weekly wes

Sublimation = Creative Writing

2011-09-24T02:50:00.000-04:00

Freud said we repress our sexual and aggressive energies, and they bubble up as creativity. For example:

--need a punching bag need some sneakers need a fix to feed the tweakers hot and bothered and sweaty and drunk and craving a touch a taste of junk to fill the void to ease the pain to make me happy to keep me sane--

--cups and spoons and stars and moons are travelling over channeling through my then and now and future too twisting fate upon my plate a shadowed path to floating ruin with two black mastiffs standing guard among the mushrooms on my card--

My Summer Haiku Collection

2011-09-24T02:44:00.000-04:00

I love the way that haikus lend themselves to extended metaphors, inside jokes, and other silly nonsense. My favourites are those where the last line changes the meaning of those that came before.

you can lie to me
and i promise to believe
we're star crossed liars

want the world to know
you are the love of my life
vibrating pillow

my heart stops for you
i am sick to my stomach
lovely diaphram

heart black body blue
wishing for another you
lost my favourite game

drinking antifreeze
with australopithecus
i love history

The Preacher

2011-09-24T02:37:00.000-04:00

“Death is the opposite of time. Death transcends time, breaks through the veil, transmutates our reality so that nothing exists. Death is a final note, a wristwatch in amber, a townclock on fire.”
I imbued these words with a passion I did not feel. I hid my ennui, knowing that my congregation was sharply attuned to the stench of inauthenticity. They swayed and murmured in the pews, hanging on my words like the junkies they were.
“Dispel time and you will dispel fate. There can be no morality without suffering, no purpose without loss, no salvation without the absolute corruption of the soul.”
As I spoke these words I pressed a button beneath the altar. I felt the generators roar to life from below, grumbling like a hungry beast. As the lights flickered, my followers became more agitated. Their eyes were wide but empty, their limbs jerking rhythmically. They shared a need, a desperation, a lunacy so single minded as to grant them a haunting beauty. These were my people.
“Nothing chills the heart like symmetry,” I say. I am feeding off the energy of the crowd and letting it speak through me. I am channelling their greed, their piteous despair, spewing it back at them.
“Beauty is at the heart of grief.” The generators finally reach full power. From the shadows above, the squeal of rusty chains heralds the appearance of an iron pallet. As it lowers to the altar, my worshippers see an angelic figure wearing only manacles. He is a youth of exquisite beauty, and the crowd rises from the pews and sighs in unison, pressing forward.
“Beauty is at the heart of grief. Symmetry is the shape of boredom, the mask of despair. Death is the end of time and the end of mystery. Death is the only morality.”
I raise one arm as I speak, injecting the youth with my latest cocktail. My syringe is silver and so are his eyes, glassy from terror. The drugs reach his brain in seconds, and adrenaline floods his bloodstream. A flush touches his pewter flesh, and I can feel the heat of his body warming the air. He is gasping, convulsing, a victim of my chemical gift.
“The Garden of Eden is filled with reminders of a time before. Fallen statues weep rusty tears into broken fountains. It is only I that sees the light, holds the key, and offers you my love.”
With this I slash my dagger across his throat. Dark arterial blood sprays across my flock, covering their faces and filling their mouths. The drink greedily, anxious for the sweet release. I gaze upon them with boredom, unmoved by their ecstasy. Yet there is one brief moment when I admire the beauty of my own dark soul, reflected so clearly in their half-closed eyes. The moment passes in an instant, and one by one their fall to their knees, shivering with pleasure. I am once more filled with ennui, now tinged by disgust at the vulgarity of the feed.
“Fucking junkies,” I mutter, before leaving them heaped within their pools of filth.

Thomas More's Utopia Essay

2010-12-29T19:57:00.000-05:00

Cover of Utopia

Thomas More's famous Utopia can be seen as a treatise on a variety of subjects having to do with good governance in a republic, building on the ideas of classical theorists such as Plato, and imbued with the spirit of the Enlightenment. During the conversations related in the book, the issue of whether it is better to live a life of philosophic contemplation or to pursue a life of politics is discussed several times, with More's character favouring political involvement, while his new friend Raphael Hythloday maintains that quiet contemplation is preferable. This paper will relate the arguments these two men engage in, to show the advantages and disadvantages of both kinds of life, proving in the end that Hythloday was correct in asserting that a life of philosophic contemplation is preferable.

When More's friend Peter Giles introduces him to Raphael Hythloday, Giles early on suggests that Hythloday enter into the service of a king, because his “learning and knowledge ... would entertain ... while [his] knowledge and ... examples would be helpful at the counsel board” (More 2002, 13). This explains one of the main arguments seen in Utopia for why a person should enter into political life – to be of assistance to a King and his counsellors. Peter goes on to say that Raphael could “advance [his] own interests and be of great use ... to all [his] relatives and friends” (More 2002, 13), introducing another argument in favour of political service, namely that it is possible to use it as a springboard to personal advancement, as well as a noble form of altruism – or, at the least, of nepotism. In addition to this service, Peter feels political advisement to be a sure method to make Raphael happy. Surely these are worthwhile reasons to engage in political life.

Raphael is quick to counter Peter's reasons in support of a political life. He says that he has already been of use to his relatives, having given them their inheritance early. He does not, therefore, see this as justification enough to “enslave [him]self to any king” (More 2002, 13). This is the first indication that he views a political life in a manner radically different from the views of Peter (and More). He goes on to say that such a life is “absolutely repellent to [his] spirit” (More 2002, 13), and so therefore could not possibly make him happy. Instead, he notes that he is able to live life as he pleases, whereas “very few courtiers ... can say that” (More 2002, 13). Finally, he counters Peter's idea that he should serve in politics for a king's own sake by professing that so many other men are seeking to fill such a role that he could not be missed. This initial salvo lays the groundwork for Raphael's refutation of politics, in favour of a contemplative life, based on the freedom and happiness it offers him.

More's character is clearly intrigues and impressed by Hythloday's opinions. He interjects that, while a political life may not make Raphael happy, it would be “worthy of [his] noble and philosophical nature [to] devote his intelligence and energy to public affairs” (More 2002, 13). This is one of More's main arguments in favour of a political life – that it is a way to utilize one's learning and experience to encourage in a king “just and noble actions” (More 2002, 13). More initially feels this is a self-evident benefit to pursuing a political life.

Raphael is quick to disillusion More on this point. He asserts that he does not have the skills that More attributes him, and that even if he did “the public would still not be any better off” (More 2002, 14). The reason Hythloday feels this way is that he thinks that “most princes apply themselves to the arts of war ... instead of ... peace” (More 2002, 14), pursuits to which he is not inclined. Raphael would prefer a contemplative life than one supporting kings' pursuit of “new kingdoms by hook or crook” (More 2002, 14). Even despite this ideological stance, Raphael points out that kings' counsellors generally think themselves “so wise already that they don't need to accept or approve advice from anyone else” (More 2002, 14). This forms part of Raphael's main opposition to More's beliefs. He goes on to suggest that most counsellors are self-aggrandizing seekers of favour, more inclined to find “fault with the proposals of others” (More 2002, 14) than to accept good advice. Most counsellors, Raphael says, will denounce innovative policies as disrespectful to ancestral traditions – at least when they are put forth by others (More 2002). Thus Raphael shows a contemplative life as one that avoids having to support war-mongering or face groundless attack from a king's council, and thus as preferable to political engagement.

At this point Raphael relates his opinion on the current state of England's policies toward both thieves and sheep. These disparate topics initially seem unrelated to the merits of a political or contemplative life, but they are in fact integral. Raphael claims that England's policy of executing thieves is not only unjust, since it is overly harsh and in defiance of God's law, but also ineffective, since there are systemic changes occurring which leave many people with literally no choice but to steal, since the only alternative is to starve (More 2002). He says that land enclosure policies, done in the name of raising sheep, are a prime cause of unemployment, poverty, and the need of men to steal. Instead of retributive execution, Raphael suggests a restorative approach, so that society could benefit from the labour of convicts, while they themselves would have the possibility to rejoin society if pardoned by their king (More 2002). This analysis clearly represents the end product of a period of philosophical contemplation for Hythloday, yet it is met with scorn by those who hear it. Raphael says that, when a Cardinal offered his support for the idea, those gathered nearby were soon “praising enthusiastically ideas which they had received with contempt when [Raphael] suggested them” (More 2002, 25). This helps underscore Raphael's assertion that, were he to pursue a political life, his counsel would not be heeded, and it shows how a contemplative life can lead to a better understanding of truth and justice.

Despite Raphael's clever story to illustrate his position, More tries once more to persuade him. He again stresses the idea that a political life would enable Raphael to be “of the greatest advantage to the public welfare” (More 2002, 27), which he asserts to be an important duty of a good man. At this point he even recalls to mind Plato's call for a philosophic political class of kings, trying to ally his arguments with those of respected classical scholars. More claims that an active pursuit of politics offers a chance to make positive change in a kingdom, and is thus preferable to a contemplative life of philosophy.

Yet Raphael again refutes More. He claims that while philosophers are available who would advise, kings are not “willing to take their good advice” (More 2002, 28). He illustrates how kings, lacking a philosophical tendency, would not receive his advice well. For example, what if Raphael recommended the King of France put aside his military expansionism, instead focusing solely on France itself in an effort to govern it well and win the love of his citizens (More 2002)? Even More appears swayed that such advice would not be received “very enthusiastically” (More 2002, 31). Raphael goes on to ask what would happen if he were to suggest, to the contrary of other counsellors' advice, that the King avoid raising money through taxation or unfair economic practises, and that he should instead permit his citizens to flourish by living modestly (More 2002). He is showing that a political life would not in fact allow him to enact positive changes, since his advice would not be well received or subsequently enacted.

More admits that such advice would be ignored. However, he chastises Raphael for delivering it in such an uncompromising and radical manner. He recommends that Raphael use guile, and to not “abandon the commonwealth” (More 2002, 35) just because he is unable to cure every evil at once. Instead, More says that by adopting a more tactful approach, Raphael could prevent the worst abuses of royal power, modifying their governance to be “as little bad as possible” (More 2002, 35). This represents a shift in More's argument, as he has clearly been convinced that deception is necessary in order for Raphael to be successful in a life of politics. Yet still he believes that this harm reduction approach justifies political pursuits.

Raphael does not agree with More. He points out that deception would not permit him to make the change that More believes, instead serving only to support the destructive policies of others – to “confirm them in their madness” (More 2002, 36). He feels prevaricating would “make people feel more secure about doing evil” (More 2002, 36), hardly the noble deed More has suggested. Raphael feels that the system of private property in itself prevents a kingdom from being “just or prosperous” (More 2002, 37), and that while some policies may serve as dressings on the wounds of “sick bodies that are past cure” (More 2002, 37), in the end the only cure is to adopt communism. Thus, at the end of their discussion, Raphael has held fast to his assertion that a life of private contemplative philosophy is preferable to that of the active pursuit of politics.

In summation, this paper has outline the discussion between the characters of Thomas More and Raphael Hythloday regarding whether it is better to live a contemplative or political life. More's initial preference for the political was met with resistance by Raphael, who countered his arguments repeatedly throughout. Raphael pointed out that, were he to become a political adviser, his council would be belittled or ignored, or would have to be moderated in such a way as to be an immoral equivocation. He showed how he would be unhappy and unable to enact the sweeping changes he felt necessary. In the end, the best that More was able to say for a life of political pursuits was that it could offer a man some personal advancement for himself and his kin (a rather small and shallow benefit), and that it could – perhaps – mitigate some of a king's worst policies. Even still this remained doubtful, as the kind of man willing to so moderate his own position as to be well received by a king and his council would be unlikely to be able to maintain enough integrity in the face of constant opposition to fight for incremental moderation of harmful policies. Raphael, on the other hand, showed that contemplative philosophy was a way to maintain his integrity, avoid enslaving himself to a king, and further the search for truth and justice, free from the tyranny of a council of self-serving political advisers.

References

More, Thomas. 2002. Utopia. In Logan, George and Robert Adams, ed. Cambridge, UK: University Press.

Machiavelli's The Prince

2010-12-29T19:51:00.000-05:00

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Since Machiavelli's death in 1527, the Italian's name has become synonymous with duplicity, deceit, and amorality. His work The Prince was meant as a guidebook for a new ruler on how to gain and maintain power Yet a significant cornerstone of advice he offered was that “a ruler must take care … to avoid those things that will make him an object of hatred or contempt” (Machiavelli 1995, 56), a seeming incongruity from one with such a devious reputation. Yet further study on the recommendations Machiavelli offers to his Prince reveals that he proposes a path which, while taking a flexible approach to commonly held moral standards, still holds others' views to be of pragmatic importance. For this reason Machiavelli dictates a course of action which places highest importance on being feared, both by subjects and fellow rulers, followed by being loved, and that to be hated or held in contempt is to be avoided at all costs. This essay will explain the seeming incongruities of this advice, noting his deference to circumstance, by examining Machiavelli's advice to a Prince.

Primarily Machiavelli can be thought of as embracing a morality based on pragmatism. While he admits that action good is surely a preferable course of action, he is sure to make clear in his instructions to a Prince that morals must be swept aside at a moment's notice if need be. He writes that “anyone who wants to act the part of a good man in all circumstances will bring about his own ruin … [so] it is necessary for a ruler … to learn how not to be good” (Machiavelli 1995, 48). This typifies the advice of Machiavelli, which dictates a fluid style of leadership, responsive to the ever changing moods of fickle fate. Further, the author recommends avoiding “those evil qualities … compatible with holding on to power” (Machiavelli 1995, 48) if possible, but attempts to assuage the conscience of any Prince who finds it necessary to engage in them, since “above all you are supposed to have those vices a ruler needs if he is going to stay securely in power” (Machiavelli 1995, 49). Clearly based on this alone it is evident that Machiavelli's advice is at best an overall suggestion, to be discarded as circumstance demands.

Despite his flexibility, Machiavelli uses strong words in warning a Prince against inciting hatred. In order to explain how Machiavelli could recommend being feared above being loved, yet insist a Prince must avoid hatred, it is important to note that he outlines the causes of hatred rather narrowly. He claims that a ruler will “only be hated if [he] seize[s] the property or the women of [his] subjects and citizens” (Machiavelli 1995, 52). Because of this specific delineation of the causes of hatred, Machiavelli is able to suggest a wide range of detestable actions without concern that they would elicit hatred.

Machiavelli's semantic differentiation of the emotions a ruler should incite seems to be based on two aspects - that those actions which provoke fear are in some way expected, or within the rights of a ruler to commit, whereas those which result in hatred are those which violate the most basic human dignities. Further, that when actions cause the hatred of a small few, especially when they are a powerless minority, they in turn cause fear among the masses. For example, Machiavelli recommends that a ruler, when acquiring new territories in a region with a different culture, establish colonies as a way of strengthening control over the area (Machiavelli 1995). In order to do this, a Prince must steal the land of some of the people, to give to the new settlers. This necessarily, according to the definition he has set out, incurs the hatred of those whose land is appropriated. Yet Machiavelli notes the action will “offend only those from whom you seize fields and house... and they will be only a tiny minority” (Machiavelli 1995, 9). He further says that “those whom you offend will be scattered and become poor, so they will be unable to do you any harm” (Machiavelli 1995, 9), showing that to be hated is not so terrible so long as it does not become a widely held view. In noting that “all the rest … will be afraid to make a false move, for they will have before them the fate of their neighbors as an example of what might happen to them” (Machiavelli 1995, 9), Machiavelli shows that he is recommending a cost-benefit analysis to determine how a Prince may get the greatest benefit and deference from the most subjects. This clearly shows that Machiavelli believes that stealing a man's property or women may make him hate you, but will make others fear you, and so is not in fact to be avoided entirely.

Machiavelli instructs his Prince that “no ruler is secure unless he has his own troops … nothing is so fragile as a reputation for strength that does not correspond to one's real capacities” (Machiavelli 1995, 45). This threat to a Prince's power is a result of the fact that without his own troops he will come to be regarded with contempt, as an “armed man has … for the man without weapons” (Machiavelli 1995, 46). Furthermore, this contempt will express itself as a lack of respect from his troops, whom he “cannot trust” (Machiavelli 1995, 46). If not having one's own army is contemptible, then it is to be avoided whenever possible, since Machiavelli looks with scorn upon those rulers who are contemptible.

Machiavelli offers instructions on ways to minimize the negative effects of hatred, if it must be incurred. He recommends that “people should either be caressed or crushed” (Machiavelli 1995, 9). He feels that if one must commit an act that would inspire hatred, it is better to do it in such a way that the person who will hate you is severely weakened. In his own words, the person should be “injure[d] … in such a way that you do not have to fear their vengeance” (Machiavelli 1995, 9-10). This helps explain how the author can recommend that a new Prince should wipe out not just the previous, now-defeated leader, but also should exterminate local nobles and charismatic figures – and even their memory (Machiavelli 1995). Another method Machiavelli recommends is that a Prince commit undesirable actions in one fell swoop. He advises his Prince to “make a list of all the crimes you have to commit and do them all at once” (Machiavelli 1995, 30) so as to mask the full degree of his hateful actions. He further recommends that “whenever you have to kill someone, make sure you have a suitable excuse and an obvious reason” (Machiavelli 1995, 52), demonstrating he recommends taking hateful actions only when they will be supported by, or at least seem justified to, the populace. Surely these examples prove that Machiavelli views being hated as something to be avoided where possible, but that if hateful actions must be taken, they be mitigated or minimized.

In addition to avoiding or minimizing hatred, Machiavelli recommends a Prince manage his reputation. By so massaging his image, a ruler may gain ever more support from his citizens. He may do this by attempting to win his people's love, or by inciting their fear. To win their love, a Prince may institute good governance. Although introducing new government and institutions presents a dangerous time for a Prince, since those who are satisfied under the old system will resist strongly, and those who stand to gain will offer only the support of a skeptic, doing so is beneficial in the long run (Machiavelli 1995). In addition to the new elite that is created, and is made dependent on the Prince for their success, new institutions can help “render [the principality] peaceful and law abiding” (Machiavelli 1995, 51). This helps prevent disorder from spreading, “which leads to murders or looting” (Machiavelli 1995, 51), and therefore leads the populace to, in time, support the Prince even more. Another way a Prince may magnify the love of his people is the corollary of doing evil deeds all at once. He advises a Prince to “do good … little by little, so people can fully appreciate it” (Machiavelli 1995, 31). He goes on to recommend that a Prince court the affections of the masses rather than the elite, since the masses only want to be free of oppression, whereas the elite want, immorally, to oppress (Machiavelli 1995, 32). These examples show how Machiavelli believes that a Prince must seek to attain the support of his citizens, and demonstrate his pragmatic view that earning their love must be approach with a tactical eye.

Another way in which Machiavelli advises his Prince on manipulating his reputation is when he says that attempting to be generous may lead to a reputation for quite the opposite in the long run. He shows how a ruler who attempts to seem generous will have to finance his lavish favours for the few by raising taxes on the many (Machiavelli 1995). Since raising taxes is in effect a way for the Prince to seize some of his citizens' property, this is certain to incite their hatred, especially since the tax burden is so widespread, while the Prince's generosity will benefit “only a few” (Machiavelli 1995, 49). Machiavelli shows how a fiscally conservative policy of small government institutions benefits the people via low taxes, which in turn leads them to view the Prince as generous (Machiavelli 1995). This once more exemplifies Machiavelli's pragmatic approach to governance, with the goal of attaining the support of the greatest number of people for the lowest political cost.

Machiavelli make it clear that it is better to be feared than even loved. He claims that men are “ungrateful, fickle, deceptive and deceiving, avoiders of danger, eager to gain” (Machiavelli 1995, 52). By this he means that whatever warm feelings the masses have toward you - even love - are inconstant, uncertain, able to be swayed by circumstance beyond your control. He says that “men are less nervous of offending someone who makes himself lovable, than someone who makes himself frightening” (Machiavelli 1995, 52), an insightful view of the psychological workings of men. He goes on to say that “since men are wicked, they break whenever their interests are at stake” (Machiavelli 1995, 53), showing how love is an imperfect tool for garnering support, based on the whims of fate, whereas fear is a tool at the Prince's disposal, able to be deployed as necessary and with precision. This shows how Machiavelli believes that, for the Prince, garnering the obedience of his citizens is of primary importance. His pragmatic advice is that fear is a more useful tool in maintaining political power than even love.

Machiavelli's insights have garnered his work The Prince an ongoing importance in political theory, and more than earned him his Machiavellian reputation, This essay has shown that while he cautioned against actions arousing hatred or contempt, he understood expediency might require them, and offered ways to minimize their harm - to the Prince, rather than the citizenry. Machiavelli understood the need for the support of the masses, and called for a variety of deceptions, such as the appearance of piety, to help achieve it This support could primarily stem from the love of the people, which Machiavelli knew was powerful, if inconstant, or fear, which he knew to be the most powerful emotion, through which a Prince could control his citizens with ease and certainty. This is why Machiavelli argued that it is better for a prince to be feared than to be loved.

References

Niccolo, Machiavelli. 1995. The Prince. In Wootton, David, ed. and trans. Indianapolis, IN: Hackett

Publishing.

Ability Grouping: Students Swept Downstream

2010-11-19T00:08:00.003-05:00

Check out my snazzy floooooow chart -WK

The issue of ability streaming is both complex and contentious. In order to determine whether it is beneficial or harmful, it must be asked - for whom? This paper will begin with a brief overview of the issue, followed by an examination of the evidence that ability streaming is detrimental to some of the most vulnerable students. It will then discuss the benefits of streaming to those gifted students who are chosen to enter advanced streams. Subsequently it will be shown that streaming is not good for society as a whole, vis-a-vis the reproduction of social inequalities. Finally, the paper will recommend a policy course for the future of academic differentiation. While ability grouping has only narrow benefit at present, it has the potential to encourage students' and change their lives.

[more after the jump - click here]

Ability Grouping

Ability grouping, or streaming, is common in almost all modern school systems (Terwel 2005), and in an increasingly competitive globalizing world, it represents a potential tool for “raising student attainment” (Ireson, Hallman, and Hurley 2005:443). Streaming can be seen to exist along a continuum, with some schools offering, in addition to general instruction, either advanced tracks for the most gifted students, or remedial streams for low-achieving students. More fully streamed schools may offer both differentiations (Gamoran 1989), or more. In addition, different schools with similar streaming styles may differ in the socioeconomic makeup of students, the allocation of resources by the schools to the various streams, and the attitudes and pedagogy of individual teachers toward students in different streams. All of these factors can impact students' attitudes and achievements (which reinforce each other), making the effects of ability streaming difficult to isolate. However, researchers tend to agree that the impact of ability grouping depends greatly on the group into which students are streamed.

Impacts of Streaming by Low Ability

There is evidence that ability grouping can be harmful for low-achieving students (Terwel 2005), representing a major criticism of ability grouping. There are many contributing factors to this effect (illustrated in Figure 1). Teachers of lower-streamed classes often lower their expectations of students, demanding less critical thinking and independent work, and instead stressing rote memorization and rule following (Stevens and Vermeersch 2010). Students in remedial streams also lack positive peer role models and face more interruptions from fellow classmates (Slavin 1990). Partly due to this, teachers of remedial streams spend more time on class discipline and less on instruction (Terwel 2005). Furthermore, the most qualified teachers migrate toward higher streams (ibid.), leaving behind those that are weak, inexperienced, or burned out.

These least desirable teachers, in charge of the most vulnerable students, often take a negative attitude toward those they are meant to be instructing. They may view students in their streams as unteachable, uninterested, and so cater their lessons accordingly - by reducing academic requirements. In addition to teachers' attitudes, low-achieving students' views are also negative, as they often adopt an anti-school attitude and have a less positive academic self-concept (ASC) (Gamoran 1989). In turn this may lead to lower aspirations and academic attainment. This helps explain why students from lower streams are less likely to plan to attend post-secondary schools than higher stream students with similar ability (ibid.). These outcomes of ability grouping have led to a de-tracking movement in many school systems (Rubin 2006). It is clear that ability differentiation as currently widely practiced produces negative outcomes for those students in low-ability streams.

Impacts of Streaming by High Ability

The main benefits of ability grouping are for academically gifted students in the highest streams (see Figure 1). One of the main reasons cited for placing high achieving students into a gifted stream is to prevent boredom (Preckel, Götz, and Frenzel 2010). Student boredom has been positively correlated with negative outcomes ranging from nicotine and alcohol consumption to juvenile delinquency and higher drop out rates (ibid.), and there is some evidence that academically gifted students in a comprehensive curriculum experience more boredom due to a lack of challenge (Preckel et al. 2010). Higher streams benefit from instruction by top quality teachers, who place greater emphasis on critical thinking and creative problem solving, and use more engaging material. These students also benefit academically from having a positive peer group.

Besides strictly academic outcomes, being placed in a gifted stream can have psychosocial impacts. While these can be positive, including improved social relationships, gifted streams can also undermine the academic self-concept of high ability students who find themselves in contrast with other high ability peers (Peckel et al. 2010). This is explained by the Big Fish Little Pond Effect (BFLPE), which posits that academic self-perception is based on a student's frame of reference, so that being in a setting where peers ability is high leads to lower ASCs, while a setting with low average ability level allows high ASCs (Marsh et al. 2008). However, the negative effects of the BFLPE are short-lived, reversing themselves within months. Overall, the effects of ability grouping on students selected for advanced streams is positive both socially and academically.

Impacts of Streaming on Society

Another criticism of ability streaming is that it reproduces social inequalities. There is a positive correlation between higher family social class and entrance into advanced streams (Stevens and Vermeersch 2010), meaning children from lower socioeconomic status (SES) families are more likely to enter lower ability streams. Once in lower streams, it is often difficult for students to switch to a higher stream at a later date (Terwel 2005). This negative outcome is heightened by the fact that low achieving students appear to be more reliant on the quality of their learning environment, because they have access to fewer resources (such as parental emphasis on learning and access to cultural capital) outside the classroom (ibid.). Additionally, minority students are over-represented in lower streams and schools, a form of 'second-generation segregation' (Gamoran 1993). It is clear that students' separation among higher and lower streams mirrors wider social stratification (Gamoran 1989), and in fact ability grouping can be seen as “a major factor in the development of elite and under-class groups in society” (Slavin 1990:473). Based on these findings, ability grouping has a negative effect on society by reproducing social inequality and reducing students' potential for mobility.

The Future of Streaming

It is clear that ability grouping in schools is a multifaceted issue. While helpful to some, especially those students placed in advanced streams, streaming is an improperly implemented tool that perpetuates social inequality. Based on this, what should future educational policy seek to achieve with regard to streaming? With regard to more advanced students, streaming should continue to be used to help maximize the potential - and reduce the boredom - of the best and brightest. More emphasis, however, should be placed on ameliorating the negative effects of the BFLPE. As for students grouped into lower streams, this is a policy that is generally harmful as currently practiced. However, there remains hope that lower streams could positively impact students, as evidence exists that effective low-stream courses do exist. They are able to combat the dire outcomes of most low-stream offerings by maintaining teachers' high expectations and academic curriculum, an emphasis on oral discourse, and a practice of preventing low streams from becoming a catch-basin for less qualified teachers (Gamoran 1993). It is by emulating similar best-practices that the benefits of ability streaming can become more universal, by challenging all children to succeed. If remedial streams can succeed in improving the life chances of all levels of students, their aspirations and achievements will soar. It is at that point that ability grouping will be of true benefit.

References

Gamoran, Adam. 1989. “Measuring Curriculum Differentiation.” American Journal of Education 97(2):129-43.

------. 1993. “Alternative Uses of Ability Grouping in Secondary Schools: Can We Bring High-Quality Instruction to Low-Ability Classes?” American Journal of Education 102(1):1-22.

Ireson, Judith, Susan Hallam, and Clare Hurley. 2005. “What are the Effects of Ability Grouping on GCSE Attainment?” British Educational Research Journal 31(4):443-58.

Marsh, Herbert W., Marjorie Seaton, Ulrich Trautwein, Oliver Lüdtke, K. T. Hau, Alison J. O'Mara, and Rhonda G. Craven. 2008. “The Big-fish-little-pond-effect Stands Up to Critical Scrutiny: Implications for Theory, Methodology, and Future Research.” Educational Psychology Review 20(3):319-50.

Preckel, Franzis, Thomas Götz, and Anne Frenzel. 2010. “Ability Grouping of Gifted Students: Effects on Academic Self-Concept and Boredom.” British Journal of Educational Psychology 80(3): 451-72.

Rubin, Beth C. 2006. “Tracking and Detracking: Debates, Evidence, and Best Practices for a Heterogeneous World.” Theory Into Practice 45(1):4-14.

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IMF Part 3: Research Design

2010-04-01T21:58:00.001-04:00

This is the final component of my 3 part assignment on the IMF.
You can read part 1 here
You can read part 2 here

The purpose of this research design is threefold. First, it will review the extensive body of academic literature on the International Monetary Fund (IMF), including a brief provision of context based on my previous research. The IMF's role in facilitating debt relief and economic reforms will be outlined, paying attention specifically to the role of the IMF in achieving its stated goals of assisting nations experiencing balance of payment problems. The literature review will also examine the IMF's role in facilitating or interrupting domestic democratic processes, and related concepts of its democratic deficit and lack of transparency, and its role in culture and identity, sovereignty, and human security. This will be situated within a context of globalization and the changing nature of the state. Further, this research design will develop a research question and hypothesis based on and situated within the current academic context. Finally, it will prepare a fieldwork component to a future research project in order to answer the questions raised by other scholars'
work. By doing so, this paper will contribute to a growing body of literature on one of the most influential institutions of the globalized world, the IMF.

[continued after the jump, or click on title to view full article]
This paper will begin by examining some of the available research on the IMF, drawing upon previous work on the topic as a guiding framework. A summary of past research explains the role of the IMF as
threefold; to provide surveillance of economic and financial policies, to offer technical training, and to provide financing to nations experiencing balance of payment problems, often at low interest (IMF,
2006). The IMF is a truly global institution operating on six continents simultaneously and in real time, attempting to foresee and forestall the economic crises that result from reduced capital
controls in a global market (ibid.). While it is a powerful global actor that maintains relations with other non-state institutions and offers macroregional policy advice, it is still primarily a state-focused mechanism. This discussion sets the stage for a more rigorous investigation into the responses to, outcomes of, and motivations behind the IMF.
Despite its emphasis on poverty reduction, the IMF is a contentious institution. It has been the subject of massive street protests (Bruner, 2003; Scholte, 2005) from the so-called anti-globalization movement, a disparate group united by the feeling that the IMF represents a threat. It has been contested for its emphasis on neo-liberal policies, especially its emphasis on 'privatization of state held assets' (Bruner, 2003:694), as well as its use of structural adjustment programs which require an often radical transformation of a state's 'financial, legal, and corporate infrastructures' (ibid.). Most unpopular, austerity programs and
shock therapies have often had chaotic outcomes for citizens living through wildly fluctuating prices, a sharp reduction in government services, and reduced wages (Bruner, 2003; Klein, 2008). However, the opposition to the IMF has changed significantly in the wake of the twin tower attacks of 2001. A growing focus on security has, in the words of Bruner (2003), 'turned the prevailing world order into a dichotomy between 'economic liberalization' and 'terrorism'' (698), wherein domestic resistance to IMF policies, and neo-liberal
globalization more generally, have been increasingly branded as homegrown terrorism. This has helped to divorce the decision making process for the IMF, a supposedly global governance regime, from input
from civil society.
A major criticism of the IMF found both in the research and from protest groups is its lack of transparency. According to Manfred Steger, as quoted in Bruner (2003), the IMF is engaged in a 'rhetoric
of reform' (702) while continuing to conduct business as usual. Others have concluded that there is an 'inherent tension between conditions imposed by an outside lender and the cardinal democratic
principle of consent' (Kapur and Naim, 2005:90). This tension places the wishes of the polity in opposition to the conditionalities of the IMF, with the state serving as a moderator. Yet the state is often experiencing duress at this point, and weaker or poorer states may 'have nowhere else to turn' (Kapur and Naim, 2005:94), and so the wishes of its citizens may be swept aside in the interest of simply keeping the state and its finances afloat. This type of democratic deficit would be condemned at the national level, yet it is embraced by commentators as 'tough love' (Reguly, 2010).
In addition to the IMF's democratic deficit, it also has an impact on the democratic process of recipient nations. Once the terms of refinance are hammered out, conditionalities see the IMF 'mixing sticks ... and carrots' (Wei and Zhang, 2010) in order to convince nations to adopt unpopular or unwanted policies in exchange for badly needed financing. This places the recipient nation's government in a delicate situation, where popular promises to its citizens may have to be broken, leading 'voters [to become] more cynical about political leaders and the connection between elections and public policies' (Kapur and Naim, 2005:94). Even if no changes of direction are occasioned, austerity measures and other conditionalities may have 'enormous short-term political costs' (Kapur and Naim, 2005:95).
While the IMF has often been attributed with so called democracy building, research has found that the terms of its programs are too short for such an ambitious project, and the in fact that efforts to 'speed up democratic development achieve little and may even slow the rise of prodemocratic dynamics' (Kapur and Naim, 2005:90). In a world where international governance is newly coming to supplant the centrality of states, such short sighted and potentially harmful approaches should be judged critically.
The majority of the research done on the IMF has focused on the ways in which its policies have harmed or helped nations that have received assistance. Certain researchers (Wei and Zhang, 2010) have operated
within a framework that assumes that the goals of the IMF are inherently good, and have sought out to prove their relative effectiveness. They have worked to identify variables, such as a recipient nation's perceived 'willingness to reform' (ibid.) as being central to the efficacy of structural adjustment programs. However,
this research tends to be narrower in scope, making it a less valuable indicator of the IMF's true performance, and thus a more nuanced approach is needed.
Other researchers have taken a more mixed view of the IMF's policies, noting that while certain nations have benefited from assistance, others have experienced 'a period of failed, half-hearted, or non-existent reforms' (Kramer, 199:16). This group of scholars posits that while the IMF is generally well intentioned, it can have unintended negative consequences, either due to mission creep, an unclear mandate, or a lack of expertise or public consultation (Bradlow and Grossman, 1995; Bird, 2009). Some studies have shown
that the IMF's structural adjustment programs coincide with a higher incidence of infant mortality rates (Mukherjee, 2008), but this is perhaps dependent on factors such as whether the recipient nation has
a robust democracy or is more autocratic in nature. Still other authors in this group claim that policy rigidity at the IMF can lead to prescriptive approaches which work well for certain nations, but perform less well in others (Abbott, Anderson, and Tarp, 2010). Authors in this group generally perceive the IMF as a vital
institution on the global stage, but one that is in need of reform.
Still others have taken a more critical stance in examining the IMF, pointing out the ways in which it can interfere with the domestic democratic process of a nation (Kapur and Naim, 2005; Chossudovsky,
1998). Critics have also focused on the all too real human cost of a nation's involvement with the IMF, for example by highlighting the direct connection between the organization's insistence that India phase out fertilizer subsidies, and a subsequent increase in poverty and death (Chossudovsky, 1998). Others, while not as graphic in their examples, have shown the IMF to be a tool of oppression utilized by the international capitalist class to force open markets and trap whole regions in a spiral of dependency (Klein, 2008). Other analysis has tended to be critical specifically of the IMF's prescriptions, finding that they have recommended the very policies which in turn make a nation more likely to need IMF assistance (Bird, 2009). While
this might be for a variety of reasons, there is evidence that receiving IMF assistance makes it increasingly likely that a nation will take part in an IMF program in the future (Dreher, 2010). These criticisms of the IMF begin to ask the question of why a nation would even engage with such an institution to begin with.
The research perhaps responds to this question by noting that US and certain other Western nations have an undue influence over the actions of the IMF and the policies it endorses (Kramer, 1999; Thacker, 1999).
This particular view is supported by the fact that the voting mechanisms are based on the financial contributions of member states, rather than either a one country, one vote system or even one based on
relative populations (Kapur and Naim, 2005). Other theorists have noted that the IMF is unduly influenced, not by the economic situation of a particular nation, or the needs of its populace, but by largely western-influenced notions of geopolitical importance (Reynaud and Vauday, 2009; Thacker, 1999). Furthermore, there is evidence that the IMF is more willing to provide loans, with fewer contingent requirements, to temporary members of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC). This suggests that temporary members are coerced into voting in ways favourable to the US (and its allies) in exchange for more loans, or those with fewer strings attached (Dreher Sturm, and Vreeland, 2009).
To provide a deeper context, it is important to link the subject matter with an overarching theme of globalization. As mentioned above, the IMF is a global institution with an often macro-regional focus. This is necessary, since the process of globalization and its concomitant interconnection of markets and economies has meant that the crises which the IMF attempts to prevent are more unstable and much less contained by state borders (Scholte, 2005). The present recession has caused individuals, communities, theorists and nations to re-examine the present system of neo-liberal policies, helping to break through the wall of docility that has prevailed since 9/11. This has been exasperated by the fact that globalization has increasingly linked a far-flung international capitalist class, distinct from the majority of the world’s workers and with opposing
goals (Klein, 2008). There is also renewed talk of how a weakened US currency may be supplanted by the IMF's own currency (Yanjiu, 2009). Indeed, this currency, the Special Drawing Right (SDR), is a microcosm of the globalization process, one that is supraterritorial and based on a global basket (IMF, 2006), including the Euro which is itself a macro-regional currency (Scholte, 2005).
The process of globalization is also to be seen in identity and culture, and IMF assistance is deeply tied to this as well, coming as it often does at the expense of hard-won social welfare programs (Klein, 2008), often a vital component of national identity (an example being Canadians' identification with their public health
care). Further, as more people increasingly see themselves as citizen of the world, as part of a “global village” (Scholte, 2005), this identity makes them question the fairness of resource distribution, and the lack of human security which the IMF so poorly addresses.
In addition to both economic and identity issues, the IMF is related to democracy, or the lack thereof, in many parts of the developing world. As an international economic governance body, it is surprisingly unaccountable, nontransparent, and inaccessible, in ways already discussed. Besides its internal democratic deficit, or perhaps because of it, the IMF's involvement with a nation interferes with the development of a healthy democratic process (Kapur and Naim, 2005). Based on the Immanuel Kant’s democratic peace thesis, later furthered by Michael Doyle, interfering with a nation’s democracy could threaten human security by increasing the likelihood of both inter- and intrastate conflict (Baylis, Smith, and Owens, 2008). In a
more globalized world, where civil and military strife can quickly become regional conflict (ibid.), this effect of the IMF is highly objectionable. These processes, on the axes of global macroeconomics, culture and identity, and democracy and security, have all shown the interactional nature of the IMF and the globalization process.
The chilling effect on democracy and security also relates the IMF to the notion of the state. As globalization has intensified, the state has seen many of its traditional roles challenged or superseded, as
seen within the IMF's surveillance, training, and lending roles (IMF, 2006). Far from disappearing, however, the state has altered its roles (Scholte, 2005). It pays increasing attention to issues of security, border control, and immigration, particularly in the wake of 9/11. This securitization has highlighted the dichotomous nature of
the globalization process, wherein the transfer of goods, services, information and ideas through and between borders has increased exponentially, while the movement of people as both citizens and labour has not (Scholte, 2005). By chilling the democratic process within states, this increases the likelihood of conflict and war, in turn promoting a further tightening of borders as a fearful expression of sovereignty.
Furthermore, as already show, the state has questionable agency in its interactions with the IMF. The adoption of policies without choice violates traditional notions of state sovereignty. Further, the IMF’s
actions have been shown to benefit multinational corporations and major lending institutions, often more than nations themselves (Babbie, 2007), proving the increasing power and influence of non-state actors. This also suggests that the IMF, a non-state actor itself, is less concerned with states than serving the interests of other non-state actors, leaving states a distant consideration in the process. The combination of the changing nature of the state and its relative decline in importance shows how the IMF represents a potentially worrisome threat to the state as an institution.
To summarize the literature review section of this research design paper, the IMF is a contentious organization with an ever-changing and expanding mandate. It has a complex relationship to wider
geopolitical events, such that in the current climate of anti-terrorist security rhetoric it has become largely unassailable and inaccessible by civil society groups. Further, the IMF is an institution which espouses the virtues of transparency for its member nations, while remaining largely inscrutable in its decision making
process. What evidence has become known suggests that its policy recommendations are as often harmful as they are helpful, and that its involvement with a nation may decrease quality of life for citizens and increase the likelihood of future dependence on IMF programs. The conditionalities the IMF imposes have been termed inflexible and arbitrary at best, and at worst a form of coercion to help the US and its allies achieve geopolitical policy objectives. Further, these structural adjustment policies are often politically unpopular,
leading to unstable governments and unhappy citizens with a reduced confidence in the democratic accountability process.
Based on the complex but overall gloomy picture of the IMF that has emerged from the academic literature, this paper will now formulate a research question and hypothesis, before conceptualizing and
operationalizing a research design. While hinted at in the above research, there appears to be a gap related to assessing the motivational factors which cause a particular nation to seek out or accept IMF assistance and the attached conditionalities. This is an important area of research in understanding how an institution with
such a questionable record of accomplishment can continue to be not only regarded as legitimate, but also sought out in times of duress. Successfully answering it may help to address concerns about the IMF's
impact on democracy, its status as a vehicle for purchasing UNSC votes, and its ability to help nations retain the full extent of their sovereign decision making process even in light of a crisis. This may
be done by suggesting reforms for the IMF to pursue, or by outlining the structure and mandate of an entirely new organization in its wake.
Along this vein, the research question which needs to be answered is what factors contribute to a nation's government seeking out IMF assistance and accepting the conditionalities involved. This is a complex issue, and results in numerous hypotheses to be tested. It will examine a number of involved factors, including pressure from bilateral trading partners as well as the international political and investment communities, faith in the effectiveness of the IMF as a source of stabilizing policies and as a signifier to the wider financial community of the soundness of a nation's economic policy, and domestic reformist pressure brought by investors and the corporate sector. The main hypothesis is that, in addition to these factors, the most inescapable and insurmountable reason for accepting the IMF's terms is the immediate inability to meet balance of payment responsibilities brought on by the highly mobile nature of capital in the globalized market and delivered via currency attacks. This has been summed up by Naim and Kapur (2005:13) when they reported an agent of Argentina admitted that the IMF's program was 'not really what Argentina wanted, but [it] had been forced on the country as there was no further access to credit'. This is a statement which begs further elucidation, and sets the tone for the type of research to be done.
Primarily the research will be comprised of one-on-one interviews with central bank ministers and heads of state of all nations having received IMF support since 1990. These interviews will be semi-structured, in order to both provide direction for questions probing the motivations behind seeking and accepting IMF support, and to allow for the richness of qualitative response (Babbie, 2007). The questions will seek to elicit respondents' opinions of their interactions with the IMF, and the benefits or drawbacks for their nation's democratic process, economic situation, identity and culture, and sovereignty. They will also seek to differentiate domestic motivations for IMF involvement (such as economic instability) from external ones (such as international pressure). Finally, an emphasis will be placed on respondents' assessment of alternative courses of action – did they feel there were other avenues to address their issues, or did they feel there was no other choice but to accept IMF assistance and conditionalities. There will also be an examination of
whether the IMF's recent emphasis on national ownership of terms has influenced respondents' perceptions of conditionalities. By conducting such intimate interviews, this program will be able to deduce the structure and motivation of the IMF assistance process from within the government of nations receiving support, in a way that information from the IMF itself could not. The main hypothesis is that respondents will feel that there was in fact no other option than to involve with the IMF and accept their conditionalities, and that the recent emphasis on ownership has had a negligible impact on perceptions of alternatives or the palatability of terms. Future research will build off this design by cross-referencing findings with a review of IMF policy documents, and though both unlikely and unethical, participant observation at the highest echelons of IMF
administration would provide invaluable information on decision-making and policy formation.
In conclusion, based on the wide body of literature surveyed, the IMF’s claims to be assisting nations is dubious. This has been shown in light of its effects on economics, identity and culture, and democracy and security. Based on the IMF’s importance to the changing character and ongoing development of the institution of the state, and in light of the increasing interconnectedness and velocity of globalization, there is a great need to further the research as regards the level of agency states retain in interactions with the IMF. This research program has set out the form of a study to be undertaken, in the hopes that the IMF may be reformed or supplanted.

References
Abbott, P., Anderson, T. B., & Tarp, F. (2010). IMF and economic reform in developing countries. Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, 50(1), 17-26.

Babbie, Earl. (2007). The practice of social research (11th ed.). California: Thomson Wadsworth.

Baylis, J., Smith, S., & Owens, P. (2008). The globalization of world
politics: An introduction to international relations (4th ed.). New York: Oxford University Press.

Bird, G. (2009). Exchange rate regimes in developing and emerging economies and the incidence of IMF programs. World Development, 37(12), 1839-1848.

Bradlow, D. D., & Grossman, C. (1995). Limited mandates and intertwined problems: A new challenge for the World Bank and the IMF. Human Rights Quarterly, 17(3), 411-442.

Bruner, M. L. (2003). Global governance and the critical public. Rhetoric and public affairs, 6(4), 687- 708.

Chossudovsky, M. (1998). Global poverty in the late 20th century. Journal of International Affairs (52).

Dreher, A. (2010). Does the IMF help or hurt? The effect of IMF programs on the likelihood and outcome of currency crises. World Development, 38(1), 1-18.

Dreher, A., Sturm, J., & Vreeland, J. R. (2009). Global horse trading: IMF loans for votes in the United Nations Security Council. European Economic Review, 53(7), 742-757.

International Monetary Fund (IMF). (2006). What is the IMF? Retrieved March 6, 2010, from http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/exrp/what.htm#do.

Kapur, D., & Naim, M. (2005). The IMF and democratic governance. Journal of Democracy, 16(1), 89-102

Klein, N. (2008). The shock doctrine: The rise of disaster capitalism. Toronto: Random House.

Kramer, M. (1999). The changing economic complexion of Eastern Europe and Russia: Results and lessons of the 1990s. SAIS Review, 19(2), 16-45.

Mukherjee, B. (2008). International economic organizations and economic development: An assessment. SAIS Review, 28(2), 123-137.

Reguly, E. (2010, March 12). IMF's fiscal tough love the best option for Greece: Perhaps it's time to stop the rot in euro zone by severing the Greek limb. The Globe and Mail. Retrieved from http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/commentary/imfs-fiscal-tough-love-the-best-option-for-greece/article1497029/.

Reynaud, J., & Vauday J. (2009). Geopolitics and international organizations: An empirical study on IMF facilities. Journal of Development Economics, 89(1), 139-162.

Scholte, J. A. (2005). Globalization: A critical introduction (2nd ed.). New York: Palgrave Macmillan.

Thacker, S. C. (1999). The high politics of IMF lending. World Politics, 52(1), 38-75.

Wei, S., & Zhang, Z. (2010). Do external interventions work? The case of trade reform conditions in IMF supported programs. Journal of Development Economics, 92(1), 71-81.

Yanjiu, J. (2009). The financial crisis's implications on international trade and finance order. Economic Research Journal, 44(11), 47-54.

A Missing Feminist Revolution in Sociology: 25 Years Later

2010-03-15T13:39:00.002-04:00

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As a second year sociology student at Mac I had often congratulated myself on the enlightened nature of my chosen discipline. Brushing off criticisms that I was engaging in a field dominated by the narrow perspectives of a priveleged few middle-class, white, heterosexual males, I confidently pointed to the prevalence of gender as a variable in nearly all sociological research. Writing this article made me rethink some of my basic assumptions...

Barrie Thorne and Judith Stacey's article 'The Missing Feminist Revolution in Sociology', is a jab at a discipline which has long claimed to seek value-neutral knowledge on social facts. The present paper will summarize arguments about the lack of maturity in sociological feminist ideologies, and the subsequent lack of paradigmatic changes. It will explain how the fields of history, literature, and especially anthropology have embraced their own feminist revolutions, bringing them to the core of their disciplines and canons in a way that is not reflected in sociology. It will then outline the ways in which feminism has been both co-opted and ghettoized by mainstream sociology, and ideas for change. Finally, the article will be analyzed in light of the changes that have taken place, since its 1985 date of publication, as evidenced by the content of McMaster University's sociology program.
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To begin, Stacey and Thorne offer a brief outline of the accomplishments of feminism in sociology. These include the prolific publication of 'gender-sensitive research' (Stacey & Thorne, 1985), the effect of feminist ideologies on correcting 'androcentric biases' in a wide range of issue-areas, the revitalization of a range of areas of study central to the lives of women (and men) from a less distorted standpoint, and the establishment of new areas of study ranging from 'wife battering [to] compulsory heterosexuality' (ibid.).
Despite these achievements, Stacey and Thorne go on to explain how the impact of feminism on sociology has disappointed past expectations. To make this case, they rely on Peggy McIntosh's description of the 'stages in feminist transformations of knowledge' (ibid.). McIntosh posits that the first period is one where feminism essentially fills in the gaps of a knowledge field. This process reveals the fact that prevailing paradigms 'ignore or erase' (ibid.) the experiences of women, which in turn 'leads feminists to rethink the basic ... frameworks' (ibid.) of their field.
Stacey and Thorne claim that sociology, like other positivist fields including such as economics, has resisted moving from the initial stage to a paradigm shift, which they characterize as involving both the creation of new frameworks by feminists, and 'the acceptance of those transformations' (ibid.) throughout the field. To clarify, they show that feminist sociology has been included in small ways, such as the inclusion of courses offered on '”sex roles”, gender, and women' (ibid.), yet remains absent from most theory or methodology courses. Further, they note that sociological courses dealing with feminism and gender often must cite sources from outside of the discipline, due to a lack of published works to draw upon, as evidence by the underrepresentation of sociologists in feminist theory journals.
In order to help support their claims that there exists a missing revolution in sociology, Stacey and Thorne outline the achievements of feminists in three other fields, namely history, literature, and most importantly anthropology. In the field of history, they point to sweeping, discipline-wide changes, furthered by the egalitarian agenda of social history, which led to both a challenge of the centrality of 'politics, public policy, and famous individuals' (ibid.), and a reconceptualizing of historical periods as different for men and women. Finally, they point to the ascendence of social history within the discipline as a reflection of the increased emphasis feminism has placed on the '”private” sphere' (ibid.), showing that there have been both wide and deep changes to the field resulting from feminism.
Turning next to the discipline of literature, Stacey and Thorne point first to the near universal acceptance of privileged white males as the focus of interest that dominated the field for so long. This has been changed by feminist who have 'recovered and re-evaluated' (ibid.) female writers and alternative writing formats, begging the question of how the predominantly male bias ever came to exist. Feminists answered this by pointing to the social nature of canon formation, exemplified by the 20th century process whereby literature's canon was 'whitewashed' and purified from women's contributions. This has led to an understanding of the unique pressures facing past female writers, and to a re-evaluation of 'aesthetic standards' (ibid.) which had caused male bias. This has allowed for a radical reinterpretation, although there has still been resistance to the new frameworks provided by a female-centric understanding (ibid.). This section shows the gains to be made from applying a feminist paradigm, as well as the continued difficulties in ensuring said gains are widespread within the field.
Within the discipline of anthropology, the authors note that there is a historical precedence for the involvement of women, and suggest that this may be the reason for the impressive gains made for feminist understandings (ibid.). They note that not only were women more represented among the ranks of early anthropologists, but also that the very subject matter itself demanded a close attention paid to issues of gender, such as the division of labour (ibid.). An example of the way in which feminist, female-centric theorizing has matured within the discipline is in the way “Woman the Gatherer” theories asserted a dominant role for women in 'the development of human intelligence and culture' (IBID REF 305), changing to a more nuanced focus on modern foraging-hunting societies' acceptance of the male-centric model put forth by “Man the Hunter” theories (ibid.). This shift is away from simply female-centric models to more fully gendered paradigms which trace the development and spread of gender ideologies within the field's focus of study (ibid.), and it shows the gains possible from a mature and widespread feminist revolution within a discipline.
Returning to sociology, the authors posit that despite some gains, feminism's contributions have been contained. Partly this stems from the fact that sociology is theoretically not as 'dramatically male-centered as ... history or literature' (ibid.), despite the strong influence of those of privilege. Further, subfields such as family and community studies did include gender, 'albeit ... in distorted, androcentric ways' (ibid.). It was this combination of a less male-centric field and the presence of gender only within contained subfields which led to a co-opting of feminist paradigms (ibid.).
Stacey and Thorne (1985) note that there are three reasons which allowed the co-opting of feminism within sociology to occur. The first is the effect that the once-dominant functionalist theories had on the field as a whole. Shaped primarily by Talcott Parsons, who has been heavily criticized for his breakdown of family life into male- and female-appropriate roles, sociology of the family began as a conservative subfield which still retains a focus on the reproduction of gender roles (ibid.). Feminists have cast off some of the more androcentric notions of Parson, such as by emphasizing gender in politics and gender hierarchies, yet functionalism still has a freezing affect on feminist efforts within sociology, most notably by depoliticizing gender through the use of terms such as 'sex role' (ibid.).
Another way in which the feminist revolution has been co-opted within sociology relates to the use of gender as a variable. While increasingly gender has been included in quantitative studies, it has been done so as an inherent characteristic of individuals rather than 'as a principle of social organization' (ibid.). Some progress has been made in that theories related to prestige and status attainment have been found lacking in relation to women, prompting research on gender discrepancies, yet this has served merely to entrench the notion of gender as a variable rather than a 'basic theoretical category' (ibid.), simply furthering the co-opting of feminism within the discipline.
Finally, Stacey and Thorne (1985) point to the ghettoization of feminism within Marxism as evidence of its co-optation within the wider field. While Marxist-Feminist theories flourish, they remain marginal to core Marxist discussion, which remains focused on androcentric notions of man's relationship to production (ibid.) While Marxism, itself a critical theory, has prompted feminist theorists to engage in heated debate as they attempt to build a cohesive Marxist-Feminist paradigm, there has been a marked isolation from the wider body of literature (ibid.). This can be seen in the fact that important contemporary Marxist theorists Immanuel Wallerstein and Erik Olin Wright have ignored basic implications of feminist literature in their studies of class (ibid.). These and the above examples all point to the ghettoized, co-opted nature of feminist understandings within sociology.
A further understanding of the comparative absence of a feminist revolution within sociology requires investigation into epistemological considerations. Sociology has a tradition of positivist, universalistic understandings of knowledge, in contrast to the more reflexive, interpretive methods of literature, history, and anthropology (ibid.). Within these disciplines where feminism has made headway there is a general understanding that knowledge is shaped by the historical context in which it is generated, an understanding that is less widespread in sociology (ibid.). Feminists have criticized the positivist viewpoint as “rigidly autonomous” (ibid.) and more commonly found among men. Further, they have seen it as denying agency and involvement to subjects of study, and seek to radically supplant this with a more interpretive approach (ibid.).
Stacey and Thorne (1985) end by noting that not all barriers to a feminist revolution within sociology are external. They also point to the relative lack of maturity within feminist sociology as an impediment, to be rectified via the development of more fully gendered theories outside of domestic and female-centric topics (ibid.). This maturity is especially important considering the often atheoritcal nature of sociological research, which does little to advance or change paradigms, and because of the benefits a holistic approach can offer to a discipline tasked with studying complex societies (ibid.).
The article by Stacey and Thorne was written 25 years ago, and yet much of its findings still hold true, as reflected in the sociology department at McMaster University. Functionalism has not returned to dominance, yet notions of instrumental and expressive roles are still to be found in the canon, and therefore introductory theory courses (albeit with reservations expressed). Further, gender is still predominantly a variable rather than a core category within most subfields (discounting family and gender), and some contemporary theories based in the functionalist tradition (such as within deviance) neglect gender even as a variable. Feminist theories remain ghettoized, as evidenced by the continued distinction given to 'hyphen literature' (ibid), especially within the Marxist tradition. This also occurs within courses as a whole, which tend to offer a small lecture on feminist paradigms as distinct from other theoretical considerations, as if “separate or different but equal” (ibid.). Finally, there continues to be an absence of widespread gendered understanding within the field, and an unfortunate lack of the interpretive epistemological understanding called for by Stacey and Thorne. The sad reality is that, 25 years later, there is still a missing feminist revolution in sociology.

References
Stacey, J. & Thorne, B. Social Problems, The Missing Feminist Revolution in Sociology
Vol. 32, No. 4 (Apr., 1985), pp. 301-316

IMF Part 1: Research Proposal

2010-03-10T03:11:00.003-05:00

You can read part 2 here
You can read part 3 here

The purpose of this paper is to outline the initial details of a research project, focused on the neo-liberal policies outlined in Naomi Klein's Shock Doctrine (2008) as Chicago School disaster capitalism, specifically as exemplified by occurrences in Latin America during the 1970s. Briefly, Klein posits that disaster capitalism, then during its infancy, saw a small group of powerful elites imposing unpopular economic reforms (namely deregulation, privatization, and government cutbacks) during times of crisis (such as armed conflict, political coups, or during violent oppression by military juntas) for the benefit of transnational corporations (TNCs). This issue has been chosen because of its close ties with globalization, outlined below, and the often devastating impact these policies have had on both national economies and cultures, as well as the heightening effect on the global North/South divide. This is important to explore both for the sake of those victimized by the policies of a few, but also to underline the need for global governance, finance, and other institutions to include rigorous democratic checks and balances on abuses of power, conditions which are at present glaringly absent.
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In order to distinguish globalization as itself a unique process, it should be understood to mean the spread of transplanetary, and especially supraterritorial, connections (Scholte, 2005). It is possible to link disaster capitalism to globalization in a number of ways. Disaster capitalism relates to internationalization, in that it involves the interactions and exchanges between states. This leads to liberalization, in that the reforms imposed by the Chicago School group include the imposition of open and free trade regimes for moving goods between states. These reforms are representative of universalization, in that they are a standard prescription of reforms, based on a single economic model, regardless of the local situational factors, suggesting a global standardization as their goal. This model is representative of westernization, in that it forces a Western (and more specifically US) designed model onto the world at large, one based on modernist notions of corporate capitalism, free trade, and individualism. However, even taken together, these factors alone do not amount to globalization, but merely set the stage for a deeper understanding of the links between globalization processes and disaster capitalism.
All the above factors support the link between disaster capitalism and globalization, but to truly elucidate the connection, it needs to be shown how transplanetary and supraterritorial connections relate to Klein's observations. One of the most important ways is that, as people of all nations come to see themselves as global citizens, their shared sense of interconnectedness grows. It is due to this that the potential to stop and reverse the devastating policies of disaster capitalism is increasing exponentially; it is no longer possible to view the abuses as happening to some other nation, or some other peoples, in the face of the notion that humans are one nation, and one people. More concretely, the disaster capitalism trend is linked to both the transworld simultaneity and instantaneity (Scholte, 2005) of global production chains and markets, and the global reach of TNCs hungry for deregulation and privatization. Disaster capitalism also relies on the fear transmitted by the global media (Klein, 2008), beaming images of crisis to everyone, everywhere, in no time, or simply posting them to supraterritorial space on the internet (Scholte, 2005). In a feedback loop, each time the policies are implemented they are both driven by, and drive further, a particular version of globalization, one that can only be stopped by transworld citizenry acting together from a collective conscience.
Many theorists have heralded the end of the supremacy of the state as a result of globalization, typically by pointing to a decline in sovereignty as proof. In this way, disaster capitalism is both chilling and relevant, for it is an absolute expression of the decline of sovereignty. While some would point to the fact that the policy choices taken by various state governments represent the height of sovereignty, this is naive ignorance of the external pressures constraining state actions and the interference which follows. Whether peddled by the Chicago School economists (as in Latin America during the 1970s) as the only solution for crashing economies, or more recently by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) as conditions for badly needed loans, disaster capitalism's neo-liberal policies are a bitter pill forced down the throat of a nation against its will. They have often crippling effects on economies, leading to untold suffering for the citizenry unlucky enough to experience the effects, which can in cases last for years, decades, or indefinitely (Klein, 2008). While initial forays into the experiment of disaster capitalism were clumsy and somewhat ineffectual, as was the case in Chile where the three main tenets were implemented incompletely and haphazardly (ibid.), the process has since become institutionalized and streamlined, so that each successive case, from Russia to Iraq, has been ever more insidious and shattering.
When relating this issue to the various levels of government involved, it becomes clear that supranational or global governance bodies, such as the IMF and other Bretton Woods actors, bear much of the responsibility for the negative outcomes experienced. However, the impacts are felt at the community, individual, and national levels, and it is from there that resistance must be mounted. Under the current model, states are often forced to accept neo-liberal terms in order to secure loans or refinance debt. However, as exemplified by Malaysia's refusal of IMF 'assistance' during the Asian financial crisis (Scholte, 2005), it is both possible and advisable to look for alternatives wherever possible, and this can be supported via active participation from individuals. There is a risk, however, that states refusing to sign up to these policies can find themselves marginalized, as was the case with Haiti, and this illustrates the need for all global citizens to engage in dismantling this policy regime, whether located in a state of the global North or South.
Having discussed the issue of interest and its ties to the process of globalization and its relationship to the state, it is important to set out a clear research question for future investigations. Based on the close relationship between the neo-liberal policies and globalization, and also on the lack of citizen input in these often devastating policies, future research should examine how global citizens, civil society, non governmental organizations (NGOs) and strengthened participatory democracy can combine to challenge the supremacy of the disaster capitalist ideology.

References
Klein, N. (2008). The shock doctrine: The rise of disaster capitalism. Toronto: Random House.
Scholte, J. A. (2005). Globalization: A critical introduction (2nd ed.). New York: Palgrave Macmillan.

Punishment Vs Rehabilitation: Disintegrative and Reintegrative Shaming Rituals

2010-03-09T21:26:00.003-05:00

The purpose of this paper is to discuss the concept of stigma and stigmatizing rituals, with specific reference to the applications of deviant labels and strategies to resist the negative consequences associated with adopting said labels. It will then examine disintegrative models of shaming, such as scarlet letter methods, and outline the ways these are beneficial or harmful. Finally, this will be compared with the reintegrative approach to shaming, in order to determine which model has the most to offer in the judiciary system.

It is important to begin this discussion with an operational definition of stigma. According to Goffman, as quoted by Heckert and Best (2008), stigma is a feature of an individual which is associated with stereotypes based on said attributes, which are in turn thoroughly degrading or dishonourable. In continuing his definition, Goffman identifies three major groupings of stigma, namely bodily disfigurements (such as a cleft palate), character deficiencies (such as drug addiction), and group membership (stigma based on status such as race and religion) (Heckert and Best 2008). Further, as noted by Twining, Arluke, and Patronek (2000), Goffman says that the negative consequences of stigma can include exclusion, anxiety and discrimination, but that stigmatized individuals develop interpersonal strategies to cope by lessening (or even neutralizing) it, or by evading it altogether. Finally, Herman and Miall (1990) note that labelling theory shows how, by labelling someone as a deviant, it can cause them to adopt the label and become the very thing they are labelled.

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This paper will now examine the diverse strategies employed by people to resist the application of a deviant label in specific case studies. In a recent article on pit bull ownership, the authors discuss the breed stigma that has developed about pit bulls, which manifests in avoidance and fear (Twining et al. 2000). Owners help to manage the stigma in a number of ways, including by using passing, where they take advantage of confusion about the breed to pass their dogs off as American Staffordshire Terriers, an unspoiled identity, or as mixed or unknown breeds (Twining et al. 2000). A further strategy used was to try debunking media coverage as featuring ”selective reporting, sensationalism, a lack of objectivity, and a failure to provide context” (Twining et al. 2000:430). A third strategy was to alter the physical presentation of the dogs, by minimizing stereotypical spike collars or other accessories which would enforce pit bulls' negative stereotype (Twining et al. 2000). This case study clearly shows a variety of techniques used by people to avoid the application of a deviant label.

In an article by Irwin (2001) on tattoos, the author discusses the process wherein tattoos began to be accepted in middle-class society. Individual tattooees used different legitimation strategies to neutralize potential tattoo stigma, including co-opting accepted mainstream motivations (such as to celebrate college graduation) as an explanation for being tattooed (Irwin 2001). Another strategy used is to offer verbal neutralizations of stigma, such as by condemning the condemner of their behaviour (Irwin 2001). A final strategy was to conform to conventional aesthetics, wherein tattooees often chose small, discreet, traditional designs (especially for their first tattoo), and referred to them as art (Irwin 2001). These are all strategies employed to resist or mitigate the application of a deviant label.

In an article by Herman and Miall (1990) on the positive consequences of stigma, the authors discuss the positive outcomes of the stigma of ex-psychiatric patients and infertile women. Each group gains advantages from the stigmatized label, which helps neutralize the negative effects. Ex-psychiatric patients benefited in that their label provided them with excuses for some pre- and post-treatment behaviours, and excused them from usual role duties, and in some cases strengthened family ties (Herman and Miall 1990). Involuntarily childless women benefited from the label of infertile in that it legitimized their childless role, served as a basis for career growth opportunities, and legalized their disabled role within adoption institutions (Herman and Miall 1990). These and the preceding examples all demonstrate ways in which people resist the negative consequences of deviant stigma labels.

This paper will now discuss the successful application of deviant labels and the process of stigmatization, by first describing the rationale of shaming according to its proponents, as well as its functions and purpose, paying close attention to degradation ceremonies known as scarlet letter conditions. Shame and the process of shaming will be explained, followed finally by a breakdown of a degradation ceremony. The increasing popularity of these mechanisms for control will then be examined, as well as their delineation from previous methods.

To begin, scarlet letter punishments are penalties based on shaming and degrading an offender, in public and with an element of public participation (Antebi 2008). By revealing an offender's misdeeds to the public, it causes them to feel a negative emotional response (Antebi 2008). Proponents of shaming see it as rationalized by the desire of the public to be protected in combination with their scepticism that traditional methods of punishment such as fines, parole, and incarceration are effective (Antebi 2008). Scarlet letter punishments are justified as an inexpensive alternative to incarceration, which is costly and often too severe to fit the crime, or fines, which imply that justice is for sale, or community service, which is associated with the laudable acts of civic-minded people (Antebi 2008). Further, proponents argue shaming punishments are effective at inducing the desired results of punishment, deterrence and rehabilitation (Antebi 2008). The deterrence effect operates on the principle that the limitation of freedom involved (for example, being ordered to tell a crowd that they abused their wife) is unwanted, and will produce a negative emotional response (Antebi 2008). These factors, along with the negative social consequences that could result, are thought to deter the offender and others from offending in the future, although there is still debate about whether this is universally effective in today's atomized world (Antebi 2008). In discussing shaming penalties' effect on rehabilitation, which is explained as a change in the offender's preferences for committing the offence, Antebi (2008)notes that much of the effect of shaming seems to be punitive in nature, and that the social isolation that may result from public disapproval could work against the purposes of reintegrating the offender into society. In addition, courts have increasingly found that shaming penalties are “are punitive, and not rehabilitative” (Antebi 2008:7). According to Brilliant (1989), the purpose of punishment is “the deserved infliction of suffering on evildoers and the prevention of crime” (1358), in addition to “retribution, education, deterrence, and incapacitation” (Brilliant 1989:1358). Brilliant (1989) goes on to argue that many instances of shaming penalties “improperly mix punitive and rehabilitative conditions” (1359). This section shows the ongoing nature of the debate about scarlet letter shaming punishments.

Shame itself can be seen as a humiliating state of moral condemnation (Van Slyke, Waldo, and Bales 2008). Shaming involves the application of a conspicuous label meant to make the public aware and the offender humiliated (Van Slyke et al. 2008). Reducing an offender's self-worth, combined with threatening ostracization, are the main punitive aspects of shaming, as they carry real consequences (Karp 1998). However, like Antebi, Karp (1998) outlines several criticisms of shaming, such as the risk of forming oppositional subcultures, a disregard for human dignity, and an inflexible approach toward systemic causes of deviance which may contribute to the offence. This is a major potential risk in using disintegrative shaming.

Historically, shaming rituals were the most common and severe method of punishment, leading an individual to be shunned by their community, a major deterrent in communitarian societies (Antebi 2008). They tended to include physical humiliation, such as through branding, which was painful and would today be considered cruel and unusual (Antebi 2008). Today, these rituals tend to shame on a psychological level, as in public exposure penalties (such as having to affix a drunk driver license plate to your car), debasement penalties (such as having to shovel horse manure), and apology penalties (such as having to apologize to a church congregation for robbing them) (Antebi 2008). This progression shows that while shaming rituals have improved in terms of physical suffering, there is still a punitive and disintegrative element to many of them that must be addressed.

The final section of this paper looks at reintegrative shaming and provides contrast between it and the disintegrative shaming model just discussed, highlighting the processes involved and the factors impacting success. To begin, it is important to mention that, as outlined above, theorists such as Karp have found much to criticize about disintegrative shaming models. The most worrisome of these criticisms is that the process could increase the likelihood that an individual will re-offend due to social scorn which labels them a criminal (Karp 1998). Reintegrative shaming, however, differs in that it creates shame in the offender among friends and family, and forces them to apologize to their victim (Van Slyke et al. 2008). The purpose of this is to build in the offender an understanding of how they have hurt their victim, their family, and their community, and to thusly encourage them to think through the consequences of their future actions (Van Slyke et al. 2008). The process ends with reconciliation, wherein the victim forgives the offender and the community welcomes them back from their shameful place (Van Slyke et al. 2008). Unfortunately, it seems the disintegrative approach is increasingly the more popular choice (Van Slyke et al. 2008). It is now clear that this is a dangerous trend which must be addressed.

In order to further clarify the different models of shaming, this paper will now examine the conditions making shaming possible in each. In the disintegrative approach, both the act and the offender must be first identified as violating a norm (Karp 1998). This is followed by defining the offender by the act (their identity tied to their deed), which must be coupled with the belief that the party denouncing the offender is legitimate and serving the public interest (Karp 1998). This results in a distance occurring between the offender and the lawful parts of society, to the degree they might be physically banished (Karp 1998). It is this style of shaming that was previously mentioned as representing a risk of producing an oppositional culture, which “systematizes criminality” (Karp 1998: 285). Obviously this shows disintegrative shaming in a negative light.

In contrast, the reintegrative method of shaming clearly delineates between the actor and the deed, so that while the act is condemned, the offender is not (Karp 1998). The offender is not made into a separate person from the community, but is instead as seen as part of it, along with their denouncer and the victim (Karp 1998). Finally, the offender expresses remorse and vows reparation, achieving reconciliation by fully rejoining the community (Karp 1998). This type of shaming, in contrast with the disintegrative model, has the distinct advantage of not alienating the offender and hardening them into an oppositional stance. Instead, in keeping with the model's theme, the offender is presented with “the shame of the people they most care about” (Morris 2002:163), a powerful deterrent, but are then safely brought back into the fold. This direct comparison has clearly shown that the reintegrative model is the preferable shaming technique in order to maximize both personal and society-wide benefit.

In summation, this paper has discussed stigma and seen its application in specific case studies, and the way people resist labels or use them to their advantage. It was shown how scarlet letter shaming processes occur, with attention paid to criticisms from theorists. This disintegrative model was then contrasted with the less popular reintegrative model, and the latter was shown to be more beneficial. It is therefore the finding of this paper that the reintegrative model has a place in the judiciary system, and should be promoted at the expense of its dangerous, disintegrative twin.

References

Antebi, Sabrina. 2008. “The New Age of Scarlet-Letter Punishment.” Justice Action Center

Student Capstone Journal Project No. 07/08-01. Retrieved March 8, 2010 (http://www.nyls.edu/ user_files/1/3/4/30/59/65/68/Capstone070801.pdf).

Brilliant, Jon A. 1989. “The Modern Day Scarlet Letter: A Critical Analysis of Modern Probation Conditions.” Duke Law Journal 5(November):1357-1385.

Heckert, Druann M., and Amy Best. 2008. “Redheads as Deviant Types.” Pp. 9-24 in Deviance: The Interactionist Perspective, edited by Earl Rubington and Martin S. Weinberg. USA: Pearson Education.

Herman, Nancy J., and Charlene E. Miall. 1990. “The Positive Consequences of Stigma.” Pp. 238-250 in Deviance: The Interactionist Perspective, edited by Earl Rubington and Martin S. Weinberg. USA: Pearson Education.

Irwin, Katherine. 2001. “Tattoos without Stigma.” Pp. 402-416 in Deviance: The Interactionist Perspective, edited by Earl Rubington and Martin S. Weinberg. USA: Pearson Education.

Karp, David R. 1998. “The Judicial and Judicious Use of Shame Penalties.” Crime and Delinquency 44 (2):277-294.

Morris, Allison. 2002. “Shame, Guilt and Remorse: Experiences from Family Group

Conferences in New Zealand.” Pp. 157-78 in Punishing Juveniles: Principle and Critique, edited by I. Weijers and A. Duff. Portland: Hart Publishing.

Twining, Hillary, Arnold Arluke, and Gary Patronek. 2000. “Pit Bull Owners and Stigma.” Pp. 422-436 in Deviance: The Interactionist Perspective, edited by Earl Rubington and Martin S. Weinberg. USA: Pearson Education.

Van Slyke, Shanna, Gordon P. Waldo, and William Bales. 2008. “Hit ’Em Where It Hurts: Monetary and Nontraditional Punitive Sanctions.” Pp. 99-160 in International Handbook of Penology and Criminal Justice, edited by S.G. Shoham, O. Beck, and M. Kett. Boca Raton: Taylor & Francis Group.

IMF Part 2: Institution Report

2010-03-08T16:04:00.002-05:00

You can read part 1 here
You can read part 2 here

This institution report will provide an in-depth investigation into the International Monetary Fund (IMF). It seeks to clearly outline the institutional history, purpose, membership, and projects of the IMF, as well as its governance structure and protocols. In the course of this examination, care will be paid to the IMF's complex relationship with the processes of globalization, and how it in turn impacts the institution of the state. In so doing, this will lay the foundation for a successful research design.

The history of the IMF begins with its conception in July 1944 (IMF, 2006). It was during the Bretton Woods meetings that 45 nations agreed to the kind of economic cooperation that would prevent a return to the dangerous protectionist policies of the Great Depression, such as “limiting imports, devaluing ... currencies ... and curtailing their citizens' freedom to buy goods abroad and to hold foreign exchange” (ibid.). Born in December of 1945, the IMF was tasked with ensuring exchange rate stability. The intervening decades have seen it transform itself in response to its growing membership (from an initial 29 member nations to 186 as of the 2009 inclusion of Kosovo) (Kosovo Times, 2009), as well as in response to changing world events, featuring an increased focus on crisis prevention. Initially the IMF made significant loans to industrialized economies, but in recent decades the majority have gone to developing and Newly Industrialized Countries (IMF, 2006).
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The IMF's stated purpose includes 3 main activities – to conduct 'surveillance' of economic and financial policies, in addition to lending currency to help nations while they correcting any balance of payment problems occurring, and to offer technical assistance and training on economic matters (ibid.). Surveillance includes annual monitoring of its member nations (ibid.). During this process a team of IMF economists analyze a nation's policies, discuss them with the local government and national bank, and then prepare a report in consultation with the IMF's Executive Board, before releasing information to the public via its website (ibid.). In addition to these national-based surveillance reports, the IMF also conducts reviews of the global economic and financial systems, published in twice-yearly reports and also discussed informally more frequently (ibid.). In addition to these surveillance activities, the IMF has since 2006 conducted multilateral consultations to bring together groups of nations, and it also conducts regional surveillance, around issues relevant to regions (such as the European Union) (ibid.). In recent years these three levels of surveillance have been increasingly integrated in order to reflect the impact globalization has had on the interconnectedness of economies (Scholte, 2005).

The second purpose of the IMF is to provide financing to member nations who are experiencing balance of payments needs – who, in other words, are unable to finance their debt on the world financial market (IMF, 2006). Though often referred to as loans, technically member nations '”purchase” foreign exchange from the IMF's reserve assets, paying with their own currency' (ibid.). It is important to note that these 'loans' are not a form of development or aid, but are a short-term stabilization investment. Involvement by the IMF in a nation is often enough to signal to the international community that the nation in question is pursuing sound economic and financial policies, thus reassuring investors and helping to secure additional financing at more equitable terms (ibid.). When a nation approaches the IMF in need of financing it is often in crisis, and so the IMF looks at ways to quickly address the specific problems facing the country, which could include having its 'currency under attack in foreign exchange markets and its international reserves depleted, economic activity stagnant or falling, and a large number of firms and households going bankrupt' (ibid.).

When the IMF arranges for a loan to be provided to a member nation, it is generally at 'market-related interest rates' (ibid.), unless the nation is low income, in which case a 'concessional fixed interest rate of 0.5 percent a year' (ibid.) is charged. Since 2000, the IMF has increased its control of how funds are spent – before they are deposited in a nation's central bank, that nation's financial policies and transparency of reporting are examined to ensure they are in line with the IMF's desirable practises (ibid.). 2000 was also the year that the IMF sought to increase penalties against nations who secured loans under false pretexts or on the basis of 'erroneous information' (ibid.).

In addition to its lending arm, the IMF also provides technical training and information, most specifically related to 'central banking, monetary and exchange rate policy, tax policy and administration, and official statistics' (ibid.). This began in the 1960s, but was strengthened following the fall of the Soviet Union and the entrance of former Soviet satellite nations into the world market (ibid.). In light of the recent economic unrest, the IMF has increased its technical assistance related to 'strengthen[ing] the architecture of the international financial system' (ibid.). Further, since the Doha Round of trade negotiations began in 2004, the IMF has increased 'trade-related technical assistance' (ibid.). Most technical assistance the IMF provides goes to low and middle income nations, especially those recovering from civil unrest, including recently to Iraq and Afghanistan (ibid.). More recently, the IMF has been delivering this technical assistance, as well training for civil servants, through regional centres based throughout the world (ibid.). Truly this shows the global reach of the IMF, as well as how it is attempting to implement region-specific solutions and training.

One of the main stated goals of the IMF is to assist poor countries, via concessional loans made at a nominal interest rate, intended both to signify their approval of the nation's economic policy (thus helping them to secure additional funds from other sources), and to help with the often painful transition to policies the IMF supports such as reducing spending to match income (ibid.). In addition, since 2005 the IMF has introduced a new policy tool whereby a nation which does not wish to receive direct financial assistance can request instead that their policies be examined. The IMF's judgement of the nation's policies can then be made public, in order to help secure financing from other sources and to reassure investors (ibid.). While the IMF is theoretically separate from the World Bank, which is geared more toward development (for example, via infrastructure and education investments), it is noteworthy that nations must join the IMF in order to be eligible for World Bank membership (ibid.).

In addition to concessional loans, the IMF also assists poorer nations with debt relief, in an attempt to bring their interest payments down to a level that is affordable based on capital inflows, without the need to sacrifice necessary imports (ibid.). This initiative was unveiled and in 1996 and strengthened in 1999. Further, in 2005, debts owed to the IMF (as well as the World Bank's International Development Association and the African Development Fund) by nations qualifying for debt relief under the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) initiative were cancelled (ibid.). This was a result of pressure emanating from the G-8 (ibid.). Since 1999, the IMF has developed a process wherein member nations wishing to gain access to HIPC debt relief and certain loans must draw up its own poverty-reduction strategies, in concert with civil society (ibid.). While this has been praised both for including civil society and for encouraging nations to set their own plans of action (Baylis, Smith & Owens, 2008), the IMF still encourages steps to increase international trade.

It is important to outline the governance structure of the IMF before moving on to criticisms and analysis. The IMF is primarily governed by its Board of Directors, which is made up of one representative (typically a central bank governor or finance minister) from each member nation, and meets annually. They are in turn advised by the Development Committee, which is a joint venture by the Board of Directors and the World Bank, and which meets twice yearly on key monetary policy issues (IMF, 2006). The Executive Board is responsible for more of the daily workings of the IMF, along with internationally recruited staff, and is responsible for appointing a Managing Director every 5 years. The Managing Director is the chief of staff of the IMF, and reports to the Executive Board (as well as being its chairperson). They are assisted by a First Deputy Managing Director and two Deputy Managing Directors. The Executive Board meets several days a week at the IMF headquarters, and is made up of 24 Executive Directors of the Board, of which 8 are appointed by specific nations – the United States, Japan, Germany, France, and the United Kingdom, which are the 5 largest IMF quota holders, and China, Russia, and Saudi Arabia (ibid.). The remainder of the Board is elected by groups of nations known as constituencies. While the IMF seeks to achieve consensus, when voting it uses a weighted system, wherein more votes are given to nations with a larger IMF quota. In addition to these governing boards, there are also some 2700 staff members spread out both in Washington, D.C., and internationally, and almost half are economists (ibid.).

This paper will now focus on the links between the IMF and the process of globalization. To begin with, it is worth mentioning the global reach of the IMF, with offices linked in real time operating on every populated continent. It has more recently begun to focus on the problems faced in a globalizing world, with a special focus on the integration of economies and trade, especially since a 2004 review of its direction (ibid.). Further, it is clear that the currency used by the IMF, the Special Drawing Right (SDR), is emblematic of the global nature of the institution. Based on a basket of currencies including the US dollar, the Japanese yen, the euro (itself a macro-regional currency) (Scholte, 2005), and pound sterling (IMF, 2006). Combined with the IMF's practise of advising and investigating both individual regions, and the global system as a whole, the SDR is a signifier of how the globalization process enables to IMF to perform its tasks on such a large scale.

However, globalization also has a dark side, and this is no less true in relation to the IMF, which has been heavily criticized in its own right. The globalization of finance and trade have allowed financial crises to spread rapidly through various nations (Baylis et al, 2008), causing the IMF to respond with a more preventative and regional approach. Certainly there have been many vocal critics of global free trade, a position favoured by the IMF. One of the most vocal, Michel Chossudovsky, points specifically to India, and the role of the IMF in phasing out fertilizer subsidies (as a precondition for its involvement there) as an example of how the IMF's free trade preference has been directly responsible for increasing poverty and death (Chossudovsky, 1998). The popular writer Naomi Klein has also offered a scything critique of the IMF, which suggests it takes advantage of the frequent crises produced by a globalized economy to earn profit for the global capitalist class (Klein, 2008). These facets all point to the interrelationship between globalization and the IMF, and suggest more work needs to be done to ensure positive outcomes to the IMF's policies.

The final section of this report will examine the impact that the IMF has on the state. Much criticism has been levelled at the IMF for undermining the role of the state as a self-determining, democratic representative of its people. Much of this comes from Chossudovsky, as quoted by Babbie, who found in a recent study that the policies adopted by nations in order to secure help from the IMF had a tendency to weaken national economies, and undermine democratic governments (2007). He points specifically to the competing interests of multinational corporations (MNCs) and major lending institutions partnered with the IMF as outweighing the interests of individual states in the IMFs decision process (Babbie, 2007). This is echoed by the work of Klein, in her now famous Shock Doctrine, who sees the IMF as a tool used to pry open captive markets and privatize government assets at discount prices, despite the wishes or interests of the state in question, or its citizens (Klein, 2008).

The IMF's new policy encouraged member nations to draft their own plans of poverty reduction, a move seen as a response to these criticisms, and a way of strengthening the role of the state and its sovereignty. However, it is uncertain whether this policy merely provides political cover for the IMF, since member nations are likely to submit applications which heavily feature the types of neoliberal policies favoured by the IMF (Baylis et al, 2008). If this is the case, it is questionable how much agency states really have in the process.

A further impact of the IMF on the role of states is its increasing practise of dealing directly with other NGOs and international institutions. It maintains offices in New York and Geneva which deal specifically with the United Nations and the World trade Organization (IMF, 2006). This type of interaction, though necessary and doubtlessly beneficial, takes place above the heads of individual states, without their direct involvement, and points to a shift in the traditional state-centric model of the globalizing system (Scholte, 2005). Another way in which the IMF is minimizing the importance of states is in its heavily criticized weighted system of votes. This is a major shift away from the Westphalian ideal of equality among states (Baylis et al, 2008), placing emphasis less on state-hood as such, and more on economic power. Yet the case for a declining state can be overstated, as it struggles to assert itself in different ways, and this is illustrated well in the fact that the states making up the G-8 managed to pressure the IMF into cancelling debts owed by impoverished nations (IMF, 2006). While the G-8 is a super-national institution in its own right, it is made up of a relatively small number of powerful states who are extending their power and influence by acting together on the global stage. This shows the continuing, though changed, nature of states in a globalized world, relative to the IMF.

References

Babbie, Earl. (2007). The practice of social research (11th ed.). California: Thomson Wadsworth.

International Monetary Fund (IMF). (2006). What is the IMF? Retrieved March 6, 2010, from http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/exrp/what.htm#do.

Baylis, J., Smith, S., & Owens, P. (2008). The globalization of world politics: An introduction to

international relations (4th ed.). New York: Oxford University Press.

Chossudovsky, M. (1998). Global Poverty in the Late 20th Century, Journal of International Affairs

(52).

Klein, N. (2008). The shock doctrine: The rise of disaster capitalism. Toronto: Random House.

Kosovo Times. (2009). “Republic of Kosovo is now officially a member of the IMF and the World

Bank”. Kosovo Times, June 29. Retrieved March 4, 2010 (http://www.kosovotimes.net/flash-news/676-republic-of-kosovo-is-now-officially-a-member-of-the-imf-and-the-world-bank.html).

Scholte, J. A. (2005). Globalization: A critical introduction (2nd ed.). New York: Palgrave Macmillan.

Gaudi

2010-02-18T14:03:00.000-05:00

I rcently stumbled across a post on one of the blog's I follow about a mug designed by Antoni Gaudi. This led me to look up some of his other work. I found out that he has mostly worked with buildings as his medium of choice (rather than cups and spoons). Here are some awesome pictures from www.GreatBuildings.com, let me know what you think (or point me to others!).

Eurpeans Are Stupid Pigs?

2010-02-18T13:41:00.003-05:00

Obviously the title of my blog has become a bit of a misnomer as school takes over my life (I hear you say - what life?), and it doesn't help when I have silly little re-posts like this one from the Financial Times (despite the fact that it is hilarious):

STUPID investors in PIGS

It isn’t just touchy government ministers in Portugal, Italy, Ireland Greece and Spain who don’t like the highly appropriate acronym PIGS to sum up the troubled regions of the eurozone (the ‘i’ seems to be used for Ireland and Italy). The FT has a near-ban on the insulting phrase, and now Barclays Capital has banned it too, for being offensive.

Luckily there’s a handy alternative for excessive borrowers (thanks Zerohedge): STUPID. It pulls together Spain, Turkey, the UK, Portugal, Italy, and Dubai. Sadly Greece, Iceland and Turkmenistan are missing…

Save your money

2010-01-04T08:39:00.004-05:00

Image via Wikipedia

Wouldn't it be nice to be able to save a little extra cash, especially around the holidays? I would love to see a bank offering no-fee accounts, even if they lowered (or eliminated) interest payments on those accounts. Better still, this could be a state-sponsored bank, thus untethering it from the short-sighted needs of profit-hungry shareholders. Not sure, but I have a feeling that this would be in violation of NAFTA agreements... shame.

Barack Obama v George Bush: Realist Analysis

2009-12-01T17:27:00.006-05:00

On January 20, 2009 Barack Obama took office after running on a campaign of hope and change. This essay will examine the first 10 months of his presidency, and compare it to the rule of his predecessor, George W. Bush. Several policy areas will be examined, with special focus paid to international security issues, including the wars and occupations in Iraq and Afghanistan, the fate of the Europe-based missile defence shield within the context of a stronger Russia, and the foreign policy toward North Korea and Iran, especially as relates to their respective nuclear ambitions. Recognition will be given to the so-called Bush Doctrine, a four pillared policy framework of preemption, unilateralism, American primacy and democracy promotion, and it will be compared to the actions of Obama along these lines. Further, the major international events that occurred during the Bush and Obama presidencies will be discussed in terms of the underlying theoretical frameworks influencing them, as well as the presidents' respective foreign policy responses. From this analysis, it will be noted that there have been several course corrections between the administrations, with a renewed focus being placed on the neo-Liberal ideas of multilateralism and institution-building by Obama, even if in name only. However, it will be shown that the underlying state of the international political system is one of continuity, reflecting the dominant ideological realities of the realist/neo-realist tradition.
[continued after the jump, or click on title to view full article]

It is important to begin this discussion with an examination of the ideology known as the Bush Doctrine. This framework, which led to George W. Bush becoming the least popular president, both at home and abroad, of the modern era, was the guiding force of the administration. This set of four interrelated policies has been described as the 'new realism' (Legro & Moravcsik, 2001), interesting since it has been heavily criticized by those from the 'old realism'. The first policy that will be examined is that of preemption. This meant that the US was willing to defend its national interest by seeking out and neutralizing threats abroad before they materialized. This type of prescient forecasting has been criticized by realists, who say that a better tactic is often containment, rather than preemption, since in fact many threats will never metastasize from the possible to the actual (Baylis, Smith, & Owens, 2008). Despite this realist critique, the policy of preemption is not altogether foreign to the realist tradition, encapsulating as it does the self-help nature of the anarchic international system. Essentially, this policy reflected the fact that the US felt it could depend on no one but itself to defend its interests, and in light of the state-sponsored terror witnessed firsthand on September 11, it was thought that it was no longer possible to wait for an attack to be imminent before striking back. This conflux of analysis is illustrative of the often contradictory nature of particular administrations' foreign policy, especially that of Bush, since only rarely do the actions of a nation or leader align completely with traditional theoretical frameworks. However, it can be seen that preemption was thought to be a practical extension of realism for Bush.
Unilateralism is another component of the Bush Doctrine which has been widely criticized. While George W. Bush paid lip service to the idea of multilateralism as the preferred method of operations in conducting international relations, he made it clear that the US would protect and defend its perceived interests alone if necessary. This was especially evident in America's coalition led into Iraq, which, as will be shown, lacked support from any other nation of consequence with the notable exception of the United Kingdom (Baylis et al., 2008), and also in the resistance to bilateral talks with North Korea, despite the urgings of several foreign nations (Jervis, 2003). This kind of unilateral action is emblematic of realist notions of survival and self-help; it shows how realists argue that the survival of the state is a preeminent goal, an idea which for Bush meant doing what was felt to be in American interests no matter the diplomatic cost, and to rely only upon the US state to accomplish necessary goals. It is worth noting that many realists questioned the magnitude of the threat to American survival which these actions addressed (Baylis et al., 2008). Furthermore, the international condemnation of US actions during this time helps illustrate the imperviousness of American foreign policy to appeals for morality. Ceding to such appeals in the face of national self-interest would be a violation of one of the longest running themes of realist thought, contained within the notion of raison d'ètat. This belief suggests that the state serves as its own moral justification, excusing otherwise horrific acts to protect domestic security, and has been prevalent since Machiavelli (Baylis et al., 2008). The actions of the US toward suspected terrorists, civilians killed in questionable wars, and their use of unmanned Predator drones all exemplify behaviour that would be considered immoral (not to mention illegal) if conducted by any body other than a state. This resistance by states to common notions of morality, and the consistency and frequency with which immoral acts are perpetrated, demonstrate the longevity and wide applicability of this aspect of realism. The Bush Doctrine tenet of unilateralism if necessary, though criticized by many realists, can be seen to be merely an extension of realist thought.
American primacy was a core feature of Bush's presidency, and was combined with an anti-terrorist stance following the September 11 attacks on US soil. This idea conveys the notion that America, as the sole superpower in the current global system, has the right and indeed the duty to use its hegemonic position to promote its interests and maintain the stability of the international system. This notion claims that by maintaining a qualitative superiority, a relative monopoly on power, the US can ensure that no other state will attempt to balance their power through its own buildup. Instead, other nations are more likely to follow a course of bandwagon-ing, wherein they support US policies in the hope of wresting enough relative gains to be able to mount an independent foreign policy in the future (Alway 2009; Baylis et al., 2008). This sense that 'peace and stability require the United States to assert its primacy in world politics' (Jervis, 2003) gives credence to the notion that, 'contrary to [defencive realism], all states cannot be treated as 'like units'' (Baylis et al., 2008). Instead, this Bush Doctrine tenet was predicated upon the 'dominant power behaving [sic] quite differently from the others' (Jervis, 2003), reflecting its dominant position as the sole superpower. Through examining the concept of American primacy, it is clear that realist notions played into its formation, despite the questionable outcomes of its application.
Finally, democracy promotion rounds out the Bush Doctrine's core beliefs. This tenet has seen perhaps the most vocal opposition from traditional realists, stating as it does that the US will pursue the creation of democratic states abroad, if force by necessary (CLASS NOTES 4b). This policy is justified by thinking found more commonly under the umbrella of the democratic peace theory, which points out the rarity of wars between two democracies. This observation is explained by the belief that since democracies are representative of and responsible to their constituents, they will be less willing to go to war with each other, and that this is bolstered by increased cooperation in peaceful matters such as interconnected trade and international institution building (Baylis et al., 2008). This explanation is particularly non-realist, since it places emphasis on the domestic character of states as a determinant in their behaviour, and because it ignores the framework of deterrence and containment associated with realism. These Bush Doctrine points which have been examined have shown that George W. Bush was following an ideological framework distinct from the theoretical framework of realism, even if it was claimed to be the brainchild of this tradition, although it is possible to examine the outcomes of these policies from a realist perspective.
President Obama does not have a directly comparable ideological framework as his predecessor did, yet it is still possible to examine his stance toward many of the issues outlined in the Bush Doctrine to determine changes and continuities. Perhaps the biggest difference coming from the White House under Obama has been one of rhetoric. This has included a vocal distancing from Bush`s policies even where such a claim is not warranted. In regards to preemption, Obama has moved away from Bush`s ideals, preferring to seek a more conciliatory tone with `rogue` nations and dangers abroad. This also ties in to the idea of `unilateralism if necessary` (Alway, 2009), so heavily criticized during Bush`s presidency. Obama has been styled as a much more multilateral, cooperative president, and has demonstrated this already on issues from his response to the economic crisis (Chongkittavorn, 2009) to his diplomatic contact with Pakistan regarding terrorists on their shared border with Afghanistan. This type of behaviour has won praise and painted Obama as an institution builder, and seems in some cases to violate the realist notion of the separate morality which is applicable to states. This can be seen in comments such the mention of no longer making the "false ... choice between our safety and our ideals" (Goodman, 2009). This claim to popular morality is laid false, however, by the continued use of Predator strikes, as will be shown, the lack of normalized relations with Cuba, and finally the resistance to changing far-reaching laws implemented under Bush regarding everything from offshore prisons such as Guantanamo to the treatment of terrorist suspects (Baylis et al., 2008). The multilateral nature of Obama's presidency also relates to the Bush Doctrine policy of American primacy. Obama has sustained criticism for following in his predecessor`s footsteps in this regard, and for lacking to sufficiently prepare for the rising BRIC superpowers of Brazil, Russia, India and China. This violates a core principle of realist thought, wherein the action of a state is in response to uncertainty about the motives of other states. This paranoia should be manifesting itself as a comprehensive plan to deal with the looming possibility of the end to American hegemony and a return to a multi-polar world, but instead the Obama administration is focused on the leftover foreign policy entanglements of the Bush era. Thankfully, when it comes to the issue of democracy promotion, by force if necessary, Obama seems to have learned from the mistakes of his predecessor. He has distanced himself from the idea (Forsyth, 2009), and seems content to focus his relations with other states on issues where there is common ground, rather than Bush`s tendency to push democratic reforms at meetings on a wide range of other policy issues (even while facing criticism for violating human rights at home and abroad). Through this comparison between the Bush Doctrine and Obama`s stance on its beliefs, it has been shown that there has been a break from the past, although it is debatable whether this represents more than a rhetorical shift away from unpopular tenets. Throughout the rest of this essay specific policy issues will be examined to help understand the differences and similarities of these presidents and the meaning of their foreign policy within a realist framework.
George W. Bush faced a watershed moment in the September 11, 2001 attacks in New York and Washington. The nature of the attacks, by a non-state, global actor disconnected from traditional realist principles such as sovereignty over territory, seemed to bring into question one of the core realist ideas, that of the primacy of the state as actor on the international stage (Baylis et al., 2008). However, Bush initiated a US-led coalition in military engagement against Afghanistan - a state - showing a reliance on a realist modus operandi. The fact that the actions of a small number of al-Qaeda terrorists (9/11 Report, 2004) led to a de facto war against a foreign nation reinforced weakened realist notions of the primacy of states (Baylis et al., 2008); essentially, Bush could not conceivably conduct war against a non-state actor, and so the Taliban-led government of Afghanistan was substituted.
Another way in which the realist tradition is relevant to Bush's policy toward Afghanistan is his initially liberal view toward the outcome of combat. In 2002, the language of the National Security Strategy refined the realist 'balance of power idea to incorporate democracy promotion' (Pressman, 2009). Based on this Bush Doctrine policy, and a subscription to democratic peace theory ideas about relations between democratic states, President Bush was optimistic. He espoused views about the possibility of economic progress and peace by overthrowing the undemocratic regime and pushing free trade, an agenda which horrified many realists (Jervis, 2003). However, the administration's initial optimism about bringing freedom to the Afghani people was met with the cold realist reality of a bloody, drawn out occupation and Taliban/al-Qaeda insurgency, felt by many to be unable to liberate the Afghan people (Occupation Will Never, 2009). There have of course been complicating factors in the Afghanistan war, namely the unplanned for 'blowback' effect in combination with a severe shortage of troops (Eland, 2009), but overall the results of the war have tended to discredit Bush's liberal beliefs. These events show how the Bush's involvement in Afghanistan initially questioned realist notions of who were the main units of the international stage, and also the role of the US in promoting democracy and free trade, but have come to reinforce realist views of anarchy-linked states lacking an overarching authority.
President Obama inherited the combat situation in Afghanistan, so it is difficult to make a direct comparison, but it is noteworthy that he has maintained and greatly increased the involvement of the US military in the embattled nation (Ghattas, 2009). Furthermore, Obama has maintained support for the corruption riddled Karzai government since the Afghanistan President was reelected. The election was noted for 'widespread fraud' (Tait, 2009) in Karzai's favour, which resulted in the withdrawal of the other candidate. This can be seen as a calculation made on the relative gains of the US having to topple the Karzai government or support a second election, which would be extremely costly in terms of political prestige for both nations, but would have benefited the embattled nation more than the US. Obama`s continued involvement and support for Karzai shows realist calculations which determine American foreign policy. By ignoring the calls from several domestic and non-state groups for a reelection, Obama showed a realist tendency to hold the state above the influence of individual-level politics. Another interesting point is that Obama`s White House has been lowering expectations for the outcome in Afghanistan (as well as Iraq). This can be seen as a softening up of global (and domestic) anticipations for results, and can be analyzed as a way of protecting the reputation of the US should the actual outcomes be unfavourable.
More evidence of the continuity between Obama and Bush's foreign policy and the underlying realist explanations can be seen in an examination of the war in Iraq. When President Bush began the combat in Iraq, many leading realists were vocally opposed (Baylis et al., 2008), claiming that the war was not in America's interest, and was instead a dangerous exercise in democracy promotion by force (Wolfowitz, 2009). The then-President was accused of following idealistic ideology, as captured in the nature of the Bush doctrine. While this is indisputably true, it is however likely that Bush truly thought that the fighting would be in America's interest. One way in which this can be seen is as an increase in the nation's 'resource endowment' (Baylis et al., 2008), according with the structural realist notion of the power-capabilities of a state. To this effect, there is some evidence that the US controlled interim government of Iraq was extremely favourable to American interests by ensuring US control of Iraq's oil fields, mainly through the liberalization of resource laws (Klein, 2007). Securing these resources for use by Americans may prove increasingly profitable and fortuitous as global oil reserves decline in the coming decades, and their increasing worth will have to be weighed against the direct costs incurred now. Despite this long-term resource play, the disastrous consequences of such an ideologically motivated war suggest the utility of realist paradigms was violated by Bush with predictably horrendous outcomes.
America's involvement in Iraq under Bush was also realist in a more narrow sense. The pretext for the use of force was the fear of Iraq's weapons of mass destruction (Gilligan, 2009), which, although they never materialized, exemplifies the focus of realists on power (Baylis et al., 2008), in this case the destructive power of nuclear capabilities. It also showed how the policy of non-intervention, which characterizes notions of sovereignty, often 'does not apply in relations between great powers and their 'near abroad'' (Baylis et al., 2008). It is interesting to note that realist interpretations of nuclear proliferation suggest that all states will attempt to gain nuclear weapon capabilities in order to ensure their own security, and therefore that nonproliferation efforts should be focused on the supply side (Hymans, 2006). The negative consequences of the Iraq war suggest Bush`s decision to break from traditional realist notions of proliferation was not in the best interest of the US. This all shows the power of the realist framework as it applied to Bush`s approach to Iraq.
Since Obama has come to power he has been focused on removing troops from Iraq. This can not be seen as a major departure from the policies of Bush, since the withdrawal plan had been suggested under the former president (Obama Rejects Bush, 2008). Additionally, the US army is under severe pressure, and the troops serving in Iraq are desperately needed elsewhere, namely Afghanistan and Pakistan. In fact, if the ultimate goal of any state 'is to achieve a hegemonic position in the international system' (Baylis et al., 2008), Obama's choice to remove the troops can be seen as an attempt to maintain America's position as the leader of the current unipolar system. In light of their over-stretched military and the economic problems plaguing the US, not least of which is fighting two major engagements abroad, a quick withdrawal from Iraq is extremely necessary. Essentially, facing a conflux of problems, this withdrawal is as much in America's self interest as Bush thought the engagement was years earlier, demonstrating the primacy of realist notions of survival and self-help.
US relations with the Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea (DPRK) are another policy issue where the continuity of the international system can be seen between the Bush and Obama administrations. Throughout the Bush presidency, these relations were characterized by carrot-and-stick attempts to apply positive or negative sanctions in order to bargain for concessions from the isolationist nation, mostly in relation to the ongoing nuclear aspirations of the DPRK. Sanctions applied by President Bush include the cut-off of heavy-fuel oil in 2002 (Shambaugh, 2003). In 2003, North Korea withdrew from the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) (Baylis et al., 2008). Bush pursued a hardline approach which quickly flexed into a gentler approach when the DPRK tested its first nuclear weapon in 2006 (Sutter, 2009). This softening and increased diplomacy, within the framework of the Six-Party Talks, at first appears to suggest a neo-liberal tendency favouring pluralism and the achievement of 'absolute gains through cooperation' (Baylis et al., 2008). However, North Korea did not fulfil the terms of deals which resulted (Sutter, 2009), highlighting realist concerns with noncompliance of international agreements. Toward the end of his presidency, Bush refused to engage in the bilateral talks wanted by the DPRK, despite the pressure from other concerned nations to engage. It should be noted again that the pursuit of nuclear capabilities is seen by realists as a natural extension of a state`s attempts to ensure security, and the fact that North Korea has resisted US sanctions and global pressure for years shows the realist nature of their foreign policy. This discussion of Bush's foreign policy toward North Korea shows that neo-Liberal ideology is at best a partial explanation of the predominantly realist-based international system.
When Obama came to office in 2009, his focus was spread between Iraq, Afghanistan, the economic recession, and his health-care reform pet project. North Korea was quickly added to the agenda as a major issue as Pyongyang began a series of provocations such as 'a long range ballistic missile test, a nuclear weapons test ..., withdrawal from the Six-Party Talks and resumption of nuclear weapons development' (Sutter, 2009). These behaviours in themselves help to illustrate the realist nature of the international system, as the DPRK is clearly demonstrating a self-help principle by seeking to maximize its power along offensive realist lines (Baylis et al., 2008). This helps to explain why North Korea would jeopardize its position in the international system (admittedly not a very good one) by risking the wrath of the United States. Simply, the DPRK is pursuing nuclear weapons in order to increase their relative power (Baylis et al., 2008), all at once, something unlikely to happen through diplomatic negotiations led by the US or other major powers, which will at best grant relative gains.
The thorny issue of missile defence has been tackled by both the Bush and Obama administrations. Bush maintained that the US had the right to build a permanent anti-ballistic missile defence system in eastern Europe (Brookes, 2008). This idea was given reinforcement by the actions of nations such as Iran, as well as by the discovery by the Washington Post and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) of a laptop containing details for the production of advanced nuclear weapons (Brookes, 2008). This situation helps explain the so-called security dilemma found in realist literature. This dilemma posits that states, due to the insecurity found in an anarchic system, will seek to increase their power relative to other states as a way of ensuring their survival (Baylis et al., 2008). In this case, Bush felt insecurity about the intentions of overseas states (such as Iran, Iraw, North Korea, and potentially Russia), and so wanted to increase US power relative all other states. In turn, nations seeking nuclear abilities were themselves threatened by US power, as proximally indicated by Israel`s nuclear capabilities, and Russia viewed this plan with great suspicion. In all negotiations by Bush and other nuclear states, the stated goal is to keep other nations from losing their `nuclear innocence`, in order to maintain their relative advantage. This situation shows the power and prescience of the realist paradigm in predicting and explaining international events.
Obama has signalled what seems like a significant change in strategy regarding missile defence. To begin with, he has backed off from the Bush-era plans to focus anti-ballistic missiles in silos situated in European nations (Obama: Missile Defense, 2009). This in itself does not suggest a shift away from the realist paradigm, as it is based on newly gathered evidence about the nature of missile threats. These threats include those from North Korea and Iran, in the event their nuclear development programs bear fruit. Critics of this new approach claim it is an olive branch being offered to Russia, a nation which has been vocal in opposition to the stationing of US missile defence in what it considers its area of influence (Obama: Missile Defense, 2009). This so-called olive branch is seen by pundits as being a major concession without obvious benefit to US interests. Namely, it is seen as having greater relative gains for the former soviet state than for the US, although there is speculation that it is in return for Russia taking a harder stance toward Iran on nuclear issues (Obama: Missile Defense, 2009). This type of analysis neglects the reality that Obama is planning to station theatre-style anti-ballistics on nuclear submarines within the Mediterranean, essentially replacing permanent facilities with more mobile, though less long-range, deployment. It is also relevant to note that the US-Russia Treaty on the Reduction and Limitation of Strategic Offensive Arms (START Treaty) expires in December of 2009 (Nuclear Nonproliferation, 2009); a new agreement has been under works by leaders of the respective nations which has included talks not just about nuclear weapons and missiles but also the economy, shared security, environmental concerns and clean energy, and finally the threat of global terrorism conducted by al-Qaeda members (Nuclear Nonproliferation, 2009). This type of deceptive verbal maneuvering is wise considering the nature of the security dilemma (Baylis et al., 2008) seen in realist theory, because it serves to alleviate the paranoia of other nations without actually reducing the threat to them. Also, this conciliatory-style behaviour has been a cornerstone of Obama's young presidency, again highlighting a discrepancy with his predecessor's abrasive cowboy style of unilateralism and the projection of power.
A further note on Obama`s relation to the missile defence issue is that he received the Nobel Peace Prize for his rhetoric about nuclear disarmament, a surprise to many analysts. This is considered especially ironic given that he leads a nation embroiled in two overseas occupations and has maintained the controversial use of Predator drones in Afghanistan and increasingly Pakistan. The use of these drones is considered by many to be immoral, showing two further concepts of realist theory. Firstly it demonstrates the negligible effects of individuals, many of whom believe the unmanned Predator strikes to be immoral and indiscriminatory, and non-state actors such as Amnesty International, who argue against the drones both for humanitarian reasons as well as because they believe them to be in contravention of international law (Barnett, 2006). Secondly, it once again shows the concept of raison d'ètat, wherein the state is viewed as having its own moral prerogative, above and beyond common conceptions thereof. These examples once again show the prevalence of realism as a tool for understanding international relations.
This essay has examined several of the most pressing foreign policy issue areas of George W. Bush and Barack Obama. It has outlined the Bush Doctrine as an ideology connected to and in contrast with realism, and has reviewed Obama`s policy relationship with his predecessor`s namesake ideology. Further, this paper has traced several of the most pressing foreign policy issue-areas of the two presidents, namely the war and occupations in Afghanistan and Iraq, the position of the US toward Iran and North Korea, and the fate of the Europe-based missile-defence shield in Russia`s near abroad. Throughout this discussion it has been seen that many of the global events during the past eight years can be understood in relation to the dominant realist paradigm. The actual foreign policy decisions of the two presidents have been shown to be often, although certainly not always, realist in nature. In summation, it is clear that the continuities between the presidents are emblematic of the ongoing, underlying, realist nature of the international system.

References
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Alway, T. (2009). Political Science 2I03 2009 lecture 4b liberalism continued [Word document]. Retrieved from https://elm.mcmaster.ca/
Barnett, A. (2006, January 29). Revealed: UK`s role in deadly CIA drone. The Guardian. Retrieved from http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2006/jan/29/politics.usa
Baylis, J., Smith, S., & Owens, P. (2008). The globalization of world politics: An introduction to international relations. New York: Oxford University Press.
Brookes, P. (2008). The Need for Missile Defense. Policy Review, 151, 31-43.
Chongkittavorn, Kavi. (2009, November 22). Obama's 'Cordial' Approach To Asia. Asia News Network. Retrieved from http://www.mysinchew.com/node/31809
Eland, I. (2009, November 3). Will a 'Surge' Work in Afghanistan? Consortium News. Retrieved from http://www.consortiumnews.com/2009/110309b.html
Forsyth, J. (2009, November 7). Obama's three Afghan mistakes. The Spectator. Retrieved from http:// www.spectator.co.uk/coffeehouse/5514658/obamas-three-afghan-mistakes.thtml
Ghattas, K. (2009, March 27). Obama breaks with Bush Afghan policy. BBC News. Retrieved from http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7969071.stm
Gilligan, A. (2009, November 22). Iraq report: Timeline - before and after the war. The Telegraph. Retrieved from http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/politics/defence/6625840/Iraq- report-Timeline---before-and-after-the-war.html
Hymans, J. E. C. (2006). Theories of Nuclear Proliferation. The Nonproliferation Review, 13(3), 455- 65.
Jervis, R. (2003). Understanding the Bush Doctrine. Political Science Quarterly, 118(3), 365-388
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Goodman, M. (2009, November 11). Obama fails to reset foreign policy. Middle East Online. Retrieved from http://www.middle-east-online.com/english/?id=35660
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Analysis of film Arguing The World

2009-12-01T12:44:00.006-05:00

Below is something I've been working on at school. Since McMaster has essentially eaten up all my time for the past few months, I thought it might be good to post some of my work to prove I am still alive (don't people usually go bungee jumping for that same reason?). So here is my analysis of the film Arguing the World.

Arguing the World: A Marxist Analysis of the New York Intellectuals

Wesley Kellar

The film Arguing the World follows the lives of four New York intellectuals from their modest childhoods, through their early experiences with academia and their subsequent careers as influential thinkers and social commentators. This paper will begin with a summary of the film, paying special attention to the early school days of Daniel Bell, Nathan Glazer, Irving Howe and Irving Kristol, and the subsequent changes in their respective theoretical subscriptions. Following this, the film will be analyzed with reference to material relevant to the study of sociological theory, with particular focus paid to parallels with the life of Marx and connections to the Marxist paradigm. In so doing, this essay will prove the utility of the Marxist theoretical framework in the study of sociology and the world.

This section summarizing the experiences of the four New York intellectuals draws entirely from the film Arguing the World (Dorman 1998). The film begins with a discussion of the childhood of each of the four characters profiled. Each was a Jewish child growing up in New York, experiencing the burdens of poverty and discrimination. Bell came from the lower east side, Glazer was raised in the Bronx to a working-class family, Howe recalls a difficult move to the East Bronx and a resulting drop in socioeconomic status, and Kristol relates that he barely noticed his poverty in Brooklyn, because everyone he knew was also poor. These trying economic circumstances helped lay the foundation for the brilliant careers that followed. The result of their lack of money was that all four young men attended the City University of New York (CUNY), a relative dumping ground for the “smart poor” (Dorman 1998).
[continued after the jump, or click on title to view full article]

It was at CUNY that the four youth began to solidify their intellectualism. They would gather daily in the school’s ‘alcove one’, discussing revolution, their anti-Stalinist brand of Marxist ideology, the need for revolution, and the ideas of Leon Trotsky. In accordance with Trotsky, they felt that Stalin's behaviour was in line with a dictatorship, and that the Moscow trials which saw many pleading guilty to espionage were in fact little more than blatant propaganda exercises. One of the toughest arguments among the four was whether the autocratic oppression of Stalinism was in some way related in an a priori manner to Marxism. Despite the influence of the Marxist, anti-Stalinist journal Partisan Review (PR), Kristol took the contrary view that there was in fact an organic connection leading from Marxist/Leninist movements to the hated Stalinist-style rule, and he was expelled by Howe for these views. This battle began a lifetime of disagreements and internal division which would plague the group.

During the war years, Howe and Kristol were soldiers in Alaska and France, respectively. Belle finished his time at CUNY, and Glazer worked as an editor. Immediately post-war, Kristol and Glazer both worked on a journal with several PR writers, arguing back and forth about existentialism, the role of Marxist ideas in society, and anti-Stalinist views. Although this discussion predated the rise of anti-communist sentiment among the wider United States public, that subsequent rise was not a validation of their beliefs. Instead, it was a blanket 'anti-red' doctrine which did not encapsulate the distinctions between Marxist, Leninist, and Stalinist forms of communism. This led Bell, Glazer and Kristol to take the unlikely action of joining the American Committee for Cultural Freedom, which was opposed to the US communist party, which they felt muddied the waters regarding what the Soviets stood for and were responsible for in Europe.

The anti-communist movement in the United States reached a frenzied zenith under Senator McCarthy, who began a series of trials against celebrities and citizens suspected of having communist sympathies. Many were accused of being Soviet spies, a charge which intensified after the Rosenberg couple were arrested for selling atomic secrets to the cold-war enemy. Kristol responded to the outrage of Liberals toward McCarthy's trials by attacking them. Although he knew that McCarthy's methods were questionable and thuggish, he felt that by defending the persecuted communists, critics were serving to excuse their behaviours and beliefs. Howe, on the other hand, felt that McCarthy's attacks on civil liberties were playing into the hands of communists by weakening American libertarian values. This was another example of the split between Kristol and the others.

In the 1950s, there was a tendency among academics toward conformity, one which Howe was critical of. Although disparaging of the maintenance of the capitalist status quo, he was no longer the radical he had been in his youth, founding the magazine Dissent to explore his socialist ideas in a democratic context. However, despite the connection each of the New York intellectuals felt with critical analysis, Howe’s three peers felt his new magazine went too far, and falsely labelled those who had given up on socialism as sell-outs. This coincided with the fact that, as universities expanded after the war and began accepting Jews as professors, Bell, Glazer, and Howe found jobs in academia. For the first time they began to see the universities as a place for free and critical inquiry.

Things began to change in the 1960s as radicalism grew on campuses. This was epitomized by the group Students for a Democratic Society (SDS). At first, this young group had positive relations with Howe and his fellow Dissent staffers, but this quickly degenerated as he came to see the SDS as rash, naive, and romantic idealists. In turn, they viewed him as rigid and paternalistic, an academic in an ivory tower unwilling to actively seek social change. Similarly, students at Berkley who once looked up to Glazer, a professor there, soon came to see him as part of the establishment that they were fighting against during a series of occupations and protests, many of which ended with violent clashes with police. These protest sought to restore students` rights to protest, to end the war in Vietnam, and to end the universities’ association with the military, among other things.

In response to the radicalism of the 1960s, Bell, Glazer and Howe began to associate themselves with liberalism, even as they saw Democrats moving further left on the political spectrum, many voting for Richard Nixon. This leftist Democrat ideology became the groundwork for the neo-Conservative movement, taken up by Kristol. He has championed the neo-Conservative ideology, claiming that his former friends, in their liberalism, are the new enemies of an ongoing cold-war. This brings the film to its close, with a brief retrospective of their lives together, and the acknowledgement by all that, despite their differences, they have great respect for the critical intellectualism of their former CUNY schoolmates.

This second section of the essay will link the film detailed above with the theoretical tradition of Marxism. To begin with, Marx can be linked to the story within Arguing the World through a contrast between the lives of the New York intellectuals and Marx himself. To begin with, Marx was born into a wealthy Jewish family in Germany, but struggled much of his life with poverty owing to his inability to manage a budget or live within his means (Pampel 2007). He wanted to enter academia but his dreams were crushed when a mentor of his criticized the church and was discredited, and finally he was forced to flee Germany because of his outspoken views on the oppression in German political life (McLaughlin 2009a). On the other hand, each of the intellectuals discussed in the film were born into working class Jewish families, but have since distinguished themselves and achieved success through their popular publications (Dorman 1998). Further, although they were initially sceptical of academia, they eventually found positions working within the university system, and were subsequently criticized for being too complacent with the oppressive nature of the university administrations (ibid. 1998). These differences, although evocative, merely help to highlight the ideological congruencies between Marx and the New York four.

Marx had a strong impact on the lives and ideas of the New York intellectuals. From their early arguments about whether or not Marxism contained within it imperatives leading to the abuses seen under Stalin, to their careers as writers and policy critics, Marx was ever present in their ideologies, as a reference point, inspiration, and often as an ideological opponent. The early split that occurred among the group was due to Kristol taking the position that Marxism led to Stalin-style authoritarianism. This split was never fully reconciled, and can be credited with increasing the ideological differences between Kristol and the others. This was just one way that Marx was to play a pivotal role in their lives.

During the radical campus movements of the 1960s, Glazer became a target of discontent for students fed up with the establishment, especially the Berkley staff's resistance to change and direct action (Dorman 1998). This can be analyzed in terms of Marx's tendency to view sociology in terms of a discipline of action. He felt that the role of a sociologist was not just to describe or understand the world, but to actively change and improve it (McLaughlin 2009b). This contrasts with Glazer's view that the students were attempting too much change, too fast (Dorman 1998). It is, however, consistent with the later actions of Kristol, who became a figurehead for the neo-Conservative movement (ibid. 1998). Although his views are no longer close to those he held as a young Marxist at CUNY, he is emblematic of Marx's notions that sociologists should take an active role in changing society in order to better it. In this way, Kristol is more similar to Marx than his former school-mates, although ideologically he is the most distant. These examples show the applicability of Marxist ideas to the lives of the New York intellectuals.

It is also interesting to note the prevalence of class conflict in the story of the four former CUNY school mates. As noted by McLaughlin, central to Marxism are the ideas of historical materialism and class conflict (2009a). As lower class Jews in New York, the New York intellectuals had no hope for an education but to attend CUNY (Dorman 1998). Ironically, this was crucial to their development, as they were exposed to the radical campus, as well as to each other, and thus helped to define their theoretical worldviews. A further twist on the concept of class conflict occurred when Glazer, now part of the dominant intellectual elite, was criticized for maintaining the status quo of his university (ibid. 1998). This exemplifies Marx`s notion that the state is but a tool of the capitalist class (McLaughlin 2009b), in that the university was but a tool of the intellectual elite to defend the status quo. In this instance it was the students, as their rights were being taken away, who were the underclass (both in strictly Marxist terms, and also in Weberian notions of power and party) (Pampel 2007). These instances further exemplify the utility of Marxism in shaping and explaining the lives of the New York intellectuals.

In summation, it has been shown that the film Arguing the World, and the lives of Bell, Glazer, Howe and Kristol which it describes, exemplify the strong ideological relevance of the Marxist theoretical framework. This has been presented by summarizing the lives of the New York intellectuals and tracing the influence of Marx on their actions and ideas, as well as through a comparison of their lives to that of Marx. Finally, this essay analyzed the stories of these influential academics according to Marxist notions of the role of social scientists as agents of change, and in relation to the Marxist concept of class conflict. Through this brief critical analysis, it has been shown that Marxism is a relevant tradition and a valid interpretative tool.

References

Dorman, Joseph. 1998. Arguing the World. First Run Features.

McLaughlin, Neil. 2009a. “2S06e – Lecture 3.” Presented at McMaster University, September 28, Hamilton, ON Canada.

------. 2009b. “2S06e – Lecture 4.” Presented at McMaster University, October 19, Hamilton, ON Canada.

Pampel, Fred C. 2007. Sociological Lives and Ideas: An Introduction to the Classical Theorists. 2nd ed. New York: Worth Publishers.

Eco News

2009-10-10T14:40:00.002-04:00

Greenpeace is still working tirelessly to bring some sense to Canada's tar sands - never thought I would see such devastation of Canada's environment and reputation as the tar sands.
Meanwhile, French protest groups are gearing up to try to stop a large installation of wind turbines near Mont-St-Michel - only in France would such a protest against clean energy be so vocal.

No Logo

2009-10-07T08:01:00.003-04:00

Image by Gauravonomics via Flickr

Woah - been a while since my last post. I started school in September and am just now reaching some sort of equilibrium with sleep. Have even found some time to read my favourite shit-disturber du jour Naomi Klein. If you haven't checked her out, do so now. A few interesting points from No Logo (her first book, and not her best):

- after a 2+ year libel trial in the UK, a judge ruled that McDonald's is 'culpably responsible' for cruelty to animals, they are 'antipathetic' toward unionization efforts, and that their workers suffer in terms of low pay and bad conditions. Best of all, the judge ruled Ronald McDonald et al 'exploit children' with their ads, which are misleading. While nice to see that someone has the sense to call things like they are, it might've been nice had McDonald's been the ones on trial, rather than two citizen activists sued by the Golden Arches company for libel.

Naked Hitler In AIDS Awareness Ads

2009-09-08T03:52:00.001-04:00

http://network.nationalpost.com/np/blogs/posted/archive/2009/09/04/aids-ads-featuring-hitler-sending-the-wrong-message.aspx

Bring Your Own Coconut

2009-08-31T16:38:00.004-04:00

Yeah it's definitely beautiful out here in Vancouver - definitely worth a trip or two if you can swing it. Trains are nicer for that kind of thing (where the act of getting there is as important as the destination ... think kodak moment) although a bit more expensive.
I've been dying to go to the Science World that is maybe 25 min from my friend Wren's place, right at the edge of downtown (right by the Pacific too).
A few days ago we went to English Bay (a beach downtown - yes, downtown!) and chilled on the beach with one of her uber cute friends, while I drank wine from a salsa jar - I felt like a movie star.
right now i am nicely toasted - just got back from a BYOC (bring your own coconut) party. was actually kinda awesome, wasn't sure I would enjoy myself, but turned out awesome, topped off by the walk home to Wren's with 5 or 6 other people, all stumbling (thankfully downhill) 40 blocks while drinking rum and lime juice out of coconuts with smeared lip-gloss faces.
Culminated in a visit to the park where we were the victims of a drive-by by cops. They were pulling some crazy intimidation techniques in order to detect terrorists who could potentially pose a threat to the Olympics (I have quickly come to learn that this basically means all locals not involved with the service industry, Natives or Aboriginals of any nation, and youth in general). The cops pulled through the middle of the park, drove right beside where we were standing, playing with a neighbour's dog, then sloooooooowly cruised by, staring us down and daring us with their eyes to twitch the wrong way the whole time. Ridiculous.

[with modification, from a note to a friend]

Playing Dress Up

2009-08-29T21:13:00.003-04:00

Before I forget, just wanted to mention the trend that I've noticed is sweeping the city - t-shirts printed with graphics to make them look like they are a suit and tie. Weirdness.

Lost in the City

2009-08-29T20:58:00.004-04:00

Image via Wikipedia

So I went with the friend I am staying with in Vancouver downtown so she could run some errands. She dropped me off at the library so I could do a bit of nErdy stuff (update my blog, check my email, hopefully find a new book or two to devour while I am here). On the way in we passed by some awesome grafiti (pics to follow). Then she dropped me off and said "meet you here in an hour and a half" and vanished into the throngs. 20 seconds later I realized the library, part of Simon Fraser University, was closed for a summer break. So now here I was, completely lost in a strange city, with no where to go and nothing to do for an hour - surely I couldn't get into much trouble, could I?

After getting forcibly removed from the hallway outside the library (where I had planned to camp out with my laptop) by campus security ("But I'm from Ontario," I insisted. "Do you want me to get my taser out?" he responded.), I began hoofing it about, trying to look like I belonged. After nearly getting hit by a car (the driver's fault), and stumbling into a drugged-out crazy pregnant woman (definitely my fault), I decided the best thing to do would be to find somewhere to sit down where I wouldn't be in danger of a) getting shanked b) accidentally shanking someone.

[By the way, the pic on the right is purpotedly of McFog (!!!!!????), the mascot of SFU. Awesome.]

More to come.

Vancouver Hell Cats

2009-08-28T16:57:00.004-04:00

Have been in beautiful BC (I'd call it La belle province if that wasn't already taken) for the past few days now with my oldest, bestest friend Wren (see: photo). Settling in nicely (minus the fact that last night we were rudely awakened at 4AM by full bottles of wine (one opened but full of water) crashing down around our heads like bombs. They were being thrown from above by her cute but evil kitties Mogs and Minx, who managed to look completely uninterested by the watery carnage they had inflicted upon us from above.
More to come.

Real Life Vs Blog Land

2009-08-21T23:21:00.002-04:00

And so for the third time in a week I've been through something IRL that I just have to blog about - but haven't, because its an unresolved issue revolving around people who read my blog. Whoops! I've been trying to decide how best to go about handling this push/pull situation - should I just throw caution to the wind, and pour everything out onto the web? This kind of consequence-be-damned approach appeals to my cavalier values. I'm thinking maybe I could just start prefacing my entries with a warning, such as "spoiler alert - this blog may contain my thoughts and feelings on _______". That way when I am confronted by an angry/hurt/confused friend I can just say "didn't you read the warning?".

I'd love to have some thoughts on this predicament, and how I should tackle it (or how other fellow bloggers do). Much appreciated! (And by the way, once these various situations have resolved themselves a little I'll be sure to post the juicy stuff here).

BC Bound

2009-08-14T18:20:00.002-04:00

It's official, I'm taking off - don't worry, I'm not talking about some five dollar strip tease in a back alley (sorry girls). Instead, I'm leaving my recession-depressed province of Ontario (represent!) to fly to the depression-proof (unless you're affected by the weather... pathetic fallacy, anyone?) province of BC for a little time to work on my tan and recharge my batteries (which are apparently solar powered). Gonna stay in downtown Van (that's Vancouver for the uninformed) for a few weeks, and hopefully visit some family, including a trip to Winestock 2009 to see my uncle at his vinyard.

Lost and Found

2009-08-08T13:14:00.002-04:00

I have been reading a lot more since I got off my anti-depressents - not sure if they were somehow affecting my attention span or what. Have been on a Tom Robbins kick lately, and loving it, but it has been having some interesting spillover effect into my "real" life - been doing this weird soul-searching, what-is-the-meaning-of-life thing, trying to figure out where I'm going and why, etc. So far I haven't found any answers, and I'm scared to death that I'm gonna end up wasting my summer vacation/school career/life, on banalities and pointless whoop-dee-doo.

I've been thinking - maybe I should train-hop out west to visit my friend Wren (this at least would be real, novel, exciting).

I've been thinking - maybe I should join the HCBP protests (this would be something I believe in, would connect me to my community, would be dangerous and selfless).

I've been thinking - maybe I should have a child (this would grant me immortality, would allow me to correct my parents' mistakes while making my own, and to mould a life in my own image).

So far I haven't come to any decisions, leaving me feeling paralyzed and distrustful of my faculties and more lost than ever, but I am happy that I am finally having these thoughts again, important and all-encompassing, for the first time since I popped the first pretty little Effexor in my mouth nearly two years ago.

[taken from an email to a friend]

Antoni Gaudi

2009-08-04T19:09:00.007-04:00

I recently stumbled across a post on one of the blogs I follow about a mug designed by Antoni Gaudi. This led me to look up some of his other work. I found out that he has mostly worked with buildings as his medium of choice (rather than cups and spoons). Here are some awesome pictures from GreatBuildings.com, let me know what you think (or point me to others!).

2009-08-04T18:00:00.001-04:00

[Final exams coming up Wed and Thurs - stay tuned for more good stuff after that]

Alice In Wonderland (2010)

2009-07-28T15:23:00.012-04:00

Upon a little further research I found out that Johnny Depp couldn't have possibly been in Sherlock Holmes - he was busy filming Alice In Wonderland for Disney, along with Helena Bonham-Carter and Tim Burton (what a dream team those 3 are). Also with Anne Hathaway and Crispin Glover. Mostly this post is just an excuse to show off some of the art for this movie. Be sure the check out the link to the trailer below, brought to you by my good friends at Zemanta.

2009-07-22T15:07:00.000-04:00

[up @ the cottage for a week - no internet! ahhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!]

Secret Homosexual Handshake - Beware!

2009-07-17T04:49:00.006-04:00

All Good Christians must beware the secret homo-handshake, lest they be unwittingly pulled into a public washroom by Satan incarnate, and forced to endure hours of carnal delights. This article is the funniest thing I have ever seen, and I only wish I had the time/brain capacity (@ 5:00AM) to give it the full run-down). I can promise I will delve a little deeper tomorrow into the disturbed minds of these paranois religious bigots. God bless freedom of religion (too bad it wasn't freedom from religion...).

Sherlock Holmes: Former Drug Addict?

2009-07-17T04:27:00.008-04:00

Just a quick blurb to talk about Robert Downey Jr.'s new role as Sherlock Holmes in the upcoming Guy Ritchie flick. What a brilliant choice for the troubled-addict-turned-iron-man. One can only imagine Johnny Depp partaking in a blood ritual, having sliced his agent from ear to ear for missing out on this reimagining featuring RDJr, Jude Law, and Mark Strong (of recent RockNRolla fame). Fingers crossed for something great.

Harper Visits Pope

2009-07-11T20:28:00.004-04:00

In a completely unrelated story to this one called Harper's War on Gay Pride, the Harper family recently met with Pope Benedict XVI. They traded gifts and Harper listened to Benedict's "perspective on a number of important issues".

There was no indication whether they spoke of abortion or gay marriage. According to some, these topics are considered sensitive because, despite the Pope's position (and that of a number of Harper's MP's), the Harper government has taken no steps to limit access to abortion or ban gay marriage.

Truly Harper is a rogue social progressive, championing the rights of the people in the face of cruel religious oppressors.

Site Maintenance

2009-07-11T12:55:00.003-04:00

The last week or so has brought about 3 entire site redesigns as I search for the perfect template. My HTML skills, initially nonexistent, are now merely terrible - progress! It is now easier to read and write comments, and the site is optimized for higher resolution screens (apologies to Eee PCs - I will try to introduce flexible page size coding in the future). Stay tuned for more changes to come, and feel free to make format/HTML suggestions (anyone good at scripting?).

Harper's War on Gay Pride

2009-07-07T17:58:00.000-04:00

In the most shocking example of discrimination I have heard of in a long time, Tourism Minister Diane Ablonczy has been pulled off her portfolio because she awarded money to gay pride events. Toronto's Pride events are a cultural event like any other, and draw tourists to the city from the entire Golden Horseshoe and beyond. The fact that sexual orientation is protected in the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms begs the question of how Harper's government expects to deny Pride funding without being challenged - and overturned - in court. The idea that Pride could be controversial to some Canadians underlines the need for the event, to help educate people on what should already be a moot point by now. While I have never been a fan of wasting taxpayer money on court challenges, Harper has consistently thrown our cash into protracted battles against socially progressive programs (InSite, medical marijuana and lisenced growers, etc.), and it is time someone stood up to his misogynistic, patriarchal war on common sense.
Pride is a tourist event like any other, serving as a celebration of all types of sexuality, as well as an educational forum. It has transformed itself into a family friendly event, and done wonders for Toronto's reputation as an inclusive city of diversity. The fact that the grant was used to address accessibility for handicapped attendees further proves that Ablonczy was in the right.
Canadian white supremists will be happy to note that Harper is one step closer to denying permits for Caribana due to its potentially controversial racial motif.

[source links to follow]

Tar Sands Terror

2009-07-03T16:39:00.001-04:00

Alberta's tar sands are a global embarrassment, the biggest environmental catastrophe in human history - and things have only begun to ramp up. There are hundreds of reasons not to exploit the Boreal forests and vast wetlands of northern Canada - the tailing ponds are vast dams of toxic sludge which are constantly leeching into Alberta's rivers (which eventually flow into America, the Arctic, and the Pacific). These "ponds" have and will kill birds who come into contact with them - often causing them to drown! They are also suspected of causing mutations and deformities in fish, in areas relied upon by Natives for food (although this is debatable). New regulations regarding tailings ponds (requiring faster 'cleanup' and increased regulation) have been slammed by industry as too difficult, and by environmental groups as insufficient.

Native communities downstream from Fort McMurry and other hotbeds of the tar boom are experiencing elevated rates of rare cancers, miscarriages (up to 1/3 of pregnancies), and the feminization of children (fewer and fewer males are born). There is evidence that the doctor who first sounded the alarm about these health effects is being silenced by Health Canada - for raising "undue alarm". [continued after the jump]

The boom towns themselves are suffering - from a lack of infrastructure, doctors, and planning. Residents there (who often consider themselves 'just visiting', or commute from as far away as the maritimes for a month or season of work) experience high rates of depression, suicide, spousal abuse and drug and alcohol abuse. While these problems are found across Northern Canada, hitting Native communities especially hard, there is no doubt that the boom effect (which drives up the cost of living, increases disparities between the poor and the wealthy, and catapults low-wage workers into $100,000 a year low-skill jobs) increases the severity of drug abuse and other social problems. Despite the widespread use of drugs, tar sands companies have resisted implimenting drug tests for workers, out of a fear they will have none left once drug users are weeded out (although an Alberta court recently ruled in favour of one company which refused to hire someone who tested positive for marijuana). The government has not provided sufficient funding for mental health and addictions services.

In addition, the extraction and refining process of tar is a dirty process. It is extremely water intensive (which poses serious consequences for the dry prairies and local Natives), energy intensive (certain industry insiders have proposed building several nearby nuclear plants - which themselves require lots of water), and releases more carbon dioxide than other forms of energy/oil production. Regulation of water use and pollution, in particular, has been handed off by government agencies to industry self-regulation.

Perhaps the worst part of this equation is that this rape and pillage, via the world's largest industrial project, is happening without benefit to Canadians (including those Natives whose UN-back land claims are being ignored). The Alberta Petrostate charges a pittance in royalties, less than almost any other region on earth, and has routinely caved in to threats from industry (and workers) to pull out if more sane royalty rates were established (as if these energy conglomerates could relocate - where else is there to go?). Crazily, these puny royalties don't even come into effect until the full cost of the initial project (often hundreds of millions of dollars) has been recouped, and even then the province has failed to collect on over $1 billion it was entitled to.

Now, Enbridge wants to build even more pipelines to deliver this wretched resource (almost solely responsible for Canada's recent last-place ranking among G8 and BRIC countries for pollution). Enbridge has a history of feeding the US's gluttonous addiction to oil, and a reputation for being "aggressive and arrogant" (which has led to a slew of pipeline bombs in neighbouring BC). Enbridge also has a history of spills and cleanup mismanagement, and wants to lift the moratorium on oil tankers in sensitive BC coastal waters. Is this environmental stewardship? Does this really make economic sense? Whose interests is this serving?

[Tar Sands Images]

[updated July 11/09]

Wallabes Are Getting Stoned

2009-06-26T12:58:00.000-04:00

Image by spakattacks via Flickr

Recently reports have surfaced of wallabes chowing down on opium and then acting strangely. This begs the question of how secure the world's medicinal opium supply is (although industry reports suggest everything is fine), not to mention the future of these poor wallabes.

Additional sources show this type of animal drug use is not isolated to wallabes - deer and sheep have both also been known to wander in slow-moving circles after contact with the poppy fields.

Elephants have been known to raid villages in India and elsewhere searching for moonshine rice beer. These destructive pachyderms have killed hundreds of villagers while looking for a good time, and many have met their own end in their lust for a good stiff drink, including some which were electrocuted.

Reports of UK sheep chowing down on psilocybin - magic mushrooms - have surfaced, although there remain questions of what has caused these isolated incidents from being more prevalent.

Studies at McGill University, known as a party school, have examined the effect of alcohol on monkeys. This follows repeated reports of vervet monkeys stealing drinks from tourists in St. Kitts, after developing a taste for booze.

Reproductive Human Rights

2009-06-20T20:22:00.001-04:00

Image via Wikipedia

A recent decision by the BC Human Rights Council ruled that Dr. Gerald Korn, an ob/gyn practicing in the province for several decades, contravened the human rights of a lesbian couple to whom he denied access to artificial insemination based on their sexual orientation.

His claim was that by providing the service he was opening himself up to risks to his practice, of an efficient/economic nature. Luckily the BC Human Rights Council ruled against him, and this ruling was in essence backed by the BC Supreme Court. This kind of discrimination is clearly in contravention of the Canadian Federal Assisted Human Reproduction Act (esp. section 2e), as well as common sense. It brings up interesting issues surrounding the role of medical practitioners in society, and what rights they have to deny services on moral/ethical/financial grounds. In my opinion, there is very little room for a doctor's personal moral/ethical beliefs in diagnosing or treating patients, especially as they relate to areas protected by the Canadian Human Rights Act.

A recent California case has mirrored the Canadian case. In it, a lesbian couple has claimed that they were discriminated against by a clinic which refused to treat them because of their sexual orientation. The clinic however has blamed communication problems and denies that the couple's sexuality was at issue, instead stating that the treatment was denied because the prospective patient was single. This case is drawing interest from conservative religious and gay activist groups, many of whom have been granted an audience before the court. Pharmacists in the US have been increasingly granted the right to refuse to fill certain prescriptions based on moral grounds (manifesting as denials to provide contraceptives - and, sometimes illegally, to even transfer prescriptions to another pharmacist), which has combined with the lack of acceptance of the morning after pill (which is often not kept in stock at certain chemists) to add up to a barrier to choice of crisis proportions. However, discriminating against services or treatments is far different from discriminating against people.

In both of these instances, the morals of the doctor were pitted against the rights of the patients to receive care. This is a sticky human rights issue pitting freedom of religion against freedom from discrimination and issues of universal access to health care (at least in Canada, where lip service is generally backed up - despite notable inequalities in access to reproductive services experienced in rural, eastern, and aboriginal communities). While "No one can force me to carry a child" has a long tradition of acceptence, "No one can keep me from having a child" deserves just as much sway.

Follow the Money

2009-06-15T17:29:00.000-04:00

Understanding that media has become more concentrated is an abstract mental construction - time to break things down, especially in light of the fact that a 2006 BBC poll found that residents of many nations trust their media more than their governments.

As of 2001, there were 14 players in Canada`s daily newspaper industry. That`s a remarkably small number for a diverse and dispersed nation of over 33 million. Of the 103 papers owned by these 14 corporations, 70 were owned by the top four (Southern Publications, Quebecor Inc., Osprey media, Hollinger Cdn. N.L.P.). Since 2001, concentration has increased even further. Since newspapers are such an integral part of the information distribution network for Canadians, this is a frightening series of events. However, scarier still is how the same companies which control the flow of news through their paper chains also own local and national television channels and radio channels.

Other worrying recent events are summarized nicely in the following excerpt:

Astral Media owns 29 radio stations in Quebec and the Maritimes and 17 pay television stations (including The Movie Network, Mpix and Family Channel, and half of Teletoon). In April 2007, Astral Media announced it had struck a cash and stock deal to acquire 52 radio stations and two TV stations from Standard Broadcasting.

CanWest Global owns the Global Television Network's 11 stations as well as the three TV stations in the CH-branded network. In January 2007, in partnership with a group from Goldman Sachs, CanWest bought Alliance Atlantis, which added 13 specialty channels including Showcase, HGTV Canada, Food Network Canada and History Television. CanWest owns 11 of Canada's biggest dailies (including the National Post, The Gazette in Montreal, the Ottawa Citizen and both of Vancouver's dailies, the Vancouver Sun and The Province).

CTVglobemedia owns the CTV network and its 24 affiliates, and has full or partial ownership of 17 specialty television stations, The Globe and Mail and 35 radio stations across the country. CTVglobemedia's other conventional television assets include A-Channel, a second system that operates in major markets of Ontario and British Columbia: CKX-TV, a CBC television affiliate in Brandon, Man.; TQS; and ASN, a cable channel in Atlantic Canada.

Osprey Media owns 21 dailies in Ontario (including the Kingston Whig-Standard and Peterborough Examiner) and 36 other papers. In 2001, Osprey bought 16 dailies and 12 other papers from Hollinger International. In 2002, Osprey acquired 30 more newspapers (including four dailies) from CanWest Global.

Rogers Media owns several over-the-air and specialty TV channels (including OMNI, Rogers Sportsnet, the Shopping Channel and the Biography Channel), 44 radio stations in six provinces and magazines such as Maclean's, Chatelaine and Canadian Business. In June 2007, Rogers Media bought five Citytv stations, in Toronto, Winnipeg, Edmonton, Calgary and Vancouver.

Torstar Corp. publishes the Toronto Star, The Record in Kitchener-Waterloo, the Hamilton Spectator, and the Guelph Mercury. The company also publishes 95 community newspapers in the southern Ontario marketplace.

Quebecor Media owns eight dailies and 200 other local and community newspapers. In 2000, Quebecor bought Quebec's largest cable company, Videotron, and its French-language TV network, TVA.

Some proponents of media concentration suggest that fewer players mean that the industry is more competitive globally. They also point to the role played by the Canadian Radio and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) in permitting the changes that have occurred over the past decades. However, the CRTC has been criticized for lacking the political willpower, oversight, or enforcing powers to actually resist consolidation. In fact, the history of the CRTC shows the body often reverses a previous decision, is ordered to reconsider a decision (as has happened multiple times), or simply rules according to a market-oriented values system. This commission has not earned the trust of Canadians, especially in light of the further media consolidation that is occurring each year. Please contact the CRTC, your MP, your mom and your neighbour, and help to shine a light on the issue of media concentration and the biased approach taken by the CRTC.

Who Is Telling You Your Opinion?

2009-06-15T12:26:00.000-04:00

If you are Canadian, then chances are you are getting your information about your community, nation, and the world from one of a small handful of media conglomerates. This is true for newspapers, television, radio, and increasingly internet, and these various forms of media are often all under the control of one company. This kind of oligarchical control over the information that Canadians receive is unacceptable - there have been a plethora of stories (usually printed by a rival conglomerate) about the centralized owners of a media chain interfering in the editorial independence of journalists. This has taken the form of everything from issuing stories 'of national interest' that local papers must run, a relatively benign event, to killing stories attempting to expose Jean Chretien's involvement in corruption, and subsequently firing the journalist responsible for the story, for supposedly unrelated reasons. This type of undemocratic influence rips at the very heart of journalism's supposed role as an unbiased source of information.

In a democracy, the principle of an informed citizenry is key to allowing elected officials to be held accountable for their actions, and for keeping important and unresolved issues at the forefront of the social imagination. The concentration of media ownership which has occurred over the past three decades has served to limit the number of choices Canadians can make for their news. In addition, those sources that remain are increasingly accountable to anonymous shareholders, forced to prioritize a profit above their responsibility to report in an unbiased and accurate manner. This is not suggesting that media companies have were not interested in profit in the past - rather, it seems that the balance of power has swung away from principled editors and toward amoral owners and investors, to the detriment of the wider public.

Coupled with the shifts toward fewer news sources presenting fewer opinions, and the power shift toward self-interested capital at the expense of principles, has come the misguided belief that the public should in some way be consulted about what news is presented to them. This misguided notion has resulted in the extensive use of polls and ratings micromanagement. This is especially unfortunate in light of the fact that polling reliability is being called into question. Again, by no means have media ever operated in a vacuum, separate from the wants of the public they serve. However, an unfortunate side effect of the modern media corporation's propensity to worship at the altar of public opinion is the distortion of news media into a new breed of "info-tainment". This new species of media passing itself off as news is more likely to dedicate air-time or page-length to celebrity gossip and prolonged scandals than it is to less popular, though still vital, issues such as campaign finance reform.

Another problem facing the profit-driven, consumer-generated media choices being presented is that they are invariably the most violent and sensationalized stories from around the world, selected more for their shock value (and subsequently their ratings value, and subsequently their advertising dollar pull) than for their intrinsic worth as news. While unfortunate that humans are drawn to extreme violence, it is more unfortunate how modern media cater to these tastes like never before. This can help explain why heavy media consumers overestimate their likelihood of being involved in violence, why they experience higher levels of anxiety, and why they are more likely to behave in antisocial ways toward others. There are, of course, other studies which deny that violent media have a negative effect on viewers.
Since there are fewer voices presenting fewer issues, focusing increasingly on titillating our basest fascinations, there is a dearth of stories Canadians need to hear - such as the issue of media concentration.

weekly wes

Sublimation = Creative Writing

Freud said we repress our sexual and aggressive energies, and they bubble up as creativity. For example:

--need a punching bag need some sneakers need a fix to feed the tweakers hot and bothered and sweaty and drunk and craving a touch a taste of junk to fill the void to ease the pain to make me happy to keep me sane--

--cups and spoons and stars and moons are travelling over channeling through my then and now and future too twisting fate upon my plate a shadowed path to floating ruin with two black mastiffs standing guard among the mushrooms on my card--

My Summer Haiku Collection

I love the way that haikus lend themselves to extended metaphors, inside jokes, and other silly nonsense. My favourites are those where the last line changes the meaning of those that came before.

you can lie to meand i promise to believewe're star crossed liars

want the world to knowyou are the love of my lifevibrating pillow

my heart stops for youi am sick to my stomachlovely diaphram

heart black body bluewishing for another youlost my favourite game

drinking antifreezewith australopithecusi love history

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Who Is Telling You Your Opinion?

you can lie to me
and i promise to believe
we're star crossed liars

want the world to know
you are the love of my life
vibrating pillow

my heart stops for you
i am sick to my stomach
lovely diaphram

heart black body blue
wishing for another you
lost my favourite game

drinking antifreeze
with australopithecus
i love history