Anaphor agreement effect

Introduction In the article, the author seeks to enhance the understanding of anaphor agreement effect. It seeks to demystify the prevalent knowledge and general understanding among linguists that anaphors are syntactically positioned and that they happen in harmony with their linguistic agreement. Using the premise of argument marking, the author explains that case and agreement must be in line with LF visibility (Everett, 2001).Advertising We will write a custom critical writing sample on Anaphor agreement effect specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Nonetheless, Shiraki explains that in case that anaphors occur in situations with positioned argument, they cannot be in relation with agreement. In this case, there is no chance for visibility condition. This critique attempts to address various factors that the author considers in the article. Besides, the paper will focus on the content rather than the style that the author uses. Crit ical analysis From the outset, it is important to appreciate that anaphors can never occur within a sentence in an autonomous way. The author uses numerous arguments to illustrate this perspective by focusing on the manner in which the anaphors are usually distributed within sentences. In harmony with Chomsky’s articulations, Shiraki says that the anaphors have many constraints that include c-command and locality among many other factors (Chomsky, 1993). This makes them unable to occur independently. The author distances himself from various renowned linguists and says that lack of agreement of anaphors may have different perspectives. To him, this agreement ought to be ‘marked’ making it apparent in a sentence. As such, according to Shiraki, agreement presents a way in which an argument may be marked. In fact, the author appreciates that this position is controversial among many linguists but goes a step further to provide research and scholarly articles that re inforce his theory. Throughout the paper therefore, the author provides his theoretical framework that takes a different approach to the prevalent explanations of ‘anaphor-agreement’ effect. The article is categorical that anaphors can agree exquisitely. Particularly, Shiraki asserts that anaphors agree in most instances but when they do, the results are grammatical limitations especially those that relate chain conditioning. It is important to notice that the author agrees that anaphors can never end up becoming grammatically right.Advertising Looking for critical writing on linguistics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Indeed, Shiraki says that such grammatical and syntactic rules as subject-verb constrain the anaphors from making a linguistically right sentence. As such, it is critical to ascertain that whenever such a situation occurs, ‘theta-marking’ should take precedence and enhance the agreemen t (Chomsky, 1993). Therefore, the article seeks to reveal ways to mark anaphors in argument by prescribing the marking criteria. Although this perspective by the author may seem surprising, he presents it in an interesting way that brings about new theory of anaphor agreement. While many opponents of Shiraki may insinuate that his theory is not necessarily unanimous, the author illustrates this point by highlighting that some sentences suffer from redundancy that is not desirable in the context of English language (Chomsky, 1993). The rationale is that nominative redundancy in sentences occurs when they lack a case. Therefore, finite subject forces this agreement in opposition to a case (Kerstens, 1993). Further, the article points out that marking an argument occur through placing a predicate upon an argument. It is important to appreciate that a predicate agrees with argument but is dependent on other factors. These factors select theta-features. In what he refers to as ‘arg ument marking asymmetry’, Shiraki explicates that the aforementioned factors may influence the agreement of a sentence. It is also important to highlight that grammatical relations are dependent on alpha and beta elements. In other words, the article proposes that an argument is dependent on the properties of language. Referred merely as ‘R’, the syntactic relations have various properties that guide the agreement (Chomsky, 1993). At the outset, the author explicates that relations ought to bear an antecedent must have a single reliant factor only. Moreover, Everett (2001) says the antecedent relations occur in such a way that they c-command the reliant relations. Another property that Shiraki highlights as an important property of syntactic relations is that the reliant ought to have an antecedent within its locality of domain. In addition, antecedents that mark these relations may have multiple dependent elements (Kerstens, 1993). Essentially, Shiraki says that ‘R’ typifies the relationship of arguments with case.Advertising We will write a custom critical writing sample on Anaphor agreement effect specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More The author articulates his perspective by revealing two issues that typify different case and argument agreement. First, he shows that arguments are always typical of syntactic relations. In addition, Chomsky (1993) articulates that the issue of argument marking is dependent on the assumptions that are naturally occurring within the context of a sentence. His assumptions surround the aspects and principles of sentence structuring as well as the constituents of anaphors. It is through this platform that the author explicates the existence of ‘anaphor-agreement effect’. The author is in line with conventional arguments that propose that an argument within a sentence should bear marking that is consistent to LF visibility. In this case, the author explicates that argument can be marked using case and agreement. In particular, Shiraki arguments that marking an argument using both the case and agreement results to nominative nature that is not desirable in the many languages is apparent and based on exploration of numerous theoretical frameworks. Germanic languages suffer immensely from the nominative redundancy. To remove this argument, Shiraki explicates that marking a predicate may be an important way to counter the dissonance. The author shows this reduction of the discord is in harmony with syntactic properties in which the grammatical relations ought to have antecedents. It is also within the general theoretical framework of predicate marking that the author formalizes his propositions (Kerstens, 1993). By way of introducing agreement, nominative and case functions, the agreement of appropriate function are fulfilled (Chomsky, 1993). The author goes a step further by exploring the consequences of his assertion s by analyzing ‘Anaphor- Agreement’ effect. He articulates that the rationale behind the apparent disagreement of anaphors in a sentence is attributable to the properties of sentence’s reflexive factor. Simply, he says that the element constrains the theta-features that the author introduces. The result is dissatisfaction of the predicate brought about by agreement function (Everett, 2001). Nonetheless, the author’s ability to introduce various functions such as case function has enhanced case satisfaction. This is in line with the ultimate case agreement satisfaction that results from the apparent different constituents.Advertising Looking for critical writing on linguistics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More To elucidate this, he points out that English language has reflexives that typify such words as ‘himself’ and ‘ourselves’. These reflexives only change owing to increase or decrease of quantities and hence, agreement function should have a person in order to achieve satisfaction. He explains that the reflexives in English language cannot attain this sentence’s satisfaction using the head of the reflexive. He also points out that Germanic languages can fail to satisfy this agreement contrary to majority of Asian languages. In this section, the author concludes that in Germanic and English languages, the nominative redundancy can occur easily. To strengthen the perspective of argument marking, Shiraki shows the different roles that case and agreement play in the context of language. While linguists such as Chomsky and Rizzi acknowledge the role of a case in a sentence as minimalistic, the theory proposed by Shiraki uses the case and agreement as the mo st important aspects of theta-marking (Chomsky, 1993). The conventional linguists carried the assumptions that reflexes of agreements represented the case. Besides, the author criticizes the minimalists’ tendency to assume that there exists no asymmetrical distribution in Italian and Germanic languages. Shiraki questions the accuracy of conventional linguists’ notion that anaphors can never contribute to agreeing positions in sentence. Shiraki says that if their assertion were true, there would be no instances of anaphors appearing in the positions of arguments. The author therefore rests his case by criticizing the prevalent linguistic knowledge especially relating to anaphoric agreement in sentences. Summary The article highlights various ways in which anaphors can make sentences to have agreement nature. In particular, the author appraises the previous assumptions that anaphors cannot occur in place of argument. Shiraki introduces the concept of agreement marking th at he justifies throughout the article using extensive research and study. Contrary to many traditional aspects of language, the author assumes a new perspective of looking into the concept of grammatical relations and nominative redundancy. He points the complexities associated with nominative redundancy that makes sentence structure of both Germanic and English languages to be undesirable. Although many linguists hold reservations for Shiraki’s assertions, the author uses complex analysis to articulate his arguments. References Chomsky, N. (1993). A Minimalist Program for Linguistic Theory. Cambridge: MIT Press. Everett, M. (2001). Paradigmatic Restrictions on Anaphors. Massachusetts: Cascadilla Press. Kerstens, J. (1993). The Syntax of Number, Person and Gender: A Theory of Phi-Features. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter. This critical writing on Anaphor agreement effect was written and submitted by user Alexa Mathis to help you with your own studies. You are free to use it for research and reference purposes in order to write your own paper; however, you must cite it accordingly. You can donate your paper here.

Question 2 Essay Example

Question 2 Essay Example Question 2 Essay Question 2 Essay Between 1803 and 1853, the area of the United States more than tripled. As the nation expanded westward, the different parts of the country grew apart. The people of the North, the South and the West all developed different ways of life because of the different climates, kinds of land and natural resources in the three sections. Each section had its own problems and people wanted the national government to pass only such laws as would help their section. This attitude is known as sectionalism and it would cause great harm to the unity of the country.In the past, people of the different areas had worked together because they all wanted the same things. Thus, the generations of Americans from the 1770s to the 1840s achieved great successes in territorial expansion. However, from 1820 to 1860, national unity lessened as sectional interests came first and people argued among themselves about tariffs, money, the building of roads and railroads and were divided over slavery (Kurth, 1996).T he social, economic and political conditions between the sections had diverged by 1850. In the North, factories were being built and were producing a wide variety of articles. There was a movement of the immigrant population to the West where fertile farms were made out of the wilderness and acres of wheat and crop were grown. In the South, cotton was king. The cotton economy of the South was based on the labor of the Negro slaves. As the cotton was milled, it was usually sent by ship to the textile factories in the North or to Europe. As the nation expanded in population and size, better transportation facilities were needed. The most important were the railroad, the steamboat and to a lesser extent, the canals. Most of them went from east to west, allowing the agricultural products of the West to be sent east and the manufactured products of the East to be went west. To a certain extent, this shut off the South from the rest of the country (Morris, 1965).As more and more settlers moved west, more and more portions of land were organized as territories. The Southerners wanted to have slavery in at least some of the new territories because new farmland was need and since the plantation system was based on slavery, they sought this new land where slavery was permitted. Also, the Southerners wanted to keep the balance of power in the Senate.In 1819 when Missouri, a territory allowing slavery applied for admission as a state, the balance between slave and free states was threatened. If Missouri was accepted, there will then be eleven free states and twelve slave states. The North proposed that for Missouri to be accepted, the following conditions should apply that no additional slaves are to enter Missouri and the children of the slaves who are already there are to be freed at the age of 25. The Southerners resent the intrusion and this was not passed in the Senate. Instead, the Missouri Compromise of 1820 was passed with the admission of Maine as a free state, M issouri as a slave state and slavery is barred from the Louisiana territory north of latitude 36o 30’ (â€Å"An Outline of American History†, 1994).When California and New Mexico were seized soon after war with Mexico was declared in mid-19th century, the problem of slavery once again became an issue. In January 1850, Henry Clay proposed a compromise to solve the problem of slavery in the territories on five points:1.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   that California be admitted as a free state as it had requested;2.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   that territorial governments be set up in New Mexico and Utah;3.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   that a new and stricter fugitive slave law be passed to provide for returning runaway slaves to their owners;4.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   that the slave trade in District of Columbia be entirely stopped;5.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   that the boundary between Texas and New Mexico be settled and that the U.S. government will pay any debts that Texas had.After much debate and inevitable dissatisfaction by the extremists in the North and South, it passed as law and became known as the Compromise of 1850 (Smith, 1906).A decade later, a compromise can no longer be reached and due to sectional differences, slavery issue and issues against territorial management of the country’s expansion, several Southern states seceded from the Union setting the stage for the Civil War.Referencesâ€Å"Extension of Slavery, Chapter 5.† (1994). An outline of American history. Retrieved October 5, 2007, from http://odur.let.rug.nl/~usa/H/1994/ch8_p1.htm.

The Mozart Effect Theory Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

The Mozart Effect Theory - Research Paper Example The science backing this theory has not been shown to have reliability as it cannot be duplicated through subsequent testing of the same hypotheses. The popularity of the idea, however, has inspired political use of the theory in order to appeal to a public that seems to like the idea that music can affect learning in their children. The romanticism of the science has been turned into a public set of myths that have yet to be proven. The development of the Mozart Effect Theory gives power to the music written by the young composer that extends well beyond its beauty, suggesting that intelligence is affected by exposure to his writings, but the theory only has support and has yet to be definitively proven. According to Don Campbell, â€Å"Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was a child prodigy who saw, spoke, and listened to the world in creative patterns† (xiv). Campbell discusses the idea of the Mozart Effect in terms of it being miraculous. He lists a series of events that suggest that the music can do wondrous things, including that in Britain there are monks who believe that through playing Mozart’s music to their cows, the cows produce more milk. He reports that in the Washington State Immigration Department they play Mozart and other baroque music during classes for students learning to speak English because it increases learning. He also states that in Japan the Ohara Brewery will use Mozart to increase the density with which the yeast for their sake rises, creating a higher quality drink. Campbell believes that the power of music is far more than in the enjoyment of listening. Brown and Volgsten state that â€Å"the enhancement seen with Mozart is not produced with music per se but occurs with rhythmic auditory or visual stimuli of diverse kinds, and is primarily localized to operations underlying mental rotation† (146). The effect of hearing the music of Mozart or music in general seems to be that the brain responds to the rhythms produced, cr eating a sort of re-organization of thought patterns towards a reception to the information that is in the process of being learned. Brown and Volgsten suggest that the stimulation may simply be arousing, that the effect is caused by the auditory system as it is ‘perked up’ through the rhythms and sounds it is hearing. Campbell, on the other hand, cites that research done at Irvine by Francis H. Rauscher and her colleagues has shown that increased spatial reasoning occurs for about ten to fifteen minutes after listening to ten minutes of Mozart’s music. This effect may go deeper than simple stimulation of the auditory nerves which in turn stimulate brain activity. Neil-Palmer discusses how â€Å"the findings for all of the studies supported the theory that music lessons lead to an improvement in spatial reasoning, but there are contradictions as to which specific skills are affected† (33). One of the theories that Neil-Palmer discusses is that phonemic awa reness may be a part of how music stimulates increased learning. Phonemic awareness involves the way in which language is learned and how a child learns to read through the phonetics of how a word sounds. She cites a study published by Gromko in 2005 in which children were divided into an experimental group and a control group where the experimental group

Organizational Change Process Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Organizational Change Process - Essay Example First, successful companies recognize that it takes a team to product success. They know it is never just one person who is responsible for the success of any business venture and give people the credit they deserve. Secondly, knowing that change is inevitable and being able to adapt to the changes around them is a must. The overall nature of our business expands beyond the confines of our building and our customer's direct needs. Necessary government regulations and guidelines dictate certain decisions and control areas of our production. One such regulation focuses on staff training, maintenance of accurate training records, mandated company training, records of training attendance and records of training attendance. The executive management at LRH Manufacturing feels that our current manual training system is inadequate for current and future requirements of our government guidelines. Therefore, a Web-based system is being implemented to help ensure more exact, more manageable, traceable data. To oversee this responsibility, a new position, the Web-Based Training Project Manager has been created.

Mathematics Teaching Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Mathematics Teaching - Essay Example The teaching issues should be talked about broadly and deeply in theory for achievement of greater understanding of subject matter either by the teacher or a pupil. For clear understanding of subject matter in such a subject like mathematics especially for children, teachers require to fuse theoretical and practical aspect in their work. This enables breaking down of complex ideas and concepts which become easy and logical in developing the understanding of learners and their acquisition of learning skills. In theoretical expression of a mathematical lesson a teacher ought to be keen in his confidence when answering learners questions and when dealing with their misconceptions, The National Strategies, (2010). On the other hand a teacher should employ various creative methods to intervene during a lesson in a discursive manner to come up with an effective learning environment depending with the curricula that are applied and the ability of the learners, Bronwyn (2003). In primary schools the theoretical expression of mathematical subject content should be simplified according to the age of the learners, this means that the teacher has to be sensitive to the age of the learners and curricula requirements in order to achieve good end results. Since the curricula in primary school is broad the teacher need to be well informed with all subjects to be able to express theory in mathematics explicitly to the learners. This enable the learners develop literature skills which are also very significant in understanding and expressing mathematics. Effective Planning Primary school teachers have to consider the factors of age and curricula requirements prior to their planning of lessons and in their plan ensure the learners and his or her colleagues understand the content of the plan. They should also make plans to involve learners with an out of class lesions and home work which give the leaner an opportunity to share with other for example parents, siblings or other pupils which is a good support in enhancing mathematical understanding and development of greater leaning skills Ernest, (1987). Teaching Strategies In meeting their objectives teachers should employ strategies that conform to the curricula provided by the education authorities as well as the age and abilities of learners. This can be achieved by analyzing the diversity of the learners abilities and their age hence coming up with a design that will enable them overcome any barrier that my hinder their understanding and development in skills. Lieberman, (2004)On the other hand teachers should employ creative approaches in teaching mathematics for example teacher can put a challenge to the learners that will make them need to talk about the subject manner hence creating a greater contemplation of many students at all levels of ability. Ernest (1988) Conclusion Teachers need to fuse theory and practice in teaching mathematics thus they should converse with all subjects to effectively deliver. In primary school teaching the age factor and variance in abilities is sensitive and

The Dilemma Of Gay Marriage Legislation Sociology Essay

The Dilemma Of Gay Marriage Legislation Sociology Essay Ladies and gentleman, we are gathered here today to witness Adam and Steve in the bonds of holy matrimony. In modern society this topic is a never ending battle. Between government officials and religious beliefs and teachings there is never a shortage of reasons why some think that homosexual marriage is immoral and unnatural. However to some it as a natural occurrence between two attracted individuals. Either opinion relies on the individuals own definition of the word normal. Many of Americas government officials such as George W. Bush are strongly against gay marriage. They believe that the sole purpose for the marriage of a man and a woman is a means of procreation and establishing a family union which is the basis of building a stable society. By recognizing the right of the same sex marriage would bring to big of a shift in the fundamental definition of the word marriage. So, as to not discriminate against homosexual peoples the Domestic Partnership Law came into place. This law was developed to give limited rights to same sex couples without denying them their constitutional rights. Gay Marriage: the Dilemma The modern society currently faces a never-ending debate on whether gay marriages should be an acceptable part of society. The argument revolves around the immorality and unnatural nature of homosexual marriages as seen through arguments forwarded by government officials and supported by religious beliefs and teachings. In opposition, some individuals argue that homosexual marriage is a natural occurrence between two individuals attracted to each other. Despite the basic argument, each opinion relies on the advocates definition of normal. In opposition to gay marriage, government officials argue that marriage should be an institution formed between a man and woman for procreation and establishing a family with the intention of building a stable society (Prager, 2004). This means that if the government were to recognize gay marriages, it would redefine the fundamental understanding of marriage. The case for marriage being for procreation is shared among both government and non-government that believe it is through marriage that children are born and raised to be moral social beings. As presented by Schiffren (1996), the society is a blend of cultures and traditions presented through the family, which starts with marriage where a couples shares love and has children. The children learn the cultural values and traditions as part of their upbringing. This argument denotes that gay marriages do not offer an opportunity for procreation, and may be harmful to children when the couple either adopts or has a child. In a gay marriage children are deprived either a mother or a father, which means children grow without the love and care of the deprived parent or the cultural values that would have been impacted by the missing parent (Prager, 2004; American Family Association, 2005). Agreeably, the child in a gay marriage will have two mothers or two fathers, but he or she will be deprived the right to have the other parent because of selfishness by the gay couple that seeks to have a family outside the norm. To solidify the anti-gay position, the U.S. government has passed various legislatures such as the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) passed in 1996 during Bill Clintons tenure. The law denotes that no state needs to recognize marriage union between people of the same sex even when conducted in another state that recognizes the marriage (Kholer, 1996). The legislation continues to indicate that the government does not need to recognize same sex marriage or polygamous marriage. DOMA developed in response to fear by some states that they would have to recognize same sex marriages conducted in Massachusetts, which had recognized gay unions. With the passage of the bill, twelve states banned all forms of gay marriages including those conducted as civil unions or domestic partnerships, and twenty states constructed a similar law, while other twenty-six states adopted constitutional amendments banning gay marriages. The passage of DOMA may have been in contravention of the Full Faith and Credit clause that mandates states to respect and enforce judicial rulings from other states, a case that applies to court orders, recognition of legal status, taxation, and spousal and child support (Kholer, 1996). However, as the Supreme Court argues states may make exceptions to the clause, as has been the case in firearm control, employment discrimination, and disability rulings. Nevertheless, a few compromises have been made such as through the Domestic Partnership Law adopted in California that came into effect to ensure homosexual people did not suffer discrimination. The law offers limited rights to same couples as part of their constitutional rights by defining their relationship as a domestic partnership. A domestic partnership is recognized as a legal or personal relationship between two individuals living together and sharing a common domestic life though not joined by traditional marriage (Pawelski et al, 2006). The domestic law provides benefits relating to adoptions, dental and medical insurance, dependent life insurance, and rights to a partners property in case of death. Other states have provided for gay couples through a civil unions policy such as Hawaii, Maine, New Jersey, Connecticut and Vermont, recognizing a gay marriage but without the benefit of a title. Other opponents to gay marriages are religious groups such as Roman Catholics that base their opposition on the teachings of Christianity, an issue also shared by government officials opposing the marriage. According to the Christian faith, a man shall marry only a man as stated in the bible, and any marriage related union between two men or two women is unacceptable (American Family Association, 2005). The faith case also underlines that God created marriage as a union to facilitate procreation, a factor that raises one of the questions raised by supporters of gay marriages that whether people unable to procreate should not get married or should not have sexual intercourse (Sterling, 2004). Despite this question, the opponents hold that gay marriages cannot lead to procreation, making them immoral as well as unnatural though different views of what is natural and moral may abide. The definition of natural is something accepted and considered ordinary, while unnatural refers to things that deviate from the norm (Corvino, 1997). In the contemporary society, gay unions are publicized as unnatural despite their being a common part of daily life. For example, in most television shows and movies, gay characters are emerging as central characters, sometimes portrayed as showing affection such as kissing. The media has especially been instrumental in creating doubts concerning the unnaturalness of homosexuality making it difficult to discuss the social effects of gay marriage and leading to an almost social acceptance (Kurtz, 2003). Within this setting, proponents of gay marriages wonder why they are considered unnatural. Furthermore, some argue that gay attraction is a normal part of life in similar fashion to heterosexual attraction. The notion is that the way heterosexual people are born heterosexual and are attracted to the opposite sex, so are homosexuals born h omosexual and attracted to same sex persons. Therefore, homosexuality could be viewed as a natural reaction to ones sexuality and the society learn to deal with the issue instead of demonizing. Following this train, the Church should change its definition of natural by reinterpreting doctrine and accepting new information and becoming more open minded about emerging ideologies such as homosexuality. Furthermore, even some churches have adopted the viewpoint such as the Episcopalian church that now openly ordains gay Bishops (Public Agenda for Citizens, 2010). The Christian doctrine stands on the ground that God loves and accepts anyone, irrespective of their sins; therefore, on the same principle, homosexual people that may deviate from the classical normal are acceptable to God. However, to accept the argument the church may need to reconstruct some of the basic believes such as those indicating marriage to be between a man and woman. In my personal opinion, I think the government is unjustified in its handling of the gay marriage issue in that denies a person the ability to be free in a land considered free and home to opportunities. Within a free country, people should have the freedom to express their sexuality as gay or heterosexual and not dictated to be heterosexual. Further, marriage should not be defined as only a union between man and woman, but between two people willing to live together and share the joys and sorrows that come with marriage. Unfortunately, only few states have accepted this definition and made laws to that effect such as California; nonetheless, even those without respective laws should respect gay unions from other states in accordance with the full faith and credit clause and the Supreme Court should protect this clause instead of affording states loopholes. Currently, the government is afraid that allowing for gay marriages will corrupt the society, ruin children and families, and th e possible social change that may occur due to giving homosexuals their rights (Schulman, 2009). Instead of holding on to this fear, gay people should be afforded the opportunity to live with each other legally and enjoy the associated benefits as heterosexual couples for only their lives are likely to change. Further, the church has been too harsh on the homosexuals considering them as unnatural; instead, they should embrace them and offer them Gods love a concept taught throughout Christianity, such as I learnt in Catholic School. God accepts anyone willing to come to Him despite his or her faults. Furthermore, even the church has gay priests, so it would be fit to have gay followers, the same way there are heterosexual priests and followers. Agreeably, allowing gay followers is unlikely to benefit the church, but neither is denying them. Therefore, the same way the church is willing to accept people with a multitude of sins including those from genocidal Nazi; it can accept people with a different sexuality such as homosexuality. In conclusion, gay people have the right to decide for themselves how they wish to live without political or religious influences. Whichever way they choose, whether to get married or be joined in a civil union should be acceptable without any occurring discrimination. A revolution towards accepting this attitude is already occurring in the media as television shows include gay people and air their relationships; however, this should not only stop with the media but be accepted across generations and social groups. Noting the current trend, especially among the younger generation, which is more accepting, the American society may come to accept homosexuals as it has accepted those with heterosexual tendencies.

correctional officer Essay -- essays papers

correctional officer CAREER RESEARCH REPORT The career I have chosen to pursue after graduation is a Correctional Officer. Correctional Officer’s have been around for a very long time and were designed to keep major offenders off the street after they have been arrested by the Police. The offenders are put in a holding cell at a Pre Trial Centre awaiting their court date. Correctional Officers are a very important part of the Justice System because it keeps high profile criminals off the street and locked up even before they are proven innocent or guilty. The Correctional Facility in many ways is a lot like a jail, from what I saw when I toured the new Pre Trial Centre in Port Coquitlam. There are large thick metal doors to lock them in at night. Each cell contains a small bed, a desk and shelf, a sink and a toilet. The one thing I found interesting was at the new Pre Trial Facility in Port Coquitlam each cell had a window, which I thought was a little too much for criminals but I guess they are innocent until proven guilty. As this is a NEW facility and it has some nicer things than the older centres. A typical day for a Correctional Officer would be the preparing of inmates for court appearances. They also receive new inmates to the facility brought in by the Sheriffs Department. Each new inmate must be photographed and fingerprinted upon immediate arrival to the Pre Trial Centre. They are then stripped and fully searched inside and out. With that ...

“Liquid Life” – Mark Deuze

Liquid Life, Convergence Culture, and Media Work Mark Deuze Bloomington Indiana – USA (Ph) 1-812-3231699 Email: [email  protected] edu URL: http://deuze. blogspot. com Dated: March 19, 2006 Working Paper Word count (excluding references): 7. 917 Author: Mark Deuze (Indiana University) Keywords: Social Theory, Liquid Modernity, Media Work Biographical information: Mark Deuze (1969) is associate professor at Indiana University’s Department of Telecommunications in Bloomington, the United States, and Professor of Journalism and New Media at Leiden University, The Netherlands.He received his PhD in the social sciences from the University of Amsterdam, the Netherlands. Publications of his work include five books, as well as articles in peer-reviewed journals such as New Media & Society, The Information Society, and First Monday, and he publishes an irregular weblog on new media and society at http://deuze. blogspot. com. Liquid Life, Convergence Culture, and Media Work Abs tract Life today has become analogous with work – and it increasingly displays all the contemporary characteristics of work in what has been described as the ‘new capitalism’: permanent flux, constant change, and structural indeterminacy.Zygmunt Bauman thus argues how we are all living a ‘liquid’ life, which is â€Å"a precarious life, lived under conditions of constant uncertainty. † In liquid life, the modern categories of production (work) and consumption (life) have converged, which trend is particularly visible in our almost constant and concurrent immersion in media. According to Henry Jenkins, these are the conditions of an emerging convergence culture.In this paper these trends will be explored in detail, coupling insights from contemporary social theory, new media studies and popular culture to show how our modern conceptions of media, culture and society have modernized, and how the emerging media ecosystem can be illuminated by sett ing it against the ways in which those at the forefront of these cultural and technological changes negotiate their professional identity: the mediaworkers. 1 Liquid Life, Convergence Culture, and Media Work In today’s society, argues Zygmunt Bauman, â€Å"work is the normal state of all humans; not working is abnormal† (2005a: 5).Life has become analogous to work. Instead of developing a lifestyle, our everyday efforts and energy go into choosing a work-style: ‘a way of working and a way of being at work’, as one British professional coaching agency describes it. As work becomes a way of life, life increasingly displays all the characteristics of contemporary work, where we have to come to terms with the challenges and opportunities of contingent employment, precarious labour, and a structural sense of real or perceived job insecurity.Ulrich Beck (2000) points at the fundamentally ambivalent prospects of contemporary ‘work-styles’ at all leve ls of society as marked by uncertainty, paradox and risk. The conditions of work at the beginning of the 21st century are in a constant state of flux, brought about by all kinds of job destruction practices in the context of what Richard Sennett (1998) calls ‘workforce flexibility’.This culture of contemporary capitalism manifests itself most directly in the notable change of one’s career from a series of more or less predictable achievements within the context of a lifelong contract to a constant reshuffling of career bits and pieces in the ‘portfolio worklife’, as heralded by Charles Hand as early as 1989 (pp. 183ff). In the portfolio lifestyle, careers are a sequence of stepping stones through life, where workers as individuals and organizations as collectives do not commit to each other for much more than the short-term goal, the project at hand, the talent needed now.The modern categories of life and work at the beginning of ther 21st century ar e thus spilling over, into each other, making each of these key aspects of our human condition contingent on the characteristics of the other. Bauman shows how this increasing fluidity of the everyday, coupled with a prevalent sense of permanent flux, has created the conditions of contemporary ‘liquid’ life as â€Å"a precarious life, lived under conditions of constant uncertainty† (2005b, p. 2).In this paper I will set the sketched developments and discussions on the centrality of work and the convergence of work and life in liquid modernity against a context of the pervasive and ubiquitous nature of media in our everyday lives. I will show how our almost constant and concurrent immersion in media can be seen as both a reflection as well as an amplification of the hybridization of life in culture of new capitalism. This perspective opens up different ways of looking at seemingly contradictory thus deeply unsettling trends in 2 today’s lived experiences at home, at work, and at play.At the heart of this argument stands a selective reading of contemporary social theories on the changing nature of work by Richard Sennett, Zygmunt Bauman, and Ulrich Beck, coupled with the approaches to new media by Lev Manovich and Pierre Levy, and popular culture by Henry Jenkins. By conceptually linking between the centrality of work in today’s risk society, with the omnipresence of new media and the pervasiveness of the genres, discourses and uses of popular culture, we may open up exciting ways of looking at both historical and contemporary phenomena on the intersection between media, culture and society.New Capitalism The constant uncertainty of everyday liquid life today, as sketched by Zygmunt Bauman, is accelerated and amplified at work following the prevailing management mantras of new capitalism, where stability and solidity as one-time hallmarks of a healthy company now have become signs of weakness (Sennett, 2005: 41). The relationshi ps of capital and labour, argues Manuel Castells, are increasingly individualized and organized around the network enterprise form of production, which integrates the work process globally through telecommunications, transportation and client-customer networks.Such worldwide integration introduces a fundamental aspect of unpredictability to the nature of work, as the success or failure of the local production process becomes almost completely contingent on the fluctuations in the global network – and vice versa, as â€Å"any individual capital is submitted to the movements of the global automaton† (Castells, 2000: 18).Here, adaptive behavior, permanent change, casualization of labor, and continual innovation are all expressed in the executive credo of ‘workforce flexibility’ which according to Bauman has turned from something to be avoided into a virtue to be learned and practised daily (2002: 24). This flexibility for many is synonymous with living in fea r of real or perceived job insecurity. Sennett signals how even affluent and highly educated young professionals fear â€Å"they are on the edge of losing control over their lives.This fear is built into their work histories† (Sennett, 1998: 19). Society today, argues Sennett, uses the feverish development of flexible organisations against the ‘evils’ of routine. Unlike Handy, he sees little promise in this re-interpretation of uncertainty as the corporate strategy of choice: â€Å"Revulsion against bureaucratic routine and pursuit of flexibility has produced new structures of power and control, rather than created the conditions which set us free† (ibid. 47). This 3 flexibility stretches out into both work time and non-work time, which distinction has blurred for many, if not most, people. Adapting to changing management practices, new technologies, and cultivating creativity and talent cannot be necessarily tied to a nine-to-five working weekday, especia lly considering the general lack of corporate investment in employee training.With the slow demise of lifelong full-time employment, continuous searching for jobs, preparing for potential future jobs, as well as managing multiple careers more or less simultaneously have become core elements of everyday lifestyle for many. This inevitably must lead to a more inclusive understanding of work as taking place in differing socio-economic settings and as interconnected with many other, often non-work, relationships (Parry et al, 2005).Work comes in many different shapes and sizes – paid and non-paid, voluntary and employed, professional and amateuristic – and we seem to be engulfed in it all of the time. Working increasingly includes (re-) schooling and training, unlearning ‘old’ skills while adapting to changing technologies and management demands, moving from project to project, and navigating one’s career through an at times bewildering sea of loose aff iliations, temporary arrangements, and informal networks.This perception and experience of working has come to define life and modern society. Additionally our understanding of contemporary work-styles by definition includes structural uncertainty and risk, thus framing every aspect of our lives within that particular context. Precarity The key to understanding this ‘brave new world’ of work is its precariousness, characterized by endemic uncertainty and permanent change (Beck, 2000: 22-3). The nature of work is changing rapidly in our runaway world – some even foresee an end of work in the nearby future (Rifkin, 2004).However real or perceived the insecurities experiences in our everyday work-styles are, its precarite bleeds into every understanding we have of ourselves and who we are. As colorfully described on the Britain-based website Precarity. Info: â€Å"WHAT IS PRECARITY? Precarity stretches beyond work. It includes housing, debt, general instability, th e inability to make plans. We can talk about the subjugation of life under capital, not just the subjugation of labour under capital. Precarity is an instrument of control; it is enforced by those with power 4 upon the powerless.We can't choose how we want to live. It engenders competition in social life. It forces us into a Darwinian â€Å"struggle for existence† on a social level. Precarity is the basic condition of individuals in capitalist society. It divides us, and limits opportunities to get together. People are disempowered and social relations break down. †1 If work and life are increasingly indiscernable in the play of the everyday, the key institutions linking their practices to modernity – work (or: occupations) and the family must also be seen as undergoing a fundamental shift.With the increasing precariousness of labor and the exponential entry of women into the workforce both ‘work’ and ‘family’ have not only changed; thes e core institutions of modern life have thus become integrated. Catherine Hakim (2003) signals a shift in preferences towards adaptive or work centered (instead of home centered) lifestyles that cannot be attributed to societies as a whole, but to particular groups within liquid modern societies – especially those who want to keep up with the demands of contemporary consumer culture.The family has become what Anthony Giddens (2003: 58-9) calls a ‘shell’ or, in the words of Beck, ‘zombie’ institution: people and policymakers alike still refer to the family as the primary unit in today’s society, even though in its traditional connotation of the nuclear family – two married parents and children at home – it has all but died. Instead, our families perhaps must be seen as transitory units similar to what Georges Benko describes as ‘non-places’ like shopping malls or airports.In such spaces existing for temporary convenie nce and the more or less anonymous exchange of goods, services and information, no one is really expected to stick around very long. The family as a traditionally celebrated safe haven from the uncertain world outside, seems hto have turned itself against the values of domestication and ‘settling in’ – it has become the place and space for structural coupling and uncoupling (Bauman, 2003).With a divorce rate of roughly 50% in most capitalist economies, a growing recognition of the normalcy of gay and lesbian lifestyles, the exponential increase among city dwellers of predominantly childless peoples like recent immigrants, aging babyboomers, and empty nesters, and with singles forming 40% or more of the total population of countries in North America and Western Europe it must be clear that the meaning of ‘family’ as an institution, like work, has fundamentally changed.In his assessment of the personal consequences of the changing nature of work in our past-paced capitalist economy, Richard Sennett (1998: 21) laments how no one becomes a 5 long-term witness to another person’s life anymore. Indeed, most of us, rich and poor, are constantly on the move – either as economically and politically desperate migratory sanspapiers or as highly-skilled cultural entrepreneurs in an globally networked marketplace, where knowledge and information have become the primary form of capital (Drucker, 1993).We are not just on the move from parttime job to flexible contract, nor just from one city to the next country; in the particular urban settings of flexible capitalism we also move from from ‘pink-slip party’ to yet another social networking event, from rented apartment to leased living space, from fling to affair, and from single-size servings to disposable everything.Our only shared condition increasingly seems to be the lived experience of being â€Å"permanently impermanent† in the context of constant chang e, which in turn disables us to bear witness to anything other but our own plights, to be solely solved deploying our individual skills and personal resources (Bauman, 2002: 18; Bauman, 2000: 72; Bauman, 2005b: 33). In the beginning of the 21st century we are seemingly becoming blind to each other, which social fragmentation is exacerbated by the undeniable primacy yet deeply unsettling nature of work in everyday life.Jonathan Gershuny (2000), after comparing time-use datasets from twenty different countries (including Australia, Finland, The Netherlands and the United States), summarizes the characteristics of modern industrial societies in terms of a continuos growth in the numbers of skilled workers as a proportion of all employment, and a growth of time allocated to the production and consumption of sophisticated products and services.Even though we tend to spend more time consuming products and services of the information age, and technologies increasingly augment and automate human labour, this does not mean we are spending less time working, as Jeremy Rifkin (2004) has argued. Quite the opposite: new forms of work organization in fact entail intensified demands on the work-time of both permanent and temporary employees (Smith, 1997). The trend towards flexible work started in the 1970s, and has accelerated in the late 1990s, coinciding with the rush of an increasingly information-based global economy to the World Wide Web.It is particularly in this sphere of information- and knowledge-based work where the culture of flexible capitalism has taken root as the dominant mode of labour organization – and where researchers have found both employers and employees in fact preferring a condition of so-called ‘boundaryless’ contingent employment (Marler et al, 2002). A boundaryless career reflects a career path that 6 goes beyond the boundaries of single employment settings, and involves a sequence of jobs between different companies and diffe rent segments of the labor market. As job security and promotional opportunities within larger organizations decline, individuals may view multiple employer experiences in a positive light because it supports skill development, increases marketability, shifts career control to the employee, and perhaps results in better matching career and family life-cycle demands. As such, boundarylessness represents a different conception of job security† (ibid. , 430).Whereas for most workers in traditional temporary and contingent settings their employment situation is far from ideal, many in the higher skilled knowledge-based areas of the labor market seem to prefer such precarious working conditions, associating this with greater individual autonomy, the acquisition of a wide variety of skills and experiences, and a reduced dependence on a single employer (Kalleberg, 2000). The portfolio work-style of the self-employed information or ‘cultural’ entrepreneur can thus be char acterized by living in a state of constant anxiety, while at the ame time seemingly enjoying a sense of control over one’s own career. Bauman warns against overtly optimistic readings of the relative freedom these prime beneficiaries of inevitably unequitable globalization claim to enjoy, as â€Å"it is in a horrid and lamentable insecurity that their targeted or collateral victims suspect the major obstacle lies to becoming free† (2005b: 38). Freedom and security, often seen as mutually exclusive, thus become ambigious in the context of how different people from different walks of life deal with, and give meaning to, the consequences of not having either.It is perhaps the perfect paradox of contemporary liquid life: all the trends in today’s work-life quite clearly suggest a rapid destabilization of social bonds corresponding with increasingly disempowering effects of a frickle and uncertain global high-tech information economy, yet those workers caught in the epicenter of this bewildering shift express a sense of mastery over their lives, interpreting their professional identity in this context in terms of indvidual-level control and empowering agency (du Gay, 1996; Storey et al, 2005).Conditions of real or perceived job insecurity thus do not necessarily mean the workers involved are suffering in silence – nor that the anxiety that comes with a boundaryless, largely contingent, and portfolio worklife necessarily must be seen as a blessing in disguise. The convergence of the time and effort we invest in both production (‘work’) and consumption (‘life’) as signaled by Gershuny does suggest that our most common solution to the increasingly anxious and sometimes exciting developments in society is an endless individual and professional mixing of the cultures of working and living, thus indefinitely 7 lurring the boundaries between them. Crucial to this understanding is the realization that not only are we sp ending more and more time producing – information, knowledge, products, ‘things’ – we are also increasingly engaging in acts of consumption. The rate of consumption in society has greatly accelerated over the last few decades. The values, ideals and practices of consumerism tend to be framed in an extremely negative light – focusing for example on the increasing infantilization, mainstreaming and materialism of contemporary consumer cultures.However, consumerism can also be embraced in terms of its transformative potential regarding elitist, top-down, and otherwise non-responsive social institutions such as the political system (cf. the emergence of the ‘citizen-consumer’), the economy (cf. the ‘conquest of cool’ and the marketing of resistance), and the media (Keum et al 2004; Thomas, 1997; Jenkins, 2006). Indeed, the consumptive trend has been particularly visible in the sphere of knowledge and information-related leisure services provided by the cultural industries.We spend more and more time and money on entertainment experiences – which vary from acquiring consumer electronics to attending multimedia shows, from collecting technological toys to participating in social media online, and from navigating between ‘high’ cultural (cf. theater, museums, opera) to ‘low’ cultural (cf. reality TV, videogames, tabloids) forms of expression.Indeed, our collective quest towards increasingly compelling and diversified leisure like media-centric experiences has turned us into cultural omnivores: attending a play one day, renting a couple of Hollywood blockbuster movies the next; reading the latest installment in the Harry Potter (or the Russian Tanya Grotter) book series this week, spending the following weekend building a Website containing links to all the relevant information about global meteorological and ecological trends online.It certainly seems people have a lot of spa re time on their hands if we add up all these activities. However, Gershuny found evidence of what he calls the ‘end of leisure’: â€Å"each year we have to work harder in our free time to consume all those things that we have been working harder to produce in our work time† (2000: 51). Status in society today thus comes with a price: time outside of work (whether at home, on the road or in the office) has become a scarce commodity, even though we seem to spend more of it all the time. Media in Everyday Life The paradox of more time spent simultaneously at production and consumption can be resolved if one takes into active consideration how both spheres of activity have converged in our increased reliance on media in all aspects of life, in turn facilitated by rapid advancements in information and communication technologies. Next to engaging in all kinds of leisure activities to compensate for strains or other drawbacks on occupational work, work and leisure can increasingly be seen as xtensions of each other – especially for professionals in the knowledge and information sectors of the economy (Blekesaune, 2005). One particular effect this spillover effect has had on our everyday lived reality is the ongoing retreat of people into what can be called ‘personal information spaces’ at home and at work (which for a significant number of people occupy the same space), within which we only talk to and with ourselves.These spaces can be seen as particular physical environments such as turning parts of the house or apartment into a ‘home theater’ and ‘home office’ filled with all kinds of consumer electronics used to consume and produce media content (such as a desktop computer with internet access and a printer, one or more game consoles, a television set, digital video recorder, DVD-player, and anywhere between two to seven loudspeakers).Other examples of such personal information spaces include the ensemble of mobile media technologies we carry around us everywhere we go – devices that seem to socially isolate us while at the same time connecting us to the rest of the wired world (using a cellphone, laptop, Personal Digital Assistant, digital camera, walkman, and other more intricate forms of wearable computing that truly put the ‘personal’ in Personal Computer).Yet these spaces can also be experienced as disembodied – as in our ongoing immersion in persistent online environments varying from virtual workspaces (for example through videoconferencing capabilities and company intranets) to massively multiplayer computer games (World of Warcraft, Everquest, Ultima Online), virtual worlds (Second Life, The Sims Online, Active Worlds), and social networking services (Friendster, Orkut, MySpace). The various ways in which the ever-growing numbers of people both young and old engage with each other through these and other media is sometimes taken as new for ms of community.Manuell Castells for example describes our intensifying interactions online as a new form of ‘hypersociability’, where the social consists of networked individualism â€Å"enhancing the capacity of individuals to rebuild structures of sociability from the bottom up† (2001: 131). 9 Sennett’s act of witnessing (or perceived lack thereof) seems to have moved online, where people move in and out of interactive networked environments, managing their multiple virtual selves (cf. avatars) in persistent gaming, chatting, instant messaging and otherwise connective, digital, and online environments.Market reseach suggests the worldwide number of internet users surpassed one billion in 2005, most of whom access the global computer network from the United States, China, and Japan, with other large user groups in India, Germany, Brazil, Russia, and Spain. 2 Internet user penetration is now in the 65% to 75% range for the leading countries. We use intern et overwhelmingly for interpersonal communication, whether it is in the context of play, love, or work. And yes, these distinct domains of everyday life dissolve in our interactions online. A prominent place for people to look for or advertise new jobs is Monster. om, a Website, which launched in 1994. The site, which has affiliates in 21 countries around the world, currently boasts a million+ resumes and has contracts with close to 150. 000 companies. A growing number of singles – quickly becoming the dominant species in liquid modern societies – seeks and sometimes finds love online. A popular online matchmaking service, Match. com, launched in 1995, currently has more than 15 million members in more than 240 territories on six continents, and operates more than 30 online dating sites in 17 local languages. 3 The free online classifieds community at Craigslist. org operates 90 sites in all 50 U.S. states, and 35 countries, reports three billion pageviews per month â €“ the vast majority of which go to job listings. 4 The most successful businesses on the internet – like eBay, Yahoo, Google, and Amazon – share one fundamental characteristic: the product these companies deliver is connectivity, bringing people together to trade, communicate, interact and exchange knowledge, information, goods, and services. However, not just businesses thrive on interaction and connectivity online. The most often used reference guide on the World Wide Web is Wikipedia, a multilingual free-content encyclopedia, which started in 2001.The encyclopedia is based on the so-called ‘wiki–concept, which means it is written collaboratively by volunteers, allowing most articles to be changed by anyone with access to a web browser and an internet connection. Wikipedia contains close to four million articles appearing in over 200 language editions, and gets about one million visitors a day. 5 Weblogs are another excellent example of how witnessi ng has become an increasingly virtual, yet also deeply personal act. Jill Walker provides the following definition: 10 A weblog, or *blog, is a frequently updated website consisting of dated entries arranged in reverse chronological order so the most recent post appears first. Typically, weblogs are published by individuals and their style is personal and informal. Weblogs first appeared in the mid-1990s, becoming popular as simple and free publishing tools became available towards the turn of the century. Since anybody with a net connection can publish their own weblog, there is great variety in the quality, content, and ambition of weblogs, and a weblog may have anywhere from a handful to tens of thousands of daily readers. 6 At current estimates, the total number of weblogs worldwide comes close to the 30 million mark, with more than 50. 000 postings per hour, and over 70. 000 new weblogs created each day. 7 Indexing research by Susan Herring and colleagues shows how the vast maj ority (70%) of weblogs are highly personal vehicles for self-expression and empowerment, written almost exclusively by individuals (Herring et al, 2005). However, this kind of individualism in weblogs is in fact quite connective, as bloggers include comment and feedback options with their posts, put up their blogs for free syndication (cf.RSS-feeds), reference and link to other blogs when creating posts, and cut and paste all kinds of content – including moving and still images, text, and audiofiles – from all over the Web as well as their own original work onto their weblog. The area online where the convergence of connectivity, content, creativity, and commercialism reaches its pinnacle is in the realm of computer games. Worldwide, more than 5 million active subscribers participate in massively multiplayer online games. 8 In a massively multiplayer computer game players connect to game servers via internet and interact in real time with other users worldwide.A signif icant part of this gaming experience consist of ‘meta-gaming’: in-game communication between gamers, using all kinds of devices such as headsets, chat commands, and in-game player signals. The playing of multiplayer games both reproduces and challenges everyday rules of social interaction, as the game environment can be seen both as an extension of real-world experiences and as strictly virtual space (Wright et al, 2002). Yet, meta-gaming is not just about the game: it includes any type of social interaction such as talking, loving, and trading. Ted Castranova (2005) for example has shown how we buy, sell and exchange goods and ervices in online games to the extent that such synthetic economies of scale have come to resemble those in ‘real’, offline worlds – if only because of their sheer size. All of these activities must be seen in terms of their concurrence, as we simultaneously engage in them through for example the windowing of computer screens: pressing ‘alt-tab’ gets you from your job resume on Monster to a post on a weblog, from browsing the information in a 11 Wikipedia entry for a presentation to contributing a book review to Amazon, from a purchase on eBay to an exchange in World of Warcraft.It is important to note how through these interactive, interconnected and networked devices and environments our work- and lifestyles further converge, not only facilitating but rather accelerating the blurring of modern life’s traditional boundaries. Contemporary changes in the economy, politics, society and technology thus get expressed in our increasing concurrent immersion in all kinds of media, which immersion in turn amplifies the convergence of the different spheres of activity in everyday life, blurring the lines between work and non-work, work and leisure, as well as between production and consumption.New Media, Culture and Society At the heart of most if not all of today’s new media technologi es saturating our work-life environments is their networked character, which interconnectivity has woven itself into the fabric of everyday existence among the majority of the population in European, Australasian, and North-American countries.Although this certainly suggests many people do not have access to such technologies, in the world of knowledge and information work the dominant presence of internet and other networked media cannot be ignored. In whatever shape or form, media bring the world to our doorstep – and we bring our world into media. No one is ‘outside’ anymore, whether by choice or necessity.This also means that the precarity of contemporary life through media extends to each and everyone of us, and cannot be said to be beholden to any particular group, race, class or gender – even though life’s current precariousness means different things for different people in different settings. In this context it is both fascinating and indee d hopeful that what characterizes most of the ways we engage with worldwide-networked technologies is the extent to which we seem to be doing so through participatory cooperation.Whether it is the online collaboratively authored encycopedia Wikipedia credible enough to challenge the Brittanica, the open source software movement potent enough to ruffle the feathers of Microsoft, the citizen journalism of Ohmynews powerful enough to influence presidential elections in South Korea, the search engine based on treating links as user recommendations Google, or the free-for-all online classifieds listings of Craigslist succesful enough to eat away the profits of corporate newspapers in the United States: the bottom line of all of these practices is collaboration, a 12 lourishing ‘collective intelligence’ particular of cyberculture (Levy, 1997). When asked to explain the worldwide success of Craigslist, founder Craig Newmark hints at collaboration as the key value embedded in t he way we use, design and give meaning to networked information and communication technologies: â€Å"my experience has shown me that most people are essentially good and trustworthy, and want to help each other out.I have been reminded that the rule about treating others the way you want to be treated is a good one. †9 Similarly, the founders of Google, Sergey Brin and Larry Page, base much of their company’s success on letting individual employees and users co-develop new and existing applications like Google Scholar or Google Video, which are made available in so-called ‘beta’ versions first to sollicit suggestions. 0 Considering the commonly voiced concerns of an increasingly fragmented society and a general decline in traditional social capital as defined by people’s trust and in politics, institutions such as church and state, and to some extent others, it may be counter-intuitive to claim that a more engaged and participatory culture is emerg ing (Putnam, 2004).Considering the interactive, globally networked and increasingly participatory nature of new media, it is inspiring to consider a different kind of social cohesion – a form of community that is not necessarily based on what Sennett (1992) has perceived as a purified absence of difference, but rather on Castells’ earlier mentioned notion of hypersociability particular of the network society. Interestingly, none of this participatory or otherwise collective nature of contemporary media is new.Ever since the mid-20th century so-called ‘alternative’ media have more or less successfully emerged next to, and sometimes in symbiotic relationships with other forms of community media (Atton, 2001). One could think of pirate radio stations, small-scale print magazines, local newspapers and community television stations in the 1960s and 1970s, community-based Bulletin Board Systems (BBS) and Usenet newsgroups on Internet in the 1980s, and as from th e 1990s a wide range of genres on the Web such as community portal sites, group weblogs, voluntary news services, and so on.The emerging new media ecosystem inspires and is inspired by networks of more or less collaborative end-users, creating what Eric von Hippel (2005) calls ‘user-innovation communities’, where people increasingly create and share their own products and services. Within the particular context of media organizations and cultural industries, much of this community-oriented and at times participatory content production takes place within the walls of commercial media conglomerates.Henry Jenkins’ (2006) work on the popular television and movie industries shows how media corporations at least in part must be seen 13 as co-conspirators in the emergence of a participatory media culture, from Star Wars’ George Lucas encouraging the production and distribution of fan movies to the producers of reality television show Survivor actively participati ng in so-called ‘spoiler’ discussion forums online.This increasingly participatory media enviroment translates itself in the widespread proliferation of networked computers and Internet connections in the home (and increasingly to handheld mobile devices). Recognition of this culture of participatory authorship has come from software developers where they have introduced the concept of ‘open’ design. An advanced form of this type of design is the Open Source Movement, based on the principle of shared and collaborative access to and control over software, and using (or rather: tweaking) it to improve the product for global use.The videogame industry has – since the early 1990s – long acknowledged the necessity of viral marketing and user control in product development by pre-releasing game source code, offering games versions as shareware, and tapping customer communities for input (Bo Jeppesen & Molin, 2003). Participation, not in the least en abled by the real-time connectedness of Internet and however voluntarist, incoherent, and perhaps solely fuelled by private interests can be seen as a principal component of digital culture (Deuze, 2006). Our media nvironment has thus become a key site of how we give meaning to the changing context of how we live, work, and play. Pierre Levy and Jeremy Rifkin are among those who signal an emerging relational or social economy as a direct result from the mechanization, automation, or augmentation of agriculture, industry, and services. Central to this technodeterminist understanding of the global economy would be what Levy calls ‘the production of the social bond’ through the ongoing development of sophisticated systems of networked intelligence.The centrality of using and making media in everyday life reveals our endless fascination with media – with any and all acts of mediation. In this context Jay Bolter and Richard Grusin (1996) signal a double logic of remed iation, embodied in the recombinant trends of media becoming immediate up to the point they disappear, while at the same becoming increasingly hypermediate, pervasive, and ubiquitous in all aspects of everyday life: â€Å"Our culture wants both to multiply its media and to erase all traces of mediation: it wants to erase its media in the very act of multiplying technologies of mediation. It is through our uses of media the complexities of contemporary culture get articulated, as media have come to dominate every aspect of life. What is relevant to our concerns here is the interrelationship between work-time, leisure14 time, and media-time, making the world certainly a much bigger place than it used to be, while at the same time reducing our lifeworld as we retreat dutifully in our personal information spaces and interact with everyone yet ‘seeing’ no one.It is especially through media that for most of us the world has become glocalized, as Roland Robertson (1995) would have it, where global products, peoples and ideas are re-appropriated locally and vice versa. It must be clear that media have become central to our understanding of ourselves and the world in which we live. However, as David Croteau and William Hoynes argue, â€Å"in the twenty-first century, we navigate through a vast mass media environment unprecedented in human history.Yet our intimate familiarity with the media often allows us to take them for granted† (2003: 5). The enormous extent to which this is true can be exemplified by looking at how people from all walks of life talk about and give meaning to their media use. Contemporary media usage studies in wired countries like the United States, The Netherlands or Finland tend to reveal how people spend twice as much time with media than they think they do. In the United States for example, people spend on average twelve hours per day using media.Media have become such an integrated part of our lives that most of the time w e are not even aware we are using media. American researchers describe this kind of almost constant immersion with media technologies and content from multiple sources simultaneously available through shared or shifting attention as ‘concurrent media exposure’, rather than popular industryterms such as ‘media multitasking’ or ‘simultaneous media usage’, emphasizing how important it is to avoid implying that our engagement with media is necessarily deliberate or attentive (Papper et al, 2004).We get up in the morning to the sound of the radio-alarm, switch on the television for breakfast, make our first calls using the hand-free set on our way to work, spend most of the day at our desks in front of a computer screen with fax and phone at hand, surf the Web for the latest news, blogposts and shopping deals during lunch hours, watch our favorite sitcoms and sometimes news shows over dinner, and spend the remainder of the day chatting, emailing and instant messaging online.All of this only consists of the kind of media we choose to use, ignoring advertising and marketing messages, simultaneously reading a magazine or newspaper when zapping or zipping past television channels or commercials, reading billboards along the highway, browsing the headlines of a free daily newspaper while in transit, thoughtlessly scanning through radio stations or songs on our walkman, 15 downloading, upgrading, tweaking, installing and uninstalling software, and so on, and so forth.Liquid Life and Media Work Contemporary life thus involves a complex dance between work, play, media, and life in the context of a rapid-changing ‘glocal’ context, the boundaries between which spaces, places and spheres of activity and perception have blurred. In short, the lifeworld today can perhaps best be seen as an ongoing remix of sorts, in terms a new language of how we understand and represent the visible world, our knowledge, human history, and fel low human beings: the language of new media, meta-media, and information culture (Manovich, 2005).As Lev Manovich states, â€Å"today we are in the middle of a new media revolution – the shift of all culture to computer-mediated forms of production, distribution, and communication† (2001: 19). The key to understanding our increasing opportunity, propensity or even necessity to more or less collaboratively remix our ‘glocal’ lived reality is too see this kind of behavior as a way for us to make sense of the growing complexity and uncertainty of the world around us (and in ourselves).Paraphrasing Bauman it is, in other words, a coping mechanism for dealing with the absurdity of life in today’s liquid modernity. â€Å"’Liquid modern’ is a society in which the conditions under which its members act change faster than it takes the ways of acting to consolidate into habits and routines. Liquidity of life and that of society feed and reinvig orate each other. Liquid life, just like liquid modern society, cannot keep its shape or stay on course for long† (Bauman, 2005b: 1).A liquid modern society is one where uncertainty, flux, change, conflict, and revolution are the permanent conditions of everyday life. Bauman makes a compelling argument how this situation is neither modern or post-modern, but rather explains how the categories of existence established and enabled by early, first, or solid modernity are disintegrating, overlapping, and remixing. It is not as if we cannot draw meaningful distinctions between global and local, between work and non-work, between public and private, between conservative and progressive, or between work and life anymore.It is just that these and other key organizing characteristics and categories of modern life have lost their (presumed or perceived) intrinsic, commonly held or consensual meaning. 16 The way we do and understand things is increasingly transformed through and implicat ed by the way we engage the media in our lives. This in turn makes the media as a business, as in those companies that work to create the content of our media, of central importance to any kind of meaningful analysis of contemporary life.Defining the media as cultural industries, Desmond Hesmondhalgh for example shows their prominence for understanding the human condition and our lived reality â€Å"as those institutions (mainly profitmaking companies, but also state organisations and non-profit organisations) which are most directly involved in the production of social meaning† (2002: 11). If the media in the broadest possible sense are the sites of our struggle over meaning and symbolic exchange in society, it ecomes essential to understand the working lives of the people within the cultural industries – if only to understand which values, ideas, circumstances and social contexts define those primarily engaged in the production of of the resources and materials all o f use use to give meaning to our lives. It is in this context that Bauman discusses the typical charactertics of these professional ‘culture creators’, â€Å"who carry the main burden of the transgressive proclivity of culture and make it their conciously embraced vocation, practising critique and transgression as their own mode of being† (2005b: 54-5).Bauman implictly addresses the missing link between the particularities of the human condition in the beginning of the 21st century, our seemingly constant immersion in media, and the centrality of work as the defining principle of contemporary lived reality. The missing link is the changing nature of media work in today’s digital, global and deeply uncertain age, where media workers must be seen as the directors as well as reflectors of liquid modern life, in which life media have become ubiquitous, pervasive, personalized – as well as interactive, participatory, and networked.Media are both the harb ingers of change as well as the self-proclaimed guardians of social order as in the case of for example parliamentary journalists and tabloid reporters: documenting and thus contributing to the maintenance of the status quo while at the same time signaling the disruptive changes wreaking havoc on it from all sides. Indeed, the popular reality of the media gives rise to what Beck has described as the ongoing modernization of modernity, by emphasizing its core characteristics of risk, uncertainty, and paradox.And it is precisely this risk-taking, adventurous yet deeply self-contradictory nature that has come to define the nature of media work, where â€Å"senses of risk are constitutive and often pivotal to the whole economic and social basis of cultural entrepreneurship – risk being central to choices made not only in business but in the lifeworld more generally† (Banks et al, 2000: 453). Mediaworkers are 17 ot only interesting in terms of their contribution to the way we give meaning to our shared reality; who they are, what they do and how they give meaning to their work can also be seen as an indicator of how an increasingly significant part of the global economy organizes itself. Media industries are indeed one of the prime accelerators of a global economy, both in terms of its glocalization and its increased immersion in networked information and communication technologies.Media professionals – those employed in journalism, marketing communications, advertising, public relations, game design, television and the movie industry – embody in their work-styles all the themes of social change in liquid modern times as expressed in this essay, as Simon Cottle for exampe describes how â€Å"a growing army of media professionals, producers and others work in this expanding sector of the economy, many of them in freelance, temporary, subcontracted and underpaid (and sometimes unpaid) positions [†¦] They are also often at the forefro nt of processes of organisational change including new flexible work regimes, reflexive corporate cultures, and the introduction of digital technologies, multimedia production and multiskilled practices† (2003: 3). Indeed, Scott Lash and John Urry (1994) have signaled earlier how the cultural industries have always been post-Fordist avant la lettre, contributing to the culturalization of economic life through a structurating mix of commercially viable yet generic, and innovative, flexible and highly creative production processes.This unique blend of what Bryan Turner (2003: 138) describes as the dialectical process of linearity and liquidity in contemporary consumer cultures turns the media as an industry into the core culprit responsible for cookiecutter-style McDonaldization, as well as the main agent in affecting social, technological and economical change. Convergence Culture In today’s increasingly digital culture, mediawork can be seen as a stomping ground for the forces of increasingly differentiated production and innovation processes, and the complex interaction and integration between work, life, and play, all of which get expressed in, and are facilitated by, the rapid development of new information and communication technologies.Michael Hardt and Antonio Negri (2000: 291) correspondingly argue how â€Å"the computer and communication revolution of production has transformed laboring practices in such a way that they all tend toward the model of information and communication technologies [†¦] the anthrolopology of cyberspace is really a recognition of the new human condition. † The new human condition, when seen 18 through the lens of those in the forefront of changes in the way work and life are implicated in our increasingly participatory media production and consumption, is convergent. This convergence is not just a technological process, where different types of media forms – audio, video, text – and channe ls – print, radio, television – are integrated into the computer.Following the work of Henry Jenkins (2004), media convergence must also be seen as having a cultural logic of its own, blurring the lines between production and consumption, between making media and using media, and between active or passive spectatorship of mediated culture: â€Å"Convergence is both a top-down corporate-driven process and a bottomup consumer-driven process. Media companies are learning how to accelerate the flow of media content across delivery channels to expand revenue opportunities, broaden markets and reinforce viewer commitments. Consumers are learning how to use these different media technologies to bring the flow of media more fully under their control and to interact with other users.They are fighting for the right to participate more fully in their culture, to control the flow of media in their lives and to talk back to mass market content. Sometimes, these two forces reinforc e each other, creating closer, more rewarding, relations between media producers and consumers† (Jenkins, 2004: 37). Pertinent to our concerns here is the ways in which mediaworkers are implicated by this convergence culture so typical of today’s media. If convergence is a cultural logic that at its core integrates all of us in the process of producing mediated experiences, how do the professionals involved give meaning to their productivity, creative autonomy, and professional identity?One way of looking at this focuses on the political economy of increasingly conglomerated, transnational media corporations, emphasizing their role in rationalizing and routinizing production for the (glocal) masses: â€Å"Conglomerates have invested heavily in developing synergistic relationships between their various media holdings, integrating their production processes into â€Å"convergence† systems that yield content for different outlets, â€Å"crosspromoting† progr ams in different media, and establishing lines of vertical and horizontal integration in production and distribution† (Klinenberg & Benzecry, 2005: 10). A second approach acknowledges the goals and ideals of contemporary ‘corporate management of global enterprises, but draws our attention more specifically to those people directly involved in the process: the mediaworkers. â€Å"Being environmentally conscious, showing a social conscience and being a good corporate citizen are viewed in modern management theory as benefiting the bottom line. But this management-speak hides the growing focus in the media professions—the cultural boundary spanners—on genuine links between modern 19 organizations and the different individuals and groups in society that deal with them† (Balnaves et al, 2004: 193).Discussion Considering the dominant trends towards cultural convergence of production and consumption both in the way people run their everyday work-lives, and in the way media professionals do their work, it becomes increasingly interesting to observe and understand which values, ideas and ideals get embedded in the globally emerging system of userproducer co-creation. Granted, â€Å"the media business is unusually fluid and superficial† (Sennett, 1998: 80). But as I have shown in this essay, so are life, work, and play. And all of those activities are expressed in the way we use, co-create, and give meaning to media in our everyday lives. The suggested superficiality and invisibility of the media perhaps belittles the valuable, hypersociable and deeply participatory nature of our interactions within and between them.Indeed, the continuous glocal ‘remix’ of liquid modernity’s working and living conditions can be connected to the way we understand the media. The nature of work within an increasingly liquid, collaborative and convergent culture gets meaning in the media industry through product differentiation, wo rkforce flexibilization, and cross-media integration. Yet it also gets expressed in the various ways in which people use and make media all over the world – through ‘prosuming’ (Toffler, 1980) or ‘produsing’ (Bruns, 2004) practices, open source-type applications, wiki-based user co-creation, and other examples of convergence culture. I accept the notion that for most of us, life in liquid modernity is fraught with risk, uncertaintly, anxiety and flux.However, I feel that our analyses should take the next step, and acknowledge how people give meaning to this new human condition: through cultural convergence, participation, and new forms of sociability. It is too simple to argue that the media industries, which are so instrumental in all of these contingencies, either reproduce passive spectators or facilitate active, albeit superficial, engagement. The ways we use and give meaning to media, both as professionals and amateurs, show signs of a more comp lex, or in the words of Jenkins, ‘kludgy’ culture emerging, one that is built on the core elements of the global risk society and thrives on Bauman’s liquid life.I call for further investigation of and among those who bear the brunt of this emergence: the mediaworkers. 20 References Chris Atton (2001), Alternative Media. London: Sage. 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Manuel Castells (2000), Materials for an exploratory theory of the network society, British Journal of Sociology 51 (1), pp. 5-24. Manuel Castells (2001), The internet galaxy. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Ted Castranova (2005). Synthetic worlds.Chicago: University of Chicago Press. David Croteau & William Hoynes (2003), Media/Society. Thousand Oaks: Pine Forge Press. Mark Deuze (2006), Participation, Remediation, Bricolage: Considering Principal Components of a Digital Culture, The Information Society 22 (2), pp. 63-75. Peter Drucker (1993), Postcapitalist society. New York: Harper Collins. Paul du Gay (1996), Consumption and identity at work. London: Sage. Jonathan Gershuny (2000), Changing times. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Anthony Giddens (2003), Runaway world: how globalization is reshaping our lives. New York: Routledge. 21 Catherine Hakim (2003), Models of the family in modern societies.Burlington, Vermont: Ashgate Publishing. Charles Handy (1989), The age of unreason. Boston: Harvard Business School Press. Susan Herring, Lois Ann Scheidt, Elijah Wright and Sabrina Bonus (2005), Weblogs as a bridging genre, Information, Technology & People 18(2), pp. 142-171. Desmond Hesmondhalgh (2002), The cultural industries. London: Sage. Eric von Hippel (2005), Democratizing Innovations. Cambridge: MIT Press. Henry Jenkins (2004). The cultural logic of media convergence. International Journal of Cultural Studies 7(1), pp. 33–43. Henry Jenkins (2006), Convergence culture. where old and new media collide. New York: New York University Press.Arne Kalleberg (2000), Nonstandard employment relations: part-time, temporary and contract work, Annual Review of Sociology 26, pp. 341-365. Heejo Keum, Narayan Devanathan, Sameer Deshpande, Michelle Nelson, and Dhavan Shah (2004), The citizen-consumer: media effects at the intersection of consumer and civic culture, Political Communication 21, pp. 369-391. Scott Lash and John Urry (1994), Economies of Signs and Space. London: Sage. Pierre Levy (1997). Collective intelligence: mankind’s emerging world in cyberspace. Translated by Robert Bononno. Cambridge: Perseus Books. Lev Manovich (2005), Understanding meta-media, CTheory 10/26/2005. URL: http://www. ctheory. net/articles. spx? id=493. Lev Manovich (2001), The language of new media. Cambridge: MIT Press. Janet Marler, Melissa Woodard Barringer, and George Milkovich (2002), Boundaryless and traditional contingent employees: worlds apart, Journal of Organizational Behavior 23, pp. 425-453. Robert Papper, Michael Holmes, Mark Popovich (2004), Middletown Media Studies, The International Digital Media & Digital Arts Association Journal 1 (1), pp. 1-56. Jane Parry, Rebecca Taylor, Lynne Pettinger and Miriam Glucksmann (2005), Confronting the challenges of work today: new horizons and perspectives, The Sociological Review. Oxford: Blackwell Publishing. Robert Putnam (ed. 2004, Democracies in Flux: The Evolution of Social Capital in Contemporary Society. Oxford: Oxford University Press. 22 Jeremy Rifkin (2004), The end of work, 2nd edition. New York: Tarcher/Penguin. Roland Robertson (1995), Glocalization: Time-space and Homogeneity- heterogeneity, in: Mike Featherstone, Scott Lash, Roland Robertson (eds. ), Global Modernities, London: Sage. Richard Sennett (1998), The corrosion of character. New York: W. W. Norton & Company. Richard Sennett (1992), The uses of disorder: personal identity and city life, New York: W. W. Norton. Richard Sennett (2005), The culture of the new capitalism. New Haven: Yale University Press.Vicki Smith (1997), New forms of work organization, Annual Review of Sociology 23, pp. 315-339. John Storey, Graeme Salaman, and Kerry Platman (2005), Living with enterprise in an enterprise eceonomy: freelance and contract workers in the media, Human Relations 58 (8), pp. 1033-1054. Frank Thomas (1997), The conquest of cool: business culture, counterculture, and the rise of hip consumerism. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. Talmadge Wright, Paul Briedenbach and Eric Boria (2002), Creative Player actions in fps online video games: playing Counter-Strike, Game Studies 2 (2), URL: http://www. gamestudies. org/0202/wright. 23 Endnotes 1 2 URL: http://ourmayday. revolt. org/precarity. info/info. tm (date accessed: 2-12-6). See URL: http://www. c-i-a. com/pr0106. htm. 3 See URL: http://corp. match. com/index/newscenter_press_glance. asp. 4 See URL: http://www. craigslist. com/about/pr/factsheet. html. 5 See URL: http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Wikipedia. 6 See URL: http://huminf. uib. no/~jill/archives/blog_theorising/final_version_of_weblog_definitio n. html. 7 See URL: http://technorati. com/weblog/2006/02/83. html. 8 See URL: http://www. mmogchart. com. 9 Phone interview with Craig Newmark, 1 December 2005. 10 See for example the company profile at CBS ‘60 Minutes’ at URL: http://www. cbsnews. com/stories/2004/12/30/60minutes/main664063. shtml. 24

Compare Africa, Latin America and Asean as Potential Investment Destinations of China’s Outward Fdi Essay Example

Compare Africa, Latin America and Asean as Potential Investment Destinations of China’s Outward Fdi Essay Example Compare Africa, Latin America and Asean as Potential Investment Destinations of China’s Outward Fdi Essay Compare Africa, Latin America and Asean as Potential Investment Destinations of China’s Outward Fdi Essay Compare Africa, Latin America and ASEAN as potential investment destinations of China’s outward FDI China has become a capital-surplus economy and its overseas investment has grown apace. Although its outward investment is still small in absolute terms, especially compared to the huge inward flow, Chinas overseas enterprises have been quietly gaining importance as new sources of international capital. They are now globally diversified and involved in a wide variety of sectors, including banking, manufacturing and natural resource exploitation. In the coming years, Chinese outward investment is expected to accelerate. But what is the best destination for China to do the investment? In order to compare Africa, Latin America and ASEAN as potential investment destinations of China’s outward FDI, we should have a clear understanding about the business environment. Environment of Business includes the economic and legal environment, the technological environment, the competitive environment, the social environment, and the global business environment. These five factors can potentially have both a positive and a negative impact on the business. Let’s begin with the first one the economic and legal environment. Financial backers often complain of legal and judicial uncertainties in Africa. This has obviously a dissuasive impact on international investors and weighs heavily on one of Africa’s main structural problems, which is: lack of investment. However, Africa’s subsoil is so rich of commodities that are essential to the world’s economy that Africa can simply not be avoided by foreign investors. The birth of the Organization for the Harmonization of Business Law in Africa (â€Å"OHADA†) was a consequence of the awareness by certain African states mostly former French colonies of the challenge represented by the globalization of markets. While in Latin America it comes to formulating cluster-oriented policies. Clustering seems to enable firms, especially small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), to grow and upgrade more easily. SMEs may even become players in world markets if a high degree of interfirm specialization and their proximity to other firms performing complementary functions offset the disadvantages of being small. Clusters often create positive externalities which help managerial and technical learning. Empirical evidence shows that clustering is especially common among traditional small-scale and labor-intensive activities. Upgrading these activities contributes to a more balanced firm size structure and a more labor-intensive growth pattern. These features of clustering have attracted the interest of policymakers in developing countries and development assistance agencies. With Chinas dynamic economic growth, its relations with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) states have expanded rapidly in recent years, culminating in the conclusion of the landmark China–ASEAN Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement in 2002. Beyond trade and economic activities, China–ASEAN cooperation has broadened to cover the environment, science and technology, non-traditional security areas and related legal issues. Chinas relations with ASEAN have reached a new era where the two sides have established an economic, legal and political framework for their comprehensive cooperation. Then we should concern about the technological environment. It’s known that productivity increases are facilitated by technology innovations, integration of technological innovations with changes in policies, organizations, human capital and infrastructure related to extension, input and output markets and processing services, and coordination of these innovations across different stages. As we all know, in the history, Africa has not got very strong power of science and technology. It has always been a big problem which keeps the economic of Africa from developing. At least, the infrastructure such as transportation, telecommunication, and power is a big limiting factor. In this case, technological environment is not good in Africa for international business. On the other hand, however, this disadvantage also offers much space for international communication. For example, they can receive a lot of technological and financial help and investment. In the past few centuries, many foreigners have brought to the continent their notions of science and technology to harness both the African environment and often also its people. In Latin America, they also have technological gaps. But there have been many changes in these years and they have got new patterns of firm behavior, the new institutional environment and the new policy agenda gradually emerging in the region in the field of Science and Technology as a result of recent trade liberalization and market deregulation efforts. While in this aspect, ASEAN has an absolute advantage. Many countries in ASEAN are not weak in technology. So it is obvious that their technological power provides a better environment for international business, and it will be much more convenient for them to receive introducing investment. Then it comes to the competitive environment. Africa is not developed, but it has its own advantages for development. Resource is the most significant one of them, and it’s also a big reason to cause the competition in international business. The more resources, the more competition. Actually, when talking about resources, things in Latin America are similar to those of Africa. Besides, exploitation in these two regions began late, and countries in these two regions can hardly exploit and develop all by themselves, so they need more investment and many other countries pay attention to them. As a conclusion, it is much more competitive in Africa and Latin America than in ASEAN. It’s time to analyze the issue of social environment. I think different people and different cultures matter most. We can tell it clearly that it’s much easier to invest in ASEAN than in the other two regions. Because China is closer to countries in ASEAN than Africa and Latin America, and our tradition and habits can be similar, so it will be easier to communicate with them and undertake the investment. The last one is the global business environment. The global environment includes war and terrorism, globalization, regional integration. First is the issue of security. ASEAN is the safest region, and there are small local wars and sometimes pirates appear in Africa and Latin America. As to globalization, I think all of these three regions have a good state of it because of the convenient transportation and other aspects. However, ASEAN does better in regional integration, because it covers more than one continent. Comprehensively speaking, I think ASEAN has better global environment. All above is my opinion about Africa, Latin America and ASEAN as potential investment destinations of China’s outward FDI.