Culture and cultural differences Essay Example for Free

Culture and cultural differences Essay â€Å"Motivation is an incentive, inducement, or motive, especially for an act† (Morris 1970) There are many ways which influence the motivation levels of an adult person to do a particular task. One of the most important factors is Culture, which is an intrinsic part of a human being. The term culture is best understood when cross-cultural people join to due to some reason, to form a group. While interacting with such a group for motivation, the main idea is to create a sense of belonging. People, who find their niche place in a group, are much more eager to perform tasks to the best of their abilities. The second most important idea for motivation is to create an environment to do work. The reasons for working vary for people from country to country – In China the work motivation is moral obligation, while in Japan it is trust and in Western societies it is incentives. All these factors should be taken care while motivating a cross-cultural group for working. One should always remember that, in the end all these people are doing the same for albeit for different reasons. What do you believe should be your primary concern when trying to motivate across cultural boundaries? Remember to justify your response. People from various cultures take incentives in a different way. People belonging to Asian countries like Japan, lay more stress on the acknowledgement of the work done, than on any material perks they might be able to earn. In contrast, people from many of the service based western countries like US think of incentives, as something which is to be won. And finally there are some people who might be from poor countries like Vietnam, where the perks mean additional money, the more they work the more they earn. Making all these people motivated with an inspirational talk, no matter how good the perks might be, is the most important factor of all. This is because, dissatisfied people might easily think on the lines of regional bias and try to de-motivate other people. A balanced talk which is aimed to effectively motivate the set of people, by seemingly addressing to the individual cultural sects of the group, hence requires the maximum talent and guile on the part of the motivating person. References LaMonica L, â€Å"The Relationship Between Culture and Learner Motivation and Implications for Trainingâ€Å", 17th July 2001, http://www. geocities. com/llamonica/culture. html

The Grapes of Wrath Essay Example for Free

The Grapes of Wrath Essay There are two general groups of people at conflict in the novel the rich bosses and the labor force. Steinbeck writes heart wrenching characters of the lower class which are just barely surviving. These workers are victimized by the greedy upper classes, their bodies treated like commodities. The audience can feel nothing but empathy for these immigrant workers who toil the land drawing figures in the dust with bare toes, (10), while the men that own the land [sit] in their cars to talk out of the window, (43), making money on the backs of the poor folk. Steinbeck explains that these capitalists have never done a day of hard work in their life and their only motive in using big earth augers into the ground for soil tests (43) is to squeeze more money from the land they own. Steinbeck is also quick to point out that farmers and these land owners are different. While landowners corrupt the land leaving it near death with their iron penes [and] orgasms set by gears [rape] methodically, [rape] without passion. (50). Whereas the farmer works with the land keeping it healthy. He explains A bank isnt like a man. Or an owner with fifty thousand acres, he isnt like a man either. Thats the monster. (46). Steinbeck does offer an alternate choice to this capitalistic nightmare which is represented by the Weedpatch Camp. This a town in which folks elect their own cops (400), and everyone who lives and works in the town has say about the choices are made. It is within Weedpatch, that all people including immigrant are treated fairly and with kindness. Steinbeck asserts that it is socialism that ensures that there is respect, and equality between all its citizens. It is in Weedpatch that Joads family ends up and while their struggle is not over, at least their victimization is. Steinbeck fully explores the cruel experiences that many migrant workers had to face in the 1930s and continue to face today. Steinbeck accurately and historically portrays the perils which many family has to overcome in the newly capitalistic culture in the United States. It would hard to find anyone who could not sympathize with the farm workers during the depression. Steinbeck so intimately describes their situation that the audience finds himself hoping that the Joads and families like the Joads survive to find happiness and comfort. Steinbeck also does not overreach with his criticism of big business. The concerns of the 1930s are still the concerns today. Big businesses believe they have the right to anything they can buy up or sell, including the earth and the people inhabitating it. The novel created for me a real sense of humanistic history. The great depression is often read from a purely factual point of view with data and numbers. However, from the cold, hard facts Steinbeck creates warmth and a sense of unity by exploring the common human experience of struggle displayed in the Joads endeavors. I dont know that I fully understood the horrible conditions that migrant families live under during the great depression. I think that Steinbecks novel is also still relevant in todays modern society. The issue of immigration is at the forefront of legislation and public debate. The United States still takes advantage of poverty classes families who are not able to get legal working papers, allowing them to work â€Å"under the table† for less than minimum wage. He gives his audience an explicit view of exactly what life was like in the Dust Bowl. He carefully weaves a tale of emotional struggle, family bonding, and historical facts. He is careful not to sugar coat the topic and his real goal was to bring to light the long suffering and often forgotten migrant worker which America has used to build and maintain farms throughout the country. I thought it was appropriate that Steinbeck did not write a happy ending for the Joads. They were unable to achieve the supposed American dream that so many people in the United States are promised but never actually have. Steinbecks authorship is stunning and undeniable accurate. He utilizes several literary devices including vivid images, specific dialect, and historic fact. With the use of personification he brings the depression ear United States to life. His depictions of nature, character personalities, and the Joads adventure are heroic recounted to the reader. I believe that the Grapes of Wrath is a timeless piece of literature which is sincere and authentic. The Grapes of Wrath is the perfect piece of historic fiction which should accompany any course of study of the Great Depression in the United States. Works Cited Steinbeck, John. The Grapes of Wrath, 1939. New York: Viking, 1989.

Analysing Youth Voters in the Mauritius

Analysing Youth Voters in the Mauritius Introduction STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM The absence of youth in the Mauritian political system is quite alarming but still no statement is being made about it. The total number of electors registered for the year 2009 is 879,897 and among them 222, 060, i.e. 25.2% are aged from 18-29 years old (estimates from the Electoral Commission Office). However, at present our National Assembly does not have a single member in the above age group (p.10 ). There is no available data about the voting frequency of the different age groups of the registered electors nor are there disaggregated statistics about the voting behaviour of males and females. Data on neither the formal nor informal political engagement of youth could be obtained at the Ministry of Youth and Sports. It becomes hence clear that there is a lack of research on this issue either because of an unrealised phenomenon or a taken for granted phenomenon or most probably the issue is considered to be an unimportant one. However, as highlighted by the Secretary-General of t he UN 1997-2007 Kofi Annan, World Youth Report 2003, p. 271): â€Å"No one is born a good citizen; no nation is born a democracy. Rather, both are processes that continue to evolve over a lifetime. Young people must be included from birth. A society that cuts itself off from its youth severs its lifetime; it is condemned to bleed to death.† The only hint that could be obtained about the topic in the Mauritian Context is a mini research which appeared as an article on one page (p.9) in L Express Newspaper 04th August 2009 entitled: â€Å"Jeune et Politique: LImpossible Alliance†. The mini-research was carried out by Dr. Catherine Boudet from Reunion Island. â€Å"En labsence dà ©tudes sur la culture politique des jeunes mauriciens†, she has conducted a mini-research using a focus group of 10 youth at UoM and she has distributed 30 questionnaires among youngsters (15- 27 years old). However, she adds that â€Å"cette à ©tude empirique ne fait pas office de sondage, mais elle a le mà ©rite de constituer un petit barometre de là ©tat desprit de la jeunesse.† At this stage, following the ontological assumptions are made: Why are these young people absent from politics? Is it because of a change in lifecycle? Have they become disengaged? If, so to what extent are they disengaged? Why have they become disengaged? Have they found other forms of political participation with social change? Are they not being given adequate political space? On taking the epistemological dimension, suggested answers which form the hypotheses of the research are given to these questions. (Source: G. M. du Ploy, 2001, p.20) HYPOTHESES OF THE RESEARCH Young people do not have time for politics because of a change in lifecycle. Young people have found some other forms of political participation. Young people have negative attitudes towards politics and politicians. Young people are disengaged because politicians do not care about their needs and demands. Politicians/elders are not giving political space to young people. At this point, the aims and objectives become clearer. AIMS AND OBJECTIVES OF THE RESEARCH The double objectives of the research are to: To know young peoples desires and needs concerning society. Identify measures to introduce some changes in youth towards politics and vice versa. In order to reach these main objectives, the research aims to: Explore the level of formal political participation among young people. Explore the level of informal political participation among young people. Find out if todays youth will or will not reach the levels of political participation currently displayed by the elderly. Find out and verify the reasons/explanations of the disengagement of the young people about politics and try to find convenient actions to apply. ORGANISATION OF CHAPTERS The next step which follows as can be seen in the diagram is the theoretical assumptions which help in verifying the hypotheses and achieve the aims and objectives of the research. The theoretical framework is also the base of the research which establishes working definitions for fieldwork. All these are dealt in Chapter 2. Hints of the methodology can be found throughout the whole dissertation while Chapter 3 has been devoted mainly to the methods used to extract information. Chapter 4 analyses and discusses the discoveries of the fieldwork and the dissertation concludes with the Chapter 5 where I also come up with some recommendations. A CONTEMPORARY GLOBAL OVERVIEW OF YOUTH AND POLITICS IN DEMOCRATIC COUNTRIES The vast majority of reading on youth participation in politics shows that there has been a steady decline in youth political participation in many democratic (Pammett and Leduc 2003; ONeill 2007). In almost every election young people are the least likely to vote and these participation rates are continuously declining(Putnam 2000; Kimberlee 2002; Gauthier 2003; Pammett and Leduc 2003). Youth membership of political parties is also dropping (Hooghes et al. 2004). Although mostAfrican countries have a majority of youth population, African parliaments have less than 1% youth participation as MPs (Sigudhla 2004). In fact, research such as Putnam (2000), Kimberlee (2002), Blais et al. (2002), Blais et al. (2004), Clarke et al. (2004), Zukin et al. (2006) and Dalton (2007)provide clear indication that the more recent generations are less likely to engage in politics than were previous generations of the same age. The ‘generational effects suggests that todays young people are less active in politics, and they will never reach the levels of political participation currently displayed by the elderly (Martikainen et al. 2005). Studies indicate that the present younger generations will retain these differences as they grow older, and that consequently the present electorate will be replaced by a more passive generation of political participants (Quintelier 2007). As for youth in democratic Mauritius, all these have to be tested. Hence, most important is to identify working definitions of terms on which the project is based. Obviously, the parameters of the terms ‘Youth and ‘Politics have to be established. PARAMETER OF THE TERM ‘YOUTH USED Both the first and second Mauritian National Youth Policy (2000 2004) and (2010 2014) define youth as persons aged â€Å"between 14 and 29 living in the Republic of Mauritius†. Thus for the purpose of this dissertation, the age of youth considered does not exceed 29 years old. ESTABLISHING THE WORKING DEFINITION OF POLITICS The definition of politics is confined to what Randall (1987) identified as forms of political participation which are as follows: → Voting Voting is sometimes understood as the first step in a succession of increasing demanding political acts. Marsh and Kaase (1979) (cited in Randall 1987) find it as a unique type of political participation in the sense that it does not occur very often and is very much biased. Randall (1987) notes that in most countries women are more inclined to cast their vote than men. → Other Conventional Forms Of Participation According to Welch (1977) (cited in Randall 1987), this form of participation include campaigning for political parties or their candidates, membership of a political party or organization or attendance at a political meeting. Dowse and Hughes (1972) (cited in Randall 1987) find that women participate less men when it comes to this form of participation. → Less Conventional Politics Randall (1987) refers to this form of participation as ad hoc politics which means participation in political campaigns that are relatively short-lived, throwing up makeshift organizations and tending to rely on direct tactics such as pickets, squats and self-help projects. In this form of participation, Randall (1987) notes that women ‘come into their own and their participation is as significant as that of men. These 3 forms of political participation have been used as indicators to serve the exploratory purpose of the research. While Levine (2007), ONeill (2007), Braud (2004) and many others have spoken about the forms of political engagement, the theory of Randall (1987) was purposely chosen since it also deals about womens participation for each form. Hence with the ‘gender variable, the research also tests the relevance of the theory among young Mauritian. To explain the identified disengagement of youth from politics, it is important to find out what other research say and what are their theories. Hence the following theories which I have classified under 3 headings served the explanatory purpose of the research: Social change; Adults attitudes and actions and the Attitudes and lifecycle of young people. EXPLANATORY THEORIES ABOUT THE DISENGAGEMENT OF YOUTH FROM POLITICS A. Social Change ONeill (2007) notes that cell phones have been identified as a new form of political activism especially for young people. She also stresses the use on new Internet-based sites such as MySpace and Facebook which provide forums for communicating, organising and socialising and they are unlike traditional social networks that require face-to-face contact. Quintelier (2007), Hoskins et al. (2003) and O Toole et al. (2003) notice the attractiveness of these new forms of participation has caused younger people to divert from traditional forms of political participation as practiced by the older generation. Moreover, according to findings of Levine (2007), Dalton (2007) and Zukin et al. although members of this generation are less engaged in traditional political activities, many are willing to provide direct voluntary services. However in a study conducted by Blais (n.d)among young people on the island of Montreal, he finds out that non-conventional participation has not replaced conventional participation. In fact, most of the respondents either do both or do neither. As for the case of young Mauritians, this has to be tested. B. Adults attitudes and actions Conventional ‘wisdom dictates that young people are ‘less knowledgeable, ‘ignorant, ‘apathetic, ‘indifferent, ‘alienated, ‘disaffected and ‘disinterested when it comes to politics (Eden et al. 2002; OToole et al. 2003; Henn et al. 2003). ONeill (2001) add to the view that youth are also more likely to find politics uninteresting and even boring. Moreover, in a case study carried out by Golumbek (2002), adults explain the political disengagement of youth by the fact that youth only want to have fun and politics appear dull to them. Moreover,Bessant (2004) and Eden et al. (2002) notice some restrictions, namely, in the patronizing of youth by parents and educators. This is displayed in that politicians, parents and teachers frequently deny their children or students the right to participate in protest marches when such activities take place during class hours. C. The Attitudes And Lifecycle Of Young People Pammett and LeDucs (2003) study clearly indicate that young people have negative attitudes towards political parties. Young people perceive politicians as ‘out of touch, ‘untrustworthy, ‘self-interested, ‘irrelevant and ‘power-hungry (O Toole et al. 2003; Quintelier 2007). Young people do not trust politicians believing they are corrupt and self-serving (Bennett, 1997). They are very critical and quickly recognize when politicians lie or when they try to speak on their behalf (Henn et al. 2002). More so, youth find that conventional politics carries an image problem (Edwards, 2001). Many young people feel that they are not heard by politicians and that they ultimately cannot influence politics (Henn et al. 2002; Kimberlee 2002). Henn et al. 2002; O Toole et al. 2003; Keeter 2003; Quintelier 2007 find that the non-participation of young people is due to the failure of the politicians to address the issues that concern them, or to make the issues relevant to their daily lives. Youth have the impression that politicians do not truly care about their needs and large percentage of young people believe that the government is unresponsive to people like them (Bennett, 1997). Youth have fewer resources for political participation because of ‘lifecycle effects (Quintelier 2007 and Verba et al. 1995). According to these authors, political participation requires time and money and young people do not yet have a stable basis for concern with politics. Hence, they are more preoccupied with short-term projects (Verba et al. 1974; Iyengar and Jackman 2004). According to Kimberlee (1998), the decline in political interest and behaviour of young people should be attributed to the changing of social and economic environment in which young people now live. After having established the body of theories, it is important to have an idea of the variables of the research which could at the same time be presented as some ‘unique traits of the Mauritian Politics. TRAITS OF THE MAURITIAN POLITICS/ VARIABLES OF THE RESEARCH A. Gender Imbalance From Appendices 2 and 3, it can be observed that before 2005, the number of female MPs had never exceeded six. One would find that in many constituencies in Mauritius, women have never been elected while in most constituencies the number of nominated women is very low or women are not fielded at all. In 2005, 61 of the 645 candidates who stood for the General Elections were women (9.5%). The two major parties (MLP and MMM) which were capable of electing candidates, together fielded only 16 women. Of those 16, 11 were elected as constituency seat MPs and 1 as best-loser seat MP. The number of women in the legislature from the year 2000 to 2005 has increased from 4 to 12 (5.7% 17%). Nonetheless, this number is nowhere near the 30% goal set in the SADC declaration on Gender and Development of which Mauritius is a signatory. Phillipss (1991, 1995) arguments for democracy are based on mirror representation, group representation and interest representation and Chiroro (2005) highlighted t hat Mauritius totally fails in terms of mirror representation. What awaits us for this years 2010 General Elections is yet to be known. B. Ethinicised Politics In Mauritius, the 70 member National Assembly consists of 62 elected representatives of constituencies and 8 additional seats allocated to the Best Losers among the non-elected. The latter seats are allocated on the basis of ethnic membership (the first four) and a combination of ethnicity and party membership (the remaining four) (Lau Thai Keng 1999, Eriksen 1998). The main purpose of this system is to ensure an adequate representation of the minority groups (Addison et al 1993). Eriksen (1998) notes that most political parties in Mauritius have overtly or covertly represented ethnic / communal interests. Dinan, Nababsing and Mathur (cited in Crawford Young, 1999) add that political parties in Mauritius field their candidates in constituencies not only according to ethnic configurations of the constituency but sub groups (caste, cultural and linguistic) of the voters are also considered. This might be because communalism is an important variable for voting behaviour of the population (Mathur 1991). Thus, considering the ethnic group of respondents as a variable when one does a research on politics becomes significant. C. Youth Political Engagement/Disengagement TABLE 1: CALCULATED AVERAGE AGE OF MPs IN MAURITIUS ELECTION 11TH SEPTEMBER 2000 ELECTION 03RD JULY 2005 MPs 2005 BY 28th FEBRUARY 2010 MEAN AGE 47 49 Logically, the mean, mode and median at 28th February 2010 would be that of the year 2005 + 5 since the MPs are the same apart from few modifications (see appendix 5). MODAL AGE 39 51 MEDIAN AGE 47 51 % OF YOUTH AS DEFINED AS PER THE NATIONAL YOUTH POLICY (2 à · 66) ÃŽ § 100 = 3.03% (2 d.p) 0% To be able to acquire this data, I have gathered and compiled the date of birth and calculated the age of MPs for the year 2000 and 2005 (SEE APPENDICES 4 AND 5). From these, the average age of MPs and the percentage of MPs which fall into the youth category for the last 2 General Elections could be obtained. While the age at which a candidate can stand for Elections is 18 and the maximum age a person is considered to be young in Mauritius is 29, the data in the above table brings us back to the ontological assumptions made in Chapter 1 where it becomes necessary to gather primary data. Before presenting to you, the procedures and methods adopted for the collection of primary data, I wish to recapitulate what the basic research which has an exploratory and explanatory purpose aims to. The research tries to: → Explore the extent of engagement/disengagement of youth in/from politics in Mauritius. → Determine which explanation classified under 3 headings best explains the absence of youth from formal politics. → Find out if todays youth will or will not reach the levels of political participation currently displayed by the elderly. → Explore and organize primary data so as to create a picture of the current situation of the topic in the Mauritian context. → Develop new hypotheses which will be matter of further testing in future research. → To fill in the gap of unavailable data in Mauritius and thus contribute to epistemology. A MODEL OF THE RESEARCH PROCESS STAGE 1: OBSERVATION It is well known that in Mauritius the SU is much linked to political parties. Hence, observation was carried out during the campaign of the Students Union (SU) Elections at the UoM. Both the campaign and the observation lasted for 2 weeks (started on 19th October 2009 and ended on the 30th October 2009). The observation was an opportunity to have an overview of the relationship between youth and politics. PLANNING THE OBSERVATION A. Type of Observation TYPE OF OBSERVATION WHAT WERE UNDER OBSERVATION REASON Non participant Everything that could be seen, heard and felt. Not being a candidate for the SU Elections myself, some information was not easily disclosed to me. Thus everything that could be seen, heard and felt was noted down. Moreover, 2 interviews were carried out with people involved in the campaign. B. Instruments Used For Observation INSTRUMENTS USED PURPOSE/S Diary To write fresh, valid, reliable and vivid data on the spot. Camera Photographs were taken in case particular aspects of the campaign went unnoticed during the observation. Hence they could be re-analysed in the photographs. However, for ethical reasons the photographs were taken from quite afar so that the people are not totally visible. Myself Human Intrument Since the senses have to be used in observation and the researcher exerts some sort of power over the other instruments he/she is using, the latter becomes the main instrument in the observation process. STAGE 2: INTERVIEWS AND ITS OBJECTIVES For the purpose of this dissertation, 4 interviews were carried out in all. It is to be noted that interviewees did not find the need to remain anonymous. INTERVIEWEES OBJECTIVES 1 Soobeersingh Dhunoo alias Kenny (male) ex student at the UoM and ex president of the SU (present during the SU Election Campaign and thus was interviewed). In order, not to be gender biased, a boy and a girl were determinedly selected and at the same time a gender comparison of youths political engagement could be made since gender is the only relevant variable between them in this particular setting. Unstructured interview was used for both respondents so as to grasp maximum information about how youth conduct their political activities. 2 Khirtee Ruchpaul (female) -candidate at the SU Elections (interviewed during the SU Election campaign). 3 Naveena Ramyad (female) former member in the MMM Youth Wing[5] and potential candidate of the MMM party for General Elections 2010. Since the MMM party does not have any archival information, Naveena acted like a ‘key informant. It was also an opportunity to ask her about her transition from the Youth Wing to the Party itself. A semi-structured interview was found to be most convenient. 4 Devanand Ritoo the current Minister of Youth and Sports. Structured questions were prepared and he was interviewed in his capacity as: 1. An senior politician, 2. The current president of the Youth Wing of Mauritian Labour Party, 3. The current Minister of Youth and Sports. PLANNING THE INTERVIEWS The interviewees were the ones to decide about the place, time and day on which the interview would take place. Face-to-face interviews were carried out and a tape recorder was used to record everything with the permission of the interviewee. The use of tape recorder enabled me to maintain the eye contact with my interviewees and much attention could be given to their expressions, body languages and tones. Hence face validity could be checked out on the spot. Although all the interviewees could speak English, interviews were conducted in Creole which is the mother tongue of mostly all Mauritians. This was done with the purpose of allowing interviewees to be more at ease so that they could provide more information. Once questions were asked, interviewees were given the opportunity to talk as much as they wished without being interrupted by me. My role as an interviewer was only to ask questions. It was not like a sort of conversation. In this way, value-free information could be gathered. However, no research is without lacuna, mine being no exception. The lacunas are: It was quite difficult to carry out such an observation (where the researcher is the main instrument) during 2 weeks on a large scale. Many things should have gone unnoticed, unheard and unfelt not only in my absence but in my presence as well. Moreover, many of the research questions have remained unanswered. I could picture the extent of engagement and disengagement of youth but I did not get the many explanations what is/ are causing this political disengagement through the observation method. Interviewees were those engaged in politics in some way or another but why the other youngsters are disengaged from politics remains a research question among so many. This led me to the stage 3 where the questionnaire came into use. STAGE 3: QUESTIONNAIRE METHOD AND ITS OBJECTIVES Concepts / hypotheses were developed into indicators through questions and statements in the form of questionnaire to mainly test why there is this ‘disengagement of youth from politics. At the same time, some questions related to the qualitative part of the research conducted were set to translate the information from subjective to objective, cross check the findings and make it generalisable. As according to Bryman (2004), the main advantage of triangulation is that it increases confidence in research findings. For some concepts, multiple indicators were used (multiple measure of a concept) A better explanation of this is given in the next chapter. A copy of the questionnaire distributed to respondents can be scrutinized in APPENDIX 6. THE TYPES OF QUESTION USED Since each question/ statement set serves a purpose, the type of question found to be most suitable was attributed to each. Finally, I end up with the use of the following types of questions: OPEN-ENDED QUESTION CLOSED-ENDED QUESTION Likert-type Dichotomous Partially closed question Multiple choice Ranking THE VARIABLES OF THE RESEARCH Only concepts which are relevant to the topic are used as variables. Thus ‘gender was used as variable for all questions while the ‘ethnic origin was used as variable only for question 2, 3, 4, 6, 7 (g), 7 (h).These variables are independent and discrete in nature. The extent of youths engagement/disengagement in/from politics is the dependent variable considered and this variable is also continuous in nature. The survey does not intend to compare younger and mature youths political engagement or disengagement since youth (as from 18 years old) as one body is absent in the Mauritian parliament. Hence youth is used as a constant as per the definition of National Youth Policy which has already been established in the previous chapter. DECIDING ABOUT SAMPLE AND SAMPLING METHODS: A. What does this Sample Frame represent? Only students of the University of Mauritius were chosen to be included in the sample. The reasons for this were that: → All the students are above 18 years old and hence have the voting right as well as the right to stand as candidates for the General Elections. → The students also come from all over the island and thus the sample englobes the subgroups as per the National Youth Policy â€Å"residence, religion, community, socio-cultural and educational backgrounds† but this should not be confused with the variable being used. → Since the students of UoM were observed during the campaign of the SU Elections, it was found most convenient to make them the sample, test the hypotheses on them and make generalizations. The sampling frame was defined in terms of the 5 faculties of the UoM. To strike the balance of students in the 5 faculties, equal number of boys and equal number of girls were asked to fill in questionnaires in each faculty. B. Sample Size The sample size set for the survey was as follows: MALE FEMALE FOE 35 35 FOA 35 35 FSSH 35 35 FLM 35 35 FOS 35 35 TOTAL 175 175 350 Since some questionnaires were rejected due to inadequate filling by respondents, the sample size is reduced to the following: MALE FEMALE FOE 31 34 FOA 35 33 FSSH 33 35 FLM 35 34 FOS 34 35 TOTAL 168 171 339 Hence the sample size considered for the purpose of analysis is 339. This sample size was decided for the purpose of accuracy and representativeness which are the aims of quantitative research. It also creates representativeness of all students in different fields of study and this enables generalization of findings. C. Sampling Methods A combination of probability sampling (cluster sampling) and non-probability sampling (quota sampling) was used for particular reasons. 1) Quota Sampling Quota sampling was the main sampling method used. 213 questionnaires were filled through this sampling method. The criteria for choosing respondents through quota sampling were as follows: → Whether they seemed to be in the youth category, → The faculty to which they belong, → Sex, → Whether they have already filled in the questionnaires, → If no, whether they were free and would accept to fill in the questionnaire adequately. Questionnaires were filled by respondents on the spot and collected by myself. This exercise was done with several objectives: → It avoids the loss of questionnaires by respondents. → Data collected are more reliable and questionnaires are filled adequately. → A rapport could be established with respondents and if they had any difficulty, clarity could be made (This exercise was done by maintaining value-free research). → Feelings and attitudes about the topic could be observed on the site of research. → It brings originality to the research method being used as well as the research since it seems like doing a qualitative research through a quantitative one. 2) Cluster/ Area Sampling: With a large representative sample size, doing quota sampling by waiting for respondents to fill in questionnaires on the spot was predicted to be tiresome and time-consuming. This is why cluster sampling was used before I started undertaking the quota sampling Cluster sampling could be used since the population of each faculty at the UoM consisted of units rather than individuals according to the type sample frame I set. 137 questionnaires were filled through cluster sampling in 3 classes of different faculties. Permission was obtained from lecturers to carry out this exercise in their class and the questionnaires were returned by respondents on the spot. PILOT TESTING OF THE QUESTIONNAI Analysing Youth Voters in the Mauritius Analysing Youth Voters in the Mauritius Introduction STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM The absence of youth in the Mauritian political system is quite alarming but still no statement is being made about it. The total number of electors registered for the year 2009 is 879,897 and among them 222, 060, i.e. 25.2% are aged from 18-29 years old (estimates from the Electoral Commission Office). However, at present our National Assembly does not have a single member in the above age group (p.10 ). There is no available data about the voting frequency of the different age groups of the registered electors nor are there disaggregated statistics about the voting behaviour of males and females. Data on neither the formal nor informal political engagement of youth could be obtained at the Ministry of Youth and Sports. It becomes hence clear that there is a lack of research on this issue either because of an unrealised phenomenon or a taken for granted phenomenon or most probably the issue is considered to be an unimportant one. However, as highlighted by the Secretary-General of t he UN 1997-2007 Kofi Annan, World Youth Report 2003, p. 271): â€Å"No one is born a good citizen; no nation is born a democracy. Rather, both are processes that continue to evolve over a lifetime. Young people must be included from birth. A society that cuts itself off from its youth severs its lifetime; it is condemned to bleed to death.† The only hint that could be obtained about the topic in the Mauritian Context is a mini research which appeared as an article on one page (p.9) in L Express Newspaper 04th August 2009 entitled: â€Å"Jeune et Politique: LImpossible Alliance†. The mini-research was carried out by Dr. Catherine Boudet from Reunion Island. â€Å"En labsence dà ©tudes sur la culture politique des jeunes mauriciens†, she has conducted a mini-research using a focus group of 10 youth at UoM and she has distributed 30 questionnaires among youngsters (15- 27 years old). However, she adds that â€Å"cette à ©tude empirique ne fait pas office de sondage, mais elle a le mà ©rite de constituer un petit barometre de là ©tat desprit de la jeunesse.† At this stage, following the ontological assumptions are made: Why are these young people absent from politics? Is it because of a change in lifecycle? Have they become disengaged? If, so to what extent are they disengaged? Why have they become disengaged? Have they found other forms of political participation with social change? Are they not being given adequate political space? On taking the epistemological dimension, suggested answers which form the hypotheses of the research are given to these questions. (Source: G. M. du Ploy, 2001, p.20) HYPOTHESES OF THE RESEARCH Young people do not have time for politics because of a change in lifecycle. Young people have found some other forms of political participation. Young people have negative attitudes towards politics and politicians. Young people are disengaged because politicians do not care about their needs and demands. Politicians/elders are not giving political space to young people. At this point, the aims and objectives become clearer. AIMS AND OBJECTIVES OF THE RESEARCH The double objectives of the research are to: To know young peoples desires and needs concerning society. Identify measures to introduce some changes in youth towards politics and vice versa. In order to reach these main objectives, the research aims to: Explore the level of formal political participation among young people. Explore the level of informal political participation among young people. Find out if todays youth will or will not reach the levels of political participation currently displayed by the elderly. Find out and verify the reasons/explanations of the disengagement of the young people about politics and try to find convenient actions to apply. ORGANISATION OF CHAPTERS The next step which follows as can be seen in the diagram is the theoretical assumptions which help in verifying the hypotheses and achieve the aims and objectives of the research. The theoretical framework is also the base of the research which establishes working definitions for fieldwork. All these are dealt in Chapter 2. Hints of the methodology can be found throughout the whole dissertation while Chapter 3 has been devoted mainly to the methods used to extract information. Chapter 4 analyses and discusses the discoveries of the fieldwork and the dissertation concludes with the Chapter 5 where I also come up with some recommendations. A CONTEMPORARY GLOBAL OVERVIEW OF YOUTH AND POLITICS IN DEMOCRATIC COUNTRIES The vast majority of reading on youth participation in politics shows that there has been a steady decline in youth political participation in many democratic (Pammett and Leduc 2003; ONeill 2007). In almost every election young people are the least likely to vote and these participation rates are continuously declining(Putnam 2000; Kimberlee 2002; Gauthier 2003; Pammett and Leduc 2003). Youth membership of political parties is also dropping (Hooghes et al. 2004). Although mostAfrican countries have a majority of youth population, African parliaments have less than 1% youth participation as MPs (Sigudhla 2004). In fact, research such as Putnam (2000), Kimberlee (2002), Blais et al. (2002), Blais et al. (2004), Clarke et al. (2004), Zukin et al. (2006) and Dalton (2007)provide clear indication that the more recent generations are less likely to engage in politics than were previous generations of the same age. The ‘generational effects suggests that todays young people are less active in politics, and they will never reach the levels of political participation currently displayed by the elderly (Martikainen et al. 2005). Studies indicate that the present younger generations will retain these differences as they grow older, and that consequently the present electorate will be replaced by a more passive generation of political participants (Quintelier 2007). As for youth in democratic Mauritius, all these have to be tested. Hence, most important is to identify working definitions of terms on which the project is based. Obviously, the parameters of the terms ‘Youth and ‘Politics have to be established. PARAMETER OF THE TERM ‘YOUTH USED Both the first and second Mauritian National Youth Policy (2000 2004) and (2010 2014) define youth as persons aged â€Å"between 14 and 29 living in the Republic of Mauritius†. Thus for the purpose of this dissertation, the age of youth considered does not exceed 29 years old. ESTABLISHING THE WORKING DEFINITION OF POLITICS The definition of politics is confined to what Randall (1987) identified as forms of political participation which are as follows: → Voting Voting is sometimes understood as the first step in a succession of increasing demanding political acts. Marsh and Kaase (1979) (cited in Randall 1987) find it as a unique type of political participation in the sense that it does not occur very often and is very much biased. Randall (1987) notes that in most countries women are more inclined to cast their vote than men. → Other Conventional Forms Of Participation According to Welch (1977) (cited in Randall 1987), this form of participation include campaigning for political parties or their candidates, membership of a political party or organization or attendance at a political meeting. Dowse and Hughes (1972) (cited in Randall 1987) find that women participate less men when it comes to this form of participation. → Less Conventional Politics Randall (1987) refers to this form of participation as ad hoc politics which means participation in political campaigns that are relatively short-lived, throwing up makeshift organizations and tending to rely on direct tactics such as pickets, squats and self-help projects. In this form of participation, Randall (1987) notes that women ‘come into their own and their participation is as significant as that of men. These 3 forms of political participation have been used as indicators to serve the exploratory purpose of the research. While Levine (2007), ONeill (2007), Braud (2004) and many others have spoken about the forms of political engagement, the theory of Randall (1987) was purposely chosen since it also deals about womens participation for each form. Hence with the ‘gender variable, the research also tests the relevance of the theory among young Mauritian. To explain the identified disengagement of youth from politics, it is important to find out what other research say and what are their theories. Hence the following theories which I have classified under 3 headings served the explanatory purpose of the research: Social change; Adults attitudes and actions and the Attitudes and lifecycle of young people. EXPLANATORY THEORIES ABOUT THE DISENGAGEMENT OF YOUTH FROM POLITICS A. Social Change ONeill (2007) notes that cell phones have been identified as a new form of political activism especially for young people. She also stresses the use on new Internet-based sites such as MySpace and Facebook which provide forums for communicating, organising and socialising and they are unlike traditional social networks that require face-to-face contact. Quintelier (2007), Hoskins et al. (2003) and O Toole et al. (2003) notice the attractiveness of these new forms of participation has caused younger people to divert from traditional forms of political participation as practiced by the older generation. Moreover, according to findings of Levine (2007), Dalton (2007) and Zukin et al. although members of this generation are less engaged in traditional political activities, many are willing to provide direct voluntary services. However in a study conducted by Blais (n.d)among young people on the island of Montreal, he finds out that non-conventional participation has not replaced conventional participation. In fact, most of the respondents either do both or do neither. As for the case of young Mauritians, this has to be tested. B. Adults attitudes and actions Conventional ‘wisdom dictates that young people are ‘less knowledgeable, ‘ignorant, ‘apathetic, ‘indifferent, ‘alienated, ‘disaffected and ‘disinterested when it comes to politics (Eden et al. 2002; OToole et al. 2003; Henn et al. 2003). ONeill (2001) add to the view that youth are also more likely to find politics uninteresting and even boring. Moreover, in a case study carried out by Golumbek (2002), adults explain the political disengagement of youth by the fact that youth only want to have fun and politics appear dull to them. Moreover,Bessant (2004) and Eden et al. (2002) notice some restrictions, namely, in the patronizing of youth by parents and educators. This is displayed in that politicians, parents and teachers frequently deny their children or students the right to participate in protest marches when such activities take place during class hours. C. The Attitudes And Lifecycle Of Young People Pammett and LeDucs (2003) study clearly indicate that young people have negative attitudes towards political parties. Young people perceive politicians as ‘out of touch, ‘untrustworthy, ‘self-interested, ‘irrelevant and ‘power-hungry (O Toole et al. 2003; Quintelier 2007). Young people do not trust politicians believing they are corrupt and self-serving (Bennett, 1997). They are very critical and quickly recognize when politicians lie or when they try to speak on their behalf (Henn et al. 2002). More so, youth find that conventional politics carries an image problem (Edwards, 2001). Many young people feel that they are not heard by politicians and that they ultimately cannot influence politics (Henn et al. 2002; Kimberlee 2002). Henn et al. 2002; O Toole et al. 2003; Keeter 2003; Quintelier 2007 find that the non-participation of young people is due to the failure of the politicians to address the issues that concern them, or to make the issues relevant to their daily lives. Youth have the impression that politicians do not truly care about their needs and large percentage of young people believe that the government is unresponsive to people like them (Bennett, 1997). Youth have fewer resources for political participation because of ‘lifecycle effects (Quintelier 2007 and Verba et al. 1995). According to these authors, political participation requires time and money and young people do not yet have a stable basis for concern with politics. Hence, they are more preoccupied with short-term projects (Verba et al. 1974; Iyengar and Jackman 2004). According to Kimberlee (1998), the decline in political interest and behaviour of young people should be attributed to the changing of social and economic environment in which young people now live. After having established the body of theories, it is important to have an idea of the variables of the research which could at the same time be presented as some ‘unique traits of the Mauritian Politics. TRAITS OF THE MAURITIAN POLITICS/ VARIABLES OF THE RESEARCH A. Gender Imbalance From Appendices 2 and 3, it can be observed that before 2005, the number of female MPs had never exceeded six. One would find that in many constituencies in Mauritius, women have never been elected while in most constituencies the number of nominated women is very low or women are not fielded at all. In 2005, 61 of the 645 candidates who stood for the General Elections were women (9.5%). The two major parties (MLP and MMM) which were capable of electing candidates, together fielded only 16 women. Of those 16, 11 were elected as constituency seat MPs and 1 as best-loser seat MP. The number of women in the legislature from the year 2000 to 2005 has increased from 4 to 12 (5.7% 17%). Nonetheless, this number is nowhere near the 30% goal set in the SADC declaration on Gender and Development of which Mauritius is a signatory. Phillipss (1991, 1995) arguments for democracy are based on mirror representation, group representation and interest representation and Chiroro (2005) highlighted t hat Mauritius totally fails in terms of mirror representation. What awaits us for this years 2010 General Elections is yet to be known. B. Ethinicised Politics In Mauritius, the 70 member National Assembly consists of 62 elected representatives of constituencies and 8 additional seats allocated to the Best Losers among the non-elected. The latter seats are allocated on the basis of ethnic membership (the first four) and a combination of ethnicity and party membership (the remaining four) (Lau Thai Keng 1999, Eriksen 1998). The main purpose of this system is to ensure an adequate representation of the minority groups (Addison et al 1993). Eriksen (1998) notes that most political parties in Mauritius have overtly or covertly represented ethnic / communal interests. Dinan, Nababsing and Mathur (cited in Crawford Young, 1999) add that political parties in Mauritius field their candidates in constituencies not only according to ethnic configurations of the constituency but sub groups (caste, cultural and linguistic) of the voters are also considered. This might be because communalism is an important variable for voting behaviour of the population (Mathur 1991). Thus, considering the ethnic group of respondents as a variable when one does a research on politics becomes significant. C. Youth Political Engagement/Disengagement TABLE 1: CALCULATED AVERAGE AGE OF MPs IN MAURITIUS ELECTION 11TH SEPTEMBER 2000 ELECTION 03RD JULY 2005 MPs 2005 BY 28th FEBRUARY 2010 MEAN AGE 47 49 Logically, the mean, mode and median at 28th February 2010 would be that of the year 2005 + 5 since the MPs are the same apart from few modifications (see appendix 5). MODAL AGE 39 51 MEDIAN AGE 47 51 % OF YOUTH AS DEFINED AS PER THE NATIONAL YOUTH POLICY (2 à · 66) ÃŽ § 100 = 3.03% (2 d.p) 0% To be able to acquire this data, I have gathered and compiled the date of birth and calculated the age of MPs for the year 2000 and 2005 (SEE APPENDICES 4 AND 5). From these, the average age of MPs and the percentage of MPs which fall into the youth category for the last 2 General Elections could be obtained. While the age at which a candidate can stand for Elections is 18 and the maximum age a person is considered to be young in Mauritius is 29, the data in the above table brings us back to the ontological assumptions made in Chapter 1 where it becomes necessary to gather primary data. Before presenting to you, the procedures and methods adopted for the collection of primary data, I wish to recapitulate what the basic research which has an exploratory and explanatory purpose aims to. The research tries to: → Explore the extent of engagement/disengagement of youth in/from politics in Mauritius. → Determine which explanation classified under 3 headings best explains the absence of youth from formal politics. → Find out if todays youth will or will not reach the levels of political participation currently displayed by the elderly. → Explore and organize primary data so as to create a picture of the current situation of the topic in the Mauritian context. → Develop new hypotheses which will be matter of further testing in future research. → To fill in the gap of unavailable data in Mauritius and thus contribute to epistemology. A MODEL OF THE RESEARCH PROCESS STAGE 1: OBSERVATION It is well known that in Mauritius the SU is much linked to political parties. Hence, observation was carried out during the campaign of the Students Union (SU) Elections at the UoM. Both the campaign and the observation lasted for 2 weeks (started on 19th October 2009 and ended on the 30th October 2009). The observation was an opportunity to have an overview of the relationship between youth and politics. PLANNING THE OBSERVATION A. Type of Observation TYPE OF OBSERVATION WHAT WERE UNDER OBSERVATION REASON Non participant Everything that could be seen, heard and felt. Not being a candidate for the SU Elections myself, some information was not easily disclosed to me. Thus everything that could be seen, heard and felt was noted down. Moreover, 2 interviews were carried out with people involved in the campaign. B. Instruments Used For Observation INSTRUMENTS USED PURPOSE/S Diary To write fresh, valid, reliable and vivid data on the spot. Camera Photographs were taken in case particular aspects of the campaign went unnoticed during the observation. Hence they could be re-analysed in the photographs. However, for ethical reasons the photographs were taken from quite afar so that the people are not totally visible. Myself Human Intrument Since the senses have to be used in observation and the researcher exerts some sort of power over the other instruments he/she is using, the latter becomes the main instrument in the observation process. STAGE 2: INTERVIEWS AND ITS OBJECTIVES For the purpose of this dissertation, 4 interviews were carried out in all. It is to be noted that interviewees did not find the need to remain anonymous. INTERVIEWEES OBJECTIVES 1 Soobeersingh Dhunoo alias Kenny (male) ex student at the UoM and ex president of the SU (present during the SU Election Campaign and thus was interviewed). In order, not to be gender biased, a boy and a girl were determinedly selected and at the same time a gender comparison of youths political engagement could be made since gender is the only relevant variable between them in this particular setting. Unstructured interview was used for both respondents so as to grasp maximum information about how youth conduct their political activities. 2 Khirtee Ruchpaul (female) -candidate at the SU Elections (interviewed during the SU Election campaign). 3 Naveena Ramyad (female) former member in the MMM Youth Wing[5] and potential candidate of the MMM party for General Elections 2010. Since the MMM party does not have any archival information, Naveena acted like a ‘key informant. It was also an opportunity to ask her about her transition from the Youth Wing to the Party itself. A semi-structured interview was found to be most convenient. 4 Devanand Ritoo the current Minister of Youth and Sports. Structured questions were prepared and he was interviewed in his capacity as: 1. An senior politician, 2. The current president of the Youth Wing of Mauritian Labour Party, 3. The current Minister of Youth and Sports. PLANNING THE INTERVIEWS The interviewees were the ones to decide about the place, time and day on which the interview would take place. Face-to-face interviews were carried out and a tape recorder was used to record everything with the permission of the interviewee. The use of tape recorder enabled me to maintain the eye contact with my interviewees and much attention could be given to their expressions, body languages and tones. Hence face validity could be checked out on the spot. Although all the interviewees could speak English, interviews were conducted in Creole which is the mother tongue of mostly all Mauritians. This was done with the purpose of allowing interviewees to be more at ease so that they could provide more information. Once questions were asked, interviewees were given the opportunity to talk as much as they wished without being interrupted by me. My role as an interviewer was only to ask questions. It was not like a sort of conversation. In this way, value-free information could be gathered. However, no research is without lacuna, mine being no exception. The lacunas are: It was quite difficult to carry out such an observation (where the researcher is the main instrument) during 2 weeks on a large scale. Many things should have gone unnoticed, unheard and unfelt not only in my absence but in my presence as well. Moreover, many of the research questions have remained unanswered. I could picture the extent of engagement and disengagement of youth but I did not get the many explanations what is/ are causing this political disengagement through the observation method. Interviewees were those engaged in politics in some way or another but why the other youngsters are disengaged from politics remains a research question among so many. This led me to the stage 3 where the questionnaire came into use. STAGE 3: QUESTIONNAIRE METHOD AND ITS OBJECTIVES Concepts / hypotheses were developed into indicators through questions and statements in the form of questionnaire to mainly test why there is this ‘disengagement of youth from politics. At the same time, some questions related to the qualitative part of the research conducted were set to translate the information from subjective to objective, cross check the findings and make it generalisable. As according to Bryman (2004), the main advantage of triangulation is that it increases confidence in research findings. For some concepts, multiple indicators were used (multiple measure of a concept) A better explanation of this is given in the next chapter. A copy of the questionnaire distributed to respondents can be scrutinized in APPENDIX 6. THE TYPES OF QUESTION USED Since each question/ statement set serves a purpose, the type of question found to be most suitable was attributed to each. Finally, I end up with the use of the following types of questions: OPEN-ENDED QUESTION CLOSED-ENDED QUESTION Likert-type Dichotomous Partially closed question Multiple choice Ranking THE VARIABLES OF THE RESEARCH Only concepts which are relevant to the topic are used as variables. Thus ‘gender was used as variable for all questions while the ‘ethnic origin was used as variable only for question 2, 3, 4, 6, 7 (g), 7 (h).These variables are independent and discrete in nature. The extent of youths engagement/disengagement in/from politics is the dependent variable considered and this variable is also continuous in nature. The survey does not intend to compare younger and mature youths political engagement or disengagement since youth (as from 18 years old) as one body is absent in the Mauritian parliament. Hence youth is used as a constant as per the definition of National Youth Policy which has already been established in the previous chapter. DECIDING ABOUT SAMPLE AND SAMPLING METHODS: A. What does this Sample Frame represent? Only students of the University of Mauritius were chosen to be included in the sample. The reasons for this were that: → All the students are above 18 years old and hence have the voting right as well as the right to stand as candidates for the General Elections. → The students also come from all over the island and thus the sample englobes the subgroups as per the National Youth Policy â€Å"residence, religion, community, socio-cultural and educational backgrounds† but this should not be confused with the variable being used. → Since the students of UoM were observed during the campaign of the SU Elections, it was found most convenient to make them the sample, test the hypotheses on them and make generalizations. The sampling frame was defined in terms of the 5 faculties of the UoM. To strike the balance of students in the 5 faculties, equal number of boys and equal number of girls were asked to fill in questionnaires in each faculty. B. Sample Size The sample size set for the survey was as follows: MALE FEMALE FOE 35 35 FOA 35 35 FSSH 35 35 FLM 35 35 FOS 35 35 TOTAL 175 175 350 Since some questionnaires were rejected due to inadequate filling by respondents, the sample size is reduced to the following: MALE FEMALE FOE 31 34 FOA 35 33 FSSH 33 35 FLM 35 34 FOS 34 35 TOTAL 168 171 339 Hence the sample size considered for the purpose of analysis is 339. This sample size was decided for the purpose of accuracy and representativeness which are the aims of quantitative research. It also creates representativeness of all students in different fields of study and this enables generalization of findings. C. Sampling Methods A combination of probability sampling (cluster sampling) and non-probability sampling (quota sampling) was used for particular reasons. 1) Quota Sampling Quota sampling was the main sampling method used. 213 questionnaires were filled through this sampling method. The criteria for choosing respondents through quota sampling were as follows: → Whether they seemed to be in the youth category, → The faculty to which they belong, → Sex, → Whether they have already filled in the questionnaires, → If no, whether they were free and would accept to fill in the questionnaire adequately. Questionnaires were filled by respondents on the spot and collected by myself. This exercise was done with several objectives: → It avoids the loss of questionnaires by respondents. → Data collected are more reliable and questionnaires are filled adequately. → A rapport could be established with respondents and if they had any difficulty, clarity could be made (This exercise was done by maintaining value-free research). → Feelings and attitudes about the topic could be observed on the site of research. → It brings originality to the research method being used as well as the research since it seems like doing a qualitative research through a quantitative one. 2) Cluster/ Area Sampling: With a large representative sample size, doing quota sampling by waiting for respondents to fill in questionnaires on the spot was predicted to be tiresome and time-consuming. This is why cluster sampling was used before I started undertaking the quota sampling Cluster sampling could be used since the population of each faculty at the UoM consisted of units rather than individuals according to the type sample frame I set. 137 questionnaires were filled through cluster sampling in 3 classes of different faculties. Permission was obtained from lecturers to carry out this exercise in their class and the questionnaires were returned by respondents on the spot. PILOT TESTING OF THE QUESTIONNAI

Victorian Furniture of the Middle Class :: Victorian Era

Victorian Furniture of the Middle Class According to the Middle Class Victorians, less was definitely not more. In fact, in the case of the Victorians, the more ostentatious and packed a house was, the higher the status of that family. A house in the Victorian Era would most likely be cluttered until nothing else could fit. Not only was there clutter, but the rooms were "quite dark with busily patterned wallpaper (Victorian Home Life Changes)" and lots of gold garnishments. Fashions of Furniture and Their Influences Beginning in the 1830's, the first influences of Victorian furniture were from the English architect, Augustus Pugin. These were of the "Neo-gothic Design (Sometimes More is More)" characterized by dark woods, pointed arches, trefoils and other Gothic cathedral carvings. By incorporating previous influences from cathedrals, furniture represented morality in the Victorians lives (Sometimes More is More). A trefoil looks like a three-leaf clover and is found in wooden furniture. By the 1850's, a new inspiration came from the "Rococo Revival." This was a more "romantic form (Sometimes More is More). " It was characterized by "swirling lines, natural motifs like fruit and flowers, and dark woods like mahogany, rosewood and black walnut (Sometimes More is More)." The design came from France and included the use of not so dark wood and looked more natural. The Rococo Revival ended around 1870. Meanwhile, during that time period, around 1860 until 1880, the Renaissance Revival took place. Instead of having expensive, richly made furniture, the Victorians merely began placing expensive additions to inexpensive, poorly made furniture. During the 1850s, mass production of carpeting took place as well as patterned wallpaper (Sometimes More is More.) This allowed the Victorians to decorate their houses with even more colors and clutter. Who Decorated the House and What Were Some Typical Pieces of Furniture Overstuffed divans and couches were a staple in most middle class houses (Furniture).

Wuthering Heights: Sympathy With The Villain Essay -- essays research

Heathcliff, the main character in Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte, has no heart. He is evil to the core - so savage that his lone purpose is to ruin others. Yet at the very moment at which the reader would be expected to feel the most antipathy towards the brute -after he has destroyed his wife, after he has degraded the life of a potentially great man, and after he has watched the death of his son occur with no care nor concern, the reader finds himself feeling strangely sympathetic towards this character. The answer to this oddity lies in the presentation of the character himself, which causes us to be more pitying of him than we otherwise might. Bronte’s describes the young boy, Heathcliff, as†dark, almost as if he came from the devil,† immediately spurring the reader to view the character as evil and immoral. His actions from thence forward largely tend to enhance this notion. From the very get go he hates Hindley, and although the feeling is mutual, Heathcliff certainly does his just portion of cruel deeds. In one incident Mr Earnshaw has given both Hindley and Heathcliff a colt. When Heathcliff’s colt goes lame, he threatens to blackmail Hindley if he does not trade with him. At a young age, he begins to plot revenge against Hindley. â€Å"I’m trying to settle how I shall pay Hindley back,† he says, â€Å"I don’t care how long I wait, if I can only do it at last. I hope he will not die before I do!† And in his adult years, we find him teaching Hindley’s son Hareton to swear desiring that the boy become just as foul as he. As the novel continues, Heathcliff devel ops another aversion. This time, to the man that married his lover, Edgar Linton. In one particular scene Edgar, Catherine, and Heathcliff are all involved in a passionate dispute. â€Å"I wish you the joy of a milk-blooded coward,† he says, â€Å"....I compliment you on your taste. And that is the slavering, shivering thing you preferred me too. I would not strike him with my fist, but I’d kick him with my foot and experience considerable satisfaction.† After the completion of this speech, Heathcliff proceeds to just as he had discussed. Later, to gain power of Edgar, Heathcliff elopes with Edgar’s sister, Isabella. Their marriage proves to be far from delightful, for Heathcliff has no love for Isabella. â€Å"Is Mr Heathcliff a man?† Isabella writes, â€Å"If so, is he mad? And if not, is he a devil?† Heathcliff’s com... ...ovel draws to a close, Heathcliff realizes the futility of his life, as it has been spent on that one task. â€Å"I get levers and mattocks to demolish the two houses (referring to Edgar’s and Hindley’s) and train myself to be capable of working like Hercules, and when everything is ready and in my power, I find the will to life a slate off either roof has vanished!...I could do it; and none would hinder me. But where is the use?...I have lost the faculty of enjoying their destruction, and I am too idle to destroy for nothing.† Upon realizing this, Heathcliff wills himself to die. Thus, despite Heathcliff’s immoral behavior and throughly evil actions, the book closes leaving the reader with a pitying disposition on the character’s behalf. After never being taught to love, being abused, losing ones love, and living for one thing only to later discover it’s futilty, one might ponder that Heathcliff couldn’t help but be how was. The circumstances were almost beyond his control. The passionate, violent environment of Wuthering Heights shaped him into the fiend that he was. And to read of that hellish existence is enough to impart a sympathetic sigh from even the most critical of readers.

The Primitive Nature of Man Revealed in Lord of the Flies :: Lord Flies Essays

The Primitive Nature of Man Revealed in Lord of the Flies      Ã‚  Ã‚   A running theme in Lord of the Flies is that man is savage at heart, always ultimately reverting back to an evil and primitive nature. The cycle of man's rise to power, or righteousness, and his inevitable fall from grace is an important point that book proves again and again, often comparing man with characters from the Bible to give a more vivid picture of his descent. Lord Of The Flies symbolizes this fall in different manners, ranging from the illustration of the mentality of actual primitive man to the reflections of a corrupt seaman in purgatory.    The novel is the story of a group of boys of different backgrounds who are marooned on an unknown island when their plane crashes. As the boys try to organize and formulate a plan to get rescued, they begin to separate and as a result of the dissension a band of savage tribal hunters is formed. Eventually the "stranded boys in Lord of the Flies almost entirely shake off civilized behavior: (Riley 1: 119). When the confusion finally leads to a manhunt [for Ralph], the reader realizes that despite the strong sense of British character and civility that has been instilled in the youth throughout their lives, the boys have backpedaled and shown the underlying savage side existent in all humans. "Golding senses that institutions and order imposed from without are temporary, but man's irrationality and urge for destruction are enduring" (Riley 1: 119).    The novel shows the reader how easy it is to revert back to the evil nature inherent in man. If a group of well-conditioned school boys can ultimately wind up committing various extreme travesties, one can imagine what adults, leaders of society, are capable of doing under the pressures of trying to maintain world relations. Lord of the Flies' apprehension of evil is such that it touches the nerve of contemporary horror as no English novel of its time has done; it takes us, through symbolism, into a world of active, proliferating evil which is seen, one feels, as the natural condition of man and which is bound to remind the reader of the vilest manifestations of Nazi regression (Riley 1: 120).    In the novel, Simon is a peaceful lad who tries to show the boys that there is no monster on the island except the fears that the boys have.

Coke and Pepsi

Coke and Pepsi in the Twenty-First Century: Threat of Entry:low 1. Economies of scale – High production volume but merit not clear (1st paragraph on page 2) 2. Product differentiation – Brand identification (high advertising expense, Exhibit 2) 3. Capital requirements – CPs: little capital investment (1st paragraph on page 2) – Bottlers: capital intensive (2nd paragraph on page 3) 4. Cost disadvantages independent of size – No 5. Access to distribution channels – Food stores (35%): intense shelf space pressure (2nd paragraph on page 4) – Fountain (23%): CPs dominated first food chain (1st paragraph on page 5) 6.Government policy (N/A) Threat to entry is low because Coca-Cola Company, PepsiCo, and Cadbury Schweppes control 90. 1% of the market share; 44. 1%, 31. 4%, and 14. 7% respectively. Although the growth rate of CSD consumptions have been steady at 3% a year, the capital requirement to enter the market is too great of an obstacle. In order to service the entire US, a firm would need $25-50 million to build a plant for concentrate producers, $6 billion ($75 million * 80 plants) to establish bottlers, cost associated to provide and maintain incentives to retailers, and the greatest cost to advertisements.Therefore, firms are deterred from entering the CSD market due to economies of scale couple with brand image that the firm must face. In order provide product differentiation, the entering firm would have to invest heavily to develop a brand image for CSD aside from the three market leaders. Access to distribution channels is intense in CSD industry as bottlers are fighting for shelf spaces in grocery stores. In addition, PepsiCo is in the restaurant business of owning Taco Bell, Kentucky Fried Chicken, Pizza Hut by shutting down any opportunities for other CSD firms to sell fountain drinks in those restaurants.Other CSD firms like Coca-Cola has develop a relationship with remaining market leaders of restauran t for their fountain distribution (i. e. , McDonalds and Burger King). In addition, â€Å"Soft Drink Interbrand Competition Act† in 1980 preserves the rights of Concentrate Producers to grant exclusive territories. Therefore, it would be safe to assume that there are not many competitors in the market vying for a new territory since the existing Concentrate Producers would have driven off competition out of business through their rights of exclusive territories.Cost disadvantages independent of size is high as development brand image will require high investments in advertisement and to develop a new differentiating acquired taste for CSD consumers. Substitutes:low (Non-cola beverage? ) Substitutes of CSD’s include water, juice, milk, and different types of alcohol. However, leading CSD’s have branch out their products to water and juice to capture the market shares of CSD’s substitutes. Other leading substitutes to CSD’s are milk, coffee, and alco hol beverages. These substitutes are generally different complement beverages than the CSD’s.Coffee and alcohol beverages are geared towards adults only and milk is gear towards breakfast meal consumptions with cereal. Complements: Complements to CSD’s are food. CSD firms have made relationships with retailers of food (i. e. , grocery stores, gas stations). In addition, firms have made relationships with restaurants to complement their products with food. Since food is something that everyone consumes several times a day, CSD companies have a great opportunity to maximize their presence in different distribution methods. Buyers:low 1. large volume?Some buyers might buy in large volume but not found in the case 2. standard or undifferentiated? No 3. NA for this case 4. low profits? – Food stores: No, average (5th paragraph on page 4) – Fountains: extremely profitable, 80 cents out of one dollar (1st paragraph on page 5) 5. unimportant? No 6. does not save buyers’ money? (N/A) 7. credible threat? No Buyer groups are not powerful against CPs and bottlers. Therefore, there is no significant bargaining power from buyer side in CSD industry. This situation contributes to maintain high profit of CPs and bottlers. (Reasons) 1.Because there are various retail channels, CPs and bottlers do not face the single retailer with power which purchases in large volume. 2. In general, selling CSDs yields high profit for retailers. (15-20% gross margin for food store, 80 cents out of one dollar for fountain. ) That fact prevents buyers to be price sensitive. 3. In fountain business, CPs and bottlers kept fountain sales profitable and succeeded to avoid cutting price pressure from retailers by paying rebate and investing restaurant retailers. 4. In food store, CSD represented a large percentage of its business (accounting for 3%-4% of food store business).To draw customers to store, it should be necessary for food store to carry the most selling brand in CSD, Coke and Pepsi. This structure weakens food store’s bargaining power. 5. Vending machine is efficient retail channel for keeping price because bottlers can directly control. It also works in the country where Coke and Pepsi do not have distribution channel(ex. Japan). 6. Coke and Pepsi have already established strong brand identification. Some discount retailers have private label CSD but they can not take the place of Coke and Pepsi.Internal Rivalry: high 1. numerous? roughly equal? – numerous: No, oligopoly – roughly equal: Yes – price increase, oligopoly (4th paragraph on page 11) 2. Industry growth – plateau (Exhibit 3) 3. lacks differentiation? – try to differentiate by marketing (5th paragraph on page11) 4. High fixed costs? 5. Capacity augments? Capacity itself not clearly mentioned in the case but; early 1990s: Yes? incurred excess supply? (1st paragraph on page 11, Exhibit 1) late 1990s: 6. High exit barrier? – Yes? capital intensive? 7. rivals diverse in strategies? – No?Coca-Cola and Pepsi’s history of intense rivalry has resulted in the execution of a large number of strategies designed to gain market share and brand recognition. As the industry matures and Coca-Cola and Pepsi learn from past strategies, increased profitability heavily relies on their ability to cut costs, gain fountain contracts, globally expand product mix, and vertically integrate bottler distribution channels. Traditional strategic initiatives such as new product development, advertising, price reduction, and product differentiation will produce minimal results considering Coca-cola and Pepsi are similar in size and power.Coca Cola and Pepsi’s ability to quickly respond to competitor strategies generally lead to industry wars where neither firm is better off then when they started. While it is important to continually maintain brand awareness and pursue various market trends, large gains in prof itability will ensue from strategies that create a sustainable competitive advantage. It is more advantageous for Coca-Cola and Pepsi to invest in strategies that increase the industry demand versus short term profit. Such strategies include but are not limited to, entering developing countries, key acquisitions of growing businesses (i. Yahoo, Diageo, Arista Records, or Starbucks), and increased efforts to vertically integrate bottler distribution channels. Key acquisitions are important in that they can provide the means in which each company can redefine their brand name as more then a â€Å"cola†. Successful examples are Sony, Disney, and GE. Suppliers:low 1. dominated? Metal cans: excess supply (1st paragraph on page 6) 2. unique? not unique 3. obliged to contend? (N/A) 4. credible threats? No 5. important customer? Metal can: largest customer (1st paragraph on page 6) Coke and Pepsi COKE AND PEPSI LEARN TO COMPETE IN INDIABrief Overview:The case of Coke and Pepsi in India is a lesson that all marketers can observe, analyze and learn from, since it involves so many marketing aspects that are essential for all marketers to take into considerationPepsi entered into the Indian beverage market in July 1986 as a joint venture with two local partners, Voltas and Punjab Agro, forming â€Å"Pepsi Foods Ltd. † While Coca-Cola followed suit in 1990 with a joint venture with Britannia Industries India before creating a 100% owned company in 1993 and then ultimately aligning with Parle, the leader in the beverage industry.As both companies would soon discover, â€Å"competing in India requires special knowledge, skills, and local expertise what works here does not always work there. † (Cateora & Graham, 2008, p. 604). In this article, analyze the primary obstacle to Pepsi and Coca-Cola’s success, discuss their strategies to cope with the issue, and ultim ately propose my own suggestions to improvement. Question 1: The political environment in India has proven to be critical to company performance for both PepsiCo and Coca-Cola India. What specific aspects of the political environment have played key roles? Could these effects have been anticipated prior to market entry? If not, could developments in the political arena have been handle better by each company?Indian government viewed as unfriendly to foreign investors. Outside investment had been allowed only in high-tech sectors and was almost entirely prohibited in consumer goods sectors. The â€Å"Principle of indigenous available† If an item could be obtained anywhere else within the country, imports of similar items were forbidden.This made Indian consumers had a little choice of products or brands and no guarantees of quality or reliability.Indian Laws, the government mandated that Pepsi’s products be promoted under the â€Å"Lehar Pepsi† name. For Coca-Cola, they attempted to enter into Indian market by joining with Parle and became â€Å"Coca-Cola India†Yes, it could anticipate the effect prior to market by using information fro m own company research, the business partner in that country, the expertise service, and own experience in near area. They could developments in political arena; Coke could agreed to start new bottling plants instead of buying out Parle, and thus wouldn’t agreed to sell 40% of their equityQuestion 2: Timing of entry into the Indian market brought different results for PepsiCo and Coca-Cola India. What benefits or disadvantages accrued as a result of earlier or later market entry? PepsiCo: Pros: (1) entered the market before Coca-Cola and getting an early entry was able to help Pepsi go so far with Indian market while it was still developing; (2) the fact that company gained 26%market share by 1993 Cons: (1) The government mandated that Pepsi’s product be promoted under the name â€Å"Lehar Pepsi†, because foreign collaboration rules in force at the time prohibited the use of foreign brand names on products intended for sale inside India; (2) Indian Govt limited their soft drink sale no exceed 25% of total sales for the new entrant; (3) Pepsi Foods struggled to fight off local competitions. Coca – Cola: Pros: (1) have ability to align themselves with the market leader. In fact, Parle offered to sell Coca – Cola its bottling plants in four key cities, and (2) Parle also offered to sell its leading brands. (3) Finally, Coca – Cola set up two new ventures with Frooti, Soda, and local product was called â€Å"Britco Foods† Cons: (1) was denied entry until 1993 because Pepsi was already there; (2) It was very difficult for Coca – Cola take market share away from Pepsi and local firms, due to the beverage market was itself growing consistently form year to year; (3) Coca –Cola was not allowed to buy back 40% of equity when the company chose to leave Indian market in 1977 Question 7: What lessons can each company draw from its Indian experience as it contemplates entry into other Big Emerging Markets? PepsiCo:Beneficial to keep with local tasteSignificant to follow market trendsSponsors and Celebrity appeals make more exceptional advertisingIt pays to keep up with emerging trends in the marketCoca – Cola:Pays specific attention to deals made with the governmentEstablish a good business relationship with the governmentInvestment in quality productsAdvertising is essentialBeneficial to follow market trends