. In anthropology When referring to culture, anthropologists use the term deterritorialized to refer to a weakening of ties between culture and place. This means the removal of cultural subjects and objects from a certain location in space and time. It implies that certain cultural aspects tend to transcend specific territorial boundaries in a world that consists of things fundamentally in motion. In cultural globalization In the context of cultural globalization, Hernandez argues that deterritorialization is a cultural feature developed by the "mediatization, migration, and commodification which characterize globalized modernity". According to the works of Arjun Appadurai, the cultural distancing from the locality is intensified when people are able to expand and alter their imagination through the mediatization of alien cultural conditions, making the culture of remote origin one of a familiar material. That makes it difficult for a local entity to sustain and retain its own local cultural identity, which also affects the national identity of the region. Appadurai writes in his 1990 essay "Disjuncture and Difference" that: See also Accelerationism Empire Fleet in being, a naval example of a "vector of deterritorialization", according to Deleuze & Guattari quoting Paul Virilio Social alienation References Notes Antonio Negri, The Savage Anomaly: The Power of Spinoza's Metaphysics and Politics, Translated by Michael Hardt. University of Minnesota Press, 1991. Citations Sources Gilles Deleuze and Félix Guattari. 1972. Anti-Œdipus. Trans. Robert Hurley, Mark Seem and Helen R. Lane. London and New York: Continuum, 2004. Vol. 1 of Capitalism and Schizophrenia. 2 vols. 1972–1980. Trans. of L'Anti-Oedipe. Paris: Les Editions de Minuit. . ---. 1980. A Thousand Plateaus. Trans. Brian Massumi. London and New York: Continuum, 2004. Vol. 2 of Capitalism and Schizophrenia. 2 vols. 1972–1980. Trans. of Mille Plateaux. Paris: Les Editions de Minuit. . Guattari, Félix. 1984. Molecular Revolution: Psychiatry and Politics. Trans. Rosemary Sheed. Harmondsworth: Penguin. . ---. 1995. Chaosophy. Ed. Sylvère Lotringer. Semiotext(e) Foreign Agents Ser. New York: Semiotext(e). . ---. 1996. Soft Subversions. Ed. Sylvère Lotringer. Trans. David L. Sweet and Chet Wiener. Semiotext(e) Foreign Agents Ser. New York: Semiotext(e). . Inda, Jonathon Xavier. The Anthropology of Globalization. Massumi, Brian. 1992. A User's Guide to Capitalism and Schizophrenia: Deviations from Deleuze and Guattari. Swerve editions. Cambridge, USA and London: MIT. . Social change Social theories Cultural globalization Political science terminology Concepts in social philosophy Félix Guattari Gilles Deleuze Accelerationism

Media literacy

Media literacy is an expanded conceptualization of literacy that includes the ability to access and analyze media messages, as well as create, reflect and take action—using the power of information and communication—to make a difference in the world. Media literacy applies to different types of media, and is seen as an important skill for work, life, and citizenship. Examples of media literacy include reflecting on one's media choices, identifying sponsored content, recognizing stereotypes, analyzing propaganda and discussing the benefits, risks, and harming of media use. Critical analysis skills can be developed through practices like constructivist media decoding and lateral reading, which entails looking at multiple perspectives in assessing the quality of a particular piece of media. Media literacy also includes the ability to create and share messages as a socially responsible communicator, and the practices of safety and civility, information access, and civic voice and engagement are sometimes referred to as digital citizenship. Media literacy education is the process used to advance media literacy competencies, and it is intended to promote awareness of media influence and create an active stance towards both consuming and creating media. Media literacy education is taught and studied in many countries around the world. Finland has been cited as one of the leading countries that invests significantly in media literacy. Media literacy education Education for media literacy often encourages people to ask questions about what they watch, hear, and read. Some examples of media examined include, but are not limited to television, video games, photographs, and audio messages. Media literacy education provides tools to help people develop receptive media capability to critically analyze messages, offers opportunities for learners to broaden their experience of media, and helps them develop generative media capability to increase creative skills in making their own media messages. Critical analyses can include identifying author, purpose and point of view, examining construction techniques and genres, examining patterns of media representation, and detecting propaganda, censorship, and bias in news and public affairs programming (and the reasons for these). Media literacy education may explore how structural features—such as media ownership, or its funding model—affect the information presented. Media Literacy is interdisciplinary by nature. Media literacy represents a necessary, inevitable, and realistic response to the complex, ever-changing electronic environment and communication cornucopia surrounding us. Goals might include developing the habits and skills to access, analyze, evaluate, create, and act using all forms of communication. Education about media literacy can begin in early childhood by developing a pedagogy around more critical thinking and deeper analysis and questioning of concepts and texts. As students age and enter adulthood, the use of learning media literacy will be impactful in identifying ethical and technical standards in media as well as understanding how media ties to their cognitive, social, and emotional needs. In North America and Europe, media literacy includes both empowerment and protectionist perspectives. Media literate people can skillfully create and produce media messages, both to show understanding of the specific qualities of each medium, as well as to create media and participate as active citizens. Media literacy can be seen as contributing to an expanded conceptualization of literacy, treating mass media, popular culture and digital media as new types of 'texts' that require analysis and evaluation. By transforming the process of media consumption into an active and critical process, people gain greater awareness of the potential for misrepresentation and manipulation, and understand the role of mass media and participatory media in constructing views of reality. Media literacy education is sometimes conceptualized as a way to address the negative dimensions of media, including media manipulation, misinformation, gender and racial stereotypes and violence, the sexualization of children, and concerns about loss of privacy, cyberbullying and Internet predators. By building knowledge and competencies in using media and technology, media literacy education may provide a type of protection to children and young people by helping them make good choices in their media consumption habits, and patterns of usage. This pedagogical project questions representations of class, gender, race, sexuality and other forms of identity and challenges media messages that reproduce oppression and discrimination. Proponents of media literacy education argue that the inclusion of media literacy into school curricula promotes civic engagement, increases awareness of the power structures inherent in popular media and aids students in gaining necessary critical and inquiry skills. Media can have a positive or negative impact on society, but media literacy education enables the students to discern inescapable risks of manipulation, propaganda and media bias. A growing body of research has begun focusing on the impact of media literacy on youth. In an important meta-analysis of more than 50 studies, published in the Journal of Communication, media literacy interventions were found to have positive effects on knowledge, criticism, perceived realism, influence, behavioral beliefs, attitudes, self-efficacy, and behavior. Media literacy also encourages critical thinking and self-expression, enabling citizens to decisively exercise their democratic rights. Media literacy enables the populace to understand and contribute to public discourse, and, eventually, make sound decisions when electing their leaders. People who are media literate can adopt a critical stance when decoding media messages, no matter their views regarding a position. Likewise, the use of mobile devices by children and adolescents is increasing significantly; therefore, it is relevant to investigate the level of advertising literacy of parents who interact as mediators between children and mobile advertising. Digitalisation and the expansion of information and communication technologies at the beginning of the 21st century have substantially modified the media and their relationship with users, which logically modifies the basic principles of media education. It is no longer so much a question of educating critical receivers as of training citizens as responsible prosumers in virtual and hybrid environments. Media education currently incorporates phenomena such as social networks, virtual communities, big data, artificial intelligence, cyber-surveillance, etc., as well as training the individual in the critical use of mobile devices of all kinds. Media literacy policy Educators have identified some important components that should be present in "quality" media literacy education programs. These include: (1) attention to teaching methods; (2) the training and preparation of educators; (3) the scope, structure, and coherence of the activities of instructional practice; (4) the presence and appropriateness of underlying theories of media literacy; and (5) the originality of the programs in relation to available resources and community needs. In the United States, education policy is decentralized, and reference to media literacy is growing, with 22 passed bills in 14 states since 2012. Most state policies do not allocate financial resources to promote media literacy education, with only a few providing staff positions or coaching. While most policies make reference to resources for media literacy education, these generally refer to lists of curriculum materials or sample instructional material. Theoretical approaches to media literacy education Theoretical frameworks for media literacy are rooted in interdisciplinary work at the intersection of communication and media studies, education, and the humanities. Key concepts and core principles have been synthesized from the work of 20th century thinkers and scholars who have been called grandparents of media literacy, such as Paolo Freire, Marshall McLuhan, Stuart Hall, and others. Information Literacy With the growing problem of so-called "fake news," Mike Caulfield and Sam Wineburg adapt an approach to fact checking as a type of media literacy, suggesting that information seekers emphasize lateral reading, including starting some searches on Wikipedia. Instead of "vertical reading" of a single website, "lateral reading", is a fact-checking method to find and compare multiple sources of information on the same topic or event. The method they suggest is called 'SIFT.' 'S' is for stop and reflect, especially before sharing or acting on the information. 'I' is for investigate the source. Looking at the source's Wikipedia page, for example, can sometimes a give a sense of their reliability. 'F' is for find better coverage, such as a reputable fact-checking website. 'T' is for trace the claim to its original context, whether an image or a quote to help make sure it was not taken out of context or comes from a reliable source. Literacy Other approaches focus on positioning media literacy in relation to "reading," "writing," and "relevance." Renee Hobbs developed the AACRA model (access, analyze, create, reflect and act) and identifies three frames for introducing media literacy to learners: authors and audiences (AA), messages and meanings (MM), and representation and reality (RR), synthesizing the scholarly literature from media literacy, information literacy, visual literacy and new literacies. Communication Some theoretical frames make reference to the key elements of human communication. David Buckingham proposed: Production, Language, Representation, and Audience. Elaborating on the concepts presented by David Buckingham, Henry Jenkins discusses the emergence of a participatory culture and stresses the significance of "new media literacies"—a set of cultural competencies and social skills that young people need in the new media landscape. Power Other theoretical approaches, like critical media literacy, emphasize the power relationships that are inherent in media systems in society. Critical media literacy aims to analyze and understand the power structures that shape media representations and the ways in which audiences work to make meaning through dominant, oppositional and negotiated readings of media. Effects There is also an approach to media literacy that is rooted in media psychology and media effects. This is sometimes called a protectionist approach to media literacy because it aims to educate students about potential risks and harms of media use. This approach views children and young people as particularly vulnerable to cultural, ideological or moral influences, and needing protection by means of education. Arts The media arts education tradition focuses on creative production of different media forms by learners. This approach is one of the oldest approaches to media literacy education and was pioneered by educators and artists in Rochester, New York who developed visual literacy in education. Research on media literacy education The scholarly knowledge community publishes research in the Journal of Media Literacy Education and other journals, and a robust global community of media literacy scholars has emerged since the European Commission set an ambitious objective for Europe to advance its knowledge economy while being more culturally inclusive. Empirical research on media literacy education is carried out by social science researchers generally falls into three major categories, focusing on (a) health outcomes; (b) curriculum and instruction; and (c) political attitudes, media use and behavior. Meta-analysis of a large number of these studies has found that the average effect size was strong and positive for outcomes including media knowledge, criticism, perceived realism, influence, attitudes, self-efficacy, and behavior. In two recent nationally-representative surveys of U.S. residents, media literacy competencies were associated with health-related decision making in the context of COVID-19, and the study found that media literacy skills promote the adoption of recommended health behaviors. Health interventions have also explored issues such as media violence, stereotypes in the representation of gender and race, materialism and consumer culture, and the glamorization of unhealthy behavior, including smoking. Research shows that media literacy is associated with increased resilience in children and youth that is effective in a wide variety of contexts and learning environments. Media literacy competencies are frequently measured using self-report measures, where people rate or agree with various statements. These measures are easy to administer to a large group of people. Some researchers use performance- or competency-based measures to examine people's actual ability to critically analyze news, advertising, or entertainment. Media literacy programs that focus on political attitudes and behavior are thought to provide the cognitive and social scaffolding needed for civic engagement. Research on high school students has shown that participation in a media literacy program was positively associated with information-seeking motives, media knowledge, and news analysis skills. Experimental research has shown that young people ages 15 – 27 who had received media literacy education in schools were better able to evaluate the accuracy of political content, even when it aligned with their existing political beliefs. History and international applications UNESCO has investigated which countries were incorporating media studies into different schools' curricula as a means to develop new initiatives in the field of media education. Relying on 72 experts on media education in 52 countries around the world, the study identified that (1) media literacy occurs inside the context of formal education; (2) it generally relies of partnerships with media industries and media regulators; and (3) there is a robust research community who have examined the needs of educators and obstacles to future development. Although progress around the world was uneven, all respondents realized the importance of media education, as well as the need for formal recognition from their government and policymakers. In recent years, a wide variety of media literacy education initiatives have increased collaboration in Europe and North America, Many cultural, social, and political factors shape how media literacy education initiatives are believed to be significant. Mind Over Media is one example of an international collaboration in media literacy education: it is a digital learning platform that relies on crowdsourced examples of contemporary propaganda shared by educators and learners from around the world. For educators who are developing media literacy programs, the study of propaganda has become increasingly important, especially with the rise of fake news and disinformation. One ranking of media literacy efforts had Finland #1, Canada #7 and the United States #18. North America In North America, the beginnings of a formalized approach to media literacy as a topic of education is often attributed to the 1978 formation of the Ontario-based Association for Media Literacy (AML). Before that time, instruction in media education was usually the purview of individual teachers and practitioners. Canada Canada was the first country in North America to require media literacy in the school curriculum. Every province has mandated media education in its curriculum. For example, the new curriculum of Quebec mandates media literacy from Grade 1 until final year of secondary school (Secondary V). The launching of media education in Canada came about for two reasons. One reason was the concern about the pervasiveness of American popular culture and the other was the education system-driven necessity of contexts for new educational paradigms. Canadian communication scholar Marshall McLuhan ignited the North American educational movement for media literacy in the 1950s and 1960s. Two of Canada's leaders in Media Literacy and Media Education are Barry Duncan and John Pungente. Duncan died on June 6, 2012. Even after he retired from classroom teaching, Barry had still been active in media education. Pungente is a Jesuit priest who has promoted media literacy since the early 1960s. United States Media literacy education has been an interest in the United States since the early 20th century, when high school English teachers first started using film to develop students' critical thinking and communication skills. However, media literacy education is distinct from simply using media and technology in the classroom, a distinction that is exemplified by the difference between "teaching with media" and "teaching about media." In the 1950s and 60s, the ‘film grammar’ approach to media literacy education developed in the United States. Where educators began to show commercial films to children, having them learn a new terminology consisting of words such as: fade, dissolve, truck, pan, zoom, and cut. Films were connected to literature and history. To understand the constructed nature of film, students explored plot development, character, mood and tone. Then, during the 1970s and 1980s, attitudes about mass media and mass culture began to shift around the English-speaking world. Educators began to realize the need to "guard against our prejudice of thinking of print as the only real medium that the English teacher has a stake in." A whole generation of educators began to not only acknowledge film and television as new, legitimate forms of expression and communication, but also explored practical ways to promote serious inquiry and analysis—- in higher education, in the family, in schools and in society. In 1976, Project Censored began using a service learning model to cultivate media literacy skills among students and faculty in higher education. Media literacy education began to appear in state English education curriculum frameworks by the early 1990s, as a result of increased awareness in the central role of media in the context of contemporary culture. Nearly all 50 states have language that supports media literacy in state curriculum frameworks. Additionally, an increasing number of school districts have begun to develop school-wide programs, elective courses, and other after-school opportunities for media analysis and production. Media education for teachers, as of 2015, represented 2% of all study programs in teacher training. Founded in 2008, the News Literacy Project initially offered curricular materials and other resources for educators who taught U.S. students in grades 6–12 (middle school and high school), focusing primarily on helping students learn to sort fact from fiction in the digital age. (In 2020 NLP expanded its work to include audiences of all ages and made all of its resources free of charge.) Similar programs for students and adults are also offered by the Poynter Institute (MediaWise) and the Stanford History Education Group at Stanford University (Civic Online Reasoning). Assessments of students who have taken such programs and those who have not have shown that the students with media literacy training can more easily recognize false or misleading content and determine whether a source of information is credible. 18 states have enacted media literacy standards in K-12 education as of 2023, including Texas, New Jersey, Delaware, Florida and California. In 2021, Illinois became the first state to require high school students to take a news literacy class. Europe The UK is widely regarded as a leader in the development of media literacy education. Key agencies that have been involved in this development include the British Film Institute, the English and Media Centre Film Education the Centre for the Study of Children, Youth and Media at the Institute of Education, London, and the DARE centre (Digital Arts Research Education), a collaboration between University College London and the British Film Institute. The ‘promotion' of media literacy also became a UK Government policy under New Labour, and was enshrined in the Communications Act 2003 as a responsibility of the new media regulator, Ofcom. After an initial burst of activity, however, Ofcom's work in this regard was progressively reduced in scope, and from the Coalition government onwards, the promotion of media literacy was reduced to a matter of market research – what Wallis & Buckingham have described as an ‘undead' policy. In the Nordics, media education was introduced into the Finnish elementary curriculum in 1970 and into high schools in 1977. The concepts devised at the Lycée franco-finlandais d'Helsinki became the standard nation-wide in 2016. Finland also offers education for older adults as well. France has taught film from the inception of the medium, but it has only been recently that conferences and media courses for teachers have been organized with the inclusion of media production. Germany saw theoretical publications on media literacy in the 1970s and 1980s, with a growing interest for media education inside and outside the educational system in the 80s and 90s. In the Netherlands media literacy was placed in the agenda by the Dutch government in 2006 as an important subject for the Dutch society. In April, 2008, an official center has been created (mediawijsheid expertisecentrum = medialiteracy expertisecenter) by the Dutch government. This center is a network organization consisting of different stakeholders with expertise on the subject. In Russia, the 1970s-1990s brought about the first official programs of film and media education, increasing interest in doctoral studies focused on media education, as well as theoretical and empirical work on media education by O.Baranov (Tver), S.Penzin (Voronezh), G.Polichko, U.Rabinovich (Kurgan), Y.Usov (Moscow), Alexander Fedorov (Taganrog), A.Sharikov (Moscow) and others. Recent developments in media education in Russia are the 2002 registration of a new ‘Media Education’ (No. 03.13.30) specialization for the pedagogical universities, and the 2005 launch of the Media Education academic journal, partly sponsored by the ICOS UNESCO ‘Information for All’. Montenegro became one of the few countries in the world that have introduced media education into their curriculums, when in 2009 “media literacy” was introduced as an optional subject for 16 and 17-year-old students of Gymnasium high schools. In Ukraine, media education is in the second stage (2017–2020) of development and standardization. Main centres of media education include the Ivan Franko University of Lviv (led by Borys Potyatynyk), Institute of Higher Education of the National Academy of Pedagogical Sciences of Ukraine (Hanna Onkovych), Institute of Social and Political Psychology of the National Academy of Pedagogical Sciences of Ukraine (Lyubov Naidyonova). In Spanish legislation, digital competence is considered as an umbrella term that "includes information and data literacy, communication and collaboration, media education, digital content creation (including programming), security (including digital wellbeing and cybersecurity skills), digital citizenship issues, privacy, intellectual property, problem solving, and computational and critical thinking". Asia Media literacy education is not yet as widespread or as advanced in Asia, comparative to the U.S. or Western countries. Beginning in the 1990s, there has been a shift towards media literacy in East Asia. In recent years, media literacy education is growing in Asia, with several programs in place across countries throughout the Asian Pacific region. Studies have been done to test levels of media literacy among Chinese-speaking students in Taiwan. Beginning in the 2017 school year, children in Taiwan study a new curriculum designed to teach critical reading of propaganda and the evaluation of sources. Called "media literacy," the course provides training in journalism in the new information society. In India, the Cybermohalla program started in 2001 with the aim to bring access to technology to youths. In Vietnam, the Young Journalists Group (YOJO) was created in 1998 in collaboration with UNICEF and the Vietnamese National Radio to combat false accounts by the media. In Singapore, the Media Development Authority (MDA) defines media literacy and recognizes it as an important tool for the 21st century, but only from the reading aspect of the term. Middle East According to the government-owned The Jordan Times, Jordan, has been moving forward in fostering media and information literacy, which is crucial to fighting extremism and hate speech, Jordan Media Institute has worked on spreading the concepts and skills of positive interaction with the media and tools of communication technology and digital media, and to reduce their disadvantages. An academy in Beirut, Lebanon opened in 2013, called the Media and Digital Literacy Academy of Beirut (MDLAB) with the goal for students to be critical media consumers. Third and Fourth graders in Kuwait are learning to address visual stereotypes surrounding the Middle East through media literacy education, in part to be better able to challenge representation. Africa The UNESCO Media and Information Literacy Alliance, formerly known as Global Alliance for Partnerships on Media and Information Literacy (GAPMIL), is a groundbreaking effort to promote international cooperation to ensure that all citizens have access to media and information literacy competencies. Yet, organizations and individuals from over a hundred countries have agreed to join forces and stand together for change. This pioneering initiative was launched during the Global Forum for Partnerships on Media and Information Literacy which took place from 26 to 28 June 2013, in Abuja, Nigeria, aiming at: articulating concrete partnerships to drive media and information literacy development and impact globally; enabling the media and information literate community to speak as one voice on certain critical matters, particularly as it relates to policies; further deepening the strategy for media and information literacy to be treated as a composite concept by providing a common platform for media and information literacy related networks and associations globally. See also Critical literacy Digital literacy Information and media literacy Institute for Propaganda Analysis Intertextuality Multiliteracy Postliterate society Transmediation Notes References Further reading Voices of Media Literacy: International Pioneers Speak. 2010-2011. Center for Media Literacy. External links Media Literacy Resources by Newseum Literacy Mass media Media studies Pedagogy Criticism of journalism

Sex-positive movement

The sex-positive movement is a social and philosophical movement that seeks to change cultural attitudes and norms around sexuality, promoting the recognition of sexuality (in the countless forms of expression) as a natural and healthy part of the human experience and emphasizing the importance of personal sovereignty, safer sex practices, and consensual sex (free from violence or coercion). It covers every aspect of sexual identity including gender expression, orientation, relationship to the body (body-positivity, nudity, choice), relationship-style choice, and reproductive rights. Sex-positivity is "an attitude towards human sexuality that regards all consensual sexual activities as fundamentally healthy and pleasurable, encouraging sexual pleasure and experimentation." It challenges societal taboos and aims to promote healthy and consensual sexual activities. The sex-positive movement also advocates for comprehensive sex education and safe sex as part of its campaign. The movement generally makes no moral distinctions among types of sexual activities, regarding these choices as matters of personal preference. Overview The terms and concepts of sex-positive (German: ) (or, alternately sex-affirmative) and sex-negative are generally attributed to Wilhelm Reich. His hypothesis was that some societies view the sexual expression as essentially good and healthy, while others have a generally negative view of sexuality and seek to repress and control libido. Other terms used to describe this concept include pro-sex or pro-sexuality. The sex-positive movement does not, in general, make moral or ethical distinctions between heterosexual or homosexual sex, or masturbation, regarding these choices as matters of personal preference. Other sex-positive positions include acceptance of BDSM and polyamory as well as asexuality. Some sex-positive theorists have analyzed sex-positivity in terms of the intersection of race/culture, gender, sexuality, class, nationality, and spirituality. Because of the vastness of the sex-positivity movement, it has been challenging for people to reach an agreed-upon definition of the term "sex-positivity". Several definitions of sex-positivity have been offered by sexologist Carol Queen: Sex-positive, a term that's coming into cultural awareness, isn't a dippy love-child celebration of orgone – it's a simple yet radical affirmation that we each grow our own passions on a different medium, that instead of having two or three or even half a dozen sexual orientations, we should be thinking in terms of millions. "Sex-positive" respects each of our unique sexual profiles, even as we acknowledge that some of us have been damaged by a culture that tries to eradicate sexual differences and possibilities. It's the cultural philosophy that understands sexuality as a positive force in one's life, and it can, of course, be contrasted with sex-negativity, which sees sex as problematic, disruptive, and dangerous. Sex-positivity allows for and in fact celebrates sexual diversity, differing desires and relationships structures, and individual choices based on consent. History In general use, the term sexual liberation is used to describe a socio-political movement, witnessed from the 1960s into the 1970s. However, the term has been used at least since the late 1920s and is often attributed as being influenced by Freud's writing on sexual liberation and psychosexual issues, as well as Wilhelm Reich, who originally coined the term. During the 1960s, a shift in the ways people thought about sexuality began to take place, heralding a period of de-conditioning in some circles away from old world antecedents, and developing new codes of sexual behavior, many of which have since been integrated into the mainstream. The 1960s also heralded a new culture of "free love" with millions of young people embracing the hippie ethos and preaching the power of love and the beauty of sex as a natural part of ordinary life. Hippies believed that sex and sexuality were natural biological phenomena that should be neither denied nor repressed. Changes in attitudes reflected a perception that traditional views on sexuality were both hypocritical and male-chauvinistic. Sexual liberalization heralded a new ethos in experimenting with open sex in and outside of marriage, contraception and the pill, public nudity, gay liberation, legalized abortion, interracial marriage, a return to natural childbirth, women's rights, and feminism. Historian David Allyn argues that the sexual revolution was a time of "coming-out": about premarital sex, masturbation, erotic fantasies, pornography use, and sexuality. The term sex-positive first came into use in the United States in the late 1990s with the founding of the Center for Sex and Culture in San Francisco, California, and The Center for Sex Positive Culture in Seattle, Washington. In 2009, Sex Positive World began in Portland, Oregon. , there are more than sixteen chapters of the nonprofit, in five countries. Sex-positive feminism Sex-positive feminism, also known as pro-sex feminism, sex-radical feminism, or sexually liberal feminism, is a movement that began in the early 1980s. In the 1970s, the second-wave feminist movement emerged, characterized by its opposition to pornography, sex work, and BDSM, known and referred to as sex-negative or antiporn viewpoints. Some became involved in the sex-positive feminist movement in response to efforts by anti-pornography feminists, such as Catharine MacKinnon and Dorchen Leidholdt, to put pornography at the center of a feminist explanation of women's oppression. Andrea Dworkin and Robin Morgan held the belief as anti-pornography feminists that the degradation and objectification of women's bodies fostered ideas of sexual violence and assault. This period of intense debate and acrimony between sex-positive and anti-pornography feminists during the early 1980s is often referred to as the "Feminist Sex Wars". Other sex-positive feminists became involved, not in opposition to other feminists, but in direct response to what they saw as patriarchal control of sexuality. Some authors who have advocated sex-positive feminism include Erika Lust, Ellen Willis, Susie Bright, Patrick Califia, Gayle Rubin, Carol Queen, Avedon Carol, Tristan Taormino, Diana Cage, Nina Hartley, Amia Srinivasan, Mireille Miller-Young, and Betty Dodson. Sex-positive feminism gives attention and acknowledges the importance of women's right to explore their bodies, sexual desire, and considers that sexual violence does not have to prevent the vindication of female desire. This movement demands the preservation of freedom and is against norms that are present in the sexual sphere. It also encourages and demands respect for variety and sexual dissidence without allowing itself to be harmed by intense anti-sex pressure from critics. Sex-positive feminism affirms that the discourse on women's sexual pleasure is silenced and marginalized in today's world. Suppressing sexual dialogue with the supposed purpose of protecting women will only make them appear, according to this perspective, as the weaker sex. Women could have difficulty defending themselves with the classification as victims. Over time, women have been classified as sexually passive, while men are recognized as sexually aggressive, so intercourse is considered an activity in which women "submit" to men's desire. Another factor that continues to minimize female desire is the lack of consensus and research on it, a product of the social repression that women have had to endure over the centuries, which has led to prejudices and generalizations. Shere Hite, a sex educator and feminist, challenged misconceptions about female sexuality, and supported feminine sexual liberation and the right for individuals to freely express and explore their sexuality without judgement or repression. As demonstrated in her work, "The Hite Report: A Nationwide Study of Female Sexuality" (1976), she countered Freudian beliefs asserting that women were capable to experiencing sexual pleasure independently, without the need for intercourse. However, Hite faced antifeminist backlash due to her statistical methods of collecting data, demonstrating bias, and therefore the book became largely controversial and threatening to certain parties of men. The sexual hierarchy system places heterosexuality, marriage and procreation at the top, which causes many women to fear the sexual system that predominates in today's world. Pleasure and sexuality are human rights that have been subjugated by an old-fashioned patriarchal social construction. Pro-sex feminism endeavors to cultivate sexuality as a site of political resistance. By using the "pleasure" factor in their favor, a significant contribution to the contemporary queer theory and politics has been made by using sexual and feminist "empowerment." Empowering perspectives Sex-positive education for youth The sex-positive movement is also concerned with the teaching of comprehensive and accurate sex education in schools. Programs such as the "Abstinence Education Grant Program (AEGP)" teach abstinence as the healthy way to approach one's sexual desires and to avoid sexually transmitted infections such as HIV/AIDS. However, in May 2021, The Real Education and Access for Healthy Youth Act (REAHYA) introduced federal grants aimed to encompass truthful, and inclusive sex education for the youth. It seeks to put an end to federal funding for the Title V state grant program, which promotes the abstinence-until-marriage ideology, which could be detrimental for early education. The A-H guidelines from Title V of the Social Security Act convey a distinct perspective that places the notion that engaging in sexual activity exclusively within the context of marriage is the only acceptable behavior (excluding LGBT individuals), supporting the abstinence-only-until-marriage programs. The movement seeks to promote a healthier view for youth to understand the open, honest, non-judgemental, accepting approach to learning and teaching about sex positivity. Sex work industry The sex work industry encompasses pornography, prostitution (escort services, massage parlors, and brothels), cybersex services, exotic dancing, and online nude modeling. About 40 to 42million women globally are involved in the sex work industry; however, estimates of the number of LGBT sex workers are often not accounted for. Feminist, queer, and human right scholars use the term sex work to emphasize the economic choices made when entering the sex labor industry, regardless of legal status and gender identity. The complexity of the sex work industry excludes the workers from protection provided by international, federal, and state regulations, making the rights of sex workers fundamental human rights. Sex workers require protection against pimps and criminal syndicates who easily take advantage of their earnings, and also require protection from violence, discrimination, social marginalization, and easier access to healthcare and housing services. Sex workers are frequently subjected to criminalization, while usually the men involved, as either consumers or controllers of labor, often walk away unpunished. There is differing conversations between feminists, queer scholars, activists, and practitioner's opinions of whether sex work should be decriminalized, legalized, and/or unionized. They all agree that the power dynamics inherent in the social constructs of gender, race, class, age, sexuality, and nationality generate economical conditions that force sex workers to operate and make a living within violently patriarchal and capitalist frameworks. Consent culture Sex-positive movement emphasizes and supports the importance of consent in sexual encounters. Consent is the first and most basic form of respect between people when engaging in sexual activities. The negotiation and form of communication when discussing consent is the most important aspect when promoting healthy sexual relationships. Consent culture promotes affirmative consent, encourages enthusiastic consent, and the importance of consent education to foster healthy and respectful sexual relations. Consent gives a way to articulate and legitimize our moral judgments in public. Affirmative consent describes the explicit, informed, and voluntary assent to engage in sexual behavior. Anyone engaging in sexual interactions is responsible for making sure that the other party or parties have given their direct consent without hesitation. Absence of protest, words, or action does not mean consent, and silence will never be a form of consent. There should be no expectation of protest or opposition. A positive expression of consent is the main focus of enthusiastic consent. Invoking enthusiastic consent entails focusing on the presence of a "yes" as opposed to the absence of a "no." It can be communicated vocally or nonverbally using encouraging body language. These include nodding, maintaining eye contact, and smiling, as examples of body language. It is significant to remember that while these may imply consent, they do not represent explicit affirmative consent, always get verbal confirmation. The key to maintaining a healthy sexual relationship and consent is to regularly check in with one's partner or partners to make sure they are comfortable and that their opinions have not changed. Intersectionality Intersectionality within the sex-positive movement strives to recognize complex identities, inclusiveness, regardless of social categories of gender, class, race, and sexuality. It lacks the inclusion of race and ethnicity, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, and status. The sex-positive movement strives to move towards incorporating cultural diversity, and taking into account the variety in sexual practices as well as sexual minorities and other marginalized or oppressed identities. Positive sexuality compasses the well-being and happiness of an individual, individuality in sexuality, embracing multiple ways of knowing and learning, professional ethics, open and honest communication, peacemaking, while being applicable to all levels of social structure. Sex-positivity was established and rooted from a Western perspective. Much of the current sex-positive frameworks is concentrated on the educated, industrialized, prosperous, and democratic populations, neglecting the idea of intersectionality and marginalized groups. Criticism In opposition, some feminists believe sex-positivity perceives disadvantage in women but makes them easier to oppress. A large religious—particularly Abrahamic—conservative opposition to sex-positivity sees human sexuality as a destructive force except under the contract of a marriage. Sexual acts are ranked hierarchically, with marital heterosexuality at the top of the hierarchy and masturbation, homosexuality, and other sexualities that deviate from societal expectations closer to the bottom. Medicine and psychiatry are said to have also contributed to sex-negativity, as they may designate some forms of sexuality that appear on the bottom of this hierarchy as being pathological (see mental illness). Multiple feminists, such as Verkerk, Glick, and Bauer have criticized iterations of sex-positivity due to concerns about its effectiveness in challenging patriarchal norms. These feminists insist they are "sex-critical" rather than "sex-negative". Scholar, Verkerk, acknowledges this by stating that "there are both harmful and liberating aspects of female sexual objectification and an accurate account of it must consider both". Critics also take issue with the commodification of sexuality. Women are told both to invest in western standards of beauty and sexualization while also becoming "consumable objects themselves." Sex-positive feminism has also been criticized for its emphasis on defeating the patriarchal gender norms through personal life choices, "rather than to dismantle, critique, expose, or challenge systematic discrimination and violence." The SlutWalk has received criticism of its efficacy as an activist event. SlutWalk's purpose was to reclaim the word "slut" and counteract victim-blaming. Despite the aim of the slut-walk, critics point out that the word "slut" had not been reclaimed. Rather, the word slut had become reified. Critics of the SlutWalk also suggest that the focus on revealing clothing "ultimately displace[s] the sombre and deadly issues of rape, domestic violence, sexual abuse, and street harassment." Lastly, the SlutWalk received criticism for lack of consideration of the hyper-sexualization that women of colour face. Black Women's Blueprint penned an open letter to the slut-walk explaining that Black women cannot "afford to label" themselves as those in the slut-walk do. In the 21st century Since the early 2000s, the sex-positivity movement has continued to move closer into the mainstream. The advent of social media has made the sex-positivity movement more accessible by giving advocates of the movement platforms to promote their beliefs to a wide audience of followers. By extending the reach of the movement, sex-positivity has come to be inclusive of all sorts of sex and sexuality. Shaming has become an area of particular interest within the sex-positivity movement, encouraging people to be more open and accepting of the different experiences people have with sex and sexuality. Slut-shaming, prude-shaming and kink-shaming have all been challenged by the sex-positivity movement in an effort to allow all people to feel supported by and included in the movement. Online sex-positive communities Platforms such as Twitter, Facebook, Reddit, have curated large communities of sex-positive groups, inviting and creating easily accessible places for people to join. Additionally, there has been an exponential increase in sex-positive fetish digital apps promoting BDSM kink such as Ferly, Feeld, Bloom now Plura, and #open. Events held annually like the Shinto Kanamara Matsuri, Folsom Street Fair, Sexpo, Really Good Sex Festival, invite and promote the sex-positive community to the public, attracting tourists and media coverage from around the world. Cybersex has become popular with the advancement of technology due to the increased accessibility to the internet. The visibility of male sexual services on the internet and websites catering male escorts has also increased due to the preference for the privacy and anonymity that cybersex offers as an online service. This has benefited the male sex industry, especially for gay social spaces that often feel discomforting in traditional settings. Mainstream media Pop culture has also played a large role in bringing the sex-positivity movement into the mainstream. Celebrities, including Lady Gaga, Amber Rose, Jessica Biel, Cameron Diaz, Taylor Swift and many others, have spoken publicly about their experiences with slut-shaming, sexuality, sexual assault, body acceptance and overall sexual health and responsibility. In recent years, sex-positive concepts have found their way into dance clubs through sex-positive parties in cities like Berlin and Vienna. Sex-positive podcasts like You Came First With Meghan Barton Hanson, Sex with Emily, Sexology, along with social media content on platforms like TikTok and YouTube, have been increasingly popular, attracting and specifically targeting a younger audience who engage in open discussions and fosters conversations about being sex-positive and personal sexual experiences. See also Center for Sex Positive Culture Comprehensive sex education Decriminalization of sex work Free love Free the nipple Human sexual activity Human sexuality Love-in Positive youth development Relationship anarchy Right to sexuality Sex workers' rights Sexecology Sex-positive feminism Sexual and reproductive health and rights Sexual Freedom Awards Sexual revolution Topfreedom References Philosophy of sexuality Sexuality and society

Schismogenesis

Schismogenesis is a term in anthropology that describes the formation of social divisions and differentiation. Literally meaning "creation of division", the term derives from the Greek words σχίσμα skhisma "cleft" (borrowed into English as schism, "division into opposing factions"), and γένεσις genesis "generation, creation" (deriving in turn from gignesthai "be born or produced, creation, a coming into being"). The term was introduced by anthropologist Gregory Bateson and has been applied to various fields. Concepts In anthropology Gregory Bateson developed the concept of schismogenesis in the 1930s in reference to certain forms of social behavior between groups of the Iatmul people of the Sepik River in New Guinea. Bateson first used the term in a publication in 1935, but elaborated on the concept in his classic 1936 ethnography Naven: A Survey of the Problems suggested by a Composite Picture of the Culture of a New Guinea Tribe drawn from Three Points of View (reissued with a new epilogue in 1958). The word "naven" refers to an honorific ceremony among the Iatmul (still practiced) whereby certain categories of kin celebrate first-time cultural achievements. In a schematic summary, Bateson focused on how groups of women and groups of men (especially the honorees' mothers' brothers) seemingly inverted their everyday, gendered-norms for dress, behavior, and emotional expression. For the most part, these groups of people belonged to different patrilineages who not only did not regularly renew their marriage alliances, but also interacted through the mode he called schismogenesis. Men and women, too, interacted in this mode. And thus the naven ritual served to correct schismogenesis, enabling the society to endure. In his 1936 book Naven, Bateson defined schismogenesis as "a process of differentiation in the norms of individual behaviour resulting from cumulative interaction between individuals" (p. 175). He continued: Bateson understood the symmetrical form of schismogenic behavior among Iatmul men – somewhat analogously to Émile Durkheim's concepts of mechanical and organic solidarity (see functionalism) – as a competitive relationship between categorical equals (e.g., rivalry). Thus one man, or a group of men, boast, and another man/group must offer an equal or better boast, prompting the first group to respond accordingly, and so forth. Complementary schismogenesis among the Iatmul was observed by Bateson between mainly men and women, or between categorical unequals (e.g., dominance and submission). Men would act dominant, leading women to act submissive, to which men responded with more dominance, and so forth. In both types of schismogenesis, the everyday emotional norms or ethos of Iatmul men and women prevented a halt to schismogenesis. The crux of the matter for Bateson was that, left unchecked, either form of schismogenesis would cause Iatmul society simply to break apart. Thus some social or cultural mechanism was needed by society to maintain social integration. That mechanism among the Iatmul was the naven rite. Bateson's specific contribution was to suggest that certain concrete ritual behaviors either inhibited or stimulated the schismogenic relationship in its various forms. In The Dawn of Everything (2021), anthropologist David Graeber and archaeologist David Wengrow suggest that schismogenesis can describe differences between societies, as groups define themselves against their neighbors. Some examples of this would be Ancient Athens and Sparta, and the indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast and the indigenous peoples of California. In natural resource management Bateson's treatment of conflict escalation has been used to explain how conflicts arise over natural resources, including human-predator conflicts in Norway and also for conflicts among stakeholder groups in shared fisheries. In the latter case, Harrison and Loring compare conflict schismogenesis to the Tragedy of the Commons, arguing that it is a similar kind of escalation of behavior also caused by the failure of social institutions to ensure equity in fisheries-management outcomes. In music Steven Feld (1994, p. 265-271), apparently in response to R. Murray Schafer's schizophonia and borrowing the term from Bateson, employs schismogenesis to name the recombination and recontextualization of sounds split from their sources. In modern warfare and politics There is documented usage of schismogenesis techniques by the U.S. Office of Strategic Services (OSS, an institutional precursor to the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA)), against Japanese-held territories in the Pacific during World War II. U.S. military academics have identified how China and Russia have pursued social-media strategies of schismogenesis against the U.S. and other Western liberal democracies in an attempt to polarize civil society across the political spectrum to damage policy-making processes and to weaken state/military power. Similarly, scholars in Ukraine have documented how Russia has relied on a strategy of schismogenesis to undermine Ukrainian identity and values as a way of promoting pro-Russian territories that can be used against Kyiv, to include forming their own militias which operate alongside Russian special operation forces. In religion The concept of schismogenesis has relevance to the numerous schisms which have occurred within religious thought and practice. Types Bateson, in Steps to an Ecology of Mind describes the two forms of schismogenesis and proposes that both forms are self-destructive to the parties involved. He goes on to suggest that researchers look into methods that one or both parties may employ to stop a schismogenesis before it reaches its destructive stage. Complementary schismogenesis The first type of schismogenesis is best characterized by a class struggle, but is defined more broadly to include a range of other possible social phenomena. Given two groups of people, the interaction between them is such that a behavior X from one side elicits a behavior Y from the other side, The two behaviors complement one another, exemplified in the dominant-submissive behaviors of a class struggle. Furthermore, the behaviors may exaggerate one another, leading to a severe rift and possible conflict. Conflict can be reduced by narrowing information asymmetries between the two groups. Symmetrical schismogenesis The second type of schismogenesis is best shown by an arms race. The behaviors of the parties involved elicit similar or symmetrical behaviors from the other parties. In the case of the United States and the Soviet Union, each party continually sought to amass more nuclear weapons than the other party, a clearly fruitless but seemingly necessary endeavor on both sides. A form of symmetrical schismogenesis exists in common sporting events, where the rules are the same for both teams. Interpersonal communication In the field of communication, complementary schismogenesis is a force that can take effect in a conversation where people have different conversational styles, "creating a split in a mutually aggravating way". The effect causes two well-meaning individuals having a conversation to ramp up different styles, resulting in a disagreement that does not stem from actual difference of opinion. For example, if one person's conversational style favoured louder voices, while the other favoured softer speech, the first person might increase the loudness in their voice while the other spoke softer and softer, each trying to lead the conversation towards their style's conception of normal talking. Systems of holding back Systems of holding back are also a form of schismogenesis. They are defined as "mutually aggregating spirals which lead people to hold back contributions they could make because others hold back contributions they could make." In Systems intelligence literature, it is held that human interaction has a tendency to fall into such systems unless conscious effort is made to counter this tendency. For example, although most managers would want to give support to their team and most team members would like to receive such support many times support does not result. This is because both parties might feel that the other party is not giving enough and thus they will themselves hold back what they in the best case could give. It has been suggested that systems of holding back are "the single most important key to life-decreasing, reciprocity-trivializing and vitality-downgrading mechanisms in human life." References Cultural anthropology Communication Social anthropology

Cultural landscape

Cultural landscape is a term used in the fields of geography, ecology, and heritage studies, to describe a symbiosis of human activity and environment. As defined by the World Heritage Committee, it is the "cultural properties [that] represent the combined works of nature and of man" and falls into three main categories: "a landscape designed and created intentionally by man" an "organically evolved landscape" which may be a "relict (or fossil) landscape" or a "continuing landscape" an "associative cultural landscape" which may be valued because of the "religious, artistic or cultural associations of the natural element." Historical development The concept of 'cultural landscapes' can be found in the European tradition of landscape painting. From the 16th century onwards, many European artists painted landscapes in favor of people, diminishing the people in their paintings to figures subsumed within broader, regionally specific landscapes. The word "landscape" itself combines "land" with a verb of Germanic origin, "scapjan/schaffen" to mean, literally, "shaped lands". Lands were then considered shaped by natural forces, and the unique details of such landshaffen (shaped lands) became themselves the subject of 'landscape' paintings. Geographer Otto Schlüter is credited with having first formally used “cultural landscape” as an academic term in the early 20th century. In 1908, Schlüter argued that by defining geography as a Landschaftskunde (landscape science) this would give geography a logical subject matter shared by no other discipline. He defined two forms of landscape: the Urlandschaft (transl. original landscape) or landscape that existed before major human induced changes and the Kulturlandschaft (transl. 'cultural landscape') a landscape created by human culture. The major task of geography was to trace the changes in these two landscapes. It was Carl O. Sauer, a human geographer, who was probably the most influential in promoting and developing the idea of cultural landscapes. Sauer was determined to stress the agency of culture as a force in shaping the visible features of the Earth's surface in delimited areas. Within his definition, the physical environment retains a central significance, as the medium with and through which human cultures act. His classic definition of a 'cultural landscape' reads as follows: "The cultural landscape is fashioned from a natural landscape by a cultural group. Culture is the agent, the natural area is the medium, the cultural landscape is the result" Since Schlüter's first formal use of the term, and Sauer's effective promotion of the idea, the concept of 'cultural landscapes has been variously used, applied, debated, developed and refined within academia. In the 1950s, for instance, J.B. Jackson and his publication 'Landscape' influenced a generation of particularly American scholars, including architectural historians Denise Scott Brown, and Gwendolyn Wright. By 1992, the World Heritage Committee elected to convene a meeting of the 'specialists' to advise and assist redraft the Committee's Operational Guidelines to include 'cultural landscapes' as an option for heritage listing properties that were neither purely natural nor purely cultural in form (i.e. 'mixed' heritage). Relevance of concept The World Heritage Committee's adoption and use of the concept of 'cultural landscapes' has seen multiple specialists around the world, and many nations identifying 'cultural landscapes', assessing 'cultural landscapes', heritage listing 'cultural landscapes', managing 'cultural landscapes', and effectively making 'cultural landscapes' known and visible to the world, with very practical ramifications and challenges. A 2006 academic review of the combined efforts of the World Heritage Committee, multiple specialists around the world, and nations to apply the concept of 'cultural landscapes', observed and concluded that: "Although the concept of landscape has been unhooked for some time from its original art associations ... there is still a dominant view of landscapes as an inscribed surface, akin to a map or a text, from which cultural meaning and social forms can simply be read." Within academia, any system of interaction between human activity and natural habitat is regarded as a cultural landscape. In a sense this understanding is broader than the definition applied within UNESCO, including, as it does, almost the whole of the world's occupied surface, plus almost all the uses, ecologies, interactions, practices, beliefs, concepts, and traditions of people living within cultural landscapes. Following on this, geographer Xoán Paredes defines cultural landscape as: "... the environment modified by the human being in the course of time, the long-term combination between anthropic action on this environment and the physical constraints limiting or conditioning human activity. It is a geographical area – including natural and cultural resources – associated to historical evolution, which gives way to a recognizable landscape for a particular human group, up to the point of being identifiable as such by others."PAREDES, X.M. (2015b): “Nem ordem nem progresso para o nosso território. O (des)ordenamento territorial na Galiza”. Revista Inter. Interdisc. INTERthesis, v.12, n. 12, Universidade Federal de Sta. Catarina, Florianópolis, Brasil, pp. 95-115 The concept of cultural landscape is useful for the sustainable management and conservation of heritage. Adopting a cultural landscape perspective can interlink individual aspects of cultural heritage, such as historic buildings, regional material resources, and vernacular construction techniques, into a unified notion of identity and place. This can unify tangible and intangible heritage, expose risks within complex system dynamics, and draw the focus of conservation from the protection of past fabric towards the management of future change. It can be a vehicle for people-centric approaches, which support local ownership and participation at cultural heritage sites. This paradigm aligns the management of the historic environment with contemporary attitudes to environmental management in general, which are also influenced by cultural landscape perspectives. Some universities now offer specialist degrees in the study of cultural landscapes, including, for instance, the Universities of Naples, St.-Étienne, and Stuttgart who offer a Master of Cultural Landscapes diploma. Examples The World Heritage Committee has identified and listed a number of areas or properties as cultural landscapes of universal value to humankind, including the following: Tongariro National Park, New Zealand (1993) "In 1993 Tongariro National Park, became the first property to be inscribed on the World Heritage List under the revised criteria describing cultural landscapes. The mountains at the heart of the park have cultural and religious significance for the Maori people and symbolize the spiritual links between this community and its environment. The park has active and extinct volcanoes, a diverse range of ecosystems and some spectacular landscapes." Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park, Australia (1994) "This park, formerly called Uluru (Ayers Rock – Mount Olga) National Park, features spectacular geological formations that dominate the vast red sandy plain of central Australia. Uluru, an immense monolith, and Kata Tjuta, the rock domes located west of Uluru, form part of the traditional belief system of one of the oldest human societies in the world. The traditional owners of Uluru-Kata Tjuta are the Anangu Aboriginal people." Rice Terraces of Philippine Cordilleras (1995) "For 2,000 years, the high rice fields of the Ifugao have followed the contours of the mountains. The fruit of knowledge handed down from one generation to the next, and the expression of sacred traditions and a delicate social balance, they have helped to create a landscape of great beauty that expresses the harmony between humankind and the environment." Cultural Landscape of Sintra, Portugal (1995) "In the 19th century Sintra became the first centre of European Romantic architecture. Ferdinand II turned a ruined monastery into a castle where this new sensitivity was displayed in the use of Gothic, Egyptian, Moorish and Renaissance elements and in the creation of a park blending local and exotic species of trees. Other fine dwellings, built along the same lines in the surrounding serra, created a unique combination of parks and gardens which influenced the development of landscape architecture throughout Europe". Portovenere, Cinque Terre, and the Islands (Palmaria, Tino and Tinetto), Italy (1997) "The Ligurian coast between Cinque Terre and Portovenere is a cultural landscape of great scenic and cultural value. The layout and disposition of the small towns and the shaping of the surrounding landscape, overcoming the disadvantages of a steep, uneven terrain, encapsulate the continuous history of human settlement in this region over the past millennium." Hortobágy National Park, Hungary (1999) Hortobágy National Park is the largest continuous natural grassland in Europe, which means that it was not formed as a result of deforestation or river control. The first Hungarian national park (established in 1973), it is the country's largest protected area (82 thousand hectares). A significant part of it is Biosphere Reserve and a quarter of its area enjoys international protection under the Ramsar Convention on the conservation of wetlands. Matobo Hills, Zimbabwe (2003) The Matobo Hills area exhibits a profusion of distinctive rock landforms rising above the granite shield that covers much of Zimbabwe. The large boulders provide abundant natural shelters and have been associated with human occupation from the early Stone Age right through to early historical times, and intermittently since. They also feature an outstanding collection of rock paintings. The Matopo Hills continue to provide a strong focus for the local community, which still uses shrines and sacred places closely linked to traditional, social and economic activities. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (2003) The Royal Botanic Gardens Kew (Kew Gardens), is a historic landscape garden which illustrates significant garden styles from the 18th to 20th centuries. Kew Gardens is home to botanic collections (conserved plants, living plants, and documents) that are of global historical significance and continue to be used today, this includes a herbarium collection with over 8.5 million preserved plant and fungal specimens. The living collections within the gardens cover over 27000 taxa. Since their creation in 1759, the gardens have made a significant and continuous contribution to research into plant diversity and economic botany. Dresden Elbe Valley, Germany (2004) "The 18th- and 19th-century cultural landscape of Dresden Elbe Valley ... features low meadows, and is crowned by the Pillnitz Palace and the centre of Dresden with its numerous monuments and parks from the 16th to 20th centuries. The landscape also features 19th- and 20th-century suburban villas and gardens and valuable natural features." This landscape was struck from the World Heritage list in 2009, due to the construction of a four lane highway across the Elbe St Kilda, United Kingdom (2005) The archipelago of St Kilda in the Outer Hebrides of Scotland was originally inscribed as a natural heritage site in 1986 following recommendation by IUCN, due to its superlative natural features and habitats for rare and endangered species of birds. ICOMOS also recommended in 1986 that the property should be listed for a cultural criterion (relating to traditional human settlement), stating that “the St. Kilda archipelago corresponds perfectly to the definition of a cultural and natural property whose value should be taken into consideration in an evaluation complementary to that of IUCN”, however this was not executed by UNESCO. IUCN commented in their initial evaluation, and the UNESCO committee also stated upon inscription, that the marine environment surrounding the archipelago should be considered for listing and the boundaries extended. The state party had not nominated this in their original application. In response to a report prepared by Greenpeace in 1998 which raised concerns on potential impacts to the site from oil exploration of the surrounding seabed, the boundary was extended in 2004/5 and the property was additionally listed for a further natural criterion (relating to ecological processes). As part of the relisting process, it was re-nominated for two cultural criteria, recommended for listing by ICOMOS, and this time inscribed by UNESCO in 2005 and designated as an 'organically evolved relict cultural landscape'."Overlaying the spectacular natural landscape and giving scale to it all, is a rich cultural landscape that bears exceptional testimony to millennia of human occupation." Lavaux Vineyard Terraces, Switzerland (2007) "The Lavaux vineyard landscape demonstrates in a highly visible way its evolution and development over almost a millennium, through the well preserved landscape and buildings that demonstrate a continuation and evolution of longstanding cultural traditions, specific to its locality." Kuk Early Agricultural Site (2008) Kuk Early Agricultural Site (Kuk Swamp) is located in the western highlands of Papua New Guinea, at 1500m and covering 116ha. Kuk is one of the few places in the world where archaeological evidence suggests independent agricultural development, with the wetlands preserving archaeological evidence of agricultural practices stretch back 10000 years. West Lake Cultural Landscape of Hangzhou, China (2011) "The West Lake Cultural Landscape of Hangzhou, comprising the West Lake and the hills surrounding its three sides, has inspired famous poets, scholars and artists since the 9th century. It comprises numerous temples, pagodas, pavilions, gardens and ornamental trees, as well as causeways and artificial islands." Qhapaq Ñan (Inca Road System), Northwestern Argentina, South Colombia, Ecuador, Bolivia, Peru, Chile (2014) Qhapaq Ñan is an extensive Inca communication, trade and defense network of roads covering 30,000  km. Constructed by the Incas over several centuries and partly based on pre-Inca infrastructure, this extraordinary network through one of the world's most extreme geographical terrains linked the snow-capped peaks of the Andes – at an altitude of more than 6,000 m – to the coast, running through hot rainforests, fertile valleys, and absolute deserts. It reached its maximum expansion in the 15th century when it spread across the length and breadth of the Andes. The Qhapac Ñan, Andean Road System includes 273 component sites spread over more than 6,000  km that were selected to highlight the social, political, architectural and engineering achievements of the network, along with its associated infrastructure for trade, accommodation, and storage, as well as sites of religious significance. See also Cultural area Cultural geography Cultural region Ecomuseum Historic American Landscapes Survey Landscape architecture Lists of World Heritage Sites Native American use of fire Natural landscape Permanent European Conference for the Study of the Rural Landscape Social space References Bibliography Conzen, M., 1993, 'The historical impulse in Geographical writing about the United States 1850 1990', in Conzen, M., Rumney, T. and Wynn, G., A Scholar's Guide to Geographical Writing on the American and Canadian Past, The University of Chicago Press, Chicago, pp. 3 90. Denevan William M., 1992, 'The Americas before and after 1492: Current Geographical Research', Annals of the Association of American Geographers, Vol. 82, No. 3, pp. 369–385. Elkins, T. H., 1989, 'Human and Regional Geography in the German-speaking lands in the first forty years of the Twentieth Century', in J. Nicholas Entrikin & Stanley D. Brunn (eds). Reflections on Richard Hartshorne's The nature of geography, Occasional publications of the Association of the American Geographers, Washington DC. 17-34. James, P. E. and Martin, G., 1981, All Possible Worlds: A history of geographical ideas, John Wiley & Sons, New York Jones, M., 2003, 'The Concept of Cultural Landscape: Discourse and Narratives', in H. Palang & G. Fry (eds.), Landscape Interfaces. Cultural Heritage in Changing Landscapes, Dordrecht, 21-51 Sauer, C., 1925, The Morphology of Landscape, University of California Publications in Geography, 22:19-53. External links UNESCO Webpage Article on 'Cultural Landscapes' identifying all listed cultural landscapes Accessed 9 January 2008 UNESCO World Heritage Committee's Operational Guidelines for the Implementation of the World Heritage Convention Accessed 11 November 2007 UNESCO World Heritage Series publication entitled "World Heritage Cultural Landscapes 1992 - 2002 Accessed 9 January 2008 Pannell, S (2006) Reconciling Nature and Culture in a Global Context: Lessons form the World Heritage List. James Cook University, Cairns. Accessed 11 November 2007 International Federation of Landscape Architects Cultural Landscapes Committee Accessed 26 January 2009 National Park Service Cultural Landscape Program Accessed 3 April 2024 Cultural geography Cultural concepts UNESCO Conventions

Cyberpunk derivatives

Since the advent of the cyberpunk genre, a number of cyberpunk derivatives have become recognized in their own right as distinct subgenres in speculative fiction, especially in science fiction. Rather than necessarily sharing the digitally and mechanically focused setting of cyberpunk, these derivatives can display other futuristic, or even retrofuturistic, qualities that are drawn from or analogous to cyberpunk: a world built on one particular technology that is extrapolated to a highly sophisticated level (this may even be a fantastical or anachronistic technology, akin to retrofuturism), a gritty transreal urban style, or a particular approach to social themes. Steampunk, one of the most well-known of these subgenres, has been defined as a "kind of technological fantasy;" others in this category sometimes also incorporate aspects of science fantasy and historical fantasy. Scholars have written of the stylistic place of these subgenres in postmodern literature, as well as their ambiguous interaction with the historical perspective of postcolonialism. Background American author Bruce Bethke coined the term cyberpunk in his 1983 short story of that name, using it as a label for a generation of "punk" teenagers inspired by the perceptions inherent to the Information Age. The term was quickly appropriated as a label applied to the works of William Gibson, Bruce Sterling, John Shirley, Rudy Rucker, Michael Swanwick, Pat Cadigan, Lewis Shiner, Richard Kadrey, and others. Science fiction author Lawrence Person, in defining postcyberpunk, summarized the characteristics of cyberpunk: Classic cyberpunk characters were marginalized, alienated loners who lived on the edge of society in generally dystopic futures where daily life was impacted by rapid technological change, an ubiquitous datasphere of computerized information, and invasive modification of the human body. The cyberpunk style describes the nihilistic and underground side of the digital society that developed from the last two decades of the 20th century. The cyberpunk world is dystopian, that is, it is the antithesis of utopian visions, very frequent in science fiction produced in the mid-twentieth century, typified by the world of Star Trek, although incorporating some of these utopias. It is sometimes generically defined as "cyberpunk-fantasy" or "cyberfantasy" a work of a fantasy genre that concerns the internet or cyberspace. Among the best known exponents are commonly indicated William Gibson, for his highly innovative and distinctive stories and novels from a stylistic and thematic point of view, and Bruce Sterling, for theoretical elaboration. Sterling later defined cyberpunk as "a new type of integration. The overlapping of worlds that were formally separated: the realm of high tech and modern underground culture. The relevance of cyberpunk as a genre to punk subculture is debatable and further hampered by the lack of a defined 'cyberpunk' subculture. Where the small 'cyber' movement shares themes with cyberpunk fiction, as well as drawing inspiration from punk and goth alike, cyberculture is considerably more popular though much less defined, encompassing virtual communities and cyberspace in general and typically embracing optimistic anticipations about the future. Cyberpunk is nonetheless regarded as a successful genre, as it ensnared many new readers and provided the sort of movement that postmodern literary critics found alluring. Furthermore, author David Brin argues, cyberpunk made science fiction more attractive and profitable for mainstream media and the visual arts in general. Futuristic derivatives Biopunk Biopunk builds on synthetic biology and biotechnology (such as bionanotechnology and biorobotics), typically focusing on the potential dangers to genetic engineering and enhancement. As such, this genre generally depicts near-future unintended consequences of the biotechnology revolution following the discovery of recombinant DNA. Emerging during the 1990s, biopunk fiction usually describes the struggles of individuals or groups, often the product of human experimentation, against a backdrop of totalitarian governments or megacorporations that misuse biotechnologies as means of social control or profiteering. As in postcyberpunk, individuals are most commonly modified and enhanced by genetic manipulation of their chromosomes rather than with prosthetic cyberware or dry nanotechnologies (albeit, like in nanopunk, bio-, nanotechnologies, and cyberware often coexist), and sometimes with other biotechnologies, such as nanobiotechnology, wetware, special bioengineered organs, and neural and tissue grafts. Film examples include Naked Lunch (1991), Gattaca (1997), and Vesper (2022). Nanopunk Nanopunk focuses on worlds in which the theoretical possibilities of nanotechnology are a reality, including the use of Drexlerian 'dry' nano-assemblers and nanites. It is an emerging subgenre that is still less common in comparison to other derivatives of cyberpunk. The genre is similar to biopunk, which focuses on the use of biotechnology, such as bionanotechnology and biorobotics, rather than on nanotechnology. (Albeit, like in biopunk, bio-, nanotechnologies, and cyberware often coexist in contrast to classical cyberpunk settings tending to heavily focus on mechanical cyberware to the point of genetic engineering and nanotechnologies being outright banned in some cyberpunk settings.) One of the earliest works of nanopunk, Tech Heaven (1995) by Linda Nagata, looked into the healing potential of nanotechnology. The genre is often concerned with the artistic and physiological impact of nanotechnology, than of aspects of the technology itself. For instance, Prey (2002) by Michael Crichton explores a potential doomsday scenario caused by nanotechnology. One of the most prominent examples of nanopunk is the Crysis video game series; less famous examples include the television series Generator Rex (2010) and film Transcendence (2014). Postcyberpunk Postcyberpunk includes newer cyberpunk works that experiment with different approaches to the genre. Oftentimes, such works will keep to central futuristic elements of cyberpunk—such as human augmentation, ubiquitous infospheres, and other advanced technology—but will forgo the assumption of a dystopia. However, like all categories discerned within science fiction, the boundaries of postcyberpunk are likely to be fluid or ill-defined. It can be argued that the rise of cyberpunk fiction took place at a time when the 'cyber' was still considered new, foreign, and more-or-less strange to the average person. In this sense, postcyberpunk essentially emerged in acknowledgement of the idea that humanity has since adapted to the concept of cyberspace and no longer sees some elements of cyberpunk as from a distant world. As new writers and artists began to experiment with cyberpunk ideas, new varieties of fiction emerged, sometimes addressing the criticisms leveled at classic cyberpunk fiction. In 1998, Lawrence Person published an essay to the Internet forum Slashdot in which he discusses the emergence of the postcyberpunk genre: Person advocates using the term postcyberpunk for the strain of science fiction that he describes above. In this view, typical postcyberpunk fiction explores themes related to a "world of accelerating technological innovation and ever-increasing complexity in ways relevant to our everyday lives," while continuing the focus on social aspects within a post-third industrial-era society, such as of ubiquitous dataspheres and cybernetic augmentation of the human body. Unlike cyberpunk, its works may portray a utopia or to blend elements of both extremes into a relatively more mature societal vision. Denoting the postmodern framework of the genre, Rafael Miranda Huereca (2006) states: In addition to themes of its ancestral genre, according to Huereca (2011), postcyberpunk might also combine elements of nanopunk and biopunk. Some postcyberpunk settings can have diverse types of augmentations instead of focusing on one kind, while others, similar to classic cyberpunk, can revolve around a single type of technology like prosthetics, such as in Ghost in the Shell (GitS). Often named examples of postcyberpunk novels are Neal Stephenson's The Diamond Age and Bruce Sterling's Holy Fire. In television, Person has called Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex "the most interesting, sustained postcyberpunk media work in existence." In 2007, San Francisco writers James Patrick Kelly and John Kessel published Rewired: The Post-Cyberpunk Anthology. Cyberprep Cyberprep is a term with a similar meaning to postcyberpunk. A cyberprep world assumes that all the technological advancements of cyberpunk speculation have taken place, but life is utopian rather than gritty and dangerous. Since society is largely leisure-driven, advanced body enhancements are used for sports, pleasure, and self-improvement. The word is an amalgam of the prefix cyber-, referring to cybernetics, and preppy, reflecting its divergence from the punk elements of cyberpunk. Stanislaw Lem's Return from the Stars is an example. Cyber noir Cyber noir is a noir genre story placed in a cyberpunk setting. Retrofuturistic derivatives As a wider variety of writers began to work with cyberpunk concepts, new subgenres of science fiction emerged, playing off the cyberpunk label, and focusing on technology and its social effects in different ways. Many derivatives of cyberpunk are retro-futuristic: they reimagine the past either through futuristic visions of historical eras (especially from the first and second industrial revolution technological-eras), or through depictions of more recent extrapolations or exaggerations of the actual technology from those eras. Steampunk Steampunk is a retro-futuristic genre that is influenced by the Steam Age, ranging from the late Regency era (1795–1837; when the Industrial Revolution began) through the Victorian era (1837–1901) and the Belle Époque (1871–1914). The word steampunk was invented in 1987 as a jocular reference to some of the novels of Tim Powers, James P. Blaylock, and K. W. Jeter. When Gibson and Sterling entered the subgenre with their 1990 collaborative novel The Difference Engine, the term was being used earnestly as well. Alan Moore and Kevin O'Neill's 1999 The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen historical fantasy comic book series (and the subsequent 2003 film adaptation) popularized the steampunk genre and helped propel it into mainstream fiction. Around 2007, the term became more common, and also began to refer to a clothing style and subculture. The most immediate form of steampunk subculture is the community of fans surrounding the genre. Others move beyond this, attempting to adopt a "steampunk" aesthetic through fashion, home decor and even music. This movement may also be (perhaps more accurately) described as "Neo-Victorianism", which is the amalgamation of Victorian aesthetic principles with modern sensibilities and technologies. This characteristic is particularly evident in steampunk fashion which tends to synthesize punk, goth and rivet styles as filtered through the Victorian era. As an object style, steampunk adopts more distinct characteristics with various craftspersons modding modern-day devices into a pseudo-Victorian mechanical "steampunk" style. The goal of such redesigns is to employ appropriate materials (such as polished brass, iron, and wood) with design elements and craftsmanship consistent with the Victorian era. Other examples include Wild Wild West (1999), Hugo (2011), Treasure Planet (2002), Last Exile (2003), Bioshock Infinite (2013), and Arcane (2021). Clockpunk Clockpunk, a subgenre of steampunk, reimagines the Renaissance period (14th–17th century) to include retro-futuristic technology, often portraying Renaissance-era science and technology based on clockwork, gears, and Da Vincian machinery designs. Such designs are in the vein of Mainspring by Jay Lake, and Whitechapel Gods by S. M. Peters. The term was coined by the GURPS role-playing system. Examples of clockpunk include The Blazing World by Margaret Cavendish; Astro-Knights Island in the nonlinear game Poptropica; the Clockwork Mansion level of Dishonored 2; the 2011 film version of The Three Musketeers; the TV series Da Vinci's Demons; as well as the video games Thief: The Dark Project, Syberia, and Assassin's Creed 2. Ian Tregillis' book The Mechanical is self-proclaimed clockpunk literature. The Games Workshop Warhammer Fantasy Battles settings, especially the Empire and the Dwarves, represent clockpunk. For some, clockpunk is steampunk without steam. Alita: Battle Angel (2019), based on the manga Battle Angel Alita, is mostly cyberpunk but sometimes its machines contain elements of clockpunk. Dieselpunk Dieselpunk is a genre and art style based on the aesthetics popular in the interwar period through the end of World War II into the 1950s, when diesel displaced the steam engine. The style combines the artistic and genre influences of the period (including pulp magazines, serial films, film noir, art deco, and wartime pin-ups) with retro-futuristic technology and postmodern sensibilities. First coined in 2001 as a marketing term by game designer Lewis Pollak to describe his role-playing game Children of the Sun, dieselpunk has since grown to describe a distinct style of visual art, music, motion pictures, fiction, and engineering. Examples include the movies Iron Sky (2012), Captain America: The First Avenger (2011), The Rocketeer (1991), K-20: Legend of the Mask (2008), Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow (2004), and Dark City (1998); video games such as the Crimson Skies series, the Fallout series, Greed Corp, Gatling Gears, Skullgirls, the Wolfenstein series, Iron Harvest, and Final Fantasy VII; and television shows like The Legend of Korra. Decopunk Decopunk is a recent subset of dieselpunk, centered around the art deco and Streamline Moderne art styles. Other influences include the 1927 film Metropolis as well as the environment of American cities like New York, Chicago, and Boston around the period between the 1920s and 1950s. Steampunk author Sara M. Harvey made the distinction that decopunk is "shinier than dieselpunk;" more specifically, dieselpunk is "a gritty version of steampunk set in the 1920s–1950s" (i.e., the war eras), whereas decopunk "is the sleek, shiny very art deco version; same time period, but everything is chrome!" Possibly the most notable examples of this genre are games like the first two titles in the BioShock series and Skullgirls; films like Dick Tracy (1990), The Rocketeer (1991), The Shadow (1994), and Dark City (1998); comic books like The Goon; and the cartoon Batman: The Animated Series, which included neo-noir elements along with modern elements such as the use of VHS cassettes. Atompunk Atompunk (also known as atomicpunk) relates to the pre-digital period of 1945–1969, including mid-century modernism; the Atomic, Jet, and Space Ages; communism, Neo-Soviet styling, and early Cold War espionage, along with anti-communist and Red Scare paranoia in the United States; underground cinema; Googie architecture; Sputnik and the Space Race; comic books and superhero fiction; and the rise of the American military–industrial complex. Its aesthetic tends toward Populuxe and Raygun Gothic, which describe a retro-futuristic vision of the world. Most science fiction of the period carried an aesthetic that influenced or inspired later atompunk works. Some of these precursors to atompunk include 1950s science fiction films (including, but not limited to, B movies), the Sean Connery-era of the James Bond franchise, Dr. Strangelove, Star Trek, The Twilight Zone, The Outer Limits, The Avengers, early Doctor Who episodes, The Man from U.N.C.L.E., The Green Hornet, The Jetsons, Jonny Quest, Thunderbirds, Speed Racer, and some Silver Age comic books. Notable examples of atompunk in popular media that have been released since the period include television series like Dexter's Laboratory, The Powerpuff Girls, Venture Bros, Archer, and the web series The Mercury Men; comic books like Ignition City and Atomic Age; films like Logan's Run (1976), The Incredibles (2004), The Iron Giant (1999), Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008), The Man from U.N.C.L.E. (2015), X-Men: First Class (2011), and Men in Black 3 (2012); video games like Destroy All Humans! (2005), the Fallout series, Atomic Heart (2023), and The Invincible (2023); and books like Adam Christopher's novel The Age Atomic. Other proposed science fiction derivatives There have been a handful of divergent terms based on the general concepts of steampunk. These are typically considered unofficial and are often invented by readers, or by authors referring to their own works, often humorously. For instance, Bruce Sterling described his 2004 novel The Zenith Angle, which follows the story of a hacker whose life is changed by the September 11 attacks, as "nowpunk". The developers of the computer game Neo Cab used the same term to describe themselves. Another example is Rococopunk, a combination of Rococo and punk clothing in cosplay or theatrical costuming. Also, the term Stonepunk has been used to refer to settings based in which characters use Neolithic technology, such as the 2017 videogame Horizon Zero Dawn. A large number of terms have been used by the GURPS roleplaying game Steampunk to describe anachronistic technologies and settings, including clockpunk (Renaissance tech), and transistorpunk (Atomic-Age tech)—the latter is analogous to atompunk. These terms have seen very little use outside GURPS. Raypunk Raypunk (which is also known as "Raygun Gothic") is a distinctive (sub)genre that deals with scenarios, technologies, beings or environments, very different from everything that is known or what is possible here on Earth or by science. It covers space surrealism, parallel worlds, alien art, technological psychedelia, non-standard 'science', alternative or distorted/twisted reality, and so on. It is a predecessor to atompunk with similar "cosmic" themes, but mostly without explicit nuclear power or definitive technology. It is also distinct in that it has more archaic/schematic/artistic style, and that its atmosphere is more dark, obscure, cheesy, weird, mysterious, dreamy, hazy, or etheric (origins before 1880–1950), parallel to steampunk and dieselpunk. While not originally designed as such, the original Star Trek series has an aesthetic very reminiscent of raypunk. The comic book series The Manhattan Projects, the animated film Fantastic Planet (La Planète Sauvage) and the pre-WWII Buck Rogers and Flash Gordon comics and serials would be examples of raypunk. Solarpunk Solarpunk is a movement, a subgenre, and an alternative to cyberpunk fiction that encourages optimistic envisioning of the future in light of present environmental concerns, such as climate change and pollution, as well as concerns of social inequality. Solarpunk fiction imagines futures that address environmental concerns with varying degrees of optimism. Lunarpunk Lunarpunk is a subgenre of solarpunk with a darker aesthetic. It portrays the nightlife, spirituality, and more introspective side of solarpunk utopias. See also Mythpunk, a subgenre of mythic fiction Urban fantasy, sometimes referred to as elfpunk References External links "Make Way for Plaguepunk, Bronzepunk, and Stonepunk", Annallee Newitz, Wired, March 15, 2007. Derivatives Science fiction genres Dystopian fiction

Dyad (sociology)

In sociology, a dyad is a group of two people, the smallest possible social group. As an adjective, "dyadic" describes their interaction. The pair of individuals in a dyad can be linked via romantic interest, family relation, interests, work, partners in crime, and so on. The relation can be based on equality, but may be based on an asymmetrical or hierarchical relationship (master–servant). The strength of the relationship is evaluated on the basis of time the individuals spend together, as well as on the emotional intensity of their relationship. The term dyad is . A dyad can be unstable because both persons must cooperate to make it work. If one of the two fails to complete their duties, the group would fall apart. Because of the significance of marriages in society, their stability is very important. For this reason marital dyads are often enforced through legal, economic, and religious laws. Dyadic friendships refer to the most immediate and concrete level of peer interaction, which is expanded to include new forms of relationships in adolescence – most notably, romantic and sexual relationships. Already Ferdinand Tönnies treated it as a special pattern of gemeinschaft, 1887, as community of spirit. The term can also be used to describe two groups or two countries. Meaning Dyad means two things of similar kind or nature or group and dyadic communication means the inter-relationship between the two. In practice, this relationship refers to dialogic relations or face-to-face verbal communication between two people involving their mutual ideas, thought, behavior, ideals, liking, disliking, and the queries and answers concerning life and living in nature. A sudden communication between two strangers in the street and not continued afterwards or not having lasting aftereffect on each other can not be termed as dyadic communication. Examples of dyadic communication occur between Jesus and Peter, the Buddha and Ananda, or between Socrates and Plato, where dialog is not only outward, superficial, or mechanical, but instead brings the two people into a sphere where each person influences the other. A lasting communication of ideas between two people for long duration of time or of any intensive duration of deeper impact may be called dyadic communication. See also Antipositivism Duocentric social network Ideal type Normal type Pas de deux Reflexivity (social theory) Social action Social relation Structure and agency Triad (sociology) References + Sociological terminology

Performance art

Performance art is an artwork or art exhibition created through actions executed by the artist or other participants. It may be witnessed live or through documentation, spontaneously developed or written, and is traditionally presented to a public in a fine art context in an interdisciplinary mode. Also known as artistic action, it has been developed through the years as a genre of its own in which art is presented live. It had an important and fundamental role in 20th century avant-garde art. It involves five basic elements: time, space, body, and presence of the artist, and the relation between the creator and the public. The actions, generally developed in art galleries and museums, can take place in the street, any kind of setting or space and during any time period. Its goal is to generate a reaction, sometimes with the support of improvisation and a sense of aesthetics. The themes are commonly linked to life experiences of the artist themselves, the need for denunciation or social criticism and with a spirit of transformation. The term "performance art" and "performance" became widely used in the 1970s, even though the history of performance in visual arts dates back to futurist productions and cabarets from the 1910s. Art critic and performance artist John Perreault credits Marjorie Strider with the invention of the term in 1969. The main pioneers of performance art include Carolee Schneemann, Marina Abramović, Ana Mendieta, Chris Burden, Hermann Nitsch, Joseph Beuys, Nam June Paik, Tehching Hsieh, Yves Klein and Vito Acconci. Some of the main exponents more recently are Tania Bruguera, Abel Azcona, Regina José Galindo, Marta Minujín, Melati Suryodarmo and Petr Pavlensky. The discipline is linked to the happenings and "events" of the Fluxus movement, Viennese Actionism, body art and conceptual art. Definition The definition and historical and pedagogical contextualization of performance art is controversial. One of the handicaps comes from the term itself, which is polysemic, and one of its meanings relates to the scenic arts. This meaning of performance in the scenic arts context is opposite to the meaning of performance art, since performance art emerged with a critical and antagonistic position towards scenic arts. Performance art only adjoins the scenic arts in certain aspects such as the audience and the present body, and still not every performance art piece contains these elements. The meaning of the term in the narrower sense is related to postmodernist traditions in Western culture. From about the mid-1960s into the 1970s, often derived from concepts of visual art, with respect to Antonin Artaud, Dada, the Situationists, Fluxus, installation art, and conceptual art, performance art tended to be defined as an antithesis to theatre, challenging orthodox art forms and cultural norms. The ideal had been an ephemeral and authentic experience for performer and audience in an event that could not be repeated, captured or purchased. The widely discussed difference, how concepts of visual arts and concepts of performing arts are used, can determine the meanings of a performance art presentation. Performance art is a term usually reserved to refer to a conceptual art that conveys a content-based meaning in a more drama-related sense, rather than being simple performance for its own sake for entertainment purposes. It largely refers to a performance presented to an audience, but which does not seek to present a conventional theatrical play or a formal linear narrative, or which alternately does not seek to depict a set of fictitious characters in formal scripted interactions. It therefore can include action or spoken word as a communication between the artist and audience, or even ignore expectations of an audience, rather than following a script written beforehand. Some types of performance art nevertheless can be close to performing arts. Such performance may use a script or create a fictitious dramatic setting, but still constitute performance art in that it does not seek to follow the usual dramatic norm of creating a fictitious setting with a linear script which follows conventional real-world dynamics; rather, it would intentionally seek to satirize or to transcend the usual real-world dynamics which are used in conventional theatrical plays. Performance artists often challenge the audience to think in new and unconventional ways, break conventions of traditional arts, and break down conventional ideas about "what art is". As long as the performer does not become a player who repeats a role, performance art can include satirical elements; use robots and machines as performers, as in pieces of the Survival Research Laboratories; involve ritualised elements (e.g. Shaun Caton); or borrow elements of any performing arts such as dance, music, and circus. It can also involve intersection with architecture. Some artists, e.g. the Viennese Actionists and neo-Dadaists, prefer to use the terms "live art", "action art", "actions", "intervention" (see art intervention) or "manoeuvre" to describe their performing activities. As genres of performance art appear body art, fluxus-performance, happening, action poetry, and intermedia. Origins Performance art is a form of expression that was born as an alternative artistic manifestation. The discipline emerged in 1916 parallel to dadaism, under the umbrella of conceptual art. The movement was led by Tristan Tzara, one of the pioneers of Dada. Western culture theorists have set the origins of performance art in the beginnings of the 20th century, along with constructivism, Futurism and Dadaism. Dada was an important inspiration because of their poetry actions, which drifted apart from conventionalisms, and futurist artists, specially some members of Russian futurism, could also be identified as part of the starting process of performance art. Cabaret Voltaire The Cabaret Voltaire was founded in Zürich, Switzerland by the couple Hugo Ball and Emmy Hennings for artistic and political purposes, and was a place where new tendencies were explored. Located on the upper floor of a theater, whose exhibitions they mocked in their shows, the works interpreted in the cabaret were avant garde and experimental. It is thought that the Dada movement was founded in the ten-meter-square locale. Moreover, Surrealists, whose movement descended directly from Dadaism, used to meet in the Cabaret. On its brief existence—barely six months, closing the summer of 1916—the Dadaist Manifesto was read and it held the first Dada actions, performances, and hybrid poetry, plastic art, music and repetitive action presentations. Founders such as Richard Huelsenbeck, Marcel Janco, Tristan Tzara, Sophie Taeuber-Arp and Jean Arp participated in provocative and scandalous events that were fundamental and the basis of the foundation for the anarchist movement called Dada. Dadaism was born with the intention of destroying any system or established norm in the art world. It is an anti-art movement, anti-literary and anti-poetry, that questioned the existence of art, literature and poetry itself. Not only was it a way of creating, but of living; it created a whole new ideology. It was against eternal beauty, the eternity of principles, the laws of logic, the immobility of thought and clearly against anything universal. It promoted change, spontaneity, immediacy, contradiction, randomness and the defense of chaos against the order and imperfection against perfection, ideas similar to those of performance art. They stood for provocation, anti-art protest and scandal, through ways of expression many times satirical and ironic. The absurd or lack of value and the chaos protagonized their breaking actions with traditional artistic form. Cabaret Voltaire closed in 1916, but was revived in the 21st century. Futurism Futurism was an artistic avant garde movement that appeared in 1909. It first started as a literary movement, even though most of the participants were painters. In the beginning it also included sculpture, photography, music and cinema. The First World War put an end to the movement, even though in Italy it went on until the 1930s. One of the countries where it had the most impact was Russia. In 1912 manifestos such as the Futurist Sculpture Manifesto and the Futurist Architecture arose, and in 1913 the Manifesto of Futurist Lust by Valentine de Saint-Point, dancer, writer and French artist. The futurists spread their theories through encounters, meetings and conferences in public spaces, that got close to the idea of a political concentration, with poetry and music-halls, which anticipated performance art. Bauhaus The Bauhaus, an art school founded in Weimar in 1919, included an experimental performing arts workshops with the goal of exploring the relationship between the body, space, sound and light. The Black Mountain College, founded in the United States by instructors of the original Bauhaus who were exiled by the Nazi Party, continued incorporating experimental performing arts in the scenic arts training twenty years before the events related to the history of performance in the 1960s. The name Bauhaus derives from the German words Bau, construction and Haus, house; ironically, despite its name and the fact that his founder was an architect, the Bauhaus did not have an architecture department the first years of its existence. Action painting In the 1940s and 1950s, the action painting technique or movement gave artists the possibility of interpreting the canvas as an area to act in, rendering the paintings as traces of the artist's performance in the studio According to art critic Harold Rosenberg, it was one of the initiating processes of performance art, along with abstract expressionism. Jackson Pollock is the action painter par excellence, who carried out many of his actions live. In Europe Yves Klein did his Anthropométries using (female) bodies to paint canvasses as a public action. Names to be highlighted are Willem de Kooning and Franz Kline, whose work include abstract and action painting. Nouveau réalisme Nouveau réalisme is another one of the artistic movements cited in the beginnings of performance art. It was a painting movement founded in 1960 by art critic Pierre Restany and painter Yves Klein, during the first collective exhibition in the Apollinaire Gallery in Milan. Nouveau réalisme was, along with Fluxus and other groups, one of the many avant garde tendencies of the 1960s. Pierre Restany created various performance art assemblies in the Tate Modern, amongst other spaces. Yves Klein is one of the main exponents of the movement. He was a clear pioneer of performance art, with his conceptual pieces like Zone de Sensibilité Picturale Immatérielle (1959–62), Anthropométries (1960), and the photomontage Saut dans le vide. All his works have a connection with performance art, as they are created as a live action, like his best-known artworks of paintings created with the bodies of women. The members of the group saw the world as an image, from which they took parts and incorporated them into their work; they sought to bring life and art closer together. Gutai One of the other movements that anticipated performance art was the Japanese movement Gutai, who made action art or happening. It emerged in 1955 in the region of Kansai (Kyōto, Ōsaka, Kōbe). The main participants were Jirō Yoshihara, Sadamasa Motonaga, Shozo Shimamoto, Saburō Murakami, Katsuō Shiraga, Seichi Sato, Akira Ganayama and Atsuko Tanaka. The Gutai group arose after World War II. They rejected capitalist consumerism, carrying out ironic actions with latent aggressiveness (object breaking, actions with smoke). They influenced groups such as Fluxus and artists like Joseph Beuys and Wolf Vostell. Land art and performance In the late 1960s, diverse land art artists such as Robert Smithson or Dennis Oppenheim created environmental pieces that preceded performance art in the 1970s. Works by conceptual artists from the early 1980s, such as Sol LeWitt, who made mural drawing into a performance act, were influenced by Yves Klein and other land art artists. Land art is a contemporary art movement in which the landscape and the artwork are deeply bound. It uses nature as a material (wood, soil, rocks, sand, wind, fire, water, etc.) to intervene on itself. The artwork is generated with the place itself as a starting point. The result is sometimes a junction between sculpture and architecture, and sometimes a junction between sculpture and landscaping that is increasingly taking a more determinant role in contemporary public spaces. When incorporating the artist's body in the creative process, it acquires similarities with the beginnings of performance art. 1960s In the 1960s, with the purpose of evolving the generalized idea of art and with similar principles of those originary from Cabaret Voltaire or Futurism, a variety of new works, concepts and a growing number of artists led to new kinds of performance art. Movements clearly differentiated from Viennese Actionism, avant garde performance art in New York City, process art, the evolution of The Living Theatre or happening, but most of all the consolidation of the pioneers of performance art. Viennese actionism The term Viennese Actionism (Wiener Aktionismus) comprehends a brief and controversial art movement of the 20th century, which is remembered for the violence, grotesque and visual of their artworks. It is located in the Austrian vanguard of the 1960s, and it had the goal of bringing art to the ground of performance art, and is linked to Fluxus and Body Art. Amongst their main exponents are Günter Brus, Otto Muehl and Hermann Nitsch, who developed most of their actionist activities between 1960 and 1971. Hermann, pioneer of performance art, presented in 1962 his Theatre of Orgies and Mysteries (Orgien und Mysterien Theater). Marina Abramović participated as a performer in one of his performances in 1975. New York and avant-garde performance In the early 1960s, New York City harbored many movements, events and interests regarding performance art. Amongst others, Andy Warhol began creating films and videos, and mid decade he sponsored The Velvet Underground and staged events and performative actions in New York, such as the Exploding Plastic Inevitable (1966), that included live rock music, explosive lights and films. The Living Theatre Indirectly influential for art-world performance, particularly in the United States, were new forms of theatre, embodied by the San Francisco Mime Troupe and the Living Theatre and showcased in Off-Off Broadway theaters in SoHO and at La MaMa in New York City. The Living Theatre is a theater company created in 1947 in New York. It is the oldest experimental theatre in the United States. Throughout its history it has been led by its founders: actress Judith Malina, who had studied theatre with Erwin Piscator, with whom she studied Bertolt Brecht's and Meyerhold's theory; and painter and poet Julian Beck. After Beck's death in 1985, the company member Hanon Reznikov became co-director along with Malina. Because it is one of the oldest random theatre or live theatre groups nowadays, it is looked upon by the rest. They understood theatre as a way of life, and the actors lived in a community under libertary principles. It was a theatre campaign dedicated to transformation of the power organization of an authoritarian society and hierarchical structure. The Living Theatre chiefly toured in Europe between 1963 and 1968, and in the U.S. in 1968. A work of this period, Paradise Now, was notorious for its audience participation and a scene in which actors recited a list of social taboos that included nudity, while disrobing. Fluxus Fluxus, a Latin word that means flow, is a visual arts movement related to music, literature, and dance. Its most active moment was in the 1960s and 1970s. They proclaimed themselves against the traditional artistic object as a commodity and declared themselves a sociological art movement. Fluxus was informally organized in 1962 by George Maciunas (1931–1978). This movement had representation in Europe, the United States and Japan. The Fluxus movement, mostly developed in North America and Europe under the stimulus of John Cage, did not see the avant-garde as a linguistic renovation, but it sought to make a different use of the main art channels that separate themselves from specific language; it tries to be interdisciplinary and to adopt mediums and materials from different fields. Language is not the goal, but the mean for a renovation of art, seen as a global art. As well as Dada, Fluxus escaped any attempt for a definition or categorization. As one of the movement's founders, Dick Higgins, stated: Fluxus started with the work, and then came together, applying the name Fluxus to work which already existed. It was as if it started in the middle of the situation, rather than at the beginning.Amongst the earliest pieces that would later be published by Fluxus were Brecht's event scores, the earliest of which dated from around 1958/9, and works such as Valoche, which had originally been exhibited in Brecht's solo show 'Toward's Events' at 1959. Robert Filliou places Fluxus opposite to conceptual art for its direct, immediate and urgent reference to everyday life, and turns around Duchamp's proposal, who starting from Ready-made, introduced the daily into art, whereas Fluxus dissolved art into the daily, many times with small actions or performances. John Cage was an American composer, music theorist, artist, and philosopher. A pioneer of indeterminacy in music, electroacoustic music, and non-standard use of musical instruments, Cage was one of the leading figures of the post-war avant-garde. Critics have lauded him as one of the most influential composers of the 20th century. He was also instrumental in the development of modern dance, mostly through his association with choreographer Merce Cunningham, who was also Cage's romantic partner for most of their lives. Cage's friend Sari Dienes can be seen as an important link between the Abstract Expressionists, Neo-Dada artists like Robert Rauschenberg and Ray Johnson, and Fluxus. Dienes inspired all these artists to blur the lines between life, Zen, performative art-making techniques and "events," in both pre-meditated and spontaneous ways. Process art Process art is an artistic movement where the end product of art and craft, the objet d’art (work of art/found object), is not the principal focus; the process of its making is one of the most relevant aspects if not the most important one: the gathering, sorting, collating, associating, patterning, and moreover the initiation of actions and proceedings. Process artists saw art as pure human expression. Process art defends the idea that the process of creating the work of art can be an art piece itself. Artist Robert Morris predicated "anti-form", process and time over an objectual finished product. Happening Wardrip-Fruin and Montfort in The New Media Reader, "The term 'Happening' has been used to describe many performances and events, organized by Allan Kaprow and others during the 1950s and 1960s, including a number of theatrical productions that were traditionally scripted and invited only limited audience interaction." A happening allows the artist to experiment with the movement of the body, recorded sounds, written and talked texts, and even smells. One of Kaprow's first works was Happenings in the New York Scene, written in 1961. Allan Kaprow's happenings turned the public into interpreters. Often the spectators became an active part of the act without realizing it. Other actors who created happenings were Jim Dine, Al Hansen, Claes Oldenburg, Robert Whitman and Wolf Vostell: Theater is in the Street (Paris, 1958). Main artists The works by performance artists after 1968 showed many times influences from the political and cultural situation that year. Barbara T. Smith with Ritual Meal (1969) was at the vanguard of body and scenic feminist art in the seventies, which included, amongst others, Carolee Schneemann and Joan Jonas. These, along with Yoko Ono, Joseph Beuys, Nam June Paik, Wolf Vostell, Allan Kaprow, Vito Acconci, Chris Burden and Dennis Oppenheim were pioneers in the relationship between body art and performance art, as well as the Zaj collective in Spain with Esther Ferrer and Juan Hidalgo. Barbara Smith is an artist and United States activist. She is one of the main African-American exponents of feminism and LGBT activism in the United States. In the beginning of the 1970s she worked as a teacher, writer and defender of the black feminism current. She has taught at numerous colleges and universities in the last five years. Smith's essays, reviews, articles, short stories and literary criticism have appeared in a range of publications, including The New York Times, The Guardian, The Village Voice and The Nation. Carolee Schneemann was an American visual experimental artist, known for her multi-media works on the body, narrative, sexuality and gender. She created pieces such as Meat Joy (1964) and Interior Scroll (1975). Schneemann considered her body a surface for work. She described herself as a "painter who has left the canvas to activate the real space and the lived time." Joan Jonas (born July 13, 1936) is an American visual artist and a pioneer of video and performance art, who is one of the most important female artists to emerge in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Jonas' projects and experiments provided the foundation on which much video performance art would be based. Her influences also extended to conceptual art, theatre, performance art and other visual media. She lives and works in New York and Nova Scotia, Canada. Immersed in New York's downtown art scene of the 1960s, Jonas studied with the choreographer Trisha Brown for two years. Jonas also worked with choreographers Yvonne Rainer and Steve Paxton. Yoko Ono was part of the avant-garde movement of the 1960s. She was part of the Fluxus movement. She is known for her performance art pieces in the late 1960s, works such as Cut Piece, where visitors could intervene in her body until she was left naked. One of her best known pieces is Wall piece for orchestra (1962). Joseph Beuys was a German Fluxus, happening, performance artist, painter, sculptor, medallist and installation artist. In 1962 his actions alongside the Fluxus neodadaist movement started, group in which he ended up becoming the most important member. His most relevant achievement was his socialization of art, making it more accessible for every kind of public. In How to Explain Pictures to a Dead Hare (1965) he covered his face with honey and gold leaf and explained his work to a dead hare that lay in his arms. In this work he linked spacial and sculptural, linguistic and sonorous factors to the artist's figure, to his bodily gesture, to the conscience of a communicator whose receptor is an animal. Beuys acted as a shaman with healing and saving powers toward the society that he considered dead. In 1974 he carried out the performance I Like America and America Likes Me where Beuys, a coyote and materials such as paper, felt and thatch constituted the vehicle for its creation. He lived with the coyote for three days. He piled United States newspapers, a symbol of capitalism. With time, the tolerance between Beuys and the coyote grew and he ended up hugging the animal. Beuys repeats many elements used in other works. Objects that differ form Duchamp's ready-mades, not for their poor and ephemerality, but because they are part of Beuys's own life, who placed them after living with them and leaving his mark on them. Many have an autobiographical meaning, like the honey or the grease used by the tartars who saved in World War Two. In 1970 he made his Felt Suit. Also in 1970, Beuys taught sculpture in the Kunstakademie Düsseldorf. In 1979, the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum of New York City exhibited a retrospective of his work from the 1940s to 1970. Nam June Paik was a South Korean performance artist, composer and video artist from the second half of the 20th century. He studied music and art history in the University of Tokyo. Later, in 1956, he traveled to Germany, where he studied Music Theory in Munich, then continued in Cologne in the Freiburg conservatory. While studying in Germany, Paik met the composers Karlheinz Stockhausen and John Cage and the conceptual artists Sharon Grace as well as George Maciunas, Joseph Beuys and Wolf Vostell and was from 1962 on, a member of the experimental art movement Fluxus. Nam June Paik then began participating in the Neo-Dada art movement, known as Fluxus, which was inspired by the composer John Cage and his use of everyday sounds and noises in his music. He was mates with Yoko Ono as a member of Fluxus. Wolf Vostell was a German artist, one of the most representative of the second half of the 20th century, who worked with various mediums and techniques such as painting, sculpture, installation, decollage, video art, happening and fluxus. Vito Acconci was an influential American performance, video and installation artist, whose diverse practice eventually included sculpture, architectural design, and landscape design. His foundational performance and video art was characterized by "existential unease," exhibitionism, discomfort, transgression and provocation, as well as wit and audacity, and often involved crossing boundaries such as public–private, consensual–nonconsensual, and real world–art world. His work is considered to have influenced artists including Laurie Anderson, Karen Finley, Bruce Nauman, and Tracey Emin, among others. Acconci was initially interested in radical poetry, but by the late 1960s, he began creating Situationist-influenced performances in the street or for small audiences that explored the body and public space. Two of his most famous pieces were Following Piece (1969), in which he selected random passersby on New York City streets and followed them for as long as he was able, and Seedbed (1972), in which he claimed that he masturbated while under a temporary floor at the Sonnabend Gallery, as visitors walked above and heard him speaking. Chris Burden was an American artist working in performance, sculpture and installation art. Burden became known in the 1970s for his performance art works, including Shoot (1971), in which he arranged for a friend to shoot him in the arm with a small-caliber rifle. A prolific artist, Burden created many well-known installations, public artworks and sculptures before his death in 2015. Burden began to work in performance art in the early 1970s. He made a series of controversial performances in which the idea of personal danger as artistic expression was central. His first significant performance work, Five Day Locker Piece (1971), was created for his master's thesis at the University of California, Irvine, and involved his being locked in a locker for five days. Dennis Oppenheim was an American conceptual artist, performance artist, earth artist, sculptor and photographer. Dennis Oppenheim's early artistic practice is an epistemological questioning about the nature of art, the making of art and the definition of art: a meta-art which arose when strategies of the Minimalists were expanded to focus on site and context. As well as an aesthetic agenda, the work progressed from perceptions of the physical properties of the gallery to the social and political context, largely taking the form of permanent public sculpture in the last two decades of a highly prolific career, whose diversity could exasperate his critics. Yayoi Kusama is a Japanese artist who, throughout her career, has worked with a great variety of media including:sculpture, installation, painting, performance, film, fashion, poetry, fiction, and other arts; the majority of them exhibited her interest in psychedelia, repetition and patterns. Kusama is a pioneer of the pop art, minimalism and feminist art movements and influenced her coetaneous, Andy Warhol and Claes Oldenburg. She has been acknowledged as one of the most important living artists to come out of Japan and a very relevant voice in avant garde art. 1970s In the 1970s, artists that had derived to works related to performance art evolved and consolidated themselves as artists with performance art as their main discipline, deriving into installations created through performance, video performance, or collective actions, or in the context of a socio-historical and political context. Video performance In the early 1970s the use of video format by performance artists was consolidated. Some exhibitions by Joan Jonas and Vito Acconci were made entirely of video, activated by previous performative processes. In this decade, various books that talked about the use of the means of communication, video and cinema by performance artists, like Expanded Cinema, by Gene Youngblood, were published. One of the main artists who used video and performance, with notorious audiovisual installations, is the South Korean artist Nam June Paik, who in the early 1960s had already been in the Fluxus movement until becoming a media artist and evolving into the audiovisual installations he is known for. Carolee Schneemann's and Robert Whitman's 1960s work regarding their video-performances must be taken into consideration as well. Both were pioneers of performance art, turning it into an independent art form in the early seventies. Joan Jonas started to include video in her experimental performances in 1972, while Bruce Nauman scenified his acts to be directly recorded on video. Nauman is an American multimedia artist, whose sculptures, videos, graphic work and performances have helped diversify and develop culture from the 1960s on. His unsettling artworks emphasized the conceptual nature of art and the creation process. His priority is the idea and the creative process over the result. His art uses an incredible array of materials and especially his own body. Gilbert and George are Italian artist Gilbert Proesch and English artist George Passmore, who have developed their work inside conceptual art, performance and body art. They were best known for their live-sculpture acts. One of their first makings was The Singing Sculpture, where the artists sang and danced "Underneath the Arches", a song from the 1930s. Since then they have forged a solid reputation as live-sculptures, making themselves works of art, exhibited in front of spectators through diverse time intervals. They usually appear dressed in suits and ties, adopting diverse postures that they maintain without moving, though sometimes they also move and read a text, and occasionally they appear in assemblies or artistic installations. Apart from their sculptures, Gilbert and George have also made pictorial works, collages and photomontages, where they pictured themselves next to diverse objects from their immediate surroundings, with references to urban culture and a strong content; they addressed topics such as sex, race, death and HIV, religion or politics, critiquing many times the British government and the established power. The group's most prolific and ambitious work was Jack Freak Pictures, where they had a constant presence of the colors red, white and blue in the Union Jack. Gilbert and George have exhibited their work in museums and galleries around the world, like the Stedelijk van Abbemuseum of Eindhoven (1980), the Hayward Gallery in London (1987), and the Tate Modern (2007). They have participated in the Venice Biennale. In 1986 they won the Turner Prize. Endurance art Endurance performance art deepens the themes of trance, pain, solitude, deprivation of freedom, isolation or exhaustion. Some of the works, based on the passing of long periods of time are also known as long-durational performances. One of the pioneering artists was Chris Burden in California since the 1970s. In one of his best known works, Five days in a locker (1971) he stayed for five days inside a school locker, in Shoot (1971) he was shot with a firearm, and inhabited for twenty two days a bed inside an art gallery in Bed Piece (1972). Another example of endurance artist is Tehching Hsieh. During a performance created in 1980–1981 (Time Clock Piece), where Hsieh took a photo of himself next to time clock installed in his studio every hour for an entire year. Hsieh is also known for his performances about deprivation of freedom; he spent an entire year confined. In The House With the Ocean View (2003), Marina Abramović lived silently for twelve days without food. The Nine Confinements or The Deprivation of Liberty is a conceptual endurance artwork of critical content carried out in the years 2013 and 2016. All of them have in common the illegitimate deprivation of freedom. Performance in a political context In the mid-1970s, behind the Iron Curtain, in major Eastern Europe cities such as Budapest, Kraków, Belgrade, Zagreb, Novi Sad and others, scenic arts of a more experimental content flourished. Against political and social control, different artists who made performance of political content arose. Orshi Drozdik's performance series, titled Individual Mythology 1975–77 and the NudeModel 1976–77. All her actions were critical of the patriarchal discourse in art and the forced emancipation programme and constructed by the equally patriarchal state. Drozdik showed a pioneer and feminist point of view on both, becoming one of the precursors of this type of critical art in Eastern Europe. In the 1970s, performance art, due to its fugacity, had a solid presence in the Eastern European avant-garde, specially in Poland and Yugoslavia, where dozens of artists who explored the body conceptually and critically emerged. The Other In the mid-1976s, Ulay and Marina Abramović founded the collective The Other in the city of Amsterdam. When Abramović and Ulay started their collaboration. The main concepts they explored were the ego and artistic identity. This was the start of a decade of collaborative work. Both artists were interested in the tradition of their cultural heritage and the individual's desire for rituals. In consecuense, they formed a collective named The Other. They dressed and behaved as one, and created a relation of absolute confidence. They created a series of works in which their bodies created additional spaces for the audience's interaction. In Relation in Space they ran around the room, two bodies like two planets, meshing masculine and feminine energies into a third component they called "that self". Relation in Movement (1976) had the couple driving their car inside the museum, doing 365 spins. A black liquid dripped out of the car, forming a sculpture, and each round represented a year. After this, they created Breathing In/Breathing Out, where both of them united their lips and inspired the air expired by the other one until they used up all oxygen. Exactly 17 minutes after the start of the performance, both of them fell unconscious, due to their lungs filling with carbon dioxide. This piece explored the idea of the ability of a person to absorb the life out of another one, changing them and destroying them. In 1988, after some years of a tense relationship, Abramović and Ulay decided to make a spiritual travel that would put an end to the collective. They walked along the Great Wall of China, starting on opposite ends and finding each other halfway. Abramović conceived this walk on a dream, and it gave her what she saw as an appropriate and romantic ending to the relationship full of mysticism, energy and attraction. Ulay started on the Gobi dessert and Abramovic in the Yellow sea. Each one of them walked 2500 kilometres, found each other in the middle and said goodbye. Main artists In 1973, Laurie Anderson interpreted Duets on Ice in the streets of New York. Marina Abramović, in the performance Rhythm 10, included conceptually the violation of a body. Thirty years later, the topic of rape, shame and sex exploitation would be reimagined in the works of contemporary artists such as Clifford Owens, Gillian Walsh, Pat Oleszko and Rebecca Patek, amongst others. New artists with radical acts consolidated themselves as the main precursors of performance, like Chris Burden, with the 1971 work Shoot, where an assistant shot him in the arm from a five-meter distance, and Vito Acconci the same year with Seedbed. The work Eye Body (1963) by Carolee Schneemann en 1963, had already been considered a prototype of performance art. In 1975, Schneemann recurred to innovative solo acts such as Interior Scroll, that showed the feminine body as an artistic media. One of the main artists was Gina Pane, French artist of Italian origins. She studied at the École nationale supérieure des Beaux-Arts in París from 1960 until 1965 and was a member of the performance art movement in the 1970 in France, called "Art Corporel". Parallel to her art, Pane taught in the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Mans from 1975 until 1990 and directed an atelier dedicated to performance art in the Pompidou Centre from 1978 to 1979. One of her best known works is The Conditioning (1973), in which she was lied into a metal bed spring over an area of lit candles. The Conditioning was created as an homage to Marina Abramović, part of her Seven Easy Pieces(2005) in the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York City in 2005. Great part of her works are protagonized by self-inflicted pain, separating her from most of other woman artists in the 1970s. Through the violence of cutting her skin with razors or extinguishing fires with her bare hands and feet, Pane has the intention of inciting a real experience in the visitor, who would feel moved for its discomfort. The impactful nature of these first performance art pieces or actions, as she preferred to call them, many times eclipsed her prolific photographic and sculptural work. Nonetheless, the body was the main concern in Panes's work, either literally or conceptually. 1980s The technique of performance art Until the 1980s, performance art has demystified virtuosism, this being one of its key characteristics. Nonetheless, from the 1980s on it started to adopt some technical brilliancy. In reference to the work Presence and Resistance by Philip Auslander, the dance critic Sally Banes writes, "... by the end of the 1980s, performance art had become so widely known that it no longer needed to be defined; mass culture, especially television, had come to supply both structure and subject matter for much performance art; and several performance artists, including Laurie Anderson, Spalding Gray, Eric Bogosian, Willem Dafoe, and Ann Magnuson, had indeed become crossover artists in mainstream entertainment." In this decade the parameters and technicalities built to purify and perfect performance art were defined. Critique and investigation of performance art Despite the fact that many performances are held within the circle of a small art-world group, Roselee Goldberg notes in Performance Art: From Futurism to the Present that "performance has been a way of appealing directly to a large public, as well as shocking audiences into reassessing their own notions of art and its relation to culture. Conversely, public interest in the medium, especially in the 1980s, stems from an apparent desire of that public to gain access to the art world, to be a spectator of its ritual and its distinct community, and to be surprised by the unexpected, always unorthodox presentations that the artists devise." In this decade, publications and compilations about performance art and its best known artists emerged. Performance art from a political context In the 1980s, the political context played an important role in the artistic development and especially in performance, as almost every one of the works created with a critical and political discourse were in this discipline. Until the decline of the European Eastern bloc during the late 1980s, performance art had actively been rejected by most communist governments. With the exception of Poland and Yugoslavia, performance art was more or less banned in countries where any independent public event was feared. In the GDR, Czechoslovakia, Hungary and Latvia it happened in apartments, at seemingly spontaneous gatherings in artist studios, in church-controlled settings, or was covered as another activity, like a photo-shoot. Isolated from the western conceptual context, in different settings it could be like a playful protest or a bitter comment, using subversive metaphors to express dissent with the political situation. Amongst the most remarkable performance art works of political content in this time were those of Tehching Hsieh between July 1983 and July 1984, Art/Life: One Year Performance (Rope Piece). Performance poetry In 1982 the terms "poetry" and "performance" were first used together. Performance poetry appeared to distinguish text-based vocal performances from performance art, especially the work of escenic and musical performance artists, such as Laurie Anderson, who worked with music at that time. Performance poets relied more on the rhetorical and philosophical expression in their poetics than performance artists, who arose from the visual art genres of painting and sculpture. Many artists since John Cage fuse performance with a poetical base. Feminist performance art Since 1973 the Feminist Studio Workshop in the Woman's Building of Los Ángeles had an impact in the wave of feminist acts, but until 1980 they did not completely fuse. The conjunction between feminism and performance art progressed through the last decade. In the first two decades of performance art development, works that had not been conceived as feminist are seen as such now. Still, not until 1980 did artists self-define themselves as feminists. Artist groups in which women influenced by the 1968 student movement as well as the feminist movement stood out. This connection has been treated in contemporary art history research. Some of the women whose innovative input in representations and shows was the most relevant were Pina Bausch and the Guerrilla Girls who emerged in 1985 in New York City, anonymous feminist and anti-racist art collective. They chose that name because they used guerrilla tactics in their activism to denounce discrimination against women in art through political and performance art. Their first performance was placing posters and making public appearances in museums and galleries in New York, to critique the fact that some groups of people were discriminated against for their gender or race. All of this was done anonymously; in all of these appearances they covered their faces with gorilla masks (this was due to the similar pronunciation of the words "gorilla" and "guerrilla"). They used as nicknames the names of female artists who had died. From the 1970s until the 1980s, amongst the works that challenged the system and their usual strategies of representation, the main ones feature women's bodies, such as Ana Mendieta's works in New York City where her body is outraged and abused, or the artistic representations by Louise Bourgeois with a rather minimalist discourse that emerge in the late seventies and eighties. Special mention to the works created with feminine and feminist corporeity such as Lynda Benglis and her phallic performative actions, who reconstructed the feminine image to turn it into more than a fetish. Through feminist performance art the body becomes a space for developing these new discourses and meanings. Artist Eleanor Antin, creator in the 1970s and 1980s, worked on the topics of gender, race and class. Cindy Sherman, in her first works in the seventies and already in her artistic maturity in the eighties, continues her critical line of overturning the imposed self, through her use of the body as an object of privilege. Cindy Sherman is an American photographer and artist. She is one of the most representative post-war artists and exhibited more than the work of three decades of her work in the MoMA. Even though she appears in most of her performative photographies, she does not consider them self-portraits. Sherman uses herself as a vehicle to represent a great array of topics of the contemporary world, such as the part women play in our society and the way they are represented in the media as well as the nature of art creation. In 2020 she was awarded with the Wolf prize in arts. Judy Chicago is an artist and pioneer of feminist art and performance art in the United States. Chicago is known for her big collaborative art installation pieces on images of birth and creation, that examine women's part in history and culture. In the 1970s, Chicago has founded the first feminist art programme in the United States. Chicago's work incorporates a variety of artistic skills such as sewing, in contrast with skills that required a lot of workforce, like welding and pyrotechnics. Chicago's best known work is The Dinner Party, that was permanently installed in the Elizabeth A. Sackler Center for Feminist Art in the Brooklyn Museum. The Dinner Party celebrated the achievements of women throughout history and is widely considered as the first epic feminist artwork. Other remarkable projects include International Honor Quilt, The Birth Project, Powerplay, and The Holocaust Project. Expansion to Latin America In this decade performance art spread until reaching Latin America through the workshops and programmes that universities and academic institutions offered. It mainly developed in Mexico, Colombia -with artists such as Maria Teresa Hincapié—, in Brasil and in Argentina. Ana Mendieta was a conceptual and performance artist born in Cuba and raised in the United States. She's mostly known for her artworks and performance art pieces in land art. Mendieta's work was known mostly in the feminist art critic environment. Years after her death, specially since the Whitney Museum of American Art retrospective in 2004 and the retrospective in the Haywart Gallery in London in 2013 she is considered a pioneer of performance art and other practices related to body art and land art, sculpture and photography. She described her own work as earth-body art. Tania Bruguera is a Cuban artist specialized in performance art and political art. Her work mainly consists of her interpretation of political and social topics. She has developed concepts such as "conduct art" to define her artistic practices with a focus on the limits of language and the body confronted to the reaction and behavior of the spectators. She also came up with "useful art", that it ought to transform certain political and legal aspects of society. Brugera's work revolves around power and control topics, and a great portion of her work questions the current state of her home country, Cuba. In 2002 she created the Cátedra Arte de Conducta in La Habana. Regina José Galindo is a Guatemalan artist specialized in performance art. Her work is characterized by its explicit political and critical content, using her own body as a tool of confrontation and social transformation. Her artistic career has been marked by the Guatemalan Civil War that took place from 1960 to 1996, which triggered a genocide of more than 200 thousand people, many of them indigenous, farmers, women and children. With her work, Galindo denounces violence, sexism (one of her the main topics is femicide), the western beauty standards, the repression of the estates and the abuse of power, especially in the context of her country, even though her language transgresses borders. Since her beginnings she only used her body as media, which she occasionally takes to extreme situations (like in Himenoplasty (2004) where she goes through a hymen reconstruction, a work that won the Golden Lyon in the Venice Biennale), to later have volunteers or hired people to interact with her, so that she loses control over the action. 1990s The 1990s was a period of absence for classic European performance, so performance artists kept a low profile. Nevertheless, Eastern Europe experienced a peak. On the other hand, Latin American performance continued to boom, as well as feminist performance art. There also was a peak of this discipline in Asian countries, whose motivation emerged from the Butō dance in the 1950s, but in this period they professionalized and new Chinese artists arose, earning great recognition. There was also a general professionalization in the increase of exhibitions dedicated to performance art, at the opening of the Venice Art Biennial to performance art, where various artists of this discipline have won the Leone d'Oro, including Anne Imhof, Regina José Galindo or Santiago Sierra. Performance with political context While the Soviet Bloc dissolved, some forbidden performance art pieces began to spread. Young artists from the former Eastern Bloc, including Russia, devoted themselves to performance art. Scenic arts emerged around the same time in Cuba, the Caribbean and China. "In these contexts, performance art became a new critical voice with a social strength similar to that of Western Europe, the United States and South America in the sixties and early seventies. It must be emphasized that the rise of performance art in the 1990s in Eastern Europe, China, South Africa, Cuba and other places must not be considered secondary or an imitation of the West". Professionalization of performance art In the Western World, in the 1990s, performance art joined the mainstream culture. Diverse performance artworks, live, photographed or through documentation started to become part of galleries and museums that began to understand performance art as an art discipline. Nevertheless, it was not until the next decade that a major institutionalization happened, when every museum started to incorporate performance art pieces into their collections and dedicating great exhibitions and retrospectives, museums such as the Tate Modern in London, the MoMA in New York City or the Pompidou Centre in Paris. From the 1990s on, many more performance artists were invited to important biennials like the Venice Biennale, the Sao Paulo Biennial and the Lyon Biennial. Performance in China In the late 1990s, Chinese contemporary art and performance art received great recognition internationally, as 19 Chinese artists were invited to the Venice Biennial. Performance art in China and its history had been growing since the 1970s due to the interest between art, process and tradition in Chinese culture, but it gained recognition from the 1990s on. In China, performance art is part of the fine arts education programme, and is becoming more and more popular. In the early 1990s, Chinese performance art was already acclaimed in the international art scene. Since the 2000s New-media performance In the late 1990s and into the 2000s, a number of artists incorporated technologies such as the World Wide Web, digital video, webcams, and streaming media, into performance artworks. Artists such as Coco Fusco, Shu Lea Cheang, and Prema Murthy produced performance art that drew attention to the role of gender, race, colonialism, and the body in relation to the Internet. Other artists, such as Critical Art Ensemble, Electronic Disturbance Theater, and Yes Men, used digital technologies associated with hacktivism and interventionism to raise political issues concerning new forms of capitalism and consumerism. In the second half of the decade, computer-aided forms of performance art began to take place. Many of these works led to the development of algorithmic art, generative art, and robotic art, in which the computer itself, or a computer-controlled robot, becomes the performer. Coco Fusco is an interdisciplinary Cuban-American artist, writer and curator who lives and works in the United States. Her artistic career began in 1988. In her work, she explores topics such as identity, race, power and gender through performance. She also makes videos, interactive installations and critical writing. Radical performance During the 2000s and 2010s, artists such as Pussy Riot, Tania Bruguera, and Petr Pavlensky have been judged for diverse artistic actions. On February 21, 2012, as a part of their protest against the re-election of Vladímir Putin, various women of the artistic collective Pussy Riot entered the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour of Moscow of the Russian Orthodox Church. They made the sign of the cross, bowed before the shrine, and started to interpret a performance compound by a song and a dance under the motto "Virgin Mary, put Putin Away". On March 3, they were detained. On March 3, 2012, Maria Alyokhina and Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, Pussy Riot members, were arrested by the Russian authorities and accused of vandalism. At first, they both denied being members of the group and started a hunger strike for being incarcerated and taken apart from their children until the trials began in April. On March 16 another woman, Yekaterina Samutsévitch, who had been previously interrogated as a witness, was arrested and accused as well. On July 5, formal charges against the group and a 2800-page accusation were filed. That same day they were notified that they had until July 9 to prepare their defense. In reply, they announced a hunger strike, pleading that two days was an inappropriate time frame to prepare their defense. On July 21, the court extended their preventive prison to last six more months. The three detained members were recognized as political prisoners by the Union of Solidarity with Political Prisoners. Amnesty International considers them to be prisoners of conscience for "the severity of the response of the Russian authorities". Since 2012, artist Abel Azcona has been prosecuted for some of his works. The demand that gained the most repercussion was the one carried out by the Archbishopric of Pamplona and Tudela, in representation of the Catholic Church. The Church demanded Azcona for desecration and blasphemy crimes, hate crime and attack against the religious freedom and feelings for his work Amen or The Pederasty. In 2016, Azcona was denounced for extolling terrorism for his exhibition Natura Morta, in which the artist recreated situations of violence, historical memory, terrorism or war conflicts through performance and hyperrealistic sculptures and installations. In December 2014 Tania Bruguera was detained in La Habana to prevent her from carrying out new reivindicative works. Her performance art pieces have earned her harsh critiques, and she has been accused of promoting resistance and public disturbances. In December 2015 and January 2016, Bruguera was detained for organizing a public performance in the plaza de la Revolución of La Habana. She was detained along with other Cuban artists, activists and reporters who took part in the campaign Yo También Exijo, which was created after the declarations of Raúl Castro and Barack Obama in favor of restoring their diplomatic relationship. During the performance El Susurro de Tatlin #6 she set microphones and talkers in the Plaza de la Revolución so the Cubans could express their feelings regarding the new political climate. The event had great repercussion in international media, including a presentation of El Susurro de Tatlin #6 in Times Square, and an action in which various artists and intellectuals expressed themselves in favour of the liberation of Bruguera by sending an open letter to Raúl Castro signed by thousands of people around the world asking for the return of her passport and claiming criminal injustice, as she only gave a microphone to the people so they could give their opinion. In November 2015 and October 2017 Petr Pavlensky was arrested for carrying out a radical performance art piece in which he set on fire the entry of the Lubyanka Building, headquarters of the Federal Security Service of Russia, and a branch office of the Bank of France. On both occasions he sprayed the main entrance with gasoline; in the second performance he sprayed the inside as well, and ignited it with a lighter. The doors of the building were partially burnt. Both times Pavlenski was arrested without resistance and accused of debauchery. A few hours after the actions, several political and artistic reivindicative videos appeared on the internet. Institutionalization of performance art / performance collecting processes Since the 2000s, big museums, institutions and collections have supported performance art. Since January 2003, Tate Modern in London has had a curated programme of live art and performance. With exhibitions by artists such as Tania Bruguera or Anne Imhof. In 2012 The Tanks at Tate Modern were opened: the first dedicated spaces for performance, film and installation in a major modern and contemporary art museum. The Museum of Modern Art held a major retrospective and performance recreation of Marina Abramović's work, the biggest exhibition of performance art in MoMA's history, from March 14 to 31, 2010. The exhibition consisted of more than twenty pieces by the artist, most of them from the years 1960–1980. Many of them were re-activated by other young artists of multiple nationalities selected for the show. In parallel to the exhibition, Abramovic performed The Artist is Present, a 726-hour and 30-minute static, silent piece, in which she sat immobile in the museum's atrium, while spectators were invited to take turns sitting opposite her. The work is an updated reproduction of one of the pieces from 1970, shown in the exhibition, where Abramovic stayed for full days next to Ulay, who was her sentimental companion. The performance attracted celebrities such as Björk, Orlando Bloom and James Franco who participated and received media coverage. Against the background of the institutionalisation of performance, the Bruxelles-based initiative A Performance Affair and the London-based format Performance Exchange inquire about the collectability of performance works. With The Non-fungible Body?, the Austrian museum and culture centre OÖLKG/OK reflects upon recent developments in institutionalizing performance through a discursive festival format that was presented for the first time in June 2022. Collective reivindication performance art In 2014 the performance art piece Carry That Weight is created, also known as "the mattress performance". The artist behind this piece is Emma Sulkowicz who, during her end of degree thesis in visual arts in the Columbia University in the city of New York City. In September 2014, Sulkowicz's piece began, as she started carrying her own mattress around the Columbia University campus. This work was created by the artist with the goal of denouncing her rape in that same mattress years before, in her own dormitory, which she reported and was not heard by the university or the justice, so she decided to carry the mattress with her for the entire semester, without leaving it at any moment, until her graduation ceremony in May 2015. The piece generated great controversy, but was supported by a bunch of her companions and activists who joined Sulkowicz multiple times when carrying the mattress, making the work an international revindication. Art critic Jerry Saltz considered the artwork to be one of the most important of the year 2014. In 2019 the collective performance art piece A Rapist in Your Path was created by a feminist group from Valparaíso, Chile named Lastesis, which consisted of a demonstration against the women's rights violations in the context of the 2019–2020 Chilean protests. It was first performed in front of the Second Police Station of the Carabineros de Chile in Valparaíso on November 18, 2019. A second performance done by 2000 Chilean women on November 25, 2019, as a part of the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, was filmed and became viral on social media. Its reach became global after feminist movements in dozens of countries adopted and translated the performance for their own protests and demands for the cessation and punishment of femicide and sexual violence, amongst others. See also ART/MEDIA Classificatory disputes about art COUM Transmissions Danger music Digital Live Art Flash mob Graphic arts Guerrilla theatre List of performance artists Living statue New media art Noise music Poetry slam Radio drama References Bibliography Bäckström, Per. "Performing the Poem: The Cross-Aesthetic Art of the Nordic Neo-Avant-Garde", The Angel of History. Literature, History and Culture. Vesa Haapala, Hannamari Helander, Anna Hollsten, Pirjo Lyytikäinen & Rita Paqvalen (eds.), Helsinki: The Department of Finnish Language and Literature, University of Helsinki, 2009. Bäckström, Per. “Kisses Sweeter than Wine: Öyvind Fahlström and Billy Klüver: The Swedish Neo-Avant-Garde in New York”, Artl@s Bulletin, vol. 6, 2017: 2 Migrations, Transfers, and Resemantization. Bäckström, Per. “The Intermedial Cluster.Åke Hodell's Lågsniff”, Acta Universitatis Sapientiae, Series Film & Media Studies, de Gruyter, no. 10 2015. Bäckström, Per. ”’The Trumpet in the Bottom’. Öyvind Fahlström and the Uncanny”, Edda 2017: 2. Beisswanger, Lisa: Performance on Display. Zur Geschichte lebendiger Kunst im Museum. Deutscher Kunstverlag, Berlin 2021. (in German) Beuys Brock Vostell. Aktion Demonstration Partizipation 1949–1983. ZKM – Zentrum für Kunst und Medientechnologie, Hatje Cantz, Karlsruhe, 2014, . Battcock, Gregory; Nickas, Robert (1984). The Art of Performance: A Critical Anthology. New York, E.P. Dutton. Carlson, Marvin (1996). Performance: A Critical Introduction. London and New York: Routledge. , Carr, C. (1993). On Edge: Performance at the End of the Twentieth Century. Wesleyan University Press. , Dempsey, Amy, Art in the Modern Era: A Guide to Styles, Schools, & Movements, Publisher: Harry N. Abrams, (basic definition and basic overview provided). Dreher, Thomas: Performance Art nach 1945. Aktionstheater und Intermedia. München: Wilhelm Fink 2001. (in German) Fischer-Lichte, Erika: Ästhetik des Performativen. Frankfurt: edition suhrkamp 2004. (in German) Goldberg, Roselee (1998) Performance: Live Art Since 1960. Harry N. Abrams, NY NY. Goldberg, Roselee (2001). Performance Art: From Futurism to the Present (World of Art). Thames & Hudson Goldberg, Roselee (2018) Performance Now: Live Art for the 21st Century, London: Thames & Hudson, . Gómez-Peña, Guillermo (2005). Ethno-techno: Writings on performance, activism and pedagogy. Routledge, London. Jones, Amelia and Heathfield, Adrian (eds.) (2012), Perform, Repeat, Record. Live Art in History. Intellect, Bristol. Phelan, Peggy: Unmarked. The Politics of Performance. Routledge, London 1993. Rockwell, John (2004). "Preserve Performance Art?" New York Times, April 30. Schimmel, Paul (ed.) (1998). Out of Actions: Between Performance and the Object, 1949–1979. Thames and Hudson, Los Angeles. Library of the Congress NX456.5.P38 S35 1998 Smith, Roberta (2005). "Performance Art Gets Its Biennial". New York Times, November 2. Best, Susan, "The Serial Spaces of Ana Mendieta" Art History, April 2007 https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8365.2007.00532.x Best, Susan, "Ana Mendieta: Affect Miniatiarizatin, Emotional Ties and the Silueta Series," Visualizing Feeling: Affect and the Feminine Avant-Garde (London: I B Tauris, 2011) 92–115 Del Valle, Alejandro. "Ana Mendieta: Performance in the way of the primitive". Arte, Individuo y Sociedad, 26 (1) 508–523 "Ana Mendieta: Earth Body, Sculpture and Performance 1972–1985." Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden. Traditional Fine Arts Organization, Inc. Ana Mendieta: New Museum archive External links Live Art Archives at the University of Bristol Theatre Collection Thomas Dreher: Intermedia Art: Performance Art (most articles in German) Contemporary art movements Performing arts Theatre Culture jamming techniques Postmodern theatre The arts

Paradigmatic analysis

Paradigmatic analysis is the analysis of paradigms embedded in the text rather than of the surface structure (syntax) of the text which is termed syntagmatic analysis. Paradigmatic analysis often uses commutation tests, i.e. analysis by substituting words of the same type or class to calibrate shifts in connotation. Definition of terms In semiotic literary criticism, a syntagm (or syntagma) is a building block of a text into which meaning is encoded by the writer and decoded by the reader, recalling past experience and placing the message in its appropriate cultural context. Individual syntagms can be arranged together to form more complex syntagms: groups of sounds (and the letters to represent them) form words, groups of words form sentences, sentences form narratives, and so on. A list of syntagms of the same type is called a paradigm. So, in English, the alphabet is the paradigm from which the syntagms of words are formed. The set of words collected together in a lexicon becomes the paradigm from which sentences etc. are formed. Hence, paradigmatic analysis is a method for exploring a syntagm by identifying its constituent paradigm, studying the individual paradigmatic elements, and then reconstructing the process by which the syntagm takes on meaning. The importance of paradigmatic relationships and paradigmatic analysis includes contrasting and comparing each of the meanings present in each text in which similar circumstances will be chosen. This helps to define value in the text. The importance of relations of paradigmatic opposition is to help generate an order of dynamic complexity of experience in the past. People have believed in binary opposition since at least classical times: e.g. in Aristotle's physics of four elements earth, air, fire and water, the relations among these are all binary oppositions that are believed to make up the world. Jakobson and Ritchie Roman Jakobson's model on the functions of language has two levels of description: the various component elements forming language, and what humans do with the language when they use it. In the first place, every language has a vocabulary and a syntax. Its elements are words with fixed denotative meanings. Out of these one can construct, according to the rules of the syntax, composite symbols with resultant new meanings. Secondly, in a language, some words are equivalent to whole combinations of other words, so that most meanings can be expressed in several different ways. Studies of human perception show that to some extent, what people perceive depends on what they expect to perceive. L. David Ritchie proposes that communication creates relationships between what is perceived or known by one person and what is perceived or known by others; the form of the communication will be determined in part by whether there are pre-existing relationships between the communicator and the audience. The receiver and originator of a message must work from some common understanding of what sorts of patterns are used to communicate and how these patterns are related to other events. Communication has to do with community both in the sense that it relies on having something in common in the first place and in the sense that it can influence what the communicants subsequently have in common. Applied to music In music, paradigmatic analysis was a method of musical analysis developed by Nicolas Ruwet during the 1960s but later named by others. It is "based on the concept of 'equivalence'. Ruwet argued that the most striking characteristic of musical syntax was the central role of repetition – and, by extension, of varied repetition or transformation (Ruwet 1987)" (Middleton 1990/2002, p. 183). Paradigmatic analysis assumes that Roman Jakobson's description of the poetic system (1960, p. 358) applies to music and that in both a "projection of the principle of equivalence from the axis of selection on to the axis of combination" occurs. Thus paradigmatic analyses are able to base the assignment of units entirely on repetition so that "anything repeated (straight or varied) is defined as a unit, and this is true on all levels," from sections to phrases and individual sounds (Middleton, ibid). Notes References Middleton, Richard (1990/2002). Studying Popular Music. Philadelphia: Open University Press. . Musical analysis Symbolism

Macrosociology

Macrosociology is a large-scale approach to sociology, emphasizing the analysis of social systems and populations at the structural level, often at a necessarily high level of theoretical abstraction. Though macrosociology does concern itself with individuals, families, and other constituent aspects of a society, it does so in relation to larger social system of which such elements are a part. The approach is also able to analyze generalized collectivities (e.g. "the city", "the church"). In contrast, microsociology focuses on the individual social agency. Macrosociology, however, deals with broad societal trends that can later be applied to smaller features of society, or vice versa. To differentiate, macrosociology deals with issues such as war as a whole; 'distress of Third-World countries'; poverty on a national/international level; and environmental deprivation, whereas microsociology analyses issues such as the individual features of war (e.g. camaraderie, one's pleasure in violence, etc.); the role of women in third-world countries; poverty's effect on "the family"; and how immigration impacts a country's environment. A "society" can be considered as a collective of human populations that are politically autonomous, in which members engage in a broad range of cooperative activities. The people of Germany, for example, can be deemed "a society", whereas people with German heritage as a whole, including those who populate other countries, would not be considered a society, per se. Theoretical strategies There are a number of theoretical strategies within contemporary macrosociology, though four approaches, in particular, have the most influence: Idealist Strategy: Attempts to explain the basic features of social life by reference to the creative capacity of the human mind. "Idealists believe that human uniqueness lies in the fact that humans attach symbolic meanings to their actions." Materialist Strategy: Attempts to explain the basic features of human social life in terms of the practical, material conditions of their existence, including the nature of a physical environment; the level of technology; and the organization of an economic system. Functionalist Strategy (or structural functionalism): Functionalism essentially states that societies are complex systems of interrelated and interdependent parts, and each part of a society significantly influences the others. Moreover, each part of society exists because it has a specific function to perform in contributing to the society as a whole. As such, societies tend toward a state of equilibrium or homeostasis, and if there is a disturbance in any part of the society then the other parts will adjust to restore the stability of the society as a whole. Conflict Theoretical Strategy (or conflict theory): Rejects the idea that societies tend toward some basic consensus of harmony in which the features of society work for everyone's good. Rather, the basic structure of society is determined by individuals and groups acquiring scarce resources to satisfy their own needs and wants, thus creating endless conflicts. Historical macrosociology Historical macrosociology can be understood as an approach that uses historical knowledge to try to solve some of the problems seen in the field of macrosociology. As globalization has affected the world, it has also influenced historical macrosociology, leading to the development of two distinct branches: Comparative and historical sociology (CHS): a branch of historical macrosociology that bases its analysis on states, searching for "generalizations about common properties and principles of variation among instances across time and space." As of recently, it has been argued that globalization poses a threat to the CHS way of thinking because it often leads to the dissolution of distinct states. Political Economy of the World-Systems (PEWS): a branch of historical macrosociology that bases its analysis on the systems of states, searching for "generalizations about interdependencies among a system's components and of principles of variation among systemic conditions across time and space." Historical macrosociologists include: Charles Tilly: developed theory of CHS, in which analysis is based on national states. Immanuel Wallerstein: developed world systems theory, in which analysis is based on world capitalist systems. Linking micro- and macro-sociology Perhaps the most highly developed integrative effort to link micro- and macro-sociological phenomena is found in Anthony Giddens's theory of structuration, in which "social structure is defined as both constraining and enabling of human activity as well as both internal and external to the actor." Attempts to link micro and macro phenomena are evident in a growing body of empirical research. Such work appears to follow Giddens' view of the constraining and enabling nature of social structure for human activity and the need to link structure and action. "It appears safe to say that while macrosociology will always remain a central component of sociological theory and research, increasing effort will be devoted to creating workable models that link it with its microcounterpart." See also Base and superstructure Cliodynamics General systems theory Modernization theory Sociocybernetics Structure and agency Systems philosophy References Further reading Tilly, Charles. 1995. "Macrosociology Past and Future." In Newsletter of the Comparative & Historical Sociology 8(1&2):1,3–4. American Sociological Association. Francois, P., J. G. Manning, Harvey Whitehouse, Rob Brennan, et al. 2016. "A Macroscope for Global History. Seshat Global History Databank: A Methodological Overview." Digital Humanities Quarterly Journal 4(26). Methods in sociology

Cool Japan

refers to the aspects of Japanese culture that non-Japanese people perceive as "cool". After the success of "Cool Britannia," the Japanese government started using the phrase. The Cool Japan strategy is part of Japan's overall brand strategy, aiming to disseminate Japan's attractiveness and allure to the world. The target of Cool Japan "encompasses everything from games, manga, anime, and other forms of content, fashion, commercial products, Japanese cuisine, and traditional culture to robots, eco-friendly technologies, and other high-tech industrial products". Due to the combination of its failures in World War 2 and its aggressive imperial history, Japan was forced by circumstances, specifically the United States, to alter its approach to global diplomacy. Under Article 9, Japan was no longer able to employ hard power through its military. As a result, it cultivated and pioneered soft power as its approach to its position on the global stage. In this, Japan was forced to figure out how to go about in security, aid, and leadership, starting with reinventing their image and rebuilding their negative reputation. Japan's "Cool Japan" Initiative was a major cornerstone of its soft power policy and greatly contributed to their reintegration into regional and global leadership. Cool Japan has been described as a form of soft power, with the ability to "indirectly influence behavior or interests through cultural or ideological means". Origins Starting in 1980, following the emergence of the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA), Japan began to increase its nation branding efforts through the release of a television series titled , a Japanese soap opera. was distributed at no cost outside of Japan, and was well received in 46 countries. Through the success of and multiple other television shows, Japan successfully established the idea of "Cool Japan" as a method of establishing and improving the country's cultural perception. In a 2002 article in Foreign Policy titled "Japan's Gross National Cool", Douglas McGray wrote of Japan "reinventing superpower" as its cultural influence expanded internationally, despite the economic and political problems of the "lost decade". Surveying youth culture and the role of J-pop, manga, anime, video games, fashion, film, consumer electronics, architecture, cuisine, and phenomena of ("cuteness") such as Hello Kitty, McGray highlighted Japan's considerable cultural soft power, posing the question of what message the country might project. He also argued that Japan's recession may even have boosted its national cool, due to the partial discrediting of erstwhile rigid social hierarchies and big-business career paths. Adoption Taken up in the international media, with The New York Times running a retrospect "Year in Ideas: Pokémon Hegemon", an increasing number of more reform-minded government officials and business leaders in Japan began to refer to the country's "gross national cool" and to adopt the unofficial slogan "Cool Japan". In a 2005 press conference, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs linked the idea to Bhutan's concept of Gross National Happiness. The phrase gained greater exposure in the mid-2000s as NHK began a series entitled Cool Japan , which by the end of 2009 had reached over 100 episodes. Academic initiatives include the establishment of a "Cool Japan" research project at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, while some western universities have reported an increase in the number of applicants for Japanese Studies courses due to the "cool" effect. The adoption of Cool Japan has also spurred changes in culture studies. As a result of the fascination of Cool Japan with Japanese youth culture and schoolgirls, a new wave of studies called 'girl studies' focuses specifically on the experience of girls and the girls-at-heart. Previously a subject of adolescent psychology or feminism, girl studies emerged from Cool Japan to include an interdisciplinary analysis of girl culture. Creative Industries Promotion Office The Japanese government has identified the culture industry as one of five potential areas of growth. In June 2010, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry established a new Creative Industries Promotion Office to promote cultural and creative industries as a strategic sector "under the single, long term concept of "Cool Japan", to coordinate different government functions, and to cooperate with the private sector". The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry announced that Japanese pop culture is one of the key elements for Cool Japan and that pop culture includes idol, anime, and . The deputy director described its mission as to "brand Japanese products with the uniqueness of Japanese culture", with a budget of ¥19 billion for 2011 alone. In the fiscal year 2008, public spending on cultural activities was ¥116.9 billion in South Korea, ¥477.5 billion in China, and ¥101.8 billion in Japan, forming 0.79%, 0.51%, and 0.12% of total government spending respectively. The fund was launched in 2013, and the Japanese government committed to the Cool Japan Fund ¥50 billion ($500 million) over 20 years, with a target of ¥60 billion ($600 million) via private investor partnerships. However, Nikkei Asian Review reported that within five years the fund "suffered pretax losses totaling 10 billion yen ($88.9 million)", and that many projects failed to deliver earnings. Since June 2018, the management has been led by former Sony Music Entertainment (Japan) CEO Naoki Kitagawa. Timeline of notable endeavors 2013 Establishment of Cool Japan Fund Inc. under the Law of Cool Japan Fund Inc. (Act No.51 of 2013). 2014 Traditional Japanese crafts showcased at Maison & Objet, the world's largest trade fair for interior goods and designs, to promote Japan's (manufacturing) culture. WakuWaku Japan, Japanese satellite television channel that broadcasts Japanese programs to overseas viewers in Asia. It was a joint venture with broadcaster Sky Perfect JSAT who contributed ¥6.6 billion out of ¥11 billion, but failed to expand in multiple markets and generate viewership, with nearly ¥4 billion losses until 2017. 2015 METI starts Nippon Quest, a website to showcase and disseminate unknown Japanese regional specialties to the world. US cafes focused on Japanese tea, on which was spent ¥250 million for nearly 50% stake. Funding of the development of content creators for anime and manga outside Japan by KADOKAWA Contents Academy Co., Ltd. 2016 Isetan the Japan Store, a joint venture with Isetan to make a five-floor department store in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, to promote Japanese goods and services. However, lack of demand resulted with a loss of circa $4.5 million, and all Cool Japan Fund shares sold to Isetan Mitsukoshi Holdings. 2018 The first investment with new management was $12.5 million in Tastemade, becoming a minority shareholder, to support making of content promoting Japanese food and destinations. 2019 Cool Japan Fund invests in American anime licensing company Sentai Holdings, aiming to provide support at the copyright level, and increasing the presence of anime in North America. On September 30, 2020, the Cool Japan Fund made an additional available, stating that Sentai had achieved better financial results in 2019 compared to 2018, with plans for medium and long-term growth, and strategic changes following the COVID-19 pandemic. Criticism Japan's use of soft power through its "Cool Japan" has faced criticism connected to its imperialist history. Under its imperial rule over South Korea, Japan cultivated an extremely negative perception of itself due to its treatment of Koreans. Thus, when Japan began implementing "Cool Japan" policies as a form of soft power in its post-WW2 era as a non-militaristic country, they were met with hesitation from many countries in the region, but most significantly, South Korea. While "Cool Japan" efforts have now improved their image in South Korea and the region as a whole, it took awhile for South Korea to trust Japan's intentions, and still faces hesitancy. South Koreans viewed this initiative as another way that Japan was inserting itself too much into different realms and cultures they did not belong to. Additionally, by attempting to spread their culture as a form of soft power, it was seen by others as Japan trying to put themselves into other countries in a way too similar to when they had done so during its imperial era. It appeared to be reminiscent of the Co-Prosperity Sphere, in which Japan attempted, and ultimately failed, to implement too much of itself into others under imperial rule. However, while this historical legacy of colonization had impeded Japan's efforts to implement "Cool Japan" initiatives in the region, the past two decades have indicated that it is improving their image and relationships. For instance, by coming together to create media and distribute it to each other's countries, Japan has been able to integrate a positive image in South Korea. This was evident when the two countries co-hosted the 2002 World Cup, showing that the two countries were willing to come together for a significant cultural moment, thus creating a positive image for the public. Another issue which challenged the effectiveness of "Cool Japan" was the lack of relatability throughout Asia. This is also due to the combination of Japan's imperial history and the resulting closed approach of other countries to the Japanese media. In Japan's attempts to spread culture through television and movies, they faced difficulties because other countries were not receptive to it and did not feel a connection to the characters. This is rooted in the rejection of Japanese culture and their attempts to separate themselves as different from its neighbors. Japan was forced to shift their approach to media and improve the relatability of how they present characters. However, Japan was successful in this and as a result saw a spread of Japanese media and culture to their neighboring countries. A 2010 editorial in the argued that the government was not doing enough to advance the country's business interests in this sphere, allowing the Korean Wave to overshadow Japan's efforts. The editorial highlighted structural inefficiencies, with the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry promoting "Cool Japan", the Ministry of Foreign Affairs responsible for cultural exchange, and the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries in charge of Japanese foods. Lecturer Roland Kelts has also suggested that a failure to fully distinguish, brand and engage the overseas audience and market may mean that "Cool Japan" is "over". In 2011, Laura Miller critiqued Cool Japan campaign as exploiting and misrepresenting youth subcultural fashion and language. In 2013, Nancy Snow referred to Cool Japan as a form of state-sponsored cultural retreading she calls Gross National Propaganda. Japanese singer-songwriter Gackt criticized the government in 2015 for having set up a huge budget, yet "have no idea where that money should go. It's no exaggeration to say it has fallen into a downward spiral of wasted tax money flowing into little known companies", and that such lack of support is causing Japan to "fall behind its Asian neighbors in terms of cultural exports". In 2016, Benjamin Boas pointed out that Cool Japan-branded efforts are often promoted without participation of foreigners, leaving out the perspectives of the very foreigners that they are trying to target. In 2017, a senior executive and several other senior male employees of Cool Japan Fund Inc. were accused of sexual harassment targeting female employees of the fund. The employees formed a labor union in order to fight against sexual harassment. In the same year, Nikkei Asian Review journalist Yuta Saito criticized fund's ambitions because their "lack of strategy, discipline gives rise to unprofitable projects", and there's possible conflict of interest by the executives. In 2018, Japan Today reported that it was too soon to consider it "grossly incompetent or corrupt", but was at least "under-performing" for now. See also Cool Biz campaign Cool Britannia Cultural policy Japan Expo Japanese economic miracle Korean Wave Kpop Taiwanese Wave References External links Cool Japan Fund Inc. Cool Japan / Creative Industries Policy Japan External Trade Organization - Cool Japan JETRO report on "Cool Japan" (2005) Japanese popular culture Economy of Japan Culture of Japan 2000s neologisms

Sequential hermaphroditism

Sequential hermaphroditism (called dichogamy in botany) is one of the two types of hermaphroditism, the other type being simultaneous hermaphroditism. It occurs when the organism's sex changes at some point in its life. A sequential hermaphrodite produces eggs (female gametes) and sperm (male gametes) at different stages in life. Sequential hermaphroditism occurs in many fish, gastropods, and plants. Species that can undergo these changes do so as a normal event within their reproductive cycle, usually cued by either social structure or the achievement of a certain age or size. In some species of fish, sequential hermaphroditism is much more common than simultaneous hermaphroditism. In animals, the different types of change are male to female (protandry or protandrous hermaphroditism), female to male (protogyny or protogynous hermaphroditism), and bidirectional (serial or bidirectional hermaphroditism). Both protogynous and protandrous hermaphroditism allow the organism to switch between functional male and functional female. Bidirectional hermaphrodites have the capacity for sex change in either direction between male and female or female and male, potentially repeatedly during their lifetime. These various types of sequential hermaphroditism may indicate that there is no advantage based on the original sex of an individual organism. Those that change gonadal sex can have both female and male germ cells in the gonads or can change from one complete gonadal type to the other during their last life stage. In plants, individual flowers are called dichogamous if their function has the two sexes separated in time, although the plant as a whole may have functionally male and functionally female flowers open at any one moment. A flower is protogynous if its function is first female, then male, and protandrous if its function is first male then female. It used to be thought that this reduced inbreeding, but it may be a more general mechanism for reducing pollen-pistil interference. Zoology Teleost fishes are the only vertebrate lineage where sequential hermaphroditism occurs. Protandry In general, protandrous hermaphrodites are animals that develop as males, but can later reproduce as females. However, protandry features a spectrum of different forms, which are characterized by the overlap between male and female reproductive function throughout an organism's lifetime: Protandrous sequential hermaphroditism: Early reproduction as a pure male and later reproduction as a pure female. Protandrous hermaphroditism with overlap: Early reproduction as a pure male and later reproduction as a pure female with an intervening overlap between both male and female reproduction. Protandrous simultaneous hermaphroditism: Early pure male reproduction and later reproduction in both sexes. Furthermore, there are also species that reproduce as both sexes throughout their lifespans (i.e simultaneous hermaphrodites), but shift their reproductive resources from male to female over time. Protandrous examples Protandry occurs in a widespread range of animal phyla. In fact, protandrous hermaphroditism occurs in many fish, mollusks, and crustaceans, but is completely absent in terrestrial vertebrates. Protandrous fishes include teleost species in the families Pomacentridae, Sparidae, and Gobiidae. A common example of a protandrous species are clownfish, which have a very structured society. In the species Amphiprion percula, there are zero to four individuals excluded from breeding and a breeding pair living in a sea anemone. Dominance is based on size, the female being the largest and the reproductive male being the second largest. The rest of the group is made up of progressively smaller males that do not breed and have no functioning gonads. If the female dies, in many cases, the reproductive male gains weight and becomes the female for that group. The largest non-breeding male then sexually matures and becomes the reproductive male for the group. Other protandrous fishes can be found in the classes clupeiformes, siluriformes, stomiiformes. Since these groups are distantly related and have many intermediate relatives that are not protandrous, it strongly suggests that protandry evolved multiple times. Phylogenies support this assumption because ancestral states differ for each family. For example, the ancestral state of the family Pomacentridae was gonochoristic (single-sexed), indicating that protandry evolved within the family. Therefore, because other families also contain protandrous species, protandry likely has evolved multiple times. Other examples of protandrous animals include: The Platyctenida order of comb jellies. Unlike most ctenophores, which are simultaneous hermaphrodites, Platyctenida are primarily protandrous, but asexual reproduction has also been observed in some species. The flatworms Hymanella retenuova. Laevapex fuscus, a gastropod, is described as being functionally protandric. The sperm matures in late winter and early spring, the eggs mature in early summer, and copulation occurs only in June. This shows that males cannot reproduce until the females appear, thus why they are considered to be functionally protandric. Speyeria mormonia, the Mormon fritillary, is a butterfly species exhibiting protandry. In its case, functional protandry refers to the emergence of male adults 2–3 weeks before female adults. Members of the shrimp genus Lysmata perform protandric simultaneous hermaphroditism where they become true hermaphrodites instead of females. During the "female phase," they have both male and female tissues in their gonads and produce both gametes. Protogyny Protogynous hermaphrodites are animals that are born female and at some point in their lifespan change sex to male. Protogyny is a more common form of sequential hermaphroditism in fish, especially when compared to protandry. As the animal ages, it shifts sex to become a male animal due to internal or external triggers, undergoing physiological and behavioral changes. In many fishes, female fecundity increases continuously with age, while in other species larger males have a selective advantage (such as in harems), so it is hypothesized that the mating system can determine whether it is more selectively advantageous to be a male or female when an organism's body is larger. Protogynous examples Protogyny is the most common form of hermaphroditism in fish in nature. About 75% of the 500 known sequentially hermaphroditic fish species are protogynous and often have polygynous mating systems. In these systems, large males use aggressive territorial defense to dominate female mating. This causes small males to have a severe reproductive disadvantage, which promotes strong selection of size-based protogyny. Therefore, if an individual is small, it is more reproductively advantageous to be female because they will still be able to reproduce, unlike small males. Common model organisms for this type of sequential hermaphroditism are wrasses. They are one of the largest families of coral reef fish and belong to the family Labridae. Wrasses are found around the world in all marine habitats and tend to bury themselves in sand at night or when they feel threatened. In wrasses, the larger of a mating pair is the male, while the smaller is the female. In most cases, females and immature males have a uniform color while the male has the terminal bicolored phase. Large males hold territories and try to pair spawn, while small to mid-size initial-phase males live with females and group spawn. In other words, both the initial- and terminal-phase males can breed, but they differ in the way they do it. In the California sheephead (Semicossyphus pulcher), a type of wrasse, when the female changes to male, the ovaries degenerate and spermatogenic crypts appear in the gonads. The general structure of the gonads remains ovarian after the transformation and the sperm is transported through a series of ducts on the periphery of the gonad and oviduct. Here, sex change is age-dependent. For example, the California sheephead stays a female for four to six years before changing sex since all California sheephead are born female. Bluehead wrasses begin life as males or females, but females can change sex and function as males. Young females and males start with a dull initial-phase coloration before progressing into a brilliant terminal-phase coloration, which has a change in intensity of color, stripes, and bars. Terminal-phase coloration occurs when males become large enough to defend territory. Initial-phase males have larger testes than larger, terminal phase males, which enables the initial-phase males to produce a large amount of sperm. This strategy allows these males to compete with the larger territorial male. Botryllus schlosseri, a colonial tunicate, is a protogynous hermaphrodite. In a colony, eggs are released about two days before the peak of sperm emission. Although self-fertilization is avoided and cross-fertilization favored by this strategy, self-fertilization is still possible. Self-fertilized eggs develop with a substantially higher frequency of anomalies during cleavage than cross-fertilized eggs (23% vs. 1.6%). Also a significantly lower percentage of larvae derived from self-fertilized eggs metamorphose, and the growth of the colonies derived from their metamorphosis is significantly lower. These findings suggest that self-fertilization gives rise to inbreeding depression associated with developmental deficits that are likely caused by expression of deleterious recessive mutations. Other examples of protogynous organisms include: In the following fish families: Serranidae (groupers), Sparidae (porgies), Synbranchidae (swamp eels), Labridae (wrasses), Scaridae (parrotfishes), Pomacanthidae (angelfishes), Gobiidae (gobies), Lethrinidae (emperors), and possibly others. The intertidal isopod Gnorimosphaeroma oregonense. Protogyny sometimes occurs in the frog Rana temporaria, where older females will sometimes switch to being males. Ultimate causes The ultimate cause of a biological event determines how the event makes organisms better adapted to their environment, and thus why evolution by natural selection has produced that event. While a large number of ultimate causes of hermaphroditism have been proposed, the two causes most relevant to sequential hermaphroditism are the size-advantage model and protection against inbreeding. Size-advantage model The size-advantage model states that individuals of a given sex reproduce more effectively if they are a certain size or age. To create selection for sequential hermaphroditism, small individuals must have higher reproductive fitness as one sex and larger individuals must have higher reproductive fitness as the opposite sex. For example, eggs are larger than sperm, thus larger individuals are able to make more eggs, so individuals could maximize their reproductive potential by beginning life as male and then turning female upon achieving a certain size. In most ectotherms, body size and female fecundity are positively correlated. This supports the size-advantage model. Kazancioglu and Alonzo (2010) performed the first comparative analysis of sex change in Labridae. Their analysis supports the size-advantage model and suggest that sequential hermaphroditism is correlated to the size-advantage. They determined that dioecy was less likely to occur when the size advantage is stronger than other advantages. Warner suggests that selection for protandry may occur in populations where female fecundity is augmented with age and individuals mate randomly. Selection for protogyny may occur where there are traits in the population that depress male fecundity at early ages (territoriality, mate selection or inexperience) and when female fecundity is decreased with age, the latter seems to be rare in the field. An example of territoriality favoring protogyny occurs when there is a need to protect their habitat and being a large male is advantageous for this purpose. In the mating aspect, a large male has a higher chance of mating, while this has no effect on the female mating fitness. Thus, he suggests that female fecundity has more impact on sequential hermaphroditism than the age structures of the population. The size-advantage model predicts that sex change would only be absent if the relationship between size/age with reproductive potential is identical in both sexes. With this prediction one would assume that hermaphroditism is very common, but this is not the case. Sequential hermaphroditism is very rare and according to scientists this is due to some cost that decreases fitness in sex changers as opposed to those who do not change sex. Some of the hypotheses proposed for the dearth of hermaphrodites are the energetic cost of sex change, genetic and/or physiological barriers to sex change, and sex-specific mortality rates. In 2009, Kazanciglu and Alonzo found that dioecy was only favored when the cost of changing sex was very large. This indicates that the cost of sex change does not explain the rarity of sequential hermaphroditism by itself. The size-advantage model also explains under which mating systems protogyny or protandry would be more adaptive. In a haremic mating system, with one large male controlling access to numerous females for mating, this large male achieves greater reprodcutive success than a small female as he can fertilize numerous baches of eggs. So in this kind of haremic mating system (such as many wrasses), protogyny is the most adaptive strategy ("breed as a female when small, and then change to male when you're large and able to control a harem"). In a paired mating system (one male mates with one female, such as in clownfish or moray eels) the male can only fertilize one batch of eggs, whereas the female needs only a small male to fertilize her batch of eggs. so the larger she is, the more eggs she'll be able to produce and have fertilized. Therefore, in this kind of paired mating system, protandry is the most adaptive strategy ("breed as a male when small, and then change to female when you're larger"). Protection against inbreeding Sequential hermaphroditism can also protect against inbreeding in populations of organisms that have low enough motility and/or are sparsely distributed enough that there is a considerable risk of siblings encountering each other after reaching sexual maturity, and interbreeding. If siblings are all the same or similar ages, and if they all begin life as one sex and then transition to the other sex at about the same age, then siblings are highly likely to be the same sex at any given time. This should dramatically reduce the likelihood of inbreeding. Both protandry and protogyny are known to help prevent inbreeding in plants, and many examples of sequential hermaphroditism attributable to inbreeding prevention have been identified in a wide variety of animals. Proximate causes The proximate cause of a biological event concerns the molecular and physiological mechanisms that produce the event. Many studies have focused on the proximate causes of sequential hermaphroditism, which may be caused by various hormonal and enzyme changes in organisms. The role of aromatase has been widely studied in this area. Aromatase is an enzyme that controls the androgen/estrogen ratio in animals by catalyzing the conversion of testosterone into oestradiol, which is irreversible. It has been discovered that the aromatase pathway mediates sex change in both directions in organisms. Many studies also involve understanding the effect of aromatase inhibitors on sex change. One such study was performed by Kobayashi et al. In their study they tested the role of estrogens in male three-spot wrasses (Halichoeres trimaculatus). They discovered that fish treated with aromatase inhibitors showed decreased gonodal weight, plasma estrogen level and spermatogonial proliferation in the testis as well as increased androgen levels. Their results suggest that estrogens are important in the regulation of spermatogenesis in this protogynous hermaphrodite. Previous studies have also investigated sex reversal mechanisms in teleost fish. During sex reversal, their whole gonads including the germinal epithelium undergoes significant changes, remodeling, and reformation. One study on the teleost Synbranchus marmoratus found that metalloproteinases (MMPs) were involved in gonadal remodeling. In this process, the ovaries degenerated and were slowly replaced by the germinal male tissue. In particular, the action of MMPs induced significant changes in the interstitial gonadal tissue, allowing for reorganization of germinal epithelial tissue. The study also found that sex steroids help in the sex reversal process by being synthesized as Leydig cells replicate and differentiate. Thus, the synthesis of sex steroids coincides with gonadal remodeling, which is triggered by MMPs produced by germinal epithelial tissue. These results suggests that MMPs and changes in steroid levels play a large role in sequential hermaphroditism in teleosts. Genetic consequences Sequential hermaphrodites almost always have a sex ratio biased towards the birth sex, and consequently experience significantly more reproductive success after switching sexes. According to the population genetics theory, this should decrease genetic diversity and effective population size (Ne). However, a study of two ecologically similar santer sea bream (gonochoric) and slinger sea bream (protogynous) in South African waters found that genetic diversities were similar in the two species, and while Ne was lower in the instant for the sex-changer, they were similar over a relatively short time horizon. The ability of these organisms to change biological sex has allowed for better reproductive success based on the ability for certain genes to pass down more easily from generation to generation. The change in sex also allows for organisms to reproduce if no individuals of the opposite sex are already present. Botany Sequential hermaphroditism in plants is the process in which a plant changes its sex during its lifetime. Sequential hermaphroditism in plants is very rare. There are less than 0.1% of recorded cases in which plant species entirely change their sex. The Patchy Environment Model and Size Dependent Sex Allocation are the two environmental factors which drive sequential hermaphroditism in plants. The Patchy Environment Model states that plants maximize the use of their resources by changing their sex. For example, if a plant benefits more from the resources of a given environment in a certain sex, it will change to that sex. Furthermore, Size Dependent Sex Allocation outlines that in sequential hermaphroditic plants, it is preferable to change sexes in a way that maximizes their overall fitness compared to their size over time. Similar to maximizing the use of resources, if the combination of size and fitness for a certain sex is more beneficial, the plant will change to that sex. Evolutionarily, sequential hermaphrodites emerged as certain species obtained a reproductive advantage by changing their sex. Arisaema Arisaema triphyllum (Jack in the pulpit) is a plant species which is commonly cited as exercising sequential hermaphroditism. As A. triphyllum grows, it develops from a nonsexual juvenile plant, to a young all-male plant, to a male-and-female plant, to an all-female plant. This means that A. triphyllum is changing its sex from male to female over the course of its lifetime as its size increases, showcasing Size Dependent Sex Allocation. Another example is Arisaema dracontium or the green dragon, which can change its sex on a yearly basis. The sex of A. dracontium is also dependent on size: the smaller flowers are male while the larger flowers are both male and female. Typically in Arisaema species, small flowers only contain stamens, meaning they are males. Larger flowers can contain both stamen and pistils or only pistils, meaning they can be either hermaphrodites or strictly female. Striped maple (Acer pensylvanicum) Striped maple trees (Acer pensylvanicum) have been shown to change sex over a period of several years, and are sequential hermaphrodites. When branches were removed from striped maple trees they changed to female or to female and male as a response to the damage. Sickness will also trigger a sex change to either female or female and male. Dichogamy in flowering plants In the context of the sexuality of flowering plants (angiosperms), there are two forms of dichogamy: protogyny—female function precedes male function—and protandry—male function precedes female function. Examples include in Asteraceae, bisexual tubular (disks) florets are usually protandrous. Whereas in Acacia and Banksia flowers are protogynous, with the style of the female flower elongating, then later in the male phase the anthers shedding pollen. Evolution Historically, dichogamy has been regarded as a mechanism for reducing inbreeding. However, a survey of the angiosperms found that self-incompatible (SI) plants, which are incapable of inbreeding, were as likely to be dichogamous as were self-compatible (SC) plants. This finding led to a reinterpretation of dichogamy as a more general mechanism for reducing the impact of pollen-pistil interference on pollen import and export. Unlike the inbreeding avoidance hypothesis, which focused on female function, this interference-avoidance hypothesis considers both reproductive functions. Mechanism In many hermaphroditic plant species, the close physical proximity of anthers and stigma makes interference unavoidable, either within a flower or between flowers on an inflorescence. Within-flower interference, which occurs when either the pistil interrupts pollen removal or the anthers prevent pollen deposition, can result in autonomous or facilitated self-pollination. Between-flower interference results from similar mechanisms, except that the interfering structures occur on different flowers within the same inflorescence and it requires pollinator activity. This results in geitonogamous pollination, the transfer of pollen between flowers of the same individual. In contrast to within-flower interference, geitonogamy necessarily involves the same processes as outcrossing: pollinator attraction, reward provisioning, and pollen removal. Therefore, between-flower interference not only carries the cost of self-fertilization (inbreeding depression), but also reduces the amount of pollen available for export (so-called "pollen discounting"). Because pollen discounting diminishes outcross siring success, interference avoidance may be an important evolutionary force in floral biology. Dichogamy may reduce between-flower interference by reducing or eliminating the temporal overlap between stigma and anthers within an inflorescence. Large inflorescences attract more pollinators, potentially enhancing reproductive success by increasing pollen import and export. However, large inflorescences also increase the opportunities for both geitonogamy and pollen discounting, so that the opportunity for between-flower interference increases with inflorescence size. Consequently, the evolution of floral display size may represent a compromise between maximizing pollinator visitation and minimizing geitonogamy and pollen discounting (Barrett et al., 1994). Protandry Protandry may be particularly relevant to this compromise, because it often results in an inflorescence structure with female phase flowers positioned below male phase flowers. Given the tendency of many insect pollinators to forage upwards through inflorescences, protandry may enhance pollen export by reducing between-flower interference. Furthermore, this enhanced pollen export should increase as floral display size increases, because between-flower interference should increase with floral display size. These effects of protandry on between-flower interference may decouple the benefits of large inflorescences from the consequences of geitonogamy and pollen discounting. Such a decoupling would provide a significant reproductive advantage through increased pollinator visitation and siring success. Advantages It has been demonstrated experimentally that dichogamy both reduced rates of self-fertilization and enhanced outcross siring success through reductions in geitonogamy and pollen discounting, respectively. The influence of inflorescence size on this siring advantage shows bimodal distribution, with increased siring success with both small and large display sizes. The duration of stigmatic receptivity plays a key role in regulating the isolation of the male and female stages in dichogamous plants, and stigmatic receptivity can be influenced by both temperature and humidity. In the moth pollinated orchid, Satyrium longicauda, protandry tends to promote male mating success. See also Plant sexuality Sequential hermaphrodite section in Hermaphrodite References Reproduction Pollination Sexual system

Gellner's theory of nationalism

Gellner's theory of nationalism was developed by Ernest Gellner over a number of publications from around the early 1960s to his 1995 death. Gellner discussed nationalism in a number of works, starting with Thought and Change (1964), and he most notably developed it in Nations and Nationalism (1983). His theory is modernist. Characteristics Gellner defined nationalism as "primarily a political principle which holds that the political and the national unit should be congruent" and as the general imposition of a high culture on society, where previously low cultures had taken up the lives of the majority, and in some cases the totality, of the population. It means the general diffusion of a school-mediated, academy supervised idiom, codified for the requirements of a reasonably precise bureaucratic and technological communication. It is the establishment of an anonymous impersonal society, with mutually sustainable atomised individuals, held together above all by a shared culture of this kind, in place of the previous complex structure of local groups, sustained by folk cultures reproduced locally and idiosyncratically by the micro-groups themselves. Gellner analyzed nationalism by a historical perspective. He saw the history of humanity culminating in the discovery of modernity, nationalism being a key functional element. Modernity, by changes in political and economic system, is tied to the popularization of education, which, in turn, is tied to the unification of language. However, as modernization spread around the world, it did so slowly, and in numerous places, cultural elites were able to resist cultural assimilation and defend their own culture and language successfully. For Gellner, nationalism was a sociological condition and a likely but not guaranteed (he noted exceptions in multilingual states like Switzerland, Belgium and Canada) result of modernisation, the transition from agrarian to industrial society. His theory focused on the political and cultural aspects of that transition. In particular, he focused on the unifying and culturally homogenising roles of the educational systems, national labour markets and improved communication and mobility in the context of urbanisation. He thus argued that nationalism was highly compatible with industrialisation and served the purpose of replacing the ideological void left by both the disappearance of the prior agrarian society culture and the political and economical system of feudalism, which it legitimised. Thomas Hylland Eriksen lists these as "some of the central features of nationalism" in Gellner's theory: Shared, formal educational system Cultural homogenisation and "social entropy" Central monitoring of polity, with extensive bureaucratic control Linguistic standardisation National identification as abstract community Cultural similarity as a basis for political legitimacy Anonymity, single-stranded social relationships Gellner also provided a typology of "nationalism-inducing and nationalism-thwarting situations". Gellner criticised a number of other theoretical explanations of nationalism, including the "naturality theory", which states that it is "natural, self-evident and self-generating" and a basic quality of human being, and a neutral or a positive quality; its dark version, the "Dark Gods theory", which sees nationalism as an inevitable expression of basic human atavistic, irrational passions; and Elie Kedourie's idealist argument that it was an accidental development, an intellectual error of disseminating unhelpful ideas, and not related to industrialisation and the Marxist theory in which nations appropriated the leading role of social classes. On October 24, 1995, at Warwick University, Gellner debated one of his former students, Anthony D. Smith in what became known as the Warwick Debates. Smith presented an ethnosymbolist view, Gellner a modernist one. The debate has been described as epitomizing their positions. Influence Gellner is considered one of the leading theoreticians on nationalism. Eriksen notes that "nobody contests Ernest Gellner's central place in the research on nationalism over the last few decades". O'Leary refers to the theory as "the best-known modernist explanatory theory of nationalism". Criticisms Gellner's theory has been subject to various criticisms: It is too functionalist, as it explains the phenomenon with reference to the eventual historical outcome that industrial society could not 'function' without nationalism. It misreads the relationship between nationalism and industrialisation. It accounts poorly for national movements of Ancient Rome and Greece since it insists that nationalism is tied to modernity and so cannot exist without a clearly defined modern industrialisation. It fails to account for either nationalism in non-industrial society and resurgences of nationalism in post-industrial society. It fails to account for nationalism in 16th-century Europe. It cannot explain the passions generated by nationalism and why anyone should fight and die for a country. It fails to take into account either the role of war and the military in fostering both cultural homogenisation and nationalism or the relationship between militarism and compulsory education. It has been compared to technological determinism, as it disregards the views of individuals. Philip Gorski has argued that modernization theorists, such as Gellner, have gotten the timing of nationalism wrong: nationalism existed prior to modernity, and even had medieval roots. References Further reading Nationalism studies Sociological theories Political science theories

Social semiotics

Social semiotics (also social semantics) is a branch of the field of semiotics which investigates human signifying practices in specific social and cultural circumstances, and which tries to explain meaning-making as a social practice. Semiotics, as originally defined by Ferdinand de Saussure, is "the science of the life of signs in society". Social semiotics expands on Saussure's founding insights by exploring the implications of the fact that the "codes" of language and communication are formed by social processes. The crucial implication here is that meanings and semiotic systems are shaped by relations of power, and that as power shifts in society, our languages and other systems of socially accepted meanings can and do change. Overview Social semiotics is the study of the social dimensions of meaning, and of the power of human processes of signification and interpretation (known as semiosis) in shaping individuals and societies. Social semiotics focuses on social meaning-making practices of all types, whether visual, verbal or aural in nature. These different systems for meaning-making, or possible "channels" (e.g. speech, writing, images) are known as semiotic modes (or semiotic registers). Semiotic modes can include visual, verbal, written, gestural and musical resources for communication. They also include various "multimodal" ensembles of any of these modes Social semiotics can include the study of how people design and interpret meanings, the study of texts, and the study of how semiotic systems are shaped by social interests and ideologies, and how they are adapted as society changes (Hodge and Kress, 1988). Structuralist semiotics in the tradition of Ferdinand de Saussure focused primarily on theorising semiotic systems or structures (termed langue by de Saussure, which change diachronically, i.e. over longer periods of time). In contrast, social semiotics tries to account for the variability of semiotic practices termed parole by Saussure. This altered focus shows how individual creativity, changing historical circumstances, and new social identities and projects can all change patterns of usage and design (Hodge and Kress, 1988). From a social semiotic perspective, rather than being fixed into unchanging "codes", signs are considered to be resources which people use and adapt (or "design") to make meaning. In these respects, social semiotics was influenced by, and shares many of the preoccupations of pragmatics (Charles W. Morris) and sociolinguistics and has much in common with cultural studies and critical discourse analysis. The main task of social semiotics is to develop analytical and theoretical frameworks which can explain meaning-making in a social context. Halliday and the social semiotic in language Linguistic theorist, Michael Halliday, introduced the term ‘social semiotics’ into linguistics, when he used the phrase in the title of his book, Language as Social Semiotic. This work argues against the traditional separation between language and society, and exemplifies the start of a 'semiotic' approach, which broadens the narrow focus on written language in linguistics (1978). For Halliday, languages evolve as systems of "meaning potential" (Halliday, 1978:39) or as sets of resources which influence what the speaker can do with language, in a particular social context. For example, for Halliday, the grammar of the English language is a system organised for the following three purposes (areas or "metafunctions"): Facilitating certain kinds of social and interpersonal interactions (interpersonal), Representing ideas about the world (ideational), and Connecting these ideas and interactions into meaningful texts and making them relevant to their context (textual) (1978:112). Any sentence in English is composed like a musical composition, with one strand of its meaning coming from each of the three semiotic areas or metafunctions. Bob Hodge generalises Halliday’s essays on social semiotics into five premises: ‘Language is a social fact’ (1978:1) ‘We shall not come to understand the nature of language if we pursue only the kinds of question about language that are formulated by linguists’ (1978:3) ‘Language is as it is because of the functions it has evolved to serve in people’s lives’ (1978:4). Language has ‘metafunctions’, which in English are: ideational (‘about something’), interpersonal (’doing something’) and textual (‘the speaker’s text-forming potential’) (1978:112). Language is constituted as ‘a discrete network of options’ (1978:113) Social semiotics and critical linguistics Robert Hodge and Gunther Kress's Social Semiotics (1988) focused on the uses of semiotic systems in social practice. They explain that the social power of texts in society depends on interpretation: "Each producer of a message relies on its recipients for it to function as intended." (1988:4) This process of interpretation (semiosis) situates individual texts within discourses, the exchanges of interpretative communities. The work of interpretation can contest the power of hegemonic discourses. Hodge and Kress give the example of feminist activists defacing a sexist advertising billboard, and spray-painting it with a new, feminist message. "Text is only a trace of discourses, frozen and preserved, more or less reliable or misleading. Yet discourse disappears too rapidly, surrounding a flow of texts." (1988:8) Hodge and Kress built on a range of traditions from linguistics (including Noam Chomsky, Michael Halliday, Benjamin Lee Whorf and sociolinguistics), but the major impetus for their work is the critical perspective on ideology and society that originates with Marx. Hodge and Kress build a notion of semiosis as a dynamic process, where meaning is not determined by rigid structures, or predefined cultural codes. They argue that Ferdinand de Saussure's structuralist semiotics avoided addressing questions about creativity, movement, and change in language, possibly in reaction to the diachronic linguistic traditions of his time (the focus on the historical development from Indo-European). This created a "problematic" legacy, with linguistic change relegated to the "contents of Saussure’s rubbish bin" (1988:16-17). Instead, Hodge and Kress propose to account for change in semiosis through the work of Charles Sanders Peirce. Meaning is a process, in their interpretation of Peirce. They refer to Peirce's triadic model of semiosis, which depicts the "action" of a sign as a limitless process of infinite semiosis, where one "interpretant" (or idea linked to a sign) generates another. The flow of these infinite processes of interpretation are constrained in Peirce's model, they claim, by the material world (the "object"), and cultural rules of thought, or "habit". (1988:20) Social semiotics revisits De Saussure's doctrine of the "arbitrariness of the linguistic sign". This notion rests on the argument that the signifier only has an arbitrary relationship to the signified) — in other words, that there is nothing about the sound or appearance of (verbal) signifiers (as, for example, the words "dog" or "chien") — to suggest what they signify. Hodge and Kress point out that questions of the referent become more complicated when semiotics moves beyond verbal language. On the one hand, there is the need to account for the continuum of relationships between the referent and the representation. Here, they draw on Pierce's differentiation between iconic signification (e.g. a colour photograph of smoke, where the signifier recreates the perceptual experience of the signified), indexical signification (e.g. a column of smoke, where there is a causal relationship between the physical signifier and the fire it might signify), and symbolic signification (e.g. the word "smoke", where the arbitrary link between signifier and signified is maintained by social convention). Social semiotics also addresses the question of how societies and cultures maintain or shift these conventional bonds between signifier and signified. De Saussure was unwilling to answer this question, Hodge and Kress claim. This leaves the socially determinist implication that meanings and interpretations are dictated from above, by "the whims of an inscrutably powerful collective being, Society." For Hodge and Kress, social semiotics must respond to the question and explain how the social shaping of meanings works in practice (1988:22). Social semiotics and multimodality Social semiotics is currently extending this general framework beyond its linguistic origins to account for the growing importance of sound and visual images, and how modes of communication are combined in both traditional and digital media (semiotics of social networking) (see, for example, Kress and van Leeuwen, 1996), thus approaching semiotics of culture (Randviir 2004). Theorists such as Gunther Kress and Theo van Leeuwen have built on Halliday's framework by providing new "grammars" for other semiotic modes. Like language, these grammars are seen as socially formed and changeable sets of available "resources" for making meaning, which are also shaped by the semiotic metafunctions originally identified by Halliday. The visual and aural modes have received particular attention. Accounting for multimodality (communication in and across a range of semiotic modes - verbal, visual, and aural) is considered a particularly important ongoing project, given the importance of the visual mode in contemporary communication. In the field of graphic design, the multimodal and social semiotic viewpoint can be perceived as an illustration that connects our sensory abilities together opening up new opportunities for deeper visual interaction. Utilizing this design process, the graphic designers create content which helps improvise the act of meaningful visual communication between the content creators and their audiences. References Sources Halliday, M. A. K. (1978). Language as social semiotic: The social interpretation of language and meaning. Maryland. University Park Press. Hodge, R. and G. Kress. (1988). Social Semiotics. Cambridge: Polity Kress, G., and Van Leeuwen, T. (1996). Reading Images: The Grammar of Visual Design. London: Routledge. Randviir, A. (2004). Mapping the World: Towards a Sociosemiotic Approach to Culture. (Dissertationes Semioticae Universitatis Tartuensis 6.) Tartu: Tartu University Press. Van Leeuwen, T. (2005). Introducing Social Semiotics. New York: Routledge. Semiotics

Plastic arts

Plastic arts are art forms which involve physical manipulation of a plastic medium, such as clay, wax, paint or even plastic in the modern sense of the word (a ductile polymer) to create works of art. The term is used more generally to refer to the visual arts (such as painting, sculpture, ceramics, architecture, film and photography), rather than literature and music. Materials for use in the plastic arts, in the narrower definition, include those that can be carved or shaped, such as stone or wood, concrete, glass, or metal. History The word "plastic" draws from the Greek word "plastikos," which means "to mold" or "to shape." It has long preceded its dominant modern meaning as a synthetic material. The term "plastic arts" has been used historically to denote visual art forms (painting, sculpture, and ceramics) as opposed to literature or music. The related terms plasticity and plasticism became more widely used in the early 20th century by critics discussing modern painting, particularly the works of Paul Cézanne. The oldest known "plastic art" dates back to 30,000–34,000 BP. Application to literature In contrast to the limiting of 'plastic arts' to sculpture and architecture by Friedrich Wilhelm Joseph Schelling in 1807, the German critic August Wilhelm Schlegel (1767–1845) applied the concept not only to visual arts, but also poetry. Classical poetry lines he saw using plastic isolation, and rhyme falling under the Romantic (domain). In Schlegel's Viennese lectures (1809–1811), published in 1827 as On the Theory and History of the Plastic Arts, he contrasted the plasticism of Classical Art with picturesque Romanticism: Gallery See also (according to Mondrian) References Further reading Barnes, A. C., The Art in Painting, 3rd ed., 1937, Harcourt, Brace & World, Inc., NY. Bukumirovic, D. (1998). Maga Magazinovic. Biblioteka Fatalne srpkinje knj. br. 4. Beograd: Narodna knj. Fazenda, M. J. (1997). Between the pictorial and the expression of ideas: the plastic arts and literature in the dance of Paula Massano. N.p. Gerón, C. (2000). Enciclopedia de las artes plásticas dominicanas: 1844–2000. 4th ed. Dominican Republic s.n. Schlegel, August Wilhelm., (1966) Vorlesungen uber dramatische Kunst und Literatur, Stuttgart: Kohlhammer Verlag, 1966, p. 21f. External links

Concept map

A concept map or conceptual diagram is a diagram that depicts suggested relationships between concepts. Concept maps may be used by instructional designers, engineers, technical writers, and others to organize and structure knowledge. A concept map typically represents ideas and information as boxes or circles, which it connects with labeled arrows, often in a downward-branching hierarchical structure but also in free-form maps. The relationship between concepts can be articulated in linking phrases such as "causes", "requires", "such as" or "contributes to". The technique for visualizing these relationships among different concepts is called concept mapping. Concept maps have been used to define the ontology of computer systems, for example with the object-role modeling or Unified Modeling Language formalism. Differences from other visualizations Topic maps: Both concept maps and topic maps are kinds of knowledge graph, but topic maps were developed by information management professionals for semantic interoperability of data (originally for book indices), whereas concept maps were developed by education professionals to support people's learning. In the words of concept-map researchers Joseph D. Novak and Bob Gowin, their approach to concept mapping is based on a "learning theory that focuses on concept and propositional learning as the basis on which individuals construct their own idiosyncratic meanings". Mind maps: Both concept maps and topic maps can be contrasted with mind mapping, which is restricted to a tree structure. Concept maps can be more free-form, as multiple hubs and clusters can be created, unlike mind maps, which emerge from a single center. History Concept mapping was developed by the professor of education Joseph D. Novak and his research team at Cornell University in the 1970s as a means of representing the emerging science knowledge of students. It has subsequently been used as a way to increase meaningful learning in the sciences and other subjects as well as to represent the expert knowledge of individuals and teams in education, government and business. Concept maps have their origin in the learning movement called constructivism. In particular, constructivists hold that learners actively construct knowledge. Novak's work is based on the cognitive theories of David Ausubel, who stressed the importance of prior knowledge in being able to learn (or assimilate) new concepts: "The most important single factor influencing learning is what the learner already knows. Ascertain this and teach accordingly." Novak taught students as young as six years old to make concept maps to represent their response to focus questions such as "What is water?" "What causes the seasons?" In his book Learning How to Learn, Novak stated that a "meaningful learning involves the assimilation of new concepts and propositions into existing cognitive structures." Various attempts have been made to conceptualize the process of creating concept maps. McAleese suggested that the process of making knowledge explicit, using nodes and relationships, allows the individual to become aware of what they know and as a result to be able to modify what they know. Maria Birbili applied the same idea to helping young children learn to think about what they know. McAleese's concept of the knowledge arena suggests a virtual space where learners may explore what they know and what they do not know. Use Concept maps are used to stimulate the generation of ideas, and are believed to aid creativity. Concept mapping is also sometimes used for brain-storming. Although they are often personalized and idiosyncratic, concept maps can be used to communicate complex ideas. Formalized concept maps are used in software design, where a common usage is Unified Modeling Language diagramming amongst similar conventions and development methodologies. Concept mapping can also be seen as a first step in ontology-building, and can also be used flexibly to represent formal argument — similar to argument maps. Concept maps are widely used in education and business. Uses include: Note taking and summarizing gleaning key concepts, their relationships and hierarchy from documents and source materials New knowledge creation: e.g., transforming tacit knowledge into an organizational resource, mapping team knowledge Institutional knowledge preservation (retention), e.g., eliciting and mapping expert knowledge of employees prior to retirement Collaborative knowledge modeling and the transfer of expert knowledge Facilitating the creation of shared vision and shared understanding within a team or organization Instructional design: concept maps used as Ausubelian "advance organizers" that provide an initial conceptual frame for subsequent information and learning. Training: concept maps used as Ausubelian "advanced organizers" to represent the training context and its relationship to their jobs, to the organization's strategic objectives, to training goals. Communicating complex ideas and arguments Examining the symmetry of complex ideas and arguments and associated terminology Detailing the entire structure of an idea, train of thought, or line of argument (with the specific goal of exposing faults, errors, or gaps in one's own reasoning) for the scrutiny of others. Enhancing metacognition (learning to learn, and thinking about knowledge) Improving language ability Assessing learner understanding of learning objectives, concepts, and the relationship among those concepts Lexicon development See also List of concept- and mind-mapping software References Further reading External links Example of a concept map from 1957 by Walt Disney. Conceptual modelling Constructivism (psychological school) Diagrams Educational technology Graph drawing Knowledge representation Note-taking Visual thinking

Decadence

The word decadence refers to a late-19th-century movement emphasizing the need for sensationalism, egocentricity; bizarre, artificial, perverse, and exotic sensations and experiences. By extension, it may refer to a decline in art, literature, science, technology, and work ethics, or (very loosely) to self-indulgent behavior. Usage of the term sometimes implies moral censure, or an acceptance of the idea, met with throughout the world since ancient times, that such declines are objectively observable and that they inevitably precede the destruction of the society in question; for this reason, modern historians use it with caution. The word originated in Medieval Latin (dēcadentia), appeared in 16th-century French, and entered English soon afterwards. It bore the neutral meaning of decay, decrease, or decline until the late 19th century, when the influence of new theories of social degeneration contributed to its modern meaning. The idea that a society or institution is declining is called declinism. This may be caused by the predisposition, caused by cognitive biases such as rosy retrospection, to view the past more favourably and future more negatively. Declinism has been described as "a trick of the mind" and as "an emotional strategy, something comforting to snuggle up to when the present day seems intolerably bleak." Other cognitive factors contributing to the popularity of declinism may include the reminiscence bump as well as both the positivity effect and negativity bias. In literature, the Decadent movement began in France's fin de siècle intermingling with Symbolism and the Aesthetic movement while spreading throughout Europe and The United States. The Decadent title was originally used as a criticism but it was soon triumphantly adopted by some of the writers themselves. The Decadents praised artifice over nature and sophistication over simplicity, defying contemporary discourses of decline by embracing subjects and styles that their critics considered morbid and over-refined. Some of these writers were influenced by the tradition of the Gothic novel and by the poetry and fiction of Edgar Allan Poe. History Ancient Rome Decadence is a popular criticism of the culture of the later Roman Empire's elites, seen also in much of its earlier historiography and 19th and early 20th century art depicting Roman life. This criticism describes the later Roman Empire as reveling in luxury, in its extreme characterized by corrupting "extravagance, weakness, and sexual deviance", as well as "orgies and sensual excesses". Victorian-era Artwork on Roman Decadence According to Professor Joseph Bristow of UCLA, decadence in Rome and the Victorian-era movement are connected through the idea of "decadent historicism." In particular, decadent historicism refers to the "interest among…1880s and 1890s writers in the enduring authority of perverse personas from the past" including the later Roman era. As such, Bristow's argument references how Heliogabalus, the title subject of Simeon Solomon's painting Heliogabalus, High Priest of the Sun (1866), was "a decadent icon" for the Victorian movement. Bristow also notes that "[t]he image [of the painting] summons many qualities linked with fin-de-siècle decadence [alongside his]…queerness[,]" thus "inspir[ing] late-Victorian writers [as]…they…imagine anew sexual modernity." Heliogabalus is also the subject of The Roses of Heliogabalus (1888) by Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema, which, according to Professor Rosemary Barrow, represents "the artist['s]…most glorious revel in Roman Decadence." To Barrow, "[t]he authenticity of the [scene]…perhaps had little importance for the artist[, meaning that] its appeal is the entertaining and extravagant vision it gives of later imperial Rome." Barrow also makes a point to mention "that Alma-Tadema’s Roman-subject paintings [tend to]…make use of historical, literary and archaeological sources" within themselves. Thus, the presence of roses within the painting as opposed to the original "'violets and other flowers'" of the source material emphasizes how "the Roman world…h[eld] extra connotations of revelry and luxuriant excess" about them. Decadent movement Decadence was the name given to a number of late nineteenth-century writers who valued artifice over the earlier Romantics' naïve view of nature. Some of them triumphantly adopted the name, referring to themselves as Decadents. For the most part, they were influenced by the tradition of the Gothic novel and by the poetry and fiction of Edgar Allan Poe, and were associated with Symbolism and/or Aestheticism. This concept of decadence dates from the eighteenth century, especially from Montesquieu and Wilmot. It was taken up by critics as a term of abuse after Désiré Nisard used it against Victor Hugo and Romanticism in general. A later generation of Romantics, such as Théophile Gautier and Charles Baudelaire took the word as a badge of pride, as a sign of their rejection of what they saw as banal "progress." In the 1880s, a group of French writers referred to themselves as Decadents. The classic novel from this group is Joris-Karl Huysmans' Against Nature, often seen as the first great decadent work, though others attribute this honor to Baudelaire's works. In Britain and Ireland the leading figure associated with the Decadent movement was Irish writer, Oscar Wilde. Other significant figures include Arthur Symons, Aubrey Beardsley and Ernest Dowson. The Symbolist movement has frequently been confused with the Decadent movement. Several young writers were derisively referred to in the press as "decadent" in the mid-1880s. Jean Moréas' manifesto was largely a response to this polemic. A few of these writers embraced the term while most avoided it. Although the aesthetics of Symbolism and Decadence can be seen as overlapping in some areas, the two remain distinct. 1920s Berlin This "fertile culture" of Berlin extended onwards until Adolf Hitler rose to power in early 1933 and stamped out any and all resistance to the Nazi Party. Likewise, the German far-right decried Berlin as a haven of degeneracy. A new culture had developed in and around Berlin throughout the previous decade, including architecture and design (Bauhaus, 1919–33), a variety of literature (Döblin, Berlin Alexanderplatz, 1929), film (Lang, Metropolis, 1927, Dietrich, Der blaue Engel, 1930), painting (Grosz), and music (Brecht and Weill, The Threepenny Opera, 1928), criticism (Benjamin), philosophy/psychology (Jung), and fashion. This culture was considered decadent and disruptive by rightists. Film was making huge technical and artistic strides during this period of time in Berlin, and gave rise to the influential movement called German Expressionism. "Talkies", the sound films, were also becoming more popular with the general public across Europe, and Berlin was producing very many of them. Berlin in the 1920s also proved to be a haven for English-language writers such as W. H. Auden, Stephen Spender and Christopher Isherwood, who wrote a series of 'Berlin novels', inspiring the play I Am a Camera, which was later adapted into a musical, Cabaret, and an Academy Award winning film of the same name. Spender's semi-autobiographical novel The Temple evokes the attitude and atmosphere of the place at the time. Decadent Nihilistic Art The philosophy of decadence comes from the work of German philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer (1788–1860), however, Friedrich Nietzsche (1844–1900), a specific philosopher of decadence, conceptualized modern decadence on a more influential scale. Holding decadence to be in any condition, ultimately limiting what something or someone can be, Nietzsche used his exploration in nihilism to critique traditional values and morals that threatened the decline in art, literature, and science. Nihilism, generally, is the rejection of moral principles, ultimately believing that life is meaningless. Nihilism, for Nietzsche, was the ultimate fate of Western civilization as old values lost their influence and purpose, in turn, disappeared among society. Predicting a rise in decadence and aesthetic nihilism, creators would renounce the pursuit of beauty and instead welcome the incomprehensible chaos. In art, there have been movements connected to nihilism, such as cubism and surrealism, that pushes for abandoned viewpoints to ultimately tap into the potential of one's conscious mind. Because of this, paintings like 1875-76's "L’Absinthe" by Edgar Degas and 1915's "Black Square" by Kazimir Malevich were created. L’Absinthe, which first showed in 1876, was mocked and called disgusting when panned by critics. Some say the painting is a blow to morality, as a glass filled with Absinthe, an alcoholic drink, rests in front of a woman at a table. Taken to be in bad faith and quite uncouth, Degas's art took decadence as a way to portray ambiguity in random subjects that seem to be drifting between depression and euphoria. Using nihilism in a synonymously way, Degas denoted his paintings to a general mood of despair, mainly at existence as a whole. Comparing this piece to Kazimir Malevich's "Black Square," abstract nihilistic art in the Western tradition was only beginning to take shape as the 20th century came about. Malevich's perception of this piece embraced a philosophy connected to Suprematism – a new realism in painting that evokes non-objectivity to experience "white emptiness of a liberated nothing," as said by Malevich himself. In nihilism, life has, in a sense, no truth, therefore no action is objectively preferable to another. Malevich's decadent painting shows the complete abandonment of depicting reality, and instead creates his own world of new form. When the painting was first exhibited, the public was in chaos, as society was in its first World War and Malevich reflected a new social revolution as a symbol of a new tomorrow, disregarding the past to move forward. Because of this painting and Degas's, decadence can be portrayed as a physiological foundation for nihilism, bringing out a term called "Decadent Nihilism:" existing beyond the world, and that of vain virtues. According to Nietzsche, Western metaphysical and nihilistic thought is decadent because of its confirmation from 'others' (apart from oneself) based on ideas of a nihilistic God. The extreme position an artist takes is what makes their pieces decadent. Decadent Aesthetics Controversy Vladimir Nabokov's Lolita (1955) Aesthetics falling under the category of decadence often include controversy. An example of a controversial style founded through decadent literary influence is the novel, Lolita, by Vladimir Nabokov, a Russian-American citizen. Lolita, while expressing the prose through a pedophile's narration, directly expresses Nabokov's discourse with decadent literature. According to Will Norman from the University of Kent, the novel makes many references to prominent historical figures related to decadence, such as Edgar Allan Poe and Charles Baudelaire. Norman states, "... Lolita emerges as the risky reinstatement of a transatlantic decadent tradition, in which the failure of temporal and ethical containment disrupts a dominant narrative of modernism's history in American letters". Lolita purposefully exemplifies a moral decline, while simultaneously disregarding the ethics of Nabokov’s time. The emphasis on its temporal standing in history captures an intermediate state of decadent literature itself. Norman describes that "... Nabokov reproduces the tension between American regionalism and modernist cosmopolitanism in his own 'Edgar H. Humbert', as the European aesthete embarks on his road-trip with Dolores...". The text exemplifies Nabokov's desire to replicate the many social disparities of American culture while using his character, H. Humbert, to demonstrate a lack of moral judgement. Norman continues, "Nabokov's text positions itself as the dynamic historical agent, importing Poe wholesale (from caricature through to complex literary intellectual) into the present and facilitating his critique in the hands of the reader". Leaving the judgement in the hands of the reader, Nabokov uses Lolita to work through the complexities that decadence presents for ethical or moral obligations to society. Norman concludes, "Lolita joins American works such as William Faulkner's The Sound and the Fury (1929) and F. Scott Fitzgerald's Tender Is the Night (1934) which assimilate themes of incest and sexual pathology into their decadent aesthetics, with the effect of bringing European temporalities into conflict with American social modernity". Using a controversial method, Nabokov employs decadent aesthetics to document a moment of historical transition. Women in Decadence Not only do the stylistic choices of literature in decadence cause ethical debate, but the presence of women in literature also causes controversy in politics. Viola Parente-Čapková, a Lecturer from the university in Prague, Czech Republic, argues that women writers following decadent literary structure have been overlooked due to their simultaneous influence of the feminist movement. The belief that women could not separate morality from their writing due to their purposeful prose to argue for women's rights suggests a theme of misogyny, in which men excluded women from being considered Decadent writers because of the possibility of a desire for social change. Social Change Decadence offers a world-view, in that "it is an ideological phenomenon originating in the experience of a particular group, and it became the aesthetics of the upper-middle class". Changes in European industrialization and urbanization led to the development of the proletariat, nuclear family, and entrepreneurial class . The values of Decadence formed as an opposition to "those of an earlier and supposedly more vital bourgeoisie". Aesthetically, progress turns into decay, activity becomes play instead of goal-oriented work, and art becomes a way of life. To individuals that observe the changes in social structure after rapid industrialization, the idea of progress becomes something to rebel against, because this real-world progress seems to be leaving them behind. Modern-day perspectives Postmodernist Connection to Decadence Nearly a century after the supposed end of the decadent period itself, the spirit and drive of it continued in the next end of the century. Unknowingly following in the footsteps of the decadents before them, postmodernists have subscribed to many of the same habits. Both groups have found themselves simultaneously exhausted by all the new experiences of society while still putting all their efforts into experiencing it all. The postmodernist is simultaneously aware of their desire for modernist disintegration all while enjoying the products of their dying predecessor. This ravenous eye for the new is reflective of the lives of the practicing decadent, where they too enjoyed all the new experiences offered by their own time's modernity. Both events were deeply intertwined with expanding globalization. As seen in the lives of decadents in their literary and visual art pursuit and creation, so too has the postmodernist been given more global connection and experience.  During the rise of postmodernism, there has been a clear concentration of power and wealth that supported globalization. This resurgence of power to apply has restructured the desires of the disintegration-loving postmodernist, indulging themselves in all the newness of globalized life. This renewed interest in a global view of the world brought along a renewed interest in different forms of artistic representation as well. Modernism tends to belittle popular culture through its oppressive nature, which can be seen as elitist and controlling, as it privileges certain works of art above others. As a result, postmodern artists and writers developed a contempt for the canon, rejecting tradition and essentialism. This disdain for privilege extended to the fields of philosophy, science, and of course, politics. Pierre Bourdieu provides some insight into the attitudes of this new sub-class and its relation to post-modern theorists, embodied through students of bourgeois descent. They began to pursue their artistic interests at their schools after being shadowed academically. They are victims of verdicts which, like those of the school, appeal to reason and science to block off the paths leading (back) to power, and are quick to denounce science, power, the power of science, and above all perhaps a power which, like the triumphant technology of the moment, appeals to science to legitimate itself. This postmodern way of thought is guided by an anti-institutional temperament that flees competitions and hierarchies. These systems allow art to become confined by labels – postmodern work is difficult to define. In the name of the fight against 'taboos' and the liquidation of 'complexes' they adopt the most external and most easily borrowed aspects of the intellectual life-style, liberated manners, cosmetic or sartorial outrages, emancipated poses and postures, and systematically apply the cultivated disposition to not-yet-legitimate culture (cinema, strip cartoons, the underground), to every-day life (street art), the personal sphere (sexuality, cosmetics, child-rearing, leisure) and the existential (the relation to nature, love, death). Their craft evolves into a way of being that directly criticizes modernist attitudes, and enables postmodern artists and writers with a newfound sense of freedom through rebellion. Jacques Barzun The historian Jacques Barzun (1907–2012) gives a definition of decadence which is independent from moral judgement. In his bestseller From Dawn to Decadence: 500 Years of Western Cultural Life (published 2000) he describes decadent eras as times when "the forms of art as of life seem exhausted, the stages of development have been run through. Institutions function painfully." He emphasizes that "decadent" in his view is "not a slur" but "a technical label". With reference to Barzun, New York Times columnist Ross Douthat characterizes decadence as a state of "economic stagnation, institutional decay and cultural and intellectual exhaustion at a high level of material prosperity and technological development". Douthat sees the West in the 21st century in an "age of decadence", marked by stalemate and stagnation. He is the author of the book The Decadent Society, published by Simon & Schuster in 2020. Pria Viswalingam Pria Viswalingam, an Australian documentary and film maker, sees the western world in decay since the late 1960s. Viswalingam is the author of the six-episode documentary TV series Decadence: The Meaninglessness of Modern Life, broadcast in 2006 and 2007, and the 2011 documentary film Decadence: The Decline of the Western World. According to Viswalingam, western culture started in 1215 with the Magna Carta, continued to the Renaissance, the Reformation, the founding of America, the Enlightenment and culminated with the social revolutions of the 1960s. Since 1969, the year of the moon landing, the My Lai massacre, the Woodstock Festival and the Altamont Free Concert, „decadence depicts the west's decline". As symptoms he names increasing suicide rates, addiction to anti-depressants, exaggerated individualism, broken families and a loss of religious faith as well as „treadmill consumption, growing income-disparity, b-grade leadership" and money as the only benchmark for value. Use in Marxism Leninism According to Vladimir Lenin, capitalism had reached its highest stage and could no longer provide for the general development of society. He expected reduced vigor in economic activity and a growth in unhealthy economic phenomena, reflecting capitalism's gradually decreasing capacity to provide for social needs and preparing the ground for socialist revolution in the West. Politically, World War I proved the decadent nature of the advanced capitalist countries to Lenin, that capitalism had reached the stage where it would destroy its own prior achievements more than it would advance. One who directly opposed the idea of decadence as expressed by Lenin was José Ortega y Gasset in The Revolt of the Masses (1930). He argued that the "mass man" had the notion of material progress and scientific advance deeply inculcated to the extent that it was an expectation. He also argued that contemporary progress was opposite the true decadence of the Roman Empire. Left communism Decadence is an important aspect of contemporary left communist theory. Similar to Lenin's use of it, left communists, coming from the Communist International themselves started in fact with a theory of decadence in the first place, yet the communist left sees the theory of decadence at the heart of Marx's method as well, expressed in famous works such as The Communist Manifesto, Grundrisse, Das Kapital but most significantly in Preface to the Critique of Political Economy. Contemporary left communist theory defends that Lenin was mistaken on his definition of imperialism (although how grave his mistake was and how much of his work on imperialism is valid varies from groups to groups) and Rosa Luxemburg to be basically correct on this question, thus accepting capitalism as a world epoch similarly to Lenin, but a world epoch from which no capitalist state can oppose or avoid being a part of. On the other hand, the theoretical framework of capitalism's decadence varies between different groups while left communist organizations like the International Communist Current hold a basically Luxemburgist analysis that makes an emphasis on the world market and its expansion, others hold views more in line with those of Vladimir Lenin, Nikolai Bukharin and most importantly Henryk Grossman and Paul Mattick with an emphasis on monopolies and the falling rate of profit. See also Acedia Anomie Behavioral sink Bread and circuses Buraiha Competence (human resources) Kleptocracy Late capitalism Moral relativism Privilege hazard Societal collapse Twilight of the Idols The Decline of the West Degenerate art References Further reading Richard Gilman, Decadence: The Strange Life of an Epithet (1979). Matei Calinescu, Five Faces of Modernity. Mario Praz, The Romantic Agony (1930). Jacques Barzun, From Dawn to Decadence, (2000). A. E. Carter, The Idea of Decadence in French Literature (1978). Michael Murray, Jacques Barzun: Portrait of a Mind (2011). External links Collection of the articles of the International Communist Current on the Theory of Decadence Chronology of Decadence Decadence, symbolist, and the fin de siècle: a notebook Art movements Concepts in ethics Modern art Political theories

National identity

National identity is a person's identity or sense of belonging to one or more states or one or more nations. It is the sense of "a nation as a cohesive whole, as represented by distinctive traditions, culture, and language". National identity comprises both political and cultural elements. As a collective phenomenon, it can arise from the presence of "common points" in people's daily lives: national symbols, language, the nation's history, national consciousness, and cultural artifacts. Subjectively, it is a feeling one shares with a group of people about a nation, regardless of one's legal citizenship status. In psychological terms, it is defined as an "an awareness of difference", a "feeling and recognition of 'we' and 'they'". National identity can incorporate the population, as well as diaspora, of multi-ethnic states and societies that have a shared sense of common identity. Hyphenated ethnicities are examples of the confluence of multiple ethnic and national identities within a single person or entity. Under international law, the term national identity, concerning states, is interchangeable with the term state's identity or sovereign identity of the state. A State's identity by definition, is related to the Constitutional name of the state used as a legal identification in international relations and an essential element of the state's international juridical personality. The sovereign identity of the nation also represents a common denominator for identification of the national culture or cultural identity, and under International Law, any external interference with the cultural identity or cultural beliefs and traditions appear to be inadmissible. Any deprivation or external modification of the cultural national identity violates basic collective human rights. The expression of one's national identity seen in a positive light is patriotism characterized by national pride and the positive emotion of love for one's country. The extreme expression of national identity is chauvinism, which refers to the firm belief in the country's superiority and extreme loyalty toward one's country. Formation of national identity National identity is not an inborn trait, it is essentially socially constructed. There is no agreed definition of what constitutes national identity. It can result from the presence of elements from the "common points" in people's daily lives: national symbols, languages, colors, the nation's history, blood ties, culture, music, cuisine, radio, television, and so on. Under various social influences, people incorporate national identity into their identities by adopting beliefs, values, assumptions, and expectations which align with one's national identity. People with identification of their nation view national beliefs and values as personally meaningful and translate them into daily practices. Three main schools of defining national identity exist. Essentialists view national identity as fixed, based on ancestry, a common language history, ethnicity, and world views (Connor 1994; Huntington 1996). Constructivists believed in the importance of politics and the use of power by dominant groups to gain and maintain privileged status in society (Brubaker, 2009; Spillman, 1997; Wagner-Pacifici & Schwartz, 1991). Finally, the civic identity school focuses on shared values about rights and state institutions' legitimacy to govern. A few scholars investigated how popular culture connects with the identity-building process. Some found that contemporary music genres can strengthen ethnic identity by increasing the feeling of ethnic pride. Conceptualization Political scientist Rupert Emerson defined national identity as "a body of people who feel that they are a nation". This definition of national identity was endorsed by social psychologist, Henri Tajfel, who formulated social identity theory together with John Turner. Social identity theory adopts this definition of national identity and suggests that the conceptualization of national identity includes both self-categorization and affect. Self-categorization refers to identifying with a nation and viewing oneself as a member of a nation. The affect part refers to the emotion a person has with this identification, such as a sense of belonging or emotional attachment toward one's country. The mere awareness of belonging to a specific group invokes positive emotions about the group and leads to a tendency to act on behalf of that group, even when the other group members are sometimes personally unknown. National identity requires the process of self-categorization, and it involves both the identification of in-group (identifying with one's nation) and the differentiation of out-groups (other nations). People identify with a nation and form an in-group by recognizing commonalities such as having common descent and common destiny. At the same time they view people that identify with a different nation as out-groups. Social identity theory suggests a positive relationship between the identification of a nation and the derogation of other nations. People are involved in intergroup comparisons by identifying with one's nation and tend to derogate out-groups. However, several studies have investigated this relationship between national identity and derogating their countries and found that identifying with national identity does not necessarily result in out-group derogation. National identity, like other social identities, engenders emotions such as pride and love for one's nation and a feeling of obligation toward other citizens. The socialization of national identity, such as socializing national pride and a sense of the country's exceptionalism contributes to harmony among ethnic groups. For example, in the U.S., by integrating diverse ethnic groups in the overarching identity of being an American, people are united by a shared emotion of national pride and the feeling of belonging to the U.S., and thus tend to mitigate ethnic conflicts. From the point of International Law, sovereign national identity could not be subject to a treaty regulation or revision, and any international treaty aiming to create or change the national identity of the sovereign state appears to violate the jus cogens rights of the nation. Treaty of revision of the national identity could be subject to termination under Article 53 of the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties (which states: "A treaty is void if, at the time of its conclusion, it conflicts with a peremptory norm of general international law."). Any deprivation or revision of the sovereign national identity appears to constitute an ethnocide. National identity could not be subject to imposition, revision, or deprivation under any circumstances. Salience National identity can be most noticeable when the nation confronts external or internal enemies and natural disasters. An example of this phenomenon is the rise in patriotism and national identity in the United States after the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001. The identity of being an American is salient after the terrorist attacks and American national identity is evoked. Having a common threat or a common goal unites people in a nation and enhances national identity. Sociologist Anthony Smith argues that national identity has the feature of continuity that can be transmitted and persisted through generations. By expressing the myths of having common descent and common destiny, people's sense of belonging to a nation is enhanced. However, national identities can disappear over time as more people live in foreign countries for a longer time, and can be challenged by supranational identities, which refers to identifying with a more inclusive, larger group that includes people from multiple nations. Research on the study abroad experience that focused on the effects of American stereotypes found that American students faced challenges in connecting with their host country during their study abroad experience because of stereotypes of American identity. A stereotype that affected their experience was related to politics during the 2016 United States presidential election of Donald Trump. A study found that students would disengage, distance, avoid, assimilate, or challenge their identity or host culture in response to the interactions they faced. These preconceived ideas by the host culture, and even by Americans, affect the ability of people from different backgrounds to understand and accept one another as individuals, rather than the stereotype of a cultural group. People The people are the basic concept for a national identity. But people can be identified and constructed through different logics of nationalism. Examples range from the Völkisch movement to people's republics. National consciousness A national consciousness is a shared sense of national identity and a shared understanding that a people group shares a common ethnic/linguistic/cultural background. Historically, a rise in national consciousness has been the first step toward creating a nation. At a glance, national consciousness is one's level of awareness of the collective and one's understanding that without "them", there is no "us". It is the mere awareness of the many shared attitudes and beliefs towards things like family, customs, societal and gender roles, etc. The awareness allows one to have a "collective identity", which allows them to be knowledgeable of where they are and how those places and people around them are so significant that they ultimately make the collective a nation. In short, national consciousness can be defined as a specific core of attitudes that provide habitual modes for regarding life's phenomena. National identities in Europe and the Americas developed along with the idea of political sovereignty invested in the people of the state. In Eastern Europe, it was also often linked to ethnicity and culture. Nationalism requires first a national consciousness, the awareness of the national communality of a group of people or nation. An awakening of national consciousness is frequently ascribed to national heroes and is associated with national symbols. National identity can be considered a collective product. Through socialization, a system of beliefs, values, assumptions, and expectations are transmitted to group members. The collective elements of national identity may include national symbols, traditions, and memories of national experiences and achievements. These collective elements are rooted in the nation's history. Depending on how much the individual is exposed to the socialization of this system, people incorporate national identity into their identity to different degrees and in different ways, and the collective elements of national identity may become important parts of an individual's definition of the self and how they view the world and their place in it. Perspectives Benedict Anderson Nations, to Benedict Anderson, are imagined. The idea of the "imagined community" is that a nation is socially constructed, and the nation is made up of individuals who see themselves as part of a particular group. Anderson referred to nations as "imagined communities". He thought that nations, or imagined communities, were delimited because of their boundaries regarding who is in and who is out. Anderson believed that the nation operates through exclusion. Though nations exclude those outside of it but also their members who are not immediately considered in the collective idea of their national identity. Anderson thought that nations were delimited and also were: Limited: Because of the mental boundaries or concepts, we set about others are by culture, ethnicity, etc. We do not imagine everyone in one society or under one nationalism, but we are mentally separate. Sovereign: Nations were sovereign because sovereignty symbolizes freedom from traditional religious practices. Sovereignty provides the organization needed for a nation while keeping it free of traditional religious pressures. Ernest Gellner Unlike Benedict Anderson, Gellner thought nations were not "imagined communities". In his book, Ernest Gellner explained how he thought nations originated. In his eyes, nations are entirely modern constructs and products of nationalism. Gellner believed nations to be a result of the Industrial Revolution. Since large numbers of people from different backgrounds were coming together in cities, a shared identity had to be made among them. The spread of capitalism brought the demand for constant retraining, and Gellner thought that as a result, the demand was met by creating a shared past, common culture, and language, which led to the birth of nations. Gellner thought that nations were contingencies and not universal necessities. He said that our idea of the nation was as such. Two men were only of the same only if they were from the same culture. In this case, culture is "a system of ideas, signs, associations, and ways of communicating." Two men are of the same nation only if they recognize each other as being a part of the same nation. It was men's recognition of each other as people of the same kind that made them a nation and not their common attributes. Paul Gilbert In "The Philosophy of Nationalism", Paul Gilbert breaks down what he thinks a nation is, and his ideas contrast those of both Anderson and Gellner. In the book, Gilbert acknowledges that nations are many things. Gilbert says nations are: Nominalist: Whatever a group of people who consider themselves a nation say a nation is. Voluntarist: "Group of people bound by a commonly willed nation." Territorial: Group of people located in the same proximity, or territory. Linguistic: People who share the same language. Axiological: Group of people who have the same distinctive values. Destination: Group of people who have a common history and a common mission. Challenges Ethnic identity In countries that have multiple ethnic groups, ethnic and national identity may be in conflict. These conflicts are usually referred to as ethnonational conflicts. One of the famous ethnonational conflicts is the struggle between the Australian government and aboriginal population in Australia. The Australian government and majority culture-imposed policies and framework that supported the majority, European-based cultural values, and a national language as English. The state did not support the Aboriginal cultures and languages, which were nearly eradicated by the state during the 20th century. Because of these conflicts, the Aboriginal population identifies less or does not identify with the national identity of being an Australian, but their ethnic identities are salient. Immigration As immigration increases, many countries face the challenges of constructing national identity and accommodating immigrants. Some countries are more inclusive in terms of encouraging immigrants to develop a sense of belonging to their host country. For example, Canada has the highest permanent immigration rates in the world. The Canadian government encourages immigrants to build a sense of belonging to Canada. It has fostered a more inclusive concept of national identity, which includes both people born in Canada and immigrants. Some countries are less inclusive. For example, Russia has experienced two major waves of immigration influx, one in the 1990s, and the other one after 1998. Immigrants were perceived negatively by the Russian people and were viewed as "unwelcome and abusive guests". Immigrants were considered outsiders and were excluded from sharing the national identity of belonging to Russia. Globalization As the world becomes increasingly globalized, international tourism, communication, and business collaboration have increased. People around the world cross national borders more frequently to seek cultural exchange, education, business, and different lifestyles. Globalization promotes common values and experiences and encourages identification with the global community. People may adapt cosmopolitanism and view themselves as global beings, or world citizens. This trend may threaten national identity because globalization undermines the importance of being a citizen of a particular country. Several researchers examined globalization and its impact on national identity. They found that as a country becomes more globalized, patriotism declines, which suggests that the increase in globalization is associated with less loyalty and less willingness to fight for one's own country. However, even a nation like Turkey which occupies an important geographic trade crossroads and international marketplace with a tradition of liberal economic activity with an ingrained entrepreneurial and foreign trade has degrees of ethnocentrism as Turkish consumers may be basically rational buyers by not discriminating against imported products. Nevertheless, they exhibit preferences for local goods that are of equal quality to the imports because buying them assists the nation's economy and domestic employment. Issues In some cases, national identity collides with a person's civil identity. For example, many Israeli Arabs associate themselves with the Arab or Palestinian nationality. At the same time, they are citizens of the state of Israel, which conflicts with the Palestinian nationality. Taiwanese also face a conflict of national identity with civil identity as there have been movements advocating formal "Taiwan Independence" and renaming "Republic of China" to "Republic of Taiwan." Residents in Taiwan are issued national identification cards and passports under the country name "Republic of China", and a portion of them do not identify themselves with "Republic of China", but rather with "Republic of Taiwan". Markers National identity markers are those characteristics used to identify a person as possessing a particular national identity. These markers are not fixed but fluid, varying from culture to culture and also within a culture over time. Such markers may include common language or dialect, national dress, birthplace, family affiliation, etc. See also Cosmopolitanism Culture of the United States Ethnic group Ethnocentrism Gastronationalism Globalization Identity (social science) Indonesian National Awakening Identity crisis Nationalism Patriotism Social identity theory Global citizenship Volkstum Volksgeist References Sources External links Nationalism Ethnology

Theatrical style

There are four basic theatrical genres either defined, implied, or derived by or from Aristotle: Tragedy, Comedy, Melodrama, and Drama. Any number of theatrical styles can be used to convey these forms. A good working definition of "Style" is how something is done. Theatrical styles are influenced by their time and place, artistic and other social structures, and the individual styles of the particular artists. As theater is a mongrel art form, a production may or may not have stylistic integrity with regard to script, acting, direction, design, music, and venue. Styles There are a variety of theatrical styles used in theater/drama. These include Naturalism: Portraying life on stage with close attention to detail, based on observation of real life. Cause and effect are central to the script's structure, with the subjects focused on conflicts of nature vs. nurture, the natural order of things, survival, or notions of evolution. The production style is one of everyday reality. Realism: Portraying characters on stage that are close to real life, with realistic settings and staging. Realism is an effort to satisfy all the theatrical conventions necessary to the production, but to do so in a way that seems to be "normal" life. Surrealism: A movement in various areas of art, including painting, sculpture, and theater. The aim of surrealist theater is to overcome and eradicate the old, tired traditions of theater that placed restrictions on the imagination. Expressionism: Anti-realistic in seeing appearance as distorted and the truth lies within man. The outward appearance on stage can be distorted and unrealistic to portray an external truth or internal emotional conflict. Absurdity and Surrealism: Presents a perspective that all human attempts at significance are illogical. Ultimate truth is chaos with little certainty. There is no necessity that needs to drive us. Epic Theatre: As devised by Bertolt Brecht, epic theatre forces audience members to constantly return to rational observation, rather than emotional immersion. Sudden bursts of song, elements of absurdity, and breaches of the fourth wall are all prime examples of how this rational observation is constantly revitalized; this idea is known as Verfremdungseffekt. Melodrama: As devised by early Greek dramatists, these styles rely on stock characters and stereotypes to portray stories in an exaggerated way, either tragic or comic. Links to commedia dell'arte. Theater of Cruelty: As developed by Antonin Artaud, a style that encourages the shock and horror of the audience, through the excessive use of light and sound, instead of active entertainment or emotional relaxation. Physical theater: A modernist approach to theater which centralizes a performer's movement as the key communicator of a play's storytelling. Poor theatre: Developed by Jerzy Growotski, this genre believes in the stripping back of set, props, costume, light, and sound to allow the focus to be placed solely upon the actors, their characterization, and the underlying human relationships. Immersive theater: Developed by Augusto Boal, these styles all place focus on the audience member's individuality: their personal decisions, opinions, and emotions, and how these impacts those of the characters onstage. The audience firmly exists within the "world of the play". Links to Promenade and Forum theatre. Drama

Native American cultures in the United States

Native American cultures across the 574 current federally recognized tribes in the United States, can vary considerably by language, beliefs, customs, practices, laws, art forms, traditional clothing, and other facets of culture. Yet along with this diversity, there are certain elements which are encountered frequently and shared by many tribal nations. European colonization of the Americas had a major impact on Native American cultures through what is known as the Columbian exchange. Also known as the Columbian interchange, this was the spread transfer of plants, animals, culture, human populations, technology, and ideas between the Americas and the Old World in the 15th and 16th centuries, following Christopher Columbus's 1492 voyage. The Columbian exchange generally had a destructive impact on Native American cultures through disease, and a 'clash of cultures', whereby European values of private property, smaller family structures, and labor led to conflict, appropriation of traditional communal lands and slavery. Cultural areas Academics tend to group the cultures of Indigenous North America by geographical region where shared cultural traits occur, based on how these cultures have continued since the Pre-Columbian era. The northwest culture area, for example, shared common traits such as salmon fishing, woodworking, large villages or towns, and a hierarchical social structure. Native Americans in the United States fall into several distinct ethnolinguistic and territorial phyla, with diverse governmental and economic systems. They can be classified as belonging to several large cultural areas: Contiguous United States Californian tribes (Northern): Yok-Utian, Pacific Coast Athabaskan, Coast Miwok, Yurok, Palaihnihan, Chumashan, Uto-Aztecan Plateau tribes: Interior Salish, Plateau Penutian Great Basin tribes: Uto-Aztecan Pacific Northwest Coast tribes: Pacific Coast AthabaskanCoast Salish, Wakashan Southwestern tribes (Oasisamerica): Uto-Aztecan, Yuman, Southern Athabaskan Aridoamerica, Yuman–Cochimí, Tepiman Plains Indians: Siouan, Plains Algonquian, Southern Athabaskan Northeastern Woodlands tribes: Lenape, Pequot, Mohican, Mohawk, Iroquoian, Central Algonquian, Eastern Algonquian Southeastern Woodlands tribes: Muskogean, Caddoan, Catawban, Iroquoian Alaska Natives Arctic: Eskimo–Aleut Subarctic: Northern Athabaskan Native Hawaiians These cultural regions are not universally agreed upon. Some systems combine the Great Basin and Plateau into Indigenous peoples of Intermountain West. Others separate Northern Plains from Southern Plains and Great Lakes tribes from Northeastern Woodlands tribes. Some identify Prairie tribes as distinct from Northeastern Woodlands tribes and Plains tribes. Language There are approximately 296 spoken (or formerly spoken) indigenous languages north of Mexico, 269 of which are grouped into 29 families. The major ethno-linguistic phyla are: Na-Dene languages, Iroquoian languages, Caddoan languages Algonquian languages Algic languages, Siouan–Catawban languages, Uto-Aztecan languages, Salishan languages, Tanoan languages Eskimo–Aleut (Alaska) The Na-Dené, Algic, and Uto-Aztecan families are the largest in terms of number of languages. Uto-Aztecan has the most speakers (1.95 million) if the languages in Mexico are considered (mostly due to 1.5 million speakers of Nahuatl); Na-Dené comes in second with approximately 200,000 speakers (nearly 180,000 of these are speakers of Navajo), and Algic in third with about 180,000 speakers (mainly Cree and Ojibwe). Na-Dené and Algic have the widest geographic distributions: Algic currently spans from northeastern Canada across much of the continent down to northeastern Mexico (due to later migrations of the Kickapoo) with two outliers in California (Yurok and Wiyot). The remaining 27 languages are either isolates or unclassified), such as Penutian languages, Hokan, Gulf languages and others. Organization Gens structure Early European American scholar described the Native Americans (as well as any other tribal society) as having a society dominated by clans or gentes (in the Roman model) before tribes were formed. There were some common characteristics: The right to elect its sachem and chiefs. The right to depose its sachem and chiefs. The obligation not to marry in the gens. Mutual rights of inheritance of the property of deceased members. Reciprocal obligations of help, defense, and redress of injuries. The right to bestow names on its members. The right to adopt strangers into the gens. Common religious rights, query. A common burial place. A council of the gens. Tribal structures Early European American scholars described the Native Americans as having a society dominated by clans. Tribes, Nations, bands and clans may define and organize themselves in a variety of ways. Federally recognized tribes in the United States are communities of Indigenous people that have been in continual existence since prior to European contact, and which have a sovereign, government-to-government relationship with the Federal government of the United States. In the United States, the Native American tribe is a fundamental unit of sovereign tribal government, with the federally-recognized right to self-government and, tribal sovereignty and self-determination. These tribes possess the right to establish the legal requirements for membership. They may form their own government, enforce laws (both civil and criminal), tax, license and regulate activities, zone, and exclude people from tribal territories. Limitations on tribal powers of self-government include the same limitations applicable to states; for example, neither tribes nor states have the power to make war, engage in foreign relations, or coin money. Traditional diets The traditional diet of Native Americans has historically consisted of a combination of agriculture, hunting, and the gathering of wild foods, variable by bioregion. Post-contact, European settlers in the northeastern region of the Americas observed that some of the Indigenous peoples cleared large areas for cropland. These fields in New England sometimes covered hundreds of acres. Colonists in Virginia noted thousands of acres under cultivation by Native Americans. Native American agricultural communities have commonly used tools such as the hoe, maul, and dibber. The hoe is the main tool used to till the land and prepare it for planting; and later used for weeding. The first versions were made out of wood and stone. When the settlers brought iron, Native Americans switched to iron hoes and hatchets. The dibber was historically a digging stick, used to plant seeds. Once plants are harvested, traditionally women have prepared the produce for eating, using the maul to grind the corn into mash. It is then cooked and eaten that way or baked as corn bread. Religion Traditional Native American ceremonies are still practiced by many tribes and bands, and the older theological belief systems are still held by many of the traditional people. Many Plains tribes have sweatlodge ceremonies, though the specifics of the ceremony vary among tribes. Fasting, singing and prayer in the ancient languages of their people, and sometimes drumming, and dancing are also common. The Midewiwin Lodge is a traditional medicine society based on the oral traditions and prophesies of the Ojibwa (Chippewa) and related tribes. Another significant, though more recent, religious body among some Native Americans is the Native American Church. It is a syncretistic religion incorporating elements of Native spiritual practice from a number of different tribes. Some varieties also include elements from Christianity, while others do not. Its main rite is the peyote ceremony. Some tribes' traditional religious beliefs included Wakan Tanka. In the American Southwest, especially New Mexico, a syncretism between the Catholicism brought by Spanish missionaries and the Indigenous religions is common; the religious drums, chants, and dances of the Pueblo people are regularly part of Masses at Santa Fe's Saint Francis Cathedral. Native American-Catholic syncretism is also found elsewhere in the United States. (e.g., the National Kateri Tekakwitha Shrine in Fonda, New York and the National Shrine of the North American Martyrs in Auriesville, New York). The eagle feather law (Title 50 Part 22 of the Code of Federal Regulations) stipulates that only individuals of certifiable Native American ancestry enrolled in a federally recognized tribe are legally authorized to obtain eagle feathers for religious or spiritual use. The law does not allow Native Americans to give eagle feathers to non-Native Americans. Gender roles Gender roles can vary significantly between tribal nations, with patriarchal, matriarchal, and egalitarian traditions among the 574 federally-recognized tribes. Many tribes, such as the Haudenosaunee Six Nations and the Southeast Muskogean tribes, are traditionally matrilineal, with property and hereditary leadership passed through the maternal lines, and children belonging to their mother's and grandmother's clan. Others were patrilineal tribes, such as the Omaha, Osage and Ponca, where hereditary leadership passed through the male line, and children were considered to belong to the father and his clan. Historically, when European-American male settlers had children with Native American women, if the tribe was patrilineal, their children were considered "white" like their fathers. If the mother was from a matrilineal tribe, the children would be considered tribal members. While rules have, in most cases, been modernized so the sex of the parent is irrelevant, historically the children of white fathers could have no official place in a patrilineal tribe because their fathers did not belong to it, unless they were adopted by a tribalmale and made part of his family. In most of the Plains Nations, men traditionally hunt, trade and go to war. The women have traditionally held primary responsibility for the survival and welfare of the families (and future of the tribe). Traditionally, Plains women own the home, and tend to jobs such as gathering and cultivating plants for food and healing, along with caring for the young and the elderly, making clothing and processing and curing meat and skins. Plains women have historically tanned hides to make clothing as well as bags, saddle cloths, and tipi covers, and have used cradleboards to carry an infant while working or traveling. Several dozen tribes have been documented to practiced polygyny to sisters, with procedural and economic limits. Apart from making homes, women traditionally hold many additional responsibilities essential for the survival of the tribes, including the manufacture of weapons and tools, maintenance of the roofs of their homes, as well as historically participating in the bison hunts. In some of the Plains Indian tribes, medicine women gathered herbs and cured the ill. The Lakota, Dakota, and Nakota girls have traditionally been encouraged to learn to ride, hunt and fight. Though fighting was predominantly the duty of men and boys, occasionally women fought as well, especially if the tribe was severely threatened. Sports Notable Native American athletes include Jim Thorpe, Joe Hipp, Notah Begay III, Jacoby Ellsbury, and Billy Mills. Team based Native American ball sports, such as lacrosse, stickball, or baggataway, have historically been used to settle disputes, rather than going to war, as a civil way to settle potential conflict. The Choctaw called it isitoboli ("Little Brother of War"); the Onondaga name was dehuntshigwa'es ("men hit a rounded object"). There are three basic versions, classified as Great Lakes, Iroquoian, and Southern. The game is played with one or two rackets/sticks and one ball. The object of the game is to land the ball on the opposing team's goal (either a single post or net) to score and to prevent the opposing team from scoring on your goal. The game involves as few as 20 or as many as 300 players with no height or weight restrictions and no protective gear. The goals could be from around apart to about ; in Lacrosse the field is . Music Native American musicians have occasionally found broader fame in more mainstream American music. Artists such as Robbie Robertson (The Band) and Redbone have had success on the rock and pop charts. Some, such as John Trudell, and Blackfoot have used music as political commentary and part of their work as activists for Native American and First Nations causes. Others, such as flautists Charles Littleleaf record traditional instruments with an aim of preserving the sounds of nature, or in the case of R. Carlos Nakai, integrate traditional instruments with more modern instrumentation. A variety of small and medium-sized recording companies offer an abundance of contemporary music by Native Americans and descendants, ranging from pow-wow drum music to rock-and-roll and rap. A popular Native American musical form is pow wow drumming and singing, which happens at events like the annual Gathering of Nations in Albuquerque, New Mexico. One form involves members of drum groups sitting in a circle around a large drum, playing in unison while they sing together in their Indigenous language. Often they are accompanied by dancers in colorful regalia. Most Indigenous communities in the United States also maintain private, traditional songs and ceremonies, which are only shared within the community. Art Writing and communication Native Americans in the United States have developed several original systems of communication, both in Pre-Columbian times, and later as a response to European influences. For example, the Iroquois, living around the Great Lakes and extending east and north, used strings or belts called wampum that served a dual function: the knots and beaded designs mnemonically chronicled tribal stories and legends, and further served as a medium of exchange and a unit of measure. The keepers of the articles were seen as tribal dignitaries. A widely used form of communication historically, that is still in use to some extent today is Plains Indian Sign Language (PISL), also known as Hand Talk, Plains Sign Language and First Nation Sign Language. PISL is a trade language (or international auxiliary language), formerly a trade pidgin, that was once the lingua franca across central Canada, central and western United States and northern Mexico, used among the various Plains Nations. It is also used for story-telling, oratory, various ceremonies, and by deaf people for ordinary daily use. In the late 1810s and early 1820s, the Cherokee syllabary was invented by the silversmith Sequoyah to write the Cherokee language. His creation of the syllabary is particularly noteworthy as he could not previously read any script. He first experimented with logograms, before developing his system into a syllabary. In his system, each symbol represents a syllable rather than a single phoneme; the 85 (originally 86) characters provide a suitable method to write Cherokee. Although some symbols resemble Latin, Greek, and Cyrillic letters, the relationship between symbols and sounds is different. The success of the Cherokee syllabary inspired James Evans, a missionary in what is now Manitoba, during the 1840s to develop Cree syllabics. Evans had originally adapted the Latin script to Ojibwe (see Evans system), but after learning of the Cherokee syllabary, he experimented with invented scripts based on his familiarity with shorthand and Devanagari. When Evans later worked with the closely related Cree, and ran into trouble with the Latin alphabet, he turned to his Ojibwe project and in 1840 adapted it to the Cree language. The result contained just nine glyph shapes, each of which stood for a syllable with the vowels determined by the orientations of these shapes. Cree syllabics are primarily a Canadian phenomenon, but are used occasionally in the United States by communities that straddle the border. Relationships with other cultures Relationships between Native Americans, European-Americans, and African-Americians have taken different forms over many generations since European contact. Some of the first documented cases of European/Native American intermarriage and contact were recorded in Post-Columbian Mexico. One case is that of Gonzalo Guerrero, a European from Spain, who was shipwrecked along the Yucatan Peninsula, and fathered three Mestizo children with a Mayan noblewoman. Another is the case of Hernán Cortés and his mistress La Malinche, who gave birth to another of the first multi-racial people in the Americas. Assimilation European impact was immediate, widespread, and profound—more than any other cultural groups that had contact with Native Americans during the early years of colonization and nationhood. There was fear on both sides, as both peoples realized how different their societies were. The whites regarded the Indians as "savage" because they were not Christian, and were suspicious of cultures which they did not understand. The Native American author, Andrew J. Blackbird (Odawa), wrote in his History of the Ottawa and Chippewa Indians of Michigan, (1897), that white settlers introduced some immoralities into Native American tribes. Many Indians suffered because the Europeans introduced alcohol and the whiskey trade resulted in alcoholism among the people, who were alcohol-intolerant. Slavery A number of Native American tribes took captives in war, but usually these captives were able to later become full members of the community via adoption or marriage. While this has been called "slavery" by some anthropologists, none of the named tribes exploited slave labor on a large scale. In addition, Native Americans did not buy and sell captives in the pre-colonial era, although they sometimes exchanged captives with other tribes in peace gestures or in exchange for their own members. The conditions of enslaved or hostage Native Americans varied among the tribes. In many cases, young captives were adopted into the tribes to replace warriors killed during warfare or by disease. Other tribes practiced debt slavery or imposed slavery on tribal members who had committed crimes; but, this status was only temporary as the enslaved worked off their obligations to the tribal society. Among some Pacific Northwest tribes, about a quarter of the population were enslaved. Other North American tribes that participated in some form of enslavement were the Comanche of Texas, the Creek of Georgia, the Pawnee, and Klamath. There was heavy incentive by colonizing Europeans to adopt slavery, and it was most common among tribes who were allied with the British. European enslavement During the European colonization of North America, the practice of slavery changed dramatically. As the demand for labor in the West Indies grew with the cultivation of sugar cane, European settlers frequently transported enslaved Native Americans to the Caribbean to work on plantations. White settlers in European colonies established in the American South purchased or captured Native Americans to use as forced labor in cultivating tobacco, rice, and indigo on plantations as well. Accurate records of the numbers enslaved do not exist. Scholars estimate tens of thousands of Native Americans may have been enslaved by the Europeans, sometimes being sold by Native Americans themselves but often war prizes with Europeans, similar to what occurred in the aftermath of the Pequot War. Slavery in Colonial America soon became racialized, including Native Americans and Africans but excluding Europeans. The Virginia General Assembly defined some terms of slavery in 1705: The slave trade of Native Americans lasted only until around 1730. It gave rise to a series of devastating wars among the tribes, including the Yamasee War. The Indian Wars of the early 18th century, combined with the increasing importation of African slaves, effectively ended the Native American slave trade by 1750. Colonists found that Native American slaves could easily escape, as they knew the country. The wars cost the lives of numerous colonial slave traders and disrupted their early societies. The remaining Native American groups banded together to face the Europeans from a position of strength. Many surviving Native American peoples of the southeast strengthened their loose coalitions of language groups and joined confederacies such as the Choctaw, the Creek, and the Catawba for protection. Native American women were at risk for rape whether they were enslaved or not; during the early colonial years, settlers were disproportionately male. They turned to Native women for sexual relationships. Both Native American and African enslaved women suffered rape and sexual harassment by male slaveholders and other white men. Relation with Africans in the United States African and Native Americans have interacted for centuries. The earliest record of Native American and African contact occurred in April 1502, when Spanish colonists transported the first Africans to Hispaniola to serve as slaves. Native Americans were rewarded if they returned escaped slaves, and African Americans were rewarded for fighting in the late 19th-century Indian Wars. While numerous tribes used captive enemies as servants and slaves, they also often adopted younger captives into their tribes to replace members who had died. In the Southeast, a few Native American tribes began to adopt a slavery system similar to that of the American colonists, buying African American slaves, especially the Cherokee, Choctaw, and Creek. Though less than 3% of Native Americans owned slaves, divisions grew among the Native Americans over slavery. Among the Cherokee, records show that slave holders in the tribe were largely the children of European men that had shown their children the economics of slavery. As European colonists took slaves into frontier areas, there were more opportunities for relationships between African and Native American peoples. Among the Five Civilized Tribes, mixed-race slaveholders were generally part of an elite hierarchy, often based on their mothers' clan status, as the societies had matrilineal systems. As did Benjamin Hawkins, European fur traders and colonial officials tended to marry high-status women, in strategic alliances seen to benefit both sides. The Choctaw, Creek and Cherokee believed they benefited from stronger alliances with the traders and their societies. The women's sons gained their status from their mother's families; they were part of hereditary leadership lines who exercised power and accumulated personal wealth in their changing Native American societies. The chiefs of the tribes believed that some of the new generation of mixed-race, bilingual chiefs would lead their people into the future and be better able to adapt to new conditions influenced by European Americans. Philosophy Native American authors have written about aspects of "tribal philosophy" as opposed to the modern or Western worldview. Thus, Yankton Dakota author Vine Deloria Jr. in an essay "Philosophy and the Tribal Peoples" argued that whereas a "traditional Westerner" might reason, "Man is mortal; Socrates is a man; therefore, Socrates is mortal," aboriginal thinking might read, 'Socrates is mortal, because I once met Socrates and he is a man like me, and I am mortal.' Deloria explains that both of the statements assume that all men are mortal, and that these statements are not verifiable on these grounds. The line of Native American thinking, however uses empirical evidence through memory to verify that Socrates was in fact a man like the person originally making the statement, and enhances the validity of the thinking. Deloria made the distinction, "whereas the Western syllogism simply introduces a doctrine using general concepts and depends on faith in the chain of reasoning for its verification, the Native American statement would stand by itself without faith and belief." Deloria also comments that Native American thinking is very specific (in the way described above) compared to the broadness of traditional Western thinking, which leads to different interpretations of basic principles. American thinkers have previously denounced Native ideas because of this narrower approach, as it leads to 'blurry' distinctions between the 'real' and the 'internal.' According to Carlin Romano, the best resource on a characteristically "Native American Philosophy" is Scott L. Pratt's, Native Pragmatism: Rethinking the Roots of American Philosophy, which relates the ideas of many 'American' philosophers like Pierce, James, and Dewey to important concepts in early Native thought. Pratt's publication takes his readers on a journey through American philosophical history from the colonial time period, and via detailed analysis, connects the experimental nature of early American pragmatism to the empirical habit of indigenous Americans. Though Pratt makes these alliances very comprehensible, he also makes clear that the lines between the ideas of Native Americans and American philosophers are complex and historically difficult to trace. References Native American culture Native American art Native American topics Indigenous culture in the United States

Public

In public relations and communication science, publics are groups of individual people, and the public (a.k.a. the general public) is the totality of such groupings. This is a different concept to the sociological concept of the Öffentlichkeit or public sphere. The concept of a public has also been defined in political science, psychology, marketing, and advertising. In public relations and communication science, it is one of the more ambiguous concepts in the field. Although it has definitions in the theory of the field that have been formulated from the early 20th century onwards, and suffered more recent years from being blurred, as a result of conflation of the idea of a public with the notions of audience, market segment, community, constituency, and stakeholder. Etymology and definitions The name "public" originates with the Latin publicus (also poplicus), from populus, to the English word 'populace', and in general denotes some mass population ("the people") in association with some matter of common interest. So in political science and history, a public is a population of individuals in association with civic affairs, or affairs of office or state. In social psychology, marketing, and public relations, a public has a more situational definition. John Dewey defined public as a group of people who, in facing a similar problem, recognize it and organize themselves to address it. Dewey's definition of a public is thus situational: people organized about a situation. Built upon this situational definition of a public is the situational theory of publics by James E. Grunig , which talks of nonpublics (who have no problem), latent publics (who have a problem), aware publics (who recognize that they have a problem), and active publics (who do something about their problem). In public relations and communication theory, a public is distinct from a stakeholder or a market. A public is a subset of the set of stakeholders for an organization, that comprises those people concerned with a specific issue. Whilst a market has an exchange relationship with an organization, and is usually a passive entity that is created by the organization, public does not necessarily have an exchange relationship, and is both self-creating and self-organizing. Publics are targeted by public relations efforts. In this, target publics are those publics whose involvement is necessary for achieving organization goals; intervening publics are opinion formers and mediators, who pass information to the target publics; and influentials are publics that the target publics turn to for consultation, whose value judgements are influential upon how a target public will judge any public relations material. The public is often targeted especially in regard to political agendas as their vote is necessary in order to further the progression of the cause. As seen in Massachusetts between 2003 and 2004, it was necessary to "win a critical mass of states and a critical mass of public support" in order to get same-sex marriage passed in the commonwealth. Public relations theory perspectives on publics are situational, per Dewey and Grunig; mass, where a public is simply viewed as a population of individuals; agenda-building, where a public is viewed as a condition of political involvement that is not transitory; and "homo narrans", where a public is (in the words of Gabriel M. Vasquez, assistant professor in the School of Communication at the University of Houston) a collection of "individuals that develop a group consciousness around a problematic situation and act to solve the problematic situations" . Public schools are often under controversy for their "agenda-building," especially in debates over whether to teach a religious or secular curriculum. The promotion of an agenda is commonplace whenever one is in a public environment, but schools have exceptional power in that regard. One non-situational concept of a public is that of Kirk Hallahan, professor at Colorado State University, who defines a public as "a group of people who relate to an organization, who demonstrate varying degrees of activity—passivity, and who might (or might not) interact with others concerning their relationship with the organization". Samuel Mateus's 2011 paper "Public as Social Experience" considered to view the concept by an alternative point of view: the public "is neither a simple audience constituted by media consumers nor just a rational-critical agency of a Public Sphere". He argued "the concept should also be seen in the light of a publicness principle, beyond a critic and manipulative publicity (...). In accordance, the public may be regarded as the result of the social activities made by individuals sharing symbolic representations and common emotions in publicness. Seen with lower-case, the concept is a set of subjectivities who look publicly for a feeling of belonging. So, in this perspective, the public is still a fundamental notion to social life although in a different manner in comparison to 18th century Public Sphere's Public. He means above all the social textures and configurations where successive layers of social experience are built up." Social publics Social publics are groups of people united by common ideas, ideology, or hobbies. Networked publics are social publics which have been socially restructured by the networking of technologies. As such, they are simultaneously both (1) the space constructed through networked technologies and (2) the imagined collective which consequently emerges as a result of the intersection of human persons, shared technologies, and their practices. See also Community Nation People Public sphere Res publica Volk References Bibliography Further reading Hannay, Alastair (2005) On the Public Routledge Kierkegaard, Søren (2002) A Literary Review; Alastair Hannay (trans.) London: Penguin Lippmann, Walter. The Phantom Public (Library of Conservative Thought), Transaction Publishers; Reprint edition, January 1, 1993, . Mayhew, Leon H. The New Public: Professional Communication and the Means of Social Influence, (Cambridge Cultural Social Studies), Cambridge University Press, September 28, 1997, . Sennett, Richard. The Fall of Public Man. W. W. Norton & Company; Reissue edition, June 1992, . Human communication Public relations Sociological terminology Political science Marketing

Generation Z in the United States

Generation Z (or Gen Z for short), colloquially known as Zoomers, is the demographic cohort succeeding Millennials and preceding Generation Alpha. Members of Generation Z, were born between the mid-to-late 1990s and the early 2010s, with the generation typically being defined as those born from 1997 to 2012. In other words, the first wave came of age during the second decade of the twenty-first century, a time of significant demographic change due to declining birthrates, population aging, and immigration. Girls of the early twenty-first century reach puberty earlier than their counterparts from the previous generations. They have higher incidents of eye problems, allergies, awareness and reporting of mental health issues, suicide, and sleep deprivation, but lower rates of adolescent pregnancy. They drink alcohol and smoke traditional tobacco cigarettes less often, but are more likely to consume marijuana and electronic cigarettes. Americans who grew up in the 2000s and 2010s saw gains in IQ points, but loss in creativity. During the 2000s and 2010s, while Western educators in general and American schoolteachers in particular concentrated on helping struggling rather than gifted students, American students of the 2010s were trailing behind their counterparts from other countries, especially East Asia, in reading and in STEM. They ranked above the OECD average in science and computer literacy, but below average in mathematics. Mathematical literacy and reading proficiency among American schoolchildren both fell in the 2010s. They read books less often than their predecessors and spend more time in front of a screen. They tend to become familiar with the Internet and portable digital devices at a young age (as "digital natives"), but are not necessarily digitally literate, and tend to struggle in a digital work place. An absolute majority are using at least one social-media platform, leading to concerns that spending so much time on social media can distort their view of the world, hamper their social development, harm their mental health, and cause them to become addicted. Although they trust traditional news media more than what they see online, they tend to be more skeptical of the news than their parents. Young Americans of the late 2010s and early 2020s tend to hold politically left-leaning views. However, there is a significant sex gap and most are more interested in advancing their careers than pursuing idealistic political causes. As voters, Generation Z's top issue is the economy. Members of Generation Z, especially women, are also more likely to be irreligious than older cohorts. On the whole, they are financially cautious, and are increasingly interested in alternatives to attending institutions of higher education, with young men being primarily responsible for the trend. Among those who choose to go to college, grades and standards have fallen because of disruptions in learning due to COVID-19. As consumers, Generation Z's actual purchases do not reflect their environmental ideals. Although American youth culture has become highly fragmented by the start of the early twenty-first century, a product of growing individualism, nostalgia is a major feature of youth culture in the 2010s and 2020s. Nomenclature and date range The name Generation Z is a reference to the fact that it is the second generation after Generation X, continuing the alphabetical sequence from Generation Y (Millennials). Other proposed names for the generation include iGeneration, Homeland Generation, Net Gen, Digital Natives, Neo-Digital Natives, Pluralist Generation, Centennials, and Post-Millennials. The term Internet Generation is in reference to the fact that the generation is the first to have been born after the mass-adoption of the Internet. The Pew Research Center surveyed the various names for this cohort on Google Trends in 2019 and found that in the U.S., the term Generation Z was overwhelmingly the most popular. The Merriam-Webster Dictionary has an official entry for Generation Z. Zoomer is an informal term used to refer to members of Generation Z, often in an ironic, humorous, or mocking tone. It combines the term boomer, referring to baby boomers, with the "Z" from Generation Z. Prior to this, Zoomer was used in the 2000s to describe particularly active baby boomers. Zoomer in its current incarnation skyrocketed in popularity in 2018, when it was used in a 4chan Internet meme mocking Gen Z adolescents via a Wojak caricature dubbed a Zoomer. Merriam-Webster's records suggest the use of the term zoomer in the sense of Generation Z dates back at least as far as 2016. It was added to the dictionary in October 2021. The international American consulting company McKinsey & Company calls representatives of generation Z of people born from about 1995 to 2010 the real "digital aborigines". Professor of Psychology at San Diego State University Gene Twenge calls this generation iGeneration — born in 1995-2012. In January 2019, Pew Research Center defined "Post-Millennials" as people born from 1997 onward, choosing this date for "different formative experiences" for the purposes of demographic analysis. Common generational experiences include technological developments and socio-economic trends, including the widespread availability of wireless internet access and high-bandwidth cellular service, and key world events, such as growing up in a world after the September 11th terrorist attacks. During a 2019 analysis, Pew stated that they have yet to set the endpoint of Generation Z, but did use the year 2012 to complete their analysis. In a 2022 article, U.S. Census economists Neil Bennett and Briana Sullivan described Generation Z as those born 1997 to 2013. Psychologists Jean Twenge and Jonathan Haidt argue that even though the concept of a social generation remains debated, there is evidence for significant differences between the different demographic cohorts. Those born between (on the cusp of) the Millennial generation and Generation Z are commonly known as Zillennials. Arts and culture General trends Given their birth years, no member of Generation Z has any memory of the time before the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, and the subsequent War on Terror. Even twenty years after the attacks had taken place, concerns over national security as well as personal safety remain. But most members of Generation Z had their formative years shaped by the 2007–2008 financial crisis. A 2013 survey found that 47% of Generation Z in the United States (considered here to be those between the ages of 14 and 23) were concerned about student debt, while 36% were worried about being able to afford a higher education at all. This generation is facing a growing income gap and a shrinking middle-class, which all have led to increasing stress levels in families. According to Public Relations Society of America, the Great Recession has taught Generation Z to be independent, and has led to an entrepreneurial desire, after seeing their parents and older siblings struggle in the workforce. The COVID-19 pandemic struck when the oldest members of Generation Z was just joining the workforce and the rest were still in school. Growing up in such uncertain times, Generation Z has come to embrace nostalgia, longing for a purportedly simpler time, or things that remind them of their childhood. As a result, they adapt, hybridize, and modernize older styles of fashion, music, and restaurants, among other things, connecting to the past, but never really abandoning modern electronic devices, which enable them to rummage through the idealized past at will. Psychologist Jean Twenge argued that as the typical American family has fewer children and as parents pay more attention to each of their children—for example by not allowing them to walk home from school—and to their education, the average American teenager in the mid- to late-2010s tended to be 'slow life-history strategists', meaning they delay taking part in adult activities such as drinking alcohol, having sexual intercourse, or driving. Interest in sports has also declined noticeably compared to older generations. A 2014 study Generation Z Goes to College found that Generation Z students self-identify as being loyal, compassionate, thoughtful, open-minded, responsible, and determined. How they see their Generation Z peers is quite different from their own self-identity. They view their peers as competitive, spontaneous, adventuresome, and curious—all characteristics that they do not see readily in themselves. Like all other cohorts born after the Second World War, Generation Z is culturally individualistic and values social equality. But unlike older living generations of their time, members of Generation Z are much more likely to identify as gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, or otherwise non-conforming. Generation Z today is more likely than young people in the past to try out new cuisines. There is also a growing interest in vegetarian foods. Museums from across the United States significantly expanded their programs aimed at children, including K-12 students, during the 2000s and 2010s, according to the American Alliance of Museums and the Institute of Museum and Library Services. In the fiscal year of 2014, there were more museums in the United States (35,000) than the total numbers of Starbucks locations (11,000) and McDonald's restaurants (14,000) combined. News media For its 2019 Digital News Report, the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism at Oxford University asked people in the U.S. and U.K. what the first sources of news for them were. 45% of people aged 18 to 24 gave the smartphone as their answer. Of those, 57% said social media, including messaging apps, were the source of their first news. Among the social networks, Facebook was the top source for news for 48% of Generation Z, while YouTube was in second place at 32%. Only 23% said their first contact with the first news they read or watch each day came directly from the original sources. Meanwhile, 19% answered TV, 11% the radio, 5% desktop computers, and 4% newspapers as their first sources of news for the day. For Generation Z, the news brands are not as important as they are for those aged 35 or over. Most, however, do have a go-to source when a story breaks; CNN and The New York Times are the most common ones for American youths thanks to parental influence. Similarly, a 2019 survey by Barnes and Nobles Education found that The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, CNN and USA Today are deemed the most trustworthy news sources by Generation Z. They also found that Generation Z consider traditional print media to be the most trustworthy while words of mouth and what they see on social media to be the least trustworthy. Nevertheless, according to the Reuters Institute, while Generation Z understands the importance of traditional news agencies, they tend to be less loyal than their parents. Young Americans (and Britons) are concerned about the perceived bias, lack of context, negativity, and sensationalism in the news media. American youths today want news stories that are not only fun and meaningful but also accurate and fair. A 2016 poll by Gallup found that barely one in three Americans had a "great deal" or "fair" amount of trust in the news media, whose public image has been in decline since the 1990s. This trend holds across different age groups, though people aged 18 to 49 are less likely than those 50 years of age or older to trust the media. Globally, trust in the news media is falling, too. While visual story-telling has proven to be popular, 58% of Generation Z still prefer text to videos. This number goes up for people who are older. In the U.S., despite a bump due to the 2016 Presidential election, the number of people paying a subscription fee for online news has stabilized at about 16%. When asked what they would choose if they could have only one subscription, only 7% picked the news while 37% chose a video service and 15% selected music. Entertainment In its 2018 Gen Z Music Consumption & Spending Report, digital media company Sweety High found that Generation Z was listening to more diverse music than generations past. That they tended to switch seamlessly between different genres is significant because music preferences tend to solidify when people are 13 to 14 years old. Spotify was the most popular source of music Generation Z (61%) and terrestrial radio ranked second (55%). YouTube was the preferred platform for music discovery (75%). However, only one in four teens uses it for regular listening, making it less popular than even CDs (38%). TikTok is another major platform for music discovery and for Generation Z to connect with their favorite musicians. Research on popular music from the 1950s to the 2010s has shown that this genre has become louder, while the chords, melodies, and types of sounds used have becoming increasingly homogenized. At the same time, lyrics of the most popular songs have becoming less joyful, sadder, and angrier. Such shifts have occurred due to changing consumer tastes. In particular, the melancholic lyrics of Billie Eilish and Olivia Rodrigo resonate with their generation. A 2019 poll by Ypulse found that for teenagers (13 to 18), the top musicians were Billie Eilish and Ariana Grande whereas among young adults (19 to 26), the most liked were Taylor Swift and Ariana Grande. Chinese music video app musical.ly was highly popular among American teens. This app was acquired by ByteDance, sometimes called the "Buzzfeed of China" because it is a hub for stories that go viral on the Internet. Unlike Buzzfeed, however, ByteDance does not employ young staff writers to create its contents; rather, it relies on algorithms equipped with artificial intelligence to collect and modify contents in order to optimize viewership. In 2018, musical.ly was shut down and its users were transferred to TikTok, a competing app developed by ByteDance. Both musical.ly and TikTok enable users to create short videos with popular songs as background music and with numerous special effects, including lip-synchronizing. By the early 2020s, TikTok has become one of the most popular social networks among teenagers and young adults in the United States. According to Asha Choksi, vice president of global research and insights for the educational publisher Pearson, about one in every three members of Generation Z spends at least four hours per day watching videos online. Data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics show that while people aged 15 to 24 spent more time playing video games in 2018, the time spent on computers and televisions remained virtually unchanged. 2020 Nielsen figures revealed that the viewership of children's cable television channels such as Cartoon Network or Nickelodeon continued their steady decline, which was merely decelerated due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which forced many parents and their children to stay at home. On the other hand, streaming services saw healthy growth. Generation Z continues to enjoy comfort television shows, including those from before their time, such as The Office (2005–2013) and Friends (1994–2004), as well shows featuring characters roughly their age, like Young Sheldon (2017–2024), and long-running television drama, like Grey's Anatomy (2005–present). But the most popular forms of entertainment among Generation Z were playing video games, listening to music, surfing the Internet, and using social media networks. A longitudinal analysis of data sets from the Monitoring the Future survey from 1976 to 2016 by a research team headed by psychologist Jean Twenge concluded that "compared with previous generations, teens in the 2010s spent more time online and less time with traditional media, such as books, magazines and television. Time on digital media has displaced time once spent enjoying a book or watching TV." Between 2006 and 2016, usage of digital media, including social networking websites, increased among teenagers of all grade levels while the number of teenagers who had never read a full book at all jumped. This secular decline in leisure reading came as a surprise for the researchers because "It's so convenient to read books and magazines on electronic devices like tablets. There's no more going to the mailbox or the bookstore—you just download the magazine issue or book and start reading." Twenge further noted that the analyses of the Pew Research Center on reading did not distinguish between reading for school or work and reading for pleasure. But even at school, teachers assign much shorter reading assignments than in the past, and they rarely require students to read full-length books. But among teenagers who read for pleasure, dystopian fiction, such as The Hunger Games and Divergent, has been popular among teenagers. In addition, the surge in reading during the 2000s coincided with the release of the Harry Potter and Twilight novels. Demographics When Congress passed the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965, as urged by President Lyndon B. Johnson, which abolished national quotas for immigrants and replaced it with a system that admits a fixed number of persons per year based in qualities such as skills and the need for refuge, immigration surged from elsewhere in North America (especially Canada and Mexico), Asia, Central America, and the West Indies. By the late 1990s and early 2000s, Asia and Latin America became the top sources of immigrants to the U.S. A report by demographer William Frey of the Brookings Institution stated that in the United States, the Millennials are a bridge between the largely Caucasian pre-Millennials (Generation X and their predecessors) and the more diverse post-Millennials (Generation Z and their successors). Frey's analysis of U.S. Census data suggests that as of 2019, 50.9% of Generation Z is white, 13.8% is black, 25.0% Hispanic, and 5.3% Asian. (See figure below.) 29% of Generation Z are children of immigrants or immigrants themselves, compared to 23% of Millennials when they were at the same age. As of 2019, 13.7% of the U.S. population is foreign-born, compared to 9.7% in 1997, when the first members of Generation Z had their birth cries. Indeed, according to the Pew Research Center, in spite of the diminished flow of immigrants to the United States following the Great Recession, Generation Z is the most ethnically diverse yet seen. 52% of this generation is white. 25% is Hispanic. 14% is black, and 4% is Asian. Approximately 4% is multiracial, and this number has risen rapidly between 2000 and 2010. More specifically, the number of Americans who identify as mixed white and black has grown by 134% and those of both white and Asian extraction by 87%. For comparison, 44% of Millennials, 40% of Generation X, and 28% of the Baby Boomers identify as non-white. Research by the demographer Bill Frey suggests that at the national level, Hispanics and Asians are the fastest-growing racial minority groups in the United States while the number of Caucasians under the age of 18 has been declining since 2000. Overall, the number of births to Caucasian women in the United States dropped 7% between 2000 and 2018. Among foreign-born Caucasian women, however, the number of births increased by 1% in the same period. Although the number of births to foreign-born Hispanic women fell from 58% in 2000 to 50% in 2018, the share of births due to U.S.-born Hispanic women increased from 20% in 2000 to 24% in 2018. The number of births to foreign-born Asian women rose from 19% in 2000 to 24% in 2018 while that due to U.S.-born Asian women went from 1% in 2000 to 2% in 2018. In all, between 2000 and 2017, more births were to foreign-born than U.S.-born women.Members of Generation Z are slightly less likely to be foreign-born than Millennials; the fact that more American Latinos are born in the U.S. rather than abroad plays a role in making the first wave of Generation Z appear better educated than their predecessors. However, researchers note that this trend could be altered by changing immigration patterns and the younger members of Generation Z choosing alternate educational paths. 29% of Generation Z are children of immigrants or immigrants themselves, compared to 23% of Millennials when they were at the same age. As of 2019, 13.7% of the U.S. population is foreign-born, compared to 9.7% in 1997, when the first members of Generation Z had their birth cries. Not only are Americans becoming more and more racially diverse, but racial minorities are also becoming more geographically dispersed than ever before, as new immigrants settle in places other than the large metropolitan areas historically populated by migrants, such as New York City, Los Angeles, and San Francisco. A majority of Generation Z live in urban areas and are less inclined to change address than their predecessors. Similar to the Millennials, roughly two thirds of Generation Z come from households of married parents. By contrast, this living arrangement was essentially the norm for Generation X and the Baby Boomers, at 73% and 85%, respectively. As a demographic cohort, Generation Z is smaller than the Baby Boomers or their children, the Millennials. (See population pyramid.) According to the U.S. Census Bureau, Generation Z makes up about one quarter of the U.S. population. This demographic change could have social, cultural, and political implications for the decades ahead. Generation Z are usually the children of Generation X, and sometimes Millennials. Jason Dorsey, who works for the Center of Generational Kinetics, observed that Generation Z is not an extreme version of the Millennials but is rather different, and the differences can largely be attributed to parenting. Like parents from Generation X, members of Generation Z tend to be autonomous and pessimistic. They need validation less than the Millennials and typically become financially literate at an earlier age as many of their parents bore the full brunt of the Great Recession. Between 2009 and 2016, the number of grandparents raising their grandchildren went up 7%. This is due to a variety of factors, such as military deployment, the growing incarceration of women, drug addictions, and mental health issues. After declining for many years, the number of children in foster care increased 1% in 2013 and 3.4% in 2014. In response, states are sending more and more children who have been taken from their parents to their relatives, drawing from research showing that children tend to be better off being cared for by their own families than strangers and to save taxpayers' money. Economic trends and outlooks Spending and savings habits Consumer behavior According to an analysis by Goldman Sachs, people from Generation Z tend to be more pragmatic about money and more entrepreneurial than the Millennials. A survey on a thousand members of Generation Z conducted by the Center for Generational Kinetics found that 77% of them were spending the money they made themselves and 38% planned to work as university students. Modern technology has enabled Generation Z to take advantage of the on-demand economy, defined as "the economic activity created by technology companies that fulfill consumer demand via the immediate provisioning of goods and service." Generation Z tends to value utility and quality over brand name. Authenticity is critical. Having been raised by Generation X and grown up in a recession, members of Generation Z are quick to verify claims. Being heavy users of the Internet in general and social media in particular, they frequently employ these tools to learn more about a certain product or service they are interested in. Product specifications, vendor ratings, and peer reviews are all important. They tend to be skeptical and will shun firms whose actions and values are contradictory. There is a fair amount of interest in in-person shopping rather than over the Internet, a potentially positive development for brick-and-mortar stores. Products with comprehensible ingredients and simple packaging are preferred. In recognition of the tastes of large segments of Generation Z, the next cohort of young consumers, a number of brands, such as M&M's, have moved their advertising and mascots away from the sexual appeal and towards a more anxious but casual style. Generation Z's shopping habits are affected by social media networks and their impact on mental health. Gen-Z consumers are less likely to pay a premium for what they want compared to their counterparts from emerging economies. While majorities might signal their support for certain ideals such as "environmental consciousness" to pollsters, actual purchases do not reflect their stated views, as can be seen from their high demand for cheap but not durable clothing ("fast fashion"), or preference for rapid delivery. Overall, although more than half say they sought environmentally friendly products, only 38% are willing to pay extra for them. Nor are they willing to shun firms whose owners have reportedly "conservative" values, such as Chick-fil-A, which remains one of the most popular fast-food restaurant chains in the United States among teenagers. While majorities of older cohorts prefer American products, Generation Z is mixed on whether or not to buy goods made in China.Nostalgia is a major theme of the behavior of consumers from Generation Z. For example, 2000s vintage electronics and fashion are back in vogue by the early 2020s. Youths who came of age during the 2010s and 2020s feel nostalgic about (simpler) eras of history they have never lived in due to the uncertainties and stress of modern life, with student loan debts and the threat of terrorism being the top concerns. For Millennials and older generations, nostalgia consumption is a way of reliving and cherishing the past they had experienced; for Generation Z, it is not only a source of comfort but also joy and excitement. Because of the era into which they were born, members of Generation Z likely have never used items that were popular in the decades before them, such as floppy disks, cassette tapes, VHS tapes, typewriters, television sets with antennas, television guides, answering machines, phone books, address books, pagers, fax machines, payphones, rotary and corded phones, print encyclopedias, paper maps, and non-digital projectors. Nevertheless, despite having the reputation for "killing" many things valued by older generations, Millennials and Generation Z are nostalgically preserving Polaroid cameras, vinyl records, needlepoint, and home gardening, to name just some. In fact, while "dumb phones" (or feature phones rather than smartphones) are on the decline around the world, in the U.S., their sales are growing among Generation Z. According to a 2019 YouGov poll, 31% of the U.S. population is willing to pay for music on vinyl, including 26% of Generation Z. As a matter of fact, Millennials and Generation Z have given life to nostalgia as an industry in the late 2010s and early 2020s, a trend that coincides with the resurgence of some cultural phenomena of the late 1990s and early 2000s (Y2K), such the television series Friends (1994–2004), something that is well-received among young people despite its age. Nostalgia has also contributed to the anticipation and subsequent commercial success of the summer film Barbie (2023) based on a well-known doll of the same name, even though it was intended for adults rather than children. Milk consumption has declined among young people and the growing rate of lactose intolerance among the ethnically diverse Generation Z is part of the reason why. Financial security According to the USA Today, 69% of Generation Z turn to their parents for financial advice compared to 52% of younger Millennials. Friends followed at a distant second place with 24% and 19%, respectively. Unlike their predecessors, members of Generation Z are highly averse to debts and many are already saving for retirement. Their money-saving habits are reminiscent of those who came of age during the Great Depression. According to Morning Consult, four in ten of those aged 18 to 22 incur no debt at all. However, because they are spending so much time online playing video games, they make many in-game purchases that add up over time without realizing how much money they are actually spending. In any case, in the second quarter of 2019, the number of people from Generation Z carrying a credit card balance increased by 41% compared to that of 2018 (from 5,483,000 to 7,746,000), as the first wave of this demographic cohort became old enough to take out a mortgage, a loan, or to have credit-card debt, according to TransUnion. In 2019, credit cards became the most common form of debt for Generation Z, overtaking auto loans. This is despite the fact that they grew up during the Great Recession. The financial industry expects continued growth in credit activity by Generation Z, whose rate of credit delinquency is comparable to those of the Millennials and Generation X. According to a 2019 report from the financial firm Northwestern Mutual, student loans were the top source of debt for Generation Z, at 25%. For comparison, mortgages were the top source of debt for the Baby Boomers (28%) and Generation X (30%); for the Millennials, it was credit card bills (25%). In a study conducted in 2015 the Center for Generational Kinetics found that American members of Generation Z, defined here as those born 1996 and onward, are less optimistic about the state of the US economy than their immediate predecessors, the Millennials. However, Generation Z (58%) is more likely to say they expect to be more successful than their parents were than younger Millennials (52%). Whereas 13% of younger Millennials said they expected to be less successful than their parents, only 10% of Generation Z said the same. A total of 58% of Generation Z said they had not experienced a quarter-life crisis, compared with 46% of younger Millennials. Americans aged 15 to 21 expect to be financially independent in their early twenties while their parents generally expect them to become so by their mid-twenties. By contrast, about one out of five Millennials expect to still be dependent on their parents beyond the age of 30. While the Millennials tend to prefer flexibility, Generation Z is more interested in certainty and stability. Whereas 23% of Millennials would leave a job if they thought they were not appreciated, only 15% of Generation Z would do the same, according to a Deloitte survey. According to the World Economic Forum (WEF), 77% of Generation Z expects to work harder than previous generations. Tourism and housing markets Research by the online travel booking company Booking.com reveals that 54% of Generation Z considered environmental impact of their travels to be an important factor, 56% said they would like to stay in environmentally friendly lodging, and 60% were interested in greener modes of transport once they reached their destinations. Meanwhile, the online booking firm Expedia Group found that cost was crucial for 82% of tourists from Generation Z. Therefore, the desire of Generation Z to travel and see the world comes into conflict with what they can afford and their wish to limit their environmental impact. With regards to the housing market, they typically look for properties with amenities that are comparable to what they experienced as university students. A 2019 Bank of America survey found that over half of people aged 18 to 23 were already saving for a home, with 59% saying they planned to do so within five years. More than one in two members of Generation Z said the top reason why they wanted to own a home was to start a family. For comparison, this number was 40% for the Millennials, 17% for Generation X, and 10% for the Baby Boomers. The survey also found that if they were given $5,000, most members of Generation Z would rather save that money for a down payment rather than spending it on a dream wedding, shopping, or a vacation. A majority of Generation Z was willing to take a second job, attend a less costly university, or move back to their parents' place in order to save money. They are also quite willing to live with people they did not know previously in order to save on rent in large metropolitan areas. According to the personal finance company Credit Karma, 43% of Generation Z said they had had strangers as roommates and 30% said they were willing to move in with roommates they did not know. House cleaning, a potential point of friction, is handled by maids. Nationwide, about one in four Americans have lived with someone they had no prior relationship with. Data from TransUnion reveals that as the Millennials enter the housing market in large numbers, taking out more mortgages in 2018 than any other living generation, Generation Z's number of new mortgages is also increasing dramatically, from 150,000 in the second quarter of 2018 to 319,000 in the second quarter of 2019, an increase of 112%. Generation Z consumers took out 41% more auto loans in the second quarter of 2019 than in the same period the previous year. While one out of five Millennial renters said they expected to continue to do so indefinitely, according to a survey by Apartment List, a Freddie Mac study found that 86% of Generation Z desired to own a home by the age of 30. Freddie Mac did note, however, that Generation Z understood the challenges of home prices, making down payments, and student loan debts. According to the real-estate company realtor.com, the first wave of Generation Z was buying homes at about the same rate as their grandparents the Silent Generation in late 2019, when they owned about 2% of the housing market. Judging by the amounts of mortgages, the top housing markets tend to have strong local economies and low cost of living. They also tend to be university towns; many young people prefer to live where they studied. In general, Generation Z appears most interested in owning a home in the Midwest and the South. Broadly speaking, while the Millennials are migrating North, Generation Z is moving South. The median price of a home purchased by Generation Z in 2019 was $160,600 and increasing, but remains lower than that of the Millennials, $256,500. Employment expectations and prospects Generation Z's top career choices—becoming business people, doctors, engineers, artists, and IT workers—are not that different from generations past. For them, the most important qualities in a job are income, fulfillment, work-life balance, and job security. In particular, Generation Z prioritizes a work-life balance more than older cohorts and are highly interested in flexible work schedules. Most prefer to work for a medium or large company rather than a startup or a government agency. A Harvard Business Review article from 2015 stated that about 70% of Generation Z was self-employed, e.g. selling things online, and only 12% had "traditional" teen jobs, such as waiting tables. Heavy use of the Internet has made self-employment much easier than it was in the past. A Morgan Stanley report published in 2019, called the Blue Paper, projected that the Millennials and Generation Z have been responsible in a surge in labor participation in the U.S., and that while the U.S. labor force expands, that of other G10 countries will contract. This development alleviates concerns over America's aging population which jeopardizes the solvency of various welfare programs. As of 2019, Millennials and Generation Z accounted for 38% of the American workforce; that number will rise to 58% in the incoming decade. Whenever they find themselves short on skills, Generation Z will pick up what they need using the Internet. While there is agreement across generations that it is very important for employees to learn new skills, Millennials and Generation Z are overwhelmingly more likely than Baby Boomers to think that it is the job of employees to train themselves. Baby Boomers tend to think it is the employer's responsibility. Moreover, Millennials and Generation Z (74%) tend to have more colleagues working remotely for a significant portion of their time compared to the Baby Boomers (58%). Due to declining interest in higher education and a tight labor market, in the early 2020s, young Americans could expect to be hired right after graduating high school. In May 2023, the unemployment rate of Americans aged 16 to 24 was 7.5%, the lowest in 70 years. Among teenagers 16 to 19, employment numbers have gone up, though not to the level seen among the Baby Boomers and Generation X when they were teenagers due to a variety of factors, including jobs being automated, outsourced, or given to immigrants, and state governments regulating the job market more tightly. Yet despite a strong labor market and falling inflation, economist Karen Dynan observed that young Americans tend to be pessimistic about their economic prospects, worrying about a possible recession, expensive housing, and the possibility of being laid off. Anxious about student debt, Generation Z is increasingly interested in alternatives to higher education, such as trade schools, which they and their parents view as quicker and more affordable paths towards prosperity. America's shortage of skilled tradespeople, such as plumbers—whose incomes are in six digits—continues in early 2020s despite the COVID-19 pandemic and despite rising salaries and potential employers offering to pay their recruits during training. Many twenty-first-century jobs are quite sophisticated, involving advanced robotics, additive manufacturing, cloud computing, among other modern technologies, and technologically savvy employees are precisely what employers need. Four-year university degrees are unnecessary; technical or vocational training, or perhaps apprenticeship would do. Generation Z stands to benefit from this "skills gap" in the American economy. Transportation choices According to the Pew Research Center, young people are more likely to ride public transit. In 2016, 21% of adults aged 18 to 21 took public transit on a daily, almost daily, or weekly basis. By contrast, this number of all U.S. adults was 11%. Nationwide, about three quarters of American commuters drive their own cars. Also according to Pew, 51% of U.S. adults aged 18 to 29 used a ride-hailing service such as Lyft or Uber in 2018 compared to 28% in 2015. That number for all U.S. adults were 15% in 2015 and 36% in 2018. In general, ride-hailing service users tend to be urban residents, young (18–29), university graduates, and high-income earners ($75,000 a year or more). Although Generation Z by and large no longer views car ownership as a status symbol, a life milestone, or a ticket to freedom, the automotive industry hopes that, like the Millennials, members of Generation Z will later purchase cars in great numbers. Indeed, the number of Generation Z consumers taking out auto loans is rising drastically, from 3,072,000 in the second quarter of 2018 to 4,376,000 in the second quarter of 2019, an increase of 42%. However, 27% of Generation Z consider environmental friendliness to be an important factor, which is higher than their predecessors when they were at the same age. Much more important, though, is the price (77%). Generation Z is not particularly concerned with style or brand; they are more interested in safety. They tend to be more receptive towards self-driving cars. They are also interested in the interior electronic technology of the cars they might purchase. More specifically, they would like to be able to hook up their smartphones to the Bluetooth-capable audio systems and backup cameras. Education Generation Z is revolutionizing the educational system in many aspects. Thanks in part to a rise in the popularity of entrepreneurship and advancements in technology, high schools and colleges across the globe are including entrepreneurship in their curriculum. Generation Z is more likely to search for the information they need on the Internet rather than going through a book and are accustomed to learning by watching videos. A survey by the Pew Research Center found that one in three girls aged 13 to 17 felt excited every day or almost every day about something they learned at school. For boys of the same age group, this number is just above one in five. A 2022 poll by YPulse found that the top five sets of skills Millennials and Generation Z wished they had learned at school were managing mental health, self-defense, survival skills and basic first aid, cooking, and personal finance. The COVID-19 pandemic has badly disrupted the American education system. In the early 2020s, different school districts report significant shortages of teachers, many of whom have left their positions or the profession itself due to low pay, stressful work environments, the lack of respect for them, and the hostility towards them from some politicians and parents. This problem is not new but it mostly affects students in economically deprived areas. Well-endowed suburban schools do not have this problem. Public schools across the United States also presently face falling enrollment due to population decline and defections to private schools and home schooling. As a result, their funding has also fallen. Many students are finding themselves in the midst of an escalating cultural conflict in which political activists are demanding that books dealing with sensitive topics relating to race and sexuality and those that include coarse language and explicit violence be removed from school libraries. The teaching of race and sexuality also proven to be politically controversial in recent years, so much so that following the COVID-19 pandemic, support for parents' rights in deciding their children's educational contents and school choice, or the redirecting of tax money via vouchers to fund private schools chosen by the parents, has grown considerably. Many parents have also used school vouchers to send children to religious or parochial schools, taking advantage of a 2022 Supreme Court ruling. To pacify angry parents and to comply with new state laws, many schoolteachers have opted to remove certain items from their lessons altogether. K-12 Since the 2000s, cursive writing has been de-emphasized in public education. As a result, Generation Z never learned to read and write cursive. In fact, the Common Core standards eliminated the requirement that public elementary schools teach cursive writing in 2010. Even so, some states subsequently introduced legislation to teach it in their jurisdiction. There is some evidence indicating the benefits of handwriting—both print and cursive—for the development of cognitive and motor skills; memory and reading comprehension; and for helping students with learning disabilities, such as dyslexia. Unfortunately, lawmakers often cite them out of context, conflating handwriting in general with cursive handwriting. In any case, some 80% of historical records and documents of the United States, such as the correspondence of Abraham Lincoln, was written by hand in cursive, and students today tend to be unable to read them. Historically, cursive writing was regarded as a mandatory, almost military, exercise. But today, it is thought of as an art form by those who pursue it, both adults and children. The percentage of American fourth-graders proficient in reading declined during the late 2010s, according to the National Assessment of Educational Progress. There have been numerous reports in the 2010s on how U.S. students were falling behind their international counterparts in the STEM subjects, especially those from (East) Asia. For example, American schoolchildren put up a mediocre performance on the OECD-sponsored Program for International Student Assessment (PISA), administered every three years to fifteen-year-old students around the world on reading comprehension, mathematics, and science, falling in the middle of the pack of some 71 countries and territories that participated in 2015. In fact, reading scores dropped for all ethnic groups except Asians in the late 2010s, according to the National Assessment of Educational Progress. This is a source of concern for some because academically gifted students in STEM can have an inordinately positive impact on the national economy. In addition, while American students are less focused on STEM, students from China and India are not only outperforming them but are also coming to the United States in large numbers for higher education. Nevertheless, American students ranked above the OECD average in science and computer literacy, as of 2021. But as a result of curricular reforms and time constraints, large numbers of members of Generation Z are unable to touch-type, a key computer skill. Despite the general consensus that mathematics education in the United States is mediocre, as indicated by international test scores in the late 2010s, there is strong partisan disagreement over how to address this issue because people are divided between the more traditional teacher-led approach and the student-led or inquiry-based method. An emphasis on rote memorization and speed gives as many as one in three students age five and up mathematical anxiety. Meanwhile, an increasing number of parents opted to send their children to enrichment and accelerated learning after-school or summer programs in the subject. However, many school officials turned their backs on these programs, believing that their primary beneficiaries are affluent white and Asian families, prompting parents to pick private institutions or math circles. Some public schools serving low-income neighborhoods even denied the existence of mathematically gifted students. By the mid-2010s, however, some public schools have begun offering enrichment programs to their students. Despite the contemporary focus on real-life skills and attempts at reform the curriculum, courses on home economics, also known as family and consumer sciences (FCS), have been on the decline in the early twenty-first century for a variety of reasons, ranging from a shortage of qualified teachers to funding cuts. Since the early 2010s, a number of U.S. states have taken steps to strengthen teacher education. During the 2000s and 2010s, whereas the Asian polities (especially China, Hong Kong, South Korea, and Singapore) actively sought out gifted students and steered them towards competitive programs, Europe and the United States emphasized inclusion and focused on helping struggling students. Developmental cognitive psychologist David Geary observed that Western educators remained "resistant" to the possibility that even the most talented of schoolchildren needed encouragement and support. In addition, even though it is commonly believed that past a certain IQ benchmark (typically 120), practice becomes much more important than cognitive abilities in mastering new knowledge, recently published research papers based on longitudinal studies, such as the Study of Mathematically Precocious Youth (SMPY) and the Duke University Talent Identification Program, suggest otherwise. According to the 2018 National Assessment of Educational Progress, 73% of American eighth and twelfth graders had deficient writing skills. Although passing a high school physics course is linked to graduating from college with a STEM degree, something that is increasingly popular among Generation Z, just under two-fifths of high school graduates did in 2013, according to the American Institute of Physics. With few high school students taking physics, even fewer will study the subject in college and be able to teach it, a vicious cycle. The shortage of high school physics teachers is even more acute than that of mathematics or chemistry teachers. Many American public schools suffer from inadequate or dated facilities. Some schools even leak when it rains. It is 2017 report on American infrastructure, the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) gave public schools a score of D+. In 2013, less than a third of American public schools have access to broadband Internet service, according to the non-profit EducationSuperHighway. By 2019, however, that number reached 99%. This has increased the frequency of digital learning. Sex education has been reformed. While traditional lessons involving bananas and condoms remain common, newer approaches that emphasize financial responsibility and character development have been implemented. These reforms play a role in the significant drop in teenage birthrates. By the mid-2010s, over four-fifths of American high school students graduate on time and over 70% enroll in college right after graduation. However, nationally, only one-quarter of American high school seniors are able to do grade-level math and only 37% are proficient in reading, yet about half graduate from high school as A students, prompting concerns of grade inflation. In addition, while 93% of middle school students said they want to attend college, only 26% go on to do so and graduate within six years. Critics argue that American high schools are not giving students they need for their future lives and careers. On top of the high costs of collegiate education, the vacancy of potentially millions of skilled jobs that do not require a university degree is making lawmakers reconsider their stance on tertiary education.High school students bound for university in the United States often take standardized exams such as the ACT or SAT. In 2016, a new grading scheme for the SAT was introduced. While the new scores are inflated between 60 and 80 points, it is not true that the test has become easier or that the students have become better prepared, however. In general, scores are positively correlated with family income and privately educated students tend to do better. The College Board announced a partnership with the non-profit organization Khan Academy to offer free test-preparation materials to help level the playing field for students from low-income families. As test centers reopen after the COVID-19 pandemic, ambitious students continue to take the SAT or the ACT to make themselves stand out from the competition regardless of the admissions policies of their preferred schools. However, students' scores have been falling on a variety of standardized tests and in all subjects, especially in mathematics, a trend found among students of all backgrounds. After the COVID-19 pandemic, the entire cohort of college students in the 2022–23 academic year have lower average grades and mathematical standards. Post-secondary Technical, trades, and vocational schools In the late 1980s and early 1990s, high schools across the United States started to take it as their mission to prepare students for higher education. However, this program faltered in the 2010s as institutions of higher education came under heightened skepticism due to rising costs and disappointing results. According to the Department of Education, people with technical or vocational training are slightly more likely to be employed than those with a bachelor's degree and significantly more likely to be employed in their fields of specialty. During the late 2010s, the United States was facing a shortage of skilled tradespeople, as high-school students were still aiming for colleges and universities. However, things were changing, as more and more members of Generation Z considered alternatives to higher education. Career counselors are in extremely high demand; they are not only called for not just appointments invited to career fairs and orientation sessions for new students. Enrollments in higher education have been on the decline as more and more high-school graduates opted for trade schools and vocational training programs. Colleges and universities Due to low standards and requirements in high school, many Americans are entering institutions of higher learning, including elite schools with deficient reading comprehension skills and are unable and unwilling to complete long reading assignments. As Generation Z enters high school, and they start preparing for college, a primary concern is paying for a college education without acquiring debt. Students report working hard in high school in hopes of earning scholarships and the hope that parents will pay the college costs not covered by scholarships. As of 2019, the total college debt has exceeded $1.5 trillion, and two out of three college graduates are saddled with debt. The average borrower owes $37,000, up $10,000 from ten years before. A 2019 survey found that over 30% of Generation Z and 18% of Millennials said they have considered taking a gap year between high school and college. In order to address the challenges of expensive tuition and student debt, many colleges have diversified their revenue, especially by changing enrollment, recruitment, and retention, and introduced further tuition discounts. Between the academic years 2007-8 and 2018–9, tuition discounts increased significantly. Almost nine in every ten first-time full-time freshmen received some kind of financial aid in the academic year 2017–8. The Pew Research Center found that 59% of Generation Z aged 20 to 22 were enrolled in college in 2019, compared to 53% of Millennials in 2002. The number of young people attending university was 44% in 1986. Nevertheless, undergraduate enrollment has been in decline for some time. Due to population aging, the number of college-aged people in the United States will fall after 2025, making it easier for people born in the late 2000s and after to get admitted. Institutions address these challenges by dropping programs with low student interest, including many in the liberal arts and the humanities, like gender studies and critical race theory, and creating majors for emerging fields, such as artificial intelligence, or professional programs, such as law enforcement, and investing in online learning programs. Demand for the top 100 American institutions, however, will likely remain largely unchanged.Members of Generation Z are anxious to pick majors that teach them marketable skills, with an overwhelming majority consider job preparation to be the point of college. Indeed, students and schools increasingly view one another in purely transactional terms. A 2018 Gallup poll on over 32,000 university students randomly selected from 43 schools from across the United States found that just over half (53%) of them thought their chosen major would lead to gainful employment. STEM students expressed the highest confidence (62%) while those in the liberal arts were the least confident (40%). Just over one in three thought they would learn the skills and knowledge needed to become successful in the workplace. Because jobs (that matched what one studied) were so difficult to find in the few years following the Great Recession, the value of getting a liberal arts degree and studying the humanities at university came into question, their ability to develop a well-rounded and broad-minded individual notwithstanding. While the number of students majoring in the humanities has fallen significantly, those in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics, or STEM, have risen sharply. Furthermore, those who majored in the humanities and the liberal arts in the 2010s were most likely to regret having done so, whereas those in STEM, especially computer science and engineering, were the least likely. Indeed, STEM workers tend to earn more than their non-STEM counterparts; the difference widens after the bachelor's degree. 54% of people in the life sciences have an advanced degree, making this group the most educated overall among STEM workers. While about half of STEM graduates work in non-STEM jobs, people with collegiate STEM training still tend to earn more, regardless of whether or not their job is STEM-related or not. Such were the trends before 2020, and the arrival of SARS-CoV-2 in the United States in 2020 merely accelerated the process. The novel pneumonia virus not only wrought havoc on the nation but also caused a severe economic downturn. Consequently, families chose to either delay or avoid sending their children to institutions of higher education altogether. Worse still, colleges and universities have become dependent on foreign students for revenue because they pay full tuition fees and the international restrictions imposed to alleviate the spread of the pandemic mean that this stream of revenue will shrink substantially. On top of that, many schools face lawsuits by students who believed they had received substandard online services in the wake of the pandemic. Numerous institutions, including elite ones, have suspended graduate programs in the humanities and liberal arts due to low student interest and dim employment prospects. Historically, university students were more likely to be male than female. This trend continued into the very early twenty-first century, but by the late 2010s, the situation has reversed. Women are now more likely to enroll in university than men. By the end of the 2020–21 academic year, 59.5% of university students were women. Compared to five years ago, the number of students enrolled in American institutions of higher education has declined by about 1.5 million, with men being responsible for 71% of the decline. This growing sex gap has been growing for four decades in the United States in parallel with other countries of middle to high income. In addition, among those who attend college or university, women are more likely then men to graduate with a degree within six years. There is little support for initiatives to encourage and assist men to attend college due to identity politics, which paints men, especially white men, as a privileged group. The COVID-19 pandemic accelerated the trend of declining interest in higher education among young men. On the other hand, the number of women's colleges continues to fall, following a decades-long trend. Students also report interest in Reserve Officers' Training Corps (ROTC) programs as a means of covering college costs. Indeed, college subsidies are one of the most attractive things about signing up for military service. Another enticement is signing bonuses, whose amounts vary according to specialty. However, in 2010, quantitative historian Peter Turchin noted that the United States was overproducing university graduates—he termed this elite overproduction—in the 2000s and predicted, using historical trends, that this would be one of the causes of political instability in the 2020s, alongside income inequality, stagnating or declining real wages, growing public debt. According to Turchin, intensifying competition among graduates, whose numbers were larger than what the economy could absorb, leads to political polarization, social fragmentation, and even violence as many become disgruntled with their dim prospects despite having attained a high level of education. He warned that the turbulent 1960s and 1970s could return, as having a massive young population with university degrees was one of the key reasons for the instability of the past. About a quarter of American university students failed to graduate within six years in the late 2010s and those who did faced diminishing wage premiums. Ever since it was introduced in the 1960s, affirmative action has been a controversial topic in the United States. In late June 2023, the Supreme Court of the United States ruled against race-based admissions. Subsequently, schools faced pressure to end legacy admissions as well. Health issues General A 2020 study of data from 1999 to 2015 suggests that children living with married parents tended to have lower rates of early-life mortality than those living with unmarried or single parents and non-parents. Puberty Among girls from both Europe and the United States, the average age of the onset of puberty was around 13 in the early twenty-first century, down from about 16 a hundred years earlier. Early puberty is associated with a variety of mental health issues (such as anxiety and depression), early sexual activity, and substance abuse, among other problems. Furthermore, factors known for prompting mental health problems—early childhood stress, absent fathers, domestic conflict, and low socioeconomic status—are themselves linked to early pubertal onset. According to Dr. Dr. Shruthi Mahalingaiah, body-mass index is a strong predictor of precocious puberty. Possible causes of early puberty could be positive, namely improved nutrition, or negative, such as obesity, stress, trauma, exposure to hormone-disrupting chemicals, air pollutants, heavy metals. In the United States, African girls on average enter puberty first, followed by those of Hispanic, European, and Asian extraction, in that order. But African-American girls are less likely to face the negative effects of puberty than their counterparts of European descent. A 2019 meta-analysis and review of the research literature from all inhabited continents found that between 1977 and 2013, the age of pubertal onset among girls has fallen by an average of almost three months per decade, but with significant regional variations, ranging from 10.1 to 13.2 years in Africa to 8.8 to 10.3 years in the United States. This investigation relies on measurements of thelarche (initiation of breast tissue development) using the Tanner scale rather than self-reported menarche (first menstruation) and MRI brain scans for signs of the hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal axis being reactivated. Furthermore, there is evidence that sexual maturity and psychosocial maturity no longer coincide; twenty-first-century youths appear to be reaching the former before the latter. Neither adolescents nor societies are prepared for this mismatch. Physical Data from the NCES showed that in the academic year 2018–19, 15% of students receiving special education under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act was suffering from "other health impairments"—such as asthma, diabetes, epilepsy, heart problems, hemophilia, lead poisoning, leukemia, nephritis, rheumatic fever, sickle cell anemia, and tuberculosis. Vision A 2015 study found that the frequency of nearsightedness has doubled in the United Kingdom within the last 50 years. Ophthalmologist Steve Schallhorn, chairman of the Optical Express International Medical Advisory Board, noted that research have pointed to a link between the regular use of handheld electronic devices and eyestrain. The American Optometric Association sounded the alarm on a similar vein. According to a spokeswoman, digital eyestrain, or computer vision syndrome, is "rampant, especially as we move toward smaller devices and the prominence of devices increase in our everyday lives." Symptoms include dry and irritated eyes, fatigue, eye strain, blurry vision, difficulty focusing, headaches. However, the syndrome does not cause vision loss or any other permanent damage. In order to alleviate or prevent eyestrain, the Vision Council recommends that people limit screen time, take frequent breaks, adjust screen brightness, change the background from bright colors to gray, increase text sizes, and blinking more often. Parents should not only limit their children's screen time but should also lead by example. Allergies While food allergies have been observed by doctors since ancient times and virtually all foods can be allergens, research by the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota found they are becoming increasingly common since the early 2000s. Today, one in twelve American children has a food allergy, with peanut allergy being the most prevalent type. Nut allergies, in general, have quadrupled and shellfish allergies have increased 40% between 2004 and 2019. In all, about 36% of American children have some kind of allergy. By comparison, this number among the Amish in Indiana is 7%. Allergies have also risen ominously in other Western countries. In general, the better developed the country, the higher the rates of allergies. Reasons for this remain poorly understood. One possible explanation, supported by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, is that parents keep their children "too clean for their own good." They recommend exposing newborn babies to a variety of potentially allergenic foods, such as peanut butter, before they reach the age of six months. According to this "hygiene hypothesis," such exposures give the infant's immune system some exercise, making it less likely to overreact. Evidence for this includes the fact that children living on a farm are consistently less likely to be allergic than their counterparts who are raised in the city, and that children born in a developed country to parents who immigrated from developing nations are more likely to be allergic than their parents are. Mental A survey conducted the Fall of 2018 by the American Psychological Association revealed that Generation Z had the weakest mental health of any living generation; some 91% of this demographic cohort reported physical or emotion symptoms associated with stress. Some 54% of workers under the age of 23 said they felt stressed within the last month, compared to 40% for Millennials. The national average was 34%. Experts have not reached a consensus on what might be the cause of this spike in mental health issues. Some suggest it is because of the current state of the world while others argue it is due to increased willingness to discuss such topics. Perhaps both are at play. There is a growing body of evidence that there is a direct link between having access to social media at a young age and weak mental health. Across the United States, university students are besieging the offices of health service workers seeking mental health support. Indeed, Generation Z is the most likely to report having mental health issues than any other living generations. According to The Economist, while teenagers from wealthier households are less likely to have behavioral problems, mental health is an issue that affects every teen regardless of family background. Moreover, the number of university students reporting mental health issues has been rising since the 1950s, if not earlier. Today, one in five American adults suffer from a mental condition, according to the National Institute of Mental Health. There has been some evidence that COVID-19 lockdowns have accelerated the aging of adolescent brains (as measured by cortical thinning), especially among girls. Anxiety, depression, and suicidal ideation A research paper published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) in June 2019 found a marked increase in suicide rates among adolescents. In 2017, the suicide rate for people aged 15 to 19 was 11.8 per 100,000, the highest point since 2000, when it was 8 per 100,000. In 2017, 6,241 Americans aged 15 to 19 committed suicide, of whom 5,016 were male and 1,225 were female. A flaw in this study is that cause-of-death reports may occasionally be inaccurate. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported a 30% increase in suicide across all age groups in the United States between 2000 and 2016. There could be a variety of reasons for this. The authors of the JAMA paper suggest an increased willingness by families and coroners to label a death as a result of suicide, depression or opioid usage. Nadine Kaslow, a psychiatrist and behavioral scientist at the Emory University School of Medicine, who was not involved in the paper, pointed to the weakening of familial and other social bonds and the heavy use of modern communications technology, which exposes people to the risk of cyber-bullying. She noted that other studies have shown higher suicide rates, too, especially among adolescents and young adults. The number of American teenagers who suffered from the classic symptoms of depression rose 33% between 2010 and 2015. During the same period, the number of those aged 13 to 21 who committed suicide jumped 31% between 2010 and 2015. Psychologist Jean Twenge and her colleagues found that this growth of mental health issues was not divided along the lines of socioeconomic class, race/ethnicity, or geographical location. Rather, it was associated with spending more time in front of a screen. In general, suicide risk factors—depression, contemplating, planning, and attempting suicide—increase significantly if the subject spends more than two to three hours online. Especially, those who spent five or more hours had their suicide risk factors increase 71%. It is not clear, however, whether depression causes a teenager to spend more time online or the other way around. At the same time, teens who spent more time online were more likely to not have enough sleep, a major predictor of depression. Many teenagers told researchers they used a smartphone or a tablet right before bed, kept the device close, and used it as an alarm clock. But the blue light emitted by these devices, texting, and social networking are known for perturbing sleep. Besides mental problems like depression and anxiety, sleep deprivation is also linked to reduced performance in school and obesity. Parents can address the problem of sleep deprivation simply by imposing limits on screen time and buying simple alarm clocks. Sleep deprivation Research from the American Academy of Pediatrics analyzing responses from the parents of caregivers of 49,050 children aged six to seventeen in the combined 2016-2017 National Survey of Children's Health revealed that only 47.6% of American children slept for nine hours on most days, meaning a significant number was sleep deprived. Compared with children who did not get enough sleep most nights, those who did were 44% more likely to be curious about new things, 33% more likely to finish their homework, 28% more likely to care about their academic performance, and 14% more likely to finish the tasks they started. The researchers identified the risk factors associated with sleep deprivation among children to be the low educational attainment of parents or caregivers, being from families living below the federal poverty line, higher digital media usage, more negative childhood experiences, and mental illnesses. American teenagers share a common habit of having their smartphones on at night, at the expense of the quality of their own sleep. Cognitive abilities According to the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), between the academic years 2011–12 and 2018–19, the number of students aged three to twenty-one receiving special education under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) increased from 6.4 million to 7.1 million. Of these, one in three suffered from a specific learning disability, such as having more difficulty than usual with reading or understanding mathematics. Among students enrolled in public schools in that age group, the share receiving special education rose from 13% to 14% during the same time period. Amerindians (18%) and blacks (16%) were the most likely to receive special education while Pacific Islanders (11%) and Asians (7%) were the least likely. After specific learning disabilities, the most common types of learning disorders included speech and language impairment (19%), autism (11%), and developmental delay (7%). In a 2018 paper, cognitive scientists James R. Flynn and Michael Shayer presented evidence that from the 1990s until the 2010s, the observed gains in IQ during the twentieth century—commonly known as the Flynn effect—had either stagnated (as in the case of Australia, France, and the Netherlands), became mixed (in the German-speaking nations), or reversed (in the Nordic countries and the United Kingdom). This, however, was not the case in South Korea or the United States, as the U.S. continued its historic march towards higher IQ, a rate of 0.38 per decade, at least up until 2014 while South Korea saw its IQ scores growing at twice the average U.S. rate. While U.S. IQ scores continued to increase, creativity scores, as measured by the Torrance Test of Creative Thinking, were in decline between the 1990s and the late 2000s. Educational psychologist Kyung Hee Kim reached this conclusion after analyzing data samples of kindergartens to high-school students and adults in 1974, 1984, 1990, and 2008, a grand total of 272,599 individuals. Previously, U.S. educational success was attributed to the encouragement of creative thinking, something education reformers in China, Taiwan, South Korea, and Japan sought to replicate. But U.S. educators decided to go in the opposite direction, emphasizing standardization and test scores at the expense of creativity. On the parenting side, giving children little play time and letting them spend large amounts of time in front of a screen likely contributed to the trend. Creativity has real-life consequences, not just in the arts but also in academia and in life outcomes. Political views and participation General trends In 2018, Gallup conducted a survey of almost 14,000 Americans from all 50 states and the District of Columbia aged 18 and over on their political sympathies. They found that overall, younger adults tended to lean liberal while older adults tilted conservative. (See chart.) Gallup found little variations by income groups compared to the national average. Youth support for the political left continues to hold during the early 2020s. According to Robert Jones of the Public Religion Research Institute, ethnically and religiously, the Generation Z is much better represented by the Democratic Party while senior Americans are closer to the Republican Party. However, these broad trends conceal a significant gender divide, with young women under 30 years of age being broadly left-wing and young men being right-leaning on a variety of issues from immigration to sexual harassment. According to Gallup, the gap as of early 2024 was 30 percentage points. Some young men believe that women's progress has come at their expense, that it should be acceptable to discuss men's mental health issues, that men's economic concerns have not been addressed, or that most politicians have ignored them. For these reasons, many young men find Donald Trump an appealing alternative. They do not necessarily hold socially conservative or patriarchal views, however. In contrast, many young women became politically active because of the failed 2016 presidential campaign of Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, the me-too movement, the Dobbs v. Jackson decision on abortion by the Supreme Court, and the 2024 presidential campaign of Vice President Kamala Harris (after incumbent President Joe Biden announced he would not seek re-election). Harris has been able to persuade many young Americans to register to vote, and her support among women has risen faster than among men. As of 2024, the majority of Generation Z does not align with either major political parties of the United States. They generally expect more substantive information on policies before casting their vote. Some of the key issues for this cohort are climate change, gender equality, reproductive rights, and gun violence. But the single most important issue for Generation Z is the economy, including inflation, the cost of housing, income inequality, and taxes. Among college students, the top issues are healthcare reforms, the cost of education, and civil rights. Most do not care about Middle Eastern conflicts and the associated protests on college campuses, but are more interested in lucrative careers after graduation. Social media networks have played a crucial role in how members Generation Z form and share their political views. Because they spend so much time on social media networks, people below the age of 30 have little concern over online privacy and national security and many oppose restrictions or bans on popular platforms, such as TikTok. As a result, politicians from both major political parties have been working on appealing to young voters on social networks. This is especially true of the Democratic Party, which is more dependent upon the youth vote. Elections As more and more members of Generation Z reached adulthood during the 2020s, voter turnouts in this cohort has been growing, even though young people are still less likely to vote than older generations. In particular, political participation among young women has jumped, breaking a historical trend in which young men were more likely to vote. Living in an age of political polarization has motivated this cohort to participate in the political process. A survey conducted before the 2020 U.S. presidential election by Barnes and Nobles Education on 1,500 college students nationwide found that just one third of respondents believe who they vote for is "private information" and three quarters of them find it difficult to find unbiased news sources. 2018 was the first year when the majority of voters aged 18 to 24 were members of Generation Z, and they cast 4% of the votes. A Reuters-Ipsos survey of 16,000 registered voters aged 18 to 34 conducted in the first three months of 2018 showed that support for Democratic Party among such voters fell by nine percent between 2016 and 2018 and that an increasing number favored the Republican Party's approach to the economy. This is despite the fact that almost two-thirds of young voters disapproved of the performance of incumbent Republican President Donald J. Trump. Although American voters below the age of 30 helped Joe Biden win the 2020 U.S. presidential election, their support for him fell quickly afterwards. By late 2021, only 29% of adults in this age group approved of his performance as president whereas 50% disapproved, a gap of 21 points, the largest of all age groups. In the 2022 midterm election, voters below the age of 30 were the only major age group supporting the Democratic Party, but their numbers were large enough to prevent Republicans from controlling the majority of seats in the Senate. Trust in the institutions In 2019, the Pew Research Center interviewed over 2,000 Americans aged 18 and over on their views of various components of the federal government. They found that 54% of the people between the ages of 18 and 29 wanted larger government compared to 43% who preferred smaller government and fewer services. Older people were more likely to pick the second option. 2018 polls conducted by the Pew Research Center found that 70% of Americans aged 13 to 17 wanted the government to play a more active role in solving their problems. A 2022 poll by Pew showed that overall, medical experts, the military, and scientists were among the most trusted groups in the United States. But while a majority of Americans believed it was important for their country to remain a global leader in science, people aged 18 to 29 were somewhat less inclined to think so compared to older cohorts and were slightly more optimistic about the standing of U.S. science on the international stage. Gun ownership The March for Our Lives, a protest taking place in the aftermath of the Stoneman Douglas High School shooting in 2018 was described by various media outlets as being led by students and young people. Some even describe it as the political "awakening" of Generation Z or that these protesters were "the voice of a generation on gun control." While this massive protest was indeed organized by the survivors of the Parkland shooting, albeit with the assistance of well-resourced and older benefactors, the reality was a little more complicated. According to a field survey by The Washington Post interviewing every fifth person at the protest, only ten percent of the participants were 18 years of age or younger. Meanwhile, the adult participants of the protest had an average age of just under 49. Polls conducted by Gallup and the Pew Research Center found that support for stricter gun laws among people aged 18 to 29 and 18 to 36, respectively, is statistically no different from that of the general population. According to Gallup, 57% of Americans are in favor of stronger gun control legislation. In a 2017 poll, Pew found that among the age group 18 to 29, 27% personally owned a gun and 16% lived with a gun owner, for a total of 43% living in a household with at least one gun. Nationwide, a similar percentage of American adults lived in a household with a gun. (See chart.) According to the CDC, the leading causes of death in the United States in 2016 were cancer, heart disease, accidents, chronic lower respiratory diseases, stroke, Alzheimer's disease, diabetes, influenza and pneumonia, kidney diseases, and suicide. Economics and the environment Harvard University's Institute of Politics Youth Poll from 2019 found that support for single-payer universal healthcare and tuition-free free college dropped, down 8% to 47% and down 5% to 51%, respectively, if cost estimates were provided. According to the Hispanic Heritage Foundation, about eight out of ten members of Generation Z identify as "fiscal conservatives." In 2018, the International Federation of Accountants released a report on a survey of 3,388 individuals aged 18 to 23 hailing from G20 countries, with a sample size of 150 to 300 per country. They found that healthcare is a top priority for Generation Z in Canada, France, Germany, and the United States. Surveys conducted in the late 2010s and early 2020s indicated that majorities of Generation Z believed that climate change was real and was caused by human activities. Differences in opinion might be due to education as younger Americans are more likely to have been taught about climate change in schools than their elders. Moreover, Generation Z broadly supports the United States transitioning away from fossil fuels and towards (next-generation) nuclear reactors and renewable energy. Majorities of this cohort also favored carbon capture and a ban on Arctic drilling. A 2018 Gallup poll found that people aged 18 to 29 have a more favorable view of socialism than capitalism, 51% to 45%. Nationally, 56% of Americans prefer capitalism compared to 37% who favor socialism. Older Americans consistently prefer capitalism to socialism. Whether the current attitudes of Millennials and Generation Z on capitalism and socialism will persist or dissipate as they grow older remains to be seen. Abortion, sexuality, and family values In 2016, the Varkey Foundation and Populus conducted an international study examining the attitudes of 20,000 people aged 15 to 21 in twenty countries. They found that 66% of people aged 15 to 21 favored legal abortion. But there was significant variation among the countries surveyed. The United States stood at 63%, below France (84%), the United Kingdom (80%) but ahead of Brazil (45%), and Nigeria (24%). Gallup polls conducted in 2019 revealed that 62% of people aged 18 to 29—older members of Generation Z and younger Millennials—support giving women access to abortion while 33% opposed. In general, the older someone was, the less likely that they supported abortion. 56% of people aged 65 or over did not approve of abortion compared to 37% who did. (See chart to the right.) Gallup found in 2018 that nationwide, Americans are split on the issue of abortion, with equal numbers of people considering themselves "pro-life" or "pro-choice", 48%. In any case, many participants in the annual March for Life in Washington, D.C. in the early 2020s are members of Generation Z. The same international survey also asked about people's viewpoints on moral questions regarding sex and gender. Overall 89% supported sexual equality, with the U.S. (90%) standing between Canada and China (both 94%) and Nigeria (68%). 74% favored recognizing transgender rights, but with large national differences, from an overwhelming majority of 83% in Canada to a bare majority of 57% in Nigeria. The U.S. was again somewhere in the middle at 75%. 63% approved of same-sex marriage. There were again huge variations among countries. 81% of young Germans and 80% of young Canadians agreed that same-sex couples should be allowed to marry, compared to only 33% of young Turks and 16% of young Nigerians who did. As before, 71% of Americans approved, putting the country somewhere in the middle. A 2018 poll conducted by Harris on behalf of the LGBT advocacy group GLAAD found that despite being frequently described as the most tolerant segment of society, people aged 18 to 34—most Millennials and the oldest members of Generation Z—have become less accepting of LGBT individuals compared to previous years. In 2016, 63% of Americans in that age group said they felt comfortable interacting with members of the LGBT community; that number dropped to 53% in 2017 and then to 45% in 2018. On top of that, more people reported discomfort learning that a family member was LGBT (from 29% in 2017 to 36% in 2018), having a child learning LGBT history (30% to 39%), or having an LGBT doctor (27% to 34%). (See right.) Harris found that young women were driving this development; their overall comfort levels dived from 64% in 2017 to 52% in 2018. In general, the fall of comfort levels was the steepest among people aged 18 to 34 between 2016 and 2018. (Seniors aged 72 or above became more tolerant of LGBT doctors or having their (grand) children taking LGBT history lessons during the same period, albeit with a bump in discomfort levels in 2017.) Results from this Harris poll were released on the 50th anniversary of the riots that broke out in Stonewall Inn, New York City, in June 1969, thought to be the start of the LGBT rights movement. At that time, homosexuality was considered a mental illness or a crime in many U.S. states. 2018 surveys of teenagers 13 to 17 and adults aged 18 or over conducted by the Pew Research Center found that Generation Z has broadly similar views to the Millennials on various political and social issues. 67% were indifferent towards pre-nuptial cohabitation. 49% considered single motherhood to be neither a positive nor a negative for society. 62% saw increased ethnic or racial diversity as good for society. As did 48% for same-sex marriage, and 53% for interracial marriage. In most cases, Generation Z and the Millennials tended to hold different views from the Silent Generation, while the Baby Boomers and Generation X were in between. In the case of financial responsibility in a two-parent household, though, majorities from across the generations answered that it should be shared, with 58% for the Silent Generation, 73% for the Baby Boomers, 78% for Generation X, and 79% for both the Millennials and Generation Z. Across all the generations surveyed, at least 84% thought that both parents ought to be responsible for rearing children. About 13% of Generation Z thought that mothers should be the primary caretaker of children, with similar percentages for the other demographic cohorts. Very few thought that fathers should be the ones mainly responsible for taking care of children. Pew, however, noted that the views of this demographic cohort could change in the future as they age and due to new events. Even so, they could play a significant role in the shaping of the political landscape. A 2023 poll by The Wall Street Journal and NORC at the University of Chicago found that about 23% of people adults below the age of 30 thought that having children was important, 9 percentage points below those aged 65 and above. Immigration In a 2016 survey conducted by the Varkey Foundation and Populus, the question of whether or not those 15 to 21 favored legal migration received mixed responses. Overall, 31% believed their governments should make it easier for immigrants to work and live legally in their countries while 23% said it should be more difficult, a margin of 8%. In the United States, that margin of support was 16%. (See chart above.) According to Gallup, Americans aged 18 to 34 are more likely to view immigration as a "good thing" than their elders. Foreign policy Polls conducted in the late 2010s and early 2020s of adults under the age of 30 show that the top foreign-policy issues for this cohort were combating climate change, preventing the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, and defending the United States from terrorism. Maintaining American military strength and defending American allies were not as important to young voters. Moreover, young Americans are markedly less concerned about combating America's geopolitical adversaries, notably China and Russia, compared to older voters, who still have lingering sentiments from the (previous) Cold War. A 2019 poll by the International Federation of Accountants found that in the United States, 52% of Generation Z wanted their government to focus more on national problems, a 24% margin ahead of those who thought otherwise. Similarly, 2020 poll conducted by the Center for American Progress found that only 18% of Americans supported liberal internationalism, which has been part of U.S. foreign policy since the time of President Franklin D. Roosevelt, while young Americans were even less likely to support it, contributing to a return towards isolationism, a historical norm dating back to the Founding Fathers. On the other hand, younger Americans are also more positive about international free trade agreements than their elders. Religious tendencies Globally, religion is growing except in Western Europe and North America. In the United States, Christianity remains the single most popular religion, with three quarters of Americans following, as of 2017. However, the nation's non-believers continued to grow in numbers in the early 2020s, a trend driven by people between the ages of 18 and 29, 32% of whom said they did not believe in God, according to a 2022 Gallup poll. Members of Generation Z are more likely to start questioning their parents' religions before the age of 18 than previous generations and those who leave tend to not return. Moreover, a majority of Generation Z disagrees that it is necessary to raise children in a religious household. According to a poll jointly conducted by The Wall Street Journal and the National Opinion Research Center (NORC) at the University of Chicago in 2023, only 31% of people aged 18 to 29 consider religion to be important in their lives, compared to 55% of those aged 65 and over. Even so, American youths are fairly religious by global standards. According to the Pew Research Center, majorities of school-attending teenagers wear religious symbols and attire, pray before lunch, and invite their peers to join a religious club. Girls are more likely to discuss religion with their friends than boys. An overwhelming majority understood that teachers are not allowed to lead classroom prayers (82%). In contrast, 62% answered incorrectly that teachers may not read from the Bible as literature. While bullying has been acknowledged to be a serious problem in American public schools, students are seldom harassed for their religious views. In 2016, Barna found about two-thirds of teenagers thought that "a person can be wrong about something that they sincerely believe in" whereas adults were much more likely to agree with that statement, especially the Baby Boomers (85%). 46% of adolescents require factual evidence before believing in something, on par with Millennials. Generation Z and Millennials were also more likely to consider the Bible to be at odds with science than older cohorts. (See chart.) The same Barna survey revealed that the percentage of atheists and agnostics was 21% among Generation Z, higher than 15% of Millennials, 13% of Generation X, and 9% of Baby Boomers. Moreover, unlike older demographic cohorts, Gen-Z women are much more likely than men to be irreligious. Those who still hold private religious beliefs are also less likely to go to church. When asked what their biggest barriers to faith were, irreligious members of Generation Z pointed to what they perceived as internal contradictions of the religion and its believers. Many also took issue with religious leaders' positions on certain social and political topics, such as abortion and homosexuality. Young women in particular disapproved of the Church's emphasis on traditional gender roles, especially the subservience of women before men, and the culture of purity, such as the insistence that women must dress "modestly" because they were responsible for the thoughts of men. Living in the Age of Information, they found it easy to be disillusioned by religious teachings and to deconvert themselves. Women having access to higher education, having careers, and deprioritizing matrimony and reproduction were also contributing factors. Risky behaviors General trends Generation Z is generally more risk-averse in than previous generations. In 2013, 66% of teenagers (older members of Generation Z) had tried alcohol, down from 82% in 1991. Also, in 2013, 8% of teenagers never or rarely wear a seat belt when riding in a car with someone else, as opposed to 26% in 1991. Research from the Annie E. Casey Foundation conducted in 2016 found Generation Z youth had lower teen pregnancy rates, less substance abuse, and higher on-time high school graduation rates compared with Millennials. The researchers compared teens from 2008 and 2014 and found a 40% drop in teen pregnancy, a 38% drop in drug and alcohol abuse, and a 28% drop in the percentage of teens who did not graduate on time from high school. Three-quarters of American twelfth-graders believed their peers disapproved of binge drinking. Indeed, members of Generation Z tend to be more worried about mental health issues and getting good grades than unplanned pregnancies or binge drinking. Cigarette-smoking and substance abuse Although the number of American teenagers who smoked cigarettes was steadily falling during the 2010s, the prevalence of electronic cigarette use was rising. (See chart above.) As of 2019, there is no evidence linking the availability of electronic cigarettes to a decline in traditional smoking among youths. However, in an anti-vaping ad, the Food and Drugs Administration stated, "Teens who vape are more likely to start smoking cigarettes." Public opinion has turned against electronic cigarettes and various state and local governments are seeking to restrict is use, especially as kid-friendly flavors are on sale. By the mid-2020s, tobacco product use of all types among teenagers was on the decline, a trend largely driven by falling e-cigarette demand. Bloomberg reported in 2019 that members of Generation Z were twice as likely as an average American to consume cannabis. About 1% of the number of legal marijuana consumers came this demographic cohort, and that number tripled in 2019. Generation Z is the first to be born into a time when the legalization of marijuana at the federal level is being seriously considered. As of 2019, cannabis is legal in 33 U.S. states as well as in Canada and Uruguay. Even though Generation Z may not think of cannabis as anything more than a controversial issue, there is mounting concern on its effects on human health. A survey of literature reveals that marijuana usage is linked to, among other things, impaired driving, higher risks of stroke testicular cancer, memory loss, and certain mental illnesses, such as psychosis. Pregnant women, teenagers, and people prone to mental illnesses are especially vulnerable. Compared to those who do not use cannabis or those who start after they reach 16 years, people who start before that age suffer from reduced cognitive functioning (including planning and decision-making skills), and higher levels of impulsivity. About one in ten marijuana users developed a substance use disorder, meaning they continue to use it even though it causes problems in their lives, and those who use it before the age of 18 are more likely to suffer from it. Marijuana use in the United States is three times above the global average, but in line with other Western democracies. Forty-four percent of American high-school seniors have tried the drug at least once, and the typical age of first-use is 16, similar to the typical age of first-use for alcohol but lower than the first-use age for other illicit drugs. In a 2019 study, Jean Twenge and her collaborators examined surveys from the National Survey on Drug Use and Health of 200,000 adolescents aged 13 to 17 from 2005 to 2017 and 400,000 adults aged 18 and over from 2008 to 2017. They found that while there was a marked increase in the number of teenagers and young adults reporting mental illness, there was no corresponding development among those of 26 years and up. Early sexual intercourse and adolescent pregnancy Historically, the birth rate of teenagers peaked in the late 1950s and early 1960s. However, at that time, most teenage parents were married. In the early twenty-first century, nine in ten births to the age group 15-19 are to unmarried mothers. Social norms have changed; it is now not unusual for teenagers to delay or avoid sexual intercourse altogether. Younger teenagers are more likely to practice abstinence than their older counterparts. A report published by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in early 2018 found the number of high school students who have had sex fell from 47% in 2005 down to 41% in 2015, with the most dramatic drop taking place between 2013 and 2015. On top of that, among never-married teens who have had sex, overwhelming majorities reported they used contraception the first time they did it. There are a few reasons for this. First, Millennials and Generation Z are more focused on the consequences of sex than their predecessors were. Second, there has been growing concern over unwanted sexual advances, especially in the wake of the Me-too movement. Numerous individuals have lost their jobs or been expelled from school over allegations of sexual assault. Writing for The Spectator, Douglas Murray dubbed this the "sexual counter-revolution." Third, as a consequence of the precarious contemporary economy, young adults today are more likely to be living with their parents rather than on their own, with a romantic partner, or a spouse. A 2016 analysis by the CDC discovered that teenage birthrates nosedived between 1991, when they reached a crisis point, and 2014, when they dropped by 60%, a record low. The collapse of birthrates among blacks and (non-white) Hispanics, down 50%, was largely responsible for this development. However, their birthrates remained, on average, twice as high as those of their white counterparts. The birth rates of teenage Asians and Pacific Islanders were even lower, about half that of whites. In a 2014 paper, economists Melissa S. Kearney and Phillip B. Levine, both fellows of the Brookings Institution, were able to show that popular TV programs depicting the reality of teenage parenthood, such as MTV's 16 and Pregnant and its Teen Mom sequels, have played a significant role in the reduction of teenage childbearing. While the CDC did not address the question of abortion, researchers from the Guttmacher Institute were able to show that the fall in teenage birthrates is likely not due to terminated pregnancies. The number of abortions remained the same or decreased in all U.S. states except for Vermont. This contradicts the historically negative correlation between birthrates and abortions. Modern youths also have better access to contraception than did their predecessors when they were at the same age. In addition to the daily birth control pill, injectable and implantable methods are available, and they last longer. A CDC analysis found that the rates of teens using a long-acting and reversible method of contraception, such as an intrauterine device (IUD), jumped from 0.4% in 2005 to 7.1% in 2013. The teen birthrate continues to fall in the late 2010s, down to 17.4 births per 1000 in 2018. In 2022, it fell to 13.5, the lowest on record. Social trends Upbringing The Pew Research Center's analysis of data from the American Community Survey and the Decennial Census revealed that the number of children living outside of the traditional ideal of parents marrying young and staying together till death has risen precipitously between the mid-to-late 20th century and the early 21st century. In 2013, only 43% of children lived with married parents in their first marriage, down from 73% in 1960. Meanwhile, the share of children living with a single parent was 34% in 2013, up from 9% in 1960. The proportion of children not living with their parents barely changed, standing at 5% in 2013; most of them lived with their grandparents. 15% of American children lived with married parents at least one of whom remarried in 2013, with little change from previous decades. In the early twenty-first century, American parents are less keen on seeing children upholding the same religious or political beliefs or following the same traditions. They are also less likely to say they would like their children to get married and have children. Rather, they emphasize ethical behavior, tolerance, generosity, and financial independence. Parents from wealthier backgrounds are less likely to have children out of wedlock and more likely to stay married, with desirable outcomes for their children, including better social and cognitive development and educational attainment. By contrast, children born into the middle class or the lower class are less likely to have married parents than before. They also tend to have younger parents who did not intend to have them and more siblings. Upper middle-class and wealthy American couples living in the cities tend to have fewer children and to invest heavily in their children in the form of breastfeeding for at least a year, giving them premium healthcare plans, sending them to private schools, and letting them eat organic foods. Said parents also hire nannies and housekeepers to reduce the time they spend doing house chores so that they can more time on culturally and educationally enriching activities with their children. In fact, the amount of time parents spend with their children has gone up since the mid-1960s, especially among educated couples, even though mothers of the 2010s are more likely to participate in the work force than in the 1960s. These separate trends lead children onto divergent future prospects. Having the right family background facilities the development of human capital. An early start to the accumulation of cultural capital helps children stand out from the competition as they mature, making them more likely to be admitted to prestigious universities. Historian Tara Westover calls this the "great sorting of America's youth." On the other hand, Generation Z typically grows up with less independence than the Baby Boomers or Generation X. This constant supervision of children by their parents—protective or "helicopter parenting"—is partly due to concerns over public safety or legal requirements and partly due to the fact that many educators and parents view play as outdated and irrelevant. As a result, this cohort spends much of their leisure in doors rather than outside, with little to no adult supervision. In reality, the United States continues to be a safer place for children, who are much less likely to be abducted or otherwise harmed by an adult than ever before. In 2018, the American Academy of Pediatrics released a statement emphasizing the importance of unstructured time spent by children pointing to the benefits for children's social, cognitive, and language skills development. Play can also help children handle stress, including toxic stress, and reduce their chances of being obese or depressed. Dr. Michael Yogman, lead author of the statement, noted that play did not necessarily have to involve fancy toys and that parents reading to children also counted as play, because it encouraged children to use their imaginations. Some organizations have advocated for "free-range parenting" in lieu of the currently dominant style. Time-spending habits and leisure By analyzing data collected by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the Pew Research Center found that Americans who were aged 15–17 in the years 2014–17 spent on average 16 more minutes doing homework and 22 more minutes asleep each day, compared to their predecessors one decade prior. However, other surveys suggest teens getting few hours of sleep each day. At the same time, they spent an average of 23 minutes less on paid jobs, and 16 minutes less on socializing each day, compared to their counterparts ten years ago. Meanwhile, the amount of time spent on sports, clothes shopping, and reading for pleasure have not changed. In general, Generation Z is less likely to engage in "fringe" behavior. As is the case with previous generations, there were differences in how teenage boys and girls spent their free time. Boys generally spent more time on leisure activities, such as playing sports and on their electronic devices. Girls, on the other hand, spent more time on homework, housework, and activities related to appearance. Girls also spent more time on volunteering and on unpaid care work than boys. 35% of girls and 23% of boys said they felt pressured to look good. Members of Generation Z tend to be lonelier than ever before. Despite the technological proficiency they possess, a clear majority, 72%, generally prefers person-to-person contact as opposed to online interaction. In the early 2020s, chess became a popular pastime, even an obsession, for many schoolchildren in the United States, thanks to the influence of the Netflix miniseries The Queens Gambit (2020) and many online personalities, such as International Master Levy Rozman (Gotham Chess). Courtship behavior While technology has added new ways for people to communicate with a romantic interest or partner, some traditions survived. Pluralities prefer teenage boys making the first move. Social media networks have proven to be useful in helping teenage lovers strengthen their ties; this is especially true for boys. Texting is by far the most popular method, though girls are noticeably more likely than boys to text their lovers daily. A press release by the online dating app Tinder showed that the age group 18 to 24 became the majority of users on their platform in 2019. The company boasted 7.86 million users in the United States that year. The most popular topics of discussion were in the fields of entertainment (especially music, film, and television) and politics (especially the key words "climate change," "social justice," "the environment," and "gun control"). Nevertheless, even though smartphone applications such as Tinder allow for easy hook-ups and one-night stands, Millennials and Generation Z are quite serious and cautious when it comes to long-term romantic relationships. Unlike generations past, who married earlier and after shorter periods of courtship, Generation Z generally prefers to take things slowly. Generation Z, especially women, is also more likely to have been friends with a romantic partner before dating. Daniel Cox of Five Thirty Eight explains, "This suggests a significant push back [among young Americans] against online dating as a way to meet partners." A significant number is choosing to remain single, because they do not want to be in a relationship, are facing trouble meeting the right people, or have other priorities at present, such as (higher) education or careers. Data from the 2019 General Social Survey revealed that 51% of Americans aged 18 to 24 had no steady partner, higher than other cohorts. Moreover, this number has grown in recent years. Although a majority of Millennials and Generation Z would like to get married one day, significant numbers deem marriage to be an outdated institution and an overwhelming majority think it is unnecessary for a fulfilling or happy life. Surveys have also documented a marked decline in the desire for children. Sexual orientation and gender identity In February 2021, Gallup reported that 15.9% of American adults in Generation Z (those born between 1997 and 2002) identified as LGBT. Of those adults, 11.5% were bisexual while 2% said they were lesbian, gay, or transgender. Overall, a greater share American adults in Generation Z identifies as LGBT than those in previous generational cohorts. Use of information and communications technologies (ICT) Use of ICT in general Following the commercialization of the Internet in the 1990s, members of Generation Z have acquired a "digital bond to the Internet" since birth. With modern electronic telecommunications technology becoming more compact and affordable, the popularity of smartphones in the United States has grown exponentially. According to the Pew Research Center, by the 2010s, a majority of American teenagers have at least a basic phone if not a smartphone. The fact that an increasing majority own a cell phone has become one of the defining traits of this generation. About one quarter of teens are almost constantly online and 80% feel distressed if separated from their electronic gadgets. Generation Z spends on average six hours each day on the Internet, much of it playing video games. That much of Generation Z is growing up with constant access to Internet-enabled devices has undermined parental authority and control, prompting concerns over the sort of information children are exposed to while surfing the World Wide Web. Digital literacy Commonly known as "digital natives" notwithstanding, Generation Z is not necessarily digitally literate. the 2018 International Computer and Information Literacy Study (ICILS), conducted on 42,000 eighth-graders (or equivalents) from 14 countries and educational systems, found that only two percent of these people were sufficiently proficient with information devices to justify that description, and only 19% could work independently with computers to gather information and to manage their work. In the U.S., 90% reached Level 1, 66% Level 2, 25% Level 3, and 2% Level 4. Among American eighth-graders, 72% said they searched for information on the Internet at least once a week or every school day, and 65% reported they were autodidactic information finders on the Internet. As a result of their ICT skills, the role of Generation Z in the future "digital economy" remains uncertain as they still lack the skills they need to join the workforce. At least initially, they struggle with familiar office items, such as a printer or a scanner. Nor are they familiar with touch typing. Use of social media networks Almost all Americans who were in their teens and 20s during the late 2010s and early 2020s are on at least one social-media platform, with YouTube being most popular of all. Members of Generation Z are more likely to "follow" others on social media than "share" and use different types of social media for different purposes. Very few expressed concern about third parties being able to access their data as modern teenagers share more personal information more often compared to previous generations. Majorities have uploaded photographs of themselves, stated their hobbies or interests, given their school names, posted their locations, and revealed their relationship statuses. On the other hand, only a minority of Generation Z engaged in political conversations on social media networks. Despite their heavy usage of social media, a majority of Generation Z, like older adults, believe that life was better before the emergence of these platforms. While teens may dislike certain aspects of Facebook, such as excessive sharing, they continue to use it because participation is important in terms of socializing with friends and peers. On the other hand, Twitter is quickly gaining in popularity. Teens typically keep their Facebook accounts private and make their Twitter accounts public. This is partly because of the increasing number of adults on the former. Speed and reliability are important factors in members of Generation Z choice of social networking platform. This need for quick communication is apparent in the popularity of apps like Vine or Snapchat and the prevalent use of emojis. By the early 2020s, TikTok has become one of the most popular social networks among teenagers and young adults, who frequently use it as a news source and a search engine. Young Americans are willing to ignore their own government's concerns over issues of user privacy and national security, as well as a possible nationwide ban. A significant number of people from Generation Z have made their debut in social media before their exit from the womb, as they are the subject of their parents' social media posts. As they grow older, they do have opinions about pictures or videos of them being posted online. It is a tug-of-war between a child's privacy and a parent's pride or desire to share. While some parents do ask for their children's permission before posting, at least some of the time, others simply disregard what their children think. A 2010 report by cybersecurity firm AVG stated that 92% of American children under the age of two had a digital footprint and one in three had their information and photographs posted online within weeks after they were born. One of the reasons why children want greater control over their image online is because a college admissions officer or a prospective recruiter might look them up on the Internet. Indeed, a clear majority of employers check social media accounts during the hiring process and factor what they see into their recruitment decision. As a result, members of Generation Z are careful to make themselves presentable to potential employers with their social media accounts. Not only do they take advantage of the various tools that allow them to control who sees what and are more cautious about what they post, they also try to cultivate a "personal brand" online. According to the Pew Research Center, 57% refrain from posting something if they think it might "reflect badly on them in the future." It is quite common for young people to have an alternate Instagram account, so much so that there is a name for it, "finstas," or "fake Instagram accounts." There are growing concerns and evidence on the negative impact of social media networks on mental health. By design, these platforms have algorithms that encourage users to spend more time on them, leading to addiction, and they tend to encourage social comparison and competition, even if shared photographs might have been digitally manipulated. Teenagers and young adults tend to have worse body-image issues the more time they spend on social media, a trend most pronounced among girls. To keep up with their friends and "influencers" on social media, some pre-adolescent girls are now concerned with skincare. Teenagers who spend so much time on these websites have correspondingly less time for in-person interactions with friends and family and schoolwork, and they are more likely to be exposed to misinformation and inappropriate contents. In fact, pornography is reaching an increasingly large youth audience on social media. As online social networks expanded, the amount of toxic contents generated mostly by young people also grew. Moreover, social media networks can be addictive, stimulating the brain the in the same manner as gambling and substance abuse do. Nevertheless, the ability to control impulsive desires of social media users was less impaired than that of gamblers or drug addicts. Hence, an obvious solution to this problem is to reduce screen time. Instagram users were the most likely to report unhappiness than those of any other social media platforms while FaceTime had the highest rate of happiness. Sean Parker, the founding president of Facebook, admitted that his company was "exploiting a vulnerability in human psychology." In response, legislation has been proposed or enacted at various levels of the U.S. government and some school boards to tackle the issue. There are also concerns that young people get drawn into online communities that promote politically extreme or radical beliefs, and spread incendiary statements or misinformation, even if they, at an intellectual level, realize that the algorithms of social media promote any materials that garner attention, especially negative ones. This could distort their outlooks and further exacerbate political polarization. See also Organizations Gen-Z for Change Voters of Tomorrow Related topics De Quervain syndrome and the thumb tribe Related generations in other countries Post-90s Generation and Little Emperor Syndrome (China) Strawberry Generation (Taiwan) 9X Generation (Vietnam) Broader related issues List of generations Generation gap Cusper Notes References Further reading External links The Downside of Diversity. Michael Jonas. The New York Times. August 5, 2007. Meet Generation Z: Forget Everything You Learned About Millennials – 2014 presentation by Sparks and Honey The Next America: Modern Family. Pew Research Center. April 30, 2014. (Video, 2:16) Gen-Z Matters More than Millennials: Goldman Sachs' Christopher Wolf. March 4, 2016. (Video, 3:21) The Power of Play: A Pediatric Role in Enhancing Development in Young Children. September 2018. Michael Yogman, Andrew Garner, Jeffrey Hutchinson, Kathy Hirsh-Pasek, Roberta Michnick Golinkoff. Committee on Psychosocial Aspects of Children and Family Health, Council on Communications and Media, American Academy of Pediatrics. Religion in Public Schools. Ira C. Lupu, F. Elwood and Eleanor Davis  Professor Emeritus of Law at George Washington University Law School; David Masci, Senior Writer/Editor at Pew Research Center; and Robert W. Tuttle, David R. and Sherry Kirschner Berz Research Professor of Law & Religion at George Washington University Law School. Pew Research Center. October 3, 2019. We asked teenagers what adults are missing about technology. This was the best response. Taylor Fang. MIT Technology Review. December 21, 2019. Gen Y vs Z. Zeihan on Geopolitics. December 29, 2021. Why modern America creates fragile children. Jonathan Haidt, April 5, 2023. 1990s in the United States 21st century in the United States Cultural generations Demographics of the United States Generation Z 1990s neologisms

Alternative school

An alternative school is an educational establishment with a curriculum and methods that are nontraditional. Such schools offer a wide range of philosophies and teaching methods; some have strong political, scholarly, or philosophical orientations, while others are more ad hoc assemblies of teachers and students dissatisfied with some aspect of mainstream or traditional education. Some schools are based on pedagogical approaches differing from that of the mainstream pedagogy employed in a culture, while other schools are for gifted students, children with special needs, children who have fallen off the track educationally or expelled from their base school, children who wish to explore unstructured or less rigid system of learning, etc. Features There are many models of alternative schools but the features of promising alternative programs seem to converge more or less on the following characteristics: the approach is more individualized; integration of children of different socio-economic status and mixed abilities; experiential learning which is applicable to life outside school; integrated approach to various disciplines; instructional staff is certified in their academic field and are creative; low student-teacher ratios; collective ownership of the institute as teachers, students, support staff, administrators, parents all are involved in decision making; an array of non-traditional evaluation methods. United Kingdom In the United Kingdom, 'alternative school' refers to a school that provides a learner centered informal education as an alternative to the regimen of traditional education in the United Kingdom. There's a long tradition of such schools in the United Kingdom, going back to Summerhill, whose founder, A. S. Neill, greatly influenced the spread of similar democratic type schools such as the famous Dartington Hall School, and Kilquhanity School, both now closed. Currently there is one democratic primary school Small Acres, and two democratic secondary schools, Summerhill and Sands School. There is also a range of schools based on the ideas of Maria Montessori and Rudolf Steiner. United States In the United States, there has been tremendous growth in the number of alternative schools in operation since the 1970s, when relatively few existed. Some alternative schools are for students of all academic levels and abilities who are better served by a non-traditional program. Others are specifically intended for students with special educational needs, address social problems that affect students, such as teenage parenthood or homelessness, or accommodate students who are considered at risk of failing academically. Another common element of alternative schools in the United States has been the use of community resource professionals in various disciplines who serve as instructors on a part-time, volunteer basis. Depending upon the type of student going into an alternative school, this has sometimes caused friction with the teachers in conventional schools. The Leonia Alternative High School of the 1970s in New Jersey, which placed a heavy emphasis on the use of community resource instructors, ended up in a protracted battle with the local teachers union, resulting in the school eventually closing. While alternative schools became more commonplace by the 1990s, there were still tensions between them and teachers unions regarding the teachers losing central control over such matters. Canada In Canada, local school boards choose whether or not they wish to have alternative schools and how they are operated. The alternative schools may include multi-age groupings, integrated curriculum or holistic learning, parental involvement, and descriptive reports rather than grades. Some school systems provide alternative education streams within the state schools. In Canada, schools for children who are having difficulty in a traditional secondary school setting are known as alternate schools. Germany Germany has over 200 Waldorf schools, including the first such school in the world (founded 1919), and a large number of Montessori schools. Each of these has its own national association, whereas most other alternative schools are organized in the National Association of Independent Alternative Schools. Funding for private schools in Germany differs from Bundesland to Bundesland. Full public funding is given to laboratory schools researching school concepts for public education. The Laborschule Bielefeld had a great influence on many alternative schools, including the renewal of the democratic school concept. South Korea In South Korea, alternative schools serve three big groups of youth. The first group is students who could not succeed in formative Korean education. Many of these schools serve students who dropped out during their earlier school years, either voluntarily or by disciplinary action. The second group is young immigrants. As the population of immigrants from Southeast Asia and North Korea is increasing, several educators started to see the necessity of the adaptive education, specially designed for these young immigrants. Because South Korea has been a monoethnic society throughout its history, there is not enough system and awareness to protect these students from bullying, social isolation, or academic failure. For instance, the drop-out rate for North Korean immigrant students is ten times higher than that of students from South Korean students because their major challenge is initially to adapt to South Korean society, not to get a higher test score. The other group is students who choose an alternative education because of its philosophy. Korean education, as in many other Asian countries, is based on testing and memorizing. Some students and parents believe this kind of education cannot nurture a student thoroughly and choose to go to an alternative school, that suggests a different way to learn for students. These schools usually stress the importance of interaction between other people and nature over written test results. The major struggle in alternative schools in South Korea are recognition, lack of financial support, and quality gap between alternative schools. Although South Korean public's recognition to alternative education has deliberately changed, the progressive education still is not widely accepted. To enter a college, regular education is often preferred because of the nation's rigid educational taste on test result and record. For the same reason, South Korean government is not actively supporting alternative schools financially. Hence, many alternative schools are at risk of bankruptcy, especially the schools that do not or cannot collect tuition from their students. Most Southeast Asian and North Korean immigrant families are financially in need, so they need assist from government's welfare system for their everyday life. It is clear that affording private education is a mere fantasy for these families. That phenomenon, at last, causes a gap among alternative schools themselves. Some schools are richly supported by upper-class parents and provide variety of in-school and after-school programs, and others rarely have resource to build few academic and extracurricular programs as such. India India has a long history of alternative schools. Vedic and Gurukul systems of education during 1500 BC to 500 BC emphasized on acquisition of occupational skills, cultural and spiritual enlightenment in an atmosphere which encouraged rational thinking, reasoning among the students. Hence the aim of education was to develop the pupil in various aspects of life as well as ensure social service. However, with the decline of the local economies and the advent of the colonial rulers this system went into decline. Some notable reforms like English as the medium of instruction, were introduced as recommended in Macaulay's Minute in the year 1835. The mainstream schools of today still follow the system developed in the colonial era. In the years since independence, Government has focused on expansion of school network, designing of curriculum according to educational needs, local language as the medium of instruction, etc. By the end of nineteenth century, many social reformers began to explore alternatives to contemporary education system. Vivekananda, Dayanand Saraswati, Jyotiba Phule, Savitribai Phule, Syed Ahmed Khan were the pioneers who took up the cause of social regeneration, removal of social inequalities, promotion of girl's education through alternate schools. In the early twentieth century educationists create models of alternative schools as a response to the drawbacks to mainstream schools which are still viable. Rabindranath Tagore's Shanti Niketan, Jiddu Krishnamurthy's Rishi Valley School, Sri Aurobindo and Mother's Sri Aurobindo International Center for Education, and Walden's Path Magnet School are some of the examples. An upsurge in alternative schools was seen in 1970's onward. But most of the alternate schools are the result of individual efforts rather than government. Alternative Education Programs Alternative education programs are ideal for people who think college education is not a requirement for becoming successful entrepreneurs. These programs educate neophyte and experienced entrepreneurs while providing them with the necessary resources. An article published at Forbes.com last February 11, 2018 mentioned that many educational institutions contribute to their respective accelerator courses. The University of Missouri System initiated the Ameren Accelerator which concentrates on energy startups and assists entrepreneurs in obtaining essential know-how about the industry from educator-partners at the university level. There are international programs that also offer related resources like Meltwater Entrepreneurial School of Technology in Ghana, Africa. It has an incubator program providing seed capital, training, and learning opportunities in a rigorous one-year program from outstanding students in the African region. The Huffington Post cited options in alternative learning like Home School, Micro Schooling, and Unschooling. The concept of Unschooling means the student learns according to the way that person wants for specific reasons and choice. The individual gets help from teachers, parents, books, or formal classes but makes the final decision on how to proceed and according to his or her preferred schedule. Micro-schools or independent free schools differ in approach, size, and authority. These are contemporary one-room schools, full-time or part-time facilities, or learning centers that are owned and managed by teachers or parents. Some parents choose this non-traditional system over formal education because it teaches youngsters to look for practical solutions. The USA is attempting to serve an increasing number of a good number of at-risk students outside the conventional highs schools. There are Alternative Education Campuses that cater to dropouts or those who have been expelled from their schools. There are reportedly more than 4,000 AECs all over the country. See also List of democratic schools Anarchistic free school Continuation high school Democratic school Gifted education Montessori school Public alternative school Reform school Special education Sudbury school Unschooling Virtual school Waldorf school (or Steiner school) Jiddu Krishnamurti Schools References Further reading Claire V. Corn, Alternative American Schools: Ideals in Action (Ithaca: SUNY Press, 1991). Alternative education School terminology School types