Impact of Religion on Contemporary Politics Essay Example for Free

Impact of Religion on Contemporary Politics Essay Amongst countless issues of the decade, an appealing dispute, that is persistent, is the significant impact of religion on contemporary politics and its perpetual distinction between the positive and negative influences that is associated with the effect. Religion has consistently been a resilient drive of change, development and settlement. Religion has been the core of several systems of human affairs that co-exist today including economics, welfare, law, philosophy, art and most importantly, politics.[1] However, according to historian Farhang Mehr, a realistic appraisal of the current impact of religion on the official policy and governmental structure of each country can only be made in its historical context: the record of the colonial rule in that country, indigenous conditions, cultural background, and peoples real and perceived grievances. [2] Relevant examples consisting of the attitude of religion in the political affairs of Israel[3], the influence of the Roman Catholic Church in shaping the entirety of politics in Quebec[4] and the emergence of Islam as a political force in many countries like Iran[5], reveal that these events and many others throughout history are substantial catalysts in determining the intensity of the religious impact on modern-day politics.[6] The impact of religion on politics cannot be seen with all its fierceness and intensity anywhere else in the world but in the Middle East as it highlights the Arab-Jewish wars in the region that have been going on and off for almost the past 60 years.[7] Religion is of utmost importance in the Holy Land (Israel) and hence, religious disputes are a commonality to the Israeli crowd which is a combination of religious (observant) and non-religious (secular) Jews.[8] The arrangement creates an environment where either party has harsh demands and even though, neither group ends up winning; it always leads to frustration on either side.[9] The role of state-supported religion is usually studied as the issue that is responsible for the problem in the relationship between religion and politics.[10] Despite the fact that the major monotheistic religions namely Judaism, Christianity and Islam take pride in originating in the Holy Land of Israel, the population of Israel comprises of 80% Jews; of which approximately one-fifth consider themselves to be religious or in other words, wholly or partially observant of Jewish law.[11] The vast remainder of the Jews still pursue the path of their ancestors by practicing the traditions and sacraments of Judaism but persevere to maintain a Jewish state by standing on secular ground.[12] All be it, whilst the virtually divided Jews were found surviving the disputes between the two groups, the aspiration of a Jewish state led to the encouragement that public policies of the nation should replicate its Jewish nature and be a stronghold for Jews all around the world.[13] From religious texts and proven findings, it is well recognized that the land that is called Israel, currently, is considered the Promised Land the land that they have always been promised by God. Due to various historical incidents that included invasions, battles and conquests, the Jews were spread across different parts of the Middle East and some parts of Europe. The followers of the Zionist movement (support of establishment of independent, separate Jewish State in Palestine)[14] pressed for a Jewi sh State and after plenty of bruises and broken bones, Israel was recognized and formed in 1948.[15] The very purpose of the formation of a Jewish state alone shows that it has more to do with the religion than with simply a group of people wanting a country and therefore, it is clearly evident that religion has played a major role in the shaping of the politics of Israel. The only essential conclusion is that decisions in modern-day politics in Israel usually comes down to two religious groups than two political groups due to diverse interpretations of the religious teachings and traditions, and the excessive popularity of secularism in most parts of the world. The fundamental religious values affect the complex of power and search for national goals that shape the contemporary Israeli political horizon.'[16] Similarly, the dominant presence of the role of the Church in aligning communities to live in peace and harmony and to be subject to law and order through the aspect of politics is extremely evident as is seen in the case of the Roman Catholic church in Quebec, Canada. The province of Quebec is fashioned upon religious intentions and till date, these ideals uphold grand authority in organizational decision making of the governments law and regulations. Two major factors indicate the impact of the Church in the making of Quebec, of which includes primarily, the assistance offered by the government (comprised of passionate Roman Catholic, French officials) in the settlement of French Roman Catholic immigrants that arrived in Canada post-1639.[17] During this period, a member of the royal council of Louis XIII of France, Cardinal Richlieu,[18] vigorously promoted the emigration of Roman Catholics to Frances colony, New France (Quebec) because he believed that Quebec, like France, was de stined to be a purely homogeneous group of people the idea of one religion, one language, and loyalty to one monarch.'[19] Quebec is spectacularly distinctive in the North American continent as it stands as the only political unit that comprises of, simultaneously, a predominant French and Roman Catholic combination of people.[20] Unlike other French Catholic countries like France or Italy, the Catholic approach of Quebeckers is more intense in that that a French Canadians entire thought process, his/her value system, lifestyle and government, is massively influenced by the doctrines and social philosophy of Roman Catholicism.'[21] This religious standpoint in administration is a result of the occurrences in history that Quebec underwent during the times of the French dominion in North America. The early settlers in New France (Quebec) were dependant for leadership upon two distinct authorities the Governor and the Bishop of Quebec. When the British subdued the French, the French settlers in Quebec paid minimal regard to the legitimate English civil authority as a colonial administration but instead, subjected themselves to the effective guidance and leadership of the Catholic church which was the only, other viable option available to them.[22] The circumstance not only led to the Churchs impact on politics but highlights the Churchs responsibility in replicating its values and philosophy in not alone moral and religious affairs, but also, economic, social, educational, and largely political matters.'[23] Secondly, the endorsement of measures by the authority composed of clergy of the Church of Quebec in regards to encouraging the natural increase in populace, particularly referred to as revenge of the cradle, highlights the influence of the Church in long-standing Quebec while working towards building a state that is able to maintain its identity and not be pacified by other dominant parties.[24] With the British conquest of Quebec from the French, it was generally perceived that the British administration would eradicate the identity of the French-speaking, Roman Catholic community by imposing rules like mandatory speaking of English at all levels of the state, by excessively populating the colony with English Protestants that are loyal to the British crown or through other fiercer means. In order to protect the identity of the French people of Quebec, the Churchs leaders initiated steps to increase the population. For instance, fathers (considered heads of families) were offered compensation that included a family allowance bonus if they had at least ten children while on the other hand, they would be fined if they did not arrange for their sons and daughters to be married off at an early age. To persuade young men to get married, they were forbidden from the right to hunt, fish or trade with the indigenous people in the land or even go into the woods, as the experience was considered a form of pleasure.[25] These occurrences aid in vividly understanding the concept of the revenge of the cradle which in its broadest sense refers to the state at which the birthrate of a minority group (French-speaking population, Quebec in Canada) is higher than that of the majority, principal group (English-speaking population, remainder of Canada) from fear of oppression or dominion.[26] Even though the Churchs role had a major effect in the politics of Quebec, the influence of the Church gradually declined long after due to the developing ideas of secularism. However, that does not prove fatal to the case in that the foundation of the politics of Quebec will always have been founded upon the philosophies of the Church. As perfectly laid out by a scholar, Although the leading role of the clergy in political affairs was to be challenged by the slow growth of a new lay leadership after 1800, the Church has been able to retain its pre-eminent position in most of the other fields up to the present time.[27] Likewise, the impact of religion on politics is well portrayed as in the case of the Islamic drive in the development of Iran. Historian, Fahrang Mehr wrote about the connection between religion and politics in the shaping of Iran, In the last three decades, Islam has emerged as a political force in many countries, including Iran. It has been a driving power behind revolution, assassinations, seizure of holy places and terrorism.[28] It is apparent that modern-day surroundings allow for the identification of drivers of change like Islam to allot power towards political and social agendas. Mehr further adds, Iran requires careful evaluation of the extent to which post-revolutionary Islamic regime has infused religiosity in the Iranian polity. The study should also take into account the credibility of clergies and the religious laymen who rule the country, bearing in mind that change is an organic process.[29] Rich historical data supports the fact that religion, liberalism, nationalism and monarchism were intertwined to Iranian politics which led to the shaping of the Islamic dominion in Iran.[30] In 651 CE, the Arab invasion of Iran led to the elimination of nationalism due to the influence of Islamic principles but eventually (in around 1502 CE) studies recognized that nationalism and religion particularly Shiaism, again intermingled and safeguarded Irans independence from the invasion of the Ottoman Empire (which demanded loyalty of all Muslims).[31] Above all, the Iranian Revolution in 1978-79 proved to be an important manipulator of law and governance in Iran including the states internal policy which in turn mainly affected educational systems and the kind of learning imparted to the students based on Islamic fundamentalism.[32] That being told, Islamic fundamentalism is often misjudged. The term is usually represented on a level of faith and while giving it meaning it could turn out to be profusely negative rather than positive.'[33] One analysis reveals that, In relation to Islam, it is important to recognize that the term fundamentalism (usiliyyah) is not self-descriptive but has been applied by others in their attempts to describe and understand contemporary Islamic history and politics.'[34] In correspondence to Iran, fundamentalism has a profound stance unlike in other Islamic nations. The Iranian government has steadily been involved in competition with Saudi Arabia (the epicenter of the Muslim world) to stay up to par in procuring the attention of the Islamic world and gaining significance; thus, offering home and harbor to the worlds Islamic fundamentalists which include leaders, activists, thinkers and others. This is done on the watch of the Iranian Foreign Ministry by hosting events, seminars, conferences and so on for increasing awareness.[35] The Iranian government is motivated by Islamic principles and continues to be a mark of strength in the Muslim sphere and thus, it is evident how effectively a religion can influence the politics of a nation. There exists several other countries that have undergone certain historical incidents generated by the influence of one or even more religions leading to transformations in contemporary political models and structures that are quite similar to the impact of the Zionist Movement (Jewish group) that led to the whole new formation of a nation Israel, the significant role of the Catholic Church in the polity of Quebec and also, the foundation of the Iranian polity on the concept of Islamic fundamentalism. As much as this research justifies the argument that the historical background of a religions doing has a part to play in figuring out the style of modern-day argument, it is also manifest that contemporary politics might not be entirely continuing in the path set by past occurrences. For instance, present-day Israel, has a law that is influenced by the Jewish traditions and customs which would include that all glory belongs to God for He protects His people as in the days of Moses but then comes a trend tending towards self consciousness where the people of the nation are exhorted by their leaders to prepare for their enemies by training in self defense and learning to protect ones self.[36] Similarly, in Quebec, the public realize that there is a need for secularization and so, have advocated the limitation on the rights of the Church in the involvement in politics. However, there are some nations like Iran and Saudi Arabia that are unable to divulge from the law given to them and thus, maintain the relationship between religion and politics quite effectively; the results there of be positive or negative. The relevance of the impact of religions on politics is very significant in understanding why countries, nations and their leaders interact with each other the way they do and how the pathway of politics can be predicted based on past occurrences; thus, the issue of this research appeals to historians, politicians, religious leaders and educationalists all alike. Works Cited Blumberg, Arnold. The History of Israel. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1998. http://www.questia.com/read/98623170. Knowles, Valerie. Strangers at our Gates. Toronto, ON: Dundurn Press, 2007. Liebman, Charles S., and Asher Cohen. Synagogue and State: Religion and Politics in Modern Israel. Harvard International Review 20, no. 2 (1998): 70. http://www.questia.com/read/1G1-30308720. Merriam-Webster, Zionism. Last modified 2012. Accessed November 15, 2012. http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/zionism. Milton-Edwards, Beverly. Islamic Fundamentalism since 1945. New York: Routledge, 2004. http://www.questia.com/read/108858736. Quinn, Herbert F. The Union Nationale: A Study in Quebec Nationalism. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1963. http://www.questia.com/read/2983146. Rubenstein, Richard L., ed. Spirit Matters: The Worldwide Impact of Religion on Contemporary Politics. New York: Paragon House Publishers, 1987. http://www.questia.com/read/94614328. Sharkansky, Ira. Politics and Policymaking: In Search of Simplicity. Boulder, CO: Lynne Rienner, 2002. http://www.questia.com/read/105768998. Suyama, Nobuaki. Quebec: Populate or Perish. New Zealand International Review 22, no. 3 (1997): 15+. http://www.questia.com/read/1G1-20059576.

Understanding The Childhood And The State Sociology Essay

Understanding The Childhood And The State Sociology Essay The aim of this essay is to critically analyse both case studies by Virginia Morrow using arguments from the New Sociology of Childhood. The first part of the essay will discuss the concept of new sociology of childhood by explaining what it is, why it came about and what it main claims are. It will then move on to explore the findings of the above mentioned qualitative research of a group of children between 8 and 14 years of age in relation to their perspective on what they believe families to be. Children as social actors and childrens participation are key notions in what is considered as a modern day discourse. The implications discourses have in the ways in which children are portrayed and treated within society and the influence the actions taken by people and the judgement taken by them are often the subject of social constructionists. It is also well documented that different cultures can also have different perception, so can different situations and circumstances. In recent years, researchers have developed innovative methods for undertaking research with children. It has been customary to carry out research methods which have not directly involved children, for example, the study of children on a large scale and this has led to some disagreement by some sociologist because it is seen as carrying out a survey on children rather than with children. As an alternative, researchers have shifted towards the importance of giving the child a voice as social actors and being central in any research practise. It could be argued that most sociological policies and theories have in the past regarded children as being totally dependent, incapable, and dependent on their families to function successfully within a society. However, by adopting a childrens right perspective which is compatible with theoretical developments in the new sociology of childhood can mean that children have the power, skills, knowledge and resources to protect them. Children have been identified within the international framework of human rights as deserved of special consideration. As quoted by J. Eekelar à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“the language of rights performs an important function. It acknowledges that there are certain things which we should provide for children, not just because adults think it would be nice if they had them, but because we are prepared to recognise that children want them, or can reasonably be assumed to want themà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ . (J.Eekelar Why Children? Why Rights? 2003) According to (James and Prout 1997) children are referred as active social agents and reliable informants of their own experience, who construct and shape the social structures and processes of their lives. Followers to this theory pay much attention to how children perceive the world around them and that they have their own distinctive way of looking at family life whereby the relationship is seen as a two way process with the child and the parent have a shared influence on any decisions taken. The research, by Morrow proposes that the majority of children do not want to make decision but rather would prefer to make a contribution to ther decision making process. None the less, there are some theorists who do not consider children as having sufficient protection even today. One of the sociologists is Melanie Philips who makes a case that the traditions of parenthood in the UK has broken down and that childhood simplicity has been destabilized by those with open mind which in turn could mean that children are given too many powers and rights. Other would suggest that the concept of cnew theory of childhood has become much more complicated and that there is an indication that the idea of a traditional childhood is yet again being lost. It is argued that this is not because of lack of understanding but through the lack of economic equality. Combined with the sophisticated and business-like way of living, it could be believed that childhood has somewhat been reduced as a result to the exposure to more adult information creating a child that is much more interested in everyday materialistic objects, and as such à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“expelled from the garden of childhoodà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  (Postman, 1983) According to (Leacock 1981), within the new sociology of childhood, one of the key elements is that children should be considered as social actors, and by doing this, children are then taken from the idea of being objects, and to be studied on the basis that childrens beliefs and experiences do give insight into the meaning of childhood (Callinicos,1993). The research by Virginia Morrow (1998) was undertaken to explore two current phenomena . Firstly, that children of today experience quite varied family settings on their way to adulthood The second phenomena was in relation to the changes that have occurred in recent sociological theories whereby children should be listened to and importance given to what they have to say. The study looked at what childrens perceptions were on the family unit and how this might differ between cultures and background. It appeared that for many of the children, regardless of their ethnic background, their life revolved around their family or the extended family. One of the main findings was that childrens view in the main does not concur to what is considered as stereotypical notion of what a nuclear family is. Another key finding was that all the children included words such as care,support love and respect when describing what characteristics of family. Again this was though regardless of ethnic background, where they came from or their gender. A difference was found between children of different ages, as younger children saw having children and being in a marriage as the basis to a family and backed this up with examples from their own families. Older children were more ready to look at things outside their own domain. Many of the children referred to the term relations when describing their family and many were aware that individuals were related in different ways such as through marriage or genetically. In general, children explained that families were important to them and they saw their own family as any other family in general. When the question of who was important to them, the answer was parents, especially their mothers because they provide love and care. For some of the children, their sisters and brothers were seen as important to them. It appeared from their reactions that friendship was very important so some older children, especially girls. Finally, when asked about being listened to and being able to give their opinion, the children needed to be involved in decision making and have their say in what happens to them. Some considered that they were being listened to by their families while other did not. Some of the older children however, did mentioned that making a decision was not an easy task. On reflection therefore, the aim of this essay was to analyse the above mentioned case studies taking the new sociology of childhood into consideration. It could be said that discourses offer different and contrasting ways of thinking about children and childhood and as a consequence how they are viewed and treated by society. What this discussion serves to highlight is that there are conflicting thoughts surrounding the concept of childhood and that there is no clear right or wrong way of looking at what childhood conveys.

Leadership is about Forging Relationships

Leadership is about Forging Relationships â€Å"In a nut shell, I believe leadership is about forging relationships and perpetuating communication centered on and around a common vision, goals, and values.† Leaders set vision, strategies, goals, and values in order to guide for desired action and behavior. Leaders are characterized by certain traits which distinguish leaders from non-leaders includes Drive, desire to lead, honesty, cognitive ability, self-confidence and knowledge. Leaders are defined by their personal core values and they lead with their hearts.   In the winter of 1987, I was born in a farmer’s family and I grew up in a joint family of fourteen. Teamwork was not a choice, it was a necessity! I believe my greatest leadership asset is that I am socially resourceful. I can communicate effectively and am comfortable one-on-one or with a large group. I truly believe that learning from the experiences of others is an incredibly valuable resource. Learning about others is also a valuable tool. Exhibiting sincere interest in people empowers a leader with knowledge, perspective and insights they may not have considered. In addition, others are likely to increase their receptiveness to anything you have to say or hope to accomplish when they sense your genuine interest in their point of view. Genuine people who are true to themselves and to what they believe in turned into an authentic leader. They are more concern about serving others than they are about their own success or recognition. My journey into leadership is full of peaks and valleys. Leadership has not always been an easy road for me, but has provided me with several challenges. One of my first experiences was in high school and has continued throughout my professional career. My first experience in leadership was my being elected to represent my high school-Birla school, Mumbai for a state level event named India culture quest. We were team of 22 including dancers, singers, gymnastics, science innovation project team, and team to handle brainstorming and quizzes. I remember being so nervous not knowing how to lead or communicate effectively with my fellow students. It was my primary role that to engage and coordinate my fellow student and also represent our school as of the example for discipline and talent on a state level. I knew I could handle this challenge if I organized the team and prepared the charter. My charter was including everyone’s details about their strength and weaknesses. I organi zed all of them into their respective small groups based on their role in an event and asked each team to choose one leader among them. I distributed my responsibilities among these leaders and kept the track of quality of the performance. I also organized special event and outings to encourage my fellow students to engage them. This to me was my first experience in leadership and it helped me in college where I was pushed to organize and managed the annual cultural event named – ‘Odessy’. I felt challenged, but I knew by extending an outline of my high-school leadership. I agreed to commit that my leadership style improved a lot during those days. It became more authentic. Authentic leaders need to sustain high levels of motivation. Keeping that in mind I started my work by delivering motivational speech to my team and asked them to give best of what they have. I outlined my leadership style in such a way that my team mates should feel comfortable to speak up an d share their views. My contributions allowed others to have a better understanding of the overall planning and execution of the Annual Culture Event. This also helped me overcome challenges and differences by expressing myself among different personalities, ethnicities, and cultures. I learned that leadership has multiple dimensions. Articulating the vision and managing the task are not only the responsibilities of a leader. It’s more than that. It’s to influence others by your core values, your unique characteristics and your authentic and positive approach. You will be most effective as a leader when you find opportunities that highly motivate you and utilize your greatest capabilities. One without the other is insufficient. To find them you must understand your deepest motivations and be honest with yourself about your capabilities. Being motivated by something you are not good at will not enable you to succeed as a leader, nor will pursue leadership roles that do not motivate you. But when you find the role that meshes your motivations with your capabilities, you will discover the sweet spot that maximizes your effectiveness as a leader. I also learned one more lesson that accept both success and failure. My every step, whether it is a mistake or success strategy, will always give me an uncountable experience. I have to learn through that experience. Never afraid of failures because each mistake teaches us the important lessons to succeed. I also developed my listening ability during the whole event. I gained the experience of discovering capabilities which I did not know I had. Another example of leadership includes my managerial experience at my company. The greatest challenge I faced was building a product team at my company. On November 7, 2012 Vice president of my company, Mr. Mahesh Patil, sent me an email and asked me to join him in the cabin. Mr. Patil just returned from a meeting with board of directors. He reported that the company facing challenges to beat the high market competition and we will lose thousands of customers if we are not able to improve our product’s features. As a recently promoted product manager, I was asked to lead the project. I never had experience of leading a huge team of 17 people before. In past, I was working as an associate product manager for the same product and hence I was pretty sure about functionality and technical constraints about the product. I decided to take the opportunity and to challenge myself to enhance my leadership graph. When I entered into my current position, I knew I had to make changes in t he methodologies and product development process. The previous product manager had short of vision and neither organized research work, and process documents. The company relied solely on him, which caused inconsistency in products quality and customers dissatisfaction. I led and supervised 17 employees, coordinated the work of forty two people, and two months later implemented a solution. In order to start with I formed four distinguished teams and re-defined responsibilities and tasks. During the initial discussion with Mr. Mahesh Patil and 5 senior managers, I suggested the methodology for solving the problem. I presented the feasibility of the proposed solution and an initial estimate of the costs, and operational implications. I convinced them that how the new methodology will give us an edge over our competitors and innovative marketing strategy will help us to regain the brand name. However, I felt I have not yet consider all the real time risk factors and it may turn into operationally premature solution due to lack of ability in handling the risk. I asked for more days to conduct trials. I knew that the financial consequences of failure would be tremendous and hence I was very much stressed by this project. Leaders do not succeed on their own. Every leader defined by the members of his team. Strong-support team provides affirmation, advice, perspective, calls for corrections when needed, and, above all, team bonding. I knew that I want to lead a team where I should create comfort and open environment so that during the hard days and low points, as a whole team we should not lose our boost to achieve the target. I knew that it is easy to divert by the expectations of others but as a leader my role is to grounded my team mates with their core values and help them to stay on track. In our first team meeting, I shared my strength and weakness and asked others to join me by expressing their thoughts. Three of seventeen Team members were not open with one other about their mistakes and weaknesses. Such things make it difficult to build a foundation for trust. Teams that lack trust are incapable of engaging in unfiltered and passionate debate of ideas. Instead, they resort to veiled discussions and guarded comments. Again I felt challenged. Whether you are a leader or a team member, you can never take trust for granted. It was a big challenge for me to build a trust and create extremely harmonious and independent environment that embrace my personal values and principles. I took the opportunity and passed Quote of Trust and Accountability a.k.a. QTA based on our discussion. Our Quote of Trust and Accountability (QTA) stated as – ‘Trust lies at the heart of a functioning, cohesive team. Without it, teamwork is all but impossible. Unfortunately, the word trust is used—and misused—so often that it has lost some of its impact and begins to sound like motherhood. That is why it is important to be very specific about what is meant by trust. For me trust and accountability is what I perceive and conceptualize my core values and I am responsible to develop authenticity, integrity, knowledge, authority, respect for others, and trust’. We all agreed to Quote of Trust. Next day I gathered my staff and I presented the issues, emphasized the significance of the business opportunity, and defined a timetable. I also asked my marketing team to evaluate the magnitude of the problem in other markets. I set the vision of our team and also specified the norms of team. I distributed the task among four teams and created guidelines of communication and execution. It was two-way communication session where I asked my teammates to share their views, expert knowledge and level of confidence. It was a great session we had. I learned that being with your team-mates face-to-face; inquiring about their work, their families, their personal lives, and their careers; and being open and vulnerable with them creates an intimacy with people. As we moved forward in the project, I able to developed the series of positive interactions, suggestions, and problem solving methodologies. Initially, few members of my team were hesitating to open up due to language barrier. I organ ized Saturday late afternoon party at my home. I invited all to join and made them to participate in the musical chair game. I had also organized activity exercises’ for my team. We had great fun. The enjoyment ended with musical evening where everyone was singing and all were connected to the music. I was listening to the music with closed eyes but I was experiencing the engagement and strong bonding as a team with open heart. I succeed to diminish the language barrier. Whenever I feel stressed or down, I close my eyes and recollect those memories of empowerment. The breeze of empowerment boosts me to stand again.

Intellectuar Property Rights in China :: Laws Technology Piracy Essays

Intellectuar Property Rights in China In recent years, the protection and enforcement of intellectual property rights in China has received enormous international attention. Over the past several decades, China has work slowly but steadily toward better intellectual property rights (IPR) protection. China has strengthened its legal framework and amended its IPR laws numerous times to extend the scope of protection. Currently, China IPR laws are well in line with the global IPR standards. For the rest of this paper, I would give a brief history of IPR laws, Chinafs efforts toward enforcing its IPR laws, the ethical analysis of piracy, and the solution to help reduce piracy. Software Piracy According to Business Software Alliance, about 94% of all the software currently used in China is illegally copy. This represent a three percent increased from 1991.1 Software piracy is flourishing in countries such as China, Hong Kong, and Vietnam. Software piracy rate is escalated; thus robbing the global marketplace of hundreds of thousands of jobs and billions in wages and tax revenue. It is estimated that piracy had caused about $11.8 billion losses worldwide.2 In addition, software piracy may become a barrier to innovation and product development around the world because piracy decreases the incentives and motivations for companies to research and develop new products. History of Chinafs IPR laws Since 1978, China has gradually improved its efforts toward protecting the IPR laws. Part of the improvement in IPR protection is due to the tremendous amount of pressure that the United States and other developing companies put on the Chinese government forcing it to comply with the global IPR standards. China has joined many international IPR conventions/organizations such as World Intellectual Property Organization, Paris Convention for the Protection of Intellectual Property, and Universal Copyright Convention.3 By joining these conventions/organizations, China hopes to learn more about IPR laws, and thus able to incorporate them into its own IPR laws. Between 1980-1995, China has also passed patent, copyright, trademark laws, and computer software regulations, and unfair competition law. Some of these laws have been amended several times to extend the scope of protection. Recently, China successfully entered into the World Trade Organization (WTO). Its entry into the WTO s howed that China is seriously committed to the protection of IPR because now China needs to strengthen its legal framework and amended its IPR laws to comply with the WTO Agreement on Traded-Related Aspect of Intellectual

The Celebration Of Chanukah :: essays research papers fc

The Celebration of Chanukah   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The candle light flickered in Dorothy Abramawitz’s eyes. In her tiny, pudgy right hand she held the shammus, the host candle, and burned the wick until the flame was glowing brightly. While she began to light the first candle on the menorah, she heard her mother’s voice singing softly, â€Å"Boruch Atoh Adonoy, Eloheinu Melech Hoolom, Asher Kideshonu Bemitzvosov Vetzivonu Lehadlik Ner Chanukah.† Blessed are You, Lord our God King of the universe, Who has sanctified us by His commandments, and has commanded us to kindle the lights of Chanukah. She passed the shammus candle to her sister, who lit the second candle and then passed it to her brother to light the third. â€Å"Boruch Atoh Adonoy, Eloheinu Melech Hoolom, Sheoso Nisim La'avoseinu Bayomim Hoheim Bizman Hazeh.† Blessed are you, Lord our God, King of the universe, Who wrought miracles for our fathers in days of old, at this season. This passing of the candle went until all eight o f the siblings had had a chance to light a candle, and by the time that had finished, it left the Chanukah menorah fully ablaze. â€Å"Boruch Atoh Adonoy, Eloheinu Melech Hoolom, Shehechiyonu Vekiyimonu, Vehigionu Lizman Hazeh.† Blessed are You, Lord our God, King of the universe, Who has kept us alive, and has preserved us, and enabled us to reach this season.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Dorothy watched the hot wax glide from the top of the candle, down its body, and splatter on the wooden table on which the menorah was standing tall. Chanukah was her favorite Jewish holiday to celebrate. It was a time of family, good food, and gifts. It was a time for remembrance of the miracles that God had once done for her people, and could do once again. But this year’s celebration was different. There were no gifts or extravagant feasts. There was no laughter or loud celebrations. A black blanket covered the window, so that she could not see the Russian landscape outside the house, and so that the Gestapo could not see the family’s Jewish practices. Everything they did had to be hidden now, had to be concealed.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Her brown eyes danced and her glossy brown curls shined in the firelight. Shifting them from the menorah toward her mother, she had to laugh. Even her mother’s appearance was different this year. On top of her mother’s head was a yammika, the traditional hat that the men of the family wore on their heads whenever they prayed or gave a blessing. The Celebration Of Chanukah :: essays research papers fc The Celebration of Chanukah   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The candle light flickered in Dorothy Abramawitz’s eyes. In her tiny, pudgy right hand she held the shammus, the host candle, and burned the wick until the flame was glowing brightly. While she began to light the first candle on the menorah, she heard her mother’s voice singing softly, â€Å"Boruch Atoh Adonoy, Eloheinu Melech Hoolom, Asher Kideshonu Bemitzvosov Vetzivonu Lehadlik Ner Chanukah.† Blessed are You, Lord our God King of the universe, Who has sanctified us by His commandments, and has commanded us to kindle the lights of Chanukah. She passed the shammus candle to her sister, who lit the second candle and then passed it to her brother to light the third. â€Å"Boruch Atoh Adonoy, Eloheinu Melech Hoolom, Sheoso Nisim La'avoseinu Bayomim Hoheim Bizman Hazeh.† Blessed are you, Lord our God, King of the universe, Who wrought miracles for our fathers in days of old, at this season. This passing of the candle went until all eight o f the siblings had had a chance to light a candle, and by the time that had finished, it left the Chanukah menorah fully ablaze. â€Å"Boruch Atoh Adonoy, Eloheinu Melech Hoolom, Shehechiyonu Vekiyimonu, Vehigionu Lizman Hazeh.† Blessed are You, Lord our God, King of the universe, Who has kept us alive, and has preserved us, and enabled us to reach this season.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Dorothy watched the hot wax glide from the top of the candle, down its body, and splatter on the wooden table on which the menorah was standing tall. Chanukah was her favorite Jewish holiday to celebrate. It was a time of family, good food, and gifts. It was a time for remembrance of the miracles that God had once done for her people, and could do once again. But this year’s celebration was different. There were no gifts or extravagant feasts. There was no laughter or loud celebrations. A black blanket covered the window, so that she could not see the Russian landscape outside the house, and so that the Gestapo could not see the family’s Jewish practices. Everything they did had to be hidden now, had to be concealed.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Her brown eyes danced and her glossy brown curls shined in the firelight. Shifting them from the menorah toward her mother, she had to laugh. Even her mother’s appearance was different this year. On top of her mother’s head was a yammika, the traditional hat that the men of the family wore on their heads whenever they prayed or gave a blessing.

Era of social and cultural rebellion Essay

â€Å"The disintegration of American values was reflected in manners and morals that shook American society to the depths.† (Leuchtenburg) The 1920’s was an era in which the Americans showed their independence through actions; learning not to live the same ways that those preceded them had. The ’20s was a cultural and socialistic rebellious attitude, decomposing past American ethics and beliefs. The most obvious rebellion is shown by the feminine movements during this time. The 1920’s led to a new role for American women, in which females desperately tried to rid themselves of Victorian roles they had played in the past. In an effort to become modern and masculine, the â€Å"flapper† led to newly recognized rights for females in the male fields. The flappers showed their rebellion by wearing short skirts that in previous years would have been entirely inappropriate dress for women. Rebellion was also shown by the increased number of females working in public offices, obtaining jobs, attending colleges, and having leading roles in professional careers (events that were practically unheard-of fifty years earlier.) Women professionals increased 50 percent, while married working women increased 30 percent. With the suffrage movement in 1920, women started out the ’20s with a passion for independence and political and social rights. Women lived by themselves, proving absolute independence from men. They, who had once been thought of as men’s property solely to perform the acts of cleaning and cooking, were revolting against their title of â€Å"exclusive possession.† Once the rebellion against stay-at-home wives had started, women who still fulfilled that role felt compelled to apologize that they were not out working alongside men in the job world. (Leuchtenburg) Marriage was also a way to rebel; women who were unhappy in marriages felt that they had the right to divorce their husbands; this act more then doubled between the years of 1914 and 1929. Divorce, once thought to be completely immoral, was becoming quite common. All these factors show that the female race was using the 1920’s to revolt against issues they had previously disagreed with, but never ha d the courage to address. The 1920’s brought a breakdown in ethics. Couples went further in publicly showing their affection for each other. Sex was a common discussion topic,  not only for women but young girls. Suggestive topics were broadcasted all over the radios, movies, and newspapers. Parties were no longer chaperoned, and parents no longer had knowledge about their daughters’ actions. The fact that individuals during this time were so free with their sexual favors proves the fact that people during this time wanted to show their capability at making decisions for themselves. (Leuchtenburg) One may argue that the 1920’s was not an era of social and cultural rebellion, and bring up the opinion that the dresses the flappers wore were efforts to save money. (Shannon) This is possible, but in order to feel completely at ease at wearing what would have been considered (only a decade earlier) an outrageous outfit, the women would have had to rebel. One might also say that the reason why there were increased numbers of women attending college was not the fact that they were rebelling to prove their equality with men, but rather because it was the first time they could ever afford such an education. This is untrue; debt was so high in the ’20s that most families would have been unable to afford a college education. During the 1920’s, the economy grew into a consumer economy, one that revolved around the ability of the citizens to consume products. In order to make it easy for the people to do this, credit was developed. With the innovation of credit, many people became in debt, and consumer debt rose a total of 250 percent. Personal debt rose 2.5 times faster then personal income, and people just didn’t have money to spend it on an education solely for the reason of becoming educated. However, in order to show their equality, women would have been more willing to put a college education on credit. In conclusion, the Roaring Twenties was a time of serious cultural and social rebellion. People wanted to live their lives they way they chose; they wanted to show their independence and ability to make decisions, and not live by the beliefs of their predecessors.

Postcolonialism

Postcolonial is that which questions, overturns, and / or critically refracts colonial authority-its epistemology and forms of violence, its claims to superiority. Postcolonial therefore refers to those theories, texts, political strategies, and modes of activism that engage in such questioning, that aim to challenge structural inequalities and bring about social Justice. It is helpful to view postcolonial in a comparative frame alongside feminism.Both these approaches arrived at points of critical self-awareness in definitive periods of civil rights protests. This conjunction ay be partly explained by the fact that both approaches champion resistance to entrenched singular forms of authority (patriarchy, empire) from below or from positions of so called weakness. Both too seek the politicians of areas conventionally considered as non political: the domestic space, education, sport, the street, who may walk where, who may sit where, and how.Some of the central critical concepts of po stcolonial developed out of nationalist struggles for independence in the early half of the twentieth century. The political and cultural reforms proposed y anti-colonial movements in such countries as India, Egypt, Algeria, Ghana, Kenya and in the Caribbean, formed the fountainhead of what we now call postcolonial. At first, these movements advocated a politics of assimilation of ‘natives' or the colonized into colonial society for them to obtain self representation.They began with limited demands for piecemeal constitutional reforms but it became rapidly clear that the colonial authorities were not ready to dismantle the social, economic and political hierarchies on which their control rested. After the end of World War II, anti colonial nationalist movements took a more confrontational, no-compromise attitude. The demand was for complete independence. This demand extended not only to the liberation of political structures but also to the obliteration of the colonization of the psyche.The sass marked a period of growing militancy in movements across the colonized world. Alongside came the retrieval and animation of indigenous culture as an important vehicle of national self expression and thus of resistance to the colonial exclusion of the native as uncouth, uncivilized inarticulate and irrational. The nationalist leaders and intellectuals like Gandhi and Nehru in India, fanons in Algeria and Came Markham in Ghana, helped define the major ideologies of postcolonial liberation.They shaped some of the definitive concepts of postcolonial studies, as later interpreted in the works of Edward Said. They understood the anti-colonial struggle as a Mechanical, or binary, conflict of us against them, of self versus ‘other'. The binary between the so-called rational, superior colonial self and the barbarism and irrationality indicated by everything that was not-self or ‘other' was to be repudiated wholesale. It was not Just to be turned upside down, b ut also destroyed. The chains of oppression were to be obliterated and not simply filed down.If natives or others were always seen as secondary figures, imperfect replicas of the colonizer, wearers of borrowed cultural rags; if native society was invariably represented as disorderly or ethically degenerate; it was important that they remake themselves from scratch. It was essential that they reconstitute their identity on their own terms, that they Initialized, Africanize, or Caribbean themselves. They effectively needed to give birth to a new identity, to peak in a language that was chosen, not imposed. The liberation struggle involved a tripartite process.It led from attempted cultural assimilation with the colonizers, the first stage, through attempts at political reform, sometimes of an intensively radical kind, as in demands for self -help and self-representation, the second stage. But if the colonial state proved intransigent, as it so often did, from this phase of forceful se lf-assertion developed a possible third stage; outright militant resistance. As Robbing wrote , conditions could arise where ‘national life' had to become ‘perforce a national assault'.