Athol Fugard from South Africa - 863 Words

Historical, Social and Political condition Athol Fugard was born into the era of apartheid. The Fugard family was known as a very poor white family which affected the way he wrote his plays. Apartheid was known as a time in South Africa when whites were separated from the non-whites. White people were known as the â€Å"top dogs† and the non-whites were classified as the â€Å"under dogs† in the Republic of South Africa. Fugard was against apartheid due to the way he was living at the time. His father worked amongst non-whites and therefore made the poor Fugard family much like the non-whites. Fugard was completely against the apartheid and therefore, just like his dad, Fugard worked with black actors in his plays. The Government did not like what Fugard was doing, by working with black actors and therefore they punished him at times by either banning his plays or confiscating his passport. Apartheid was an era of violence and oppression. Oppression was part of the apartheid laws against non-whites. This caused most of the non-white population to go on strikes and try and fight their way through these ridiculous laws. Fugard wrote about the unknown things that were happening during apartheid. Fugard stood by the non-whites side to help them fight, by producing his thoughts onto stage. Analysing 2 plays written by Athol Fugard The Island: This play is a classic example of protest apartheid. This was well known as protest theatre. The play has four scenes and is based in a prisonShow MoreRelatedInternal Conflicts in Master Harold... and the Boys by Athol Fugards759 Words   |  4 PagesMost people cannot see reality as it truly is from their eyes. In Athol Fugard’s Master Harold†¦ and the Boys, he shows the apartheid between blacks and whites in South Africa. While some of these white people wanted to end apartheid, other people who lived with apartheid for their whole lives do not see the wrongs with it. These people want change, but do not know that they are the issue which is known as a psychological barrier. In the play, Athol Fugard uses Willie who struggles with a psychologicalRead MoreMaster Harold...and the Boys Written Task 2882 Words   |  4 Pagesgroup. In â€Å"Master Harold†Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ and the boys, written by Athol Fugard , social groups are represented in a particular way. In this case, Fugard represents South Africans creating a stereotype, creating characters like Willie that represents the cultural context of the play which is Apartheid and ballroom dancing in the 1950’s. Apartheid and Ball Room dancing are elements essential to the South African culture. In fact, the book takes place in South Africa in the 1950’s at the beginning of Apartheid, whereRead More The Effects of Racism on Hally in Master Harold and the Boys by Athol Fugard 1729 Words   |  7 PagesThe Effects of Racism on Hally in Master Harold and the Boys by Athol Fugard In the play Master Harold and the Boys, Hally demonstrates, through repeated acts and expressions, the sentiment of the entire African society at the time the play takes place. In 1950, the policy of apartheid was beginning to be practiced in South Africa. The Population Registration Act was passed, which divided the population into four racial groups (Post 112). The Group Area Act of 1950 controlled ownershipRead MoreHow Athol Fugard Presents Personal and Political Conflict in the Opening Scene of The Island555 Words   |  3 PagesHow Athol Fugard Presents Personal and Political Conflict in the Opening Scene of The Island Athol fugard presents the opening scene in a number of ways. The play is all about contrasts in personal and political conflict. The Island was written by Fugard to show the situation between whites and blacks in South Africa. When the play was first preformed it was more like a political play, but audiences see it as based more on the human spirit. After the apartheid had finishedRead MoreMaster Harold... and the Boys978 Words   |  4 PagesAthol Fugards drama, Master Harold . . . And The Boys, was written during a time of great conflict in South Africa, where he was raised. Fugard was torn between his mother, who was Afrikaaner, (1291) and his father, who was of English decent (1291). These differing influences caused Fugard to use the discussions between Sam and Hally to demonstrate the religious, racial, and political tensions of his lifetime in South Africa. brbrThe discussion between Sam and Hally about who was a manRead MoreEssay Wilders ´ Our Town and Fugard ¨s Master Harold and the Boys1040 Words   |  5 PagesWhen we remember an event from our past, is it not true that much of what we recall is a description of that event based on how it made us feel? That event had an effect on how we felt at the time, and what we describe when recalling that event is the sentiment, idea or feeling we experienced as a result of the event. In the end, the effect of what happened is what we deem important to us. However, think for a moment about any such event in your life. Is it possible to accurately describe that eventRead More Master Harold vs No Exit Essay1182 Words   |  5 PagesJean-Paul Sartre and â€Å"Master Harold†Ã¢â‚¬ ¦and the boys by Athol Fugard. The setting in both plays contain of one room that mainly consists of three major characters. The setting has an enormous impact on the behavior of the characters. The time period in which both plays are form also effect the style of writing and the characters. No Exit has an existentialist style of writing were as â€Å"Master Harold†Ã¢â‚¬ ¦and the boys was written in the apartheid era of South Africa. Both books have similar settings, but also involveRead MoreMaster Harold and the Boys Essay1179 Words   |  5 Pagesâ€Å"Master Harold and the boys† - Athol Fugard Mid 1950s in South Africa, a country in continuous turmoil by racism and segregation. Athol Fugard brings his play to life, by using symbolic metaphor techniques with a driving story of a young teen (Harold Hally) going through personal and family difficulty with his two colored servants (Sam Semala) and (Willie Malopo), this piece emphasizes more than the general issue of racism, it describes how sparks of hope can influence an individuals perceptionRead MoreEssay on Metaphors in Master Harold... and the Boys1139 Words   |  5 Pagesâ€Å"Master Harold†... and the boys, is a powerful play written by Athol Fugard that allows us to analyze the complex relationship between a black man and a young white boy within the context of racism in South Africa in the 1950’s. This play is characterized by metaphors used by the author to illustrate the struggle of people dealing with racism. One of the most important themes of this play is racism, focusing on the injustice in So uth Africa when the apartheid system was in place. Racial segregationRead MorePower Out of Control Essay1597 Words   |  7 PagesAthol Fugard’s â€Å"‘Master Harold’ . . . and the boys† illustrates that power is an issue that has so many people playing a part. Hally’s relatively short visit to his parent’s shop reveals so many problems within society in South Africa and around the world that still exist today. Everything from the interactions between the characters, to the title of the play, and even their choices of conversation all show that the thing about power struggles is that everyone ends up damaged. Fugard presents several

Morality and Spirituality in The Book Bhagavad Gita Essay

In the book Bhagavad Gita, Krishna teaches Arjuna how to reach the highest stage of spirituality, and ultimately the divine God. Krishna gives Arjuna a clear road map to follow so he can reach this goal. Yoga is the main tool to obtain spirituality and it takes a lot of hard work and true determination to do so. The main part of reaching spirituality is to depart this world and sense objects, and build strong morals. Upon giving up worldly desire, one cannot but seek the Devine and by seeking God, one will become spiritual. In the book The Last Days of Socrates, Plato describes Socrates reaction to the court’s decision of condemning him to death and how he spent his last few days awaiting death. Throughout the entire court and while†¦show more content†¦Although some of the lessons in The Bhagavad Gita are different from what Socrates believed in, they ultimately preach the same principles. The principles that Socrates held dear and described in The Last Days of Socra tes can be used to reach the spirituality described by Krishna in The Bhagavad Gita. Socrates learned through the oracle of Apollo that he is the wisest man, and so he started to cross-examine other scholars to find a wiser man than him and prove the oracle wrong, but he fails every time. He explains his actions as â€Å"in obedience to the divine command† (Plato 46). Socrates claims that all the actions he did were to obey the mission God had appointed to him. Socrates believed in his mission and duty in life, and was brought to death because of that. In the Gita, Krishna tells Arjuna to love him, worship him, and obey the God so he can reach the ultimate joy. â€Å"Know what your duty is / and do it without hesitation† (Bhagavad Gita 51). There is an obvious connection between what Krishna was preaching and what Socrates was doing. Socrates was completing his duties. In The Bhagavad Gita, Krishna emphasizes on doing actions and being detached of the fruits of actions and tells Arjuna that: â€Å"the wise man lets go of all / results, whether good or bad, / and is focused on the action alone† (Bhagavad Gita 55). Socrates followed this principle and did his duty without caring about the resultsShow MoreRelatedA Comparsion of the Bhagavad Gita vs The Gospels Essay1160 Words   |  5 Pagesstand up next to the Gospels is the Bhagavad-Gita (or just the Gita). These two texts can depict similarities and differences between the two cultures presented: Christianity and Hinduism. Keeping an open mind when reading cultural texts is what makes the texts more interesting and informs the reader more clearly. The analysis between one western text and one non-western text can really widen the perspective of one person. Due to the fact that Krishna from the Gita seems to be very similar in many aspectsRead MoreThe Radical Enlightenment Hated Everything T hat Was Religion1876 Words   |  8 Pagesscrutiny. The philosophers during the Enlightenment each had their reasons for their hostile view of religion. The distaste for religion began when Reimarus wrote â€Å"†, which was published for the first time in 1972 and had 1400 pages of content. His book labeled the second coming of Christ a farce, he believed that the disciples stole the body of Christ and fabricated the resurrection. Reimarus accused the disciples of using the idea of Christ coming back as a way to maintain a sense of power. He wentRead MoreSwami Vivekananda14669 Words   |  59 Pagesso dearly) freedom struggle movement. His writings inspired a whole generation of freedom fighters in Bengal in particular and India at large. Most prominent were Subhas Chandra Bose, Aurobindo and countless others. Works of Swami Vivekananda His books (compiled from lectures given around the world) on the four are very influential and still seen as fundamental texts for anyone interested in the Hindu practice of Yoga. His letters are of great literary and spiritual value. He was also a very good

Management Decision Making Impact of Organizations Culture

Question: Discuss about theManagement Decision Making for Impact of Organizations Culture. Answer: Introduction: Organizational Culture The organizational culture can be considered as a system or a frame work which is practiced within an organization. This system involves or exhibits a shared belief and values which influences the behaviour of the individuals of the organization. The organizational culture acts as a guideline for the employees as well as the employers within an organization and it contributed to the development of a harmonious working atmosphere. The relevance of a standardized organizational culture has gained importance in the modern business environment due to high degree of competition and internationalization (Sartika, Antoni and Akbar, 2016). The concept of the organizational culture highlights an observable culture, shared values and common assumptions which make the employees work coordinately so as to achieve the common goal. Almost all multinational and reputed organization practices a standardized organizational culture. Through internationalization the work force of the organizations has become diverse and the existence of the standardized and effective organizational culture generates unity and coordination. It can motivate the employees and can hence increase the productivity as it focuses on the recognition, rewards, self respect, empowerment etc. The managers consider that organizational culture can enhance the effectiveness of the organization as it can shape the attitude of the employees and can enhance the loyalty of the employees towards the organization (Valencia, Jimnez and Valle, 2016). Within an organization a group or a team can exhibit unique culture referred to as sub culture which shares some specific values and behaviors. These sub culture are generally consistent with the organizational culture and contributed to the efficient implementation of team dynamics (Hartnell et al, 2016). Management Control System (MCS) Management Control system is a system which gathers various information and makes use of it for the evaluation of the organizational resources. The resources can be human resources, any physical resources like machines, property etc, financial resources etc based on which the organizational strategies are formulated. The MCS can be considered as the tool which enables the management to direct the organization to achieve the organizational objective and competitive advantage (Sander and Laidlaw, 2016). This tool enables the management to evaluate how well the organization is operating with respect to its proposed objectives. It monitors the performance of the employees, supplies, and other factors and enables the management to take appropriate measures to streamline the operations so as to achieve the organizational objectives. The MCS tool documents the organizational objectives, strategies, policies, access the performance of the internal processes, and show the current performance in relation to declared objectives and policies (Heinicke, Guenther and Widener, 2016). Impact of Organizations Culture on the Management Control System (MCS) Managing an effective organizational culture is highly essential for the controlling and managing the control system within an organization. The primary aim of the MCS is to monitor and control the proper use of the organizational resources so as to achieve the organizational objectives. The organizational culture supports this aim of MCS through its shared values and beliefs concept. Through sharing and coordination the resources like the human resources, other work related physical resources are shared and are better utilized (Kim, Williams and Kim, 2016). Some studies reveal that the organizational culture positively influences the objectives of the MCS. The organizational culture of the organization insists the employees to put forward their performance so that they can coordinately meet the organizational goals. It shapes the behaviour of the employees inconsistent to the organizational goals. Hence it supports the evaluation procedure of MCS and add values to it. In the modern business environment MCS can also be considered as a tool which enables the management to achieve competitive advantage through controlling innovations, creativity, change learning etc. The effective OC can motivate the employees and can bring out their innovative and creative skills. This culture recognizes the need of the employees in learning and development and makes provision for it which gathers confidence to them. Hence the organizational culture influences these aspects of MCS also. The OC makes the managerial process systematic which makes the planning and the information analysis much focused on the root of the organizational problems. This makes the information gathering of the MCS much effective and good control systems can be implemented (Luft, 2016). The sub cultures of the organization which highlights the team based cultures also contributed to the efficiency of the MCS. The sub cultures are stronger than the organizational culture which provides more confidence to the employees. It also makes the employees more committed, morale, productive etc which makes the controlling process more effective. The sub culture induces trust and participation within the team which influences the MCS in a positive manner. IT enhances the communication level and interactions within a team which makes the decision making through MCS an effective one (Johnston and Marshall, 2016). References Hartnell, C.A., Kinicki, A.J., Lambert, L.S., Fugate, M. and Doyle Corner, P., 2016, Do similarities or differences between CEO leadership and organizational culture have a more positive effect on firm performance? A test of competing predictions, Journal of Applied Psychology, 101(6), p.846 Heinicke, A., Guenther, T.W. and Widener, S.K., 2016. An examination of the relationship between the extent of a flexible culture and the levers of control system: The key role of beliefs control. Management Accounting Research Johnston, M.W. and Marshall, G.W., 2016. Sales force management: Leadership, innovation, technology. Routledge. Kim, E., Williams, D. and Kim, S.T., General Electric Company, 2016. Demand side management control system and methods. U.S. Patent 9,271,333. Luft, J., 2016. Cooperation and competition among employees: Experimental evidence on the role of management control systems. Management Accounting Research, 31, pp.75-85. Naranjo-Valencia, J.C., Jimnez-Jimnez, D. and Sanz-Valle, R., 2016, Studying the links between organizational culture, innovation, and performance in Spanish companies, Revista Latinoamericana de Psicologa, 48(1), pp.30-41 Sartika, C.D., Antoni, D. and Akbar, M., 2016, Influence of Organizational Culture, Competence and Quality User to User Satisfaction Information Systems Sander, C. and Laidlaw, C., 2016, How Initial Public Offerings Change Management Control System Packages.

Siddhartha Literary Analysis Essay Example

Siddhartha Literary Analysis Essay In Herman Hesse’s novel, Siddhartha, the main character, â€Å"the handsome Brahmin’s son† ventures off on an expedition to find enlightenment and the meaning of life (Hesse 3). The story goes from Siddhartha being a young Brahmin who â€Å"wants to find God who so far has been to him only a vague idea† to being a materialized gambler who was â€Å"deeply entangled in Samsara† and finally ending at the river where he was at complete enlightenment and unity with himself (Malthaner 1, Hesse 87). Throughout the book, one can comprehend and understand Siddhartha’s maturation through the people he encounters, the experiences he has, and the lessons he learns from them. The reader is taken on Siddhartha’s journey to self-discovery while Hesse analyzes how each event in Siddhartha’s life adds up and contributes to his full knowledge and nirvana. His meeting with Gotama, suicide attempt by the river, and time spent with his son are the three key events that lead to his maturation. After each, Siddhartha is given an epiphany of self-realization, spirituality, and unconditional love, each discovery leading him closer to enlightenment. Throughout the course of Herman Hesse’s novel, Siddhartha, the main character matures and grows through events and experiences, leading up to his enlightenment. Siddhartha’s meeting with the Buddha, Gotama, was the first key step that led to his maturation. Siddhartha had been a part of a group of wandering aesthetics called Samanas who denied all satisfactions in order â€Å"to become empty [oneself] of thirst, desire, dreams, pleasures, and sorrow† (Hesse 14). Siddhartha soon â€Å"felt the torment of the onerous lifestyle† from this way of living, beginning to feel as if he was drifting away from enlightenment and that â€Å"the essential thing- the way- we [the Samanas] do not find† (Hesse 16, 18). Just then, rumors had rapidly spread of a wise man named Gotama who had â€Å"conquered in himself the sorro We will write a custom essay sample on Siddhartha Literary Analysis specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Siddhartha Literary Analysis specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Siddhartha Literary Analysis specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer

Psychological Effects of Burglary an Example of the Topic Psychology Essays by

Psychological Effects of Burglary Burglary is regarded as an act of breaking ones house with intent to steal properties. This is what in short is referred to as housebreaking. As per the definition given by Bartol (211), "Burglary is the unlawful entry of a structure, with or without force with intent to commit a theft or other felony." Though burglary mostly occurs to houses, it is not only limited to that as it also occurs to vehicles. This act of crime is very common in America and it is estimated that about four million Americans become victims of burglary in each year. Apart from victims losing properties, burglary causes psychological effects to the victims and it is for this purpose that this paper will specifically focus on these psychological effects. Need essay sample on "Psychological Effects of Burglary" topic? We will write a custom essay sample specifically for you Proceed Although burglary in the United States is mostly classified as property crime, it is also sometimes regarded as interpersonal crime because there are serious psychological effects that are associated with it. According to studies that have been done on the subject, it is clear that burglary victims apart from experiencing property loss they also feel psychologically traumatized. Invasion of ones property, sanctity and privacy of ones homestead brings stress and discomfort to the victims and may take ages to recover (Smith, and. Meyer, 1998). There are people who refer to burglary as home rape especially where the burglar gains access to ones private items such as diaries, photographs and letters. The level of distress arising from this is big and it becomes even more pronounced if the invasion is extended to other private sectors of the house such as closets, bedroom, desks, bathroom and chest of drawers where materials containing personal items could be found. There are cases where burglars after committing the crime leave notes and make anonymous calls indicating that the invasion is not over and that they will be back. In such a case, the anger that the victims experience quickly turns into fear and if this persists it causes stress which in turn results to depression (Clarke, 2002). Thinking constantly about how burglars would break into ones house again affects ones thinking process and victims become terrified to an extent that everything they do revolves around their security. These people could be seen upgrading some security gadgets such as door locks, putting stronger gates, installing security lights and alarms (Bartol, 211) Our Customers Often Tell EssayLab support: How much do I have to pay someone to write my assignment online? Essay writers advise: If You Think About Someone To Write Your Paper - Essaylab The Right Place! Essay Writing Services Pay For Essay Cheap Custom Essay Writing Service Academic Paper Writing Services According to a study that was done by the United Nations Human Settlements Program (2007), it was revealed that of all people who are victimized by buglers forty percent of them become traumatized while the same report shown that sixty eight percent of those who experienced either burglary or burglary attempts became angry to an extent that they could not think straight. These victims say that shock, fear, and lack of sleep are common experiences to them. Psychological effects associated with burglaries are as serious as those that results from violent crimes like robbery and assaults. According to Prenzler and Townsley (1996), even in cases where monetary value of goods stolen is not big, any act of burglary however mild, is enough to cause psychological consequences that can last for about one year. The affected persons whose sentimental and instrumental valuables have been stolen or interfered with feel insecure, become depressed and may lack sleep for days something that concurs with the findings of the United Nations Human Settlements Program's survey. In short, breaking into ones house has some consequences such as property loss and psychological effects but for the sake of this paper, it is psychological effects that have been discussed. There are serious psychological effects that burglary victims are subjected to once such an act happens to them. These people become traumatized and constantly live in fear and in some cases they become depressed. Also shock and sleep loss are common symptoms to them. References: Bartol, Curt R. 2004. Introduction to forensic psychology. SAGE. Clarke, R.V. 2002. Burglary of Retail Establishments. Guide No. 15. Available at http://www.popcenter.org/Problems/burglary_retail/ Prenzler, T and Townsley, M. 1996. Preventing Burglary. School of Justice Administration, Griffith University. Smith, Steven R. Meyer, Robert G. 1988. Law, Behavior, and Mental Health: Policy and Practice. NYU Press. United Nations Human Settlements Programme. 2007. Enhancing Urban Safety and Security: Global Report on Human Settlements 2007. Earthscan.

The Fascinating History of Drone Warfare

The Fascinating History of Drone Warfare Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) have allowed U.S. military forces to turn the tide in numerous overseas conflicts as well as in the fight against terrorism without risking military personnel. They have a storied past that dates back centuries. While the history of drones is fascinating, not everyone is a fan of these stealthy, unmanned aircraft. While drones are a big hit among hobbyists, providing a wonderful vantage point from which to capture breathtaking aerial video footage, some people are understandably worried about the invasion of privacy as the craft sail over private property. Not only that, as evolving technology becomes increasingly sophisticated, lethal, and accessible to the masses theres a rising concern that drones can and will be used against us by our enemies. Tesla’s Vision Inventor Nikola Telsa was the first to foresee the coming of militarized unmanned vehicles. In fact, they were just one of several predictions he made while speculating on potential uses for a remote control system he was developing. In the 1898 patent â€Å"Method of and Apparatus for Controlling Mechanism of Moving Vessels or Vehicles† (No. 613,809), Telsa described, with remarkable prescience, the wide range of possibilities for his new radio-control technology: The invention which I have described will prove useful in many ways. Vessels or vehicles of any suitable kind may be used, as life, despatch, or pilot boats or the like, or for carrying letters packages, provisions, instruments, objects†¦ but the greatest value of my invention will result from its effect upon warfare and armaments, for by reason of its certain and unlimited destructiveness it will tend to bring about and maintain permanent peace among nations. About three months after filing his patent, Tesla gave the world a glimpse of the possibilities of radio wave technology at the annual Electrical Exhibition held at Madison Square Garden. Before a stunned audience, Tesla demonstrated a control box that transmitted radio signals used to maneuver a toy boat through a pool of water. Outside of a handful of inventors whod already been experimenting with them, few people even knew about the existence of radio waves at the time.   The Miltary Enlists Unmanned Aircraft   Drones have been used in a variety of military capacities: early efforts at eye-in-the-sky reconnaissance, â€Å"aerial torpedoes† during World War II, and as armed aircraft in the war in Afghanistan. Even as far back as Teslas time, his contemporaries in the armed forces were beginning to see how remotely-controlled vehicles might be used to gain certain strategic advantages. For example, during the Spanish-American War of 1898, the U.S. military was able to deploy camera-equipped kites to take some of the first aerial surveillance photographs of enemy fortifications. (An even earlier example of military use of unmanned aircraft- albeit not radio-controlled- took place during an 1849 attack on Venice by Austrian forces using balloons packed with explosives.) Improving the Prototype: Directive Gyroscopes While the idea of unmanned craft showed definite promise for combat applications, it wasn’t until around World War I that military forces began to experiment with ways to further Tesla’s initial vision and attempt to integrate radio-controlled systems into various types of unmanned aircraft. One of the earliest efforts was the 1917 Hewitt-Sperry Automatic Airplane, a costly and elaborate collaboration between the U.S. Navy and inventors Elmer Sperry and Peter Hewitt to develop a radio-controlled airplane that could be used as a pilotless bomber or flying torpedo. Perfecting a gyroscope system that could automatically keep the aircraft stabilized became crucial. The auto-pilot system that Hewitt and Sperry eventually came up with featured a gyroscopic stabilizer, a directive gyroscope, a barometer for altitude control, radio-controlled wing and tail features, and a gearing device to measure the distance flown. Theoretically, these improvements would enable the aircraft to fly a pre-set course to a target where it would then either drop a bomb or simply crash, exploding its payload. The Automatic Airplane designs were encouraging enough that the Navy supplied seven Curtiss N-9 seaplanes to be outfitted with the technology and poured an additional $200,000 into research and development. Ultimately, after several failed launches and wrecked prototypes, the project was scrapped but not before completing one successful flying bomb launch that proved the concept was at least plausible. The Kettering Bug While the Navy teamed up with Hewitt and Sperry, the U.S. Army commissioned another inventor, General Motor’s head of research Charles Kettering, to work on a separate â€Å"aerial torpedo† project. They also tapped Sperry to develop the torpedo’s control and guidance system and even brought in Orville Wright as an aviation consultant. That collaboration resulted in the Kettering Bug, an auto-piloted biplane programmed to carry a bomb directly to a pre-determined target.   The Bug had a range of about 40 miles, flew at a top speed nearing 50 mph, and held a payload of 82 kilograms (180  pounds) of explosives. It was also equipped with a counter programmed to count the total number of engine revolutions necessary for the craft to reach its predetermined target (allowing for variables of wind speed and direction that were figured into the calculation when the counter was set). Once the requisite number of engine revolutions was reached, two things happened: a cam fell into place shutting down the engine and the wing bolts retracted, causing the wings to fall off. This sent the Bug into its final trajectory, where it detonated on impact.   In 1918, the Kettering Bug completed a successful test flight, prompting the Army to place a large order for their production. However, the Kettering Bug suffered a similar fate to the Navys Automatic Airplane and was never used in combat, partly due to concerns that the system might malfunction and detonate a payload prior to reaching its target in hostile territory. While both projects were scrapped for their initial purpose, in retrospect, the Automatic Airplane and Kettering Bug played significant roles in the development of modern-day cruise missiles. From Target Practice to Spy in the Sky The post-World War I period saw the British Royal Navy take the early lead in the development of radio-controlled unmanned aircraft. These British UAVs (target drones) were programmed to mimic the movements of enemy aircraft and were employed during anti-aircraft training for target practice. One drone often employed for this purpose- a radio-controlled version of the de Havilland Tiger Moth airplane known as the DH.82B Queen Bee- is thought to be the source from which the term â€Å"drone† hatched.   The initial headstart the British enjoyed was relatively short-lived. In 1919, Reginald Denny, a serviceman late of the British Royal Flying Corps, emigrated to the United States, where he opened a model plane shop. Dennys enterprise went on to become the Radioplane Company, the first large-scale producer of drones. After having demonstrated a number of prototypes to the U.S. Army, in 1940, Denny got a huge break, procuring a contract for the manufacture of Radioplane OQ-2 drones. By the end of World War II, the company had supplied the Army and Navy with 15,000 drone craft. A Hollywood Sidenote In addition to drones, the Radioplane Company had the distinction of launching the career of one of Hollywoods most legendary starlets. In 1945, Denny’s friend (film star and future President of the United States) Ronald Reagan sent military photographer David Conover to capture snapshots of factory workers assembling Radioplanes for the Army’s weekly magazine. One of the employees he photographed was a young woman named Norma Jean Baker. Baker later quit her assembly job and went on to model for Conover at other photoshoots. Eventually, after changing her name to Marilyn Monroe, her career really took off.   Combat Drones The World War II era also marked the introduction of drones in combat operations. In fact, the conflict between the Allied and Axis powers revitalized the development of aerial torpedoes, which could now be made to be more accurate and destructive. One particularly devastating weapon was Nazi Germany’s V-1 rocket, a.k.a, the Buzz Bomb. This flying bomb, the brainchild of brilliant German rocket engineer Wernher von Braun, was designed to hit urban targets and incur civilian casualties. It was guided by a gyroscopic autopilot system that helped carry a 2,000-pound warhead upward of 150 miles. As the first wartime cruise missile, the Buzz Bomb was responsible for killing 10,000 civilians and injuring around 28,000 more. After World War II, the U.S. military started repurposing target drones for reconnaissance missions. The first unmanned aircraft to undergo such a conversion was the Ryan Firebee I, which in 1951 demonstrated the ability to stay aloft for two hours while reaching an altitude of 60,000 feet. Converting the Ryan Firebee into a reconnaissance platform led to the development of the Model 147 FireFly and Lightning Bug series, both of which were used extensively during the Vietnam War. During the height of the Cold War, the U.S. military turned its focus toward stealthier spy aircraft, a notable example being the Mach 4 Lockheed D-21. Attack of the Armed Drone The notion of armed drones (as opposed to guided missiles) being used for battle purposes didnt really come into play until the 21st century. The most suitable candidate was the Predator RQ-1 manufactured by General Atomics. First tested and put into service in 1994 as a surveillance drone, the Predator RQ-1 was capable of traveling a distance of 400 nautical miles and could remain airborne for 14 hours straight. Its most significant advantage, however, was that it could be controlled from a distance of thousands of miles via satellite link. On October 7, 2001, armed with laser-guided Hellfire missiles, a Predator drone launched the first-ever combat strike by a remotely piloted aircraft in Kandahar, Afghanistan in an effort to neutralize suspected Taliban leader Mullah Mohammed Omar. While the mission failed to take out its intended target, the event marked the dawn of a new era of militarized drones. Since then, unmanned combat aerial vehicles (UCAVs) such as the Predator and General Atomics’ larger and more capable MQ-9 Reaper have completed thousands of missions, sometimes with unintentional consequences. While  2016 statistics released by President Obama revealed that 473 strikes had accounted for between 2,372 and 2,581 combatant deaths since 2009, according to a 2014 report in The Guardian, the civilian death toll resulting from drone strikes was, at the time, in the neighborhood of 6,000. Sources Ackermann, Spencer. 41 Men Targeted but 1,147 People Killed: US Drone Strikes- the facts on the Ground. The Guardian, November 24, 2014Shane, Scott. Drone Strike Statistics Answer Few Questions and Raise Many. The New York Times, July 3, 2016Evans, Nicholas D. â€Å"Military Gadgets: How Advanced Technology Is Transforming Todays Battlefield...and Tomorrows.† Prentiss Hall, 2003

Amended Budget Paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Amended Budget Paper - Essay Example Increase By 4% Amending the IT cost, need to focus on consolidating the operating budget of Riordan Manufacturing. Hence, a 4% increase in spending on IT items related to hardware, software, and outside IT support services, in addition to an increase in outside support charges, capitulate a net increase in spending of $105,100. The 4% increase in IT spending, implies that the annual IT budget, would have to be increased from $1, 901,300 to $1,977,352.In the short term, this implies reducing overheads, like telephone, office supplies, postage, shipping, postage, benefits, and bonuses which amount to $456,358 by around 23 percent. Raising spending on the baseline figures comprising hardware, software, and outside IT support services, would push services, such as licenses, maintenance, special projects and leased lines, to go up. Therefore, the organization can negotiate for lower licensing and leasing services, in addition to negotiating for cheaper contracts for special projects trans actions (Schwalbe, 2010). The increase in spending on items related to hardware, software, and outside IT support service, can be offset by initiating a hiring freeze, but not laying off of current IT department employees. This is necessitated by the fact that, the organization needs to retain and retrain current staff, so as to be competitive in an environment of increasing reliance on technology. Hence, the IT department staff should now spotlight on ITIL processes, in addition to best practices, in particular change-management advances, plus service-level contract. Over a long period, the increase in IT spending requires to be offset with revenue growth. Therefore, they can consolidate hardware purchasing process, in order to generate an upper return on investment in using technologies. Decrease in Overall Budget By 2% A decrease in IT overall budget by 2% implies a shift from $1,901,300 to 1,863,274 in terms of total IT spending. Hence, some expenses and their accompanying assum ptions require to be re-assessed, in order to change them to be more rational, and in the course, reduce the risk susceptibility to budget over-runs. Notably, not everything in the Riordan Manufacturing IT budget goes to technology, and the biggest item based on the figures, is human resources expenses. This amounts to 40 to 50% of the whole IT budget, going to salaries, benefits, and bonuses of internal support personnel, such as network personnel plus managers. The whole of the bonuses, benefits, travels, and entertainment amounts to $ 479,158 yearly, therefore, they need to reduce them by 8% percent, in order to offset the $38,026 drop in IT budget. On the other hand, in trying to offset the budget shortfall, the organization needs to be elastic in re-aligning special projects expenditures, from $150,000 to $111,974, a net of $38, 026.This in turn would easily fill the gap created by the 2% reduction in IT budget. Also, Riordan Manufacturing, can shift from the buying and paying licenses for their business processes software approach, to a Software-as-a-Service, or SaaS model. This implies that, the organization can get customizable business solution at a cheaper annual cost, in order to manage its business

Alternative energy sourses Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Alternative energy sourses - Research Paper Example If oil remains the world's pre-eminent source of energy in the coming years, it would make the problem worse for the whole world (Stern, 2007). The best course of action to resolve or reduce the danger of human’s oil dependence is an issue of much discussion and dissention (Green, 2007). Sustainable energy sources are the best option for decreasing oil dependence and this should be encouraged or even mandated. The problem of oil dependence World energy demand has been increasing continually and is projected to increase further. Despite increases in world oil prices, hydrocarbon fuels such as oil, coal and natural gas have been used primarily thus far to supply this increasing energy demand. There are a variety of dangers that result from this dependence according to Newman (2002). Because the last known major oil reserves that haven't been depleted are in the Middle East, the oil-consuming world is dependent on the Persian Gulf for oil, Which leaves oil consuming cities and co untries with a deep-seated feeling of vulnerability. US cities are especially vulnerable as they have an average consumption of 431 gallons of gas per person as compared with European cities using an average of 133 gallons per person (Newman, 2002). There are many different views on problem with dependence on oil. One very important theoretical approach to dealing with the problem is that certain actions should be supported by Federal legislation i.e. development of more alternative energy sources. Alternative Energy Sources The Alternative Energy Institute (AEI) is a leading authority on developing alternative sources of energy and they provide extensive information about various new alternative sources of power that are being developed. The main alternative power sources being used in the U.S. are solar power, hydrogen fuel cells, wind power, hydropower, geothermal power, biomass and tidal power (Green, 2007) The Alternative Energy Institute's about solar power are very positive. They observe that in a 24-hour period the sun provides more energy than the human race can use in the next 27 years (Riley and McLaughlin, 2001). Solar power has been being developed for over one hundred years. However, most of the development has taken place in the last thirty years since the first practical solar cells were developed in the early 1970's. AEI notes that solar power has tremendous potential, but what has caused this clean and renewable energy resource to not get the highest priority has been its cost. Coal and oil have been less expensive and this cost difference has precluded solar power from growing like it could (Riley and McLaughlin, 2001). Hydrogen and Fuel Cell technology also is of interest to the alternative energy institute. Hydrogen is the most abundant element on earth and it has potential to propel planes, trains, automobiles, etc.(Elliott, 2003). It has been used in NASA manned flights since 1965. However, it will take years of research and development before this clean renewable energy source may revolutionize the transportation industry. Fuel cells have the benefits of being produced in country instead of being imported, affect the most oil-dependent transportation area and can dramatically reduce health hazards from automobile exhaust. Automakers from Japan, Europe and America are diligently working to perfect this technology. However, a limitation of hydrogen is that it requires energy to free it from water or other resources that contain it. Besides that, it also needs twice as much energy to produce

Training and Development in Tesco Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Training and Development in Tesco - Assignment Example This is aimed at the analysis of instilling a sense of inclusiveness in the workers as well as their commitment. Since Leahy’s resignation announcement, drastic changes were witnessed in its stock market, which witnessed a sharp drop in the value of Tesco’s shares. From the above, it was evident that Tesco needed to instill confidence in its customers and the public hence there was a re-engineered customer service mechanism in operation for sustenance of Leahy’s transformational leadership style that saw Tesco’s unprecedented rise in the last one and a half decade (Bass,1990) . Tesco has further undertaken transformational change in its organization so as to become the carbon-zero company. This change has been through reducing energy usage and then getting the rest of the energy it uses from renewable sources. In the last few years, a Tesco has developed a supermarket that is zero carbon in its operation, but not its build. Tesco has extended its effort to both its supply chain and its customers’ carbon footprint. Tesco also wants to make it easy for staff to understand how they can change the way they work to promote carbon reduction. More so over the last three years Tesco has committed huge resource in its training and development programme. It has made progress toward achieving this by being the first supermarket to have its apprenticeship training programme accredited. This has been eating achievement for the company. This is in line with its strategy of improving its workforce and getting the best out of it. Tesco further introduced Tesco club card which is a kind of customer loyalty card.  

Concern Associated With Mental Health Diagnosis Social Work Essay

Concern Associated With Mental Health Diagnosis Social Work Essay Psychiatrists are increasingly churning out new syndromes at the behest of their funders in the pharmaceutical industry. The above quotation, drawn from a news feature from the Independent news paper, highlights an issue of concern associated with mental health diagnosis. According to the (Social Exclusion Unit, 2004), approximately one in six people in England experiences some form of mental health problem at some point in their lives and the estimated annual costs of providing services is  £77 billion. Wrong diagnosis affects not only the patient being diagnosed, but also the patients support network. In communities where mental health is not well understood by the vast majority and where people tend to get embarrassed by it, wrong diagnosis can make it difficult for those diagnosed to seek help. Additionally, people with mental health illnesses have to contend with a number of social issues such as: stigma, acceptance from friends and family, employment challenges and adjusting to losing their independence as a result of the effects of illness and / or the side effects of medication, (Sheppard, 2002; Elder et al, 2009). While these issues affect all mentally ill people, research shows that for black and ethnic minority groups, being diagnosed with a mental illness compounds social challenges and perpetuates poverty, deprivation and social exclusion, (Hocking, 2005; Ndegwa and Olajide, 2003). The challenge for social work is to advocate for clients in a field where social work expertise might be challenged by the medicinal nature of mental health diagnoses. As a background to the research proposal, this paper will briefly evaluate the effect that wrong mental health diagnosis has on black and ethnic minority families. In selecting the objectives, my starting point is that wrong diagnosis affects peoples lives regardless of their race or ethnicity. Therefore, the proposed research will aim to identify whether and, if so, how black and ethnic minority families are affected by being wrongly diagnosed with mental illness. Introduction: According to Hocking (2005), culture and race have an important role to play in the likelihood of someone being diagnosed with mental health problems. Her findings are mirrored in the results of recent psychosis studies which indicate that there are disproportionately high numbers of people from black and ethnic minority groups diagnosed with severe mental illness, (Count Me in, 2010). Citing Bhui (1997)s review of (Lloyd and Moodley, 1992)s research, (Bhui and Bhugra, 2002) also state that there is a substantial body of evidence that highlights disparity between the experiences of people from black and ethnic minority groups in comparison to white groups, when it comes to accessing mental health services. They argue that white people, who are mentally ill, stand a better chance of being given a diagnosis and appropriate treatment. Data from a mental health and ethnicity census conducted by partnership between the Healthcare Commission, the Mental Health Act Commission and the National Institute for Mental Health in England, found that almost 10% of mental health inpatients were black or mixed race. Analysis of the findings also concluded that compared to the rest of the population, black people were three times more likely to be admitted to psychiatric hospitals in England and Wales and stood a 44% chance of being detained under the Mental Health Act, (Care Quality Commission, 2005). The findings also indicated that black men experienced high rates of control and restraint from staff within psychiatric services and were more likely to be put into seclusion or in medium or high secure wards, (Bhugra and Gupta, 2010; Kaye and Lingiah, 2000). It is with this background that this paper evaluates the impact of wrong mental health diagnosis on black and ethnic minority families. In terms of methodology, the proposed research will take a similar form to this paper i.e. I will use the same key terms, research objectives, search terms and data collection methods. A paragraph on the proposed methodology follows the literature review. Defining Key Terms: In addition to cultural differences and subjective assessments of mental capacity, definitions of mental health are influenced by perspectives from various disciplines. In order to conduct a robust research, definitions of the key terms are explored below: Although the Mental Health Act (2007) does not give a definition of mental health, it describes mental health in terms of mental disorders and refers to mental health as any condition that disorders or disables the mind, (Bartlett and Sandland, 2007). Psychological perspectives define mental health as a level of cognitive or emotional wellbeing which includes a persons ability to enjoy life by balancing the demands of everyday routines to achieve psychological resilience, (Shaw et al, 2007). According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), mental health is a state of wellbeing in which an individual realises that they can cope with lifes normal stresses, can work productively and fruitfully and contribute to their community, (WHO, 2005). Definitions of mental health that are based in evaluating the positive signs of health, such as how an individual copes with environmental stressors, are still under debate as scholars, practitioners and policy makers consider the importance of factors such as religion, individual aspirations, social class, race, gender and lifestyle choices impact on mental health, (Clarke, 2008; Kay and Lingiah, 2000, Heller and Gitterman, 2011). The English dictionary describes diagnosis as the identification of an illness or a discovery about what is wrong with someone who is ill or something which is not working properly, after examination. It implies identification of the nature and cause of a thing. However, diagnosing mental illness seldom involves a set of specific or straight forward tests. Rather, psychiatrists diagnose based on their observation of symptoms and comparison with a diagnostic schedule, (Elder et al, 2009; Arrigo and Shipley, 2005). As a result it is often difficult for mental health problems to be diagnosed and sometimes patients can feel that they have been misdiagnosed. Detailed discussion follows later in this proposal. The Research Question: This paper briefly reviews mental health literature in order to set the background for a proposed research into the extent to which wrong mental health diagnosis affects Black and Ethnic Minority families in Britain. Research Objectives: The objectives set prior to writing this paper and indeed proposed for in-depth research are: Reviewing the literature that is available on mental health diagnosis and how mental health impacts families in general. Exploring the role of social workers in working with people that have been diagnosed with mental illness. Identifying any discernable differences in how diagnosis affects Black and Ethnic Minority families in comparison to their white counterparts. Highlighting the impact of wrong mental health diagnosis on families in general and on Black and Ethnic Minority families in particular. Identifying any gaps in practice and in the literature in order propose areas for future study. Rationale: I first became interested in studying this area because four of my relatives had been diagnosed with severe mental illnesses and three were later found to have been wrongly diagnosed. In the three months prior to being told that the diagnoses were wrong, our family relationships had been tested to the extreme as we tried to adjust to the challenges of caring for loved ones whom we thought were mentally ill and in denial. The relief that came from hearing the news that three of them had been wrongly diagnosed was quickly replaced with feelings of injustice towards professionals, because of the strain that had been put on the family relationships. Search Terms, Databases Used and Linguistic Clarifications: When researching literature to review, I used several on-line catalogue systems which included: EBSCOHost, InfoTrack, ProQuest, Ingenta, eLSC, CareData, academic journals, mental health action group websites and read various newspaper articles reporting on multiple mental health related issues. My initial searches produced a lot of literature, which I narrowed down by browsing subject indexes and reading abstracts. The search terms included: Diagnosing Mental Health in England, the impact of Mental Health diagnosis on families, Mental health diagnosis and minority ethnic families, The role of social workers in mental health cases, the impact of wrong mental health diagnosis on black and ethnic minority families, community mental health and coping with mental health at home. My decision to use online catalogue systems has more to do with my lack of knowledge in how to use manual cataloguing systems. Additionally, I was aware of my own limitations as a researcher and did not want to ad d any more complications to my task. Literature Review: Prior to commencing discussions about how diagnosis, right or wrong, impacts on families, it is important to note that diagnosis infers illness. Therefore, the extent of the impact on families is not determined by the diagnosis, but by how the inferred illness affects day-to-day activities directly or indirectly. The impact will vary depending on factors such as the severity and duration of the diagnosed illness, the family composition and the extent to which the illness affects aspects of family life, (Clark, 2008: Heller and Gitterman, 2011). For example, where short term illnesses can be treated by the familys general-practitioner and where the members are older or resilient, families will cope better with a mental health diagnosis. For many black and ethnic minority families, being diagnosed with a mental illness adds to stigma, as these communities tend to have many myths and misconceptions about mental illness, (Ray et al, 2008; Bhugra and Cochrane, 2001; Bhugra and Gupta, 2010). This can affect families social interaction as they worry about the unpredictability of the diagnosed members public actions and reactions. The result is that individuals within the family or the entire family can easily become isolated, thus perpetuating a cycle of social exclusion, (Beresford, 2004). However, this view is widely contested as some scholars argue that mental health problems are not derived from social injustices or oppression nor are patients any more likely to experience social exclusion and discrimination as a direct result of their difficulties, (Sheppard, 2002). Scholars acknowledge that people with mental health problems can experience vicious circles of social isolation, poverty, unemployment, poor housing and scarce social and support networks but that these are neither causal nor circular factors. In 2010, the Care Quality Commission published a psychosis study which tested the theory that psychiatrists, wittingly or unwittingly, allowed their professional judgement to be influenced by the colour of their patients skin, (Count Me In, 2010). The study, which tracked year-on-year results from 2005 to 2009, was aimed at highlighting inequalities in access and outcomes that affect patients from Black and Minority ethnic communities, how hospital stays are managed, national debates about mental health and guide positive action, revealed that at 53.8%, black people represented more than half of the people detained under the Mental Health Act. These finding are consistent with other studies, which highlights that black men were more likely to be diagnosed with psychotic illness than whites and to be detained under the Mental Health Act, (Ray et al, 2008). Additionally, knowledge about mental illness, like many other aspects of human life, has undergone paradigm shifts over time. For instance, conditions such as sadness, anger, or disappointment, which were once considered to be in the normal spectrum of human behaviour, are now seen as psychiatric or psychological disorders, (Beam, 2001). This, coupled with the fact that there are no specific or straight forward ways of diagnosing mental illness, makes mental health diagnosis challenging. In order to diagnose a mental illness, psychiatrists observe a clients symptoms and match them to a diagnostic schedule. Prentice (2010) reports that in recent history, research has shown that even seemingly simple changes in the description of conditions such as attention deficit disorder, autism and childhood bipolar disorder, captured many patients who would have been better off not entering the mental health system. One of the initial challenges that families have to overcome when a loved one is first diagnosed with a mental illness is the feelings of denial as they come to terms with what the illness will mean for their loved one and for themselves. This combined with having little or no knowledge about the diagnosed illness, causes panic, (Beresford, 2004). When, as in our case, families later find out that the diagnosis was wrong the relief can easily be replaced with anger as they recount the toll of strained inter family relationships that were a result of their caring responsibilities. In such circumstances, guided by professional values and ethics, a social worker would be duty bond to empower the family by ensuring that the family have all the information they need in order to understand the implications of the illness. This includes advocating for those for whom English may not be a first language and being creative with working partnerships, (Beresford, 2000). Wrong mental health diagnosis often means that the patient will be prescribed medication to stabilize the illness. Consequently, the family may have to not only deal with the challenges of caring for a loved one whose behaviour may be unpredictable but also come to terms with the medications side effects such as apathy and a lack of motivation, (Ray et al, 2008). In her review of a number of qualitative research publications on how families cope with mental health, (Bhui, 2002) found that family members were fearful that the constant stress and concern for their loved ones created family problems that may never be over come. When the diagnosed family member is a parent, the inferred illness will have a profound impact on family life. Research shows that when a parent is diagnosed with mental illness, children are especially vulnerable, as their coping strategies tend to be dependent on the adults in their lives, (Heller and Gitterman, 2011). Parental mental illness compromises the parents ability to care for their child and in some cases, especially where there is no other adult to take responsibility, children can become their parents carers, (Ritter and Lampkin, 2010: Arrigo and Shipley, 2005). A wrongly diagnosed parent who keeps insisting that there is nothing wrong with them, can easily be seen as being in denial thus escalating welfare concerns. The dilemma for social work lies in their dual role of control and care. Depending on the nature of the diagnosed illness, the risks to a childs welfare can be severe even when the childs physical safety is not at risk. Social workers would need to give consideration to issues such as how the illness affects the childs emotional, behavioural and mental development. There is a vast body of research which indicates that children of psychotic parents are themselves particularly vulnerable to psychiatric problems, (Heller and Gitterman, 2011; Bhugra and Gupta, 2010; Ndegwa and Olajide, 2003;). In order to explore this topic in detail, I propose to conduct research that addresses the objectives set in this paper, using methodology that focuses on reviewing secondary data. The intended research process is as detailed in the question, objectives, rationale and search terms of this paper. The proposed research will have relevance for policy and practice in that it will enable better service provision for black and ethnic minority families as a result of understanding not only the causes of wrong diagnosis, but also why minority groups are disproportionately over represented within mental health services. It will also evaluate how national and international legislation, current studies on mental health and user involvement initiatives, impact on service delivery for minorities. In conclusion, I have shown that by inferring illness, mental health diagnosis does impact on families regardless of their racial or ethnic backgrounds. However, while the issues discussed here are not necessarily unique to black and ethnic minority families, research indicates that people from black and ethnic minority groups are disproportionately over represented in mental health services in England. Complex and multifaceted factors such as a lifestyles, social stressors, genetic predisposition and lifecycle transitions, make diagnosing mental illness difficult. This can present challenges for social workers as they perform their dual roles of control and care. Professional ethics and legal responsibilities mean that they must advocate for the marginalised groups while continuing to work in partnership with medical professionals without having the expertise to make a judgement call on the accuracy of diagnosis. These issues require deeper exploration in order to understand how wro ng mental health diagnosis affects people from black and ethnic minority families.

Misguided Messages in The Awakening and A Dolls House :: comparison compare contrast essays

Misguided Messages in The Awakening and A Doll's House      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Just because a novel is considered a classic doesn't mean the Messages it conveys to its readers are correct.   Even though both The Awakening by Kate Chopin and A Doll's House by Henrik Ibsen are great literary works, some of the ideas embodied in them aren't appropriate. Both works suggest that it is common for husbands to be condescending to their wives; that if a person has enough money, they can have someone else raise their children for them; and that if a marriage gets hard, the couple should just give up on each other.      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Taking the stories for their literary qualities alone, they are both quite good.   Both novels are very well written.   Chopin and Ibsen developed their characters well, used excellent imagery, and told interesting stories.   Both shared their strong convictions even though they knew their ideas weren't popular.   The strong beliefs that are shared in these stories are part of what makes them classics.      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   However, some of the ideas that are portrayed in these works aren't ideas readers should assume to be true or good.   The first of these is the theory that husbands will most likely treat their wives as inferiors after they are married.   In A Doll's House, Torvald is blatantly condescending to Nora.   He calls her his  ³little squirrel ² or  ³little skylark ² and requires her to  ³do tricks ² to please him.   In addition, he treats her like a child, a  ³feather head ² who can't understand anything important.   In The Awakening, Leonce is more subtle in his mistreatment of his wife.   He tries to control Edna by pushing his point until she does what he wants.   He also tries to make her feel bad about herself.   For example, he tells her she isn't a good mother to their sons.   Although this type of behavior is condemned in both of these stories, just characterizing this behavior as normal sends a bad message.   If young men are repeatedly told that this is how adult males act, they will inevitably feel that they should act this way when they are married.      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The second bad idea conveyed by these stories is that if a person can afford to, they should have someone else raise their children for them. In A Doll's House, Nora and Torvald have a nanny who takes care of their children for them.   This is the same nanny who Nora's parents had paid to raise her.   Also, in The Awakening, Leonce and Edna not only have a person who takes care of their children for them; but, when Edna moves to the

European Collective Identity

European Journal of Social Theory http://est. sagepub. com/ A Theory of Collective Identity Making Sense of the Debate on a ‘European Identity' Klaus Eder European Journal of Social Theory 2009 12: 427 DOI: 10. 1177/1368431009345050 The online version of this article can be found at: http://est. sagepub. com/content/12/4/427 Published by: http://www. sagepublications. com Additional services and information for European Journal of Social Theory can be found at: Email Alerts: http://est. sagepub. com/cgi/alertsSubscriptions: http://est. sagepub. com/subscriptions Reprints: http://www. sagepub. com/journalsReprints. nav Permissions: http://www. sagepub. com/journalsPermissions. nav Citations: http://est. sagepub. com/content/12/4/427. refs. html >> Version of Record – Nov 10, 2009 What is This? Downloaded from est. sagepub. com at Sage Publications (UK) on April 26, 2012 European Journal of Social Theory 12(4): 427–447 Copyright  © 2009 Sage Publications: Los Ange les, London, New Delhi, Singapore and Washington DCA Theory of Collective Identity Making Sense of the Debate on a ‘European Identity’ Klaus Eder H U M B O L D T U N I V E R S I T Y, B E R L I N Abstract This article argues for a robust notion of collective identity which is not reduced to a psychological conception of identity. In the ? rst part, the debate on the concept of identity raised by several authors is taken up critically with the intention of defending a strong sociological conception of identity which by de? nition is a collective identity.The basic assumption is that collective identities are narrative constructions which permit the control of the boundaries of a network of actors. This theory is then applied to the case of Europe, showing how identity markers are used to control the boundaries of a common space of communication. These markers are bound to stories which those within such a space of communication share. Stories that hold in their narrative structures social relations provide projects of control. National identities are based on strong and exclusive stories.Europeanization (among other parallel processes at the global level) opens this space of boundary constructions and offers opportunities for national as well as subnational as well as transnational stories competing with each other to shape European identity projects. The EU – this is the hypothesis – provides a case in which different sites offer competing opportunities to continue old stories, to start new stories or to import old stories from other sites, thus creating a narrative network on top of the network of social relations that bind the people in Europe together.European identity is therefore to be conceived as a narrative network embedded in an emerging network of social relations among the people living in Europe. Key words  ¦ collective identity  ¦ European identity  ¦ narrative analysis  ¦ network analysis  ¦ sociological theory www. sagepublications. com DOI: 10. 1177/1368431009345050 Downloaded from est. sagepub. com at Sage Publications (UK) on April 26, 2012 428 European Journal of Social Theory 12(4) Identity: A Contested Concept Collective identity has been at the centre of attention in societies that were formed in the course of the making of the nation-state.The nation, however, has not been an exclusive focus. Collective identity can equally refer to cities, to regions, or to groups such as political parties or even social movements. For some time, collective identity has also been an issue with regard to Europe where public debate is increasingly concerned with the problem of a European identity that is seen as lacking or as necessary. But why do societies, groups and even a union of nationstates such as the EU need an identity? For a person, an identity allows them to be recognized as something particular vis-a-vis others.But why do groups, up to the nation and even transnational phenomena such as the EU, need an identity? The argument in the following is that the distinction between the identity of persons and the identity of groups and societies is an empirical one. Persons and societies are cases of identities. Persons have an identity by positioning themselves relative to other persons and by giving to these relations a meaning that is ? xed in time. An identity guarantees being a person in the ? ux of time.The same holds for groups: a group has an identity if it succeeds in de? ning itself vis-a-vis other groups by attributing meaning to itself that is stable over time. Identity as an analytical concept covers all these cases: identity emerges by linking past social relations with those in the present. In some cases, even future social relations are included; in this case, identity is linked to ideas of salvation or fate that include future social relations in our present existence. All these ‘constructions’ emerge within a speci? type of social relations in the present and allow an interruption of the permanent change of social relations, thus creating an identity in which persons, groups or societies can see themselves and be seen by others as being ‘identical’ over time. Everyday common sense in our society uses the concept of identity in a different way; it sees identity is something that a person or a group has. Contrary to this common sense, sociological sense sees the person or the group as a special case of identity that has emerged in a highly particular type of social relations: persons are transformed into individuals in social relations which are de? ed as relations between ‘free and equal people’. This is the modernist form of social relations of transforming persons into something that has an identity, i. e. individuals. This modernist form of social relations also transforms groups into something that has a collective identity, i. e. into nations. In the historical move from subjects to indiv iduals and from kingdoms to nations, we can observe a shift in the construction of identity. Identity is reconstructed since it refers to a different type of social relations.In such social relations, identity becomes a particular preoccupation of ‘individuals’ or ‘nations’, as the permanent work on identity repair and identity con? rmation shows. As an analytical concept, identity denotes something that holds across all these cases, providing stable meaning in the ? ux of social relations. Since identity in this sociological usage refers to social relations, any kind of identity is by de? nition social. Individuals and nations in the society we live in constitute the two Downloaded from est. sagepub. com at Sage Publications (UK) on April 26, 2012Eder A Theory of Collective Identity poles of identity constructions. 1 In-between, we have a series of social forms such as couples, families, associations, classes, regions, or ethnic groups which can be seen as intermediate cases of identity. The two poles of identity constructions are not ? xed, since changing social relations might produce forms of identity beyond the nation, an issue that is at the core of the debate of European identity and that makes this debate theoretically important. 2 In the following, a theoretically robust notion of collective identity will e presented. This task is carried out in the next section in a critique of the critical statements on the concept of collective identity that have arisen in the past decade. It consists of recuperating it from the fragments of the deconstruction of this concept in recent theorizing. The constructive argument in this recuperation effort is based on two assumptions. The ? rst is that that processes of identity construction vary with the complexity of social relations. The second assumption is that processes of identity construction have a ‘narrative structure’.These two theoretical moves then help to reassess the ongoing debate on the identity of Europeans or of a ‘European identity’ which preoccupies elites, sometimes people and which keeps active a rather signi? cant part of the public debate and increasingly scienti? c debate on ‘Europe’. In an oft-cited paper, Brubaker and Cooper (Brubaker and Cooper, 2000) made a strong attack on the concept of identity in the social sciences following this lead. They make three strong arguments. Their ? rst criticism has been that reputed authors using the term do not really need it. They use identity only as the marker of an intention (to be culturally sensitive). Identity is not related to the social analysis that has been presented elsewhere in their work. A second criticism of Brubaker and Cooper is that the notion of collective identity necessarily implies some notion of primordialism. Assuming that collective identity denotes something beyond shared values or norms, then there must be something more substantial than this to justify its use. The constructivist position starting with a non-essentialist position ends up in essentialist notions of collective identity.Constructivism produces outcomes that contradict its basic premises of ? uidity and multiplicity. A third criticism is that we already assume a groupist social ontology which forecloses the analytical grip of the diversity of patterns of non-groupist social forms; we exclude by de? nition the possibility of non-groupist social life, the possibility of living social relations without claiming an identity. Yet the solutions which Brubaker and Cooper offer do not resolve the problems addressed by them. The ? rst argument forces us to specify the added value of using the notion of collective identity as an analytical category.This is an obvious postulate. Categorical ornamenting or fashionable category-dropping should be avoided. We should either propose a strict sociological notion or leave the concept to psychologists who interpret identity as a phenomenon of the human mind. My proposal is that we can make a strong sociological concept out of it as long as we do not confuse it with psychological notions. The second argument that some substantialism is implicit in constructivist accounts of collective identity implies that substantialism is in some sense ‘bad’. Downloaded from est. sagepub. om at Sage Publications (UK) on April 26, 2012 429 430 European Journal of Social Theory 12(4) The implicit answer of Brubaker et al. is that we should assume a world in which the social no longer needs an overarching naturalizing symbolism. However, there are social situations in which primordialism does pop up. Thus, the theoretical answer should be to identify situations in which constructions of collective identity vary between primordialism and arti? cialism. The third argument against the ‘groupist ontology’ raises the issue of the mechanism through which social actors relate to each other.Collective i dentities are, the argument says, ‘groupist ontologies’ which in fact they are. They are symbolic forms through which a world of social relations is mirrored. These ontologies exist and have a structure and are the result of social processes that can be reconstructed. Doing away with such ‘ontologies’ is missing the object of a theory of collective identities. Groupist ontologies become the more important, the more social interaction is mediated by cultural techniques that establish sociality without the presence of the other.Such forms of indirect sociality need a social rationalization that invokes the social. Therefore, we have to assume that there is something that they have in common beyond the co-presence of the others. The theoretical assumption that follows is that the idea of collective identity emerges when cultural techniques (such as bureaucratic formula, written texts, computer interfaces) serve as interrupts of social interaction and generate indirect social interaction. To act beyond natural bonds, i. e. through cultural techniques, means to generate an abstraction of social experience.The argument then is that there is an increasing need for such collective identities in complex societies when indirect social relations increase in number. To forestall the macro-theoretical argument: The more a human society is differentiated, the more it needs a collective identity. The central hypothesis that derives from this assumption is that collective identities vary with the structure of the system of indirect social relations. The theory does not assume that collective identity is unitary, coherent. This is only one way of organizing the social bond among people.Collective identity can also be fuzzy, multiple. It is the variation of identities which requires explanation. The theory proposed explains this variation as being contingent on the structure of social relations among people. In other words, the network structure linkin g a people shapes the construction of the identity of that network which then is used to reproduce this network structure. 4 Thus, collective identity constructions are a central building block of social relations. Therefore, we should not give up the concept of collective identity, but make better use of it.Collective Identity Construction as Projects of Control: Adding Narrative Structure to Evolutionary Process The functionalist argument implicit in evolutionary theory tells us that it is necessary to create bonds which oblige people to pay taxes, to send their kids to schools, or to die for their country. On a more abstract level, it says that I accept that things are done to me by others which I accept only by those with whom I Downloaded from est. sagepub. com at Sage Publications (UK) on April 26, 2012 Eder A Theory of Collective Identity have a special social relation, a sense of some community.This common factor obliges people to accept the social norms imposed upon them. 5 The argument that collective identities are collective rationalizations of social relations points to the trans-psychological character of collective identities. The link between identity and reality is to be constructed independent of psychological assumptions about human needs or motivations for collective identity. The psychological grounding may even turn out to be a variable that varies with the form of collective identities. This happens when groups turn toward outside references for a collective identity.As Pierre Nora argues: ‘Moins la memoire est vecu de l’interieur, plus elle a besoin de supports exterieurs et de reperes tangibles d’une existence qui ne vit plus qu’a travers eux’ (Nora, 1984: xxv). Collective identities are social constructions which use psychological needs and motives to provide an answer to the questions ‘who do I belong to? ’ or ‘who do we belong to? ’ Collective identities make use of such ps ychic references in speci? c social constellations. This happens regularly in social relations bound to concrete social interaction.It also happens in social relations that transgress the realm of social interaction such as constructions of national identity and produce situations of ‘effervescence collective’, as Durkheim described it. The more indirect social relations are, the more important become social carriers such as texts or songs or buildings which store collective identities. To the extent that collective identities are linked primarily to individuals in concrete interaction situations, emotional ties such as the sense of pride and shame become important mechanisms for reproducing collective identities.To the extent that collective identities are linked to objects as their carriers, these objects become carriers of generalized emotions that are built into the object, into images or texts. Such generalized emotions are embodied in what can be called ‘nar ratives’. This argument thus takes seriously the emotional aspect of identity constructions. There is something in the social relations that goes beyond the sense of shared interests and reciprocal solidarity. But this does not imply a return to a psychological notion of a sense of identity or of identi? cation. It rather leads us to think social relations in terms of hared meanings, i. e. narratives that people share ‘emphatically’ with each other. This sense of narrative sharing has to do with the sense of being part of a particular ‘we’. This can be called the ‘narrative bond’ that emerges in some social relations (but not in all of our social relations). Thus, a collective identity is a metaphor for a speci? c type of social relations that are embedded in the last instance in a narrative network that is as dynamic as the stories are that are produced and reproduced in ongoing social communication mediated by these social relations (E der, 2007). Collective identities are analyzed as narrative networks that emerge in evolutionary processes; the path of development of such networks is prescribed by the structure of the narratives at play. The proposed theory argues that in complex societies, strong collective identities will emerge and that the narratives people share to live in this complex world will remain the basic building blocks of identities. The difference from the traditional world is that everybody lives through and with an increasing number of narratives that mediate social relations. ThisDownloaded from est. sagepub. com at Sage Publications (UK) on April 26, 2012 431 432 European Journal of Social Theory 12(4) also increases the contingency of the developmental path prescribed by narrative networks. National identity constructions are the last instance of a collective identity with a clear path prescription, the making of nation-states. National identities do what collective identities do in general: they are stories that combine a series of events in texts, songs and images which some people recognize as being part of their particular we, i. . as a collective identity. In addition, national identity constructions have succeeded in imposing themselves as a hegemonic identity in a territorially bounded political community. This exclusiveness is built into a story which links people de? ned as citizens of a political community. This story is transmitted to and learned by new generations, practised in national rituals and objecti? ed in songs (anthems) and images (? ags). Counter-stories exist in those political communities in which two hegemonic stories compete (such as Belgium or Canada).Yet even in these cases, the two stories are often aligned in one national story, told in different languages. This national solution is increasingly contested. Narratives appear which tell different stories about who we are. The problem is the co-existence of many hegemonic stories. This creates not only a practical problem but also a theoretical problem: How to conceive the narrative network underlying a political community in a situation where we have many narratives ? oating around and referring to it? The case in point is Europe. 7 Making Sense of a ‘European identity’From Identi? cation with Europe to European Identity Constructions Research on collective identity construction in Europe is dominated by some variants of the social identity paradigm. Social identity theory claims that identi? cations have group-speci? c effects in terms of distance and proximity. This paradigm is useful because it allows us to use existing survey data which measure the degree to which people start to be ‘proud’ of their ‘institutions’ (at least to trust them) and ‘identify’ with Europe (conceived in political or cultural terms) (Kohli, 2000).Another way is to emphasize symbols of state power, such as a ? ag, a hymn, a representative bu ilding, or the memory of a successful political act such as the act of uni? cation which can be represented in a ? ag (with 15 stars) which are made the object of ‘knowledge’ or ‘identi? cation’ with Europe. Taking such indicators at face value requires assuming that strong identi? cations and good knowledge imply strong identities. 8 But it is a long way from identi? cations to identities and there is no necessary parallelism between strong identi? cations and strong identities.A collective identity is different from what is measured when we look at the degree of identi? cation with a prede? ned set of symbols. Such research tells us about the feedback effect on the individual level in the process of collective identity construction. It tells us nothing about the Downloaded from est. sagepub. com at Sage Publications (UK) on April 26, 2012 Eder A Theory of Collective Identity mechanisms of identity construction that might provoke such feedback effects. Suc h research does not make theoretical sense of collective identity construction in Europe. 9The substantive result of the research on identi? cation with symbolic representations of European political institutions is that they continuously show a weak sense of belonging with regard to Europe, much less than exists in the nationstate. The political community as a legal space with rights and duties does not provoke identi? cation, which means that they lack meaning beyond national culture. 10 Since the basis of strong identi? cation with political symbols is dependent upon the culture within which they make sense, research has turned to cultural symbols in order to ? d something that is worth identifying with in Europe. This search was guided by the theoretical expectation that what makes national symbols worthy of identi? cation also holds for European symbols. Some people looked for this meaning in some kind of republican idea of Europe. Others were searching for it in some kind of c ultural idea of Europe. Interestingly enough, this debate reproduces the classic debate on the making of a nation over a republican conception of the nation and a cultural conception of the nation (Brubaker, 1992; Giesen, 2001).While searching for a European identity in terms of identi? cation with Europe, the space of communication in the EU expands. Something is happening that does not show up in the surveys. The problem is therefore to ? gure out how this expanding space is ? lled with new symbols that provide a sense of the limitations of that space. This sense of limitation is not necessarily linked to the symbolic representations of the European political institutions or of a particular European culture. 11 This sense is rather emerging in the course of constructing increasingly dense networks of social elations in Europe that need a collective identity as a project of their control. The proposal is to look not at political or cultural symbols but at stories that emerge in the making of a network of social relations among those living in Europe. There are at least three ways of telling such stories in Europe which are not reducible to the national tool-kit for constructing collective identities. There is a story based on a successful process of uni? cation, i. e. the story of the European integration process as a successful economic and political project, which is the basis of a European citizenship narrative.This is the story of the making of a rich, yet socially responsible continent, the story of an economic yet social Europe. There is another story that emerges from the memory of a murderous past of Europe. The space of communication based on shared memory is a potential source of strong feelings. Stories telling a shared past constitute boundaries with high emotional value. There is ? nally a story that relates to Europe as an experiment in hybrid collective identities, not as a ‘melting pot’, but as a ‘diversity pot’, whic h is a story in the making.The three stories, the story of a successful common market as a citizenship narrative, the cultural story of a shared past and the story of a ‘new’ social bond of diversity emerging in Europe might produce present-day feedback effects in the mind of Europeans – but to do so they ? rst have to have emerged as stories. Downloaded from est. sagepub. com at Sage Publications (UK) on April 26, 2012 433 434 European Journal of Social Theory 12(4) What binds Europeans into a network of social relations at the European level does not show up in established research.It only provides some indications of individual resonance to what is asked in the questionnaires which themselves rely on the model of the old European nation-states. Collective identity remains hidden in the black box of aggregated individual responses. Their answers are like remote effects of processes working behind the backs of these individuals. To excavate more systematically t he symbolic forms in which emerging identi? cations with Europe make sense and grow is the task ahead. From Normative Claims to the Analytical Description ofCollective Identities in Europe A second strand of research on a European identity which is based on a normative approach does not fare any better than the socio-psychological approach. The basic argument is that a democratic Europe needs a people conscious of itself as a people. This argument has been formulated as the ‘demos’-problem. A demos is the constituent of a democratic polity (the ‘people’), and as such it needs a collective identity that goes beyond the idea of a people as just a bunch of private interests.Democracy in Europe needs a people with an idea about themselves that links them beyond private egoistic interests. Ideally the bond should be so strong that it accepts redistributive measures by political institutions. This bond could even be conceived as something that motivates people to die for the political community they live in. 12 To die for a symbolic bond is simply a mode of sharing which mobilizes the strongest possible emotions. With such a normative standard in mind, collective identities are classi? ble as varying between the poles of being weak and being strong in terms of emotional attachment to a good thing. We could translate this normative argument into the conceptual framework of the theory proposed above and provide a sociological instead of a normative argument. Arguing that European collective identity is so far a weak identity simply says that the story of the common market does not suf? ce to control the boundaries of a space of communication linking free and equal individuals into a political community.It is argued that ‘Europe’ needs a different story than that of exchanging goods through the medium of money (i. e. the Euro). Euro coins provide a story for delimiting a common symbolic space which involves people in their being r ational individuals seeking their own advantages. It needs more, a story which tells people that they are citizens of a political community. And maybe it even needs a still stronger identity since it must generate a sense of a particular responsibility and recognition of the other European itizens which goes beyond recognizing them as co-citizens. This argument, however, has always troubled normative democratic theory since it produces a further problem that is hard to tackle within classic political theory: that those following universalizable rules for each other need a special sense to connect to some (those who are members of community) and less to others (those who are not members of the political community). This special sense is no longer based on universalistic arguments, but on narrative images. Downloaded from est. agepub. com at Sage Publications (UK) on April 26, 2012 Eder A Theory of Collective Identity The normative debate helped to denounce the idea of a common market as a mode of living together; it gave power to political institutions which started to engage in fostering and making a European identity. What this identity ? nally implies remained rather imprecise: beyond the acceptance of political institutions, this debate produced more dissent than consensus on what a European identity should look like. The debate therefore remains inconclusive.Rather than taking this debate as an explanation of identity construction, it can be taken as a series of events in the process of identity constructions that is going on within and outside these normative debates which are used to construct a particular narrative as a special (even chosen) people. Normative arguments are a part of narratives; they are embedded in narrative clauses that convey meaning to argumentative debates (Eder, in press). Normative debates are therefore an important part of the process of identity construction, part of an ongoing story that is produced in arguing about Europe.The Reference Object of a European Collective Identity Making theoretical sense of collective identities that have emerged and are continuing to crystallize in the course of European integration is a sociological programme directed at and against socio-psychological and normative approaches to European identity. Sociological approaches tell us whether, how and to what extent identity markers emerge in social processes that are situated in time and space. Normative discourses on collective identity are part of collective identities, explicit justi? ations of the boundaries of a network of social relations. Normative conceptions of a European identity are therefore part of the phenomenon that needs an explanation. The same holds for social-psychological approaches. To ? nd another starting point to analyze ongoing processes of identity construction in Europe is to take Europe as an empty signi? er. It could mean anything ranging from the identi? cation with a culture to a geographical uni ty ranging from the Atlantic to the Urals or to a unity that coincides with the legal realm of the European Union or to a unity that is de? ed by membership in the Council of Europe. We could take such ‘ideas’ as proxies for a Europe to be taken as a reference object of collective identity. Thus we could talk about a cultural Europe, a geographical Europe, a Europe of Human Rights, and a political Europe. Thus Europe is decomposed into a series of ‘Europes’ (in the plural) speci? ed by an adjective. Nevertheless, the problem of the construction of the thing to which a European identity refers remains. Collective identities refer to a space of communication, the boundaries of which vary with what is communicated.This is an implication of the theoretical assumption that collective identities are constructed through stories. Stories that link people vary with the communicative network which they constitute. Thus, the reference object of collective identities i s a network of communication with boundaries which are identi? ed and controlled by an identity. Networks of communication generate identities as a project of control of their boundaries (White, 1992). Downloaded from est. sagepub. com at Sage Publications (UK) on April 26, 2012 435 436 European Journal of Social Theory 12(4)The boundaries of Europe could be de? ned – following the national model – by political boundaries. In that case the legally de? ned space of the European Union is the referent for a collective identity. Legal de? nitions are grounded in stories that link people in that space in a particular way, mainly as citizens in that network. This network develops social relations as connections between citizens that can vary from dense to loose relationships. The trend is so far toward increasing density, measured by the increasing number of legal regulations that impinge upon the life of European citizens.This legal de? nition of a network of social relatio ns corresponds to attempts to de? ne a political control project: linking the citizens in a political identity and thus controlling the boundaries of a legal space. This very speci? c condition (legal rules as based on stories that bind) generates political identities as a project of control of the boundaries of the European political community. The story of this project is the European citizenship story which competes necessarily with the national citizenship story.National citizenship is the result of a long process of historical concept formation in which national identity emerged, integrating social and cultural differences under a new concept: citizenship (Somers, 1995). This same concept is now used to make a European identity: inventing the European citizen as the narrative core of a European identity. 13 To indicate the difference, some adjectives have been used to mark the difference of European and national identity such as the idea of cosmopolitan citizenship.Yet there is no way to avoid national citizenship stories from adopting cosmopolitanism as one of their elements. Cosmopolitanism ? ts just as well into the story of national as well as European citizenship. This story, since its beginning, has exclusively been tied to nationally de? ned networks of social actors. Thus there is an inherent dif? culty with constructions of a collective identity based on the citizenship story. This citizenship story is enriched by reference to the Common Market and to a Social Europe.Both are connected like two sides of the one coin and their combination often serves as a possible particularity of Europe that distinguishes it from the rest of the world. This object is integrated into the European citizenship story: the story of a successful process of European integration which transformed foes into friends, which transformed war into wealth and freedom (i. e. , the ‘four freedoms’). It is further supported by de? ning the role of this EUEurope in th e outer world, i. e. to de? ne Europe as an actor with a clear role in the world. 14A second reference object is European culture, mainly de? ned as its traditions. The substance of this European culture is itself contested. Europe is rather a battle? eld of cultural images that confronts the cultural traditions that have shaped Europe. This is the particular ‘cultural heritage’ of Europe. It ? nds it in its ‘values’ which are opposed to the values cherished in other cultures. These Others are, however, shifting objects: the non-European world is projected on some particular Others, sometimes on the ‘East’, sometimes on the ‘Orient’, sometimes on ‘America’.Distinguishing a European culture from such Others is a strategy for the foundation of a story about a European Self, i. e. a collective identity. Downloaded from est. sagepub. com at Sage Publications (UK) on April 26, 2012 Eder A Theory of Collective Identity The d if? culties with such a reference object which is taken as unique, clear and well-bounded lead to a third reference object based on the assumption that a European Self has never existed.Europe has many different cultures that have co-existed for centuries; this refers not only to the different national cultures that come together in Europe; it also refers to the Arab and Jewish and other Eastern cultures that have had and still have a strong impact on what we consider to be part of Europe, which are equally inside and outside of a European culture. And, ? nally, Europe has added the cultures of the Others in the course of migration movements over past decades which again cannot be assimilated without having an impact on Europe’s culture.Thus, reducing the reference object of a European culture to its ‘values’ or ‘cultural heritage’ is a simpli? cation which does not take into account the contradictory cultural orientations and the contestations about their ‘Europeanness’ in present-day Europe. What kind of story can be told about this diversity of a European culture? We can imagine a story about the many cultures and the forms in which they have encountered each other and shaped the course of cultural change in Europe.There are stories in Europe, in Southern Europe, stories about the co-existence of Arab and Norman culture, of Jewish and Christian culture, of Mongols and ‘gypsies’ in Europe. These stories often tell terrible tales which does not mean that the end of the story is hell. Thus it seems to be an open story, which can be continued and which is fostered in a Europe where these different cultures again clash – yet under different conditions from the past. Which collective identity is mobilized depends on the story that is chosen to identify the boundaries of a network of social relations that bind ‘Europeans’, i. . those living in Europe and ? ghting for its cultural orient ation, to each other. The three basic stories, the story of a common market and a Social Europe embedded in the story of a European citizenship, the story of a unique European culture, and the story of a hybrid Europe are incompatible. They will not coincide in terms of constructing a clear boundary; rather, they construct different boundaries. They tell about different ‘Europes’ (in the plural). Thus, European identity emerges as something with varying boundaries, depending upon which story we tell.Whether there is an overall story connecting these stories and transforming them into one ‘European story’ depends upon a series of restrictive conditions. According to the theoretical model presented above, this has to do, ? rst, with the evolution of networks of social relations in Europe, and then with the structural properties of these different stories which determine their narrative connectivity. The question could be answered in the positive to the extent that Europe develops social relations in which the economic, legal and cultural boundaries coincide, as was the case in national societies. 5 Such homogeneity of the economic, cultural and the political dimension is not given in the European context. Europe is characterized by the non-coincidence of these different boundaries. Taking Europe as a unique culture disembedded from its political institutional framework goes beyond the national model yet keeps the assumption of a homogeneous culture. Taking Europe as a hybrid form of social relations gives up even the assumption of clear cultural boundaries of a Europe in search of its identity. Downloaded from est. sagepub. com at Sage Publications (UK) on April 26, 2012 437 438 European Journal of Social Theory 12(4)Looking at European identity as a project of control of a European society, the assumption resulting from the ‘evolutionary’ part of the theory presented above is that in a European society being more than any other society in need of a collective identity, we have to expect emergent patterns of constructing a collective identity in the context of culturally non-congruent multiple networks of social relations. Whether there will be a story of the three stories thus becomes a new issue for research. The ? rst observation is that the multiplicity of networks of social relations evolving in Europe allows more stories to ? w within these networks. Since such systems are composed of loosely coupled partial networks, the narrative mediation of the loose coupling of a diversity of networks of social relations becomes the focal problem of these networks of social relations. Since coupling is – as the theory claims – mediated by narrative meaning, the issue of how stories can link such networks of social relations and generate an identity of these networks is the key problem. Since social relations in such systems are held together by a multiplicity of stories, the solution of one he gemonic story no longer works.Europe is confronted with coordinating at least three hegemonic stories. In the following, these three model stories for constructing a collective identity for Europe are discussed more systematically. The idea is to distinguish three formal network structures of social relations on which projects of de? ning an identity for Europe are built. These will be distinguished as supranational, postnational, and transnational identity constructions of Europe. Three stories can be related to these model identities. They are used to make sense of these constructions and provide the collective resonance that can absorb ? ating identi? cations in Europe. Supranational identity constructions make use of the plot of the ‘Jean Monnet success story’. Postnational identity constructions follow the plot of ‘And they will live in peace together forever’. Transnational identity constructions ? nally work with the plot of a ‘broker Europeâ⠂¬â„¢. 16 These three stories provide narratives with which different models of networks of social relations, i. e. different types of societies, can be produced and reproduced. These elements are organized in a speci? c sequence which gives narrative meaning to these elements.Thus identities can be analyzed as being more than a series of identi? cations with a market, a polity or a culture; they can be analyzed as a speci? c sequential pattern of organizing such identi? cations into a coherent whole which is a story. Models of Collective Identities in Europe The ? rst model story links national stories directly to a supranational story. National stories become part of a network of stories which has a ‘star structure’: national stories are linked to a centre which constitutes the connection between national stories via this centre, without direct links between the units of this narrative network.It is only via the centre that the national identities are integrated into a higher one. This does not require direct links between the Downloaded from est. sagepub. com at Sage Publications (UK) on April 26, 2012 Eder A Theory of Collective Identity national stories. The meaning of national stories is dependent upon their relationship to the centre: the closer to the centre, the more it provides elements of an emerging European story; the further from the centre, the more such elements become irrelevant. Thus there is permanent struggle going on in which the link to the emerging story is contested.This particular network structure can be called a supranational story since it relies on the emergence of a distinct story of something that is decoupled from national stories. This supranational story is the becoming story of Europe which so far has only a brief history (60 years). It can be extended by adding precursors, either in the twenties of the last century, or in the course of the nineteenth century. Sites for constructing such a centre-oriented network are especially Brussels and Strasbourg. The Council of Europe is trying to tell such a supranational story, de? ing the boundaries of Europe in a larger perspective than a more closed EU story does. Rituals of enacting this EU story are European summits, European days, giving meaning to Europe’s ? ag and anthem. A case for such a supranational story is the story of Jean Monnet as the founding father of United Europe, which can have a more ef? ciency-oriented version, a version tending towards some idea of moral and political excellence of European politics, or a version of a common European culture that is defended and kept by European institutions. Also counter-narratives add to this supranational story.The critique of an Empire Europe, mobilizations against Fortress Europe or the general critique of Brussels as a site of arrogance of power contribute to the making of a supranational story of Europe. The second model story is based on a particular mode of linking national s tories. National stories are networked through direct links which do not crystallize around a centre. European identity appears as a network of national networks. This emerging network minimizes the distances between the parts of the network (maximizing its geodetic distances) and follows the pattern of a ‘clique structure’.This clique network structure produces postnational identity as its control project. Postnational identity is the added value of merging national stories into shared stories. The distances between the national stories in Europe vary, yet their interaction forces them to position themselves in relation to other national stories without ending up in isolation from some or all of these other stories. The story that is told about Europe is then a story in which the relations between national stories and their actors are at stake.Winners and losers, heroes and perpetrators of the recent past and of the present are related, change position and try to ? nd a new position in an emerging European script. Germans and Austrians are repositioned as well as Poles or Hungarians; Italians and French have to struggle to position their heroes in this emerging postnational script. Euro-scepticism and Euro-af? rmativism spread across the national heroes. Euroscepticism is no longer connected only to the English and af? rmativism is no longer the domain of the Germans.The emerging story turns into a postnational story where national actors try to relate their proper stories to those of the others by looking for a position in a postnational plot in Europe. Downloaded from est. sagepub. com at Sage Publications (UK) on April 26, 2012 439 440 European Journal of Social Theory 12(4) Sites for staging this star-structured network are WWII rituals and Holocaust rituals where a European story is enacted. European ? lm rituals or European soccer games provide an analogous opportunity to de? ne a social relation between Europeans that makes narrative sense beyond the nation.A case for such a postnational identity is retelling the story of the winners of WWII by including the losers. Another case is the Holocaust, a traumatic story linking victims and perpetrators across nations. It also appears in counternarratives of a Eurosceptic Europe which mobilizes the losers of Europeanization across national boundaries in Europe in favour of the nation as the exclusive site for solidarity. 17 The third model story can be identi? ed which describes Europe as a site in which cultural differences cut across national differences, thus creating a different structure of cleavages among the people in Europe.This third model is based on networks of groups interacting across national borders and creating a unity out of an increasing diversity of national and non-national elements. This network structure differs from the others in the sense that it does not provide direct interactive links between its parts, yet produces an ordered network of social re lations. It is a network integrated by the structural equivalence of the positions of groups of actors. Indigenous and immigrant and migrating people are related to each other as claiming or occupying structurally equivalent positions in an emerging European society.Such a transnational story fosters the narrative of hybridity, the equal participation in a diversity of cultures in Europe. Sites for such transnational relations fostering hybrid collective identities are particular places in Europe where hybridity has been lived for some time. Cases are the commemoration of hybrid cultures in Southern Spain, Southern Italy, Sicily and Turkey or Europe or the commemoration of Europe’s Abrahamic past fostered by the re-entry of the Islamic and the Jewish story into Europe’s Christian story.Stories of hybrid Europe are narrated as model cases for a Europe where distinct religious traditions succeeded in living together in peace and reciprocal enrichment. The Jewish story is seen as an instance of brokerage between Europe and the Other of Europe in a way similar to the Islamic story which can be seen as a bridge between Europe and the Other of Europe. There exist also counter-narratives of a transnational Europe which is ‘tribal Europe’, the idea of a Europe based on primordial ties that precede concrete interaction ties and which claim structural equivalence on the basis of some constructed common origin.Such hybrid constructions reposition Europe and its Other in a way that transgresses the basic assumptions of the ? rst two models. The ? rst two models still assume a core substance de? ning Europe that is realized in social relations of communication and understanding. The third model provides a model story in which cleavages and unbridgeable differences undermine the search for a coherent ‘good story’, for the simple story plot of a good Europe. Yet there is still a story to tell, i. e. the story of the art of living toget her. This art requires competent re? xive actors, engaging in demanding performances which do not presuppose understanding but take understanding as a rare and happy moment in a series of permanent misunderstandings. Downloaded from est. sagepub. com at Sage Publications (UK) on April 26, 2012 Eder A Theory of Collective Identity Transnational identity as a project of control of networks of social relations that engage in permanent crossovers is embedded in a story which makes itself the object of a story: it is re? exive storytelling. It combines many and different stories and mixes them in an unforeseeable way.Europe provides a site for such re? exive storytelling which is increasingly used for hybrid constructions: a European Islam, a European Jewry, a European Christianity, a European secularism and universalism which emerge from the encounter and hybridization of traditions and cultures inside and outside Europe. Europe in this sense is an experimental site for a collective ide ntity that differs in all respects from historical experience. European Identity as a Case of Transnational Identity Construction Europe has more than one story.At the same time, this society has developed a discourse about itself in which it thematizes itself stating that it has so many stories that bind and separate. Thus, European society is an ideal case for studying the link between increasing complexity and the search for narrative bonds. How are these stories combined? Is there a story of the stories, a meta-story to tell in Europe? A meta-story that might gain hegemonic status as the national story did in the modern nation-state. This question cannot be answered in an af? rmative way.The answer has to be decomposed into the sequential ordering of these stories and their points of contact. We have to look at the temporal dimension of the use of this tool-kit in which some boundaries of what constitutes Europe have been left aside, while others have gained in prominence and ol der ones have been reframed. We have to deal with a dynamic process that accompanies the construction of Europe as a political community from its beginning. The creation of a narrative network is a process exhibiting sequential patterns and generating constraints on reproducing the social relations created so far.In this sense, collective identity is a process of creating a space of social relations which never ends. Yet it is possible for the analytical observer to block the future of such processes in a thought experiment and describe in which sense the future to come can be ? xed. The idea of the nation has succeeded in blocking the future of collective identity construction for a long time. The temptation to ? x it forever has ended in a series of national civil wars and ethnic cleansings which undermined this process of telling one story with a ? xed end.The process of creating a collective identity in Europe in the same vein would end up in two analogous bottlenecks: the ? rst is that it would be premature to block the process of organizing social relations in terms of one collective identity because there are many collective identities that are used to structure an unsettled space of social relations; the second is that blocking the future might in principle be counter-productive since it would create high identitarian con? icts over which boundary has to be recognized and which not. Downloaded from est. sagepub. com at Sage Publications (UK) on April 26, 2012 41 442 European Journal of Social Theory 12(4) When we block the making of a European story, then we see something that is more arti? cial than any of those that have managed to provide the narrative network for social relations such as ideas of ‘nation’, ‘empire’, ‘lineage’ or ‘caste’. Terms such as hybrid identity are fashionable and point to the temporary and unstable mix of different stories controlling the boundaries of a space of communicat ion. Europe has a moving boundary which depends on the story we mobilize. To give precedence to the political story is an unwarranted move.Political identities compete with other stories. The emerging competition of political and cultural stories in the debate on the link between politics and religion is an indicator of a moving link. The link between the economic story and the cultural story is equally dynamic as the ? ghts about a neo-liberal economy and social economy show (Boltanski and Chiapello, 1999). A European narrative is a dynamic combination of different stories that will produce a dynamic form of collective identity, i. e. favour a permanent process of constructing and reconstructing a European identity.To reduce it to a neoliberal or a cosmopolitan or a traumatic identity misses the emergent property of their parallel existence. This is still a highly abstract conclusion yet it points to the basically temporal character of identity constructions which vary in terms of their openness toward the future. Collective identities emerging from such processes are increasingly multidimensional and multilayered. Stories by which identities are constructed do not simply co-exist but rather in? uence each other and produce emergent properties through multiple forms of recombination.Evolutionary theory proposes ‘recombination’ as a result of processes of generating new elements (stories) and their selection in the course of building up social relations among human beings. It, however, has nothing to say on how such recombination works. This is an open space that is to be ? lled. Theoretically speaking, we have to expect structural restrictions and opportunities for stories to combine or to separate. Instead of identifying ‘collective identities’ as entities, we should see identities as evolutionary products of processes in which stories are combined and recombined.Europe is an ideal case for such a theoretical perspective: Europe pro duces stories about itself in the permanent confrontation with stories about the Other which again produces effects in the Other who produces his own stories by looking at the ? rst as the Other (the case in point is the reciprocal storytelling that takes place between Europe and Turkey or Europe and Russia). Such reciprocal storytelling produces shifting identities in which permanent identity mutation takes place. These processes can be halted by political identities with the risk of entering into identitarian struggles with cultural identities.They can be halted by cultural identities with the risk of entering into con? ict with political identities. And economic identities can try to block the future while provoking political and cultural identities. What could emerge is a story of con? icting stories, a re? exive meta-story in which we tell each other about the futile attempts to block the future. But this is mere speculation. Downloaded from est. sagepub. com at Sage Publicatio ns (UK) on April 26, 2012 Eder A Theory of Collective Identity ConclusionThe debate on European collective identity so far has not been able to establish a systematic link between the forms of collective identity constructions and the networks of social relations in which this process is embedded. Thus, theorizing European identity has lost its empirical foundation. This loss has been compensated for in two ways: by a thin theoretical strategy which is to reduce the issue of collective identity to the issue of the extent of identi? cation with Europe, or by a thick theoretical strategy which uses nation-building as the model for collective identity construction in Europe.The thin strategy does not tackle collective identity constructions since identi? cations are elements of collective identity construction, but not its organizing core. The thick strategy assumes that Europe will develop in a way analogous to the national story, which is an unwarranted assumption. Variations in publ ic pride or identi? cation with Europe as measured in surveys indicate the resonance of a people to stories that serve for identity construction. A collective identity might produce identi? cations, and thick identities produce a lot of strong identi? cations. But collective identity is not the result of identi? ations, it is rather the object to which identi? cations refer. The explanation of the construction of collective identity must therefore be sought independent of the identi? cations that it produces. The proposal made in this article has been to analyze the construction of collective identities in Europe by looking at the sites where debates on its identity take place. The market has been mainly devalued and even denounced as a site for a collective identity, in spite of the fact that the success story of the Common Market would have offered a good institutional starting point. 8 The central debate on a European identity focuses on a politically de? ned collective identity, such as the discourse on constitutional patriotism in Europe or on a secular legal culture in Europe such as the one represented in the Council of Europe. However, the cultural symbols mobilized by this Council are universal values that not only the people in Europe share. This reduces boundary controlling effects and undermines the construction of a strong collective identity. Another variant is the claim that an ethical self-understanding is binding those living in the EU together (Kantner, 2006). 9 These arguments are not explanations of processes of identity constructions, but elements in stories providing projects of control of the boundaries of ‘Europe’. Thus, we have several sites in which stories circulate that compete for hegemony in the process of collective identity construction in Europe. Its social basis is a society that constitutes itself in overlapping circles. These networks no longer coincide as they do in the national situation. Thus, the social embe dding of identity constructions poses a new theoretical problem: the idea of a society that consists of partially overlapping networks of people.Each of these networks has its own stories that compete to represent each of these networks. This produces a dynamic of identity construction which needs analytical description and theoretical explanation. Analytically we have to understand the complex interplay of many stories circulating in partially overlapping networks. And we have to identify Downloaded from est. sagepub. com at Sage Publications (UK) on April 26, 2012 443 444 European Journal of Social Theory 12(4) when and where stories can be linked with other stories, by identifying the structural restrictions and opportunities for the connectivity of stories.Thus, we can take seriously the idea of Europe as a multilayered society of partially overlapping networks in which a plurality of stories is circulating and a new story of stories can be created and narrated. For the time bei ng, we have to reckon with a plurality of projects of collective identities in Europe which vary in their combination in time. This plurality might turn out to be an advantage: instead of imposing a hegemonic ‘grand narrative’, Europe can live with a diversity of stories that need only one property: to offer nodes as docking stations for other stories.Thus storytelling in Europe will be an open process, capable of taking up new stories without assimilating them. The only criterion that counts is: to be able to continue to tell a story. Identity is a contested concept – this was the observation at the beginning. The end of the theoretical story is the observation that Europe is a space with contested stories and that it is through contestation that stories that bind can be told. In this space the links between stories will multiply and connect many other stories that so far nobody considered to be part of Europe.The emergence of a new society in Europe and the tem porary blocking of its future in terms of constructing a plurality of European collective identities form the phenomenon that we have to understand. This makes the analysis of a ‘European identity’ a demanding theoretical, methodological and empirical task. The conclusions to be drawn from the foregoing discussion are recipes for further research. For the moment I see four such proposals for organizing research on collective identity in the context of Europe and for generalizing from this context to some model of collective identity beyond the nation: †¢ †¢ †¢ Identifying sites and stories of the narrative network that emerges in Europe. Identifying the story structure organizing this narrative network. Describing this narrative network as a project of control of social relations (and its boundaries) in Europe. Explaining the turning points in the evolution of the narrative network by the social relations between people, regions, civil society organizatio ns, economic organizations and ? nally nation-states that emerge in the course of Europeanization. By applying these proposals we do not need psychological assumptions such as a minimum of ‘identi? ations with Europe’ in order to see ‘identity’ in Europe and explain its emergence and evolution. If there is a collective identity, then identi? cation will come – more or less, depending on social structures that develop in the emerging society in Europe. Notes 1 I leave aside the idea of humankind as an identity construction beyond the nation since it leads to the other pole of the identity of individuals. Humankind is the sum of such individuals. Whether the idea of cosmopolitan identity goes beyond this aggregate notion of individual identity has to be seen. Downloaded from est. agepub. com at Sage Publications (UK) on April 26, 2012 Eder A Theory of Collective Identity 2 Forms of identity beyond the individual are another theme which is raised in the context of debates on ‘subjectivity’. 3 The authors cite Tilly (1995), Somers (1994, 1995) and Calhoun (1994). 4 This also implies an argument against psychological theories that see collective identity as something that people need to identify with. I rather take a Durkheimian view seeing collective identity as a social fact imposed upon us and forcing u