English 251 (World Literature) Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

English 251 (World Literature) - Essay Example The Bible itself is an exemplary of mixed culture as we have the Hebrew Bible, Christian Bible. The Gilgamesh is not a discourse on religion but it there are theological elements in the book. It is really difficult to trace the real origin of all the religious dictums. The three books are similar in certain spheres and differs in a many a grounds with the basic similarity of punishment. Early Muslims perceived that the Quran and the forerunner biblical texts and figures. Intertextuality is evident of the fact that each culture owes something to the other. The cross cultural influence is definitely responsible for these similarities. The cross cultural studies are a branch of literary or cultural studies dealing with the writings and the scriptures by the authors associated with more than one culture. The Great Flood in the three books brings out the issue of cross cultural influence. The Great Flood is mentioned in the religious books of the Bible, the Quran and the Gilgamesh. The basic ground of all theologies is the Almighty and is related to sin, retribution and redemption. The books also bear the message that God’s warnings should not be ignored and the judgment of the God should be done in the form of destruction to purge the world of sins. In other words, the books depict to show that the wages of sins are punishment, death and destruction. In Bible the story of the flood appears in Genesis (6:9-8:22).There are three motifs shown for this flood. It aims to show God as the judge of the whole world. He is the entity who has the supreme authority to distinguish between right and wrong. The second motif intends to say that God has made provisions for the recipients of His grace. To be explicit to receive the grace of God one must follow the path of righteousness. The third is significant for Israel. Through the flood the God judged the wicked Egyptians and brought them to the Red Sea to lie in humble

Moolaadé Story Essay Example for Free

Moolaadà © Story Essay Seven years ago, a woman and a mother refused to subject her only daughter to be under the atrocious practice of female circumcision. Moolaadà © is the story of this woman, Collà © Ardo, a seditious and strong-minded second wife of Cirà © in a small secluded African village who single-handedly refused to allow five girls to suffer through the customary Salindà © ceremony. She was in opposition with the practice of genital mutilation due to her personal experiences and she didn’t want others to suffer like her. Collà ©Ã¢â‚¬â„¢s Moolaadà © enraged the Salindana, who were the women who performed â€Å"purification† ritual and the male elders who viewed her actions as threats to their values. As a sign of dominance, the men confiscated the women’s radios, which devastated the women because it was their source to news and music outside of their isolated lives. When the five girls escaped the Salindà © ceremony and came to Collà ©, she willingly offered them Moolaadà ©, or protection. Collà © was scarred after losing two children during childbirth due to her own genital mutilation. She remembers the pain she had to go through and the nurse had to open her up to deliver her only surviving daughter, Amasatou. Collà © remained firm that she would never let Amasatou to endure the agony of being cut. Collà ©Ã¢â‚¬â„¢s interference with the old tradition caused outrage in the dominating patriarchal society who viewed her actions as disrespect to tradition and Islamic religion. The male elders took away the women’s radios because they didn’t want women being influenced by radical ideas. Collà © was intensely pressured by the Salindana and the male elders, including her husband to lift the Moolaadà ©. Her refusal forced her husband to whip her publically but she never once uttered the word. Collà ©Ã¢â‚¬â„¢s actions reflected her bravery and determination which â€Å"mobilized† the other women in the village to support Collà ©Ã¢â‚¬â„¢s intentions and realize the horrid effects of purification. She was an intelligent woman who encouraged the other women to realize that the men were oppressing them from the truth by taking away their radios, so the women wouldn’t ponder over unreasonable ideas. Collà © supported her deep-rooted opposition to genital mutilation with evidence that contradicted the men’s inaccurate dictations. While, listening to the radio Collà © had learned that Islam didn’t tolerate female genital mutilation because thousands of Muslim women would go to Mecca for pilgrimage and they weren’t cut, which shocked many of the male elders who still appeared to be ignorant. Through this, the women in the village united together and bonded through the pain each of them suffered through their genital mutilations. There is a sense of relief and happiness that reflect off these women in the end when they burned the knives used to bring suffering to generations of women who feel under the dreadful practice. As Collà © and the village women in their struggles end the practice of female genital cutting, they began their own feminism movement revolutionizing their purpose in society. Both characters having seen the world beyond the village and convinced of the need for change become unlikely allies of Collà © and the village women in their struggles to end the practice of female genital cutting. Such unlikely partnerships forged across ethnic, class, gender and generational lines have historically been crucial to the success of human rights struggles. In the campaign against the practice of female genital cutting, they are essential and Mooladà © shows us why. caused a sudden awareness among the other oppressed women in the village when her husband whipped her publically but she never once uttered the word. Allegedly eradication Unlike many recent Hollywood made films about Africa, Mooladà © is a story about Africa made by Africans from a distinctly local perspective. Yet, it speaks to universal themes of power, oppression and emancipation. In depicting one woman’s struggle to protect others from an oppressive and inhibiting tradition, Sembene brings great sensitivity and nuance to topic that is often discussed from simplistic, patronizing and polarizing standpoints. He deftly explores not only the conflict between local traditional values and the influence of modern ideas, but also the gender and generational tensions within a community largely isolated from the outside world. Although the film obviously seeks to challenge the practice of female genital cutting and raise questions about its legitimacy, it does so with sensitivity to underlying social complexities. It provides a glimpse into the perspective of local African tribesmen who see the practice of female genital cutting as process of â€Å"purification† and older women who see it as a necessary rite of passage for their daughters. However disagreeable their positions may appear, Sembene brings their voices to the story in a way that is neither condescending nor patronizing. Beyond its message, Mooladà © is a cinematic delight. Sembene assembles a group of colourful characters that add depth to his portrayal of rural African life and make for a more compelling storyline. Although this film is essentially about the local tribulations of an African village, it still mange to engage the outside world through two intriguing characters a local itinerant vendor, nicknamed Mercenaire who previously worked as an aid worker, and a favoured son of the village Chief, Ibrahima, who returns home from his studies in France to take a bride. Both characters having seen the world beyond the village and convinced of the need for change become unlikely allies of Collà © and the village women in their struggles to end the practice of female genital cutting. Such unlikely partnerships forged across ethnic, class, gender and generational lines have historically been crucial to the success of human rights struggles. In the campaign against the practice of female genital cut ting, they are essential and Mooladà © shows us why. Ultimately, this movie is not simply about oppression and social turmoil or about progressive citizens and regressive traditions. It is more about the resilience of the human spirit and the tenacity of ordinary people determined to change their destinies. It is an excursion into the dilemmas that confront a society caught in the midst of social and cultural change. For the human rights scholar and teacher, it provides a subtle but invaluable resource for raising awareness about the practice of female genital cutting and offers a means of understanding and explaining a controversial topic to an audience unfamiliar with the social and cultural intricacies associated with the practice. Set in a remote Muslim village in Burkina Faso, Mooladà © is the story of Collà ©, a defiant and strong-willed second wife of an elder in a West African village who refuses to allow four little girls to undergo the traditional circumcision ceremony. After losing two daughters in childbirth due to her own circumcision, Collà © had refused to allow her surviving daughter, Amasatou, to face the ordeal of being cut. Colles moolaadà © stirs the anger of the Salidana, a group of women dressed in red gowns who perform the mutilation. She is also forced to stand up to the intimidation of her husband and his brother and the male elders in the village who see her as a threat to their values. As a gesture of control, the men confiscate the womens radios, their main source of news of outside life. Rigidly defending their traditions and what they questionably see as a practice sanctioned by Islam, they also turn against an itinerant merchant they call Mercenaire (Dominique Zeida) who comes to the aid of Colle in a shocking scene of public flogging. As the issue becomes crystallized, many women rally to Colles support whose courage in the face of determined opposition is of heroic proportions. She is thrust into an unfolding drama of village politics when she offers Mooladà © (protection) to the girls who escape the circumcision ceremony. Mooladà © is the mystical protection which in the local custom can be invoked to provide place of safety. Collà ©Ã¢â‚¬â„¢s interference draws the fury of her deeply patriarchal community which sees her action as an affront on its culture and Islamic religion. Collà © can lift the Mooladà © with a single word and comes under the intense pressure of the male elders, her husband and some fellow women to do so. Her resolute refusal to lift the Mooladà © draws other women and girls to her cause and sets the stage for a standoff with the village elders that erupts in the centre of the village and shatters the tranquility of the community. Unlike many recent Hollywood made films about Africa, Mooladà © is a story about Africa made by Africans from a distinctly local perspective. Yet, it speaks to universal themes of power, oppression and emancipation. In depicting one woman’s struggle to protect others from an oppressive and inhibiting tradition, Sembene brings great sensitivity and nuance to topic that is often discussed from simplistic, patronizing and polarizing standpoints. He deftly explores not only the conflict between local traditional values and the influence of modern ideas, but also the gender and generational tensions within a community largely isolated from the outside world. Although the film obviously seeks to challenge the practice of female genital cutting and raise questions about its legitimacy, it does so with sensitivity to underlying social complexities. It provides a glimpse into the perspective of local African tribesmen who see the practice of female genital cutting as process of â€Å"purification† and older women who see it as a necessary rite of passage for their daughters. However disagreeable their positions may appear, Sembene brings their voices to the story in a way that is neither condescending nor patronizing. Beyond its message, Mooladà © is a cinematic delight. Sembene assembles a group of colourful characters that add depth to his portrayal of rural African life and make for a more compelling storyline. Although this film is essentially about the local tribulations of an African village, it still mange to engage the outside world through two intriguing characters a local itinerant vendor, nicknamed Mercenaire who previously worked as an aid worker, and a favoured son of the village Chief, Ibrahima, who returns home from his studies in France to take a bride. Both characters having seen the world beyond the village and convinced of the need for change become unlikely allies of Collà © and the village women in their struggles to end the practice of female genital cutting. Such unlikely partnerships forged across ethnic, class, gender and generational lines have historically been crucial to the success of human rights struggles. In the campaign against the practice of female genital cut ting, they are essential and Mooladà © shows us why. Ultimately, this movie is not simply about oppression and social turmoil or about progressive citizens and regressive traditions. It is more about the resilience of the human spirit and the tenacity of ordinary people determined to change their destinies. It is an excursion into the dilemmas that confront a society caught in the midst of social and cultural change. For the human rights scholar and teacher, it provides a subtle but invaluable resource for raising awareness about the practice of female genital cutting and offers a means of understanding and explaining a controversial topic to an audience unfamiliar with the social and cultural intricacies associated with the practice. Set in a remote Muslim village in Burkina Faso, Mooladà © is the story of Collà ©, a defiant and strong-willed second wife of an elder in a West African village who refuses to allow four little girls to undergo the traditional circumcision ceremony. After losing two daughters in childbirth due to her own circumcision, Collà © had refused to allow her surviving daughter, Amasatou, to face the ordeal of being cut.

The Issue Of Heavy Metals Contamination Environmental Sciences Essay

The Issue Of Heavy Metals Contamination Environmental Sciences Essay Rapid urbanization and industrialization has led to increase disposal of heavy metals and radionuclide into the environment. Heavy metals contamination problem increase rapidly is due to the increasing of the industrialization. The key property of heavy metal is the non-biodegradable properties of the heavy metal ions. As metal ion persistent in nature it will remain in the environment and poses environmental-disposal problems (Leità £o, 2009). Among the pollution of water sources, contaminations of heavy metal ions in water are the problem that reaching a dangerous level (Regine and Volesky, 2000). The main sources of heavy metal ions contamination include the urban industrial aerosols, solid wastes from animals, mining activities, industrial and also agricultural activities (KarnikaAlluri et al,. 2007). Heavy metal is defined as element with high weight, which has the properties of a metallic substance at room temperature and is toxic or poisonous at low concentrations. Heavy metal ions of concern include chromium, lead, mercury, silver, gold, zinc, arsenic, nickel, cadmium, uranium, selenium and mercury (Ahalya et al, 2003). Heavy metal ions can enter a water sources by industrial and consumer waste, or even from acidic rain breaking down soils and releasing heavy metals into streams, lakes, rivers, and groundwater (Lenntech, 2009). These heavy metals have high toxicity and impact as they can cause human major health problem (Leità £o, 2009). Heavy metal ions are dangerous because it tend to bioaccumulation. Bioaccumulation defines as an increase in the concentration of a chemical in a biological organism over time, compared to the chemicals concentration in the environment. Compounds accumulate in living things any time they are taken up and stored faster than they are broken down (metabolized) or excreted (Lenntech, 2009). This is because these heavy metals can be carried into food web as a result of leaching from water dumps or other polluted water sources. These metals then will increase the metals concentration at every level of food chain and cause affect human health (Paknikar et al, 2003). Even at low concentration, heavy metals can also causing human health problem. It can cause toxicity to humans and other forms of life. 1.1 Aquatic and water sources pollutants One of the main causes of aqueous heavy metal pollution is the release of the heavy metal ion containing industrial waste into water sources. This usually as a direct result of inefficiency treatment of the heavy metal removal processes. Occurrence of aquatic pollutants (such as heavy metals) has been correlated to alterations in the fish immune system and the incidence of infectious diseases. Water bodies are being overwhelmed with pollutant and waste matter such as heavy metal. Among all the toxic substances reaching hazardous levels are heavy metals (Regine and Volesky, 2000). Even very low level of certain heavy metals can have profound effects upon the structure or even the functions of the immune system that could be almost as harmful as direct toxic doses (Saxena et al, 2009). The main threats to human health from heavy metals are associated with exposure to lead, cadmium, mercury and arsenic. Cadmium compounds are the by-product that used in re-chargeable nickel-cadmium batteries. Cadmium will accumulate in living organisms and can cause several health problems in humans (Benguella and Benaissa, 2002). Cadmium emissions have increase dramatically during the 20th century, one reason being that cadmium-containing products are rarely re-cycled, but often dumped together with household waste. Therefore, measures should be taken to reduce cadmium exposure in the general population in order to minimize the risk of adverse health effects. The other metal ion that should be concern is copper. Unlike cadmium, copper is not toxic as cadmium, however extensive of copper used in industry and increasing the copper levels in the environment was a reason for concern. Besides, the general population is primarily exposed to mercury through food, fish being a major source of methyl mercury exposure because of the major food source. The adverse effects of heavy metals on human health show in Table 1.0 (Hima et al., 2007). The best accepted option is to avoid the possibility of polluting the water sources. Thus, the treatments of heavy metals contaminated water become more important issues in this endeavour. To avoid health hazards is essential to remove all these toxic heavy metals from wastewater before its disposal. Table 1.0: Types of heavy metals and their effect on human health. (Hima et al., 2007) 1.2 Method for heavy metal removal Recently, the efficient method of removal heavy metals has become important and concern for industry (Malik, 2004). They are various industrial processes for elimination of heavy metals. These industrial wastewater treatments is due to the process of chemical precipitation, membrane technologies, solvent extraction, reverse osmosis, electrochemical treatment, ion exchange, evaporation recovery and also chemical oxidation-reduction (Leità £o, 2009). Physiochemical processes also use in heavy metals removal of water sources before the influents into natural water system (Nars and Garima, 2004). However, all this methods have a major disadvantage which is difficult to handle and expensive processes. Besides, these methods frequently result in the release of toxic products and thus cause of secondary sources of environmental pollution problem (Leità £o, 2009). Most of the physiochemical process become less effective and more expensive when he metal concentration are in range of 1 to 10 0 mg/L (Nars and Garima, 2004). Another major problem is the ability for removal of heavy metals in low concentrations and is inefficiency. It also produces other waste products that require careful disposal (Ahalya et al., 2003). Thus, a need for a cost effective alternative technologies are important. In this case, microbial biomass has the high efficiency and option for developing an economic and eco-friendly waste water treatment process. Bioremediation can be defined as a biological process or treatment that used to clean up of hazardous chemicals. Bioremediation processes involve the use of microorganisms or even enzyme to return the environment back to its original condition. In recent years, rapid urbanization and industrialization has led the increase of heavy metals into environment. Hence, due to the environmental protection and economical constrain the need of bioremediation in removing and recycling of metal ions from industrial wastewater become more important. Bioremediation can be an effective method that can alter the ecosystem pollution. There are certain main advantages to bioremediation, in which other process cannot be reach easily. One simple case that can be view is the contamination of gasoline in underground water. By injection of the right microorganism, it may reduce the pollution concentrations after a period of time. The bioremediation is less expensive compared to other chemical cleaning processes. In recent years, certain new method was discovered in removing heavy metals from the water sources. It was found that fungus biomass would be an effective method in removing heavy metal ions in wastewater. This is because the ability of fungi in absorbing metal ions would be more efficiency when it grow some condition or reach certain situation. Certain condition or pre-treatment can be use on to the fungal biomass to increase the efficiency in order to speed up the bioremediation process. In other words, the biosorption procedure are said to be easy to handle, safer, rapid process, and inexpensive for the pretreatment and trace metals separation in aqueous solutions (Say, 2003). However, many of these methods are ineffective. This resulting in low levels of heavy metal ion removal and can also be economically inefficiency (Ghimire et al., 2003). Figure 1.0: Schematic representation of biosorption procedure. (Hima et al., 2007) 1.3 Biomass of Fungus To overcome the entire metal ion pollution problem, all the removal of heavy metals from waste water must be highly effective. Thus the use of biomass was selected. The biomass has several advantages as heavy metal ion adsorbent over the commonly method and more efficient adsorbents and is a renewable source (Ghimire et al., 2002). Biomass often as the waste product from the industry processes. It is cheap and easily available product. Thus, according to the industrial perspective, heavy metal removal systems that are renewable and inexpensive are highly preferred by industry and achieve the environmental perspective. A filamentous fungus is a member of large group of eukaryotic organisms which are variable in form, behavior and life cycle patterns that are classified as a kingdom that is separated from plants, animals and bacteria (Geeta Sumbali, 2005). There is the possibility that fungus has the ability to remove heavy metal ions to meet the discharge standards required by federal regulations. Fungi can remove heavy metals and radio nuclides from the aqueous solution. Fungi can accumulate heavy metal and radionuclide species by physico-chemical and biological mechanisms. These methods include extracellular binding by metabolites and biopolymers, binding to specific polypeptides and metabolism-dependent accumulation (Tobin, 1994). The transfer of metals from environment into the cell maybe accomplished by active transport associated with metabolic activities, but it is also a passive process metal uptake by the cell across the cell wall. The cell-wall fraction of biomass plays an important role in the sorption of heavy metals. The potential of fungal biomass as biosorbent has been recognized for the removal of heavy metals from polluted water sources. Due to the negative charge from the different functional group, fungal cell walls can act as a cation exchanger (Fomina, 2007). The examples are phosphate, carboxylic, sulfhydryl or amine that was found in different wall compo nents such as hemicelluloses, pectin and lignin (Fomina, 2007). The reason that makes fungi biosorption become attractive is due to the possibility of obtaining large quantities of product without causing disposal problem and low cost. One example is the Rhizopus arrhizus, which are common for industrial exploitation due to its strong metal-sorbent properties. The amino groups of chitin were found to be a major site of thorium uptake in Rhizopus arrhizus. The cell wall of fungi typically containing long chain of chitin polymer, cellulose or contain both chitin and cellulose. Fungi cell walls are rich in glycoproteins and polysaccharides, for example the glucans, chitin, mannans and phospho-mannans. The chemical structure of a part of cell wall fungi was show in figure 1.0. Chitin polymers layer provide the abundant sources of metal ion binding ligands. The amino groups of chitin were found to be a major site of thorium uptake in Rhizopus arrhizus. The main chemical groups in a biomass which are able to uptake metal ions are the electronegative groups such as hydroxyl, sulfhydryl groups and amino groups. This is the main factor that causes the fungi biomasses have the ability to accumulate metal ion. The level of heavy metals absorption capacity by various fungal species was show in table 1.1. Figure 1.1: Schematic diagram representation of the outer cell layer of fungi. (Leità £o, 2009) Figure 1.2: Chemical structure for a part of chitin polymer. (Boya Volesky, 1999) Table 1.1: Heavy metals absorption capacity by various fungal species. (Narsi and Garima, 2005) 1.4 Objective of this thesis The main objective of this review is to present report of investigations related to the ability of fungal species as a suitable model organism to use in the process of eliminating heavy metal ions from contaminated water sources. In this review the removal of heavy metal ions such chromium, cadmium and copper from synthetic wastewater by a fungus biomass is presented. The design of an effective bioreactor for the removal of copper in aqueous solution is presented. The reactor was based on an aqueous system containing metal ions in solution. These reviews also include a report on the investigation of the effect that would affect the efficiency of fungal biomass in absorption metal ions. A study of factors that affect the efficiency of fungal biomass will provide a good industrial reference for the use of fungus in the removal of metal ion as a mean of protecting the environment from heavy metal pollution.

History and Effects of Marijuana :: Marijuana Should NOT Be Legal

Marijuana is the common name for the hemp plant Cannabis sativa. Hemp grows in tropical and in warm temperate climates. Dried up grounded leaves and stems have been known for a long period of time to be used as a drug. Through out many different regions in the world and for centuries has been used. Other uses as in medical to relieve symptoms of illness . Throughout its long history, parts of the plant have been smoked, chewed, eaten, and even brewed for it effects on the human biochemistry. Marijuana, having over 400 chemicals and the main chemical, Tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC was noted to be found in the mid-1960s. Marijuana a Spanish name has many other names such as weed, pot, grass, reefer, Mary Jane, and ganja.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The history of marijuana appeared in the early 2700 B.C. in a Chinese manuscript. Explorers to the new world first observed it in 1545. It was considered to be a very useful crop and that the Jamestown settlers in 1607 began its cultivation. Later, Virginia, farmers were actually fined for not growing this plant. From the 17th to the mid 20th century marijuana was considered a household drug used from treating headaches, menstrual cramps, and toothaches. Between the years 1919-1938 a stronger plant was born by American drug companies it was called Cannabis Americana. Marijuana now being a, drug soon became popular among musicians who maintained that smoking gave them the inspiration they needed to play there music. Others began to get addicted to marijuana, it spread world wide to major cities such as Chicago, New York, Paris, and London.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Marijuana effects two main parts of the human body, the cardiovascular and the central nervous systems. Low doses of marijuana consists of a sense of well being and drowsiness/relaxation. As the doses increase other effects tend to come in, altered sense of time and sensory awareness, difficulty in memory such as remember last movements. Conversations are cut and thoughts are incomplete and exaggerated laughter also take place when doses are increased. At much higher to extreme doses, paranoia, hallucinations, panic attacks and delusions occur.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  When the cardiovascular system is affected it does damage to the body such as increased heart rate and dilation of eye blood vessels. Marijuana smoking has been proven to raise the risk of heart attacks. Difficulty in body movement and coordination is also a long term effect also pains in the chest is.

My Friend’s Most Important Decision Essay

Firstly, I would like to introduce my friend Jenny, who was born in China and now she is 25 years old. In 2011, she left her great job and came to the United States to pursue her master degree. Jenny decided to study in the United States and in particular at JWU because she wanted to study professional knowledge of management and have a master degree, she believe the U.S is the origin of the MBA program and JWU is famous for its hotel management program. First and foremost, after graduation, Jenny worked at the Beijing Branch of Education Service Center for about three years. She has great expectations for her career and she wants to get a high position but it’s difficult for her. She said,† You can see my academic background, I never studied any business knowledge, if I want to get high promotion, to study professional knowledge of management and have a master degree is important for me.† Thus, she wanted to get an MBA to get more knowledge of management and improve all kinds of abilities and help herself with her career objective. Another reason why she decided to study in the U.S. is because she believe that the United States is the origin of the MBA program. The United States’ MBA program pays more attention to practical skills and ability development, like communication, leadership, control, decision making, influence and entrepreneurship. She thinks studying in America can advance her career and make her more competitive in her field. She said to me, â€Å"American’s Hospitality management program is very strong†. Because in America , many universities are famous for this program, like: Cornell University, University of Houston, Pennsylvania State University, and the U.S. also has some famous hotel, like: Hilton Grand Vacations, New York Hotel and so on. Thus, she believes America is a good place for her to study this major. Most of all, Johnson & Wales university is famous for its hotel management program. She has a friend who is currently studying hotel management at JWU, and her friend told her some advantages about this university, especially teaching resources on management is quite good. After that, she searched a lot of information on the internet, and found that JWU was suitable for her. She said,† this university is career-oriented school, especially pay attention to students’ practical skill development, like communication, decision making, entrepreneurship and leadership ability†. Many students who graduate from JWU can get into big companies like Hilton Hotel, so she believes studying at JWU can make her more competitive in the future. For these reasons and more, Jenny decided that in order to make herself more marketable that she needed to leave her job in China and move to the United States in order to learn professional knowledge and extend her education. Therefore, Jenny, my best friend, chose to study in the United States in an MBA program and in particular at JWU with a concentration in Hospitality.

Spain and Devolution Research Paper Example

Spain and Devolution Research Paper Example Spain and Devolution Paper Spain and Devolution Paper Of the three states Spain has by far the most difficult regional problem; it has also in place the the most radical of the regionalising projects. Spains regional problem has two interrrelated dimensions: that of persuading the two principal unassimilated peripheries Catalonia and the Basque region to accept the state, and then drawing on the resources of these regions to support development in the other regions. These goals are contradictory and it has been a difficult balancing act. Insofar as it has been successful and its ultimate success is still in uestion it is been due in considerable part to the commitment of the Spanish centre and the principal regions to ever wider European and international contacts (Gibbons, 1999, 35). The case of Catalonia is instructive. In the past thirty years, Catalan economic development has gone hand in hand with cultural nationalism, increasing linkages with the EU and with the wider world. The Catalan language has achieved predominance in public life in the region, in education, and in the communications media. The regions economic success and Barcelonas restige as a major European city give the Catalan government a prominence on the European stage and extra clout in negotiations with the centre. Catalonias increased external orientation is welcomed, not simply for the economic and cultural benefits it brings, but because it lessens the linkages with the Castillian centre. The extent to which Catalan nationalism is now content with its status as a nation-without-a-state (Keating, 1996) or the extent to which it is moving towards greater independence perhaps, at least initially, within a federal structure s a matter of some debate among scholars. What is clear, however, is that the increasing political freedom of the region, its increased prosperity and the reinforcement of Catalan identity has not overcome its ambivalence about being part of the Spanish state. One expression of this is resentment of the level of Catalan financial transfers to the central exchequer. This resentment is all the greater when it compares its fiscal powers with those of the Basque country. The challenge which such a high level of regionalisation has posed to the Spanish state, and deolgically to those strands of political opinion which believe in the essential unity of Spain, is considerable. In Catalonia the central state has effectively lost the cultural initiative and the re-establishment of Catalan as the first language has deepened the extent to which it is a place apart. At the same time autonomisation has not brought an end to violent Basque separatism. There are conflicts between centre and region about the extent of the regional powers the Spanish state, for example, has repeatedly challenged Basque industrial policy in he European Court of Justice (Loyer, 1999). There is tension around matters of protocol, for example welcoming of international statesmen, visits abroad, which have seemed to the state to be taking over the proper role of the sovereign state (Basset, 1998). Finally, there is competition between the regions around the extent of their powers which produces a dynamic towards ever greater autonomisation Catalonia looks for equivalent financial autonomy to the Basque country, and Andalucia will accept no less autonomy than Catalonia, and so on. At the same time the pace of development in the other regions remains slow. Further evidence that devolution becomes more popular with the passage of time is provided by the Spanish experience. As in Britain in the 1990s, the strong demands for autonomy in some Spanish regions in the late 1970s were not paralleled in the rest of the country, where there was no clear support for devolution. Yet, by 1996, opinion polls suggested that three-quarters of Spaniards felt either that the existing degree of autonomy granted to the regions should be maintained or enhanced. Furthermore, these responses appear to be underpinned by a strong degree of identification with the respective autonomous communities. In the same opinion poll just over two-thirds of respondents reported either that they identified only with their autonomous community or as much with their autonomous community as they did with Spain. In Spain, a complex sharing of functions between the national, regional and local levels of government has evolved since the late 1970s. Figure 3 shows that central government in Spain has exclusive powers over areas such as defence and macro-economic management but that it shares responsibility for many functions with the autonomous communities, including housing, social welfare and economic development. Similarly, local government is charged with functions such as land-use planning and community safety while also sharing responsibility with the autonomous communities in a number of areas, such as local transport and sports and leisure facilities. European experience therefore suggests that any decision regarding the powers to be devolved to regions is not simply a one-off re-allocation of functions between tiers of government. Rather, devolution triggers a dynamic process of bargaining between regional and national government over responsibilities and resources. Aside from the tendency for this to result in regions acquiring more functions, the other clear message to emerge is regional authorities, once established, will push strongly for greater autonomy, particularly in the management of their financial affairs. In Italy the regions lobbied strongly for tax-raising powers from 1983, eventually securing limited powers in this area in 1990. Similarly, the Spanish autonomous communities have claimed a rising share of income tax revenues, with some regions securing a greater degree of financial autonomy from the centre than others: in Catalonia 32 per cent of public expenditure is now controlled by the regional government, compared to an average of 25 per cent in Spain as a whole. Indeed, of the cases considered at the conference, only the Spanish regions could make any reasonable claim to being significant contributors to regional economic performance since they do at least share significant responsibility for economic development with central government. However, time-series data on economic performance in Spain suggest that regional economic disparities have only narrowed marginally over the past 15-20 years. Whether this modest decrease in regional disparity can be attributed specifically to the activities of regional governments, rather than, say, to national economic policy or the beneficial impact of Spanish membership of the EU, remains an open question. The staggered emergence of regionalism in the UK does have something of a parallel in the Spanish case. Following the transition to a democratic regime in the late 1970s, the new Spanish constitution provided for twin-track devolution. Under this framework, regions with strong nationalist claims for devolution were allowed to move quickly towards such arrangements. Thus, Catalonia and the Basque Country introduced regional government in 1979, followed in 1981 by Galicia and, largely on political grounds, Andalusia. The remaining 13 autonomous communities were then introduced in 1982-83. The principle of a two-speed process of devolution has since been maintained, with subsequent bargaining between central government and individual autonomous communities enabling regional governments in areas such as Catalonia and the Basque Country to take greater control over their own affairs. While the Spanish case suggests that asymmetric devolution is an option for the UK, it leaves open the question of what might happen if the English regions fail to embrace regional government. Asymmetric devolution would seem to be an appropriate response to the problem that there are different levels of aspiration to self-government. However, experience in Spain also implies that a staggered process of devolution will need to be supported by national co-ordination mechanisms which ensure that regions slow to move towards regional autonomy are not disadvantaged and are encouraged to be part of a consensus on how devolution should proceed.