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Medicinal plants have been given great significance in recent years due to its demand in industry for human and animal welfare and alluring market prices. India is called as the “Botanical Garden” of the world due to variegated climatic ecosystem which is suitable for cultivation for medicinal plants. India being one of the world’s 12 mega biodiversity countries needs to conserve its resources where they are being exploited and should be grown commercially to avoid their susceptibility to extinction because of indiscriminate use.
Get original essayAmong the various medicinal plants, Withania somnifera (L.) Dunal (Winter cherry, Ashwagandha or Asgandh) of family Solanaceae is an important medicinal plant that finds extensive use as a potential herb in the traditional system of medicine as a “rasayana” and “medhya rasayana’. The similarities between roots of Ashwagandha and ginseng roots have led to it being called as Indian ginseng.
W. somnifera is a genetically simple species (2n = 48; n = 24; largely self-pollinated) most suited to develop cultivars for commercial production of novel sterols and alkaloids (Singh and Kumar 1998). It grows in dry and sub-tropical regions. The major Ashwagandha cultivating states are Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Gujarat and Maharashtra among which Madhya Pradesh alone is having more than 4000 ha area for cultivation. Due to presence of alkaloids in roots, leaves and seeds, these are used in preparation of Ayurvedic and Unani medicines, to combat a wide range of diseases from tuberculosis to arthritis. Important part of ashwagandha is its roots, followed by leaves and berries due to presence of “Withanolides”. The major biochemical constituents of W. somnifera are steroidal alkaloids and lactones, a class of constituents together known as withanolides (steroidal lactones with ergostane skeleton).
Ongoing trials and research on animal support the role of ashwagandha’s root and leaf extracts in different disorders and diseases and possess properties like anticancer, antioxidant etc. and act as source of a restorative drug.
Molecular markers remain unaffected by physiological condition and environmental factors that is the reason for their wide application in genetic diversity assessment among W. somnifera (L.) Dunal genotypes and to identify duplicated accessions within the germplasm collections. Due to same reason, molecular markers are reliable for informative polymorphisms since genetic composition is unique for each species. Most important development has occurred in the field of molecular genetics with the emergence of molecular marker since for breeders it is effective tool for investigating novel sources of variations and genetic factors controlling quantitatively inherited traits. These markers are used for the detection and exploitation of DNA polymorphism (Semagn et al. 2010). For differentiating plants at inter- and/or intra-specific level genetic polymorphism plays significant role, not only in medicinal plants but also in cereals, cash, plantation and horticulture crops.
The most important role of conservation is to preserve the process of genetic diversity and development in the viable population of ecology and commercially viable varieties / genotypes to avoid possible extinction (Rout et al. 2010). Different types of marker systems have been used for biodiversity analysis. These include RFLP, SSR, RAPD and the AFLP. RAPD and ISSR markers are two molecular approaches that have been used to detect variation among plants. Systematic evaluation and quantification of the variability from the present study will serve as one step towards providing accurate genetic information for further breeding programmes for Withania improvement. The assessment of variation would provide us a correct picture of the extent of variation, further helping us to improve the genotypes for biotic and abiotic stresses. The main objective of this study was to characterize the Withania genotypes using morphological and molecular markers in order to evaluate the genetic diversity and relationships among genotypes lines.
The present field investigation were carried out during late kharif of 2013 and 2014 Instructional Farm, Rajasthan College of Agriculture, MPUAT, Udaipur (24035’N, 70042’E), Rajasthan (India).
Plants of 25 genotypes lines which include native and foreign plants collected from different parts of India, were maintained and considered for the present study (Table 1). Newly emerged leaf samples of the cultivars were used for DNA extraction.
Seven morphometric characters were evaluated from 25 genotypes lines of plant specimens. Standardization of data on morphological characters was done using the YBAR option of the Stand program from the NTSYS-pc 2.1 software (Rohlf 2004). Duplicate measurements for each line were averaged and were used to design a data matrix of pairwise similarities between genotypes lines. The simple matching coefficient (SMC) was used to measure the similarity, as it was the coefficient with the best results following a cophenetic test. Principal component analysis (PCA) was also used for non-hierarchical relationships among the genotypes. Eigenvalues and eigenvectors were calculated by the Eigen program using a correlation matrix as input (calculated using standardized morphological data), and a 2-D and 3-D plot was used to generate the two-dimensional PCA plot from NTSYS-pc 2.1 (Rohlf 2004).
Total genomic DNA was isolated from 25 genotypes lines using a cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) extraction protocol (Doyle and Doyle 1990) and was then quantified spectrophotometrically on Nanospectrophotometer, Implen (Germany).
Twenty decamer primers (Operon Technologies Inc.) were screened in the ashwagandha genotypes, of which 15 primers generated polymorphic and reproducible banding patterns and were selected for final analysis. PCR amplification was carried out in a 20 µL reaction volume containing 200 µM of dNTP mix, 1.5 mM MgCl2, 1U of Taq polymerase, 1X of reaction buffer, 0.5 µM of primer and double distilled water and 20 ng genomic DNA.
Every culture has certain historical events that alter the way that culture functions and appears. For much of the world, the world wars were this historical influence. Many countries had not experienced such a sudden loss in population, and for many families, it meant the sudden loss of not one, but many loved ones. Similarly, Middle Eastern countries have been plagued by religious wars for centuries; with each rising religion, or even different interpretations of religions, the people of this region are forced to assimilate and conform to the laws forced upon them by an ever evolving government.
Get original essayCulture altering events do not always present themselves in the form of wars, as so drastically shown by the change brought about by the Enlightenment. Though the enlightenment period had its violent points, the change was largely in the ideas and ideals held by the citizens of Europe and a tumultuous, blossoming America. The reform seen here was philosophical and political. Through the eyes of the characters in Candide, Six Characters in Search of an Author, and A Thousand Splendid Suns the effects of these events on their authors can be interpreted. Many of the effects felt by the authors of these works show how they, personally, felt the cultural and historical changes happening right before their eyes.
In 1759, Candide was born. The height of the enlightenment was underway and the effects of it spanned from Europe to the westernmost expansions of the Americas. For Francois-Marie Arouet, the enlightenment only encouraged her “bold, witty, and rebellious” personality (Simon 97). The influence of this revolutionary time can be found in many aspects of Candide. The first of these is the idea that “everything is for the best” .
The concept of God as a watchmaker was sweeping over Christianity, and from this religious alteration, the idea that god has prepared “this best of all possible worlds” for his creations and those creations are now left to fend for themselves. Throughout the story, the plot is thickened with strife, slavery, and some of the worst conditions imaginable; however, since they live in the best conditions allowed by God, they are thankful that they are not worse off. Meeting people who are worse off than they are prevents them from sacrilegiously questioning God any more than they do.
The enlightenment also brought about the belief that education was a right and something to be shared, cherished, and obtained no matter the costs. Voltaire held this belief close to his heart to such an extent that he would smuggle his literature to be published in countries with freedom of the press. He believed that education should be full and without censorship.
Similarly, in Candide, we see characters being formally taught (education with the censorship of the establishment in which is taught); this formal teaching is altered throughout Candide’s life through experience and testing of the philosophical ideals he was taught. Even Pangloss, who introduced the idea of “the best of all possible worlds”, alters his belief in this concept once he is cast from the censorship of the Baron’s castle. This evolution of what is taught and what is learned shows Voltaire’s belief that education is both taught formally and learned through living a full life. The difference in Candide’s education, both formal and informal, is brought about by a shift in social class.
The class system during the enlightenment was a steadfast component, one that Arouet opposed. This opposition of a change seen during a cultural revolution shows that not all citizens within a culture necessarily embrace the cultural metamorphosis. In some aspects, this gives culture a more dynamic appearance and adds the effect of subcultures upon the population. Voltaire mocks the class system by sending his characters through all of them. From chapter to chapter, Candide and Cunegonde shift from wealth to poverty, from strife to worsening strife.
The turmoil seen the Enlightenment, including revolutions, political coops, and executions, is evident in every situation experienced by the characters in Candide. The story begins with a coop, is riddled with near executions, and includes a few actual executions. Arouet undoubtedly saw this tumultuous activity in his everyday life and integrated his fear of it into his works. From eighteenth century France, the influence of historical events moves to Italy during the early 1900’s. Luigi Pirandello, during this time period, is in the midst of bombs, gunfire, and unimaginable death that are inescapable in the Italian theatre of World War I.
The Great War took millions from Italy and threatened the loss of many more as the Italians fought to keep the Austro-Hungarians from decimating their country. This amount of loss changes the culture of a country, and even a continent, leaving behind a broken, dark view of man. World War I emerged the way most wars do: one group of people attempted to impose their way of thought on another.
The actions in Candide are not unlike the actions of the characters in Six Characters in Search of an Author. The father and stepdaughter in particularly impose their view about what the play should look like on the producer and actors to the point where they begin to fight back. The father uncontrollably yells “Oh, no!” as the stepdaughter “bursts into laughter” at the acting they deem as intolerable. This theme of intolerance can be found in the theatre of this play and the European theatre of the war, particularly the antagonistic role Austria played. As the producer commands them to “shut up” , the retaliatory attitude of Italy is introduced to the play.
Pirandello was undoubtedly affected by the loss of so many soldiers across the continent and in his home country. These men, uninvolved in the initial confrontation between Russia and Austria that sparked this deadly war, are seen as innocent in the eyes of Pirandello. For this reason, the most innocent characters in the play, the little boy and little girl, “don’t really exist” . Like the ghosts of soldiers lost to their families, the children cling to their mother and their memory “ helps to keep her grief alive” . To heighten this grief, many of Italy’s attempts to defend their borders were futile in the face of the mighty army held by the Central Powers. This futility is mirrored in the battle that the characters face to have their story told correctly and even told at all.
The theme of war continues on to the late twentieth century in Afghanistan where religious wars and oppression became everyday life to most families. Much of the loss seen in Six Characters in Search of an Author is also experienced by Mariam, a bright-eyed young Afghani girl, living in an environment where there seems to be “one invader after another” (Hosseini 78). Her story, along with the story of her family and those closest to her, is told in A Thousand Splendid Suns. Constant war and shifts in political power create a dynamic setting where women’s rights are dictated by the government and enforced by husbands.
According to Rasheed, it is “a matter of law” and “his responsibility” to use her as his personal maid and slave . A woman is taught to “quietly endure all that falls upon her” . The oppression of mothers, daughters, and friends seen by Khaled Hosseini during his time in Afghanistan adds a feminist flair to his writing and could contribute to his main characters being female.
The destruction caused by bombs, bullets, and so called freedom fighters is echoed in the emotional state of Hosseini’s characters. He acknowledges that “every afghan story is marked by death and imaginable grief” (203). Mariam’s mother is plagued by a mental illness forced upon her by society; in this way, her society kills her with its oppression. Treated like a piece of property to be sold to a business man and a toy for him to play with and discard, Mariam’s emotional war has many sides to it.
The loss of her mother and, symbolically her father, lead her to crave the family she knows she will never have with Rasheed. Her miscarriages lead her to resent herself because it is her fault this ideal family she pictures will never be a reality. She is bombarded by the echoes of her mother calling her Harami, and she begins to believe that she is, in fact, “an illegitimate person who will never have a legitimate claim to the things other people had, things such as love, family, home, acceptance”. This self-loathing is furthered by the entrance of Laila into their family. Mariam is replaced, left to tend to the wife she could never be.
No sooner can she bond with Laila, they are stripped away from her and she is left to the same fate as her mother: choosing a death she deems herself worthy of. These women are a product of the land they call home, a land Hosseini called home and brought to the rest of the world through his experience and writing. Hosseini teaches his readers that emotional wars can cause deaths more effectively than any missile; most of these deaths, however, are not of the body, but of the soul.
The religious aspect of the war in Afghanistan is also experienced at the personal level for Mariam. The war they are surrounded by, oppressed by, killed by, is in the name of God. Yet, to ease the pain and grant them hope, they pray this same God. The characters of this story use their religion to escape their religion. This loving creator who cares so deeply for his creations also believes that women should have fewer rights, serve their husband, and die if they choose to do otherwise. The irony is tangible. Every character has a piece of reality within them placed there by authors who are so affected by the events they have endured, that they cannot separate their writing from their ever-present reality.
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Get custom essayFrom war, to religion, to societal movements, and back to war again, authors carry the burden of these life-altering events; they lessen this load through writing, each character taking a piece of their creators hurt, strife, and truth with them. Similarly, the common struggles between reader, author, and character allow the reader to lessen their burdens into the literature with the assurance that they are not the only ones suffering. Every reader suffers loss, physical and emotional wars, and religious confusion not unlike those illustrated in the literary works discussed previously. In shared grief and suffering, there is solace, whether it is shared by author and character or reader and character.
Culture is more often a source of conflict than of synergy. Cultural differences are nuisance at best and often a disaster. These cultural barriers affect the ability of doing international business. Many of the challenges can be seen throughout the Gung Ho. The movie gung oh analysis demonstrates a cultural difference between Americans and the Japanese working together towards achieving the goal of reviving an American car manufacturing. The connections and exchanges between the Japanese management team and the American workers throughout the film present examples for each of the five dimensions of Hofstede’s cultural dynamics analysis.
Get original essayIn addition, we must keep in that the cultures have changed since them as the movie is based on 1986. Hunt Stevenson is a 35-year old American who works for a car manufacturer that has just been acquired by a Japanese company. As the beginning of the film, the Japanese managerial staff arrives in the US in order to set things as they want them to according to their own cultural standards. However, conflict arises due to tremendous difference in culture and work ethics between the two groups. In this analysis we will examine this movie from a multicultural perspective and analyze the movie of different multicultural theories and concepts.
The movie may have been a success but not without its share of criticism. The weakness of the both the cultures is often pointed out by critics. Emphasized were the American inefficiencies and the inscrutability about Japanese. The film despite the criticism received critical acclaims from the academics for portraying dynamics of a work cultures in a multicultural environment. Implementing the theories Japanese tend to have the polychromic culture however the Americans have a monochronic culture. While the former specializes in continual improvement and multitasking, the latter would tend to best practices and specialization. We will see various theories to see the affect by applying it to the movie and mitigating conflicts arising in modern organizations to complement the theories.
When comparing the two we see that the Americans have slightly individualistic, male reinforced, ambiguous, society with a slight hierarchy with a strong connection to tradition. Japan is highly reinforced, high structure, hierarchy with a strong connection to tradition. The two are on opposite ends of the scale in each category, except for the power distance where they differ slightly.
Hofstede says that uncertainty avoidance dimension measures the extent to which members of a culture want structure over being unstructured. It is the comfort level in a “free” situation where there are no guidelines or agenda. In the movie we observed that the Japanese rigorous structure of the management team whereas Americans are “just go with it” feel is more prominent. The softball game demonstrated that Japan is highly uncertainty avoidance and Americans have low uncertainty. When hunt invited Kenji’s team to play softball, The Japanese wearing something different. The concept of uniformity is also seen in various scenes showing plant employees al wearing the same work uniform. Blue for Americans. And white for Japanese. Morning stretching and exercising involves all employees.
Long-Term Orientation aims to interpret how societies value traditions and their ability to make adaptions. This dimension center on long-term devotion to traditional values. After the arrival of the Japanese team, the manager set out to implement new rules and restructure the work on the assembly line. The assembly line scene shows that the Japanese managers want the worker to learn new skills and be able to perform more than one specific task. Americans were adaptive and easily convinced and willing to along with Japanese take over. The Japanese display their cultural trait by refusing to operate differently and insisting on doing things their way. They focused closely on the way production was done and on efficiency.
The individualism/collectivism dimension essentially determines where a culture balances, they’re relationship of personal life and work or similarly the balance of the group opposed to individual. By examining this aspect, its quite clear that two cultures couldn’t be more opposite. On the first day of the joint venture, Kazihiro addresses the American workers: we must build the spirit. We must be a team, one, with one purpose only. Everyone thinking only of the company.” He hopes to build this spirit by having them exercise together. The workers resist until hunt begins doing calisthenics. Eventually they join Hunt, but in their own exercise styles rather than according to the Japanese regimen. The workers want to be treated special, and differently.
Another conflict arises when Soito (shimono) tries to show Buster, one of the workers, a different way to paint the car. Frustrated Soito replies, every man learns every job, then we are a team. No man is special. Hunt steps in to resolve the problem. He explains to Soito,” see, here’s the deal on that. You’re in America now, you know, and the thing s Americans really like to feel special.” When hunt requests that he works be returned tot here familiar jobs, Soito firmly says,” there is one way to turn this factory. One way.” The episode illustrates differences in valuing the one versus the many and the part versus the whole. Willie, one of the workers, takes the afternoon off to be with his son who is having his tonsils removed. Willie is upset because he is docked for the time off. Hunt tries to smooth things with Kazihiro by explaining “the guy just lives for his kids”. Kazihiro says.” But work suffers.” For Kazihiro, the individual must sacrifice for the larger good., while Willie values individuals nurturing over collective achievement. The factory and work come second to the Americans, behind their family lives and individual agendas.
When the movie begins It shows Japanese being treated unjustly be being beaten, screaming and forced to participate in the management boot camp. The management members who had previously failed were introduced into this program. They were forced to wear ribbons of shame and were humiliated because they had let down the other members of management, workers underneath them, but more importantly the company. By doing this they emphasize their value to the group. They disregard individuality and refuse to meet needs for workers, such as the Japanese management member’s wife in labor.
Americans tend to use direct communication style in comparison to the high context (INDIRECT) style of the Japanese. Hunt uses low context straight walk several times in the movie, even though he often begins by “beating around the bush.” An example is when he goes to Japan to sell the presentation, notice he isn’t getting much of a response, then decided to cut to chase. Hunt explained by saying Hadleyville needs the Japanese and that the Americans will work hard if they come over. The Japanese don’t say anything (silence if, so Hunt thinks he has failed. When Assan decides to come to Hadleyville, hunt is shocked: a case of intercultural misunderstanding.
The high context style of the Japanese emphasize harmony and “saving face”. An example in the film is when the American challenge the Japanese to a game of softball. Buster cheats when he intentionally knocks one man down. Rather than contest the incident, the Japanese accept the loss and leave. Another time high and low context styles clash is when Audrey and Hunt go to Kazihiro’s for dinner. After the meal, Kazihiro want to discuss the business. This is cue for the women to leave, but Audrey stays. Hunt directly, asks her to leave. She has no intention of doing so and say,” Well actually I’m kind if interested in what’s going on at the plant. Nobody minds if I stay right?” The Japanese men, who clearly don’t want her, say nothing. Both Hunt and Audrey exhibit low-context style in high-context situation.
The American workers, exhibiting a low power distance style, believe they should have a say in decisions at the factory. The Japanese managers, exhibiting a high-power distance style, believe that those in authority should make decisions and be obeyed without question. This inevitably causes conflict between management and workers. When the workers challenge the management, the Assan managers regard it as a sign of disrespect, while the American simply believe they are standing up for their rights. In this and every conflict in the movie, each side sees its values as correct and the other cultures as “wrong.” This ethnocentric exacerbates the communication problems between them.
In this movie, we can see individualism/collectivism dimension. A single person may represent a company in its negotiation and organizations with individualistic cultures likely empower their negotiators to make decision without consultation from the home office. For the collectivism culture, a group of representatives would likely be involved in negotiations and require consultation among the delegation members and with the home officer at each step in the negotiations process.
There are six components in cultural Biases. In this report, the writers only use ethnocentrism and prejudice to analyze the case. Ethnocentrism is the notion that beliefs, values, norms, and social practices of one’s own culture are superior to those of others. Ethnocentrism tends to highlight and exaggerate cultural differences. Prejudice is negative attitude toward other people that are based on faulty and inflexible stereotypes. These attitudes include irrational feelings of dislike and even hatred for certain group. It is essential for members of management to be able to understand this and then position they’re objectives without disrespecting or disregarding cultural differences or values. Some of the main obstacles management faces when dealing cross culturally can develop from differences in communication practices.
By the end of the movie, Kazihiro would like to be more like Willie, regrading nurturing as more Important than achievement. As the movie progresses, he stands up for one of his workers on this issue. Kazihiro wants to give the worker time off because his wife is in labor, but Mr. Sakamoto, Kazihiro’s boss intimidates the worker into staying. This is a turning point for Kazihiro; he stands up to his boss and says, we work too damn hard. This is not our lives; this is a factory. Our friends, our family should be our lives. We re killing ourselves. None of his Japanese worker support him as he stands alone before Mr. Sakamoto. In this moment of decision, he values individualism over collectivism and low power distance over high power distance.
Hunt also goes through changes. In the beginning of the movie, he tells a basketball story to persuade the union to work for the Japanese without a contract and at lower wages. The moral of his story is that one man saves the team. He promises to hand the Japanese for them. He takes on the role of town hero, feeding his ego and his individuality. His girlfriend, Audrey tries to persuade him that the town needs a more collectivist approach: “they don’t need some guy who’s trying to make the winning play all by himself.” Hunt eventually recognizes what he is doing and apologizes to everyone at the festival: “I put myself in front of the town and I’m really sorry.”
Both Hunt and Kazihiro are upset about the failure of Assan Motors in Hadleyville. As they sit on the riverbank, they discuss their regrets. Each realizes that his ethnocentric tendencies are counterproductive to their joint venture. Rather than focusing on their differences, they decide to focus again on their shared goal. Yes, I feel like you,” Kazihiro says to hunt. “I would love another chance. I know we could do better. “The two decide to go back to the factory to build 1000 more cars together. Their teams work is a model to the workers and the managers who ultimately return to help Kazihiro and Hunt Achieve their goal.
The first problems of hunt Stevenson in this movie is he never learn Japan’s culture before, so he does not know that japan technology more developed and get difficulties in communicating. He used body movements to express his point. This kind of body movement related to nonverbal communication codes. Americans tend to use a low context communication style in comparison to the high context style of the Japanese. Hunt uses elaborate style “straight talk” several times in the movie, even though he often begins by “beating around the bush.” He starts with a slide presentation, notices he isn’t getting much of a response, then decide to cut the chase. He says, “look, here’s the deal, “explaining bluntly that Hadleyville needs the Japanese and that the Americans will work hard if they come over. The Japanese don’t say anything, so Hunt thinks he has failed. When Assan decides to come to Haleyville, Hunt is shocked: a case of intercultural misunderstanding.
Based on this movie, Japanese and American alike ethnocentric, just want others to know their culture, but they do no want to know other cultures. Ethnocentrism means one’s own cultures are superior to those of other, thus people from other cultures who do things differently are wrong. This case raises the clash between two cultures. Japan including collective culture, so the group is the major elements. That is why their spirit to work is the company must be on top of everything, team become priority. This case really contrasts with America which has individualistic cultures. American thinks they are special, so they don’t care about a team like Japanese do.
From the movie, we can conclude that cross cultural study is very important, not only in having relationship but also in economic and business. Both American and Japanese have difficulties on making deals, it is caused by misunderstanding. We must know about the cultures of our partner in business or workplace, it is very helpful for our success. For example, when the Japanese do exercise every morning, the Americans have also do so.
Besides learning about how to deal, we must learn about how communicate each other formally and in well manner. The Japanese use indirect language to show their opinion, while American use direct language, they say what they want to say in the real meaning. When the Japanese nod, the Americans think that they deal with them. But it means that Japanese’s understand what American Say, it does not mean “yes”. And other misunderstanding in communication can cause some problems.
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Get custom essayThis movie good for us to know how difficult to do a business with different culture. Culture can affect our attitude and perception to evaluate something. We can learn from that movie that we have to appreciate every culture and don’t think that out culture is the bets. As we can see from the date released, this movie has already released long time ago, so it Is possible if there’re cultures, how to make a deal, how to use the space in communication, how they use non-verbal and the meaning, and how they run their business are very important to be understood. And in some cases, we must follow their way so we can get success in business.
How do ethnically Chinese people from different parts of the world react to these images of an American girl wearing a qipao for her prom dress? We delve into some responses from Mainland China, Hong Kong, the US and Canada. Responses are generally mixed, with some finding the images offensive to their culture, while others don’t seem to mind at all.
Get original essayA set of photos of a teenage girl, who is not of Chinese background, wearing a qipao (also known as “cheongsam” in Cantonese) at her school prom has gone viral on social media and sparked debates over cultural appropriation. The Utah-born high-schooler has received backlash from the internet, notably after the response of Twitter user Jeremy Lam ? a Chinese-American ? stating “My culture is not your goddamn prom dress”.
Most responses from the netizens of Mainland China are positive, as they do not see a problem in a non-Chinese person wearing a qipao. The overarching opinion appears to be that the qipao is just a dress. Many people also felt honoured and pleased that Daum is showing her appreciation for Chinese culture through an elegant, modest dress, as cultural exchange through mediums such as fashion should be celebrated. Very few people thought that the images were remotely offensive, as one claimed that “cultural appropriation is not of a major concerning matter in China compared to Western societies”.
Although it may be expected that those who live in China, and therefore connect most strongly with Chinese culture, would find the images insulting to an extent, almost none of the responses complained of cultural appropriation.
Here are comments from Chinese netizens regarding the issue:
Our local responses seem to be very similar to those from Mainland China, as most believe that the act should be seen as a compliment to Chinese culture, as opposed to an offence. Some Hongkongers criticised that people were taking this issue too seriously and that cultural appropriation has gone too far. As opposed to the responses from Mainland China, which are mostly positive and encouraging, responses from Hong Kong seem to focus on the irrationality of how others would find the images offensive.
Here are comments from Hong Kong netizens:
Chinese-Americans of the United States appear to have very polarising opinions on the matter, as some have views similar to those of Hongkongers and Mainland Chinese, whereas others feel that Daum was disrespecting their cultural background and heritage.
The tweet, which has gained over 100,000 likes as of 5th May 2018, has stirred up discussions about where we should draw the line between cultural appropriation and cultural appreciation, and in what circumstances should something be considered as culturally offensive. The Chinese began to wonder whether this act was a negative act towards Chinese culture or is it just a “goddamn prom dress”.
The cultural event I went to was an exhibition; the exhibition is called Mexican Modernity 20th century paintings from the Zapanta collection. The Mexican art collection of Zapanta shows some of the most noteworthy modern Mexican artists. The exhibition takes you on a tour through some of the social and political histories of Mexico in the 20th century. The exhibition incorporates a big range of artists whose work reminds people of the importance of artistic expression in times of conflict and change. To begin with, the emotional connection the event gave me was overall good. The exhibition helped me learn a lot about the artists, and the hardships they overcame in their life. One of the paintings that caught my eye is called Philanthropy On Vacation; this painting was created by David Alfaro Siqueiros. This painting caught my eye because the meaning behind the painting and the story of the artist was very interesting to me. The painting shows social injustice by contrasting how the three upper-class figures known as the carnivalesque, show little importance to the mother and child who are peasants. The story of the artists known as David is also interesting to me.
Get original essayThe artist David was engaged in politics, he was in the Mexican Revolution as a soldier. He also fought in the Spanish civil war against fascism. Because of David political activism, he was imprisoned numerous times then he was exiled. In addition, this event is constituted as a fine arts event because it is an exhibition on visual art that included paintings, drawings, watercolor, sculptures but most importantly it was meaningful. Not only were all the paintings beautiful, they all included a meaning and message. For example, the oil on canvas painting that Jesus Guerrero Galvan of a boy sleeping on a volcanic rock. Jesus would often put in his work lyrical realism and a sense of spirituality. In the oil on canvas painting with no title that he created; it showed a boy sleeping with an extreme lack of energy on a volcanic rock that appears to be warm.
Another oil on canvas painting that was meaningful was the painting called The thorn by Raul Anguiano. The painting by Raul showed a woman named Maria who has a thorn in her foot and is using the artist knife to take it out. This painting represents the ability to recover quickly from difficulties from indigenous people. Therefore, this cultural event influences society by showing how all the artists in the exhibition had many hardships in their life but still followed their passion for art and achieved great things in their life. This event influences society by showing if you follow your passion do not give up even in difficult times because great things will happen in the end. This event informs people about some of the political histories most of the artist went through and gives people a sense of tranquility when walking through the exhibition.
In conclusion, the exhibition on Mexican Modernity was extremely interesting. Because of that, I would recommend this event to someone. Not only would the person see paintings, sculptures, and drawings; they would also learn the story behind not just the artwork but also the artist. I would attend another cultural exhibition because I found it very educative and interesting at the same time. I always thought that anything to do with culture exhibition was boring, but I was wrong.
Culture is the qualities and learning of a specific gathering of individuals, enveloping dialect, religion, cooking, social propensities, music and expressions. There is an immaterial esteem which originates from adapting in another place, incorporating into the network, connecting with nearby individuals, and understanding the manner in which others live and that is an extremely basic and ideally straightforward meaning of social inundation which is our fundamental core interest. Social inundation is extremely simply an issue of escaping your environment and expat condition and into your general surroundings. Coordinating yourself into a culture does not take a considerable measure of work, but rather you need to effectively take an interest. More than likely, you picked a specific area outside on the grounds that it has intrigued you more than some other, and getting amped up for investigating these things that you believe will premium you. Culture for me is high contrast, not as in it is a certain something or the other, yet in light of the fact that I have two totally unique social childhoods from inverse finishes of the range.
Get original essayMy parents separated from when I was extremely youthful so my life has dependably been part into two. My mom is from a little, rustic town in Northeast, Mabudzane. She is receptive, laid back, and just about a free soul. My father, then again, is from Tutume yet originate from Lesotho and because of his exceptional work of being the quickest sprinter in our nation he was announced a privileged citizenship of Botswana. He is extremely customary, family arranged, and marginally resolute. Growing up for the most part with my mom, I lived in a socially differing territory the majority of my life. I spent a large portion of my years in schools where white individuals were marginally the minority. Along these lines, I was educated to be deferential of other individuals' traditions and customs. Despite what might be expected, I acquired the resoluteness of progress and structure from my father. I am extremely aware of different societies and have, now and again, got myself sufficiently inquisitive to explore things, however I am customary and firm to the point of clutching my own social character, regardless of some of the time associating or identifying with others. I am absolutely glad for my own social qualities and convictions, regardless of how I created them, yet I could never put down someone else on the grounds that they have their own disparities.
Since I was educated to be deferential and liberal, I at first experienced difficulty picking an occasion that would submerge me in a culture that was awkward. Subsequent to doing some reasoning and some examination, I took care of go to a restoration community for substance abusers situated at Lobatse. A customary moderation, habit, or liquor program would not work for me. While I have never had an issue with liquor or some other dependence I have known other people who have, so I knew it would not be sufficiently awkward. While I was raised to never pass judgment or have conclusions shaped in advance, I can't force myself to be tolerant or acceptant of medications. It is difficult to comprehend what occurs in a man's life to drive them to attempt drugs. Surprisingly more terrible are the things a man dependent can do while on drugs, or to get drugs. Also, notwithstanding my folks' diverse foundations and child rearing styles, neither one of the ones would bolster me if I somehow managed to take drugs. I imagined that going to a gathering where I would be encompassed by tranquilize addicts would make me feel exceedingly awkward. In view of what I read and what others have said in regards to this specific place and comparable stations, I anticipated that would see a bunch of individuals, either battling with habit or recuperating from dependence, stand up and discuss their lives, what sort of addictions they have, why they chose to go to the gathering, and things of that nature. I knew I would not be standing up boisterous, aside from acquainting myself with the gathering pioneer or educator.
The recovery focus meeting was booked for 8 o'clock Monday toward the beginning of the day. It was held in a generally huge open room of which I assumed was a lobby. I was awkward before I even escaped my cousin's auto who went with me there. There was a gathering of at least ten people outside smoking cigarettes previously the gathering formally started. Inside the lobby was another ten people anticipating persistently. The general population were as youthful as eighteen and as old as sixty. The gathering was about equivalent to the extent people, and in addition high contrast. The lobby had two rooms in it. The passageway room had a little lounge chair that had been around a while and a corner heaped with different infant things. The littler room went into a passage, where the not as much as spotless washroom was, and gone into a vast room.
The expansive room was the gathering room. It was loaded up with a wide range of seats and lounge chairs for individuals to sit. One divider was totally canvassed in composing from individuals who had marked their names, dates of collectedness, and numerous different messages. The main individual to address me was the gathering pioneer. He acquainted himself with me, and asked what my compulsion was. I disclosed to him I didn't have any enslavement, yet that I was planning to sit in for a school investigate venture. He said that I was more than welcome and was happy I came. When he started the gathering, he began with the supplication, which was likewise posted on the divider for any new comers who did not know it. After the petition, he recounted the gathering his account of compulsion, how he defeated it, and that he has been calm for a long time. He invited any other person who needed to address recount their accounts. The main couple individuals who talked had comparative accounts of compulsion where they started taking medications recreationally as adolescents and it heightened to the point of getting them into legitimate inconvenience. They had all kept up their balance since they began going to gatherings.
One ladies talked that had been as of late dependent out of the blue and got captured at a movement stop with drugs in her pocket. She put in a year in prison, lost care of her youngsters, and had just been out of prison for two months. This was her first gathering, and she was urgent to turn her life around and recover her youngsters. The greater part of the speakers were more seasoned, and the more youthful individuals took an interest less. After everybody who needed to talk got a turn, the pioneer declared a washroom and smoking break. While a few people went to the bathroom and went outside to smoke, numerous individuals acquainted themselves with the new individuals who had not gone to previously. A few people conversed with me. They were marginally astounded to discover I was there for a school venture, and not a dependence, but rather they were all extremely inviting. They clarified this was an ordinary gathering and informed me regarding who alternate regulars were, and somewhat more about the pioneer. Obviously the pioneer's little girl was expected to have a child quickly so the infant things heaped in the receiving area were things others had given for her. Once the break was finished and everybody restored, the gathering continued. The pioneer discussed things to evade to enable keep to individuals out of inconvenience. He examined different volunteer open doors around town for the next week. A declaration of all the more up and coming gatherings was made. The gathering finished up with a possibility for inquiries and no one had any. As everybody was leaving, the pioneer by and by addressed them on out the entryway and gave them a leaflet with the gathering plan.
My feelings upon arriving at the meeting were significantly different than how I felt leaving. When I arrived and saw all the people standing outside, my first thought was not judging them, although I think I unconsciously did. My first thought was how they would judge me, I am a young, pregnant woman, alone, and clearly look as if I do not belong in that part of town, let alone a meeting for drugs. I was extremely nervous just to walk through the group of people standing outside just to go in. Once I went in and the leader welcomed me, I felt a little better. He was genuinely happy I chose to come to their meeting. After hearing his story about how he managed to get sober, and then spent the last eleven years trying to help others get sober, I felt guilty about feeling uncomfortable. After listening to the others talk, especially the woman who lost her kids, I realized that I was still thinking of these people as drug addicts and criminals, and not as people who have moved past that life and were trying to get help. While a few of them were there just because the court ordered them to attend meetings, most of them have spent the last few years fighting themselves and everything they know to maintain their sobriety.
The people were not weak and immoral, they are struggling to stay strong no matter what they are faced with. They live one day at a time and use whatever support system they have to. The ones who have been sober longer are following the example of the group leader, they want to share their stories in hopes of helping someone else recover from addiction or prevent them from ever getting an addiction to begin with. As far as cultural competency goes, this was an interesting experiment. I believe I went into the meeting as stage three of cultural competency. I was aware that there was a cultural difference between the meeting members and myself, but I did not account for the cultural differences between the different meeting members as well. I went into the experience with my own set of beliefs and judgments. I knew I would need to be open-minded, but it is hard to actually put it into action when you feel surrounded by something uncomfortable before you can even get out of the car.
After the meeting, I think I am somewhere between stages four and five of cultural competency. I acknowledge the cultural differences, but I now know that it is not always a bad thing. People from all different backgrounds and cultures can deal with the same issue. On the other hand, people from the same backgrounds can have completely different experiences. The importance is not the things that the people have done, but how they are handling it from this point forward. I believe I am in stage five in the sense of exploring and understanding the issues that a cultural group has to face, but I am not actively doing something to make a difference which still puts me somewhere around stage four. I do not know if I will ever actively do something about the differences, but I hope to reach a point where I can celebrate them.
Growing up I feared death, the thought of dying in night outs always came to my mind whenever I thought of going out. People face many risks that include immoral sexual behaviours, loss of respect towards other people even elders, theft in case there is shortage of money to buy these drugs and alcohol, to mention but a few. In that case I avoided drinking and taking drugs so as not to become a victim of the aforementioned outcomes of drinking alcohol and taking drugs. Also due to the fact that my parents always emphasizes on good moral behaviour I always try by all means to uphold what they taught me, to be a respectful person. Their advices played a pivotal role in my life as they drove me to avoid most of the things considered immoral such as drinking and taking drugs. In my own perspective, I think that people who own bars and clubs are bad people as most if not all of them encourage bad behaviour because they are in it for money. I am a person of my own, I do not like noise, crowds that are seen when out for drinking or smoking. A lot of partying can lead to a lack of sleep, our sleep routine suffers which leads to sleep deprivation. Drugs are not healthy as they cause disease like lung cancer while as alcohol leads to people suffering from kidney problems as alcohol can burn the kidney. Lastly, people who drink often get old faster.
The most widely recognized and successful approach to treat individuals with drinking issues is by advising. The partner will tune in to customers, set aside his or her own edge of reference and endeavor to see the customer's reality without being judgmental. Comprehend and offer the sentiments of customers by venturing into their shoes. I will set aside my convictions, states of mind about the customer and exhibit unqualified positive respect i. e. tolerating customers for their identity. The aide will keep the data that he/she gets from the customer classified and not be pass it to anybody. The partner will converse with patients about their drinking issue, helping them to assess their everyday practice of taking an interest in evenings out and create thoughts on the best way to manage their concern. This encourages them plan what they need to change, and how they will keep up those progressions. Anyway the guide won't be the just a single putting the arrangement enthusiastically the, the patient will likewise have an interpretation of it as well.
The vast majority require a halting or diminish their support in evenings out and drinking. I will urge customers to get assistance from a steady relative, companion and experts as they can bolster the patient to keep to drinking less and controlling his drinking, and monitor his advancement. A few people can't stop or decrease their drinking without confronting any challenges. They create withdrawal signs like flimsiness, serious want of liquor, eagerness, fits when they don't drink and so on. On the off chance that this occurs, as an instructor I will urge the customer to be associated with wellness exercises, drink on less events since this can propel them to change their drinking designs. Patients will be alluded to a specialist who will evaluate whether they may likewise require prescriptions to be recommended. I will enable the customer to create aptitudes which can help him/her to counter circumstances which prompt drinking, learn and hone how to state no when approached to go for a night out.
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Get custom essayIt is concluded that going to a different group that one has never met before is a good experience as one gets to learn how to accept one’s own difference, get to learn the way of life of that particular group and most important of all one gets to learn how to deal or to help that particular group of people be it at work or anywhere they meet. A visit to Lobatse rehabilitation center exposed me to different things I did not know, like how to treat people rehabilitated for alcohol and smoking but now I feel I am too ready to help or deal with someone of that situation.
Women’s rights, just like human rights, are norms that aim to provide a certain standard of living and access to services to all women regardless of their religion or any other status. They exist as a separate concept outside human rights not because they constitute a different set of entitlements but because their realization is more complicated than the realization of the same rights concerning men. Considering the fact that women’s rights are a relatively new concept, in many countries women can legally exercise their freedoms for only a century, women face many challenges when making the same claims as men.
Get original essayCultural relativism is one of the most prominent threats when it comes to the fulfilment of the rights of women in different parts of the world. The concept assumes that there are many various cultures, each with their own set of traditions and each is to be judged according to their values . The term is often used in discussion regarding the execution of the rights of women in the Global South (term referring to ‘mostly (…) low-income and often politically or culturally marginalized’ countries). Men representing local communities use it as an argument defending their harmful practices and discrimination of women since they present them as an intrinsic part of their cultural identity which cannot be changed. On the other hand, cultural relativism jeopardizes the principle of gender equality in Western societies where women from foreign cultures are perceived as victims of those cultures instead of conscious members of their communities.
This essay will argue that cultural relativism presents a serious challenge to the realization of the rights of women. The work has been divided into two parts. The first part will consider the tradition of child marriage in Nigeria as an example of how culture influences the realization of the rights of women in the Global South; the second part will analyse the judgment of the European Court of Human Rights regarding the practice of wearing Islamic garments in educational institutions in Western countries which will show how the process of accommodating different cultures in one society may result harmful in fighting for gender equality. In both cases, the paper will study how the cultural relativist approach impedes women and the international community from successful action against discrimination of women.
Many countries of the Global South do not oppose harmful traditions which are against international women’s rights law. Women are constantly being denied fundamental rights and freedoms, such as liberty and security of person and freedom from degrading treatment . Local political leaders refuse to recognize their traditional practices as violations of rights; since their customs have a source in either religion or history of tradition, these are seen as valid and binding. Men present their culture as something sacrosanct and the inferiority of women as the natural order. Their narration impacts both the awareness of women regarding their position in society and the attitude of Western countries that want to introduce change in foreign communities. Subsequently, it inhibits both local women and international bodies from firm action against discrimination.
According to the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), in 2017 in Nigeria, 18% of girls before the age of 15 and 44% before the age of 18 were married. The child marriage is a violation of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) , ratified by Nigeria, which obligates the state to ensure free and full consent to the marriage. Additionally, this practice may cause further harm. A newly-wed girl has to leave school to start working in her husband’s household and is often a victim of domestic violence. Early marriage also may lead to adolescent pregnancy which in turn puts a young mother’s life at risk. Given the fact that majority of women in Nigeria have no access to health care, the maternal mortality rates are very high (917 maternal deaths per 100000 live births compared with the world average of 211). Man view this custom as another form of controlling women, a way to ‘preserve the chastity of our youth’ and avoid premarital pregnancies that would bring dishonour to the family of the girl. Local communities also recognize it as a natural obligation; a woman is expected to become a wife and a mother therefore educating her in school is seen as a waste of time.
The perception of the practice of child marriage may vary depending on the country’s region but many locals recognize it as a commonly binding custom. Cultural relativism presents the culture as the most valid entity. The culture is talked about as if it was imposed on the certain community aeons ago by some unnamed force and the reasons behind it are beyond human’s capability of understanding. Everything else can be amended or sacrificed to satisfy its norms but never the culture itself. As a result, women feel powerless and do not even think about changing the ruling order. Little girls in Nigeria rarely oppose the practice of child marriage. Many of them believe that marriage will save them from the burden of working at home and hope for some type of love and support from their future husband. In reality, they exchange one form of bondage for the other. Notwithstanding, it does not mean that they support the harmful tradition; they simply do not know that their rights are violated as cultural relativism holds them in the assumption that they do not have any at all.
The cultural relativism also jeopardizes the external actions designed to help women achieve gender equality. On one hand, Western countries are often discouraged from engaging in the promotion of human rights in the Global South since they may be accused of ignorance and imposing their values on foreign communities. On the other hand, the power of cultural relativism is underestimated when it comes to international legislation. Nigeria is a party to CEDAW which obligates its parties to act against gender inequality in their countries. Article 5 of said convention tries to tackle the challenge posed by cultural relativism; it acknowledges the existence of various cultural patterns that discriminate women and encourages states to modify them. Many states believe that a simple amendment in law will provide for the change. However, the CEDAW Committee envisions the change as a gradual process of social education. In Nigeria, there are laws protecting children from early marriage but people still follow old tradition. The current approach is detrimental when it comes to a proper realization of women’s right as it allows countries of the Global South to continue to do what they were doing while neglecting the true cause of the problem. Simple amendment in law will result in nothing if people still re-enact the same gender patterns.
The cultural relativist approach has different however still negative repercussions for the realization of women’s rights in Western countries. The issue there arises during the process of multicultural accommodation. While it is believed that today’s society is open and international, states often face difficulties when trying to accommodate cultural differences among members of their countries. The governments, sometimes unconsciously, take cultural relativist position when they assess foreign practices according to their values and there are many instances where stereotypes and misperceptions of certain cultures prevail over common sense. Such an approach heavily impacts the rights of women who are often portrayed as victims of their cultures instead of conscious participants. It discredits their opinion on the matter and promotes an unfair and detrimental image of a certain culture. This can be observed in discussions regarding women wearing Islamic garment in public spaces which, according to the Western perspective, is a symbol of oppressing women.
In Leyla ?ahin v Turkey , the applicant, who was a fifth-year medicine student at Istanbul University and a practising Muslim, claimed that the new policy banning students wearing headscarves from entering the lecture halls and taking part in the exams violates numerous rights provided by the European Convention on Human Rights, namely the freedom of thought, conscience and religion and the right to education. The judges considered the application admissible but ultimately held that there had been no violations of indicated rights and freedoms. The majority claimed that the state acted within a reasonable margin of appreciation when infringing the applicant’s rights. The court referred to the principles of secularism and gender equality when justifying their decision. They claimed that wearing the Islamic headscarf conveyed message contrary to principles of gender equality, tolerance and respect of others since it is a tradition imposed on women by a religion and therefore the state had right to act against such practice.
Unfortunately, in this situation Ms ?ahin was powerless. Although she provided substantial arguments for her case, the court did not address them. She argued that democratic society, such as Turkey, should embrace pluralism and freedom to express one’s religion instead of censuring it . She also emphasized that even though she considered wearing a headscarf her religious obligation, she did not aim to impose such duty on other Muslim students; for her, the headscarf was a religious symbol and not a sing promoting gender inequality. In the dissenting opinion, Judge Tulkens expressed a similar view that the Islamic headscarf should not be viewed as a univocal token. The religious garment has many meanings for Muslim women. It can be a statement of one’s religious beliefs, but it can also be an expression of ethnic identity or a political act against Islamophobia and a sign of women’s independence from the stereotype and her power against other people’s opinion. The cultural relativist approach on the part of the state takes that power away from women.
A subsequent threat of the Western narrative of cultural relativism is the imbalance of power between the state, the community and the women. The state that disposes of legislative power may either give too much control over practices to the community, in fear of being called out as ignorant or impose too many restrictions on the said community when being guided by its values. In both cases, the opinion of women is not taken into account. They are forced to choose between their cultural identity and freedoms that should they possess without any restrictions. In the described case, Ms Sahin was forced to move to Vienna to pursue her studies as Istanbul University’s policy made her an ultimatum; she could either stay true to her religion and leave the university or abandon a part of her identity and continue to study there. Although the state claimed to act in the women’s interest, its actions contributed to the promotion of the image of women as victims that need to be protected from their own culture.
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Get custom essayThe dialogue about culture needs to be changed to allow the proper realization of the rights of women. In every societies, the concept of cultural relativism contributes to maintaining gender patterns promoting inequality between men and women. Traditional practices and cultural stereotypes appear to be more important in light of international legislation than women’s dignity and their rights. Whereas both states and local communities have their opinions, no one listens to women. In the court, Ms ?ahin shared her view on the religious obligation to women to wear the headscarf and what it personally meant to her. Nonetheless, the majority did not attach importance to her words but continue to impose their views on her. There are customs in the Global South countries that deny women such fundamental rights as access to education or independence from male members of her community, simultaneously making her helpless and unaware of injustices she is experiencing. In supposedly democratic and multicultural societies of Western countries, women suffer from misconceptions about their culture and are deprived of their identities for their good. Inviting women to discuss their perspective on culture would be the most prominent way to fight the degrading influence of cultural relativism.
“We should respect that other cultures have different values, even if that means they reject human rights.”
Get original essayIn the first section of this essay, I will touch upon the long-standing dispute between the universality of human rights and cultural relativism by discussing the persecution of albinos in the United Republic of Tanzania. I will then portray how the Tanzanian government attempted to resolve the dilemma between cultural relativism and human rights as in the case aforementioned. First, I will analyze cultural relativism in regard to non-derogable rights, particularly the right to life. While international human rights law allows the limitations, derogations, and reservations of second-generation rights, non-derogable rights are not exempt and are applicable even in times of public emergencies that threaten national security, and henceforth these rights cannot be violated in the name of culture, as even the situation of a public emergency does not receive that leniency.
I will conclude that the justification of cultural differences to violate human rights is implausible and must not be respected nor tolerated. I will conclude that the international human rights system must ensure that robust preventative measures are set by states to protect those vulnerable and to prosecute those responsible for abuses linked to cultural beliefs, precisely the role of witchcraft in albino persecution. Another role the international system holds is to propose a moral code to guide behavior in all societies, such as the value of protecting those who are less able in society, specifically persons with disabilities, as in the case of those affected by albinism from beatings, expulsion from society, deadly mutilation, torture, and murder. If and when these values are entrenched and accepted within the relevant cultures, these new ideas will be capable of shifting fixed attitudes in societies without imposing external norms.
Throughout the past three decades, and primarily through the dawn of the 21st century, Relativism has taken a front seat in the establishment of various theories, moral judgments, and ideological remands. Relativism encompasses an array of different disciplines, through which cultural relativism is extracted and thereafter incorporated in international human rights today.
The two extreme perspectives on cultural relativism are radical universalism and radical cultural relativism. Radical cultural relativism deems that rights only exist when a culture actively perceives them as rights. Radical universalism deems that culture is essentially irrelevant to the legitimacy of a right. However, other views do exist in between these evidently contrasting standpoints: strong cultural relativism accepts a few international rights but allows for major variations, whereas, weak cultural relativist perspectives accept a variety of universally applicable human rights. They affirm that culture cannot override absolute rights such as the right to life and the freedom of torture.
Regardless, I do agree that some variations must be left to the cultural disparity. When we consider the case of reservations on articles of treaties, the submitted reservations should aim not to deviate from upsetting the object and purpose of the convention. By variations, I am implying differences and not violations. For example, Malta presented a reservation to the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (CESCR) on universal education, with the justification that the population is mostly Roman Catholic, and due to fiscal limitations, delivering education in line with a particular religious belief, particularly with regards to rare minorities in Malta will essentially become challenging. Reservations on such minor issues can and should be tolerated since no major, malicious, or harmful human rights violations are committed. This will further enhance the convention and its purpose, as well as serve the purpose of bringing more parties to the treaty. However, reservations submitted on core rights, that will cause violence, unease, uprisings, and controversial debates based on religious or cultural beliefs must not be tolerated.
Having said this, I am certainly not claiming or supporting the idea that second-generation rights or derogable rights should be ignored. In fact, I am completely aware of the inevitability of the possibility that an infringement on any specific right can lead to the violation of another, as will be determined in the case below. For instance, some relativists accept that culture cannot annul non-derogable rights but can override other rights such as the right to physical integrity, the right to a fair trial, or the prohibition of discrimination.
It is essential to note that the right to bodily integrity is the right of each human being. it is extremely important for one to have the ability to have complete autonomy over their own body, this includes granting protection from medical experimentation, social sterilization, and cruel or degrading treatment or punishment. Although relativists disregard the right to bodily integrity as being an infringement on what they perceive as derogable rights, this can in fact result in the infringement on an absolute fundamental right such as the right to life itself. An alarming, yet related case was that of the stripping of albinos from autonomy over their own bodies by decapitation to make a profit out of selling their limbs, ultimately resulting in the death of many.
The practice is generally labeled as the hunting of albinos. However, the utilization of the verb ‘hunting’ connotes that they are prey and thus contributes to their dehumanization, so I will refrain from using dehumanizing terms and refer to the practice as the persecution of albinos.
It is imperative to note that ancient ideologies and certain aspects of witchcraft, were eminent where the paranormal was used to explain human phenomena such as the condition of albinism. The belief system stemming from superstitions and witchcraft violates albinos’ fundamental human rights, which can clearly be deduced in various forms as presented below:
The most imminent threat to albinos is witchdoctors, as they exploit the fear they ignite in their followers by creating superstitions. They infiltrate the minds of their followers and make a profit through the belief system that they themselves have set up. They continue to claim that the organs and limbs of albinos strengthen the potency of their spells. An instance as such occurred when senior police officers in Dar es Salaam reported that an entire albino corpse – including all four limbs, genitals, and facial parts – sells for an equivalent of 75,000 US dollars. This astounding figure verifies that the dismemberment of albinos is ultimately guaranteed to subsist, as around 12 million Tanzanians continue to live below in poverty levels. As mentioned previously, the stripping of albinos from the right of physical integrity or self-determination over their own body parts by trading their organs for monetary gain, ultimately results in their deaths, and thus violates their right to life.
Additionally, bizarre beliefs have developed in response to the rise of HIV and AIDS in the African region. One of the most alarming of them all is that sexual interaction with people with albinism cures sexually transmitted diseases, which in turn victimizes more albino women than men. The sexually transmitted diseases are then transferred to their husbands and children. In 2016, 33,000 people died from an AIDS-related illness in Tanzania. Although albino women may not predominantly be involved in sex work, they are affected by the disease because of the belief that their condition has medicinal qualities, thus further fueling this form of violence. Although AIDS will not directly and instantaneously kill these women, the chances of high life expectancies are low, due to limited access of antiretroviral treatment. In turn, the rape culture associated with albino women might not strip them from the right to life directly, however, the deduction of years they have to live because of being infected with AIDS indirectly infringes upon this fundamental human right. Regardless, forced sexual conduct in itself directly or indirectly becomes a means of bodily violation.
Moreover, the persecution of albinos has a prominent gender dimension. Besides being more vulnerable to rape, women who give birth to children with albinism are thought to have brought shame upon their families and are consequently shunned by society. These women are suspected of being adulterers and are accused of committing infidelity with ‘white men’, resulting in their abandonment or divorce. Because of the stigma associated with albinism, the heavy burden placed on these single women pressures them into abandoning their own children, having abortions, or killing them. This practice has an obvious prominent gender and social dimension where women are predominantly discriminated against. Consequently, the discrimination of women can lead to infanticide, which in turn circles around back to larger infringements such as violating the fundamental right to life; specifically, that of an innocent child.
The title of this paper in itself calls upon tolerance and the need to respect that other cultures have different values, even if it means that they reject human rights. My argument is that we can tolerate the indifferences of cultures, but not necessarily respect them. Therefore, I will use the tolerance argument of cultural relativism.
The tolerance argument states that by accepting the dissimilarities of other cultures, we are tolerant towards them. Relativism infers that we cannot impose our morality towards different cultures. By abstaining from doing so, we are tolerant. Thus, if we accept relativism, we are committed to the policy of tolerance. I do believe that the tolerance argument works insofar that no core rights are directly violated. However, in some cases, it is challenging to accomplish this as the violations of what is perceived to be minor rights ultimately breach core fundamental rights that are directly linked to the chain of infringements that occur and ultimately lead to one or more core rights being violated as presented in the case of albino persecution.
It is important to note that the definitions of the terms “tolerance” and “respect” cannot be used interchangeably. Tolerance is “the ability or willingness to tolerate the existence of opinions or behavior that one dislikes or disagrees with”. Whereas respect is “a feeling of deep admiration for someone or something elicited by their abilities, qualities, or achievements”.
To further verify my stance; imagine that you come from a culture that believes in the existence of witchcraft. It would be imperative for me, as a human being to tolerate your belief, even though I might believe it is ludicrous. However, this does not imply that I respect you, or the idea, or essentially admire it. Ultimately, problems occur when respect is expected and sometimes demanded from the holders of a specific belief. I can tolerate that cultures have their differences, but respect or admiration towards those dissimilarities would border on being forceful and would further violate various other human rights. In this sense, even tolerance has definitive limits. Therefore, it is more plausible and accurate to state that we should only tolerate cultural differences, but not when these practices are irrational or harmful to others.
Relativists believe that matters which are morally acceptable to certain cultures do not necessarily have to be morally correct for another. By being tolerant, we cannot impose our beliefs and perceptions of what we believe is ‘right’ onto other cultures. However, the principle of tolerance is not guaranteed by relativism. If you are a relativist, you are not bound to be tolerant of other people. To further expand, if a culture does not acknowledge the principle of tolerance, the members of the culture have no obligation to be tolerant. Correspondingly, If I choose to impose or adversely refrain from imposing my morality onto other cultures, I cannot guarantee that the members of the other culture will be tolerant of my own beliefs. I perceive the act of tolerance of others as a virtue, but not when differences inflict harm. The argument flows when applying the case of the albinos to the premises built by Tilley:
The premises above reiterate that we cannot fulfill our obligations to human rights, as well as be tolerant of other cultures entirely. This is primarily true if crimes are committed against victims due to cultural prejudice. This, in turn, allows rights to be subject to cultural interpretations, menaces, and moral absolutism as a whole.
Furthermore, if the categorization of actions into right or wrong is dependent on cultural interpretations, it is consequently being insinuated that no universal morals, by which actions can be criticized, actually exist. Henceforth, tolerance essentially restricts relativists from disapproving of any atrocious acts, as it would entail intolerance. Even if the condemnation of a harmful practice is based on reasonable grounds, it would be discriminatory to criticize acts that occur outside one’s own culture. Essentially, what is being said is that as long as the persecution of albinos is normal in Sub-Saharan Africa, the practice is as morally valid as to its opposite; the killing of an Albino is as morally acceptable as the protection of people with disabilities elsewhere.
Attempting to influence culture is vital, as culture in the case of albinos has proven to be stronger than the laws set by the Tanzanian government. As an example, the Witchcraft Act is a remnant of colonial rule, demonstrating that the damages deriving from witchcraft have had a historical presence. The recent amendment to the Witchcraft Act in 2009 is to reiterate that Tanzania will punish anyone convicted of witchcraft in accordance to the law, portraying that it is not a law implied by colonialists, but that even the current government will do not tolerate the practice. Although Tanzania has placed strong legislation to combat the practice, it still persists, as it is deeply rooted within the culture. Violations occur from within the community, and it is not the state that is violating their rights, therefore engagement and interference must occur on a cultural dimension. Dealing with the challenge of eliminating witchcraft which has existed since the pre-colonial era through legal means is inadequate, as the perpetrators continued to practice witchcraft, justifying it through a cultural aspect, only in hopes that they are not caught. Thus, it is important for the Tanzanian government to use a more strategic approach that combines both legal and educational means.
Despite these occurrences, I am not certainly not claiming that the international human rights system has not placed adequate efforts. The OHCHR has already established many programs including the World Programme for Human Rights Education to resolve such issues. However, the initiation of human rights education programs by regional human rights systems, rather than global systems would tackle culture-specific human rights concerns more efficiently, as other regions would prioritize issues relative to their own cultures over others; thus heightening the necessity of specific regional programs. Discussing the reasons behind the physical appearance of albinos on popular media outlets such as radio channels and hosting public meetings will educate those members of society on the genetic disorder; that should not be discriminated against. This exposure will, directly and indirectly, become a means of awareness and reduce societal hostility towards albinos and shift their dehumanization to a much lower extent such as that experienced by albinos. Additionally, albinos must be educated about the disease themselves, as the constant resentment they receive from their surroundings could result in self-loathing and voluntary self-isolation from the peripheral.
Having said this, if educational exposure does not prove efficient, aggressive approaches must be taken into consideration. My second proposal is the imposing of sanctions until governments progress in addressing cases of abuse. Even if it is not the state, directly violating the rights of the albinos, it is the states’ duty and responsibility to protect these individuals from abuse. A widely criticized consequence of sanctions is that they harm ordinary citizens living under the designated governments. However, the sanctions approach could be efficient in the case of culturally-linked human rights abuses, as it is the people who are violating the right and not the state as a whole.
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Get custom essayIn conclusion, some claims made by relativists threaten the implementation of human rights internationally. According to Murdock, cultures are viewed as “illusory conceptual abstractions,”. Although accurate in some ways, I do not hold the view that the eradication of cultures would be a plausible solution to the cultural relativism dispute, but in essence, I believe that cultures need to be anchored in the correct direction and also need to be positively influenced. If countries and their cultures are exposed to a more powerful and positive outlook on cultural norms, the personality of an entire group will change. This is in most ways an educational journey; a means of guidance, which is our global duty in various ways. Any method other than the proposition of promoting standards through education and guidance will trigger the colonialist argument by relativists. It is also important to note that culture is not a monolith and is capable of change, and in many ways is inevitably changed throughout the years. Therefore, the proposition of education on the subject of cultural mediocracy and human rights itself would aim to break the transfer of harmful or immoral practices to offspring cultures.
The question of what is morally right and wrong in society is a common argument among people. The issue with solving this problem is that people have different beliefs and values as to what would be considered right and wrong due to where they come from and their culture. The term cultural relativism describes the acceptance and understanding of these differences. The term offers an equivocal answer to the question, but as humans, we are always searching for a definite answer. Cultural relativism provides the idea that no one culture is right or wrong and that a culture cannot be judged for their belief.
Get original essayThe Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down is an excellent illustration of how two cultures clash because of their differences in beliefs, customs, and values and ultimately come to understand each other. The book follows the tribulations of a Southeast Asian family from Laos, the Lees, that relocates to Merced, California as refugees. The hardship lies within the health issues of the youngest daughter, Lia, and her care between the family and the American doctors. The primary source of indifference is the fact that the hospital and its employees are not familiar with the customs and culture of the Hmong people and instead of attempting to consider their beliefs, they expect the Lee family to assimilate to American ideals.
The first instance of misunderstanding is when Foua is in the hospital for the birth of her youngest daughter Lia. It is important to know that in Hmong culture, hospitals are not considered to be places where people are healed, and rumors cause the Hmong people do not to trust anything having to do with modern medicine. One rumor states that doctors eat the organs of their patients. This results in an automatic bias against doctors and hospitals for Hmong people. Ironically, the doctors at Merced Community Medical Center are oblivious to a Hmong custom in which the placenta of a child is buried and usually automatically dispose of placentas. The doctors at MCMC assume that when Hmong mothers ask for the placenta of their child, they wish to eat. Because of this, the hospital normally denies their request for the placenta and incinerates it, disregarding the significance of it to their Hmong patients. Foua never asked for Lia’s placenta, however, this ignorant action further foreshadows the quality of the relationship between the Hmong people and the hospital.
Three months after Lia’s birth, she begins to have seizures. Eventually, because of the help of a cousin that could translate for the Lee family, Dan Murphy diagnoses Lia with epilepsy. Another example of misunderstanding is the different attitude towards what Western medicine calls epilepsy. In America, epilepsy is seen as a disorder that needs to be treated. In Hmong culture, they call it “quag dab peg” and to Hmong people, it signifies the ability for one to become a spiritual healer, which is a highly respected position. Lia’s primary doctors, Neil Ernst and Peggy Philp prescribe numerous medications for Lia and ignore the presence of a language barrier and the fact that the family had hesitations toward treating this “illness” because of cultural ideals. Ernst and Philp automatically assumed that the Lee family would conform to the plan of action to better Lia’s health and because of this Lia’s health declined. Instead of attempting to understand why the plan was not being followed, Ernst and Philp arrived at the conclusion that the Lees were either unintelligent or deceiving them, which led to Lia being taken from the home by CPS.
These examples are just a few of the instances in which one culture was misunderstood by another. The conclusion of this book is that neither American culture nor Hmong culture was wrong in their beliefs of what should be done about Lia’s condition as both sides of the argument were doing what they believed to be correct. After reading, one could also draw the conclusion that Lia’s condition could have been different, had the doctors and the Lee family understood the decisions of each other. In chapter seventeen the author, Anne Fadiman, mentions a set of eight questions constructed by Arthur Kleinman, a psychiatrist and medical anthropologist at Harvard. Those questions resulted in the realization that all the conflicts that occurred throughout the book could have been resolved by asking simple questions about what the Lee’s thought was going on with their daughter and how they think it should be treated. This shows that cultural relativism is a very important concept that must be considered when dealing with people different from oneself.
The importance of cultural relativism within society as a whole is that it allows people to be equal whilst being different, promotes respect for one another, and creates an environment in which people are not judged. Cultural relativism is the opposite of ethnocentrism, which is the belief that one’s own culture is superior to another. It replaces the determination of right and wrong with an understanding as to how or why certain things are viewed and done. This allows for an environment in which people are free to practice their culture without the fear of being judged or reprimanded for doing so. Ultimately this creates a society in which growth and change are permitted because as one comes to understand ideas different from their own, they can become an idea that person accepts as well.
Cultural relativism is based on the hope that people will be ideal humans. Obviously, there are limitations to this in reality. One of these being that it is difficult for people to suppress their own personal biases which is required to reach the conclusion that no one is right or wrong. Another limitation is the fact that because there would be no rules determining what is right and what is wrong, one’s perception of another person could be acted upon. For example, someone does not agree with another person. That person could hurt the other solely for disagreeing if their morals or culture allows it. This example and others like it could create a very chaotic environment that cannot be controlled.
The solution to this issue is compromised. Neil Ernst, one of Lia’s doctors even said, “I wish I’d accepted that it would be easier for the family to comply with one medicine instead of three, even if three seemed medically optimal”. Also in chapter seventeen, Kleinman states that the Lee family’s noncompliance to Lia’s regimen “implies moral hegemony”, which means that the doctors believed that their culture and ideals were superior to Hmong cultures and ideals. In the world of cultural relativity, the doctors should have acknowledged that they too have biases that differ from the Hmong. This would have allowed the doctors and the family to come to an agreement that satisfied Lia’s needs as well as the morals and customs of both cultures.
Films have been a central critical issue over the past century. In the beginning, the film was not given the title of art. But the critics could not resist the great influence on cinema vested in society and human thinking in a short span of time. When a film has come to understand as an object worthy of serious study, film studies have emerged and become firmly established within the institution of academia. As soon as the moving photographic images were projected on the screen, critics, writers, philosophers and even filmmakers started describing the new medium, as critical problems were driven by the rapid growth and development of the medium.
Get original essayFilm theory provides conceptual frameworks for understanding film’s relationship to reality, the other arts, individual viewers, and society at large, Early films theory arose in the silent era and was mostly concerned with defining the crucial elements of the medium. It largely evolved from the work of directors like Germaine Dulac, Louis Delluc, Jean Epstein, Lev Kuleshov, Sergei Eisenstein, Dziga Vertov, Paul Rotha and film theorists like Rudolf Arnheim, Bela Balazs, and Siegfried Kracauer. The discussion on the film went on in two directions only Realist and formalist traditions.
After the world war II, especially in the 1960s and 1970s, film theory became interdisciplinary in nature by importing concepts from established disciplines like Marxism, psychoanalysis, gender studies, anthropology, literary theory, semiotics and linguistics, During the 1990s the digital revolution in image technologies has had an impact on the film theory in various ways. Cinema is meant and believed to entertain, to take the viewer to a world that is starkly different from the real one, a world which provides escape from the daily grind of life. Cinema is a popular media of mass consumption which plays a key role in molding opinions, constructing images and reinforcing dominant cultural values.
Before cinema studies were established as an academic enterprise there existed already a fair pile of theoretical writing on cinema. Hugo Münsterberg, Béla Balász, and Rudolf Arnheim were the most prominent; however, the protagonists of Soviet montage film, Eisenstein, and Kuleshov, also contributed substantially to early theoretical reflection on the nature of cinema and its impact on spectators. André Bazin, perhaps the most significant during the period when early theories of cinema were gradually superseded by modern theories within academia, wrote a number of essays in the ’40s establishing a new angle on cinema not least through the French film journal Les Cahiers du cinema.
Characteristic of most early writing is its concern with the meaning of the film in comparison with other forms of art. Is film understandable as an extension and transformation of photography, theatre, the novel, or painting, and if so what is cinema’s own contribution? In that cinema was considered a mechanical recording of reality it was furthermore not clear at all that it at the same time was identifiable as art. It was felt to be necessary to define cinema as an art form in itself and in its own right to endow cinema with artfulness. Being interested in what the essence of the film was early theory often was directed toward ontological questions about cinema.
The ’60s saw the humanities undergo considerable expansion. Film programs were established in Western countries. Many film scholars came from other fields of study, which meant that many new theoretical questions were raised. More important was the sheer proliferation of theories and epistemologies, and the shift toward a new focus in cinema studies. The question of the essence of cinema was still an undercurrent in many writings but the legitimization of cinema studies as a scientific enterprise seemed more urgent. The domination of structuralism followed by semiotics and psychoanalysis meant that cinema studies were connected to new fields. Also, the politicization of the humanities meant the import of new theories concerned with cultural philosophy and ideology, which were essentially taken from different strands of Marxism. The questions throughout that period were, therefore, scientific and political in nature.
Other shifts in film theory took place throughout the ’80s with a more keen focus on the interaction between film and the spectator, and a focus on film as a cultural issue. Both these new foci meant that film studies again was connected to new fields as it became a part of a huge industry known as cultural studies. New studies connecting film with cognitive psychology furthermore re-established the connection between film studies and natural science, such as neurobiology and other sciences of the brain. These new fields meant another huge piling up of texts related to cinema studies. The shift in the ’80s put forward questions on culture and natural sciences.
This very brief history of film theory indicates how the history of theory creates serious problems for teachers in film studies. The first problem has to do with the teachers’ own (in)capacity, actually, to follow new theoretical paradigms in their totality. The second problem is connected to actual teaching in the fields of film theory, film history, and film analysis. Due to the immensity of theories, how is it, then, possible to present the serious and relevant theories for students at different levels? The answer is obvious: by film readers encompassing the most central texts throughout the history of film theory. Academic compilation books have taken up the challenge from the vastness of theory and have given rise to the “film reader industry”. A film reader, however, always responds in some way or another to its own historical context with actual theoretical agendas and more or less specific requirements. Film readers, therefore, are not necessarily the answer to the proliferation of theories but may be part of the problem by way of a proliferation of books.
Rutledge has published a new film reader in four volumes Film Theory. Critical Concepts in Media and Cultural Studies edited by Philip Simpson, Andrew Utterson, and K. J. Shepherdson. One would expect that these four volumes, collecting 99 articles and book fragments, would target readers without allegiance to any specific agenda and with a high degree of endurance. This expectation, however, is not quite fulfilled. And moreover, it has presumably not been the intention to fulfill this rather naive expectation of an unbiased presentation when the book’s subtitle (the emphasis on “Cultural Studies”) is taken as an indication. Some parts of the volumes are highly influenced by a cultural studies approach. This means that the editors have chosen to include texts which only to a minimal degree address questions of film, film theory and film history, as for example Jean Baudrillard’s text. The price for this inclusion is, of course, the exclusion of more relevant texts.
Film Theory is divided into 12 parts dealing with topics which have dominated film theory at different times. The first section “Essence and Specificity” relates to early film theory. It also includes new takes on the question of a cinema essence. Alone this question could have filled all of the book’s volumes given it has been an intermittent one throughout film theory. The question of essence is related to the notion of film as a specific kind of language, which is dealt with in the second section of Volume One. “Language” was, of course, the buzzword or key concept when structuralism was introduced to film studies, or rather academic film studies were born simultaneously with structuralism in the ’60s. In this second section, film language is traced to its origins in Soviet theories of the ’20s where the theories of montage exactly treated the film as a kind of language. Oddly enough, though, Bazin’s influential essay “The evolution of the language of cinema” is also included in this section. This is odd given Bazin’s essay uses language as a metaphor rather than understanding film as language; in actual fact, his essay addresses the essence of the film. The first volume’s last section deals with “Technologies”.
The sections contained in Film Theory are relevant for most film study programs, and, overall, the film reader will be an answer to many teaching requirements. A very useful chronological table is included, which makes it easy to get a sense of the historical context of the essays as well as being able to see what other essays appeared at the same time. The chronological table forms a part of the history of film theory. The table would have benefited from including other significant writing not included in the four volumes and perhaps also some film history.
The choices taken in every anthology of film theory are always disputable according to different preferences and idiosyncratic judgments of taste. The choices made in Film Theory seem overall balanced despite my reservations. Film Theory is, however, not a film reader above other readers, and the book’s endurance time is not secured by the sheer number of essays and book fragments included.
Once people realized that films could do much more than provide simple entertainment, a variety of theories and approaches were developed to help analyze films in order to understand how they created responses in viewers and just what they might mean. Different approaches examine different aspects of a film for different reasons. A formalist approach looks at the film itself, its structure and form. Thus, while other approaches often use some degree of external evidence to analyze a film, a formalist approach will focus primarily on internal evidence. This approach might analyze how the way the plot presents the story material forces the viewer to see things at certain times and have reactions that might be different if presented some other way. A narrative analysis will examine how a film employs various narrative formal elements (such as character, setting, repetition/variation, etc.) to convey meaning to the viewer. Analysis of specific formal techniques might concentrate on a film’s use of mise en scene or photographic composition, camera movements, editing choices, sound in relation to the image, etc., noting the effect of those techniques on how the viewer perceives the scenes and interprets what they mean.
A realist approach examines how a film represents “reality.” Some films attempt to make techniques “invisible” to viewers so the characters and situations are always the primary focus. Others attempt to use cinematic techniques to replicate a certain type of reality the filmmaker wants the audience to experience -- love, aging, memory, insanity, drug use, etc. Some films are more concerned with creating moods and emotional impressions than with depicting a traditionally plotted story with an obvious beginning, middle, and end. These films may be attempting to convey a type of really important to their creators, hoping that viewers will pick up on it, but the non-mainstream use of techniques and non-standard structure may require a concerted effort on the part of a viewer to understand, multiple viewings, or even an explanation by the filmmaker. Look, for example, at the unusual films written or directed by Charlie Kaufmann, such as Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Synechdoche New York, Adaptation, and Being John Malkovich.
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Get custom essayA contextualist approach to analysis always considers a film as part of some broader context. This can be society at large, the particular culture, time, and place that created it a culturalist approach, the director’s personal life and previous body of work an auteurist approach that assumes the director is the “author” of a film), or various psychological and/or ideological contexts. A psychological approach often identifies plot elements with theories of psychologists like Freud or Jung, looking for sexual symbolism, treatment of the subconscious, representations of the id, ego, and superego, etc. The dualist approach looks for pairs of opposites possibly identifying them as symbolic of contrasting tendencies in society or human nature itself. A feminist analysis concentrates on the portrayals of women in a film -- are they strong, weak, stereotypes, protagonists, antagonists, etc. A Marxist critic will attempt to associate characters and events in a film as representative of class struggle, labor vs. management, poor vs. rich, oppressive governments, and other Marxist sociopolitical concerns.