Author: Andre Coleman

Why Beach Vacations Are Better Than Mountain Vacations

Many people are always mesmerized by any upcoming vacations. Due to this, they make early plans on how to use their vacation time by choosing some of the areas where they can visit. There are always many places where many people can choose for their vacation period but most of them end up choosing the two most common places namely; the mountain and the beaches. Many people assert there is more fun in the beaches and mountains than when they visit other areas such as game parks, reserves and circuses. The two places are however very much different because they offer a variety of fun activities which are totally diverse .This essay is going to focus on the various factors which make people prefer to spend their vacations in the beaches rather than on the mountains and vice versa. Some of the factors to be considered will include the geographical location, climatic conditions and the fun activities of both the beach and the mountains.

Based on climatic conditions, we are all aware that mountains are colder because of the higher altitude just as the adage “goes that the higher you go the cooler it becomes”. On the mountains you will find that the weather conditions change dramatically time after time (hourly). For example there can be a perfect clear sky at 12pm but after a few minutes a huge thunderstorm can come rolling. A few hours later may be at 3pm the temperatures can rise to extremely hot temperatures and then just after a few hours the temperature can drop to below the freezing point. Due to this sudden temperature changes, one has to have some layers of cover over the body so that they may not fall sick after the vacation.

I think the changes in temperatures plays a very significant role in making people prefer their vacation in beaches than on the mountains. For example you will find that beaches are warm because the temperature are high or at the sea level compared to the low temperatures experienced on the mountains. Many beaches experience warm breezes from the sea compared to when in the mountains. Majority will choose beaches for their vacations because they only carry swimming costumes, a few clothes and eatables but while going to the mountains one has to be well prepared (a packed lunch, tinned water, heavy jackets because as the temperature changes one will require either the warm clothes or the temperature might rise thus make one very thirsty.

Another factor is the geographical location of the beaches or mountains. Naturally, most of the mountains are found in the hilly or high altitude areas. As a result, it becomes difficult for many people to access them especially at the top because it requires a lot of courage, energy, food, and water areas for one to get at the mountain peak. This limits the number of tourists visiting these areas compared to the number of visitors in other places such as national parks, game reserves and beaches. Most of the mountains are also found in the forests or they can even be covered by a thick forest. It is natural for the wild animals to encroach areas which are covered by huge forest cover. This means that there might be conflict between people and the wild animals when people decide to have their vacation on the mountains. Again, some countries have very thick forest cover which sometimes catch fire on its own (forest fires). These fires also stretch to the mountains where these vacations take place. We are all aware of the fact that many of the evil doers in the society especially armed gangs stay in the forest and even in the mountains. This means that it is risky for people to go to the mountains without the backing of the security.

On the other hand many beaches are located at the lower altitudes or in almost flat grounds. This happens to be one of the reasons as to why many people will prefer to spend their vacations in the beaches rather than on the mountains. This is propelled by the fact that to access the mountain tops one will require a lot of energy due to the upward mobility but to access the beaches its easy and less energy will be used. Most of the beaches are not covered by forests and they are also located in very open places. This means that there is no habitation of the wild animals such as guerillas which are a threat to the security of the humans. This prompts many people to prefer beaches for the vacation to the mountains. Beaches are also very secure than forest because there is the beach patrol police to maintain security therefore making it difficult for the armed gangs to hide there unlike in the mountains where the security of the humans is threatened by the armed gangs. The beaches are also secure because they are located in far from forest and therefore they cannot be affected by the forest fire which always threatens the lives of the visitors who go to have fun on the mountains.

The other factor which is to be considered is the types of activities which take place both on the mountain and the beaches. It is very clear that these two places offer different kinds of fun activities due to the different climatic changes which are experienced. For example you will find that in the mountain the climatic conditions are characterized by changes in either cool or hot temperature which are either accompanied by snow or rains respectively. Some of the vacation activities which take place in the mountains include snowboarding, mountain biking, mountain climbing, hiking, and skiing. More often you will find that children cannot engage in some of these mountain activities simply because of the heights of the mountains or because of the lack of experience and also due to fear of wild animals such as bears. Statistics have shown that these mountain activities mainly involve people who are aged between 15-45 years thus eliminating many older and young people.

On the other hand, the sea and the warm climates determine the activities which take place in the beach. Many activities that take place in the sea tend to favor all people young and old inclusive because they are simple. Again, it entails what people do at home. This is unlike the mountain activities where one has to go to the mountains in order to practice and even learn them. Some of the activities in the beaches include swimming, volley ball games, soccer games and even the riding of the water bikes. Many people will prefer to have a vacation on the beaches because they will (young and the adults) have some enjoyable activities which they are familiar with unlike on the mountains were activities are technical and require a lot of experience. Again beaches have discos and restaurants were people can enjoy their fun until morning without worrying about the colds and insecurities either from wild animals or intruders. This is unlike the mountain activities where by there are no entertainment areas and if they exists they located a bit far from the mountains. Again many beaches tend have many visitors all the time but the number of visitors is not as high on the mountains thus making everything very boring and dull.

Beach vacations are always better that the mountain vacations because many people hate cold areas and the beaches are always warm. Beaches are also easily accessible compared to the mountains thus making them more marketable. Beaches also tend to have a wide variety of activities for both the young and the old thus making it easy for families to come in their wholes. Beaches are also very secure due to the presence of the beach patrol police thus making it easier for many people to choose the beaches because they are not afraid of any insecurity issues.

At its very core, this paper is interested in Aboriginal identity in Australia; the principle concern is to analyse in-depth, the relationships between their cultural identity and the land. One of the main issues that face Aboriginal people in contemporary Australia has indisputably been the arrival of white settlers in the 18th Century. The events that have followed over the past 200 years have led to generations of disputes, degradation and ultimately the loss of land by the Indigenous people. Thousands of Indigenous people were killed and the survivors were simply put in reserves; their homeland have been exploited and resources taken without consent.

First and foremost, it must be made clear that the literature review here is as much about defining and understanding what Aboriginal geography is as much as providing a rigorous demonstration of the current issues of Aboriginal land rights and identity through views of both Aboriginal and non Aboriginal peoples. The aim therefore, is wholly about ensuring that the background of indigenous Australians is understood which will then put into perspective the context of the research project that follows, in Chapter 4. This review will geographically encompass the cultural issues and differences Aboriginals and non-Aboriginals have faced in recent history with reference to the effect of Aboriginal land rights on identity; a discussion of key texts from Gumbert and Maddock will allow a solid focus and reference point for the research. This will not only ensure that seemingly broad generalisations are eliminated but will also allow an in-depth understanding of why such research is necessary for a successful future regarding these issues. By this, the paper refers to the reconciliation of the Aboriginal race from the apparent generations of wrong doing by the colonisers.

The great importance in assessing the impacts on identity of such events in the modern day means there must be a level of understanding for the political and historical background of white settlement in Australia, meaning the nature of Australian colonisation and the struggles that have been part of the defining nature of the Aboriginal culture today will be thoroughly explored. The review and investigation that follow explores the difference in Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal values, knowledge systems and attitudes towards each other and the contested landscape.

There is of course, a further need to examine these issues in more than one context to ensure that the argument does not simply generalise and stereotype Aboriginal communities across Australia. Therefore, the review will not only discuss the history of land issues and identity creation but also discuss them in relation to the two knowledge systems involved in this process: that is, the separate concerns of the Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal people of Australia. Clearly, over the country’s history, there has been a phenomenal difference in the way that the two groups view land and the link between the two is paramount to future development for an understanding between the two groups of people.

Academic Context

In light of the papers aims, the predominant classification that must be addressed is the very definition of an ‘Aboriginal’ person. Lenzerini (2008, p.75) notes that the term Aboriginal ‘encompasses an infinite variety of diverse realities that sometimes greatly differ with each other’. A definition must be made despite this; a commonly accepted definition of Aboriginal people is written by Cobo (1986). It states that Aboriginal:

‘communities, people and nations are those which, having a historical continuity with pre-invasion and pre-colonial societies that developed on their territories, consider themselves distinct from the other sectors of the societies now prevailing on those territories , or parts of them. They form at present non-dominant sectors of society and are determined to preserve, develop and transmit to the future generations their ancestral territories, and their ethnic identity , as a basis of their continued existence as peoples, in accordance with their own cultural patterns, social institutions and legal system’.

This definition broadly contains the meaning of what it means to claim Aboriginal identity in Australia and interestingly notes the negative connotations of colonialism. For a true understanding of Aboriginal identity and its relation to land rights, the study must look to the roots of the issue. At its very simplest then, as Gumbert (1984, p.xiii) notes, ‘the founding of an English colony in 1788 led to the Aborigines losing their rights to their land. The loss of their land led to many generations of Aborigines losing their identity and their land’. The suggestion here is that when Aboriginal people lost their land to the British in the 20th Century, they also lost their identity. This is because their own cultural knowledge shows a strong understanding that each of them is attached to the country that they are at one with each other. As Sarra (2010) notes, this is ‘qualitatively different from the relationship to land that prevails in mainstream Australia’. It can be instantly recognised then that the knowledge systems that the two groups demonstrate are undeniably different at their core, suggesting why there is such complex controversy surrounding the compatibility of Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal people in the same vicinity. For the indigenous people, the land is part of them and they are part of the land, making their dispossession even more offensive and disrespectful. Anderson and Gale (1992, p.220) discuss the inextricable binding that the Aboriginal people have with the land, explaining that it is not an external physical object but has mythical significance to their culture. The colonial vision however demonstrated a significantly different view of land. Heathcote (1972, p.27) recognises three stages in which Western cultures had entirely different knowledge systems in relation to land: The first stage was the increased level of industrial machinery used to exploit the land and its resources in an unregulated fashion, the second stage encompassed the same exploitative framework but in a more technical, strategic fashion. The third stage has been influenced in recent years by an ecological vision that recognises the limited resources used and is becoming rebranded under the framework of sustainable development. While this framework is of great use in recognising an economic colonial knowledge system, the author fails to consider the socioeconomic uses of the land, limiting its vision. This does however, successfully show the exploitative system that was brought by the colonisers. This enhances the divide between Aboriginals and non-Aboriginal.

It was then, in retrospect, seemingly inevitable that the struggle for land would always be fought by the indigenous people of Australia. There are undoubtedly a number of important events that have permeated this struggle and deserve recognition; however, rather than to generalise and dilute an examination of a range of different land claims and events over the course of history, the more significant examples will be discussed in detail to give a solid understanding of the issues. For example, one of the most significant movements that started Aboriginal land claims began in the 1960’s with the Gurindji people, who in an effort to reclaim what they believed to be their land, left the areas which had been selected for them by the white people and instead moved back into an area which was legally owned by a British company (Gumbert, 1984, p.1). This powerful act demonstrated to the white people not only that they wanted their land back, but truly believed that the land belonged to them, and had done since to Dreamtime (which refers to the beginning of time for the Aboriginal people, an era in which spirits created the Earth (Flood, 1995, p.5)) . This movement became widely recognised as the Aboriginal land rights movement. It can be argued that this marked the beginning of the legal and political struggle for land and in effect, also demonstrates the real struggle that Aboriginal people have in showing white people what the land means to them. This strongly links to the Aboriginal knowledge systems and beliefs and again, their identity.

To be Aboriginal is significantly different to what it means to be British or European. At the heart of each culture is a considerably different approach to many of the values of life, not least to the land. As has been demonstrated, from a whiteman’s perspective land is a commodity, a legal product to be bought and sold to each other whereas the indigenous people of Australia have a spiritual attachment to the land from the moment they are born (Morphy, 1983, p.110). It is these different knowledge systems that the research in Chapter 4 is interested in, as this has clearly been the issue for many generations between the two cultures. The fact that the term ‘Aboriginal’ did not exist until European settlement is testimony to this (Brush, 1996, p.1). The issues faced by the indigenous communities are more often than not quantified into economic terms which is an entirely Westernised view of looking at issues. The argument here is that the current issues surrounding Aboriginal people are seen through a biased, Western perspective and do not therefore consider what is significant to the Aboriginal people themselves. In this sense, the cultural significance that they uphold regarding the land was ignored and in its place laws of displacement were put forth (Myers 1991, p.127). Through a cultural understanding of the land and its people, the environment can be significantly affected (Saggers and Gray, 1991, p.16) yet as demonstrated, the arrival of Europeans brought different customs that upset the Aboriginal traditions; political power and laws being a significant driving force for the dispossession of land. It is argued then that Aboriginal land rights would never come about through settlers learning about the land tenure systems of Aborigines and a constant declaration of their attachment to the land (Morphy, 1978 p, 39).

It should be noted that as Australia became a colony of Britain it meant that it fell under British law instantly, unquestioned. Government policies brought to Australia instantly reduced Aboriginal people to ‘aliens’, giving them no legal stand point. This occurred to the extent that even their physical liberties were taken away from them. (Scholtz 2006, p.87). As Aboriginal people were increasingly displaced and ’rounded up’ into small, controllable areas, there was a clear sign that the white people were trying to convert the indigenous people to their own societal values and began to lose what was their own culture and practices, particularly in more urbanised areas (Gale, 1972, p62). The Queensland Act number 17 of 1987 permitted this rounding up of Aboriginals which allowed Parliaments to put them into reserves which gave great power over the indigenous people. Further to this in the Northern Territory in 1910, the Aborigines Act and, in New South Wales the Aborigines Protection Amending Act 1915 was passed which gave the Chief Protector of the land legal powers and guardian status over Aboriginal children above and beyond the legal powers of the parent (Morphy 1991, p.32). This was obviously devastating to the Aboriginal community, yet was seen as a management scheme for white people against the Aboriginal ‘problem’. It was hoped by the white that by legally confining Aboriginal people to institutions it would decrease the risk of miscegenation and the black people would eventually die out. These political laws led to what is referred to as the ‘Stolen Generation’ (Young, 2009, p.36) whereby children were taken from their parents and put into institutions. It was a way for white people to try and assimilate the blacks into their own customs. Robin argues that communities are still recovering from this attempt at assimilation, however this does not place more emphasis on the family attachments rather than the significance this has to land which is a slight weakness in the argument. Rather than understand the cultural difference, it has clearly been demonstrated that European settlers attempted to force their own laws upon the indigenous people of Australia, forcing them to lose their own culture and identity that had been with them for thousands of years (Broom and Jones, 1973, p.1). The argument for the ‘stealing’ of the children was that it was to integrate the indigenous people to the rest of society yet for the most part the Aboriginals who were removed from their parents were in reality more displaced than the rest of their community. It meant that they were not brought up in the same community as people from their own cultural heritage, and were instead taught the customs of the Westernised world, leading only to further loss of culture and identity.

As Maddock (1983. p.5) discusses, ‘Aborigines can be seen as disadvantaged Australians in need of assistance if they are to step into the mainstream of life in this country’. There was a severe lack of help for the indigenous community in terms of the law. They could also be viewed as a minority, distinctly different culturally from the rest of the country and maintained as best they could. This distinction was an attempt to retain what British law was trying to wipe out. Whichever view was taken, it was clear that legally, either would make a significant impact on laws and policies of the future for Aboriginals in Australia. It was extremely clear that Aboriginals wished to claim their land back whichever way it was viewed; however in 1970, Peter Nixon, Minister of the Interior, presented a speech that shook the Aboriginal community, creating a deep sense that something must be done (Dagmar, 1978, p.134). Nixon stated that Aboriginals should not be encouraged to demand ownership of land simply because previous generations from their families had an attachment to the land. They would then, have to claim land in a similar way to other Australians.

Undoubtedly then, if the Aboriginal people wished not only to simply survive but to create a fairer livelihood for themselves then something ultimately had to be done. As the Europeans had entirely stuck to their own customs and laws then the Aboriginals realised the only way to create a lasting and permanent change was to bring the case to the courts. In June 1992, the High Court of Australia ruled in favour of the Mabo and Others v Queensland (No.2) case (or as it will be simply referred to, the Mabo case). This is undeniably one of the greatest achievements in recent history for Aboriginal communities all over Australia as it rejected the previous law of terra nullius that in essence was a term used to describe the land in a manner that allowed Britain to colonise the country; it did this by stating that the land had never been owned by a sovereignty, therefore nobody owned it (Kidd 2005, p.310). The case also agreed that there was such a notion of native title which meant Aboriginal people were free to oppose the white people who had dispossessed them from their lands previously.

This, of course, did not end Aboriginal plight overnight. There were still issues of validity surrounding whether the Aboriginals really did own the land previously and this is the issue further embedded in the Land Rights Act (Northern Territory) 1976. In the present day, existing property rights are based upon the written European law as opposed to oral traditions; can traditional land relationships to be a valid cause for ownership? There is no shortage of petitions from Aboriginal sources demonstrating a strong view that they are more than just legal, rightful owners of the land. As discussed, Aboriginal people believe they have more than simply a physical connection to the land but also a spiritual one. They believe that ‘their relationship to it is part of divine history , and [he] loses sense when considered apart from his spiritual beliefs’ (Woodward, 1974 p.38). This meant that the opportunity to gain their land back was a way of preserving this spiritual link with the land, giving back their sense of identity. These petitions demonstrate a view that they were invaded as the land was used without their permission. For example, the Gurindji (QUOTE) petition stated that the Aboriginal people have lived in these lands further back than memory serves and their cultures and sacred places have evolved in the lands. (Maddock, 1983 p.35) The important message here is that not only should the Aborigines legally own the land but it is also a moral right that it is theirs. The same can be said for the Yirrkala tribe who petitioned that the land taken from them was taken with disrespect as they had hunted for food there for thousands of years (Maddock, 1983, p.37).

Even though Aboriginal Australians have been dispossessed from their lands for over two hundred years, they would still have no difficulty in knowing where the lands of their ancestors were which gives more depth to the argument that land rights should be based upon tradition (Bell 1993, p.115). As aforementioned, the meaning of property, as aforementioned, to the Aboriginal people is much different to them and has legally been extremely difficult to put into terms in English law as their view of country is one of identification rather than ownership. A land claim hearing then, is based upon ‘history, dreaming sites and actions, continued use of and care and concern for the country… Evidence is oral’ (Rose, 1991 p. 249). It would give an opportunity for the Aborigines to explain who they are, and why they believe they are right to claim the land back. This is referred to as traditional evidence and allows Land Commissioners to gain further knowledge from the Aboriginal communities; it also allows multiple systems of knowledge to be engaged without eradicating each other (Broome, 1996, p.52). To elaborate, the land rights Acts (Central Land Council, 2012) that have been lawfully submitted in Australia, are fairly open in the sense that they do specify any anthropological models that Aboriginal people must conform to in order to demonstrate their Aboriginality to the Land Commissioner and courts. This is a valid argument but Broome fails to note the irony in that the Aboriginal community must present themselves in a Westernised court of law. There is then, a paradoxically produced system. The post-Mabo era of land claims could become a ‘cannon of authenticity for proof of land’ (Broome, 1996, p.53) yet this expectation to prove authentic Aboriginality could in other cases reduce Aboriginal communities even further should legal recognition of native title become rejected. It can be argued that the Acts have become paradoxical in that rather than giving freedom to Aboriginals, they actually give Westernised cultures in Australia the opportunity to silence the claims forever through a knowledge system produced by their own practices.

Now that it has clearly been established that there is an opportunity for Aboriginal land rights to be discussed, we must look forward from the theoretical context. The following chapters discuss in a variety of ways how identity issues in relation to land rights have moved on in contemporary Australia, through a political, socioeconomic and cultural lens. There are clear themes of reconciliation and thorough discussions concerning the different types of knowledge systems presented in Australia today.

Methodology

As part of my degree, I had the amazing opportunity to study abroad for a year and I was lucky enough to study at Sydney University in Australia. Upon arrival I was blissfully unaware of the scale of the Aboriginal issues that permeate the everyday lives of the people around me in Sydney. I didn’t think much more of it until quite early on in my year abroad three Aboriginals attempted to mug me in the street one night. When I spoke to my Australian friends about it nearly everybody replied ‘Yeah, they’re a problem’. Nobody however seemed willing to talk about the matter anymore, choosing rather to give a strangely vague answer and move on. Naturally I was shocked by the responses I received, provoking me to look further into the issue. I soon discovered that Aboriginal issues were deeply rooted in Australian history and most of it was bitter. I realised there were a wide range of contentious topics from education to heath and from the standard of living to outright racism. What struck me most however was the displacement most of the Aboriginals had faced over the past 200 years. With the Mabo case (Attwood, 1996, p.45) having just passed its 20th year since inception, I felt a strong desire to continue with this line of research to see what the impacts have been on both Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal people. Surpassing this however, it became clear that the main issue for Aboriginal people was that the strong relationship they felt with the land had been taken from them when there was no permission granted for such dispossession of land, leaving them with a sense of identity loss. With this in mind I continued my research with a strong idea of the issues surrounding land rights and identity for Aboriginal people in Australia.

1. Aims

There is a vital need to understand the relationship between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal people and the relationships each of these groups has with the land when concerning identity. While there is a focus on the relationships with non-Aboriginals, the research must gain a complete understanding of what it is to be an Aboriginal in contemporary Australia. The following research questions have therefore been devised :

1. What are the dominant impacts of land rights on both Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal people?

2. What are the differences and similarities in the views of Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal knowledge systems concerning land rights and identity?

3. What are the future factors of change for Aboriginal people?

2. Methods

The following methods have been chosen as the most effective way of documenting this construction of Aboriginality:

Interviews

Surveys

Secondary data

Photographs

3. Interviews

After much consideration, it was decided that the best form of interview would be a semi-structured interview. This way it would allow me to ask questions in the style of an structured interview but also vary the questions should the interviewee seem to wish to talk more about one area than another (Silverman 2007, p.43). While there is this flexibility, the structure also allows me to bring the interview back to any particular matter I find more important should the interview go off topic slightly. While the questions are more general in their frame of reference from that typically found in a structured interview schedule (Bryman, 2008 p.196). When choosing whom to interview, it was clear that I must be very careful in the way that I approached the interviewee. This came to my attention when I was aggressively turned away from an Aboriginal land rights office by one of the members inside. In hindsight, it was naive of me to think that Aboriginal people would be so open to an interview by a white (and British) student after they are under such pressure in society already. After this incident I approached the matter much more carefully, instead choosing to find contacts through members of staff at the University of Sydney.

The following research from my interviews is based upon interviews with:

Warwick Hawkins- A lecturer at Sydney University who teaches about Indigenous sport, education and culture. An Aboriginal himself, Warwick was a good choice from whom to get an academics viewpoint while also having vast knowledge on Aboriginal life.

Darryl French- Head Community Development teacher at the Tranby Aboriginal College- An Aboriginal who’s dream it is to get more Aboriginal students into Universities

Mowan Garri- A groundsman at Komay Botany Bay National Park in Cronulla

It is interesting to note that Mowan Garri, despite meeting prior to the interview, was still unwilling to take the interview face to face. This created some positives and negatives. Firstly, it meant that the interview had to be taken over the phone which initially worried me as I would not be able to engage in non-lexical observation during the interview. Shuy (2002) suggests that this may make the telephone interview inferior as interviewees do not fare as well when asked about sensitive issues. However, the interviewee chose the setting so I feel it was the correct decision as they felt most comfortable talking over the phone. I asked if I could record the conversation and permission was granted. There are of course many more advantages and disadvantages to telephone interviews; for example Frey (2004) believes that a telephone interview is not likely to be any longer than 25 minutes which may not be long enough to gather enough data yet a positive is that by not being in the same room, the respondents feel less inclined to respond to the interviewer’s non-lexical gestures and facial expressions, making them feel more at ease. It was having this in mind that made me believe that in order to make all the interviews fair, I would then have to do all the interviews over the telephone despite most other interviewees suggesting they were willing to have an interview face to face. I believe rapport was upheld well with all respondents and each were given a full briefing of the research proposal before hand so they were comfortable in the knowledge that their answers were not going to be taken out of context and used in a negative light. This, as Bechhofer and Paterson (2000, p.70) state, is extremely important in the interview process to minimise any manipulation. It was made clear from the outset that the research aim is to try to find a positive perspective on Aboriginal land rights and identity issues.

It is necessary to address the reason for the respondents being the perfect candidates for this research. By choosing a lecturer from an Aboriginal background who has been through the tough Aboriginal education process, answers can be answered effectively on both a personal anecdotal manner and an academic framework. Warwick demonstrates a great influences on contemporary ideas, giving the answers depth and meaning in relation to future work. Darryl French is the head community development teacher at Tranby College in Sydney that takes up to 28 Aboriginal students a year, all of whom come from a struggling background as a consequence of the belligerent conditions they have been put under by the colonising British. This therefore has given me the opportunity to directly address research question 3 about what he believes the future concerns are for his students and local Aboriginal people. Mowan Garri was also an ideal candidate to interview as the Komay Botany Bay National Park employs all Aboriginal workers which provides interesting thought for discussion and, despite not owning the land, demonstrated a clear connection to the park and its protection.

4. Surveys

Surveys were further used to back up the initial interviews taken out. The survey was taken out in three parts, the first of which was given to a University class studying Indigenous Sport, Education and Culture. Survey one was taken in week one before any teaching had commenced and survey two was taken towards the end of the semester when the class was near the end of the teaching period. This was done in order to gain an understanding of the students knowledge of Aboriginal land right issues and identity problems both before and after the classes were taken. It will also give insight into whether this provides a positive or a negative impact on the views of those learning about the issues. As Blaikie (2000, p.29) states, a ‘critical stage in any research is the process of selecting the people, events or items from which about the data will be collected’. This is precisely why a great deal of thought was given to who should be the respondents of the surveys to give the best results. The other chosen group for the third survey were the students of Tranby Aboriginal College. This, much like the interviews, was excellent for providing a compare and contrast view of knowledge systems between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal people. The surveys themselves, varied slightly with each setting but the core research questions were all asked in one form or another. Some questions were deemed inappropriate to ask both groups as they would provoke biased answers. Bias is always at the centre of surveys (Collier et al. 2004, p.101) and many precautionary measures were taken when phrasing certain questions correctly to ensure nobody was offended. The majority of the questions were open ended as the nature of the research asks for opinions and thoughts; simple yes or no questions were seen as unsuitable and they would not provide an in-depth account of the knowledge systems that were required. Despite the questions being open ended, the surveys were kept relatively short to avoid respondent fatigue. Without an interviewer present also, it allows the respondent to write more freely than if they were the subject of an interview. Furthermore, it reduces the researchers imposing ability on the participant (Stoecker 2005, p.39). Naturally, there are downsides to using a survey, for example the respondent can read the survey as a whole meaning that the answers are not truly answered independently of each other and they may find it difficult to answer a lot of questions. Of course there is also the risk of a low response rate. However, taking this into consideration a survey was seen as the most effective method as time restrictions did not allow for individual interviews and many of the Tranby College students were either unwilling to or could not attend a focus group session.

5. Secondary data

To support the ideas expressed further, an extensive range of reliable secondary data will be drawn upon in order to express and reiterate the ideas and views shown by the interviewees and respondents to the surveys. Dale et al. (1988) argue that this form of data analysis is paramount to a research project as it provides high-quality data and allows opportunity to give views real depth and understanding in the context of Aboriginal issues in the wider community. By using this in tandem with primary research, I believe it gives the project as a whole a great anchor for any concluding arguments that are put forth. Government statistics are paramount to the research as clearly time and money constraints would not allow for my own research into Aboriginal demographics. It further gives opportunity to analyse unbiased data whereas all other primary research is subject to unavoidable bias, no matter how small. While the data may not address my research questions directly there will undoubtedly be statistics that are useful for the research.

6. Photographs

Pictures can demonstrate many different emotions and encompass a vast amount of what an identity involves, therefore a range of photographs were taken and one in particular powerful photograph has been included to help exhibit the need for Aboriginal title and identity to be recognised in the wider community. The messages behind this particular photograph will be discussed in the Analysis chapter.

Analysis of Research
1.Providing Background Knowledge

Thus far, it has been necessary to provide an analytical background to the histories of Aboriginal land rights and cultural identities. Therefore in order to contextualise the analysis, there must initially be a base knowledge of the Aboriginal population to gain a true understanding of the qualitative size of their race in relation to the rest of the Australian population; it has been noted previously that the indigenous population of Australia is very small in comparison to the non-indigenou

The word culture is generated from Latin word of cultura which means care, or cultus that means civilization. (Harper 2010) It can be defined as complicated system of behaviors that share and practice by a given group of people or society. This includes beliefs, values, knowledge, laws, habits and material objects. (Andersen and Taylor 2007) Cultural and society are intertwined and they cannot be separated from each other. Society refers to groups of people who stays in the same region and follows the same laws executed by their countries. (Kendall 2010) Hence, people in the same region will normally perform the same culture. (Brinkerhoff et al 2008)

Some socialists view culture as ‘a way of life’ (Mohanthy 2005) regards to people ways of thinking and behaving. (Macionis 2005) Culture also refers to activities or symbols that created and adopted by people to deal with certain issues in order to survive in their environments and accepted by their society. (Brym and Lie 2007) Further, it can also be a tool to unite the society so that everyone can rally together by having the same culture, same direction. (Andersen and Taylor 2007) For example, Malaysia is famous as rich cultural heritage because of having different races with diverse cultures that bring people together (Boey 2007) especially through the latest One Malaysia concept. (Bernama 2009)

Culture is shared and transmitted from generation to generation for future guidance. (Kendall 2010) Different cultures will be shared when there are various races and ethics groups. (Andersen and Taylor 2007) This can be explained further by the culture of distributing red packets during Chinese New Year by Chinese. This culture of giving red packets does not only share by Chinese in fact it has been adopted by Malays in distributing green packets during Hari Raya celebration. (Faroukaperu 2010) Thus, culture is learned and not born instinctively. (Andersen and Taylor 2007)

Next, culture is changing all the times and different across to places. People nowadays tend to change their cultures based on their preferences. For example, people nowadays will wear black apparels during Chinese New Year even it is prohibited by their traditional cultures. People in US will kiss and hug as their way of greetings which is totally different from Malaysia where there will be no intimate actions in greetings. This shows that even the same actions can bring different meanings when it applied in different countries because of their distinguish cultures. (ibid)

Contents of Culture
Part Two

There are two different types of culture, which are material and non-material cultures. Material culture refers to crudely (Ferrante 2008) or human made items that can be seen, wield, and share by society. (Kendall 2010) They are important as evidences to prove the existing of previous, current and oncoming society. (Epitacio and Palispis 1996) Contrarily, non-material culture can be defined as intangible concepts that will affect on how people behave. (Kendall 2010) This consists of symbols, language, values, beliefs and norms that created and followed by particular group of people in society which I will discuss below. (Epitacio and Palispis 1996)

Symbols

The presence of culture is because of human capability to invent and access symbols. (Popenoe 1989) Symbols are type of tangible objects or ideas that people appoint them with denominations or purports. (Ferrante 2008) Symbols permit people to categorize their experience and extrapolate from it. This can be shown by the symbols of “daddy” and “mummy” that cannot be simply address to anyone. As the baby often heard the words, thus he knows who he should address these phrases to. (Brym and Lie 2007)

Symbols can also create patriotism, likeable or hatred because they are represented by certain tangible items. For example, national songs can stand for nationalism, roses represent likable and weapons represent hatred. Next, white colour of gown and garments are usually worn by bride and bridegroom because white stands for pureness. People might also use symbols to show their status in the society, for example the car BMW is a symbol of affluent and wealthy. Hence, whenever we see someone driving BMW, we will automatically categorize that people as rich. (Kendall 2010)

In addition, symbols of gestures that seem sinless can sometimes offend people with different cultures. The thumbs up gesture that usually express excellent can be troublesome in Australia as it means “up yours”. They have to remember that there are different symbolic meanings in different society and new symbols can be created anytime. (Macionis 2005)

Language

Language is a type of symbols that permit people to share their concepts, allow them to consider wisely before interact with people. (Anderson and Taylor 2007) There are verbal and nonverbal languages. (Kendall 2010) Language is considered to be the most important symbol in expressing our past, sentiment and lore because it is straight forward and easy to understand. (Popenoe 1989)

Some socialists alleged that language can be used to differentiate human from animals. (Epitacio and Palispis 2007) Scientist Steven Pinker has claimed that language is what naturally born by human beings. (Brym and Lie 2007) Although animals do not communicate with each other by language, they do have the ability to learn but with limitations. For instance, parrot that will follow on what the trainers train it to be. But yet, their memories are definite and they do not have the capability to understand the meaning of its. Therefore, animals cannot pass the messages to their progeny unlike human. (Kendall 2010)

Language and culture are inseparable. As children learn their language, they will understand more about their culture and participate fully into it. The sense of belongings to their own culture can be created and through language they can share the bygone and world after tomorrow. (Ferrante 2008) Through language people can realize others’ experiences and mistakes to ensure no repetition on the same failure. (Epitacio and Palispis 2007)

Each language has their own vocabulary, pronunciation and ways of constructing sentences. (Anderson and Taylor 2007) For example, English language people will construct a sentence in the “subject-verb-objects” (The girls are playing Barbie dolls) which is different compare to Korean “subject-object-verb” (The girls Barbie dolls are playing). Korean and Chinese will first address their family surname but western people will only address their family name after mentioned their own name. (Ferrante 2008) Sometimes the same words can also pronounce differently by using American or British slang. Further, vocabulary for tomatoes is known as pomodoro in Luigi and agvabiya in Shoshanna. These clearly show the using of languages can categorize the society people are in (Brym and Lie 2007) and to shape unity within the groups. (Brinkerhoff et al 2008)

Nevertheless, Sapir-Whorf Thesis was proposed in 1930s by linguists Edward Sapir and Benjamin Lee Whorf regard to the relationships between experiences, concepts and language. (Brym and Lie 2007) This hypothesis claimed that the language people use will shape their perspective of actuality about how they look the world (Anderson and Taylor 2007) and no languages will have the same thoughts of actuality. (Popenoe 1989) However, many scientists found this thesis exaggerated the relationship between language and people concept, ways of behaving. They do agree that the language could affect their behavior and perception but will not ascertain it. (Kendall 2010)

Language also being used to differentiate gender and this can be shown by example of word “masculine” used to describe he as strong while “feminine” is used to represent she as coward. (Brym and Lie 2007) However, as time passes, many vocabularies that previously only refer to men has changed as many women nowadays are highly educated. For example, the word “chairman” in the past has amended to either “chair” or “chairperson” in organizations. (Kendall 2010)

Values and Beliefs

Values represent the perfect manners to decide the desirability regard to justice, correct versus wrong and good verse bad. (Anderson and Taylor 2007) Values are intangible notions that could form the perfectionism of society. (Popenoe 1989) Meanwhile, values also shape a person’s behavior (Anderson and Taylor 2007) and people will use their values as models to evaluate the attitude of someone. (Kendall 2010) As claimed by Talcott Parsons (1951), values are imbibed by people since they are small through their parents or environmental factors. (Popenoe 1989) Thus by evaluating the attitudes of someone, people can determine the fundamental values on what they learnt in the former. (Epitacio and Palispis 1996)

Values are reciprocal with culture. (Macionis 2005) Some cultures will value more on individualism whereas some will value more on group. Seen in this light, we can realize people in US value more on individualism as they more focus on their personal achievement rather than sharing it with others. This is totally different with Korean that is ready to share their joyful with others and they tend to be more unity. (Ferrante 2008)

Furthermore, values have mutual relationships with beliefs. Beliefs are notions and concepts that bind people together and what they perceive it should be. Some socialists claimed that beliefs are the fundamental for values and guiding people to pass through their lives even though sometimes it might be wrong or sinful. (Anderson and Taylor 2007) Cultural beliefs and values do not only influence people viewpoints but could shape their ways of behaving. (Macionis 2005)

Another example to prove that beliefs and values affect the attitude of people can be seen from Kwakiutl group who have the habit of distributing their wealthy to their people or even to their competitors. (Anderson and Taylor 2007) They believe by doing such a way their people will stay loyalty and offer them helps whenever they are in troubles. (Brinkerhoff et al 2008)

However, values contradictions always occur due to the conflicts of ideal and real culture. Ideal culture refers to the culture that someone should practice in society while real culture is what eventually adopted by people. (Kendall 2010) This can be seen by the example of China tainted milk powder by Sanlu Group that happened previously. Their only concern in making profits and ignored customers’ safety has shown the contrast of ideal and real cultures adopted by business. (BBC News 2008) (Refer to Attachment 1 page 15 to 16)

Norms

Norms refer to cultural expectations regard on what actions to be carried out when facing issues. (Anderson and Taylor 2007) Norms also act as standards to provide guideline about what are right and wrong, what should be done or forbidden by society. Even though it almost the same as values, but norms clarify how people should behave while values only provide ideas and concepts regard to behaviors. (Kendall 2010) Thus, norms can also form people attitude and decide the stability of society. (Anderson and Taylor 2007)

There are formal and informal norms. (Ferrante 2008) Formal norms are rules that have recorded and must be obeyed while informal norms refer to situations that will happen everyday. (Anderson and Taylor 2007) For instance, the compendium given to high school student is a type of formal norms and student ought to follow the rules stated. Informal norms can be seen by normal routines such as brush your teeth early in the morning and before you sleep without the necessity to remind. (Ferrante 2008) Norms also consist of prescriptive and proscriptive norms in which the former declare what actions are correct and the latter record conducts of wrongdoings. (Kendall 2010)

US sociologist William Graham Sumner (1906) has introduced norms of folkways and mores. According to him, it is informal norm that will give us discipline (Ferrante 2008) and will not have any serious circumstances even if someone breaks it. (Popenoe 1989) For example, someone is violating the folkways when he dyes his hair into green. Even though other people might view him as insane or mad, but his act never intrude anyone’s life and will not affect the society. (Brinkerhoff et al 2008)

Next, mores are important to govern the ethically of behaviors (Brym and Lie 2007) that could influence the stability of society if someone breach it. (Kendall 2010) Unlike folkways, people who commit mores will be punished more seriously, such as imprisonment or even sentence to death. This normally applies to criminal cases such as murder that against by laws. (Ferrante 2008) Incent taboo is an example of crucial mores that prohibit from having any sexual desire and intimate relationships with person that have the same kinship. (Kendall 2010) The violation of this taboo can bring unexpected shameful and punishments such as imprisonment, whipping or both can be executed at the same time. (Anderson and Taylor 2007) To sum up, folkways will determine either polite or impolite while mores will differentiate correct or evildoings. (Macionis 2005)

Laws have implemented for modulating and governing people’ attitudes and actions. (Epitacio and Palispis 1996) Laws are part of formal norms that compile and sanction by state government. (Brinkerhoff et al 2008) Most of the mores are laid under criminal laws with more serious penalties (Epitacio and Palispis 1996) while civil laws are basically for handling cases about arguments. (Kendall 2010) However, laws are sometimes flexible and pamper to certain acts which might seen as illegal. This can be shown by the example where most Chinese will have the habit of gambling during Chinese New Year. Even though gambling is an illegal behavior but many polices will just close one eye because they refer this as a way on how Chinese society share their joyful during their festival. (The Star 2006) (Refer to Attachment 2 page 17 to 18)

Lastly, sanction can also be applied for the intention to compel norms and it can either be positive or negative. (Popenoe 1989) Positive sanction refer as recompenses that someone will receive by doing adequate conducts whereas negative sanctions will be administered when someone did something guilty. (Kendall 2010) The degree of sanctions will rely on how strong the norm is being concerned. (Anderson and Taylor 2007)

However, there are formal and informal sanctions. (Popenoe 1989) Formal sanction only occur when someone in the high status with power involve in decision making process. An example of formal sanction can be viewed by the Muslim Malay model that has to receive sanction of canning because of her violation in drinking alcoholics drinks. (Mail Online 2009) (Refer to Attachment 3 page 19 to 20) Nonetheless, informal sanction is a control to assure the compliance of people or society to certain norms. For example, society in Aguaruna adopts custom of reciprocity. If someone does not interact with others, the individual will be isolated and no one will assist them whenever they need helps. (Gutierrez 2002)

Material Culture

Besides only referring to physical and tangible items, material culture also covers the process of utilizing skills for producing items (Brym and Lie 2007) using ingredients such as raw materials, or even invent through existing objects. (Kendall 2010) This clearly shows that material culture cannot not be isolated from technology that refer to the literacy and wisdom to invent, introduce, alter and convert something to maximize its usage. (Macionis 2005) Sociologists also called material culture as artifacts due to its “breeding” and usage by human. (Popenoe 1989)

Material culture plays a significance role because it shows the advancement of technology in enriching people’ life. In fact, material cultures are interdependence with non-material cultures because archaeologists can only analyze and identify the non-material cultures through the dig up artifacts left by former society. (ibid)

However, sociologist William F. Ogbum claimed sometimes cultural lag can occur due to the inability of non-material cultures to pursue with the progress of material culture. (Kendall 2010) Example of cultural lag can be shown through the technology of cloning (material culture) that is possible to clone human with the same genes, characteristics, shared values and norms. However, many people banned this technology because it is differs from their religion beliefs (non-material culture) that everyone has to pass through the process of death. (BBC News 2006) (Refer Attachment 4 page 21 to 22)

Material culture can be concluded as instruments to form human beings and vice versa. (Popenoe 1989) For example, iPhone has grabbed abundance attentions when it was first presented in the market and many people has buying it. Functions of this high end technology gadget (material culture) will be fully utilized and discovered by their buyers. Thus, material culture will form how human beings reacted meanwhile the desire of human beings to use high technology gadget nowadays have made many companies join in the fray to devise this kinds of material cultures. (Catanzariti 2009) Countless material cultures have also introduced through the advancements of technologies in the fields of Internet, telecommunication and transportation such as aeroplanes, computers. (Kendall 2010)

Part Three

Social Conflict perspective claimed culture as social item (Brinkerhoff et al 2008) because the inequality of privileged groups or society to govern social life and exploit others. (Kendall 2010) It is so called as “conflict” because it only benefits and focus on powerful groups. (Popenoe 1989) According to Karl Marx, ideas play an important role in society and thus the concept of ideology which is the shared culture beliefs emerged in order to remain their status and authority. (Kendall 2010) This can be supported by the example of ideology in ruling class where bourgeoisies, the upper class of Marxian culture have authority to exploit the lower class, proletarians either politically or economically. (Popenoe 1989)

Therefore, conflict theory asserted that culture is a type of authority in society because it is overrule by strong and wealthy groups of people or institutions. (Anderson and Taylor 2007) These groups of people could use non-material culture such as idea to influence and change people behaviors. (Kendall 2010) For example, the contents of the newspaper would filter before publish to society if it is financially supported by private organizations. They could also convert critical bad news into minor case so the reputation of the organizations will not be affected. Thus, the cultural items that produced are not necessary correct and mostly only meet the demands of this privileged group that willing to pay. (Anderson and Taylor 2007)

Conflict theory also construes culture as it will be slowly dominated by affluent big players in capitalist economic industry. These big players will gradually control and diversify their business for example by buying over other company to remain their biggest potion in the market and slowly insert their influences to society. It has been claimed that the more successful the business is, the more market the business is holding and the easier the business in affecting culture of others. Sociologist refers this as cultural hegemony, which is the only and biggest power in play. This cultural hegemony has the authority to rule everything because most culture beliefs made by these powerful people are known to be correct and perfect. (ibid)

Moreover, this theory analyze concept of cultural capital that define by French Sociologist Pierre Bourdieu (1984) as the lore and wisdom that own by upper class, such as the activities of playing golf and sailing that distinguish the standards of social class. (Brinkerhoff et al 2008) The reason is simple, upper class people will use their knowledge (cultural capital) to invest their money and gradually enhance their social and economic position. Therefore, the rich will becomes richer and the poor will becomes poorer. When they have more money, they will be more respected and people will start listening to them. (Anderson and Taylor 2007)

Some conflict theorists even conclude that former popular culture that originated from the public are slowly unadopted by people due to the creation of new popular culture. This can be shown by games of whirligigs and kites that were previously played by children have no longer been seen in today’s century. We will be noticed that city children nowadays only play games entertainments like PS2, Internet and mobile phones. This clearly showed that the advanced games (new popular culture) have superseded the former popular games and culture. (Kendall 2010)

Besides that, it also evokes the inequality in the term of gender and certain human rights. (ibid) For example, women will be described as weakness and timid whereas men will be defined as reverence. Gay and lesbian also addressed as deviance and absurd. All these inequalities have caused pressure that lead to right revolutions, a process of achieving victory in executing even rights under the legislation. Hence, women, gay, lesbian and many other rights have created in order to protect these vulnerable groups and maintain the stability of society. Examples of increasing women participation in workforce especially in Singapore have proven that women are changing and they can decide their own future. (Chang 2009) (Refer Attachment 5 page 23 to 24) Iowa is also the first state to legalize gays and lesbian marriage in order to enhance their pride in status. (The Associated Press 2009) (Refer Attachment 6 page 25 to 27) Nevertheless, many Muslim nations still unable to accept homosexuality and they are still being discriminated by people. (Brym and Lie 2007)

In a nutshell, this social conflict theory do not illustrate the equally distribution of human necessary but more emphasize on the relationship between culture and its disparity. (Macionis 2005)

Conclusion

Culture can be concluded as the characteristics of society. As the world becomes borderless, cultures easily transmit and share by people from different society. Every material and non-material culture also plays their roles in maintaining harmonization between one another and unites people together. (Kendall 2010) Thus, it is important to know and understand our own cultures (Newman 2008) and pass them to our next generations to ensure its long-lasting. (Brym and Lie 2007)

Word Count: 3283 words

Attachments

Attachment 1: China Sanlu Group tainted milk powder

Chinese baby milk scare ‘severe’

Published: 2008/09/13 11:36:43 GMT

© BBC MMX

The number of Chinese babies known to have fallen ill with kidney stones as a result of contaminated milk powder has risen to 432, officials have announced.

“This is a severe food safety accident,” health ministry official Gao Qiang, said. Those responsible would be “severely” punished, he added.

Later, it was announced that 19 people had been arrested.

Tests showed the milk powder contained the industrial chemical melamine. One infant has died.

The new scare revived memories of a fake baby milk formula scandal four years ago in which at least 13 babies died.

Vow to punish

“As of 12 September, there are 432 cases of kidney stones in the urinary systems of infants according to reports from health departments nationwide,” Gao Qiang said.

“None of the milk powder was exported to other countries or regions,” Mr Gao said.

“Only a fraction of the milk powder was sold to Taiwan for food processing,” he added.

Gao Qiang said the Sanlu Group had been ordered to halt production after its products were found to be responsible.

“We will severely punish and discipline those people and workers who have acted illegally,” Mr Gao said.

Melamine is a toxic chemical used in plastics, fertilisers and cleaning products.

New Zealand-based dairy product company Fonterra Cooperative Group Ltd, a part-owner of Sanlu, ordered a recall of about 700 tonnes of powder contaminated with melamine believed to be in circulation.

Melamine has been used by Chinese suppliers of animal feed components to make them appear to have more protein.

It was linked to the formation of kidney stones and kidney failure in pets in the United States last year, leading to thousands of deaths and illnesses.

A fake milk powder scandal in 2004 killed at least 13 babies in the eastern province of Anhui.

Investigators found that the milk given to these babies had no nutritional value, and the resulting scandal triggered widespread investigations into food safety.

Story from BBC NEWS:

Source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/asia-pacific/7614083.stm

The above news is used to show the differences between ideal culture and real culture in real business situation.

Attachment 2: Gambling

Saturday March 11, 2006

The adverse effects of gambling
Tel: (03)2260 1954/ 2134 or email
Information in this article is courtesy of the Malaysia Crime Prevention Foundation(MCPF)

Gambling is illegal in Malaysia unless it is being operated under a government licence or permit. Among the gambling activities that are considered illegal include:

Gambling in the house

Gambling in public places

Illegal lottery

Illegal bookmaking

Slot machines/ jackpot/ turfking/ fruit machine

Hawking lottery results

Gambling can easily develop into a compulsion for some of us. When this happens, it becomes a serious problem not only to the individual but also to society at large. The harm caused by those who are hooked on gambling usually spreads to the family and community.

Many problem gamblers often experience stress-related physical and psychological ill health. Problem gambling is like a disease to society and may bring these consequences to the individual who indulges in it:

Wastes time, which otherwise could be used for something more constructive.

Lose huge amounts of money, which leads to stress and disharmony in the family.

One could become a dishonest person who has to constantly worry about debts.

Gambling may be a cause of bribery.

Work becomes secondary or in some cases, totally neglected.

Health is also neglected by forgoing food and drink.

As a last resort, some may turn to criminal activities or illegal moneylenders to cover losses and continue gambling.

When a person becomes obsessed with gambling, s/he will do anything just as long as s/he can gamble.

There’s always the risk of getting caught and being charged in court.

Those who gamble will risk losing everything.

The consequences of problem gambling can be avoided by getting involved in other more beneficial activities. Among the suggestions to prevent one from gambling is to focus on spiritual development, take up sports or a hobby, or do some charity work.

Some of us resort to illegal moneylenders when we are strapped for cash, which is dangerous and unadvisable. Here are some suggested steps to take to avoid being victims of these loan sharks:

Do not be lured by promises of quick money

Do not be easily fooled into signing a form or contract by a “salesperson”

Victims should be bold enough to make a police report, revealing all information they have on schemes like these, to aid the authorities in catching the perpetrators.

Story from The Star Online.

Source: http://thestar.com.my/fightcrime/resources/story.asp?file=/2006/3/11/resources/20060316165242HYPERLINK “http://thestar.com.my/fightcrime/resources/story.asp?file=/2006/3/11/resources/20060316165242&sec=resources”&HYPERLINK “http://thestar.com.my/fightcrime/resources/story.asp?file=/2006/3/11/resources/20060316165242&sec=resources”sec=resources

The above news is being used to show that gambling is illegal in Malaysia even though it has became a norm or habit to Chinese society since ages ago.

Attachment 3: Punishment of Canning for breaking Sharia Law

Malaysia delays caning of Muslim model for drinking beer until after Ramadan

By Mail Foreign Service

Last updated at 9:25 PM on 24th August 2009

A Muslim model who is to be caned by Malaysian authorities after being caught drinking beer will have her punishment postponed until after the Islamic fasting month of Ramadan.

Kartika Sari Dewi Shukarno originally had been scheduled to enter a women’s prison today before being lashed six times with a rattan cane some time this week.

However, Mohamad Sahfri Abdul Aziz, a legislator in charge of religious affairs, says the caning will be carried out after the current Muslim fasting month of Ramadan.

It began Saturday and will end in mid-September.

He says the decision was made at the last minute for compassionate reasons on the advice of the Attorney General’s office but insisted that the punishment had not been cancelled.

Kartika Sari Dewi Shukarno, a 32-year-old mother of two, insisted she is ready to be lashed six times with a rattan cane next week for breaching the country’s Shariah law, which forbids Muslims to consume alcohol.

‘I want to respect the law,’ Kartika said.

‘Who am I to question the Islamic authorities’ laws? That is beyond me.

‘I never cried when I was sentenced by the judge. I told myself, all right then, let’s get on with it. But if you’re going to cane me, then do it in public.’

Miss Shukarno, 32, was sentenced to six lashes by an Islamic court after she was caught with alcohol in a raid on a hotel nightclub in eastern Pahang state last year.

Amnesty International had urged authorities to ‘immediately revoke the sentence to cane her and abolish the practice of caning altogether.’

‘Caning is a form of cruel, inhuman and degrading punishment and is prohibited under international human rights law,’ it said in a statement.

But Miss Shukarno has even asked for the caning to be carried out in public to send a clear message to Muslims that they should shun alcohol.

Prosecutor Saiful Idham Sahimi said: ‘It is a good punishment because under Islamic law a person who drinks commits a serious offence.’

He added that a rattan cane ‘lighter than the one for men’ would be used, and that its purpose was to ‘educate’ rather than punish.

Muslims, who make up two-thirds of Malaysia’s 28million population, are governed by sharia law. Although most alcohol offenders are fined, they can also be caned.

Women’s rights groups attacked the penalty as being ‘too harsh’.

Yesterday the court set a one-week period starting next Monday for the sentence to be carried out in a woman’s prison, Saiful said. Prison authorities will decide when to cane her during that period.

He said Kartika will remain in prison during that time and will be released ‘as soon as possible’ after the caning is carried out.

Caning, administered on the buttocks, breaks the skin and leaves permanent scars. Kartika said earlier that she wanted authorities to cane her as soon as possible so she can resume her life with her husband and children.

Most alcohol offenders are fined, but the crime also carries a three-year prison term and caning.

Non-Muslims are governed by civil courts, which also impose caning for offens

Meritocracy as an ideology

Meritocracy can refer to an idealised society where discrimination on the basis of race, nationality, gender, age, and other irrelevant characteristics is completely absent. Merit is the encompassing value, the basic and morally correct criterion for any and all social classifications, particularly in respect to socioeconomic standing and in public space. A notion, emphasising societal consensus on the means and processes of selection for particular roles through a system of sifting, sorting, and rewarding talent and ability, motivated by competition for qualifications that in turn structure access to wealth, prestige, and personal satisfaction. It is conceived as a repudiation of systems like aristocracy where individuals inherit their social status. A meritocracy resembles aristocracy in the classical sense of the term meaning “rule by the best.” What has happened over the centuries, however, is that aristocracy has become associated with hereditary privilege and a rigid class system. Instead of this, a meritocracy promotes worthy individuals regardless of which social strata they happen to be born in and each individual has good fortune in proportion to the individual’s deservingness (Rawls, 1999, Nozick 1974, Miller 1999).

IQ tests primarily tap analytical, logic-based reasoning; and surely that kind of cognitive ability is related to performance in many job settings. But other kinds of cognitive ability are also related to performance – and thus also represent merit. For instance: imagination, practical sense, and the ability to interpret others’ perspectives. By the same token, the effort component of Young’s formulation suggests that a number of personality factors may figure into a reasonable conception of merit. For example, being conscientious may enhance job performance. Of course, some individual traits and social skills may be rewarded because they reflect conformity to arbitrary group norms. “It is not clear why the term merit should be identified so closely with mental ability as distinct from many other conditions and traits that improve the chances of social and economic success” (Hauser et al’s, 2000, p. 203). David Miller (1996, 300) eluding on Walzer (1983) has indicated that a meritocracy is not only more stable but also more socially just if there are a number of socially recognised forms of merit: ‘economic contribution would be one kind of merit, education and scholarship another, artistic achievement a third, public service yet another, and so forth.’

However these other conditions and traits do not contribute to a “fair opportunity”. In Rawls view, the correlation between one’s social origins and one’s outcome in life is zero in a meritocracy and as long as some form of the family exists in society fair opportunity cannot be achieved as (Rawls 1971, 64). The social context within which individuals grow up influences the achievements of equally competent persons. Success in the labour market is transmitted from parents to children, and the advantages of the children of successful parents go considerably beyond the benefits of the best education, wealth and genetic cognitive ability. Many of the criteria associated with individual talent and effort do not measure the individual in isolation but rather parallel the phenomena associated with aristocracy; what is called individual talent is actually a function of that individual’s social position or opportunities gained by virtue of family and ancestry. Among these, for example, one might list ambition or drive, perseverance, responsibility, personal attractiveness, and physical or artistic skills or talents, along with access to social support and to favourable social and economic networks and resources. Access to education is partly defined by inheritance as much research has demonstrated (Bowles and Gintis, 2002; Bourdieu and Passeron 1990; Aschaffenburg and Maas 1997; Sacks, 2003; Ballantine 2001). Compiling evidence from other studies Herrnstein concludes that 80% of the differences in IQ among individuals is explained by inherited factors and 15% is explained by environmental factors (Herrnstein 1971, 171). Children from the upper class get upper class education, middle class children get middle class education, working class people get working class education, and poor people get poor education. Privileged young people can perceive reachable goals and develop lofty aspirations because they tend to benefit from high expectations and support networks from the family and social milieu, as well as extensive economic and educational resources. Those who have the resources, via their parental background, will move through higher education, get well paid jobs, and postpone family plans until they are well into their thirties, building their financial and cultural capital significantly prior to family formation. Inheritance may provide access to powerful forms of social capital (who you know) and cultural capital (what you know). Bourdieu & Passeron (1990) indicate that students who lack the required knowledge and skills with which to successfully navigate the parameters of middle class culture inevitably fail at school. It therefore seems that unequal educational opportunity is the driver of individual achievement. Research shows that as class rises so does the level of education. As a consequence, the expansion of higher education will broaden the gulf between rich and poor (Blanden et al. 2005). So achievement capacities are ascribed to social class. Thus, IQ tests measure intelligence as a reflection of inherent intellectual capacity combined with environmental influences. Thus parents can predispose their children to succeed or fail in life as they are a part of the environment that affect the abilities that children attain. Thus the first and foremost among non-merit factors is the effect of social class at birth on future life. Therefore truly equalizing children’s environments in an effort to create a system with equal opportunities for all would mean having to eliminate the family. Meritocracy thus could lead to a hereditary caste system that, far from promoting social mobility, actually makes social advancement nearly impossible for the lower orders. This could be the case if wealth and social position are or primarily distributed by unchangeable genetic characteristics of individuals. This argument can be reworked into the form of a Hernstein’s syllogism:

If differences in mental abilities are inherited, and
If success requires those abilities, and
If earnings and prestige depend on success,
Then social standing (which reflects earnings and prestige) will be based to some extent on inherited differences among people. (Herrnstein 1971, 197-8)

This implies that absolute equality of opportunity is an ideal that cannot be achieved. (Loury 1977, p. 176).

For John Rawls, the question of distributive justice is rather different. He is not content to say that any person begins at some point in the process of acquisition and then is merely constrained by a set of rules and procedures to ensure fairness. Rather, the socioeconomic position of the agent is also considered. Rawls bases his query on how the agent is presented with the distribution of talents and social position. His conclusion is that these distributions are accidental and arbitrary. It is an accident that someone is born with whatever natural traits he may possess.

The question is raised whether a meritocracy based on natural abilities is thus unfair. Some might contend, for example, that even if we do not deserve our natural abilities it is not unfair if we reap the rewards of those abilities because the system of reward is independent of the system of deserts. However, Rawls makes the case that social position is also random and arbitrary. The fact that natural abilities may or may not be rewarded in that society is an accident. To be rewarded based merely on an accident is not deserved. Thus, a meritocracy that is based on reward from undeserved social position is similarly unfair.

Therefore, both natural abilities and social position may not be the basis of distributive justice because they are unfair. The naturally advantaged are not to gain merely because they are more gifted. The individual cannot help how she begins life. Why make her “pay” for her positive talents and advantages? The rectification of these disparities in Rawls is his difference principle that makes all inequalities subject to the stipulation that the least advantaged will benefit from them.

Since China’s emergence as one of the greatest economic engines of the world, Beijing has seen a meteoric rise as one of the economic, political, social and cultural centers of the East Asian sector. Not only is Beijing the capital of China, and the seat of power of the Communist regime, it is also home to one of the largest and most dense populations on the planet. With almost 15 million residences residing in the city it is the 24^th largest city in the world and fourth in density. While Beijing has always held a position of importance as the residence of Chinese emperors and past political regimes, it has taken on numerous new responsibilities and roles as part of the globalized world. The growth of this region and specifically the shift within China’s furious economic growth has resulted in the escalation of urban development within Beijing. Beijing has had to become a “modern city” almost overnight, while still capturing the history and culture of China’s past. Stuck between two worlds, Beijing faces a unique challenge in its urban development. The following analysis will pursue an understanding of Beijing’s urban development strategies as well as the motivations behind them. Beijing has become a hub of urban infrastructure and development. Every aspect of the city has been transformed in the past decade. By 2003, Beijing’s overall infrastructure has reached a total fixed investment of 26.06 billion dollars, and continues to grow at more than 15 percent per annum (CDB, 2005). The city is beginning to develop complicated networks of transportation, communication, ventilation, sewage, etc. Before a detailed analysis of the actual implementation of urban development and its problems, an understanding of the underlying reasons behind Beijing’s reasons for rapid urban development must be reached. There are three key factors that are currently fueling Beijing’s rapid growth towards becoming an ultra modern urban center.

One of the primary reasons for the break neck speed of growth in Beijing has been the explosive population growth that has been occurring. Despite strong measures in place such as the “Five Year Plan” and the “One Child Policy”, Beijing has continued to experience strong growth due to both its urban population and underground migratory movements. Beijing grew from 13 million in 2000 to almost 15 million by 2005, growth is projected to increase to 18 million by 2010 (Beijing Review, 2005). These growth figures furthermore do not reflect accurately the current number of migrant workers living Beijing illegally. Analysts have projected the actual population of Beijing to be more than 17 million when counting all illegal and undocumented individuals living within the city (Beijing Review, 2005). Beyond local residence, there also has been a growth in immigration to Beijing as a result of its emergence as an international hub. Immigration per year has increased by over 25 percent since 2000, especially from other WTO nations (CDB, 2005). This population crunch is one of the motivating factors behind the need for urban development and infrastructural development.

Another catalyst for urban development has been the shifting economic situation within Beijing. As a result of globalization and heavy industrialization, the standard of living and general economic circumstance of Beijing residences have increased dramatically. In 2005, Beijing’s nominal GDP grew to 84 billion USD, a yearly growth rate of 11.1%, and its GDP per capita also grew by 8.1 percent. The combination of available technology and influx of wealth has meant that residence of Beijing are demanding higher quality of life, increases in standards and a general improvement in overall welfare of their city. The result has been both a public and private response to economic changes within Beijing by an expanding urban infrastructure as well as private investment in real estate development. At the same time, the government has realized the need to modernize the city to attract foreign direct investment (FDI), for this purpose they have begun reinventing business districts and constructing immense building projects to modernize the city (CDB, 2005). The combination of Beijing as the pride of China, its economic center, and socio-economic mobility has become one of the push catalysts for urban development. A final reason for urban development, especially in the past two years has been Beijing’s impending 2008 Summer Olympics. Termed by the Chinese government as the “coming out party” of the Chinese juggernaut, the city has moved at a fervent pace to construct new additions to stadiums, upgrades and renovations as well as providing the infrastructure, residential, and tourism needs of future visitors. The projected cost of the Beijing Olympics will exceed 54 billion Yuan, or more than 6 billion USD (Beijing Review, 2005). Beijing has taken on numerous urban development projects in order to improve their city before the Olympics begin. A new subway transportation system is being built uniquely for the Olympics, and transportation channels such as road improvements, highways and numerous other changes have been enacted as a result. New building and housing projects, including the construction of stadiums, hotels, and other accommodations from both public and private investments have transformed the city. The result of the impending Olympics is that it has led to a dramatic shift in the urban development strategy of Beijing.

Beijing’s urban development infrastructure has expanded tremendously in the past two decades. Beijing is divided into circular zones separated by “rings”, as the city expands more rings are built around the original center of the city, Tiananmen Square. At the inception of the People’s Republic, Beijing only had two such rings, the limits of its urban sprawl extended to the 2^nd Ring Road. With the expansion of business, population and economic necessity, Beijing has now extended itself beyond a fifth ring, and is currently constructing a sixth ring. In less than two decades, the scope of this city has increased by more than eight hundred percent. Much of the former countryside and rural regions have been annexed by the city and turned into urban sprawl. Former farmlands have been converted into industrial centers, electronic hubs and business districts.

Beijing has had to construct specific regions for the expansion of foreign businesses, the demands for incubation zones for Intel, IBM, Microsoft and other software and hardware giants have forced Beijing to construct a separate business sector away from its central city. The inevitable result of this expansion is that Beijing has been confronted with a myriad of problems including very poor traffic control, air pollution and the destruction of traditional and cultural landmarks. In order to confront this problem, Beijing has decided to stop infrastructural expansion in concentric rings and instead expand within circular bands outside of the city center. In order to combat the growing population and need to expand, Beijing has begun a policy of organized infrastructural improvement. It has committed over 20 billion USD to improving the interconnectivity of its road networks and expanding highways around the city. Beijing development officials have cited two specific goals for improving traffic, air quality and general congestions. Beijing will develop a state of the art public transportation system as well as expand its current system of roads and highways. It has also expanded the development of their 15 billion USD airport system on the outskirts of Beijing. The purpose of expanding their transportation infrastructure is to allow construction to accommodate growth to occur both vertically and horizontally (Lillian, 2007). Beijing wishes to follow an urban development much like Shanghai, Shenzhen and many other Western cities. The hope is that the city can divide itself into zones with vertical growth to limit city sprawl and increase centralization of institutional districts. For this purpose, Beijing has already begun building an incredible robust subway system. The Beijing government has invested 8 billion USD to the development of its subway infrastructure, adding ten different traffic lines crossing throughout the city (Tang, 2006). In an effort to vastly improve their public transportation, Beijing has even conceded to private investment to commission and build their transportation system.

The combination of construction, transportation expansion, and general growth has also lead to a challenging urban energy situation. Growth in population has outpaced projections on water, electricity and natural gas usage. Current water treatment plants are already working at over capacity with the anticipation of seeing almost 2.5 million more temporary residents within the city for the 2008 Olympics (Tang, 2006). Development plans to mitigate problem has been to pioneer a state of the art water treatment facility and system on the outskirts of Beijing along the Shanxi Province. Water will be brought from over 180 kilometers away through an underground pipeline and carefully processed before going into the city (Tang, 2006). This will alleviate the pressure of current water processing centers. In addition, Beijing is currently investing in sewage transportation networks that run along the infrastructure of this system, specifically linking it to the expansion of the city sprawl. Urban development in Beijing has raised numerous problems for the Beijing municipality, its government and populace. Air quality in Beijing is ranked as one of the five worst in the world (Tang, 2006). During the summer months, the majority of residence has to wear protective masks to prevent debris and air pollution to harm their lungs. The rise in population and the lack of a strong traffic control system has meant that air pollution has increased by more than 10 percent per annum. An attempt to solve this problem through road expansion and public transportation has been only marginally successful. Beijing is expected to have to halt the majority of traffic for up to two weeks in order to clear the air pollution for the Beijing Olympics. In addition, the massive urban development plans of the city have required significant man power. This has led to an even greater influx of undocumented migrant workers.

Illegal immigration and residence within Beijing has caused a further taxing of overworked sewage and water treatment plants as well as inhumane living conditions within the area. Millions of illegal residents flow in and out of the city looking for low end labor. Since they are basically unmonitored and unnoticed, their treatment is oftentimes cruel and abusive while receiving minimal compensation. Corruption is another major concern as a result of urban development, numerous officials have been investigated and prosecuted for receiving monetary incentive to give out lucrative government contracts, but with so much growth it is hard for the government to monitor all aspects of government. The most important and enduring problem however is the destruction of the rural countryside and culturally important regions. Beijing’s growth has already consumed thousands of hectares of farmland in the surrounding areas. Destruction of historically significant sites such as the protective rim of the Great Wall has become major concerns as the city continues to expand (Lillian, 2007). Numerous monasteries, cultural centers, traditional gardens, etc. have been destroyed as a result of urban development plans. Solutions to these problems are not immediately evident. Beijing’s current strategy follows the national one of “expansion first, reform later” (Lillian, 2007). As a result, pollution, environment damage, cultural deteriorates have almost all become secondary to the monumental growth of the nation’s economy and industry. Beijing has attempted to take some steps to prevent the further spread of urban development problems however. Their current road projects will reduce traffic congestions and it plans to limit the number of vehicles allowed within city limits once construction of public transportation has completed construction. Beijing already claims to have reduced air pollution by 1.9 percent in the past year and will continue to pursue a policy of pollution reduction in the future.

The establishment of immigration registration centers, and increase of police monitoring of migrant labor are positive steps towards documenting all migrant workers and ensuring that they meet basic standards of living (Tang, 2006). Already, a massive part of the current living standards reform centers on providing housing for migrant laborers within the Beijing area and specifically creating a worker’s code to formalize the process of hiring and caring for migrant laborers. In addition, Beijing has established a special commission to investigate and identify cultural and traditional regions, parks, buildings, etc. for special government protection and reconstruction. This project has already restored over fifty parks within the Beijing area as well as maintaining the famous Summer Palace. Restoration projects of Beijing’s most famous relics such as the Forbidden City has been in effect since 2005, and will prepare Beijing for the tourism boom of the 2008 Olympics. Urban development in Beijing has at times appeared sporadic and organic in nature. The population boom combined with the increased importance of the city as an international economic, political and social center has made its development inevitable and at times chaotic. Not only has Beijing urban expansion taking place horizontally and vertically, it has encompassed every level of its development at an infrastructural level. The construction of business and economic zones and incubators along with expansion of residence areas have increased the city limits eight fold. This has been accompanied by transportation infrastructure improvements, water treatment and waste disposal systems, and the improvement of the general urban conditions of all individuals within Beijing. The problems that Beijing faces with urban development are numerous; many of them are inevitable problems of expansion. However, Beijing has taken many positive steps to cautiously approach expansion and development in order to limit mistakes and encourage healthy growth. By the 2008 Olympics, Beijing will be one of the most modern cities in the world, by then its urban development will rival that of any western capital and become a stalwart of the East Asian region.

Bibliography:

Beijing CBD. (2005). CBD Planning and Urban Development of Beijing. Available: CBD Planning and Urban Development of Beijing. Last accessed 21 July 2007.

NA. (2005). Beijing History. Available: http://www.beijingeguide.com/history.php. Last accessed 21 July 2007.

NA. (2007). Thousand Cities, One Face – the “third round of havoc”. Available: http://www.beijingnewspeak.com/category/urban-development/. Last accessed 21 July 2007.

TANG YUANKAI. (2006). Slaking an Olympic Thirst. Available: http://www.bjreview.com.cn/lianghui/txt/2006-12/12/content_57437.htm. Last accessed 21 July 2007.

Lillian M. Li (2007). Beijing : From Imperial Capital to Olympic City. New York: Palgrave Macmillan. all.

Beijing Municipal Urban Construction Comprehensive Development Office (1994). Residential Construction in Beijing. Beijing: China Constructional Industry Press. all.

Life is more uncertain now than it was in the early 1950s. Discuss this claim.
Introduction

This assignment will investigate the claim that life is more uncertain now than it was in the early 1950s. Beginning with a brief description of the climate of the 1950s the assignment will then look at three areas, work and welfare, the family, and identity. In doing this the assignment will draw only on material supplied for the module.

Post-war Britain was quite different to what we see today. In the early 1950s there was still considerable war damage and so the Government had introduced massive building programmes to make sure that people had adequate housing. The welfare state had been introduced in the years immediately following the war. Based on the notions that the (predominantly male) workforce would enjoy full employment, and that ‘traditionl’ family life would continue, the Government claimed that it would be able to look after its citizens from the cradle to the grave. They were overly idealistic in their views and in the last fifty years Britain has witnessed massive changes in the areas of work and welfare. There have also been changes in family structures and this has had corresponding implications for peoples’ identities.

Work and Welfare

During the Second World War, and in the years after, people felt that they were secure in their employment. In industry particularly working class men had been conditioned to the view that if they worked hard then they would have a job for life.^[1] This was not to say that ordinary people earned a lot of money, they didn’t. Normally sons and daughters would follow in father’s and mother’s footsteps once they left school, In the early 1950s Britain was a stratified society and people did not often move from one class to another. The class into which a person was born therefore was very often the one in which they stayed and this had implications for their life chances in other areas. People did not have the choices that they have nowadays few women went out to work and it was the father’s responsibility to go out and earn money to support his family.^[2] There were some uncertainties of course for families who were reliant on one wage. Traditional areas of employment are being eroded as the number of industries has declined and more people are taking jobs in areas that were previously seen as women’s work. Nowadays both the man and his wife may be working. They might work full time, part-time, or rely on state benefits. In some households it is a mixture of things.^[3] Hutton (1999)^[4] maintains that the diverse sources of employment can in themselves be sources of uncertainty because in some areas (agency temping for example) people may not know whether they will have work from one week’s end to the next. This creates divisions between those families who have alternative sources of employment the ‘work rich’^[5], and those whose suitability for different types of employment is limited. Such changes in employment patterns affect not only the traditional working classes but also the middle classes. In the early 1950s young middle class men could expect a secure career with a steady climb up the ladder, that is not the case today. Many people face redundancies, followed by the hard searching for a new job, in some cases they may find themselves dependent on state benefits for considerable periods.^[6] Such changes may also have an effect on a couple’s marriage and if this ends in divorce then both people could be worse off. The wife may find herself looking for work after having been out of the labour market for some years because she was caring for children. This gets worse the further down the income scale a family is. In the past labourers and industrial workers may not have had as much job security as their middle class counterparts because some of them became unfit for work before retirement age. People did have some security however. Nowadays people can end up reliant on state benefits over a very long period and this can result in social exclusion where they are unable to fully participate in society (Mackintosh and Mooney, 2004)^[7]. Changing employment patterns have, in many cases, led to changing roles in society and this has had implications for people’s sense of identity.

Identity

Mercer (1990) argues that modern society is characterised by diversity and uncertainty and that this has corresponding implications for people’s identities.^[8] Changing gender roles and more women in the workplace have resulted in changes in people’s sense of self. In addition to this as Mercer has highlighted Post-War immigration along with rapid social and technological change has brought with it n increasing focus on contemporary eacialised and ehtnicised identities.^[9] This mixing of people’s new identities along with older ones contributes to the sense of uncertainty that many people feel is a feature of modern life.^[10] Identities are relational, thus blackness is seen in its relationship to whiteness and vice versa. This has led to what have been termed hybrid identities where people draw on different cultural heritages. Social trends such s the greater exclusion of ethnic minorities from better paid jobs and decent standards of living point to the fact that the social structure in the UK is permeated with racialisation and ethnicisation where people are seen only in terms of their skin colour and ethnicity.^[11] These structures in turn, affect people’s identities because they prevent them from becoming something other than that which society has defined. On the other hand changes in society affect social structures which in turn affect people’s identities in myriad ways. Because identities are no longer fixed they are a source of continuing uncertainty. This uncertainty leads to further changes in the social structure. Contemporary people’s identities are unsettled because the changes mentioned above tend to cross ethnic boundaries. For example the changing role of women and their greater inclusion in the labour market has affected not only women’s and men’s identities, it has also led to changes in family structures.

The Family

Nowadays there seems to be considerable concern over what is termed the traditional family. In the papers and on television journalists are increasingly expressing concern for the death of what they call traditional family values. Critics raise the subject of cohabitation, divorce, same sex marriage, and the increasing number of lone parent households, and regularly pose the question of what is happening to British society. Mooney et al (2004) have said of this that it results in contemporary family life being viewed with a mixture of ‘fear and fascination.’^[12] There is widespread concern that the changes we are witnessing in family structure will lead to wider social problems and may have troubling implications for the individuals involved.^[13] This raises the question of whether such changes should be viewed with pessimism or whether they are simply a result of the different ways that people order their lives in response to changes in society. Will these changes result in changes in patriarchal society or will they serve to further strengthen masculine power and supremacy? Although family roles and responsibilities are changing, for example women are no longer viewed primarily in terms of their housewife role, nor men as the family breadwinner, the family is still a widely accepted concept.^[14] It is becoming increasingly difficult to refer to the traditional family without making reference to the past, what some people term, ‘the golden age of the family’.^[15]Numbers of people have questioned whether there was such a thing or whether it is an ideological form that served a certain period of society.

Conclusion

It has been claimed that life is more uncertain now than it was in the early 1950s. Certainly Britain has seen considerable changes in the last fifty years. The welfare state was presaged on notions of full employment which did not foresee the changes that would take place as the result of new technologies. Change does cause uncertainty but that does not mean that it is necessarily a bad thing. Harking back to the early 1950s as a sort of golden age is wrong. History shows that societies that do not change and are not prepared to go forward eventually die out, change may not always be easy and this can result in uncertainty, but worrying about it will not stop progress.

Bibliography

Block 1 (6) (3)

Block 3 (3) (2)

Block 1 (8) (4)

Block 3(1) (2)

Hutton 1999 cited in Block 3 (3) (2)

Mercer 1990 cited in Block 1 (8) (4)

Mackintosh and Mooney 2004 cited in Block 3 (1) (2)

1

Substance abuse is something that is very common in today s life. There are many substances that are called abused and the most common abused substances are the street drugs. The other abused substances include alcohol followed by medical and prescription pills. Anything and everything can be abused if consumed in excess and this can include medicines as well. Substance abuse is identified by unusual behavior and it is because of this that there is a restriction on the abuse of substances.

There are two types of substance abuse and they are the normal, frivolous way of using substances without getting addicted to them, these people either stop the use of these substances or end up getting addicted to these substance abuse. The second type is the people who are addicted to these substances. Normally people think that they can get out of the addiction whenever they want and this is not something that happens. People end up getting so addicted that they feel they cannot survive without it. This is the stage where one loses complete control and is impossible for one to recover from this stage without outside help. Normally a person can gain control once in a while and this control keeps changing stance and there is a gyration between control and no control. This may go on for an infinite time unless the person accepts outside help.

Substance abuse is something that is really dangerous and once addicted it is very difficult for that person to lead the normal life he/she has been once leading. The person starts experiencing a drift towards the negative aspect of life and it becomes difficult for the person to live life the easy way. This addiction can be overcome if the person is willing to accept help from others and this can help them regaining their happy life free of addiction.

Substance Abuse Treatment

An abused substance is one which is consumed in quantities exceeding the prescribed one. There are many abused substances such as drugs, alcohol etc. There are many people who are addicted to substance abuse and they are in need to be treated immediately. Substance abuse treatment is the treatment of a person addicted to substance abuse such that he can be relieved of this addiction. This treatment is normally provided in substance abuse facilities.

If a person you know is addicted to any substance then putting that person into treatment in a substance abuse facility is probably the best option available. It s not an impossible task to make that person get relieved of his addiction and walk freely as a normal person. Also the task is not very easy. The person in treatment needs all the moral support that can be given and the person should be made to understand the importance of living a life free of addiction. Normally a person addicted feels that he/she should stay away from people and it is our responsibility that we take care of our beloved ones and make them feel that we care for them and make available all the facilities that is required to relieve them from the addiction.

The time spent in a substance abuse facility is precious as the person coming out of it comes back as a normal human and leads life like they once did. Not many people feel confident about their recovery while some go in with a mindset of recovering from the addiction. Even after recovery many people have not felt it positive to walk back and lead a normal life owing to the time they spent during the addiction. The bottom-line is that treatment given to an addict results in two things. It either makes them or breaks them it is depending on how they take it and with what attitude they went into the facility that matters.

Management Of Substance Abuse

Addiction to substance abuse is something that has become a very common issue now days. Also there has been an increase in the number of treatment facilities that avail rehabilitation to people with this addiction. When a person is admitted into this facility there are many professionals who deal with these addicts talk to them on a personal basis to know how they came in contact with the substance. Where they into it on their own or where they influenced by some other. All this helps the professionals to understand the extent of addiction and the mindset the patient has regarding the treatment of the addiction.

Individual treatment is something that has to be given to every drug addict and this is required because the level of addiction and the way they were introduced to this substance might change from one person to the other. Hence it is required that each person is individually spoken to and dialogue is made with the addict. This is done because the therapists have only this way to know more about them and thereby find a way to recover from this addiction.

Also one cannot recover from addiction without a moral support from people close to him. Thus the staff attending the person needs to decide on who the visitors are going to be and the type of conversation they are going to make with the person. This is the most important phase as the person needs to gain self esteem and self belief that he/she will be able to recover from this addiction. There are addicts who understand their problem and feel the need to discuss their problem with a professional. It is to be kept in mind that these addicts need to have a good rapport with these therapists. It is only by a combined effort of the addict and the staff that they will be able to come out of this addiction.

Symptoms Of Substance Abuse

One of the most serious issues in today s world is substance abuse. People with substance abuse addiction not only harm themselves they also pose as a threat to people living close to them. The best way to ensure safety is to make sure that one is able to recognize the signs that indicate substance abuse. There are a few areas which one must look into keenly to find out about the substance abuse. Finding out irregularities in these fields might give us a greater chance in finding out whether the person is under the influence of substance abuse or not.

The first thing that one must look into while investigating for substance abuse is the person s performance in doing tasks.

The next thing to check is the person s behavior with people around him. There is variety of behavior changes that one can notice if a person is under influence. It can be a low morale, arguments with the co employees, lack of memory and other signs. All this might indicate that a person is under influence or is in a state of hangover.

The next thing to be noted is the physical signs. These can mostly confirm a person s influence over a substance. The first thing is to note whether the person s eyes is bloodshot or watery. Then check whether the co ordination of his body parts synch and also look for co ordination in speech. Also if the person shows extreme fatigue or extreme stimulation then the person might be under influence of a substance.

Also one should have a keen look into the person s belongings and should carefully check if the person is in possession of any materials such as syringe, needles, pipes, lighters, etc. if a person is using such items often then there is a higher probability that the person is addicted to a substance.

Overcoming Substance Abuse

Substance abuse is the consumption of a substance more than the prescribed amount. Normally consumption of substances can give a person a special kind of sensation. But due to greed for more one might end up consuming too much and get dependent on it. Normally people consume drugs and alcohol just to get away from emotional stress and at times end up going too far.

Continuous consumption of these drugs and alcohol may lead to not only deterioration in health they also lead to decline in a person s social life. It may weaken relationship and may depreciate a person s respect in a community. It will lead to weakening of relationships with loved ones and let down rapport with colleagues. Taking into account these entire effects one must consider throwing away the addiction from such substances in order to maintain their health and ensure constant participation in social life. Thus one must plan and look for the type of treatments they are going to take in order to recover from this addiction.

The most important step involved is detoxification which ensures good recovery. The dosage injected into the addict will not affect body organs as they get out of the body quickly. There are two types of detoxification. One is inpatient detoxification and the other is outpatient detoxification. The inpatient detoxification should only be done in a rehabilitation center or in a hospital. This is because the type of detoxification used varies and it requires special facilities to be administered into a person s body. This is generally recommended for people who have been addicted for a long time while the outpatient is for people with mild addiction but this also requires a professional who can administer is safely.

While overcoming the addiction it is important that we have enough information on the withdrawal symptoms that one will face. Once they start kicking in one should know how to deal with them and what kind of remedies one should take in order to get out of the pain without getting into addiction again.

Reasons For Substance Abuse

Many people feel that people under substance abuse are social burdens and cause problems to social community. They feel the abusers are people who are morally weak, and are people who require assistance to lead a better social life. The problem is that most people chip away most of the facts and come to a conclusion just based on the behavior and attitude of the addict. They do not go into understanding the root of the problem and just give away conclusions based on what they see. But the real problem that has forced people to go into addiction may not be moral weakness it can be something else that has lead to them taking such a drastic decision.

The most common reason that recovered people come up with is that they heard a rumor which claimed that consumption of a particular drug enhanced the self esteem of a person and make the person feel better by striking the person s pleasure sensors. The substances consumed provide different types of sensation and each varies with the substance.

Moreover there are many people who choose the consumption of restricted substances with the hope that they will be able to come out of the stress and tension they have in their life. The stress caused could be due to emotional problems or due to workload. The abuse of substances due to stress related reasons is the most typical reason for a person becoming a habitual consumer of abused substances.

In today s world as it has been seen many times teens and adolescents are the ones who have been affected most defenseless to these substances. Though this age group has been the most vulnerable the other people of this group are also equally susceptible. Substance abuse is not an age related problem it can affect any person of any age. Even people who are icons and are considered mentors by many are exposed to substance abuse as they face a lot of stress and related problems.

How To Overcome Substance Abuse

Substance abuse normally refers to the over dosage of a substance in comparison to the prescribed quantity. Mostly abuse is referred to drugs and other illegal products but many people forget that even products like Vicks inhaler can be used as a substance which can be abused. Also people can rely on alcohol and prescription drugs and this is also a dangerous addiction. For a very long time people who indulged in substance abuse were considered immoral beings and were placed away from the community. They were being made ashamed for their doing and this made them refrain from meeting any person even from their family. But today substance abuse is considered as a disease of the brain where it has become reliable for a particular substance and it cannot live without it. These substances also work in a similar manner and they also bond with the brain like a normal medicine and once the supply of these substances stop it becomes difficult to let go.

These substances are responsible for producing certain neurotransmitters in the brain and this brings about a feeling of being drunk and feeling high. It can also make a person feel relaxed or feel highly excited. Because substances like this produce such neurotransmitters and produce certain emotions it becomes difficult for a person to live without these emotions and craves for more thereby creating an addiction for such substances.

Fortunately for people who are addicted to such substances there are facilities which help them to get rid of these addictions. It is entirely dependent on a person whether he will come out of the facility a responsible person and the one who he really was. These facilities are available to anyone who wants to get rid of these addictions and if the person feels he can get rid of the addiction and co operates with the therapists in that facility then there is a great possibility that the person comes out a renewed person.

Help With Substance Abuse Facilities

Substance abuse facilities are centers which treat people with addiction to certain substances. Substance abuse generally means the overdose of certain substances than the prescribed amount. Too much consumption of a certain substance makes the body rely on it and it thereby becomes difficult for a person to get rid of the substance. Substance abuse facilities helps a person get rid of these addictions and has proved to be very effective when it comes to removing addictions such as this.

There are many ways that a person can be treated for substance abuse and the most common method used is detoxification. Detoxification is the process of administering certain chemicals into the body which try and remove the substances and then get out of the body. The detoxification agent used is not addictive and it gets out of the body quickly. There are two ways in which a person can be detoxified the first is inpatient detoxification and the other is outpatient detoxification. Inpatient detoxification generally is done in hospitals and rehab centers and they require certain equipments to be administered. They are normally for people who have been addicts for a real long time. The outpatient detoxification is for mild addicts and it does not require equipments but the administration should be done by an experienced therapist.

Also there is the twelve step method to recover form substance abuse. This task involves twelve tasks which a person must follow in order to recover from drug abuse. When a person follows the twelve steps the person learns that addiction is something he can control and one can recover from addiction only by abstaining from it. It teaches the addicts to learn from their previous mistakes and makes him correct his mistakes thereby making him a better person. It lets him boost his self confidence and self esteem and makes a person feel no different from a normal human being.

Stages Of Substance Abuse

Substance abuse involves the addiction of many types of substance which includes a list of legal and illegal drugs. Legal drugs such as alcohols and prescription pills which contain sedatives are consumed over the prescribed level. Depending on the substance consumed a person can face different health problems. These substances are generally consumed by people in order to gain different mood alteration according to their wish. The substances consumed provide different moods. Some substances makes a person feel relaxed while some other makes a person feel more excited. In addition to this these substances produce a disability in the person s brain that makes the brain generate signals that crave for more of the same substance. This gradually leads to addiction.

Normally people feel that they can come over their addiction and feel that the will not consume it the next time. But every time they fall for the addiction .And ultimately achieve a state where they have no control over the addiction. There are five stages in which a substance abuse gradually develops into and addiction. The first stage is known as experimentation where people start thinking that trying the substance once might not lead them to addiction. Normally experimentation starts at a very early age and at this age people might not know the effects of these substances. There are also other reasons why a person starts using these substances and it could be stress and related problems.

The next stage deals with the regular use of these substances as one is not able to resist the emotions that they trigger. It could either be a happy feeling or sad one. But people just don t want to lose it and start consuming it regularly.

The next stage deals with the over use of the substance and this is the stage where a person gradually starts losing control.

The final stage of the or nearly the final stage is dependence in which the person is not able to survive without the substances and the body starts demanding for more and more of that substance.

The final and the ultimate stage is addiction which makes the person get addicted to the substance and thereby lose any resentment that the person has towards that substance.

Effects Of Substance Abuse

Indulging in the over consumption of a toxic drug or any other addictive substance is known as substance abuse. This phenomenon has become a common issue in many parts of the world. The drug consumed causes a nervous imbalance and causes the person consuming it to experience a change in mood and this mood changes based on the type of substance used. The effects of these substances are detrimental to ones health. It affects both the physical and mental aspects of a person s body.

There are many substances that can be abused and they are illegal drugs such as marijuana, cocaine and legal drugs such as alcohol, prescription pills and many other drugs. The initial reason for a substance reason for a substance abuse might be for fun or it might be for gaining emotional pleasure due to personal problems. It can also be for the fact that there might be stress and related problems and hence to relax a person may indulge in substance abuse. When a person indulges in substance abuse he/she feels a deep desire to continue consuming it. And it thereby becomes an addiction. Substance abuse can change the behavior of a person. Can change his perception of judgments and can create imbalances in physical control over the body and speech.

The negative impacts of substance abuse can be seen at substance abuse facilities. Here the addicts face the withdrawal effects and are seen suffering of pain and poor health. One can clearly see the trauma in these people and the desperation to get hold of that substance. The body becomes numb and at times the person goes into a depreciated condition. People tend to forget their aim in life and they forget reason for living. It can change a person s mood immediately and the person can become violent and harm the people trying to tend them.

More About Substance Abuse

Substance addiction is something that has become a major social issue in many parts of the world today. This is a problem that does not have an immediate solution. The practice of drug abuse has increased in today s world because the world has become busy in their own work and don t have the ample time required to look into these matters with utmost care. Young kids without any guidance from their parents have become easy targets for substance abuse. There are a lot of symptoms that can indicate substance abuse. There are cases when it may be difficult to predict, these cases are mostly seen when the person starts hiding things from people.

Mostly there are people who want to avoid telling people about drug abuse within their families. It mostly involves parents who don t want people knowing about their kids involved in substance abuse and thereby don t take proper care of this alarming matter and do not even admit them into a rehab center.

Substance abuse has a profound effect on a person s health and is not something that must be left unattended to. It has adverse effects on the physical and mental health of a person. It changes a person s behavior and affects the person s stance and also affects the way he speaks. Their perception of things changes and at times they have a sudden change in emotions and they get too violent and harmful.

There are various treatment programs that are available to treat people addicted to substance abuse. The programs provided are either residential or are outpatient treatment. The treatment period normally ranges from about a month two three months. The time period mostly depends on the level of addiction. These treatment procedures mainly treat the inner man present in a person. It helps a person regain his very own self and helps him realize the mistakes he made and makes correct the mistake.

Evaluating Substance Abuse

Many people around the world have experienced a lot of substance abusing cases .to get out of substance abuse is not an easy thing for that professional counseling and medication is needed.

But evaluation of substance is not as we think. It is a tedious process and normally doctors don t opt for this process they can find out about a person involving in substance abuse without any test s but just to satisfy people they go for this evaluation. But it is recommended that a person undergoes this test in case a person is being admitted to a rehab center. The test is common in every place and the test is called CAGE test.

The test at first looks very easy and one feels that it is not very difficult. There are four questions that is involved during a CAGE test. The first question that is asked is whether a person has ever had the intention to cut down on drinking? Has the person ever been annoyed by the criticism they face towards drinking? Has the person ever been guilty about drinking? Has the person ever had a drink in the morning? Based on the answers given by the person the doctors can decide whether the person is addicted to drugs or not.

There are many other methods to evaluate if one is abused to a substance or not. The many methods available are the MIST method, the MAST method. These methods are highly efficient in finding a person s addiction towards addiction to a substance. Based on this it is decided whether he should be admitted to a rehab or should he be sent to a outpatient treatment where one is treated in their home only.

The rehab centers are also dedicated and they provide the right type of treatment based on the level of addiction and the rehab gives an assurance to bring back that person to normal and help him recover from that person s addiction.

Post-development calls for development of theories based on the culture and struggles of the people from the Third World countries. Discuss whether or not theories derived from the culture of Third World countries could be free from the problems affecting the universal theories of development and if so how?

To begin the discussion on whether or not theories derived from the culture of Third World countries as propagated by post-development could be free from the problems affecting the universal theories of development, it is imperative to understand the concepts of ‘development’ and ‘post-development’. The following table provides a basic overview in the form of comparison, between the two concepts:

Basis

Development

Post-development

Concept

A series of interventions in transition-economies (third world countries) with the goal of facilitating economic growth and/or improving lives and livelihoods.

An alternate to development with an interest in local culture and knowledge, a critical perspective on established scientific discourses and a solidarity for pluralistic grassroots movements.

Related Concepts

Modernization, Urbanization

Postmodernism, Post-structuralism, Grassroot Movements

Origin

West

Third World Countries

View of the Third World

Needs dire help from the West to solve its problems

Capable of figuring out solutions to its problems

Basis for Critique

Reductionism
Universalism
Ethnocentricity
Authoritarianism
Homogenizing development and neglecting its positive aspects
Romanticizing local communities
Legitimizing oppressive traditions

Development has increasingly become an unsettled concept. From the initial decades of the development era providing a clear agreement on the need for some sort of development, despite an array of positions, we have come to a decade where the status of development has become difficult to ascertain. What makes development knotty is the tension between the universe of those who study the Third World and the universe of those who inhabit this world. Development is touted to be a pervasive cultural discourse with intense consequences for the production of social reality in the so-called Third World. This has been largely due to the problems that are associated with universal theories of development:

Authoritarian and specification of goal and processes: Development, by virtue of a universal scale on which it can be measured, leading to the identification of “developed” and “less developed” (or “underdeveloped” or “developing”) units, specifies the existence of a particular goal (development itself) and dictates the processes needed to achieve that goal, i.e. economic growth, industrialisation, and modernisation through the transfer of capital, technology, and knowledge from the North/West.

The fact that these theories are based on one particular conception, which is then assumed to be universal (while ignoring/subordinating other conceptions) they make development authoritarian as they prescribe interventions in people’s lives that these people themselves may disapprove of.

Ethnocentrism: Universal development theories entail emulating Western History and are synonymous with Westernization. These theories give a ready-made development recipe from the west and at their heart is the idea that economic growth can be stimulated in any country, by following a US/European model. This recipe was driven by behaviorist, positivist and empiricist approaches in the mould of “scientific model” that prevailed in western universities and Research Centres and assumes that Western societies as ideal models and are complete in contrast to other societies of the Third World countries, the “less developed” ones. These theories have been accused for viewing Third world countries as inferior versions of the European countries, because the standards of a good society are assumed to be both universal and identical with particular (European) standards. It is also believed that colonial tutelage gave way to diffusion of development (development aid/projects, etc.), but retained the purpose by providing Europe’s past formula for development as the only workable one. In other words, development is like a phoenix rising from the ashes of imperialism.

Decontextualisation and Generalization: Another problem with universalization is that it groups all Third World countries into one category and ignores differences among them in an attempt to overgeneralize. Indians, Kenyans, Mexicans, etc. are not seen as being diverse and non-comparable, but as somehow lacking in terms of what has been achieved by the advanced countries. It assumes that all Third World countries have the same problems linked to a lack of capital, knowledge, technology, productivity, institutions, etc. which can be solved with technocratic solutions, unconcerned with politics, relations of power and conflicts of interest, solutions that are rational and that no one can object to. It also neglects the differences between the supposed beneficiaries such as farmers and landless labourers, rural and urban poor, men and women, wage labourers and company owners, ruling elites and marginalised groups, etc. Universal development theories also do not take into account that the underdevelopment in the Third World is a result of Western Capitalist Explanation.

Thus, when their starting points and journeys aren’t the same, how can the future discourse of the Third World ape the past of the First World? The ‘a priori’ approach of development for the developing and underdeveloped make it infeasible as the decision of the route is based on circumstances that are no longer there. For formulating bankable processes of upliftment, it is important that these nations be viewed as very different constructions of societal, economic, political, and cultural structures. Their progress into democratization or economic success will not come from mirroring the histories of the First World but must instead be unique to the needs, cultures, traditions, and prior establishments of each individual country.

Exogenous Nature: The theories were developed by a body of so called experts who merely drew from their own personal thinking in their task of changing the Third World countries, making it external.

Can a theory or method be forced upon people without first engaging in a conversation with the subject? If so, is the “product” created from this exercise of value? Can years of lived experience be erased through a series of strategic planning sessions, or campaigns not rooted in any significant way to the reality of the subject being trained or required to participate in the activity? These are the question that the paradigm of post-development answers in the negative. Theories derived from the culture of Third World countries could be free from the problems affecting the universal theories of development because of the following features of post development and thus of these theories:

Non-authoritarian with flexible goals and processes: The primary concern of post-development is to look for alternatives to development through an interest in culture and local knowledge by promotion of localized, pluralistic grassroots movements and its strength is in its anti-authoritarian sensibility. It also believes that there are numerous ways of living a good life and every society is free to invent its own and involves responses given by a group of people to particular problems or direct instances of power. Thus, post development is neither imposing a goal nor a process and distances itself from technocratically pre-defined standards and universal models. Therefore, the theories emanating from the Third World within the ambit of post development respect alterity and anonymity in the construction of subjectivities, with each society asserting its right to define its own path. These theories allow the subjects to use their own tools, and to go alone to not only develop answers, but also its own questions.

Cultural Relativism: Since these theories are based on the struggles and cultures of the people of the third world countries, local culture, artistic aspects and communal aspirations are often important concerns. These theories are generally deeply interested in the history of their communities and the place they occupy in regional or national contexts. Post-development takes into account people’s self-definitions as a crucial part in its inquiry and tends to create a new awareness of cultural difference, which contributes to the breakdown of ethnocentrism and universal values. Therefore, these theories entail discourses on difference, particularly cultural difference.

Contextualisation: Post-development is related to the visibility of the grassroots and entails local contexts. It situates itself within the context of local struggles and the linkages of local people in the world systems, lending it relevance and usability to people of the Third World in their daily lives and struggles. It encompasses a plurality of collective actors and revolutions at the micro level, with their own spheres of autonomy. The theories emerging from the Third World with applicability to the Third World presuppose an adequate understanding of the different social, political and economic structures of these countries and their respective histories.

Endogenous Nature: Post-development heavily relies on the knowledge of the Third World countries and this knowledge occupies an important role in the creation of theories for them and the decision making processes. It involves intellectuals from the Third World, alongside grassroots activists.

Post-development counters the problems of universalization of development theories by instating faith in theories based on the culture and struggles of the people from the Third World countries, taking into account their needs, wants, desires, histories, structures, etc.

An example of a theory arising from indigenous knowledge is presented in Jane C. Horan’s (2002) study of indigenous economic development. In this, female textile producers in the Kingdom of Tonga received money as part of a ‘Women in Development’ aid-funded credit scheme. Though it was anticipated that the loans would be used to produce textiles for the local tourist economy, the women produced indigenous koloa textiles for the Tongan ceremonial economy which, according to Horan, enabled a “greater range of ideological, spiritual and material gains including cash” (2002, p.206). Though “the default rate on the loans was low, and the women were engaged in a Tongan notion of development known as fakalakalaka, the funders and the critics of the schemes were either unable to or would not recognise development taking place” (Horan, 2002, p.210). The study acknowledges what people are doing vis-a-vis what development doctrines expect them to do.

Other instances are indigenous movements originating from the south of Mexico, the south of Colombia, Ecuador and Bolivia, picking up also in Peru because of anti-mining protests. These are social movements in which the indigenous component is stark, but there is also a black, Afro-Latin American component in several countries, and also a peasant one represented by those connected to Via Campesina, a federation of peasant movements who are opposing free trade and the privatisation of seeds.

What one needs to understand is that since development and post-development are at the extreme ends of the spectrum, therefore the problems of universalization as seen in development are not seen in the paradigm of post-development due to its highly localized nature. However, post-development (thus by extension the theories propagated by it) has its own set of problems, even though it forces us to confront the failures of the development agenda. Critiques of post-development believe that it overstates its case and neglects all the possibilities of positive development interventions, such as techniques of modern medicine raising health and life expectancy of people, by taking an extremely homogenized view of development. Further, it romanticizes local communities and at times, legitimizes oppressive traditions, and becomes just as paternalistic as the chastised development paradigm. It ignores the local forms of oppression and violence and is accused for being indifferent to the violation of human rights. While the movement towards cultural sensibilities that accompanies post development is a welcome shift, the plea for people‘sculture, indigenous culture, local knowledge and culture, can lead if not to ethno-chauvinism, to reification of both culture and locality or people. Furthermore, by propagating thinking local and acting local, it tends to avoid global structures of inequality.

Though, the second wave of post-development counters a few of the aforementioned shortcomings by suggesting alternatives like the conception of communal solidarity, direct democracy, social movements, indigenous knowledge, etc. and state that the it is not the aim of post-development to offer a normative, new solution, the loopholes aren’t still completely plugged and will not be till the time a viable alternative to development is proposed by this school of thought. In the absence of a feasible solution put for by it, post-development remains merely deconstructive of an existing paradigm.

In today’s world, what is needed is a middle way, something between development and post-development that can incorporate the positives of universalization as well as localization. Till the time such an approach is developed, the choice pertains to choosing the lesser evil of the two.

References:

Horan, J.C. (2002) Indigenous wealth and development: micro-credit schemes in Tonga, Asia Pacific Viewpoint, 43(2), 205-221.

The Importance of Family Meals

Introduction

Whether it is dinner, breakfast, or lunch, family meals offer an opportunity for all family members to pass time enjoying each other’s company and good food. In many occasions, mealtimes might be the only occasion many families have a chance to congregate as a unit. Eating meals as a family provides a huge opportunity to form and strengthen domestic bonds as members engage each other in conversations. Also, research shows that family meals benefit members of the household in terms of nutrition, academic performance, spending and manners. This expressive article highlights the nine major benefits of family meals.

The Benefits of Eating as a Family

The advantages of eating meals as a family are as follows:

Communication and Well-Being

Dialogue during mealtimes provides an opportunity for the family to plan, learn, and bond with one another. It is a chance to chat about events of the day as parents give additional attention to their children. Family meals foster love, warmth, security and feeling of belonging. Eating together as a household is not merely about food, but knowing about the wellbeing of one another. Sharing meals with loved ones is like a special event that almost assumes the form of a ceremony, which has always been practiced since time immemorial. Besides the appreciation of the food and the effort that went into making it, there are numerous social elements, such as learning how to conduct conversations, listen, serve others, compromise and solve conflicts which come into play when a household shares meals (TheHJGroup, 2013).

Role Modeling

Family mealtime is the best time to display and teach one another appropriate meal etiquette, table manners, and social skills by keeping the mood relaxed, light, and loving. Family members try lead by example and not to criticize or instruct. Eating together offers an opportunity to exercise gratitude through prayer or sharing the thing members are thankful for prior to eating.

Family meals grant the opportunity to convey the attitudes and values of a household from one generation to another: Children can be taught by their parents or grandparents about the values that are significant to the family. Family meals are also an ideal approach to link up household members with their ethnic or cultural heritage, because differing foods might reflect the distinctive ethnic tastes or cultural traditions of their family’s background (TheHJGroup, 2013).

Exploration

Family meals enable family members to expand and explore the world round them one diet at a time. Members of the family can encourage each other to try out new foods, without bribing or coercing. They can introduce new foods accompanied by some of their favorites. Parents and children can select new recipes from cookbooks, web sites, magazines or newspapers. Trying out new foods, particularly from different parts of the world is like exploration or beginning a new hobby. It magnifies the experience, knowledge, and skills of the household members (TheHJGroup, 2013).

Nourishment and Relaxation

Meals that have been prepared and consumed at home are generally more nutritious. They comprise more vegetables, fruits, and dairy products as well as extra nutrients such as vitamins A and C, fiber, and calcium. Moreover, home cooked foods are not usually deep-fried or highly salted like take-away meals. Plus, consumption of sweetened beverage is frequently low at the table as family members ought to take natural blended juices. Recent researches show that family meals are connected to a low risk of obesity in both children and adults because when people eat at home they typically consume a balanced diet.

Also, eating together helps family members relax. Before or after having a long day away from home, parents and children can benefit from the pleasure of cooking and enjoying their meal. Not only does this give you them a chance to calm down, it prepares them for the day or for a peaceful, rejuvenating sleep.

Self-Sufficiency

Family meals provide self-sufficiency to household members because it allows them to know how to plan and make meals. Both basic and complex cooking preparations are requirements for being self-sufficient. Parents can involve their family members in grocery shopping, menu planning, and food preparation. Young children can cut bananas, tear lettuce, and set the table while older children can do tasks, such as peeling vegetables. Teenagers can grill, dice, chop, and bake. Working together puts meals faster on the table and makes everybody more responsible.

Prevention of Destructive Behaviors

Research indicates that frequent family meals (five or more per week) are linked to low rates of drinking, smoking, and illegal drug abuse in teenagers and pre-teens compared to households that do not eat together. Even as the schedules of older children get more complex, it is vital for parents to make efforts to have meals together.

Studies by Columbia University’s National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse show that children who do not have meals with their family members at least twice every week were 40% more likely to indulge in alcohol and drugs, not to eat healthily, and report being distant from their parents than youngsters who eat with their parents often.

Better Academic Performances

It has been proven that children perform better academically when they have more meals with their family members. Mealtime discussions translate into success in class. As children listen to their parents and other members talk, they learn essential language abilities, such as new reading and vocabulary skills. These skills are necessary for expressing oneself verbally and comprehending what is read, thus they help children perform better on tests in school. According to research by University of Illinois, children who eat more than five times per week with their family members tend to have high academic performance than their peers who habitually eat away from home or eat alone.

Cost Reduction

Home cooked meals are much cheaper than fast foods. Families do not need to spend a lot of money to prepare tasty meals because they can look up for cheap and simple recipes from cheap vegetarian foods to healthy snacks on a low budget of under $3 per serving. Meals bought outside the home are generally two to four times costly than meals made at home.

Fun

Family meals are fun. Through sharing meals and taking time to converse about what the family members are experiencing in term of flavors, they are more likely to have fun and be mindful of the food. This results in improved digestion and enjoyment of the food. Family meals are also fun because they are taken and enjoyed in a cool and relaxed setting.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the benefits of family meals go beyond nutrition. Eating as a family has multiple advantages in many other aspects as well.

Family meals are healthier and they provide an occasion for household members to sit around the table, enjoy, relax, discuss and applaud themselves for preparing a meal that is more likely to be nutritious than one that they would have purchased outside the house. Moreover, recent evidence demonstrates that children who have more meals with other family members are the less likely to engage in illegal behavior, such as smoking marijuana and drinking alcohol. These children also perform well in school, have high self-esteem, and do not develop eating disorders.

Family meals are a tradition and the cornerstone of the home because they offer self-sufficiency, reduce costs, and provide fun.

Bibliography

Kolker, C. (2011). The Immigrant Advantage: What We Can Learn from Newcomers to America about Health, Happiness and Hope. New York: Simon and Schuster.

TheHJGroup. (2013, October 23). Successful Entrepreneur on The Importance of Family Meals. Retrieved April 12, 2015, from YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NdzaZL6AdYg

Note to student: Include the secondary source from your school’s library databases in the bibliography above.

Many factors contribute to making up the identity of an individual, their self-image and how they portray themselves. Some of these factors include: beliefs, culture, gender, race, amongst others. Usually, people in a society tend to base their initial knowledge of other people on stereotypical generalizations that originate from these various aspects of identity. In many cases, these generalizations that hastily become the known myths do not necessarily tell the truth about a certain group of people with major similarities like cultural background or race. This ends up creating a standard that society indirectly confers on these people who in return, may or may not conform to these standards. Personally, I fall under the category of people that do not live according to what may seem like societal standards when analyzing the average Canadian teenager. My cultural and racial identity sum up the major aspects that influence my self-image because my physical characteristics causes society to not see beyond my cultural background, gender and values.

As an illustration, my cultural and racial background is physically evident because I have distinct features like my skin colour, that show I am Black. Also, when I talk my accent clearly depicts that I am a West-African, more specifically a proud Nigerian girl. This impacts my self-image tremendously because it serves as a constant reminder of my place of origin. Being a true Nigerian child comes with the training I get to enable me become a responsible lady in the nearest future. This is because I have certain responsibilities and standards to live by as a result of my upbringing as a child. For example, in my childhood the importance of working hard was constantly preached by my parents, elders at church, school and even my surroundings. House chores were seen as the primary duties of the children in the home and being the youngest of five did not really help this fact. My place in the family as the last born put me in the position of the errand person. My older ones were more like my supervisors and to them, having me assist whenever there was a need to wash clothes, cook, sweep the house and many more, made me more responsible as I grew older. Up until this point, this makes me see myself as an active role player in my life and maturation process. On the other hand, this is different from how the people around me would judge me. A recent example is when I moved into residence at York University. Being evidently African, a fellow student living on the same floor admitted she thought I would be really “ratchet”. By this, she meant her expectations of me were low. She thought I was the loud party girl that every guy knew and had sexual history with. She was surprised to find out I am actually a reserved and simple girl who is academic oriented. Her reason for thinking this way came from her encounters with few other Black girls in the past who did not act responsibly because of their issues with drugs, smoking and boys. This made her judge me before she even got to know me for who I truly am.

Secondly, being a girl influences my self-image because it is one physical aspect of my identity that speaks for me before I do. As a female child born into a patriarchal society like that of the Nigerian society, your ideal stages in life have practically been laid out for you to follow. It starts from growing up being responsible and hardworking, then working hard to make sure you are academically successful because education is very important. After this, you get your career and at the “right time”, get married when your destined husband finds you. For instance, when I was a younger child growing up, my mum always told me stories of how being a good mother or wife is not easy, but worth it. She would always encourage me to watch her whenever she was cooking, serving my dad his food or arranging the house. She constantly emphasized on the importance of being industrious as a lady and potential wife. This means that as a female in the average Nigerian home, your purpose in life seems incomplete if you do not plan on getting married and having children. In other words, after you reach a certain age as a girl, you better start expecting the whole talk about marriage, having grandchildren for your parents and being a good wife, cook and mother when you marry. I do not have a problem with this in any way because I believe that part of the fulfillment of a woman comes from her marrying her true love, having a family and raising her children at some point in her life.

Furthermore, my values which are a major component of my identity determine the kind of person I choose to be and eventually become. My main values include, my belief in Jesus Christ as my saviour, abstinence from sex, alcohol and any type of drugs. This makes me see myself as a misfit because I can hardly fit into my environment or society without having to change or compromise my beliefs a little. Most times, people see me as weird and find it hard to believe that I have never gone clubbing, smoked or at least done something “cool”. An occurrence that I do not think I will ever forget was in the summer of grade eleven which is about two years ago. I met a guy who happened to be a friend of my close friend. The three of us spent time together at the mall while the guy was trying to get to know me better by asking me questions about my school, background amongst others. I thought he was a nice person. Eventually, he asked if we could “chill” and I was not sure of what he meant. Regardless, I said no because and gave an excuse of having to go pick my nephew up from school. In all honesty, I did not feel like going out with a guy, especially someone I just met for the first time. To cut the long story short, he ended up walking halfway home with me because he claimed he lived in the same neighbourhood as me. Later on, I figured that by “chill” he meant he was sexually attracted to me and he just wanted to get something from me because he thought I was that type of girl. I could see disappointment written all over his face when I totally refused his advancements towards me. He said he had never been refused by any girl with a similar racial or cultural background as me. To say the least, I was disgusted at the fact that someone of the opposite gender would actually disregard my belief in sexual purity and abstinence then, judge me in such a disrespectful manner because of my skin color and cultural background.

All in all, I believe that my body goes beyond my physical beauty and what I look like. It encompasses everything about me, ranging from the smallest to the biggest. The way I see myself is also as a result of a combinations of all these factors like how other people see me and judge me. I cannot blame society for their judgements of me, but I can expect better because a person goes beyond his or her cover which is the body. You have to remove the cover in this sense and see every single thing is contains beneath it. As a result of this self-image continuously develops as a person grows and this is my story. I know that despite what my cultural and racial identity entails, I will continuously amaze myself with personal growth and maturity. I will reach beyond the set boundaries and expectations.