Category: Life

Victorian as a cultural phenomenon associated with the long reign of Queen Victoria (1837-1901), but its value for the subsequent development of English history, culture, literature cannot be overestimated. It was during this Victorian period literature in England acquires the status of a great colonial power, forms the national idea and identity, which was destined to challenge the aggressive attacks from the outside.

Victorian left in the minds of the English people some idea of the inviolability of traditions, significance of democracy and moral philosophy, as well as a strong desire to turn to time-tested emblems and symbols of the Victorian era. In fact, it was the Victorians it’s great literature proved the enduring importance of spiritual values in the formation of the national mentality and determination of the place of the individual in history and civilization. In the works of Victorian authors: Charles Dickens and W. M. Thackeray, Bronte sisters, E. Gaskell, D. Meredith, George. Eliot, Trollope reflected particular social and political development of England, with all the complexities and contradictions, discoveries and failures.

Long time Victorian England was preserved in the everyday understanding of the English as a symbol of uncompromising prosperity, sustainability and stability in the whole of the human being and of society as a whole. This is a society of the era of the reign of Victoria in the novel George. After Victoria’s death, as I believe along with the author of the heroes of Galsworthy, the period of smartnote, instability, the collapse of values.

Victorian Era literature themes

The Victorian boom in the literature of the 50-60-ies of XX century confirmed this view, but it happened at a time when England itself was found with difficulties associated with the rise of the middle class, which was a stronghold of Victorian. Quite a different picture we see in the postmodern English novel, who rediscovered his countrymen the so-called Victorian values, until recently, considered beyond review and reassessment. D. Fowles and A. Biett saw almost a century later, what was contained and suppressed Victorian England, intoxicated with the success of the economic and international, humanitarian and cultural.

Again in the minds of modern Englishmen arose the ghosts of the past prosperity reflected in a kind of eclectic Victorian architecture and sculpture, the literature that contains enormous potential destructive power. Monument to Queen Victoria at Buckingham Palace, Victorian mansions, spacious and solidly built, but quite ridiculous in its versatility and designed for a large staff of servants, and the Museum of Albert and Victoria are perceived now as symbols and emblems of the past century, but also as silent witnesses of the unclaimed are still ideas about the real Victoria and her era.

National identity as a set of peculiarities of the national ideas, mentality and relations with society, historical category, agile and dynamic, it can not exist as once and for all fixed for a certain time. In this case, following Jacques Derrida, we can read texts in several historical eras, which does not contradict the idea of national identity, the prospects inherent in the dialectic of development. For national identity is an important context, in this case Victorian culture, so you should recall three important aspects of the crumbling old, the modern state and the emerging new, declaring themselves not quite systematically and persistently.

Crumbling old concluded, on the one hand, the final break with the genre of romance and an appeal to modern life. That’s why for the Victorians it is very important to determine their attitude to the eighteenth century when the confrontation between the two genre categories ended in victory for the novel.

Literature elements

The eighteenth century with its huge reliance on the mind and feeling as an equal category of human consciousness was especially close to a pragmatic and dynamic nineteenth century. Education and training, to which so much attention was paid to the enlightenment, became a special concern of the Victorian writer. Education and awareness formed a large readership, which in the Victorian time. Specialization took place, mainly by attracting the child audience as a mass reader and grateful. In the XIX century. In England, was born literature for boys and girls.

On the other hand, the crumbling old had potential, not shown in full extent in the age of the flowering of the novel. Therefore, it was important that destroying the old to usher in a new relationship with the other two aspects of culture. Modern current state of the novel in the Victorian era was determined by its dominant position in society, as the most adequate and complete reflection of the panorama of life, however, the notion of genre has changed due to the fact that art is farther away from the category of imitation, the simulation, the position of the novel in the Victorian era were exceptionally favorable, the Queen herself was interested in the works of his contemporaries, the novel existed in cheap editions.

He was instrumental in the formation of public opinion in connection with the spread of education among the population. Language and terminology was clarified as the acquisition of novel status of the main generator of ideas on maintenance of stability and order in society. The classic formula of Fielding, or rather, his definition of genre as “comic epic poem in prose” is preserved in only the first of Dickens “Posthumous notes of the Pickwick club”, which coincided with his appearance with the accession of Victoria to the throne.

Later Dickens used different wording put forward by W. Collins, “make them laugh, cry, wait.” As a public nation, England made the novel part of the public-political life and of being a citizen who is concerned about not only their rights, but also responsibilities. English Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli was both a Victorian Era novelist and head of the literary political group – “Young England”. It was his most honored Queen. Indeed in his work reflected many of the features of English identity, perceived from the inside Victorian and outside it.

Queen Victoria (1819-1901) and her husband Prince Albert, was closely connected by family or dynastic ties with many European monarchs. Russian Tsar Alexander I was the godfather of Victoria, so it has a middle name Alexandrina in honor of Alexander. During the reign of Victoria, England became a major colonial power, and the Queen was proclaimed Empress of India. The success of a thriving industrial power was illustrated at the world exhibition in London in 1851.

However, the stability was relatively, more precisely, it has been maintained and strengthened at the expense of family, home, develop a specific doctrine of behavior and morality. Frequent change of governments (Melbourne, Palmerston, Gladstone, Disraeli, Salisbury) showed a change of priorities in foreign and domestic policy. Democratization was driven by a constant fear of the monarch to a possible threat from the revolutionary-minded neighbors (France, Germany, America, far), and the need to reduce the gap between higher and secondary layer English society.

The latter became a reliable bulwark of the nation and consistently achieved success towards the conquest of power. Chartism and his success also influenced the apparent stability, caused irritation and fear of the ruling circles. Chartism proved to be quite active in the 40’s and early 50-ies. Even the philosopher and ideologist of the Victorian Thomas Carlyle devoted a separate work to this labor movement, which had a significant impact on the internal politics of the UK.

Victorian writing style

At the same time with significant successes and achievements in the Victorian era, the contradictions and in England (the constant conflicts of London with the Parliament) and outside. Disagreements regarding interference in the internal Affairs of Portugal, in the years 1846-1847, the debate in connection with the policy of the foreign Minister in the Palmerston government of Lord Russell, even coming to England in 1864. Garibaldi greeted with enthusiasm by most of the British, renewed contacts with France, the exchange of state visits between Victoria and Napoleon III caused a mixed reaction in English society.

The Queen several times made the attempt. In 1854 he unleashed the Crimean war with Russia in support of Turkey. The pacifist policy of Prince Albert and his opposition to the policy of Palmerston made him a highly unpopular figure, had even been rumored that he is Russian spy and should be tried for treason. When the civil war began in America, England was on the side of the southerners. Palmerston and Russell saw an excuse to weaken the position of the United States, representing a threat to the international prestige of England. Only the personal intervention of Prince Albert saved two of the nation from an imminent war that could change the entire future course of history.

After her husband’s death Victoria was engaged exclusively in the Imperial Affairs of the nation. She truly resented the racist prejudices among his countrymen and condemned the attitude of the Boers to the black people of South Africa. Even getting the news about the failures of the British army in Africa, Victoria said: “In our house we are not interested in the possibilities of defeat they just don’t exist.” In these words was the essence of the Victorian ideology and politics, philosophy of life and morality.

The marriage of Victoria and Albert was very happy. He has served as a model and an example to his subjects. She had nine children. Family relations always constitute the standard of nobility and understanding, disagreements were of a purely political nature and were not fundamental.

Recent Developments in Marxist Theories of Ideology – Part 1

Recent Developments in Marxist Theories of Ideology – Part 2

Recent Developments in Marxist Theories of Ideology – Part 3

Recent Developments in Marxist Theories of Ideology – Part 4

Recent Developments in Marxist Theories of Ideology – Part 5

Recent Developments in Marxist Theories of Ideology – Part 6

 

The Material Matrix of Ideology

Therborn defines ideology as a discursive practice that is inscribed in a non-discursive material matrix of affirmations and sanctions. Discursive and non-discursive practices are always empirically intertwined; however, he argues that analytically separating the two is essential to an understanding of ideological conflict and transformation (1980:33). Any ideology disposes the actor to develop certain modes of thought and rationalities deriving from that ideology. Acting upon these rationalities will result in material consequences. The consequences of one’s actions are evaluated along the dimensions of whether they were advantageous or disadvantageous in comparison to an alternative set of beliefs. It is this material matrix, which determines the relative power of ideologies (1980:33–35).

The concept of a material matrix of affirmations and sanctions gives substance to the notion of the “materiality of ideology,” while avoiding Althusser’s radial claim that ideology is only material practices and not ideas. It also provides a framework for Althusser’s notion of “guarantee,” addressing the material conditions, which contribute or do not contribute to the achievement of this guarantee.

Therborn retains Althusser’s conception of ideology as lived experience but rejects the implication that experience of social relations is necessarily imaginary. Ideology for Therborn is not restricted to illusions and misrecognition. Therefore, he rejects the distinction between science and ideology (1980:4). He notes that the science-ideology dichotomy rests on the notion that an individual’s perception of one’s lived relations either corresponds (science) or does not correspond (ideology) to reality. Therborn criticizes this opposition between science and ideology as only echoing the traditional distinction between true and false consciousness. He claims these are a “utilitarian residue in Marxism, which should be rejected, explicitly and decisively, once and for all” (1980:5).

Therborn’s argument (1980:4–10) leads to a position we can characterize as “normative relativism.” He holds that it is an untenable assumption “that normative conceptions are given in the reality of existence and are accessible only through true knowledge of the latter” (1980:5). Instead, Therborn states that interests are constituted in and by ideology depending upon the material matrix of affirmations and sanctions. Consequently, all class interests are only subjective, there being no objective interests determined by real conditions, which lie beyond conscious recognition.

We consider Therborn’s point to be well taken, but it has two major shortcomings. First, he does not sufficiently specify the relation of the matrix of affirmations and sanctions to the “real” structurally determined positions of classes in production. Secondly, Therborn’s theory suffers from not incorporating Poulantzas’ conception of ideology as constituting the horizon of one’s experience. Because of this omission, he cannot explain how one’s lived experience does not provide adequate knowledge of the “real” social structural relations, such as classes and modes of production.

Although much of Therborn’s work on ideology suffers from his emphasis-abstract classification at the expense of detailed analysis, he has advanced the discussion of ideology in significant ways. His choice of taking particular ideologies and their interrelations as his object of analysis, as opposed to Althusser’s emphasis on “ideology in general,” has allowed him to theorize about ideological conflict and change. In denying the idea of real class interests, he also denies that ideology involves misrecognition. The concept of ideology, broadened in Althusser’s reconceptualization from false consciousness to recognition/misrecognition, is further broadened by Therborn’s conceptualization of it as definitions of reality, their normative evaluations, and the assessment of conceivable alternatives. A movement away from an exclusive emphasis on class ideologies also characterizes Therborn’s work. This tendency is taken further in the recent work of Laclau and Urry.

 

Laclau

The work of Ernesto Laclau (1977a, 1977b, 1982) epitomizes the transformations that have occurred in Marxist theories of ideology within the Althusserian framework. Laclau retains Althusser’s emphasis on the ideological interpellation of subjects as the unifying principle of ideology. However, he argues that the process of interpolating subjects through “hailing” does not always result in subjection to the existing social order but also characterizes anti-hegemonic ideologies. Laclau claims, for example (1977a:101), that hailing occurs in communist discourse, such as Marx’s famous finale to the Communist Manifesto: “Workers of all countries unite!” He criticizes Althusser for reducing all ideology to the dominant ideology by concentrating on “ideology in general.” Laclau is more concerned with how particular ideologies are created and transformed and with specifying the interrelations between these diverse subjectivities.

Laclau also broadens the referent of ideology (even more so than Therborn) to include non-class interpellations such as those which form the basis of popular-democratic struggles. These are struggles between the power-bloc and “the people” (all groups outside the political power bloc), as well as struggles against racial, sexual, and ethnic oppression. According to Laclau, this is a complete break with the class reductionism that characterized Althusser’s theory.

Ideological Articulation and Hegemony

For Laclau, the meaning of particular ideologies depends on their position within the totality of ideological discourse. Therefore, the most important feature of an analysis of ideology is an explanation of the non-arbitrary ways in which various ideologies are interrelated. In order to do this Laclau implements and elaborates Gramsci’s concept of hegemony. According to Laclau, “hegemony is not an external relation between preconstituted social agents, but the very process of discursive construction of those agents” (1982:100). This process of constructing social agents involves the unification of the diverse interpellations (gender, class, race, etc.) which characterize any individual by a “specific articulating principle.” This gives each of these interpellations a specific meaning in relation to all other interpellations. Hegemony is the imposition of an articulating principle upon an ensemble of social relations linking them together.

In his earlier works (1977a:108–109, 1977b:164) Laclau argues that this articulating principle must belong to a class defined by its position within the dominant mode of production in a social formation. More recently (1982:100), he has allowed for the possibility of non-class articulating principles becoming hegemonic. In doing so, Laclau stresses the importance for Marxist theory to incorporate the analysis of non-class subjection and struggle. He leaves open the question of ultimate class articulation to historical rather than functional analysis. This is a vast improvement over Poulantzas’ analysis of the “articulating region.”

The implications of Laclau’s discussion of hegemony is that ideological struggle cannot be viewed as a process of counterposing a pure Marxist-Leninist “working-class” ideology to the dominant “bourgeois” ideology. Instead, it involves (1) dislodging certain elements that have been articulated into the discourse of the dominant class (e.g., democracy) and (2) defining these elements in relation to a new articulating principle. We find Alan Wolfe’s (1977) analysis of the contradictions between liberalism and democracy is an example of the former, while Herbert Gintis’ (1980) discussion of the meaning of liberal democracy is a proposal to do the latter.

Laclau views the dominant contradiction in the social formation as that between “the people” and the power bloc (1977a108). Therefore, the outcome of ideological struggles between classes depends on the ability of each class to present itself as the authentic representative of “the people” (i.e., the “national interest”) (1977b:161). Through his reconceptualization of the nature of hegemony, Laclau is able to account for both the existence of many competing partial ideologies (pluralism) and the fact that the articulation of these ideologies in a specific manner is accomplished via struggle and the resulting hegemonic ideology.

 

Urry

Although Laclau rejects much of Althusser’s theory of ideology, he retains the definition of a social formation as consisting of three levels or instances: economic, political, and ideological. John Urry’s (1982) recent analysis of the structure of capitalist social formations abandons the classification for one that stresses the importance of Gramsci’s (1971) concept of civil society. Urry severely criticizes Althusser’s basic theory of the instances of a mode of production, particularly the concept of an ideological instance. Whereas Althusser (1971:129, 131; 1970:138, 178–179, 320) was attempting to rescue the base/superstructure analogy from its stagnant Stalinist interpretation, Urry is arguing that the “notions of base/superstructure, or of the economic/political/ideological, should be placed once-and-for-all in the dustbin of history” (1982:153). These notions lead to three crucial problems in Marxist theory: (1) the failure to recognize the importance of separating reproduction from production, (2) the improper conception of an ideological instance (or dominant ideology) as unified in the same sense as the state or production, and (3) the overextension of the state to include all ideological apparatuses. According to Urry, Althusser’s three relatively autonomous instances can be abandoned without falling back into economic reductionism. Capitalist social formations should instead be conceived of as comprising the state, production, and civil society. Urry claims that the concept of civil society avoids the problems associated with the ideological instance. We will review this concept and examine its implications for the theory of ideology.

Civil Society

Urry defines civil society as the “site where individual subjects reproduce their material conditions of life” (1982:6). It consists of three spheres — circulation, reproduction and struggle. Jointly these spheres comprise that set of social practices in which agents are constituted as subjects. Under capitalism, these spheres of civil society are separate from production (and the state). The separation of civil society from production derives from the fact that surplus labor takes a value form which creates “a separate realm of circulation in which surplus-value is realized, a sphere of exchange in which all commodities, including that of labor-power, are bought and sold” (1982:29). Furthermore, capitalist production and the state each have a distinct unity, based on the production of surplus value in the former and a monopoly of organized forces in the latter, but civil society has no such unity. Urry argues that Althusser’s concept of the ideological state apparatuses (ISAs) overextends the state, depriving it of its distinct nature and robbing theorists of an important conceptual tool. He suggests that much of what Althusser considers ISAs and most of what orthodox sociology is concerned with (such as relations of race, religion, gender, and generation) should be viewed as institutions and practices of civil society.

This does not mean that civil society is completely autonomous from production or the state. Production is connected to civil society through the circulation of capital and labor-power. The medium of this circulation is money. Likewise, the state is connected to civil society through the circulation of power and ideology. The medium of this circulation is the law (1982:115–116). The concept of the law operating as a medium between the state and civil society is an intriguing idea, but underdeveloped. Relations between the state and civil society outside of the law (such as illegal repression) have no place in Urry’s conception. Nor does he explain the role of lawyers and judges (the organic intellectuals of legal discourse) in popular-democratic struggles, a role which Poulantzas (1980) considers substantial.

Recent Developments in Marxist Theories of Ideology – Part 1

Recent Developments in Marxist Theories of Ideology – Part 2

Recent Developments in Marxist Theories of Ideology – Part 3

Recent Developments in Marxist Theories of Ideology – Part 4

Recent Developments in Marxist Theories of Ideology – Part 5

Recent Developments in Marxist Theories of Ideology – Part 6

 

Ideological Regions

In describing the dominant ideology of capitalist social formations, Poulantzas notes the particular importance of juridical-political relations. He states that the dominant ideology has a variety of ideological regions such as juridical-political, moral, aesthetic, religious, technocratic, and so on. The dominant ideology will be characterized by the dominance of one of these regions such that all other regions are articulated in relation to it. This “articulating region” will fall to the one which is best suited to mask the real relations of exploitation and therefore best serves the role of cohesion (1973:210–215). For capitalism, the juridical-political is the articulating region.

In his last book, Poulantzas (1980) discusses the role of the law in juridical-political ideology. He argues that the law “materializes the dominant ideology” (1980:83). It does so in such a way that social relations are mystified as individual relations. Since the law itself is unknowable to all but intellectuals of the state, the people become further mystified. As such, the law reproduces the division between intellectual and manual labor, condensing it in the state. In a particularly illuminating passage, Poulantzas points out that no one should be ignorant of the law — that is the fundamental maxim of the modern judicial system, in which no one but the state representatives are able to know the law. This knowledge required of every citizen is not even a special subject of study at school (1980:89–90).

Poulantzas’ argument that the juridical-political masks the real relations of dominance/subordination is convincing but is only a restatement of what has previously been pointed out by McPherson (1961) and others. What is less convincing is that the articulating region is necessarily that region which best serves to mask these relations. There is no internal mechanism in this schema, which explains how such a region becomes the articulating region, only that it will not correspond to the dominant instance of the social formation. Poulantzas’ argument is excessively functionalist, lacking class or historical contingencies despite the fact that he cites Weber’s historical analysis of the role of juridical-political ideology in the origins of capitalist formations (1973:212).

The articulation of ideological elements within the dominant ideology is a key issue, and, in our view, masking contradictions is not an adequate explanation. Juridical-political notions dominated the ideology of the rising bourgeoisie before the capitalist formation came into being. Thus, it could not have been functioning primarily to mask contradictions in this yet nonexistent social formation. The incipient juridical-political ideology of the rising bourgeoisie was aimed as much at exposing and destroying the dominant (i.e., political) instance of the feudal formation as it was at bringing about favorable conditions for a new social formation based on a capitalist mode of production. The articulating ideological region would appear to arise out of class struggle not structural determinism. Moreover, class struggle between competing dominant classes and class factions may be more important in determining the articulating region than struggle between the dominant and dominated classes (cf. Abercrombie and Turner, 1978).

We find the lack of historically contingent, causal arguments to be the central problem with the theory of ideology as elaborated by Althusser and Poulantzas. As a result the theory tends to lapse into explanations based upon stagnant functionalism or simple domination by capital and/or the state. We agree with Giddens (1981) who claims that under this approach human agents tend to appear “as ‘cultural dopes,’ not as actors who are highly knowledgeable about the institutions they produce and reproduce” (1981:18; see also 15–25, 42–47, 215–220). Of particular importance is the lack of an adequate analysis of ideological struggle as a causal factor in theory. This is especially true of Althusser, but even Poulantzas’ analysis of struggle (most evident in his later works) is plagued by severe limitations. In general, these limitations are the ultimate reduction of all struggle to class struggle and the placing of class struggle within the framework of the dominant ideology.

Before reviewing recent works which start with the insights of Althusser and Poulantzas, we will briefly outline the key elements of their theory (condensed from Poulantzas, 1973:199– 224; 1983:63–93).

1. Ideology consists of a relatively coherent ensemble of representations, values and beliefs. This ensemble reflects the relations of agents to the conditions in which they live in an imaginary form.
2. At the level of lived relations, ideology serves as the horizon of agent’s experience. Thus, ideology is necessarily false and inadequate for providing scientific knowledge.
3. Ideology is materialized in rituals, rules, styles, fashions — i.e., the way of life for a society. It is present in all activities and indistinguishable from once lived experience.
4. These material practices interpolate subjects to insert them into practical activities that support the social structure while the structure itself remains opaque.
5. At the level of a social formation, there are ideologies, which correspond to classes, and the dominant ideology, which is a product of class struggle. The dominant ideology typically will be most consistent with the ideology of the dominant class.
6. The unity of the dominant ideology reflects the unity of the social formation reconstituted on an imaginary plane. By presenting their lived experiences to subjects as part of a relatively contradiction-free coherent ensemble, the dominant ideology provides cohesion to the social formation.
7. The dominant ideology is characterized by an articulating region which best serves to conceal social contradictions. Under capitalism, this is the juridical political region. It is materialized in the law.

It is clear that Althusser and Poulantzas have overcome many of the shortcomings that have hindered Marxist theoretical development. The following theorists attempt to reconstruct this theory of ideology in such a way as to resolve some of the remaining shortcomings. To a notable degree, each work stresses the causal importance of human agency, no class ideologies, and multi-faceted struggles.

 

Recent Theoretical Developments: Therborn, Laclau, and Urry

Therborn

Goran Therborn, in The Ideology of Power and the Power of Ideology (1980), has both expanded upon and trenchantly criticized Althusser’s (1971) theoretical work on the structure and function of ideology. Although he locates his essay in a theoretical “conjuncture of Marxist discourse on ideology opened by Althusser” (1980:7), Therborn notes the necessity of “a break from the lingering restrictions of Althusser’s problematic” in order to facilitate “a shift or broadening of the object of inquiry from the role of ideology in the reproduction of exploitation and power to the generation, reproduction, and transformation of ideologies” (1980:10). Note that Therborn has shifted the object of study from both “ideologies in general” and the “dominant ideology” to particular ideologies and their interrelations. This theoretical departure allows Therborn to address conflict between ideologies and ideological transformations. This is accomplished by (1) introducing into the notion of interpellation the potential for conflict, (2) noting the material forces, which govern the relative power of competing ideologies, and (3) distinguishing between various dimensions of ideology and the manner in which these enter into ideological debate.

Therborn (1980) accepts the Althusserian emphasis on ideology as a process of interpolating subjects through largely unconscious psychodynamic processes (1980:2). He defines ideology as “that aspect of the human condition under which human beings live their lives as conscious actors in a world that makes sense to them to varying degrees” (1980:2). However, Therborn develops a very different sense of the duality of that process. He argues that Althusser’s couplet subjection-guarantee “allows no room for any dialectic of ideology” (1980:16) and should be replaced by “subjection-qualification” (1980:17).

Subjection-Qualification

For Althusser, the definition of a “subject” as an actor or creator of something is an imaginary relation that makes the real relation of subjection possible. Therborn argues that subjects really are creative actors in that ideology not only subjects them to relations of exploitation but also qualifies them to “take up and perform (a particular part of ) the repertoire of roles given in the society into which they are born, including the role of possible agents of social change” (1980:17, emphasis added). For example, although the educational process subjects students to a “hidden agenda” which serves to reproduce acquiescence to exploitative relations, it also qualifies students as agents of social change by providing them with the writing and analytical skills necessary for the development of counter-hegemonic ideologies.

Ideological conflict is generated by a lack of correspondence between subjection and qualification. This can happen in one of two ways. “New kinds of qualification may be required and provided, new skills that clash with the traditional forms of subjection. Or, conversely, new forms of subjection may develop that clash with the provision of still needed qualifications” (Therborn, 1980:17).

Therborn has improved upon Althusser’s static notion of subjection guarantee by allowing for change through the actions of “qualified” subjects. The potential for change corresponds to the degree of non-correspondence between the mechanisms of subjection and those of qualification.

Another important theoretical advance is Therborn’s conceptualization of the individual character of all ideologies. According to Therborn, each particular ideology includes a simultaneous definition of self and other, which he refers to as ego and alter ideologies, respectively. For example, Therborn refers to sexist ideology which requires both a positive definition of the male “ego” and a negative definition of the female “alter” Therefore, feminist ideological struggles entail a simultaneous redefinition of both alter and ego and, thus, potential conflict between men and women. Yet ideological struggles are never this clear-cut. Each individual subject consists of the articulation of multiple ego and alter ideologies. The crucial aspect of ideological struggle is the articulation of a given ideology with other ideologies.

The functioning of subjection-qualification involves three modes of ideological interpellation which correspond to the answers to three fundamental questions: (1) What exists?, (2) What is good?, and (3) What is possible? The answers to these questions provide “successive lines of defense of a given order” (1980:19). Therborn uses poverty to illustrate his point. First, the existence of poverty can be denied (or minimized). If this fails and the existence of poverty must be admitted, it can be argued that poverty is just since the poor are all inept or lazy and deserve no better. Third, if the existence and injustice of poverty must be admitted, it can be argued that a better social order is not possible or at least not under current conditions.

Therborn’s typology points out the limitations in other theories of ideology, which do not recognize the distinct ways these levels function. The traditional “liberal” approach to the study of ideology concentrates on “legitimation” and “consensus” or, in the above terms, on “what is good,” ignoring the fact that this question is premised on a certain definition of reality, that is, “what exists.” The traditional Marxist critique of “liberale” theory recognizes this problem and has been generally successful in reintroducing debate concerning the first question. Yet, Marxists have often intentionally de-emphasized the question of “what is possible?” due in part to the criticism of nonscientific Utopian Socialism found in Marx and Engels (1969:134–136). We feel this is a mistake and that Therborn has opened up an important arena of debate for a theory that is aimed at pressing beyond “liberal” reforms (for example, see Kiser, 1985; Kiser and Baker, 1984).

Recent Developments in Marxist Theories of Ideology – Part 1

Recent Developments in Marxist Theories of Ideology – Part 2

Recent Developments in Marxist Theories of Ideology – Part 3

Recent Developments in Marxist Theories of Ideology – Part 4

Recent Developments in Marxist Theories of Ideology – Part 5

Recent Developments in Marxist Theories of Ideology – Part 6

 

The Materiality of Ideology

As a process rather than a system of ideas, ideology is given a material existence and can be studied as such. Ideology is material in that it consists of rituals, practices, and actions that constitute the process of interpellation. As such, ideology is ubiquitous. It serves to insert subjects into the practical activities of life according to the relations of the mode of production, thus reproducing those relations. According to Althusser, the state through Repressive State Apparatuses and Ideological State Apparatuses guarantee reproduction. The former function primarily by violence while the latter function primarily by ideology (1971:138). Included among the Ideological State Apparatuses (ISAs) are the educational system, family, religion, trade unions, and communication systems. Of these, Althusser argues that education has become the most important for reproducing the relations of production and interrelating subjects.

Altogether, these ISAs are both the stake and the site of ideological class struggle (1971:140). By inference, RSAs should be the stake and site of political class struggle, though Althusser does not explicitly acknowledge this. An immediate problem with this conception is Althusser’s theory of the state. In this instance, he has essentially equated state and superstructure. We will examine the problem with this overextension of the state later (in the section on Urry).

Althusser’s theory of ideology departs substantially from previous Marxist treatments of ideology. The fact that ideology has a material existence means that it can no longer be viewed as an epiphenomenal reflection of the economic base. He also broadens the Marxist framework in such a way as to make ideology a central concept. This expansion enables him to incorporate many non-Marxist insights into the theory. In this way, he enriches the Marxist perspective while at the same time enhancing the utility of these borrowed notions. One can see Althusser’s debt to neo-Freudians, particularly Lacan, in the reconceptualization of ideology as a dynamic, ongoing process through which subjects are created. Althusser has thus laid the groundwork for the development of a Marxist concept of ideology radically different from those theories, which proceeded it. The number of prominent Marxist theorists who have elaborated on as well as criticized Althusser’s theory attests to its importance.

Poulantzas

Poulantzas’ contribution to the theory of ideology is largely that of an elaboration, departing from Althusser much less than the other theorists we will review. Poulantzas elaborates on the function of ideology by developing the theory at the level of the social formation (1973, 1974). He is less concerned with the “micro” analysis regarding how class subjects become constituted and more concerned with specifying the relationship between class ideologies and the dominant ideology in a social formation. In doing so, he resolves the apparent contradiction between two versions of ideology found in Marxist theory: (1) that social being determines social consciousness and (2) that “the ideas of the ruling class are in every epoch the ruling ideas” (Marx, 1969:47, also 25).

The first version views ideology as lived experience. The different lived relations of each class determine the way class subjects perceive and give meaning to life. The second version is based on the idea that the ruling class is able to impose its belief system on the subordinate classes thus inhibiting the development of a working class ideology. Ideology, as a vehicle of domination, distorts the real conditions of subordination and thereby conceals the real interests of the subordinate classes. In this view, ideology is defined as false-consciousness rather than consciousness. These different perspectives lead to potentially contradictory conclusions. In the first case, one would expect the classes to have very different ideologies; in the second, the ideology of the subordinate class should approximate the world-view of the dominant class (for a discussion see Abercrombie and Turner, 1978).

Poulantzas addresses precisely this problem when he states that earlier versions of ideology from Lukas on have serious ambiguities and errors that result from the conflation of several different issues (1973:197– 204). Both the above conceptualizations of ideology have been characterized by the failure to allow for the relative autonomy of the ideological instance, resulting in a tendential equating of economic position and class ideology in the first version and dominant class and dominant ideology in the second. This tendency to reduce the ideological instance to the economic instance has consequently obscured the relationship of the dominant ideology to both the dominant and subordinate classes.

Poulantzas argues that there are two levels of ideology: first, there are primary class ideologies and ideological sub-ensembles of minor classes, which encompass distinct worldviews; and secondly, apart from these class ideologies, there exists a dominant ideology, which reproduces relations in the social formation as a whole. Poulantzas argues that the dominant ideology is a product of class struggle. Therefore, many ideological elements from the subordinate classes are incorporated into the dominant ideology. Typically, though, the dominant ideology is dominated by the ideology of the dominant class since the structure of social relations is such that this class usually prevails in class struggles.

In reality, the dominant does not simply reflect the interests and conditions of the dominant class but rather the complex political relationships among the factions of the dominant class and between the dominant and subordinate classes. In this way, it serves the dual purpose of organizing the dominant class while co-opting and disorganizing the subordinate classes. This relation is encompassed in the concept hegemony whereby the dominant class manages to represent itself both as internally unified and as unifying the general interests of the people.

While the dominant ideology is usually dominated by the ideology of the dominant class, this is not a necessary relationship. It is possible for dislocations to occur due to the relative autonomy of the ideological, the political, and the economic instances. Poulantzas (1974) illustrates an historical instance of ideological dislocation in his analysis of fascism. Fascism in Germany and Italy was the product of a simultaneous political crisis (crisis of hegemony) and ideological crisis (crisis of the dominant ideology). The subordinate classes were then in a position to replace the dominant ideology with one more adapted to their interests. In the case of both Germany and Italy, the working class was also undergoing ideological crisis, resulting in the petty bourgeoisie assuming the leading role in forging a new dominant ideology.

Poulantzas’ distinction between the ideology of the dominant class and the dominant ideology resolves the confusion entailed in viewing ideology as “lived experience” as well as a mechanism, which tends to obscure the real relations of production. Class ideologies are products of the lived experiences of each class. The dominant ideology is a product of class struggle and, by virtue of its function in class societies, must conceal real contradictions. It is through concealment that the dominant ideology functions to maintain the social formation by presenting the particular lived relations of agents as a part of a relatively coherent unity — “as opposed to science, ideology has the precise function of hiding the real contradictions of reconstituting on an imaginary level a relatively coherent discourse, which serves as the horizon of agent’s experience” (1973:207).

That the limited horizon of ideology obscures recognition of contradictory class interests does not mean that all struggle is excluded. On the contrary, Poulantzas states that the dominance of this ideology is shown by the fact that the dominated classes live their conditions of political existence through the forms of dominant political discourse: often they live even their revolt against the domination of the system within the frame of reference of the dominant legitimacy (1973:223).

Poulantzas criticizes previous Marxist theorizing for generally overstating the function of ideology. What he calls the “Lukacsian problematic” represents ideology as creating the unity of a social formation rather than reflecting it (1973:197– 201). It does so by falling prey to a historicist interpretation of hegemony. According to this problematic, a “hegemonic class becomes the class-subject of history which through its world-view manages to permeate a social formation with its unity and to lead, rather than dominate, by bringing about the ‘active consent’ of the dominated classes” (1973:199). Under such a conception, the subordinate classes would have the same world-view as the dominant class. It would be this universal world-view, which determined social relations.

You hear about it sometimes in the teen pregnancy essays, from friends or friends and wonder how this could happen. A teenage girl gives birth unexpectedly and nobody, sometimes including also the girl even had no idea that she was pregnant. How is this possible? As pregnancy may go unnoticed? Does pregnancy in Teens feels or looks different than in adult women?

How to avoid teenage pregnancy?

Signs of pregnancy are pretty standard regardless of age: it is the absence of menstrual periods, widening of the pelvis, pain or increased sensitivity of the breast, the emergence of feelings of nausea and vomiting, change in food cravings, mood swings and of course weight gain. And it’s not that pregnant teenagers are no such symptoms, and that they do not recognize in them signs of pregnancy.

When it comes to sex and pregnancy, some adolescents cling to outdated myths, for example “I’m only 13 years old, I can’t get pregnant” or “this is my first time and the first time you can’t get pregnant”.

Does access to condoms prevent teen pregnancy?

Pregnant teenagers as well as adults having sex. And carry a pregnancy they also. If teenagers and miss the signs of her pregnancy, so it is because they have not received correct information from their peers, friends, from magazines or other sources. Or did not receive information at all.

Puberty is one of the reasons why some Teens may miss the signs of their own pregnancy. Teenagers and particularly young teenagers, has seen many external changes to your body and its functions. Early pregnancy signs are easily confused with normal changes that occur with the onset of puberty.

Knowing this, it is easy to imagine that uneducated about sex a young girl could write off the early signs of pregnancy common in this age of body modification? It is important to understand what changes occur in puberty, but too many teenagers are extremely ill-informed about such things.

Body changes in puberty can hide a pregnancy in different ways. Growth patterns can mask the early stages of pregnancy. Teenagers grow in phases. They pass through a phase of completeness when they gain weight, and it is followed by a phase of rapid growth, when they become higher. It is so common model of development in Teens that sudden weight gain is not a reason to sound the alarm.

Besides, newborns adolescents are often smaller in size than children born to older women. Have a teenage pregnancy may become noticeable, not so fast and not so clearly, for example, only 7 months pregnant. A pregnant teenager, refusing to admit the obvious, you may think that she’s just gaining a little weight.

Denial of pregnancy – the biggest mistake teenagers. This is the reason why they often fail to notice a pregnancy, or possible, but in the later stages.

Most Teens believe that pregnancy is something they just will never happen. Many teenagers think that they are too young to get pregnant. They think that if their body is still in the stage of puberty, they can’t get pregnant. Perhaps for this reason, when it comes to sex, teenagers behave recklessly.

Primary prevention of teenage pregnancy

Despite the desire to avoid the onset of an unplanned pregnancy, sometimes this happens and more often than know about it through the media. Many simply ignore about that. His private life all try to keep away from environment, so do not be surprised if even those people, with whom you talk all the time, didn’t tell you about it. It is their right.

If you realize that you’re pregnant, seek medical help. Also, talk with an adult you trust, or with a friend. This will help you to keep health, no matter what decision you make about your pregnancy.

In pregnant women there are three main ways to handle this situation: she can carry, deliver and raise the child; she can bear a child and pass it to the adoptive parents or the state; she can terminate the pregnancy by making safe abortion for free at the antenatal clinic at the place of residence or another medical facility.

Each of these solutions has its “pros” and “cons”, above which you’ll have to think twice. This is a situation when the conversation with someone can really help. Also it will be useful to obtain information from medical professionals, from books and institutions that provide prenatal care, adoption support, and also provide services of abortion.

If you don’t want to get pregnant, you should refrain from sexual contact or to use a reliable method of contraception and read some teenage pregnancy research papers.

Recent Developments in Marxist Theories of Ideology – Part 1

Recent Developments in Marxist Theories of Ideology – Part 2

Recent Developments in Marxist Theories of Ideology – Part 3

Recent Developments in Marxist Theories of Ideology – Part 4

Recent Developments in Marxist Theories of Ideology – Part 5

Recent Developments in Marxist Theories of Ideology – Part 6

 

Discussion of Althusser’s essay, “Ideology and Ideological State Apparatuses” (1971) has filled the introductory sections of recent Marxist works on ideology. Despite its provisional and underdeveloped character, this essay has served as both a starting place from which to expand and as the position necessary to criticize in order to break new theoretical ground. Aronowitz recently claimed that Althusser’s theory of ideology “is the most advanced point historical materialism has been able to arrive at in the search for a theory adequate to its object: late capitalist society” (1982:120). It has the potential for overcoming the central inadequacies of Marxist theory concerning issues of working class complacency; the failures of existing socialism; the rise of nationalist and religious movements; and the continuing problems of race, sex, and ecology (Aronowitz, 1982:9–12, 68–69, 120–121).

As a primary point of theoretical departure, Althusser’s theory has received increasing amounts of criticism (which we will elaborate in the following sections). In general, the theory is marred by a stagnant functionalism, which overstates the unity of ideology and conceptually displaces subjection to counter-hegemonic ideologies and resulting ideological struggles. It tends to reduce ideologies of race, sex, and nation to class ideologies and does not come to grips with social relations outside of production or the state. The question remains whether the theory’s potential can be reached by expanding it to incorporate new concepts which overcome its limitations or whether the basic conceptual framework should be gutted, saving only those specific concepts which have proven useful.

 

Althusser

The key question, which introduces Althusser’s discussion of ideology, is “how is the reproduction of the relations of production secured?”

 

Critical Sociology

(1971:128). He notes that for this to occur two separate conditions must be met: (1) skills and knowledge required for specific positions in the technical division of labor must be reproduced and (2) the submission of laborers to the “rules of the established order” (1971:127) must also be reproduced.

The answer Althusser provides to this question is that “the legal-political and ideological superstructure” reproduces the relations of production (1971:141). He retains the base/superstructure analogy since it allows him to represent the relative autonomy and reciprocal effectivity of the three different levels or instances in a social formation (economic, political, ideological), while maintaining the determination in the last instance of the economic base. Two components of Althusser’s essay have influenced all subsequent Marxist discussion about ideology: 1) his theory of the microstructure of ideology based on the “creation of subjects” and 2) his analysis of the “Ideological State Apparatuses” (ISAs). Our emphasis is on the former though we will touch upon ISAs. A full investigation of ISAs would require elaboration of Althusser’s theory of the state which is not our subject (and which we find to be a problematic concept).

Althusser begins his discussion of ideology by making a distinction between “ideology in general” and “particular ideologies” (1971:150). The study of particular ideologies is necessarily historical and thus cannot take place outside the context of concrete social formations. Populist ideologies, for example, have in different times and places been associated with fascism, socialism, and competitive capitalism. According to Althusser these particular ideologies always express class position, regardless of their form (1971:150). Althusser’s project is to develop a theory of ideology in general, which he argues “has no history” (1971:151). Ideology in general is an omnihistorical reality defined by its structure and function in the same manner as is Freud’s concept of the unconscious. Ideology in general functions to reproduce the conditions of production. This is done through interrelating subjects such that they come to represent their real conditions of existence to themselves in an imaginary form. This form allows subjects to make sense of their particular lived experiences by making existing social relations seem universal, timeless, and natural (taken-for-granted). The object of ideology is lived experience. Althusser contrasts ideology with science whose object is the structures and patterns of experiences. Scientific practice produces theoretical knowledge while ideological practice only provides “know-how,” that is, practical knowledge and common sense.

 

Constituting Subjects

The constitution of subjects occurs through interpellation. Interpellation is a process of “hailing” that precedes the birth of the individual (one is born with a name, sex, family, and so on) and continues throughout one’s lifetime (1971:165). Each individual is “always already” a subject who comes to recognize oneself through various ritual practices (such as naming, greeting, praying, voting, etc.) as concrete, distinguishable, and irreplaceable. This recognition, which transforms all individuals into subjects, is the concrete condition for the individuals’ misrecognition of one’s real conditions of existence (or, which is the same thing, the recognition of an imaginary relation to those real relations). Thus, the process of interpellation is a dual process of recognition-misrecognition constitutive of individuals as subjects. The recognition by the individual subject of imaginary relations of harmony, freedom, and individual efficacy entails the simultaneous misrecognition of relations of conflict and exploitation, which characterizes all class societies.

The term subject, in ordinary usage, has a dual meaning. It means 1) a free subjectivity, an independent center of initiatives, author of and responsible for one’s actions and 2) a subjected being, who submits to a higher authority and is therefore stripped of all freedom. The constitution of subjects is always and necessarily relational since it presupposes the existence of a unique “Other Subject” in relation to whom subjects are defined. We are following Althusser in using Subject with a capital “S” to refer to the defining subject and subject with a small “s” to refer to ordinary, constituted subjects.

The “Subject-subject” relation is both symbiotic and asymmetrical. The existence of the Subject is predicated on the constitution of subjects just as the existence of subjects depends on their relation to the Subject. But the relation is asymmetrical in that being a subject through the Subject entails a relation of dominance-subjection in that a subject can only become such by being subjected to the Subject (1971:167). Althusser takes religious ideology as an example, in which “God” is the Subject through which religious subjects are constituted. The relation “Subject-subject” exists within each ideological region (juridical-political, familial, educational, religious, etc.).

Ideology constitutes individuals who will more or less submit to the existing order. The manner in which this subjection is accomplished varies in different types of social formations. In some social formations, individuals may be aware of their subjection but accept it as legitimate or at least inescapable. In capitalist social formations, the emphasis given to the individual as subject in the first sense obscures subjection as subject in the second sense; the individual perceives submission as freely chosen. Hence lies the power of ideology in capitalist social formations: the production of subjects whose imaginary relation to real relations is that of initiators of action. The consequence of subjection is thus the “free” choice of continued subjection. This is the material precondition of the reproduction of capitalist relations of production. We find the most obvious example of this ideology in the fundamental assumption of individual choice in neoclassical economics, where, for instance, the unemployed are seen as choosing leisure over wages.

The consequence of subjection for individual subjects is the guarantee that everything is as it seems to be. Thus, the constitution of individuals as subjects results in the outcome of “subjection-guarantee.” The outcome of this process is that the individual’s imaginary relation to real relations will be materially reproduced.

The present work was an analysis of two important English grammatical categories: tense and aspect. I tried to formulate the history of the development of these categories and systematize the knowledge about them and their main elements that are used for expressing tenses and aspects – the Past Tense and Past Participle of the regular and irregular verbs.

Also in this work I indicated the tendency to increasing the number of regular, and, accordingly, the reduction of irregular verbs in Modern English. I also tried to divide the most common patterns of irregular verbs’ conjugation into 13 groups according to their past forms and Participles. The term “aspect” and its peculiarities were described in the last chapter.

Appendixes attached show the frequency of the usage of English verbs and of irregular verbs patterns.

The system of the English verbs has been in existence for centuries and it is still developing now. The number of verbs in English increased by 20 times and it is still growing. Now there are more than million words in English lexis, and the number of verbs is enormous, too. That is why the examination of the system of the verbs is important in modern linguistics.

Appendix 1.

The most common lexical (notional) verbs in Modern English

and the frequency of their usage

according Saakyan [3]

Appendix 2.

List of Irregular verbs

Group 1. Verbs that have the same form in Infinitive, Past Tense and Past Participle.

burst	burst	burst
cast	cast	cast
сost	сost	сost
cut	cut	cut
hit	hit	hit
hurt	hurt	hurt
let	let	let
put	put	put
read	read	read
set	set	set
shed	shed	shed
shut	shut	shut
split	split	split
spread	spread	spread

 Group 2. The Past Tense and Past Participle forms are composed with the help of the flexion “-ought”.

bring	brought	brought
buy	bought	bought
catch	caught	caught
fight	fought	fought
seek	sought	sought
teach	taught	taught
think	thought	thought

 Group 3. The final consonant “-d” in the stem changes into “-t” in both forms.

bend	bent	bent
lend	lent	lent
spend	spent	spent
send	sent	sent

 Group 4. The root vowel “-i-“ changes into diphthong “-ou-”.

bind	bound	bound
find	found	found
grind	ground	ground
wind	wound	wound

 Group 5. The root vowel before “-ng” changes into “-u-“.

cling	clung	clung
dig	dug	dug
fling	flung	flung
hang	hung	hung
sting	stung	stung
swing	swung	swung

Group 6. The long [i:] changes into the short [e].

bleed	bled	bled
breed	bred	bred
feed	fed	fed
feel	felt	felt
flee	fled	fled
keep	kept	kept
kneel	knelt	knelt
lead	led	led
leave	left	left
sleep	slept	slept
speed	sped	sped
sweep	swept	swept
weep	wept	wept

 Group 7. The verbs save their vowel but accept the consonant “-t” at the end of the stem.

burn	burnt	burnt
deal	dealt	dealt
dwell	dwelt	dwelt
hear	heard	heard
learn	learnt	learnt
lean	leant	leant
leap	leapt	leapt
mean	meant	meant
smell	smelt	smelt
spell	spelt	spelt
spill	spilt	spilt

 Group 8. The Past Simple and Participle II forms do not obey the principles of the Groups 1-7, but they still coincide.

lose	lost	lost
meet	met	met
get	got	got
have	had	had
lay	laid	laid
light	lit	lit
make	made	made
pay	paid	paid
say	said	said
sell	sold	sold
tell	told	told
shine	shone	shone
shoot	Shot	shot
sit	sat	sat
spit	spat	spat
stand	stood	stood
stick	stuck	stuck
strike	struck	struck
slide	slid	slid
win	won	won

 Group 9. One of the forms coincides with the infinitive.

become	became	become
come	came	come
run	ran	run
beat	beat	beaten

Group 10. The root vowels change according to the pattern:

“-i- > -a- > -u-“.

begin	began	begun
drink	drank	drunk
spring	sprang	sprung
ring	rang	rung
swim	swam	swum
sing	sang	sung
sink	sank	sunk
shrink	shrank	shrunk
spin	span	spun

Group 11. In the Past Simple form the verb changes the root vowel. Participle II has “-n-“ at the end of the stem.

bear	bore	born
blow	blew	blown
draw	drew	drown
fly	flew	flown
grow	grew	grown
know	knew	known
saw	sawed	sawn
see	saw	seen
shave	shaved	shaven
show	showed	shown
sow	sowed	sown
wear	wore	worn
throw	threw	thrown
swell	swelled	swollen
swear	swore	sworn

 Group 12. The Past Simple form does not coincide with the infinitive and with the Participle II. Participle II has “-en-“ at the end of the stem; its root vowel coincides with the infinitive’s root vowel.

arise	arose	arisen
bite	bit	bitten
break	broke	broken
choose	chose	chosen
drive	drove	driven
eat	ate	eaten
fall	fell	fallen
forbid	forbade	forbidden
forget	forgot	forgotten
forgive	forgave	forgiven
freeze	froze	frozen
give	gave	given
ride	rode	ridden
shake	shook	shaken
speak	spoke	spoken
strive	strove	striven
take	took	taken
wake	woke	waken
write	wrote	written

 Group 13. The Past Simple and Participle II forms do not obey the principles of any patterns.

be	was	been
do	did	done
go	went	gone
lie	lay	lain

Appendix 3.

The division of irregular verbs.

 On the diagrams below we can see the frequency of patterns used for creating the past forms of the irregular verbs. The Groups mentioned are pointed in Appendix 2

Recent events in Missouri, in Ferguson raised important issues related to such a problem as abuse of authority by police officers of the United States. On the eve of the tragic events in Ferguson, a Grand jury consisting of 12 jurors completely acquitted the police officer who shot almost in an emphasis of African-American Michael brown. This decision led to a wave of protests and demonstrations, which later escalated into serious clashes with the police, and later with the National Guard of the United States. The case against the police officer collapsed because the Prosecutor proved that Michael brown did not obey police officer Darren Wilson and threatened his life.

Example of police brutality

“At this moment his face was written a searing aggression. I can only describe you as: he was like a demon, so angry he looked,” said Darren Wilson. Also, the officer said that Michael brown punched him and tried to take away his service weapon. All of these readings, coupled with the fact that Darren Wilson for the first time service used the weapon against the person led to acquittal the verdict. But do not forget that Michael brown was only 18 years old and he was not armed.

It should be added that similar cases of use of weapons by police against the citizens of the United States is not isolated cases, they happen quite often. At the same time, similar cases with blacks that are killed by the guards occurs at times more often. It is worth noting that according to American law, the behavior of the police is fully justified because peace officers may use weapons if the suspect is a threat to him or US citizens, and even if the suspect tries to escape, the police have the right to stop him in any way. And this applies not only to an armed suspect, but, as in the case of Michael Brown, all unarmed suspect.

American experiences order did not hesitate to resort to the use of a service weapon and not trying to start negotiations with the suspect, but almost immediately decide to shoot to kill. This is the mindset of the servants of order often leads to numerous cases where weapons were used quite unnecessarily.

In 2013 there was an incident in Santa Rosa, when the police opened fire on a thirteen year old teenager, finding his toy plastic AK-47 for a real one. The guards did not confuse neither the age of the “suspect” nor the fact that he easily coped with the “real” machine. This year in November in Cleveland, Ohio, 12-year-old boy was shot and killed, and this time for a toy gun. (And this is against the backdrop of events in Ferguson in August and November of this year!) This police officer probably also not face charges if they can prove that he provoked the servants of the procedure or did not obey the orders.

Racially motivated police brutality

Another case rocks the American public occurred in 2012. Then 8 police officers fired a total of 46 bullets at a mentally ill African-American, justifying their actions by saying that he was a threat. In all the aforementioned cases of outright abuse of power by American law enforcement, namely U.S. citizens of African-American origin came under attack. And each time, prosecutors began the trial, that said that race didn’t matter and all comes down to the failure to comply with orders “honorable” police officers.

Use of force by police in the United States is also the phenomenon known to many and as in the case of firearms, the guards are never responsible for their actions. The first and probably the most famous case in America associated with the use of force by police officers occurred in 1992 in Los Angeles, when the world saw a video where 5 cops beat unarmed African-American clubs. This case became known that all five of the police were fully justified. And then began mass protests that turned into riots lasted for 3 days and claimed the lives of 53 people. There is no only one example of police brutality on minorities.

 

This prompted the authorities to begin to act and as a result, 4 of 5 were prosecuted, and the police Department of Los Angeles has experienced a series of reforms. Later, after the officer in plain clothes shot and killed Amadou Diallo in the Bronx, new York, all police Department street crimes have become required wearing a uniform. After another murder, this time trying to escape Timothy Thomas in Cincinnati, Ohio, the police have introduced special courses on the use of non-lethal weapons such as Taser (Taser) on all the machines supplied DVRs, began to discuss with residents areas, urgent problems, etc. And like all problems are de facto had exhausted itself.

However, the main problem remained unresolved, namely, police officers are very difficult to prosecute and in fact they are not accountable to anyone except his superiors. The police unions have a huge impact and if a COP was fired for abuse of power, or for any other reason, he can through the Union to get another police station.

In this issue the important role played by the receipt of a police pension after the service, so if the guard will get fired before retirement age, he is unlikely to find a decent job comparable to the one he lost. So the police, for the most part, facing each other. Another factor for this permissiveness in the police, according to the Dean of the law faculty of the law school of the University of California Erwin Chemerinsky, is the doctrine of the Supreme court of the United States, which opposes the prosecution of the officials responsible.

Unjustified cruelty police officers have repeatedly encouraged the public to action, and the events in Ferguson are a clear proof. But though the representatives of the Republican party and the democratic party declare their intention to reform the US police and to amend the law, in fact they humbly accept what the police are doing only what they are allowed by the state.

The government gave them the full right to detain the criminals at any cost and using any means. And, according to the police, such cases as the Ferguson unit, and means limiting the powers of the police, the state would jeopardize public safety. Similar incidents will continue and no action, and protests will not be able to change the basis of the American system. The police will always be the main instrument of domestic policy of the United States of America. Also, you can find more info in other essays on police brutality all over the Internet.

Globalization brings us positive and negative effects of globalization. The first threat of globalization due to the fact that its benefits that people understood, will, however, be distributed unevenly. In the short term, it is known that changes in the manufacturing industry, the service sector because the sector benefiting from foreign trade, and industries related to the export experience more capital inflows and skilled labor. At the same time, the number of industries significantly lose from globalization processes, losing its competitive advantages due to increased market openness.

Such industries have to make extra efforts to adapt to the changed not in their favor economic conditions. This means the possibility of an outflow of capital and manpower of these industries, which will serve as the main reason for the adoption of adaptation measures with very high costs. Adaptation means for people with loss of employment, need to find another workplace, retraining, resulting in not only family problems, but also requires large-scale social spending, and in a short time. Eventually there will be a redistribution of the labor force, but at first, the social costs are very high. This applies not only to industry, which in Europe has been considerably transformed in the last thirty years.

Positive effects of globalization

It should be recognized that such changes pose a serious threat to the existing economic structure, and governments need to take on the heavy burden of social costs associated with the payment of compensation, retraining, payment of unemployment benefits, support to low-income families.

A second threat many believe the deindustrialization of the economy, since global openness is associated with a decrease of employment in processing branches both in Europe and in the United States.

In fact, however, this process is not a consequence of globalization, though, and runs parallel with it.

In connection with a reduction of employment in the manufacturing sector in comparison with the scope of services performance will depend primarily on this sector, which traditionally differs in its lower level. This means that if a country wants to increase its GDP, it should use all opportunities to raise productivity in the service sector.

The difficulty is that this area always been focus on workforce. So if the country really intends to use all opportunities to increase productivity in the service sector will require deregulation and development of competition, including the banking and financial sector.

Currently, this process has already started and it concerns not only changes in the policy of employment in the coal mining, steel and shipbuilding industries. Today, it is clear how the rapidly changing technologies lead to a very moving changes in the practice of contractual services in the financial sector.

Negative impacts of globalization

However, if we talk about foreign direct investment, against them said above is not quite true. The money invested strongly tied to local agriculture, their liquidity is negligible, they are difficult to withdraw and return to the home country. With regard to securities, it would be more free, the mobile form of capital, but the holders of the securities in any country, whether the Czech Republic or Malaysia, in principle, do not want their capital was completely free.

They want to make the full investment for a relatively long period to obtain a guaranteed profit. Capital in the form of securities cannot be considered completely free. Therefore, references to the fact that as a result of globalization there is a threat to macroeconomic policy due to the presence of large masses of “free” capital, it is hardly wealthy. That’s making this the most important among globalization negative effects.

It should, however, recognize that large-scale capital flows require States to observe to a certain extent macro-financial discipline. This means that if the Finance Ministers and political leaders of any country know what their policy is, for example, is too risky or insufficiently flexible, threatens the stability of the currency or the economy as a whole, they must realize that be punished for it by the international capital market (which, for example, will deprive them of necessary funding). Such steps can be regarded as a form of critical attitude of foreign investors to the country’s politics, expressed in the refusal to provide her with the necessary funds.

In general, it should be recognized that global capital flows are, in a sense, a great advantage of globalization, though countries impose a certain discipline and rules of the game.

This is because the competition from labor intensive goods, released in countries with low wages and low skills workers, entails a reduction of the price of similar products of European companies and reduce their profits. In such circumstances European companies to discontinue unprofitable products, and transferred to the production of goods requiring highly skilled personnel. As a result, workers with lower skills are not in demand, their incomes fall.

At first glance it may seem that this question is emotional, however, the IMF always gave him a rather empirical: do the prices of labor intensive imports produced in countries with unskilled labor, are lower in comparison with the prices of labor-intensive goods produced with the use of more qualified personnel?

Practical data hardly confirm it. The prices of industrial goods in the industrial countries hardly changed so much under the influence of imported products. Changes in wages and unemployment are caused not primarily by the impact of trade, and are the result of shifts in the structure of domestic consumption and technological changes in the sphere of production and sphere of services.

Therefore, the danger of globalization, is apparently only prospective in nature and is by no means inevitable.

The fifth threat note translation firms in countries with high labor cost of their production capacity to countries with low wages. The export of jobs might be undesirable for the economy of several States. However, this threat is not too dangerous.

Workers of foreign affiliates and the workers of the parent company are not serious competitors, rather, they complement each other. If the company opens a branch in another country, it does not mean that it only does it at his own expense and bear the irreparable loss. Often the parent company is able to increase output due to the capacity of your branch, and use its other advantages. These relationships are an important element in relations with new partners. Therefore, the relocation facilities in other countries can only be considered as a potential danger.

So, that are positive and negative aspects of globalization. In conclusion, we see that globalization is a good idea, but there are a lot of obstacles such as national governments and traditions. This and other globalization negative effects make process very controversial.

Abuse of children is not only beating, wounding, sexual harassment and other ways that adults maimed child. This humiliation, bullying, different forms of neglect that wound a child’s soul. We strongly recommend to read our short essay on child abuse to avoid problems.

The neglect may be that the parents did not provide the child the necessary amount of food, clothing, sleep, hygiene care. In addition, the neglect manifested in the lack of parental respect, attention, affection, warmth.

Ill-treatment of children (juvenile citizens from birth to 18 years) includes any form of ill-treatment, permitted by the parents (other family members), guardians, caregivers, teachers, educators, representatives of law enforcement.

Child abuse examples

Physical violence deliberate infliction of physical damage.

Sexual violence (or corruption of) – involving a child with his consent and without in sexual acts with adults for the purpose of receiving the latter of the satisfaction or benefit.

Mental (emotional) abuse – periodic, long-term or permanent mental effects on the child, hindering the development of personality and leads to the formation of pathological character traits.

Four speeches on child abuse for wise parents

The child needs not only love, this is not enough. We have to respect and see him as a person. Do not forget also about the fact that education the process is long-running, instant results should not wait. If the kid doesn’t meet your expectations, do not boil. Calmly think about what you can do to make the situation has changed over time. Below we write advices based on research paper on child abuse for parents who haves children

1. Do not try to make the child the very

It doesn’t happen to people equally well all knew and could. Even the adults and the wise are not capable of. Never say: “Here 4 years reading, are you?!” or “I in your years on the bar 20 times push-ups, and you the mattress is a mattress”. But your Bob glues paper boats, “cuts” in the computer. Certainly there is at least one case with which he copes better than others. So praise him for what he knows and can do, and never scold for what others can!

2. Don’t compare out loud the child with other children

Think of the story about the success of other people’s children just as information. After all, you own the message that the President of Uganda (your age, by the way) awarded another order, not overwhelmed with shame and resentment? If the conversation is about, “entrance of the unmatched plays the violin” occurs in the presence of your child, and in response have nothing to boast better still say something.

3. Stop blackmail

Permanently eliminate from your vocabulary the phrase, “I tried, and you”, “I raised you, and you”. This, dear parents, in the language of the Criminal code called blackmail. The most unhappy of all the attempts to shame. And the most ineffective. On a similar phrase 99% of the children say, “I love you bear me, do not ask!”

4. Avoid witnesses

If indeed there is a situation, plunging you into the paint (baby got nasty with the old man threw a tantrum in the store), you need to firmly and decisively to get him away from the scene. Self-esteem is not limited to adults, so it’s important that the conversation took place without witnesses. Then calmly explain why you cannot do it. Here baby call for shame is appropriate.

Of course, that is only the one research. But if you care about topic you can go through other papers on child abuse on the Internet. Do not forget that everything should be the measure.

The ways to access a child your love

Don’t aim for his masterful performance in the maternal role. In communicating with the child there can not be prohibited emotions, but on one condition: he must not doubt the unconditionality of your love. The baby needs to feel your discontent, frustration or anger caused by his act, not his own. Your child can not be bad, because he’s a kid and because he is your.

Three ways to open a child your love:

The word

Name your baby pet names, invent homemade nicknames, tell tales, sing a lullaby, and let your voice the tenderness, gentleness and only gentleness.

Touch

Sometimes it is enough to take the child by the hand, stroke their hair, kiss, so he stopped crying and cranky. And because as much Pat of your child, paying no attention to the advice of experienced parents. Psychologists came to the conclusion that physical contact with the mother stimulates physiological and emotional development of the child. Psychologists say, it is impossible.

Look

Do not talk to the child, standing with my back to him or sideways, not shout from the next room. Walk up, look him in the eye and tell me what you want. Also, that is topic need for more research questions on child abuse to be solved.