Final exam- Choose the following prompt and write an organized well- Essay

Final exam- Choose the following prompt and write an organized well- developed as a response - Essay Example On a macroscopic point of view, one can argue that when Achebe decided to write Things Fall Apart in English he somehow intended it to teach the significance of acknowledging multiple perspectives at least as much, if not more, than by his fellow Nigerians (Achebe, 1994). His goal probably was to critique and amend the societal notion of looking at an idea through one angle. In Things, Fall Apart the author specifically deals with the subject by exploring how the prospect and reality of societal change affect a set of characters. The tension and suspicion concerning whether transformation should be privileged over culture is given a narrow though and normally involves the notion of personal status. Taking Okonkwo, for instance, his resistance to the new religious and political orders is shallowly based since he has an opinion that they are not manly. He also feels that since the new ideologies are not as manly, they may, in the long run, make him less manly. To some extent seem may true in a nutshell but that is not the reality as the books proceeds. By analysis emphasize the fear to explore that many people normally fall prey to. The society more often than not presumes that what they hear or made to believe qualifies as the truth. The reality is that This Okonkwo’s resistance to traditional change. Likewise, it Okonkwo’s s fear of losing societal status he previously enjoyed. In other words, a feeling of self-worth which can be seen to be dependent upon a set of traditional standards through which society values or evaluates him. Sadly, he uses these fears and shallow observations to claim and justify his fears. What Chinua Achebe emphasizes is the need to look at issues from a broader angle before laying claims. Through the book, he has hinted that what is perceived by many as the truth many be far from it. Just as in

Said's Concept if Orientalism Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Said's Concept if Orientalism - Essay Example The Orient (comprising of countries like the Middle East, India, China, and those lying further east) has always occupied an area of interest within the realms of American cultural arena. Various topics that include men, women and children from the Orient, tend to appear persistently in different cultural discussions, with the greatest and most presumably, the highest influence seen in US based TV programmes and movies. Right from the time of its initiation, Hollywood has persistently represented characters from Orient (like Chinese, Indians and Arabs) in specific exotic terms that highlight their ethnicity (Irwin, 2007, 106). Thus, against a backdrop of stereotyped Oriental ‘Otherness’ stands the Western ‘good guys,’ a representation of the Eastern world by its Western counterpart, which is often biased and conventionalised (ibid). It is this (mal) representation or portrayal of various  non-western cultures  by western filmmakers, writers, and artists, which primarily arose from European colonial/ imperialistic attitude during the 18th-19th centuries, which has been termed ‘Orientalism,’ a concept derived from Edward Said’s famous book Orientalism published in 1978. ... The Hollywood films-makers have held a continuing dominance over the worldwide box-office right from WWI, without any strong or long-term competition from any other rival film industries. Even though there were major setbacks to Hollywood during the Great Depression and later during 1960s, their dominance over worldwide cinema remained unparalleled, thus spanning unquestioned influence over millions of viewers from all parts of the world for more than ten decades. Thus, it is understood that representation of any character(s) shown by Hollywood is bound to cast a strong influence on viewers all across the globe. Hence, one can contend that the negative and imagined portrayal of Orientalism has created a negative image of these countries on the global viewers, which is purely based on lack of adequate knowledge and presumptions on the part of Hollywood. In this context, we will examine the importance of Edward Said’s concept of Orientalism while analysing the dominant cinemas ( Hollywood’s) representation of people outside West. Discussion â€Å"East is East, West is West, and never the twain shall meet†~ Rudyard Kipling (1932) Said’s concept of Orientalism: In actual perspective, Orientalism refers to Orient or East, akin to the term ‘Occident,’ which means West. Said in his book Orientalism perceives the term as comprising of many false presumptions, misconceptions, and various wrong assumptions as conceived by  Westerners towards those residing in  Eastern parts of the world (however, here it must be noted that Said primarily relates Orientalism to the Middle East, where he had spent some years as a child). As Cheryl McEwan informs, Said in

Prove Me Wrong Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Prove Me Wrong - Essay Example I cannot affirm that this has changed. However, it has come to my concern that looks can be deceiving, and what I think is right is not necessarily so. I trust easily, I am kind, I care, and I love my family and friends. Whilst these personal traits might not change over my lifetime, handling them with ultimate care is vital. They make me easy to persuade, subsequently vulnerable to exploitation. It is in the family setting that I learned to stand by my friends and family. Whenever an issue occurred, social or financial, I would do my best to save the situation. For this reason, everybody seemed to like me. My family and friends enjoyed my company and came to me for help any time they felt like. I would give my advice or offer whatever I have if the issue was financial. However, I expected that anything borrowed from me should be returned, especially where monetary values were attached. Months and years passed before things started changing. After some time, I realized that my genero sity, kindness, care, and love were being taken for granted. They started being used as avenues to exploit me. My friends and family had known me too well, allowing them to take advantage of my weak point.

Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 122

Assignment Example Firstly, I would like to express my satisfaction with the writing of this play. Indeed, by composing it, Euripides was out to demonstrate his literary prowess. In his writing, the author effectively used the element of characterization. He made a good choice of characters that would make it much easier for him to deliver his intended message to the audience. Each of the characters was given a name and role that perfectly suits them. They include Medea, Jason, Children, Glauce, Creon, Aegeus, Messenger, Nurse and the Tutor. Each of these played a very significant role in promoting the continuity of the play and developing its themes. The interaction between the protagonist and other characters was quite impressive. The role played by characters like Medea and Jason helped in demonstrating how the Ancient Greek society was discriminative and bias towards the womenfolk. All these were clearly brought out by the manner in which the author empowered his characters. If it were not for them , the play would not have enjoyed an uninterrupted continuity. Besides, the play has adequately utilized the aspect of theme. In his composition, the author was very much concerned about a particular message he was intending to pass to his target audience. Apart from using appropriate characters to help in doing this, he chose a good setting that suits the play. Essentially, Corinth is one of the historical Greek cities that can be used to understand the Ancient Greek history by shedding more light on how the Greeks interacted amongst themselves and with their gods on the day to day basis. With characters like Medea as a protagonist, the author would not struggle to explore the themes of position of women in the society, love, pride and revenge. The theme of love was produced as a result of the love affair between Medea and Jason and later Jason and

Term Paper for Political Science Essay Example for Free

Term Paper for Political Science Essay The study of the state, government, and politics. The idea that the study of politics should be ‘scientific’ has excited controversy for centuries. What is at stake is the nature of our political knowledge, but the content of the argument has varied enormously. For example, 1741 when Hume published his essay, ‘That Politics May Be Reduced to a Science’, his concerns were very different from those of people who have sought to reduce politics to a science in the twentieth century. Although concerned to some degree to imitate the paradigm of Newtonian physics, Humes main objective was to show that some constitutions necessarily worked better than others and that politics was not just a question of personalities. Thus one of his main targets was the famous couplet in Alexander Popes Essay on Man: ‘For forms of government let fools contest,? |? Whateer is best administerd is best. ’ B. The Problem In 1968, the eminent political scientist David Easton wrote: Political Science in mid-twentieth century is a discipline in search of its identity. Through the efforts to solve this identity crisis it has begun to show evidence of emerging as an autonomous and independent discipline with a systematic structure of its own. However, the search for identity has been characteristic of political science from its inception on the American scene. Initially, the discipline was confronted with the task of demarcating its intellectual boundaries and severing its organizational ties from other academic fields, particularly history. Subsequently, debate arose over goals, methods, and appropriate subject matter as political scientists tried to resolve the often conflicting objectives of its four main scholarly traditions: (1) legalism, or constitutionalism; (2) activism and reform; (3) philosophy, or the history of political ideas; and (4) science. By the late twentieth century, the discipline had evolved through four periods outlined by Albert Somit and Joseph Tanenhaus in their informative work The Development of American Political Science: From Burgess to Behavioralism (1967). The four periods are the formative (1880–1903), the emergent (1903–1921), the middle years (1921–1945), and disciplinary maturity (1945–1990). It follows from this Kantian conception of the basis of science that there can only be one science, which is physics. This science applies just as much to people, who are physical beings, as it does to asteroids: like the theistic God, Kantian physics is unique or it is not itself. Biology, chemistry, engineering et al. re forms of physics, related and reducible to the fundamental constituents of the universe. The social studies are not, according to critics of political science, and become merely narrow and sterile if they attempt to ape the methods and assumptions of the natural sciences. The understanding we seek of human beings must appreciate their individual uniqueness and freedom of will; understanding people is based on our ability to see events from their point of view, the kind of insight that Weber called verstehen. In short, the distinction between science and non-science, in its most significant sense, is a distinction between the natural sciences and the humanities; the two are fundamentally different and politics is a human discipline. However, there are a number of objections to this harsh dichotomy between politics and science. Semantically, it might be said, this account reads too much into the concept of science which, etymologically, indicates only a concern with knowledge in virtually any sense. Wissenschaft in German, scienza in Italian, and science in French do not raise the profound philosophical questions which have been attached to the English word science. There are also many contemporary philosophers who seek to undermine the scientific nature of natural science. Inspired, particularly, by Thomas Kuhns The Structure of Scientific Revolutions (1962) they argue that science itself is not determined by the absolute requirements of its discourse, but is structured by the societies in which it operates. Thus real physics is more like politics than it is like the Kantian ideal of physics, and it has no more claim to be a science than has politics. B . What are the four main scholarly traditions of Political science? C. What is legalism? D. What is constitutionalism? E. What is activism and reform? F. What is philosophy? G. The history of political ideas? H. Science C. Statement of the Problem (1) Legalism, or constitutionalism; (2) Activism and reform; (3) Philosophy, or the history of political ideas; and (4) Science. Legalism, Legalism is a political philosophy that does not address higher questions pertaining to the nature and purpose of existence. It is concerned with the most effective way of governing society. The legalist tradition derives from the principle that the best way to control human behaviour is through written law rather than through ritual, custom or ethics. The two principal sources of Legalist doctrine were the Book of Lord Shang and the Han Fei-tzu. The Book of Lord Shang teaches that laws are designed to maintain the stability of the state from the people, who are innately selfish and ignorant. There is no such thing as objective goodness or virtue; it is obedience that is of paramount importance. The Han Fei-tzu advocates a system of laws that enable the ruler to govern efficiently and even ruthlessly. Text books apart from law books are useless, and rival philosophies such as Moism and Confucianism are dismissed as vermin. The ruler is to conduct himself with great shrewdness, keeping his ministers and family at a distance and not revealing his intentions. Strong penalties should deter people from committing crime. History The origins of Legalist thought are unclear. Some would date it as far back as the teaching of the 7th century BCE statesman Kuan Chung (d. 645 BCE), prime minister of the state of Chi, whose teachings are supposed to be represented by the Kuan-tzu. Other figures associated with an early form of legalism are Shang Yang (d. 338 BCE), the putative author of The Book of Lord Shang, and Shen Pu-hai (d. 337 BCE). Shang Yang was particularly important for the development of legalism since it was he who served as governor of the state of Chin and strengthened it to the extent that it was able to unify China in the following century. It was, however, Han Fei-tzu (d. 33 BCE) who systematised the various strands of Legalism in his work The Han Fei-tzu. Han Fei-tzu had been taught by the Confucianist Hsun-tzu, whose philosophy claimed that people were basically evil but could be guided towards goodness. Han Fei-tzu adopted and developed Hsun-tzus negative pessimistic attitude towards human nature by teaching that people were so bad that t hey needed to be controlled by strong government and strict laws. This principle was put into practice by the Chin dynasty, which on unifying China in 221 BCE, destroyed the feudal system and placed the country under a single monarch. Under the Chin dynasty land was privatised, a uniform law code was established, and weights, measures and currency were standardised. Confucianism was severely persecuted; hundreds of Confucian scholars were killed and virtually all Confucian texts were destroyed. The two most powerful figures in the Ching dynasty were Chin Shih Huang Ti (d. 210 BCE), the first emperor, and the prime minister, Li Ssu (d. 208 BCE). The death of Li Ssu created a power vacuum which led to peasant uprisings and rebellions that broke out all over the country. In 207 BCE the Chin dynasty was overthrown and replaced by the Han dynasty, which favoured Confucianism. The viciousness of the Chin dynasty served to discredit Legalism. In spite of this legalism left its heritage in the form of a strongly centralised political system that would define Chinese government up until the present day and influence despotic Chinese rulers. When, for example, in 1973 Mao Tse Tung launched a campaign against his political opponents he identified himself with the first Chin emperor. Activism and reform Activism onsists of intentional efforts to promote, impede or direct social, political, economic, or environmental change. Activism can take a wide range of forms from writing letters to newspapers or politicians, political campaigning, economic activism such as boycotts or preferentially patronizing businesses, rallies, street marches, strikes, sit-ins, and hunger strikes. Activists can function in roles as public officials, as in judicial activism. Arthur Schlesinger Jr. introduced the term judicial activism in a January 1947 Fortune magazine article titled The Supreme Court: 1947. Philosophy s the study of general and fundamental problems, such as those connected with existence, knowledge, values, reason, mind, and language. Philosophy is distinguished from other ways of addressing such problems by its critical, generally systematic approach and its reliance on rational argument. The word philosophy comes from the Greek (philosophia), which literally means love of wisdom. Science (from Latin scientia, meaning knowledge) is a systematic enterprise that builds and organizes knowledge in the form of testable explanations and predictions about the universe. In an older and closely related meaning (found, for example, in Aristotle), science refers to the body of reliable knowledge itself, of the type that can be logically and rationally explained (see History and philosophy below). Since classical antiquity science as a type of knowledge was closely linked to philosophy. In the early modern era the words science and philosophy were sometimes used interchangeably in the English language. By the 17th century, natural philosophy (which is today called natural science) was considered a separate branch of philosophy. However, science continued to be used in a broad sense denoting reliable knowledge about a topic, in the same way it is still used in modern terms such as library science or political science. In modern use, science more often refers to a way of pursuing knowledge, not only the knowledge itself. It is often treated as synonymous with ‘natural and physical science’, and thus restricted to those branches of study that relate to the phenomena of the material universe and their laws, sometimes with implied exclusion of pure mathematics. This is now the dominant sense in ordinary use. D. Importance of the Study While both behaviorism and positive political theory exemplify the commitment to scientific rigor hoped for by Charles Merriam, the Cold War development of area studies had a less direct relationship to its predecessors. Prior to World War II, Americans had been inwardly focused; during this earlier era, comparative politics signified contrasting European parliamentary-style democracy with the American presidential model. However, with the rise of Adolf Hitlers Germany and Joseph Stalins Soviet Union in the 1930s and 1940s, it became evident that democracy needed to be assessed in comparison to fascism and totalitarianism. As the world broke into the two camps of Eastern communism and Western democracy in the 1950s and 1960s, and American political leaders required detailed knowledge of Eastern bloc nations and of Southeast Asia, political science departments and specialized institutes responded to this need. These undertakings were generously funded by the National Defense Education Act (NDEA); from 1958 to 1973 the NDEA Title IV provided $68. 5 million to the approximately 100 language and area centers. By 1973, these centers had produced 35,500 B. A. s, 14,700 M. A. s, and over 5,000 Ph. D. s. Area studies focused on questions of modernization and industrialization and strove to understand the differing developmental logic of non-Western cultures; they embraced diverse methods for understanding native languages and native cultures and remained skeptical of approaches to comparative politics adopting universalizing assumptions. Lucian W. Pye, Robert E. Ward, and Samuel P. Huntington championed the approach, with Huntingtons Clash of Civilizations (1996) epitomizing the perspective afforded by the field. E. Definition of Terms Legalism, Legalism is a political philosophy that does not address higher questions pertaining to the nature and purpose of existence. It is concerned with the most effective way of governing society. The legalist tradition derives from the principle that the best way to control human behaviour is through written law rather than through ritual, custom or ethics. The two principal sources of Legalist doctrine were the Book of Lord Shang and the Han Fei-tzu. The Book of Lord Shang teaches that laws are designed to maintain the stability of the state from the people, who are innately selfish and ignorant. There is no such thing as objective goodness or virtue; it is obedience that is of paramount importance. The Han Fei-tzu advocates a system of laws that enable the ruler to govern efficiently and even ruthlessly. Text books apart from law books are useless, and rival philosophies such as Moism and Confucianism are dismissed as vermin. The ruler is to conduct himself with great shrewdness, keeping his ministers and family at a distance and not revealing his intentions. Strong penalties should deter people from committing crime. Activism and reform Activism onsists of intentional efforts to promote, impede or direct social, political, economic, or environmental change. Activism can take a wide range of forms from writing letters to newspapers or politicians, political campaigning, economic activism such as boycotts or preferentially patronizing businesses, rallies, street marches, strikes, sit-ins, and hunger strikes. Activists can function in roles as public officials, as in judicial activism. Arthur Schlesinger Jr. introduced the term judicial activism in a January 1947 Fortune magazine article titled The Supreme Court: 1947. Philosophy s the study of general and fundamental problems, such as those connected with existence, knowledge, values, reason, mind, and language. Philosophy is distinguished from other ways of addressing such problems by its critical, generally systematic approach and its reliance on rational argument. The word philosophy comes from the Greek (philosophia), which literally means love of wisdom. Science (from Latin scientia, meaning knowledge) is a systematic enterprise that builds and organizes knowledge in the form of te stable explanations and predictions about the universe. In an older and closely related meaning (found, for example, in Aristotle), science refers to the body of reliable knowledge itself, of the type that can be logically and rationally explained (see History and philosophy below). Since classical antiquity science as a type of knowledge was closely linked to philosophy. In the early modern era the words science and philosophy were sometimes used interchangeably in the English language. By the 17th century, natural philosophy (which is today called natural science) was considered a separate branch of philosophy. However, science continued to be used in a broad sense denoting reliable knowledge about a topic, in the same way it is still used in modern terms such as library science or political science. In modern use, science more often refers to a way of pursuing knowledge, not only the knowledge itself. It is often treated as synonymous with ‘natural and physical science’, and thus restricted to those branches of study that relate to the phenomena of the material universe and their laws, sometimes with implied exclusion of pure mathematics. This is now the dominant sense in ordinary use. F. Review of the Related Study In the 1990s, disciplinary divisions existed over the efficacy and merits of the rational choice approach to politics, with many American political science departments divided into camps for and against. In leading centers for rational choice, including Rochester, Carnegie Mellon, California Institute of Technology, and George Washington, as many as half of the faculty adopted this method of study. Disciplinary controversy culminated in the publication of Donald P. Green and Ian Shapiros Pathologies of Rational Choice Theory (1994), and the responding issue of Critical Review (winter-spring 1995). Whereas the future of this disciplinary strife remains unclear, it is clear that the rational choice theory has an ascendant position across the social sciences and in the spheres of business, law, and public policy. American political science continues to question its identity, and to reflect on appropriate research methodology; methodological pluralism continues to reign. The fields continued self-examination reflects three independent axes. One embodies the two extremes of particular and localized studies versus universalizing analyses; a second is defined by the extremes of considering either groups or individuals as the key to analysis; and a third is represented by the belief that a normative stance is unavoidable at one extreme, and by a firm commitment to the possibility of objectivity at the other extreme. In the midst of the numerous topics and methods structuring political science, one certainty is that it is no longer possible for a single individual to master the entire field. G. Summary he study of government and political processes, institutions, and behavior. Government and politics have been studied and commented on since the time of the ancient Greeks. However, it is only with the general systematization of the social sciences in the last 100 years that political science has emerged as a separate definable area of study. Political science is commonly divided into a number of subfields, the most prominent being political theory, national government, comparative government, international relations, and special areas shared with other social sciences such as sociology, psychology, and economics. In practice, these subfields overlap. Political theory encompasses the following related areas: the study of the history of political thought; the examination of questions of justice and morality in the context of the relationships between individuals, society, and government; and the formulation of conceptual approaches and models in order to understand more fully political and governmental processes. The study of national government focuses on the political system of the researchers particular country, including the legal and constitutional arrangements and institutions; the interaction of various levels of government, other social and political groups, and the individual; and proposals for improving governmental structure and policy. Comparative government covers many of the same subjects but from the perspective of parallel political behavior in several countries, regions, or time periods. International relations deals both with the more traditional areas of study, such as international law, diplomacy, political economy, international organizations, and other forms of contact between nation states, and with the development of general, scientific models of international political systems. None of the political science subfields can be clearly separated. All of them, for example, deal with questions closely associated with political theory. Valuable and sophisticated discussions of almost all the areas of political science, including the areas now generally classified under such titles as political sociology, can be found throughout intellectual history as far back as Plato and Aristotle. Through the centuries, the questions of political science have been discussed in contexts varying with the changing perspectives of the time. During the Middle Ages, for example, the major concerns revolved around the problem of where the state stood in relation to man and his God. Karl Marx, on the other hand, viewed political questions in the context of societys economic structure. Modern political science stresses the importance of using political concepts and models that are subject to empirical validation and that may be employed in solving practical political problems. H. Conclusion and recommendation This research is all about the study of the state, government, and politics. The idea that the study of politics should be ‘scientific’ has excited controversy for centuries. What is at stake is the nature of our political knowledge, but the content of the argument has varied enormously.

Statement of Purpose Essay Example for Free

Statement of Purpose Essay â€Å"The future belongs to those who believe in their dreams. †I firmly believe in this quote made by Eleanor Roosevelt. I have always dreamed of making it to the top in the field of business in general and that of finance in particular. However, to realize my dream I need to understand and appreciate the fact that I must arm myself with a professional degree from a reputed business school. This would be an important and decisive step in my journey towards success. A full-fledged program in finance would enable me to form a vision of business and of finance in the twenty-first century and the way it is going. The only career option in today’s competitive environment which creates an opportunity for an aspirant to pursue a career in the field of his choice is to acquire a management degree. Management qualification is a tool to build skills, gain knowledge and insight into modern business techniques At the same time and with equal mind, I recognize clearly the fact that what I wish to do would not be really possible without a robust theoretical framework and base. I fully acknowledge and appreciate the fact that I need to build up intellectual ability in me and arm myself with techniques of analysis, case studies and proper critical examination as well as the ability to acquire information and to get to the bottom of a matter. All that can come only from being part of a complete academic program that would test and try me out and in which I would grow and broaden. That is what I expect to happen to me as and when I become part of a Masters program at an outstanding university where I shall encounter the best minds engaged in constant discussion and ever absorbed in understanding not just the theoretical foundations of finance but also its new and emerging trends. What do I have to offer? First is the fact that I have done my graduation in business along with specialization in finance, which puts me in a somewhat unique position. I already have a theoretical framework that encompasses a fairly advanced and analytical view of society, its institutions and the transition that is part of those institutions in the world of today which is moving from an earlier concept of laissez faire capitalism and is becoming a global village where economic interests predominate and function as primary determinants of political action. The qualities that I have inculcated as a result of the academic ndeavors I have gone through are perseverance, patience, good communication skills, and flexible working procedures and at the same time highly disciplined working capability, qualities which I believe are absolutely necessary not just for success but also for mere survival in today’s fast paced and dynamic socio-economic environment. Most importantly I have the basic quality of self discipline and target oriented approach in consequence whereupon success is automatic. â€Å"All work and no play make Jack a dull boy†. I wish to add that I love driving and I love playing tennis and traveling. I also spend time reading about Finance books, about Finance management and about general management. I do that when I’m not listening to music, which too I love. I like watching lawn-tennis matches. Yes, with all that, I am setting out to learn as well as I can and as fast as I can at a reputed institute and pick up the training and skills of assessment, of decision making, of leadership and of communication which would benefit me to enter the complex world of business and to make my endeavors in that world profitable and advantageous. I must add that I am particularly interested in finance and look very much forward to getting into the course specifically related to finance. I see as well something equally important, namely, the fact that a program, when entered into fully and with a complete mind, builds up into an experience one can’t ever forget. A good world-class university with its vast pool of resources in terms of faculty, its up to date curriculum and its wide student membership is an active and dynamic world that provides an exposure as nothing else can. It is this exposure that I seek, as I know that it would enable me to get closer to my dream of working in the area of finance in the way I want to My role models are Mahatma Gandhi, Dhirubhai Ambani and Swami Vivekananda. Though the three come from different walks of life, each has inspired me in some or other way. In particular, their sense of leadership, their impeccable oratory and their communication skills as well as their infinite vision and talent mean a great deal to me. Finally, I believe that I would be able to steer my career in the right direction if I am armed with a professional (Masters) degree from a world renowned institute. I understand that just a qualification won’t be helpful without sincere and intelligent efforts. However, it will definitely go a long way in helping me achieve my goals. I have always been very serious about achieving my goals and to conclude, in the words of Swami Vivekananda: â€Å"Awake! Arise! Stop not till the goal is reached!!

Urban Structure in Modern Society

Urban Structure in Modern Society How Should a Modern, Globalized Society Adapt Its Urban Structure? A Comparison of Four Texts Globalization, much like the Industrial Revolution that propelled Europe and North America to the forefront of the global economic stage, has forced the redevelopment and organization of urban hubs. Some, like Moulaert and Waley, support government-led initiatives addressing the problem of the economic disparities among social classes caused by the redefinition of labor markets. Others, including Logan and Swanstrom, argue against centrally-planned economies and markets, positing that cities should not work outside the boundaries of their national context. Scholars like Haila, on the other hand, present a married political ideology combining the two, arguing that while differences in cities may exist, real estate and private investment is the common link binding all â€Å"global cities.† With globalization overtaking the norms of familiar market economies, contemporary urban hubs face â€Å"persistent high levels of unemployment, shortage of job opportunities, homelessness, deteriorating housing and living conditions, widening income gaps, [and] social violence†; these problems have become â€Å"an integral part of the new urban context, regardless of prevailing dynamics of economic growth or decline†[1]. Consequently, Moulaert and his contemporaries suggest government-mandated interventions are necessary, including the coerced transformation of labor markets. According to Moulaert, â€Å"the transformation of employment is, doubtless, the key axis of urban socio-economic restructuring and the primary factor shaping increasing inequality and social fragmentation in cities†[2]. Logan and Swanstrom concur, but question the extent to which the government ought to be able to intervene in the restructuring of society. They question â€Å"what form th ese interventions should take,† as reform in the East â€Å"is a synonym for raising prices, reducing some types of consumption, and accepting structural unemployment†; the Communist-type failure of urban restructuring (and central planning) is therefore representative of a â€Å"political and economic event,† avoidable through the careful, monitored endorsement of free market economies[3]. Waley, like Moulaert and his contemporaries, supports a degree of government intervention in urban restructuring and cites the Japanese post-war example. Waley suggests Japan’s success in urban restructuring can be attributed to â€Å"reorganizing urban space in pursuit of economic growth,† which entailed national â€Å"relaxation of zoning, disposal of public land, and measures advantageous to private landowners† vis-à  -vis the strategies outlined by Haila which will be examined later[4]. The government, Waley argues, is the greatest facilitator of econ omic growth through its power to enact policies; contrary to the Communist model, however, Waley’s proposition is one of incentive to the private sector. Logan and Swanstrom directly oppose governmental intervention supported by Moulaert and (to a degree) Waley, specifying that policy cures and the measure of urban restructuring in an ailing economy are better prescribed at the national level; the two stress that â€Å"cities cannot be abstracted from their national context†[5]. Logan and Swanstrom’s position endorse Waley’s admonitions to â€Å"avoid the dangers of a simplistic cultural-determinist response† to the necessity of urban restructuring[6]. On the other hand, Moulaert concedes the fallibility of his model, surmising that government intervention can be detrimental to a point as federal programs are a de facto means of increasing â€Å"the concentration of deprivation in particular urban areas and neighborhoods,† reproducing â€Å"the formation of â€Å"excluded communities, reproduced by the very initiatives that purportedly aim at eradicating them†[7]. Haila echoes the power of pu blic perception, claiming that the aforementioned factor drives the model of private real estate-powered economies. Pointing out the paradigm shift of Japanese investment in Los Angeles from the 1980s to the 1990s, Haila notes that urban development can be catalyzed or snuffed by a change in public perception; after all, â€Å"in the 1980s, Los Angeles was a city favored by Japanese investors,† but the 1992 race riots â€Å"changed this situation, as a property market where an asset can be demolished in one night is not a good market†[8]. While Haila does not prescribe uniformity in the application of economic and urban restructuring, she endorses the facet that all cities which aim to restructure themselves into â€Å"global cities† have real estate in common, echoing Waley’s sentiments regarding Japanese investment in Los Angeles. Private land ownership lends to the environment necessary for economic rehabilitation per globalization. Cities therein affe ct cities; the price falls and gains from one city inevitably affect another[9]. While Logan and Swanstrom support the contention that restructuring carries significant social and political institutions in its wake[10], their views are most applicable to the current global economy due to their calls for uniformity and consistence on a national level. Tied to Haila’s theory of inter-dependent cities, Logan and Swanstrom’s model prevents the cannibalization of intra-national markets. Moreover, Logan and Swanstrom advocate a laissez-faire attitude within the confines of a national agenda, therein tempering the so-called â€Å"free market.† Moulaert’s supposition that global restructuring entails urban development projects, his advocacy for government intervention, finds fault along the lines of market restriction. The workings of bureaucracy prevent the intervention of the individuals Haila perceives as vital to the growth of an economy through land ownership. Though they can be tempered by applicant law and a statute, truncating the invo lvement of the private sector limits growth and future adaptations to a globalizing world economy where punctuality can mean the difference between prosperity and recession. Waley may concede restructured Tokyo’s disparity between the living conditions of the poor and the profit expansions of business corporations, but in his assertions he glosses over the state’s possible use of higher tax revenues to revive the lower classes, thus leaving the question of self-propagating poverty and economic stagnation unanswered[11]. Perhaps most important to note is the necessity of policy fluidity in the degree of laissez-faire economics and governmental intervention. While all four works prescribed a degree of flexibility, none presented the simple fact that globalization, as a new world market and concept, cannot be approached using a template or a macroeconomic stencil of some sort. Adaptation in the urban sector, like all forms of adaptation, cannot be expected to work within the stricture of obstinate thought. BIBLIOGRAPHY Haila, A. (1997) â€Å"The Neglected Builder of Global Cities.† In: Cities in Transformation Transformation in Cities: Social and Symbolic Change of Urban Space, pp. 51 64. London: Ashgate P. Logan, John R and Todd Swanstrom. (1990) â€Å"Urban Restructuring: A Critical View.† In: Beyond the City Limits: Urban Policy and Economic restructuring in Comparative Perspective, pp. 3-24. New York: Temple U P. Moulaert, Frank et al. (2003) â€Å"Urban Restructuring, Social-Political Polarization and New Urban Policies.† In: The Globalized City: Economic Restructuring and Social Polarization in European Cities, pp. 29-45. Oxford: Oxford U P. Waley, P. (2000) â€Å"Tokyo: Patterns of Familiarity and Partitions of Difference.† In: Globalizing Cities: A New Spatial Order?, pp. 127-157. New York: Blackwell Publishers. Footnotes [1] Moulaert et al 2003, p. 30 [2] Moulaert et al 2003, p. 31 [3] Logan and Swanstrom 1990, p. 4 [4] Waley 2000, p.139 [5] Logan and Swanstrom 1990, p. 6 [6] Waley 2000, p. 128 [7] Moulaert et al 2003, p. 32 [8] Haila 1997, p. 56 [9] Haila 1997, p. 52 [10] Logan and Swanstrom 1990, p. 12 [11] Waley 200, p. 141