Jeffrey O.G. Ogbar, Hip

Table of Contents Introduction The book description Book organization The book in a wider context Conclusion Works Cited Footnotes Introduction The world of hip-hop is always about ‘realness’ as artists use their artistic skills to show what really happens in their surroundings and how those around them interpret these issues. In his book ‘Hip-hop Revolution: the culture and politics of Rap’ Jeffrey O. G. Ogbar, appreciates hip-hop and confronts the myths associated with the cult of authenticity where people want to associate with this hip-hop culture by adopting certain characteristics associated with hip-hop performers such as how they walk, talk and express themselves.Advertising We will write a custom book review sample on Jeffrey O.G. Ogbar, Hip-Hop Revolution: The Culture and Politics of Rap specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More He addresses in this book, the positive role the hip-hop culture has pla yed in the American society while overlooking the negative stereotypes that have been associated with hip-hop as just empty noise of angry youths just complaining about their problems and situations instead of doing something about it1. In a society that is dominated by negative stereotypes in regard to race and gender and artists trying to express a sense of how they perceive real issues about race, class and gender, how does Ogbar manage to bring out the revolution that has been experienced in the world of hip-hop. He tries to answer this by answering questions such as what it means to be real as viewed by the artists and whether truly hip-hop is disintegrating the American society. This will be addressed in this book review as we look at how the author represents his views, interpretations and research about the hip-hop culture2 The book description In this book, Ogbar explores the lyrical world of rap and displays their struggle to identify what reality is to them, and where the y belong in the class, race and gender categories and how this reality is viewed by the society in America which has not been kind at all to this genre of music. Ogbar who has been born in Chicago and raised in Los Angeles, California and has studied history and African American studies, have explored the negative black images that are associated with rap and the artist’s historical and political awareness. He has gone on to display the realities of wide spectrum rap categories such as gangsta rap represented by 50 Cent, conscious hip-hop of Mos Def and ‘underground ‘ variety of artists such as Jurassic 5 and the Roots3.Advertising Looking for book review on art and design? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More He strives to face the impression that is widely held in the American society that hip-hop is anti social and dangerous due to the crime focused lyrics, antisocial messages and the politics of racial words such as â€Å"nigga† presented especially by black youths. This he does by presenting these artists views about their music and what it means to them and society and its place in the society4. Ogbar represents this book with an insider love for the culture having had numerous contacts with these artists, and in his role as an adviser to many student organizations such as Black Students Association, Break dancing club, United Men of African Descent and other community organizations, majority of who are followers of the hip-hop culture. This does not, however, obscure his role as a scholar who represents views, research and interpretations with a scholarly detachment. These two aspects makes him draw reality about popular myths about black education achievements, civic involvement, crime and sexuality in the way that has not been done before about this lifestyle that so many people in our society love to hate5. Book organization Jeffrey O. G. Ogbar writes his book, Hip-Hop Revo lution: The culture and Politics of Rap with a passion of person who deeply feels this culture while at the same time criticizing it as a detached scholar in order to bring out the real issues. He arranges his book in a thematic manner with each chapter trying to address the major arguments surrounding rap music and hip-hop culture. He addresses the dialogues on race to a major extent the gender issues and the ideas of realness in regard to reality in his chapters. His themes address the expanse of the debates surrounding them rather than their depth but all the same illustrate the narrowness in which blackness is interpreted in reality. The lack of depth in these themes is seen by some reviewers as leaving vital holes in this discussion as one critic6.Advertising We will write a custom book review sample on Jeffrey O.G. Ogbar, Hip-Hop Revolution: The Culture and Politics of Rap specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More The Hip-Hop Revolu tion: The culture and Politics of Rap work starts by drawing a parallel between hip-hop and other types of racial cultural creations in the United States of America, thereby showing their unmistakable link with the earlier creations of black studies as it is indicated7. In Chapter one, Ogbar describes the history of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries popular works of art including the emergence of jazz, rock and roll and the 1970s cinemas which displayed the extent of black exploitation and finally the growth of hip-hop in mid 1970s in New York City8. These are the issues that created the hip-hop culture at its basics bringing to life â€Å"the real nigga† impression as it is described in9. This eventually became a very successful commercial and financial sale figure across all racial divides. This is not described in deeper details but the author clearly outlines it was behind the successful marketing of hip-hop (p. 41). This actually saw many of these rap musician s become very successful and popular not only in America but all over the world as people wanted to identify with the black youths who are making their world better despite everything, meaning history of racial segregation and its resultants social problems. Ogbar dedicates chapter two and three to race and gender respectively. In chapter three, he talks about politics and issues associated with the racial sentimentalities such as the use of the word â€Å"nigga.† In this dissection, Ogbar says that non-black MCs use or disuse of the word â€Å"nigga† in their art is now being dictated mainly by the black people10. He discusses the use and commercialization of these expressions as the coming together of black agencies to give a black label authenticity to hip-hop. He gives a look at the Latino, Asian American and white MCs, but Potter says that in this part he fails to dig deeper in the first two instead focuses on rushing out at white MCs. He says that there is a sort of solidarity between blacks and Latinos where uttering such words as â€Å"nigga† by a Latino MC is accepted by black audiences11. Here, Ogbar contradicts Rivera’s study about the relationship between African Americans and the Puerto Ricans who states that, these relationships are always strained.Advertising Looking for book review on art and design? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Ogbar does not go into details about the Asian American artist in hip-hop considering that they are not popular in this genre of music. One wonders how they represent themselves in this kind of art that is largely seen as ‘black’ in a society that looks at it in this narrow perspective let alone being accepted by its followers as real. Ogbar dedicates most of his discussion on this chapter on how white MCs try to fit in the hip-hop culture with all its stereotypes. He concludes that, they manage to negotiate this rough terrain amid responses of ‘intolerable violation’ and gives an example of Eminem in his early performances which he used words such as â€Å"nigga† but they eventually become accepted amid grudgingly12. On the gender front, Ogbar discusses the good and bad images of women in hip-hop,13 by showing the perceptions people have on female MCs who display an image of either extreme soft femininity of ‘tom boy’ picture who wants to be like the boys in this trade 14. The hip-hop culture brings out a diverse category of women who either are performers, actors or models for the hip-hop culture, but in all this women have to face strong force to contend with in marketing themselves as rappers15. This is all glued to the society’s perspective of the whole culture. Ogbar has been criticized by Johnson for his apparent oversimplification of this topic in his discussion. Johnson says that he fails to look at the uncertainties that come with video modeling for women and its implications and he also fails to answer the question of whether it has the potential to result into its future. It is also true that he would have at least given some insight into how these women are faring, and whether like their male counterparts a sign of success exists for them and whether we can look at women in hip-hop as viably marketable. He could also have given examples of their struggles to be accepted into this culture and the ir insight into the society’s view of them as a lost cause or women who want to be like their male counterparts instead of celebrating femininity in their works. Ogbar calls his fourth chapter in his work â€Å"Rebels with a cause: Gangstas, militants, Media, and the Contest for Hip-Hop†16 to show the misunderstandings that the society has about this form of art. The society displays an unfounded moral panic over hip-hop according to Ogbar, while all this time what it should address is the culture war and hypocrisies highlighted by this art. Hip-hop has raised a lot of attention mainly not because of the issues addressed but because of its supposed contribution to the downfall of today’s youths due to the indecency it displays. While Ogbar chooses to say that it is a culture of war and a lack of willingness to understand on the part of the society, I find some of the rap songs really deserving of the society’s wrath due to the content of the rhymes and vi deos that they contain. Vulgar language and dances, however, blind the society, can easily corrupt the youths especially those that have other underlying social problems. 17Ogbar, however, uses statistics to argue his point on the influence of hip-hop on youths by citing increasing graduate degrees, drop in teenage pregnancies in the last two decades and increased political awareness among the youths. Here, he wants to challenge the view that black youths are passive and uncritical listeners to national issues affecting them. Again, Ogbar fails to link clearly these statistics to the influence of rap music and the irony of their critics can also not credit bad influence of rap on the social problems the youths have been having18. The last chapter, â€Å"Locked Up: police, the Prison Industrial Complex, Black Youth, and Social Control†, Ogbar discusses the changing trends in the lyrics of rap music. He offers a strong criticism about the stories that portrays blacks as cop kil lers, but fails to look at the underlying issues in violence not only between the police and blacks but also those involving blacks and blacks19. He discusses the protests on court cases involving blacks and the role of black music labels in putting pressure on such cases as they involve blacks and police officers. He says this trend of rap creations changed to black people killing other black people and eventually the focus was shifted to the prison environment, but still talks about the gangster code of honor20. This has had the impact of society changing the focus on social political debate in regard to the realities that black people face, as these forces change. In this chapter Ogbar demonstrates how the social political changes in America are looked at within the confines of black stereotypes as portrayed in hip-hop culture and that is how revolution has occurred21 The book in a wider context While Ogbar represents a lot of experience about hip –hop culture in this book , he gives a somehow one sided story, on the artists and their fans point of view, and fails to do an analysis of what a cross sectional group of people may view this culture. He does not also seem to remove himself completely from the play of the lyrics of rap music and the truth it represents. He focuses on what the artists say in the lyrics and fails to look at the production on its whole. What the artists say in their music may not be what they are. While it is true that the gangster rappers may be forced to live their work due to the demands of their fans and the culture itself, and the fact that what they sing is the real situation, it still has a lot of room for creativity and play. He gives an example of such rappers who grew up in the lower income bracket and families in the inner city slums but, now live in fairly stable families and neighborhoods and have college degrees yet their rap presentations are those of gangsters. An example of this outside Ogbars book is Snoopy D oggy Dog, who is doing really well but still his music has gangster connotations. However, it would be paradoxical if Ogbar was to imply that these rappers cannot be some other people in the society while at the same time doing their gangster raps and this is where lyrical analysis really brings problems. This is the reason some scholars have gone beyond lyrical analysis to focus on field work, archival research and critical cultural analysis of impacts of hip-hop22. Ogbar manages in this book to give an overview of the development of rap music and hip-hop culture especially in the last fifteen years. This brings to life the expressions and experiences of a particular group of young people in our country, who through rap music express their views on a wide variety of issues ranging from congressional hearings, controversial artists, cultural issues and conflicts and political issues with boldness and incisiveness. This boldness surrounds the need to talk about prominent controversie s about race, class and gender. This controversy is displayed very well by male artists such as Jay-Z, Lil Wayne and 50 Cents whose origins in poor, urban environments are the real controversy. If one does not display these three bones of contention their being â€Å"real† is questioned23. Ogbar says in a later interview with a library website, Rorotoko that he got inspiration for this book from his experience and love for hip-hop since he was young, he tried rapping and break dancing while at the same time, he did hip-hop graffiti tagging. This is expended as he eventually became a scholar of history especially in the field of African American studies and hip-hop. Major criticism for his works on rap music and its influence on the society has been on the influence of its violent and vulgar lyrics on the youth especially the African American youth. He uses raw data from government agencies to show that in 2005, black youth high school graduate rate was record high despite the ir being highest consumers of hip-hop even though they are not majority consumers of rap music24. He also cites the 2006 educational achievement gap between blacks and whites being the narrowest of all time and this trend has been maintained. He also gives statistics of the dropping cases of teenage pregnancies with the 2005 being the lowest in history. In the civic awareness and participation, he says that the 2002 midterm elections saw the number of black 18-29 year old youth voters being highest among the white, Latino and Asian American in the country. In terms of crime, he cites the 2004 ever low black homicide rates at its least from 1940s25. The major problem as Ogbar says, facing African American people is the prison industrial complex which has the highest number of inmates than in any other country. African American forms the majority in these prisons making up nearly half of those incarcerated. In regard to this, the last chapter is devoted to discussing the stories that emerge from these institutions which are better represented through hip-hop and show how they affect not only black people and their families but also on the whole society. This is demonstrated in the art form through rappers posing behind bars, playing music videos in prison environments and making hip-hop magazines available in prisons. The main aim of this chapter as Ogbar states is to offer new perspectives on the discussions on the culture of hip-hop and show the main aim of the book itself which is to focus on the main debates in the public domain26. Ogbar says that his main aim of the book is not to engage those in the hip-hop debates, he wanted to give voice to the center of the debate; the rappers who eloquently criticize those involved in the maligning debate of hip-hop. The book looks at the hip-hop groups and what their views on the culture, and what the reality of life is. It gives space to groups such as Jurassic 5, Roots and Mos Def who has developed their own standar ds on what hip-hop is all about and which is far from other commercial rappers such as Lil Wayne, 50 Cent and young Jeezy. All these contribute to the discussion of what social issues are to them. Conclusion Ogbar, in this book explores the culture and politics of hip-hop debate while at the same time giving a wide historic context and use of references from other works to present his analysis. He looks at rappers who have made a mark in the society while at the same time being successful and their contributions. He also looks at the policies, activism, race, gender, class and intellectual contribution to the hip-hop culture. This is presented in a manner that is easy to understand for all people in order to gain a deeper understanding of what really this is, and its diversity in the American society. This will also give those who do not understand hip-hop and understanding into the range of expressions among rapper artists. Ogbar, also gives an account of history that is geared tow ards drawing a parallel between Harlem renaissance that happened in the 1920s and the hip-hop revolution which he hopes will be used in the exploration of gender, class and race issues in future. This is also gives a good exploration of the historical debates focusing on African Americans on the socio-economic and demographic fronts in the last forty years especially in regard to young people. This, however, does not go down criticized as by some scholars say that he should move from lyrical analysis due to its limitations to include field work, research and analysis of cultural aspects touching on hip-hop and its impacts. Works Cited Anderson, Elijah. Code of the Street: Decency, Violence, and the Moral Life of the Inner  City. New York: W. W. Norton Company, 2000. Bynoe, Yvonne. Encyclopedia of Rap and Hip Hop Culture. USA: Greenwood Press,  2006. Cobb, William. To the Breakof Dawn: A Freestyle on the Hip Hop Aesthetics. New  York: New York Universtiy Press, 2006. Forman, M urray and Mark Neal. Thats the joint: the hip-hop studies reader. United  States of America: Routledge, 2004. Johnson, Imani. â€Å"Review of Ogbar, Jeffrey Ogbonna Green, Hip-Hop Revolution: The  Culture and Politics of Rap.† 2008. H-Net Reviews. 8 October 2011 https://www.h-net.org/reviews/showrev.php?id=14673. Ogbar, Jeffrey. Black Power: Radical Politics and African American Identity. USA: JHU  Press, 2004. Ogbar, Jeffrey. On his book Hip-Hop Revolution: The Culture and Politics of Rap. Washington: University Press of Kansas, 2009 Perkins, William. Dropping Science: Critical Essays on Rap Music and Hip Hop Culture.  USA: Temple University Press, 1996. Perry, Imani. Prophets of the Hood: Politics and Poetics in Hip Hop. USA: Duke  University Press, 2004. Potter, Russel. Spectacular vernaculars: hip-hop and the politics of postmodernism.  New York: SUNY Press, 1995. Rabaka, Reiland. Hip Hop’s Inheritance:From the Harlem Renaissance to the Hip Hop  Femin ist Movement. United States of America: Lexington Books, 2010. Rivera, Raquel. New York Ricans in the Hip-hop Zone. Unted States of America: Palgrave Macmillan, 2003. Romano, Renee. The civil irhts movement in American memory. United States of America: University of Georgia Press, 2004. Rose, Tricia. Black Noise: Rap Music and Black Culture in Contemporary America  (Music Culture). United States of America: Wesleyan, 1994. Rose, Tricia. The Hip Hop Wars: What We Talk About When We Talk About Hip Hop– and Why It Matters. United States of America: Basic Civitas Books, 2007. Footnotes 1 Perry, Imani. Prophets of the Hood: Politics and Poetics in Hip Hop (USA: DukeUniversity Press, 2004) 40. 2 Romano, Renee. The civil irhts movement in American memory (United States of  America: University of Georgia Press, 2004) 11. 3 Cobb, William. To the Breakof Dawn: A Freestyle on the Hip Hop Aesthetics (New  York: New York Universtiy Press, 2006) 102. 4Forman, Murray and Mark Neal. Th ats the joint: the hip-hop studies reader (United States of America: Routledge, 2004) 43. 5Potter, Russel. Spectacular vernaculars: hip-hop and the politics of postmodernism (New York: SUNY Press, 1995) 25. 6 Forman and Neal 17. 7 Bynoe, Yvonne. Encyclopedia of Rap and Hip Hop Culture (USA: Greenwood Press,  2006) 186. 8 Ogbar, Jeffrey. Black Power: Radical Politics and African American Identity (USA: JHU Press, 2004) 89. 9 Anderson, Elijah. Code of the Street: Decency, Violence, and the Moral Life of the Inner City (New York: W. W. Norton Company, 2000) 18. 10 Ogbar, Jeffrey. On his book Hip-Hop Revolution: The Culture and Politics of Rap. (Washington: University Press of Kansas, 2009)152. 11 Ogbar, Jeffrey. On his book Hip-Hop Revolution: The Culture and Politics of Rap. (Washington: University Press of Kansas, 2009) 153 12 Ogbar, Jeffrey. On his book Hip-Hop Revolution: The Culture and Politics of Rap. (Washington: University Press of Kansas, 2009) 66. 13 Ogbar, Jeffrey. On hi s book Hip-Hop Revolution: The Culture and Politics of Rap. (Washington: University Press of Kansas, 2009) 103. 14 Perkins, William. Dropping Science: Critical Essays on Rap Music and Hip Hop Culture (USA: Temple University Press, 1996) 205. 15Ogbar, Jeffrey. On his book Hip-Hop Revolution: The Culture and Politics of Rap. (Washington: University Press of Kansas, 2009) 98. 16 Ogbar, Jeffrey. On his book Hip-Hop Revolution: The Culture and Politics of Rap. (Washington: University Press of Kansas, 2009) 103. 17 Rabaka, Reiland. Hip Hop’s Inheritance:From the Harlem Renaissance to the Hip Hop Feminist Movement (United States of America: Lexington Books, 2010) 12. 18 Rose, Tricia. Black Noise: Rap Music and Black Culture in Contemporary America (Music Culture) (United States of America: Wesleyan, 1994) 14. 19 Ogbar, Jeffrey. On his book Hip-Hop Revolution: The Culture and Politics of Rap. (Washington: University Press of Kansas, 2009)153. 20 Ogbar, Jeffrey. On his book Hip-Hop Re volution: The Culture and Politics of Rap. (Washington: University Press of Kansas, 2009) 156. 21Rose 14. 22 Anderson 29. 23 Rose, The Hip Hop Wars: What We Talk About When We Talk About Hip Hop–and Why It Matters 19. 24 Romano 24 25Forman and Neal 49. 26 Potter 20. This book review on Jeffrey O.G. Ogbar, Hip-Hop Revolution: The Culture and Politics of Rap was written and submitted by user Cannon Ortega to help you with your own studies. You are free to use it for research and reference purposes in order to write your own paper; however, you must cite it accordingly. You can donate your paper here.

Immigrant Experienes essays

Immigrant Experienes essays Article Review Letters from an American Farmer In this Article the Farmer wants to know the feeling of an Englishman when he first time set foot in America. The main reason the Englishman Have come to America is due to the condition prevailing in England .These refuges are coming to very modern society which is free from lords, Bishops, Kings courts etc. No one in the society has the at most power to rule one and all. In short everyone in the society has the right to live their lives in the manner they wish to. He compares medieval England to America, in England a person traveling by road would see hostel castle and haughty mansion which suggest the power in few hands in contrast in America small clay built hut and miserable cabin, where cattle and me live together. All This suggest the simplicity of those times. The Farmer regards his society as the most perfect in the world in which men are free and equal. The refuges have come from all over Europe but over the period of time these mixture of people will become new breed of p eople know as American. The farmer wonder that these refuges who have come from countries where they had nothing of their own can they call England or any kingdom as their own Country. In America these refuges would be reborn they would follow new laws, new mode of living, new social system. In their country of birth they were just know as mere poor people who were good for nothing but in America they would be proud citizen. The farmer also talks about the attachment these European emigrants have towards America. All these people left behind their ancient prejudices and started excepting the new mode of life, the new government and started obeying the law of the land. This new country has given them land; bread, protection and consequently all emigrants have just one motto ubi patria. Here individuals of all different countries are melted into a new race of people, whose labor a...

Managerial Communication Report Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Managerial Communication Report - Term Paper Example The Social Media as a Management Tool in the Business Environment Managerial Communication Report To: From: Subject: Date: The social media are one of the technological advancements in a business environment. Although during its advent, many companies could not hide their criticism over the negative effect that the social media had on the business environment. The report will consider the evil and the ethical of the social media on any business environment. Social Medias such as Facebook, Twitter and various company intranets have been a valuable link among employees of a company. These Medias have also been the best marketing media that reach the various groups of consumers. Various companies agree that they help in the maintenance of communication among employees. The description of the nature of communication is an honest one; this allows employees to know more about one other. The aim for a good communication in any company is to create an interconnected, work place. A good worki ng environment for employees motivates them to be productive. ... an urgent announcement to its employees, the most appropriate means will be to post the notice in the company’s intranet, and the other way would be to post the notification in the company’s space, in any social network. The scope of doing this is that employees who visit the space will get the message, and because of the good relation that exists, among the employees, the notice gets to be passed to the other employees. This means of communication would be better than writing a memo to each department in the sense that the time used to deliver the memos is saved; the company also saves the misuse of its papers on printed notices. This means of communication can be facilitated using a computer or the advance mobile handset. This is easy for any management because the heads of departments could also get the chance to have a control of the company from any place. A clear example would be for a manager who wishes to know what his employees are up to at any given time can j ust log into the social network site, and keep track of the thoughts and action of his/her employees. D’ Angelo examines that the social media is one way that companies have employed to interact with their customer and stakeholders. Companies have also employed social media managers to manage the media existence. Various studies show it is not the leading companies alone that use the social media as a means of communication but rather in the year 2008 to 2009 there was an increase in the use of social media by the small businesses (D’ Angelo, 2010). D’ Angelo exerts that the use of the social media is crucial in the promotion of Brand identity, management, a company can employ a social site manager with its main activity being to create the company’s brand identity and market it online. D’

How to Write the Essay Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

How to Write the Essay - Term Paper Example Two different types of prewriting are free writing and clustering. Free writing is the process by which a writer picks up pen and paper and just starts writing about all the different thoughts, concepts, and ideas that come into their head in regards to their particular topic. This may or may not cause the writer to drift slightly off topic at times, as thoughts of one subject may lead to thoughts of another, however, that may also serve to strengthen their particular paper, or give the writer a slant by which they want to use to address the particular topic at hand. Clustering is another form of prewriting; it involves the use of a doodle, or a diagram, in which the primary topic is the central, or primary, circle. Once the primary circle has been created, the writer will then take lines and draw additional circles as connected to the primary circle with all of the words they associate with that particular topic. For example, the topic of cars may have circles going off to technical specs, history, and so on; each of those circles would then have additional lines going off of them with their own circles and so on. A high school diploma is important to my future because it will ensure that I have the necessary educational requirements to get my start in life. My diploma will allow me to gain access to the college of my choice, which will get me that much further to my career goals. While I am studying and working towards attaining my career goals, my high school diploma will allow me to get my start in the workforce, as most jobs nowadays require, at a minimum, a high school diploma. A job of my own will work to ensure my financial independence, and work towards my other goals of being a fully independent and self-sustaining individual.  

The Specific Heat Capacity of Water and Metal Lab Report

The Specific Heat Capacity of Water and Metal - Lab Report Example The temperature of 500 ml of water in a beaker was measured before a warm heater connected to power supply was dipped in the beaker. After 10 minutes of heating and constant stirring of water, the power supply was switched off, and water temperature measured. The same procedure was repeated for a period of 15 minutes. The results were recorded in table 1. The temperature of aluminium block was recorded before a heater connected to a power supply was used to heat the block for a period of 8 minutes. The above procedure was repeated using Copper block and the results were recorded in table 2. The experimental specific heat capacity of water was 4785 JKg-1 oC-1 while the literature value was 4187 JKg-1 oC-1. Therefore, the percentage error for water was calculated using the formula: % Error= |Experimental value-Theoretical value| Ãâ€"100 The specific heat capacity of water determined in this experiment had a numerical value of 4785  ± 263 JKg-1 oC-1 while that of aluminium and copper were 1278 and 545 JKg-1 oC-1, respectively. The standard (literature) specific heat capacities of water, aluminium and copper are 4187, 900 and 386 JKg-1 oC-1, respectively (Table of specific heats). The obtained values were more than the literature values. The anomalies observed between these values were probably due to random errors in the experimental procedures e.g. the loss of heat to the surrounding and the presence of impurities in the water hence leading to an increase in the boiling points. Systematic errors could be due to the weights of the metal blocks and temperature readings as well as fluctuations in pressure. In future experiments, loss of energy to the surroundings could be avoided by using more energy to heat the water for it to attain the required temperature. In addition, water with higher levels of purity can be u sed in the experiments so that the effect of impurities on

The View That Transnational Corporations Are Footloose Economics Essay

The View That Transnational Corporations Are Footloose Economics Essay Introduction For decades, business has existed in almost every country around the world; regardless of what industries those businesses belong to. Whether it is agriculture, finance, food and beverage, service, etc., it all started long before modern businesses were established. As of today, we can see that various corporations exist in every country around the world, regardless of name, type and the size of it. There are about 23,343,821 corporations in the US alone (U.S. Census Bureau, 2002), which still is where the majority of companies come from. These corporations all adopt different structures, all the more complex when they expand their operations to foreign countries. According to Dicken (2007), there are 4 types of TNC organisations which are Multinational, International, Global and Integrated Network. 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These transnational corporations are deemed as companies that have supremacy to coordinate and control operations in more than one country, even if it does not own them (Dicken, 2007). According to BBC, TNCs are massive firms that conduct their businesses in several countries and some are wealthier compa red to less developed countries. (http://news.bbc.co.uk/cbbcnews/hi/find_out/guides/world/trade/newsid_3099000/3099680.stm) There is an ongoing debate on the issue of whether TNCs are actually that powerful to be considered footloose. Footloose is defined as mobility of companies moving in and out of countries if they find it attractive in terms of market or resources opportunities. Market opportunities are such as consumers, governments regulations, number of competitors, etc. Resource opportunities on the other hand, are like labour costs, raw materials availability and technology accessibility. In this task, a detailed assessment on TNCs and their operations will be done to help determine the fact on whether TNCs are footloose or not. Findings TNCs are Footloose Profits Labour costs TNCs open up operations in foreign countries according to geographic matters which benefits to them. In a certain extent to this, I agree that TNCs are footloose. Based on the example of Nestlà ©, we can assume that TNCs are footloose. Nestlà © was established in Switzerland, a small country where market size is not as large as in US or UK. Today, Nestlà © is one of the leading food and beverage manufacturers in the world (Food Engineering Magazine, 2010). After 5 months of its establishment, it started manufacturing outside of Switzerland. It did not export its products to other countries because of its companys mentality to always produce locally rather than exporting. Thus, it conducted FDI and built manufacturing plants in foreign countries such as US (Appendix 1). As TNCs are capitalist where profit is key for them (Dicken, 2007), TNCs like Nestlà © expanded globally to increase profits, market share and brand equity. Besides market opportunities, Nestlà © also built a plan t in China to take opportunities on its low labour costs in 2007 (Appendix 2). Both points to two broad categories of motivation for companies to engage in transactional operations which are market and asset orientated (Dicken, 2007). Market factors are size, structure and accessibility (Dicken, 2007). Asset factors point to knowledge and skill, wage costs, labour productivity, labour controllability and labour mentality (Dicken, 2007). This applies to Nestlà © due to its company culture, where it hails from Switzerland. Its history points to Nestlà © utilising its strong brand equity and financial structure to negotiate its way into foreign countries (Nestlà ©, 2010), also by offering improvements to infrastructure and job opportunities to the locals. According to IMF (2001), with entrance of TNCs into countries, this will create jobs for unskilled workers as they have difficulty in searching jobs, moving their social class from lower class to middle class. Internal competences Hymer (1960) stated that domestic companies always had advantage over foreign firms as they understood the environment better; but foreign companies could out-compete domestic companies based on firm-specific assets such as firm size, economies of scale, etc (Dicken, 2007). Companies like HSBC started out domestically but soon built up its brand name globally which was used as an advantage to move into countries and compete with their domestic firms. It currently operates in more than 60 countries and is one of the leading banks in the world (Appendix 3). Dunning (1980) suggested that firms like HSBC engaged in transactional production was due to it having ownership-specific advantages not possessed by competitors such as knowledge, technology, etc., where it internalised these advantages and keeping it secret from competitors; also because of location-specific factors, some of these advantages has to be used in certain locations (Dicken, 2007), for example, they have strong human re sources (HSBC Finance, 2009) and can use it to train the labour from China about their operations, transferring knowledge as well as saving labour costs simultaneously. This benefits both HSBC and China as the company gains in terms of cost saving while China earns new knowledge regarding how to conduct banking and utilise it for their domestic banks later. Access to markets WTO is one of the main reasons why TNCs are considered as footloose, such as the deregulation of the financial services in 2001. This is because WTO discovered the benefits outweighed the risk of doing so. By allowing foreign banks to enter domestic markets, it could help strengthen the financial systems in those developing countries, such as by improving the quality and efficiency of financial services. Although domestic banks suffer through the sudden increase of competition, customers gain as banks reduce interest rates and are also provide a wider range of services to customers. These benefits however depended on how it was timed with other financial reformations such as domestic financial deregulation and capital account liberalisation. In the case of the EU, internationalisation can actually support domestic deregulation (Appendix 4). Nevertheless, internationalisation is not fully dependant on other financial reformations; it could still help in stabilising capital flows as we ll as the financial sector of a country. Lastly, governments still need to set up regulations for foreign banks although the industry was deregulated, as this could control their operations to a certain extent. Thus, with all these, the phenomenon of international banks such as HSBC entering different foreign market has been gradually increasing, as long the regulations set for them are complied. Generally, TNCs help foreign countries gain job opportunities and improve growth for industries. For example, the banking industries in less developed countries like Vietnam are getting more competent due to threat of foreign banks entering the country (IFC, 2009). Both domestic banks and government will benefit from this as banks have to improve their services while governments earn the taxes paid by TNCs to boost growth of the country (John Madeley, 2003). Besides liberalisation increasing competition between domestic and foreign firms, competition between governments exists as well. Certain countries around the world loosened their regulations in order to attract foreign investments into the countries (United Nations Conference on Trade and Development UNCTAD, 2008). These countries are mainly developing countries as they require the economy boosts. This is done by lowering tax rates as incentives for TNCs to enter. As governments compete, this inadvertently increases TNCs footloose cause they have choices of entering and exiting countries that are desperately fighting over their entrance. TNCs are NOT Footloose Costs Some empirical studies has classified TNCs are more footloose compared to domestic companies, meaning that they are more prone to leaving an industry compared to a domestic firms of the same size. (Gà ¶rg and Strobl, 2003; Bernard and Sjà ¶holm, 2003; and Van Beveren, 2007) The exit process is slowed down though, by TNCs abundance in sources of income. Added by the fact that TNCs are less knowledgeable about the business environment and have to encounter unexpected barriers, they can afford to make losses initially and try to claw back those losses. Unless the losses are too much and hard to bear; only then these TNCs decide to leave the country. Therefore, it is debatable that TNCs are not as footloose as people think they are. Government Technology

The Great Depression :: American History, Maycomb

It is a foggy window located in the soul through gained experiences that sees prejudice. It does not only influence and revolute sight, rather affects thought and actions. Everyone is given the opportunity to look out the window, but not all can see beyond the fogginess. The fog may be a mixture of race, gender, beliefs or behaviours. The major themes in Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird relates back to presumptions and biases; the rich rejecting the poor because of their economic level of life in the Great Depression, whites discriminating against blacks, and people gossiping innocents which result a weak foundation and an unpleasing relation among the Maycomb’s society causing undeveloped individuals to live in an unsafe environment. The Great Depression caused the poor to become poorer while the rich were not affected as much. Some of the rich, such as Aunt Alexandra, misunderstood people because of their economic life. Her different point of view is clearly displayed when she rejects Walter Cunningham, a poor boy, saying, â€Å"...they're good folks. But they're not our kind of folks" (Lee 224). Aunt Alexandra, believing that the Cunninghams are beneath the Finches’ economic level, ignores Scout’s aspect of friendship toward Walter disliking him "because-he-is-trash" (Lee 224). She is regardless of the Cunninghams’ hard work to pay back Atticus in â€Å"the only way [they could]† (Lee 21). Aunt Alexandra results negatively on Walter making him dislike of being a Cunningham, on Scout by decreasing from her relations with her classmates and friends, and on Maycomb by developing an unsafe society for country folks to leave because they have to deal with unnecessary factors like money to avoid the rich prejudices. Maycomb is known guilty for its racist atmosphere where blacks are lower than the whites. However, not all of the white community discriminated black. For example, Atticus stands up for Tom Robinson regardless of Mrs. Dubose’s hurtful words saying Atticus is â€Å"no better than the n*ggers and trash he works for!† (Lee 102) It is obvious that Atticus is one of the most reliable and honourable citizens of Maycomb. Mrs. Dubose’s evaluation on Atticus results negatively on other neighbours and clearly hurts Calpurnia’s feelings. An example of this racial prejudice is found Scout’s words saying that â€Å"[Tom is] just a Negro† (Lee 199). Scout’s words are evidences to the unsafe society for kids to develop. Another example is found while Aunt Alexandra is convincing Atticus to dismiss Calpurnia, although Atticus tells her that â€Å"Calpurnia’s not leaving this house until she wants to† (Lee 137).