This paper uses a large national household panel from 1999/2000 and 2007/08 to analyze the short-term effects of India's Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme on wages, labor supply, agricultural labor use, and productivity. The scheme prompted a 10-point wage increase and higher labor supply to nonagricultural casual work and agricultural self-employment. Program-induced drops in hired labor demand were more than outweighed by more intensive use of family labor, machinery, fertilizer, and diversification to crops with higher risk-return profiles, especially by small farmers. Although the aggregate productivity effects were modest, total employment generated by the program (but not employment in irrigation-related activities) significantly increased productivity, suggesting alleviation of liquidity constraints and implicit insurance provision rather than quality of works undertaken as a main channel for program-induced productivity effects.
The objective of this policy note is to develop a set of actionable recommendations for tackling poverty and social exclusion in Poland based on evidence. In recent years, the World Bank has deepened its engagement in Poland around issues of social inclusion, through work on effective labor market and activation policies, social assistance benefits, and investment financing for local social inclusion initiatives. This note purports to integrate the outputs of these activities and complement them with insights from the new analytical work to develop recommendations for the government of Poland for program choices to enhance the impact of inclusion programs and employment services. This policy note is structured as follows: (i) introduction; (ii) section two provides a definition of social inclusion and describes the country context by key trends and key groups at risk of social exclusion; (iii) section three provides an overview of the institutional set-up to deliver policies for social inclusion at the national and local level and presents an assessment of the achievements and challenges of key policy instruments (employment services, social benefits, social services, and the work of civil society); (iv) section four focuses on two recent operational experiences of relevance to a future operation: an assessment of the execution of the European Social Fund in Poland against the social and labor agendas and a presentation of the learning generated through the social inclusion component of the World Bank Post Accession Rural Support Project; and (v) section five illustrates areas for potential intervention at the policy and operational level in Poland. Recognizing that social inclusion outcomes are the result of a complex set of factors on the demand and supply side,recommendations include macro-level institutional reforms and changes to local service delivery for inclusion of vulnerable groups, mobilization and capacity support, strategies for local employment generation, and monitoring and accountability support.
Grenada has faced various socioeconomic challenges within the last decade, including the destruction wrought by Hurricane Ivan in 2004 and the global financial crisis. As a result, economic indicators for Grenada illustrate unfavorable. Increases in the poverty and unemployment rates, especially among the youth and young adults. This report presents an assessment of the regulatory, legislative, and institutional landscape governing workforce development (WfD) in Grenada. The results of this analysis are based on a newly designed analytical tool developed by the World Bank under the Systems Approach for Better Education Results (SABER) initiative. The aim of this initiative is to garner data so as to provide systematic documentation and assessment of the policy and institution factors that influence the performance of education and training systems of SABER-participating countries. The SABER-WfD tool encompasses initial, continuing, and targeted vocational education and training that are offered through multiple channels, and focus largely on programs at the secondary and post-secondary levels. The results of the assessment presented in this report are expected to assist in clarifying priorities. They classify the WfD system according to four stages of maturity in policy and institutional development, as follows: (1) Latent, (2) Emerging, (3) Established, and (4) Advanced.
Nell'ordinamento italiano, il tema della disciplina delle procedure e dei contenuti della contrattazione collettiva rappresenta una delle maggiori questioni giuslavoristiche, che non ha ancora trovato una stabile soluzione. Ad essa, inoltre, si lega strettamente il tema della regolamentazione, a fini negoziali, dei soggetti dell'autonomia collettiva. La finalità della presente trattazione è quella di esaminare, dapprima, lo sviluppo storico del dibattito nell'ordinamento italiano, per concentrare, in seguito, l'attenzione sulle tematiche più recenti che, anche alla luce della crisi dell'unità sindacale e della frammentazione dei tessuti produttivi generata dalla globalizzazione, evidenziano una richiesta di regolamentazione obiettiva dell'attività negoziale. In merito a tali questioni verrà infine esaminato, in una logica comparata, l'ordinamento francese che, a differenza di quello italiano, ha disciplinato per legge i presupposti, le procedure e i requisiti di accesso alla negoziazione collettiva sin dalla prima metà del XX Secolo. In particolare, il primo capitolo della tesi prende in esame, dapprima, la questione che si pone alla base dell'intero dibattito nazionale sulle modalità di regolamentazione della contrattazione collettiva: la mancata attuazione da parte del legislatore della seconda parte dell'art. 39 Cost. e la conseguente illegittimità costituzionale di quelle norme volte a generalizzare l'efficacia degli accordi collettivi aggirando quanto previsto dalla Carta fondamentale. L'analisi prosegue con la disamina dell'evoluzione storica della contrattazione anomica nel nostro ordinamento: a partire dalla negoziazione accentrata a livello nazionale nei primi anni Cinquanta, dalle istanze di decentramento e dall'effimera introduzione della contrattazione articolata con il Protocollo Intersind-Asap del 1962, fino alla bipolarità totale tra livello confederale e aziendale manifestatasi tra la fine degli anni Sessanta e la metà degli anni Settanta del Novecento, per giungere alla negoziazione collettiva della crisi, con gli accordi triangolari e la concertazione che, tra alterni risultati, hanno prodotto i loro effetti fino alla metà degli anni Duemila. In tale contesto, particolare attenzione è dedicata al sistema degli accordi del luglio-dicembre 1993 che, per quasi vent'anni, hanno costituito il fulcro di una disciplina delle relazioni industriali organizzata su due livelli, e che hanno tentato, nel contempo, con l'introduzione delle RSU, di contrastare la crisi di rappresentatività delle organizzazioni sindacali, evidenziata nella sua gravità, pochi mesi dopo, dal referendum del 1995 sull'art. 19 della l. 300/1970. La parte finale del primo capitolo si pone in ideale continuazione con l'inizio del secondo. Al centro dell'esame vi sono le questioni dei nostri giorni che hanno indotto le parti sociali, significativamente del settore industriale – a seguito della crisi del sistema del 1993, che ha avuto il proprio epicentro nella vertenza Fiat del 2009-2011, della successiva e connessa sentenza manipolativa della Corte Costituzionale del 2013 in riferimento, ancora una volta, all'art. 19 St. lav., e all'introduzione da parte del legislatore del discusso art. 8 del d.l. 138/2011 – a ritenere maturi i tempi per una nuova regolamentazione pattizia del sistema. Al riguardo, vengono analizzati nel dettaglio i tre accordi interconfederali del 28 giugno 2011, 31 maggio 2013 e 10 gennaio 2014, l'ulteriore e recentissima intesa del 28 febbraio-9 marzo 2018 e il dibattito, in una prospettiva de iure condendo, sull'opportunità di introduzione di una legge sindacale, capace, eventualmente, di dare completa attuazione all'art. 39 Cost. Il terzo capitolo, infine, si pone in parallelo con i primi due, dal punto di vista dell'ordinamento francese. Pertanto viene inizialmente presa in considerazione l'evoluzione normativa di tale contesto giuridico, a partire dalla loi del 1919 sulla contrattazione collettiva di diritto comune e dalla leggi del 1936 e 1950 sull'estensione erga omnes in via amministrativa dei contratti collettivi sottoscritti dalle organizzazioni sindacali rappresentative, fino al nuovo modello di "cittadinanza nell'impresa" proposto dalla leggi Auroux del 1982 e alla frammentazione del sistema tra gli anni Ottanta e Duemila, punteggiata di provvedimenti privi di carattere sistematico e, in alcuni casi, contraddittori. Ci si sofferma, infine, sulle riforme che, in tempi recenti, hanno svolto il ruolo di pietre angolari nella ridefinizione degli assetti dell'ordinamento francese: l'introduzione di criteri obiettivi per la selezione dei sindacati rappresentativi nel 2008, l'estensione di tale modello alle organizzazioni datoriali nel triennio 2014-2016 e, sul versante dell'assetto contrattuale, le discusse riforme introdotte con la loi Travail dell'8 agosto 2016 e dalle ordonnances promosse dal neo-presidente Macron nell'autunno del 2017, nella direzione di una forte valorizzazione del secondo livello negoziale, a discapito delle conventions de branche. Il punto d'arrivo del percorso tracciato supra porterà a cercare di dare una risposta, da un lato, all'interrogativo inerente all'opportunità di intervenire, nell'ordinamento italiano, con una legge sindacale, per fornire certezza, chiarezza e stabilità al sistema contrattuale e, in seconda istanza, anche sulla base della riflessione comparata, ad una valutazione su quali potrebbero essere gli istituti più efficienti da adottare, nei termini anzidetti, per assicurare un'estensione generalizzata della contrattazione collettiva, idonea a permettere un armonico sviluppo anche degli accordi di secondo livello. ; In the Italian legal framework, the question concerning the regulation of procedures and contents of collective bargaining represents one of the major labour law issues, which has not found a satisfying solution yet. The abovementioned topic is, in addition, strictly connected to the selection of criteria aimed to determine the actors of the bargaining process. The purpose of the present dissertation is then to examine, first of all, the historical development of the debate on the aforementioned issues in the Italian context, to focus attention, afterwards, on the most recent instances to enact a clearer regulation of the bargaining process, in reason of the crisis of trade unions' cohesion and of the fragmentation of production originated by globalisation. Finally, the last part of the dissertation will be centred on a comparative analysis with the French regulative context that, in opposition to the Italian one, disciplined by law prerequisites and procedures to accede to collective bargaining process already at the beginning of XX Century. In particular, the first chapter starts from the matter of contention at the base of the whole national discussion referred to the regulative process of arrangements executed between employers' and workers' organizations: the incapability of the Italian legislator to enact a law concerning the collective bargaining proceeding respecting, in the meantime, the criteria set forth by Article 39 of the Constitution, that has been at the base of the consequential declaration of illegitimacy of all the legislative attempts to generalize the efficacy of the considered agreements, circumventing the provision of the Fundamental Chart. The analysis continues focusing on the evolution of collective agreements regulated by civil law in the national legal framework: highly centred during the Fifties, then organized on two ordered levels in the brief period of "contrattazione articolata" – introduced initially in public industries with the Protocol Intersind-Asap of 1962 and soon extended to the private field – until the total independence between company and sectorial bargaining level in the years between the end of the Sixties and the beginning of the Seventies, and to the particular characteristics assumed by the said agreements during the oil crisis and in the following years, when the practice of the three-side covenants executed between main trade unions, employers' organizations and the government, with different outcomes, perdured until the middle of 2000's. In this context, particular attention is devoted to the collective agreements executed at national level in July-December 1993 that, during the following twenty years, have been considered the fulcrum of the two-level collective bargaining system, and which attempted, in the meantime, with the introduction of Trade unions' Unitary Representative bodies (in Italian, Rappresentanze Sindacali Unitarie, RSU) to contrast the deep crisis of representativeness of workers' organizations, whose gravitas has been highlighted, several months after, by the national referendum held in 1995 on Article 19 of law no. 300 of 1970. The last section of the first chapter founds an ideal continuation in the second one. In this field, the main topic become the most recent issues concerning the Italian bargaining system, and significantly the one which moved social actors of the industrial sector – on the base of the crisis of the system of 1993, showed by the Fiat dispute of 2009-2011, followed by the connected judgment of Constitutional Court that in 2013 modified another time the interpretation of Article 19 of law no. 300 of 1970, expanding the criteria to admit workers' organization to benefits provided by the law, and by the enactment of Article 8 of law-decree no. 138 of 2011 – to affirm that is come the time to set new rules to try to govern the bargaining system. On this point, the dissertation focuses attention on the three national collective agreements held on 28 June 2011, 31 May 2013 and 10 January 2014 and on the further arrangement of 28 February-9 March 2018 and on the respective debate centred, in a perspective of reform, on the opportunity to introduce a bill able to completely fulfil the requirements of Article 39 of the Italian Constitution. The third chapter, finally, follows the scheme of the precedent ones, from the point of view of the French legal framework. Therefore, firstly is described the evolution of the said juridical context, from the loi of 1919 concerning collective agreements regulated by civil law and the regulations of 1936 and of 1950 on the extension erga omnes, through an administrative decree, of collective agreements signed by representative trade unions, until the new model of "citizenship in the company" promoted by the laws Auroux enacted in 1982 and to the fragmentation of the labour law system occurred between the 80s and 2000s, characterised by measures without a systematic approach and, sometimes, in contrast between each other. The attention is focused, then, on the reforms that, recently, heavily redefined the structure of the French labour law framework consisting in the introduction, in 2008, of objective criteria to select representative trade unions, in the extension of this model to employers' organizations in 2014-2016 and, with reference to the bargaining structure, in the disputed reform responding to the name of loi Travail, held in 2016, and in the ordonnances promoted by the new President Macron in the late 2017, towards the direction of a relevant and decisive expansion of company collective agreement, to the detriment of sectoral level. The arrival point of the path traced above regards the attempt to reply to the issue concerning the opportunity to provide or not, in the Italian context, for a law regulating collective bargaining and the related obligations and rights of social actors, to clarify and stabilize the arrangement system. Secondly, also on the base of the comparison with the French frame of reference, the dissertation is closed by a reflection on the possible legal institutes to be introduced in the Italian juridical framework, in order to assure a general extension of collective bargaining, in the light to allow an harmonious development also of the company level.
Professor David Dabydeen is a Guyanese-born writer, critic and academic at the Centre of Caribbean Studies at the University of Warwick. In 1993 he became Guyana's ambassador at UNESCO and is still a member of their Executive Board. He has been Guyana's ambassador to China since 2010. Professor Dabydeen has also won several international and national prizes such as the Commonwealth Poetry Prize, the Quiller-Couch Prize, and the Hind Rattan (Jewel of India). Among his works are Slave Song (1984), The Intended (1991), Disappearance (1993); and Our Lady of Demerara (2004). He also co-edited The Oxford Companion to Black British History in 2007. RB[1]: You are both a writer and a university professor of comparative literature. Do you know yourself first as a writer or a university professor?DD[2]: First as a writer. When I was a boy that is basically all I wanted to be. As a teenager I wrote the usual self-pitying stuff and, at 16 or 17, I attempted a novel in verse, inspired by some story in the Bible, I forgotten which; but gave up after a couple of pages. Why want to be a writer? I don't know. In my youth in Guyana I never encountered a writer. I think it must have been youthful aspiration to emulate the writers of Nancy Drew and Hardy Boys novels, which were standard childhood fare in Guyana. Also, since I come from a large family, it must have been the regular escape to the New Amsterdam public library to be alone, and whilst there( the place was usually empty), discovering books in the Ladybird series on great scientists, great politicians etc. I distinctly remember reading about Benjamin Franklin, Madame Curie, Alexander the Great, and others, at the age of nine or ten. There were also the odd books on Greek myths, lavishly illustrated for children. The story of Andromeda chained and naked and threatened by a monster, before being saved by Perseus, awakened unfamiliar boyish erotic feelings… perhaps not 'unfamiliar '( I was 8 or 9 ) but certainly the first time a book had aroused such feelings. When I was about 11 or 12 I came across V.S. Naipaul's MIGUEL STREET and was awed by how it made our lives in Guyana so familiar. It was set in Trinidad but the characters lived down my street. A great contrast to the Andromeda story which was exotic and erotic as opposed to the familiar lives of ordinary folk described by Naipaul.Being an academic has also been important to my writing. Firstly, you get a lot of time to read and discuss books with very bright students. Teaching in seminar groups has been amazingly exciting at times, and that intellectual excitement, sensuous in intensity, inspires the act of writing. I used to teach MA courses on Black British Literature and on Literature and Slavery. Certainly, Olaudah Equiano's autobiography in 1789, which I read multiple times for teaching purposes, left an impact on my writing, which is dotted with 'Equiano' figures ( people who moved from deprivation to the craft of writing, through cunning and an inclination for mischief mostly). Secondly, as an academic, you are exposed to theory, which can fertilised your writing and give it a 'metaphysical' content. Overexposure leads to didacticism, which I am sure my writing suffers from. As Derek Walcott says, you shouldn't "put Descartes before the horse." Most importantly, being an academic pays the bills, so whilst hunger has provoked a lot of writers, I preferred to have a house rather than a hovel. Growing up in Guyana was to exist in relative lack of material things. Many years ago I met Maya Angelou, she had kindly invited me to her house, and she had cooked a lovely Southern meal. She said: "I drive a Cadillac. I don't do bicycles, which were my youth. And I eat meat, because all I had as a child was garden vegetables'. I appreciated her extravagance, though deep down she was a kindly person, and generous. RB: You are also a politician. In 2010 you were appointed as Guyana's Ambassador in China. How have you proved yourself as a politician?DD: I don't belong to any political party in Guyana, but I enjoyed a close friendship with Cheddi and Janet Jagan. Cheddi had been cheated out of office as a result of the CIA and the British Government, in the 1960s, because he was a committed man of the left. In 1984, when I was appointed to Warwick University, I invited Cheddi to lecture there. He had no money, so the University and a travel agent friend, Vino Patel, were persuaded to provide his economy ticket and accommodation whilst at Warwick. We treated him as the true President of Guyana. All the national elections had been fiddled, and he was kept out of office for decades. Warwick offered him a platform, when other places thought of him as a 'has been'. He visited about five times, then in 1992, the Berlin Wall having fallen and the Cold war ended, the Americans allowed us to have free and fair elections, supervised by President Carter and Cheddi Jagan won and became President of Guyana. I was his regular houseguest from 1992 until 1997 when he died. He taught me more about how colonialism behaved than any textbook. He had lived through the colonial period and was jailed by the British in 1953. All his life was dedicated to the betterment of the poor: he was fiercely concerned with reducing and eliminating poverty. In return for his great hospitality, all I could do was to edit and publish some of his political speeches. He also asked me to be his Ambassador at Large and to sit on the UNESCO Executive Board representing Guyana. He had no money, since he inherited a bankrupt country in 1992, so it was an amazing honour to serve him pro bono. One day I will write something more extensive about him… one of the stories he told me was about Fidel Castro. The two of them were friends and political comrades in the late 50s and early 60s. It was Cuba who supplied us with food in the early 1960s when the CIA formented strikes and shortages in Guyana. Castro, however, needed allies in the region, against American embargo, so when Cheddi was manoeuvred out of Office, Castro started to court the friendship of our new autocratic Prime Minister, Forbes Burnham, and more or less dropped his relationship with Cheddi. I learn from this that politics trumps decency; that politicians by and large are opportunists. Learning this first hand from a great and ethical politician like Cheddi Jagan was more powerful than learning this from textbooks.As to Janet Jagan, his wife, who, when he died, was elected President in our national elections, with an enhanced vote, she was an astonishingly generous host. My role was to edit and publish her short stories for children. She was a bit lonely in Guyana, in terms of only a few people to share her passion for the arts, so whenever I showed up, a bottle of wine was uncorked, or better still, a bottle of Bailey's Irish Cream( we had a local equivalent). She too had been jailed by the British in 1953, so, again, I learnt from her intimate details of Guyana's struggle for independence, and the callousness of politicians ( Forbes Burnham had attempted to murder her in the 1964 but his bomb went off in the wrong place in the Party's Headquarters, killing a young activist instead, Michel Forde. Janet suffered from minor injuries.)As to Walter Rodney, Guyana's internationally renowned historian, assassinated by Forbes Burnham and the State apparatus in 1980( the International Commission of Enquiry into his death was issued to Guyana's Parliament last month), it was an enlightened decision on the part of the University of Warwick to set up an annual Memorial Lecture . The Walter Rodney lecture has been given, since 1985, by some of our leading Caribbean scholars, like Hilary Beckles, Carolyn Cooper, Harold Goulbourne, Michael Gilkes, Clem Seecharan, Ken Ramchand, Verene Shepherd and others.I don't think I have proved myself as a politician in any concrete way. My only possible 'political' act was, in 2012-2013 lobbying the Government of Guyana vigorously and regularly to set up an International Commission of Enquiry into the death of Walter Rodney. I took full advantage of my friendship with the then President, Donald Ramotar, who was readily sympathetic to Pat Rodney's written request for such an Inquiry( Walter's widow). As a member of the Walter Rodney Foundation's Advisory Group, I liaised with Pat Rodney and in 2013 the Government of Guyana agreed to set up the Commission. I don't think this was a 'political' act on my part, merely the obligation I felt to Walter Rodney, a fellow academic whose books were monumental. RB: How do you define politics?DD: In a small underdeveloped or developing country, politics normally is about the acquisition of power over state resources for the benefit of family and friends. Idealism goes out of the window as soon as the politician assumes Office; the struggle then is for survival and continuation of Office, so very little good gets done, political energy being spent on maintaining and expanding the arena of privilege. Exceptions are rare, people like CheddiJagan, Nelson Mandela…Cheddi was famous for his frugal lifestyle. He died intestate, owning no property. He never stole from the national treasury, rare for a politician from the developing world. Had Rodney lived, he would have been a leader of exemplary ethics. I should add my admiration for a previous, undemocratically elected President of Guyana, Desmond Hoyte, who, long before the Rio Summit and long before 'Climate Change' was topical, bequeathed a million acres of Guyana's rainforest to the Commonwealth, for the study of sustainable development (the Iwokrama Project). This was in 1989. It was an act of rare vision by a Caribbean politician. So, politicians like Hoyte might have been elected by crookery, but can prove to be significant and visionary leaders. I enjoyed cordial relations with him, when he was President (1985-1992) as well as when he was Leader of the Opposition, again based on books. We talked a lot about Egbert Martin, the first Guyanese poet and short story writer (19th century), and about the Guyana Prize for Literature which he had instituted in 1987, in the hope of bolstering the literary and intellectual life of Guyana and its Diaspora. He had a wonderful library, and he cared deeply for literary achievement. We talked little about party politics, except about the sharing of political power and the Mandela Rainbow ideal. Towards the end of his life he was all for power sharing, though he had enough integrity to worry about where oppositional ideas would come from if we were all in alliance. RB: Do your political affairs affect your creative writing?DD: There is no direct link, though I have written about the dereliction of Guyana under the autocratic rule of Forbes Burnham. My new novel-in-progress, set partly in China, is provoked by the unimaginable cruelty imposed on the people by the Emperors and their warlords. So, politics breeds in me a despair which can stimulate writing. One of the great disappointments, living in Britain, was Tony Blair's loss of idealism ( he seemed abundantly idealistic , which is why people voted him into Office in 1992) and the lies he told about Iraq's military capacity to justify a hideous and bloody invasion of Iraq. On the other hand, in Britain, there were politicians like Jo Cox, who was visionary and full of promise( she was murdered recently), and who made all of us feel hopeful and glad to be alive. If only we had a handful of such politicians in Guyana! I am privileged to enjoy a long-standing friendship with Clare Short, the former Labour politician whose heart is as big as Mount Kilimanjaro.RB: You have often depicted Guyanese characters and settings in your fiction such as Disappearance (1993), The Counting House (1996), and Our Lady of Demerara (2004). Does it mean that you still live in your past? and that you know yourself devoted to your homeland?DD: I do live in the past, in that my childhood in Guyana left indelible memories of family and friends and village landscape. Especially the creole language we spoke at home, and the creative tension with the 'proper' English we spoke at school. The slippages between the two are fascinating, with potential for comedy and pathos. The vigour of creole is always with me.Leaving Guyana as a boy was exciting (the prospect of adventure) but then proved to be lonely and hurtful, since I was never settled in England. On the one hand, England was a world of books but at the same time a world of grunting and guttural 'skinheads' daubing racist slogans on walls and threatening to assault immigrants. London has changed profoundly since the 60's and 70's, it is now a diverse space, enriched by waves of immigrants from the Commonwealth and from Europe. There is still a strong undercurrent of racial hostility, but more in the north of England, hence the recent vote to leave the European Community. Many in the north of England have not got accustomed to the loss of Empire and the new order of the free movement of goods and people. This hostility is at the ideological level, and contradictory, because on a day to day level, people are, by and large, decent to each other, irrespective of ethnicity. London is different; it is run by people of immigrant backgrounds: nurses, doctors, builders, hotel and retail staff, care workers. I am astonished at how much has changed, and I am excited to be living in London. The creative energy of the city is palpable, and the diversity of people is inspiring. I no longer feel culturally or physically threatened, as in the 1960's and 1970's. In other words, I feel London is home, but so is Guyana. I return to Guyana at least once a year, to renew my sense of the past, to be refreshed by creole language and creole ways, and to be awed and terrified by the rainforest. I also keep writing about Guyana partly out of a sense of obligation to the place. We only have a handful of writers, so I feel it is important to write about the place. Guyana came into modern being, in a sense, through literature: I am thinking specifically of Walter Raleigh's DISCOVERIE OF GUIANA (1596), the first text about us. RB: Why do you often depict historical tensions and challenge traditional cultural representations of the slave in your novels?DD: Guyanese history, in relation to contact with Europe, is stark: the decimation of indigenous people, the enslavement of Africans, the system of Indian indentureship. It is stark in terms of the immensity of suffering, and the sheer injustices of colonial rule. Yet, we became acquainted with Samuel Johnson's DICTIONARY and the magical properties of the English language; with the lyricism and storytelling of the Bible, of Shakespeare, of Victorian poetry. These new texts supplemented the ones we brought from Africa and India ( the KORAN, the RAMAYANA) . Ancient and living Carib, Arawak and other Amerindian stories fertilised the situation. We rewrote and reimagined our inheritance, hence Walcott, Naipaul, Jean Rhys, Pauline Melville, Grace Nichols, John Agard, and a host of others. I write about the injustice (historical, but also self-inflicted in our postcolonial condition) but more about the urge to creativity and expression that emerged from being on the margins; the fierce resolve to become educated, literate, creative, venturing beyond boundaries. Our postcolonial politicians may have failed us repeatedly, but I am forever astonished at how resilient Guyanese are. When I visit parts of India, parts of China, the nature of poverty there is brutal and overwhelming. We don't have that level of deprivation, because we have created the means of survival and the prospect of abundance, whether on the plate or on the page. RB: Do you believe that there is any nation on earth that enjoys true freedom and independence?DD: I don't know what true freedom or independence mean, we are all constrained and liberated and catapulted into creativity by being with each other. However, I recall what Walcott said about slavery: that the enslaved African being herded to the cane fields would have seen something sensationally beautiful along the way, given how lush Caribbean landscapes are. A hummingbird or kiskadee or blue-saki or brightly coloured viper…Walcott said that such encounters with beauty were moments of freedom which could only be partially understood, partially described, because they also contained the seeds of tragedy and terror. If you venture into Guyana's rainforest, you will experience the sublime which contain elemental terror and a tragic sense of how life is constantly being destroyed and remade and destroyed by tooth and claw.[1] Ruzbeh Babaee[2] David Dabydeen
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Loet Leydesdorff on the Triple Helix: How Synergies in University-Industry-Government Relations can Shape Innovation Systems
This is the sixth and last in a series of Talks dedicated to the technopolitics of International Relations, linked to the forthcoming double volume 'The Global Politics of Science and Technology' edited by Maximilian Mayer, Mariana Carpes, and Ruth Knoblich
The relationship between technological innovation processes and the nation state remains a challenge for the discipline of International Relations. Non-linear and multi-directional characteristics of knowledge production, and the diffusive nature of knowledge itself, limit the general ability of governments to influence and steer innovation processes. Loet Leydesdorff advances the framework of the "Triple Helix" that disaggregates national innovation systems into evolving university-industry-government eco-systems. In this Talk, amongst others, he shows that these eco-systems can be expected to generate niches with synergy at all scales, and emphasizes that, though politics are always involved, synergies develop unintentionally.
Print version of this Talk (pdf)
What is the most relevant aspect of the dynamics of innovation for the discipline of International Relations?
The main challenge is to endogenize the notions of technological progress and technological development into theorizing about political economies and nation states. The endogenization of technological innovation and technological development was first placed on the research agenda of economics by evolutionary economists like Nelson and Winter in the late 1970s and early 1980s. In this context, the question was how to endogenize the dynamics of knowledge, organized knowledge, science and technology into economic theorizing. However, one can equally well formulate the problem of how to reflect on the global (sub)dynamics of organized knowledge production in political theory and International Relations.
From a longer-term perspective, one can consider that the nation states – the national or political economies in Europe – were shaped in the 19th century, somewhat later for Germany (after 1871), but for most countries it was during the first half of the 19th century. This was after the French and American Revolutions and in relation to industrialization. These nation states were able to develop an institutional framework for organizing the market as a wealth-generating mechanism, while the institutional framework permitted them to retain wealth, to regulate market forces, and also to steer them to a certain extent. However, the market is not only a local dynamics; it is also a global phenomenon.
Nowadays, another global dynamics is involved: science and technology add a dynamics different from that of the market. The market is an equilibrium-seeking mechanism at each moment of time. The evolutionary dynamics of science and technology nowadays adds a non-equilibrium-seeking dynamics over time on top of that, and this puts the nation state in a very different position. Combining an equilibrium-seeking dynamics at each moment of time with a non-equilibrium seeking one over time results in a complex adaptive dynamics, or an eco-dynamics, or however you want to call it – these are different words for approximately the same thing.
For the nation state, the question arises of how it relates to the global market dynamics on the one side, and the global dynamics of knowledge and innovation on the other. Thus, the nation state has to combine two tasks. I illustrated this model of three subdynamics with a figure in my 2006 book entitled The Knowledge-Based Economy: Modeled, measured, simulated (see image). The figure shows that first-order interactions generate a knowledge-based economy as a next-order or global regime on top of the localized trajectories of nation states and innovative firms. These complex dynamics have first to be specified and then to be analyzed empirically.
For example, the knowledge-based dynamics change the relation between government and the economy; and they consequently change the position of the state in relation to wealth-retaining mechanisms. How can the nation state be organized in such a way as to retain wealth from knowledge locally, while knowledge (like capital) tends to travel beyond boundaries? One can envisage the complex system dynamics as a kind of cloud – a cloud that touches the ground at certain places, as Harald Bathelt, for example, formulated.
How can national governments shape conditions for the cloud to touch and to remain on the ground? The Triple Helix of University-Industry-Government Relations can be considered as an eco-system of bi- and tri-lateral relations. The three institutions and their interrelations can be expected to form a system carrying the three functions of (i) novelty production, (ii) wealth generation, and (iii) normative control. One tends to think of university-industry-government relations first as neo-corporatist arrangements between these institutional partners. However, I am interested in the ecosystem shaped through the tri- and bilateral relationships.
This ecosystem can be shaped at different levels. It can be a regional ecosystem or a national ecosystem, for instance. One can ask whether there is a surplus of synergy between the three (sub-)dynamics of university-industry-government relations and where that synergy can generate wealth, knowledge, and control; in which places, and along trajectories for which periods of time – that is, the same synergy as meant by "a cloud touching the ground".
For example, when studying Piedmont as a region in Northern Italy, it is questionable whether the synergy in university-industry-government relations is optimal at this regional level or should better be examined from a larger perspective that includes Lombardy. On the one hand, the administrative borders of nations and regions result from the construction of political economies in the 19th century; but on the other hand, the niches of synergy that can be expected in a knowledge-based economy are bordered also; for example, in terms of metropolitan regions (e.g., Milan–Turin–Genoa).
Since political dynamics are always involved, this has implications for International Relations as a field of study. But the dynamic analysis is different from comparative statics (that is, measurement at different moments of time). The knowledge dynamics can travel and be "footloose" to use the words of Raymond Vernon, although it leaves footprints behind. Grasping "wealth from knowledge" (locally or regionally) requires taking a systems perspective. However, the system is not "given"; the system remains under reconstruction and can thus be articulated only as a theoretically informed hypothesis.
In the social sciences, one can use the concept of a hypothesized system heuristically. For example, when analyzing the knowledge-based economy in Germany, one can ask whether more synergy can be explained when looking at the level of the whole country (e.g., in terms of the East-West or North-South divide) or at the level of Germany's Federal States? What is the surplus of the nation or at the European level? How can one provide political decision-making with the required variety to operate as a control mechanism on the complex dynamics of these eco-systems?
A complex system can be expected to generate niches with synergy at all scales, but as unintended consequences. To what extent and for which time span can these effects be anticipated and then perhaps be facilitated? At this point, Luhmann's theory comes in because he has this notion of different codifications of communication, which then, at a next-order level, begin to self-organize when symbolically generalized.
Codes are constructed bottom-up, but what is constructed bottom-up may thereafter begin to control top-down. Thus, one should articulate reflexively the selection mechanisms that are constructed from the bottom-up variation by specifying the why as an hypothesis. What are the selection mechanisms? Observable relations (such as university-industry relations) are not neutral, but mean different things for the economy and for the state; and this meaning of the observable relations can be evaluated in terms of the codes of communication.
Against Niklas Luhmann's model, I would argue that codes of communication can be translated into one another since interhuman communications are not operationally closed, as in the biological model of autopoiesis. One also needs a social-scientific perspective on the fluidities ("overflows") and translations among functions, as emphasized, for example, by French scholars such as Michel Callon and Bruno Latour. In evolutionary economics, one distinguishes between market and non-market selection environments, but not among selection environments that are differently codified. Here, Luhmann's theory offers us a heuristic: The complex system of communications tends to differentiate in terms of the symbolic generalizations of codes of communication because this differentiation is functional in allowing the system to process more complexity and thus to be more innovative. The more orthogonal the codes, the more options for translations among them. The synergy indicator measures these options as redundancy. The selection environments, however, have to be specified historically because these redundancies—other possibilities—are not given but rather constructed over long periods of time.
How did you arrive where you currently work on?
I became interested in the relations between science, technology, and society as an undergraduate (in biochemistry) which coincided with the time of the student movement of the late 1960s. We began to study Jürgen Habermas in the framework of the "critical university," and I decided to continue with a second degree in philosophy. After the discussions between Luhmann and Habermas (1971), I recognized the advantages of Luhmann's more empirically oriented systems approach and I pursued my Ph.D. in the sociology of organization and labour.
In the meantime, we got the opportunity to organize an interfaculty department for Science and Technology Dynamics at the University of Amsterdam after a competition for a large government grant. In the context of this department, I became interested in methodology: how can one compare across case studies and make inferences? Actually, my 1995 book The Challenge of Scientometrics had a kind of Triple-Helix model on the cover: How do cognitions, texts, and authors exhibit different dynamics that influence one another?
For example, when an author publishes a paper in a scholarly journal, this may add to his reputation as an author, but the knowledge claimed in the text enters a process of validation which can be much more global and anonymous. These processes are mediated since they are based on communication. Thus, one can add to the context of discovery (of authors) and the context of justification (of knowledge contents) a context of mediation (in texts). The status of a journal, for example, matters for the communication of the knowledge content in the article. The contexts operate as selection environments upon one another.
In evolutionary economics, one is used to distinguishing between market and non-market selection environments, but not among more selection environments that are differently codified. At this point, Luhmann's theory offers a new perspective: The complex system of communications tends to differentiate in terms of the symbolic generalization of codes of communication because this differentiation among the codes of communication allows the system to process more complexity and to be more innovative in terms of possible translations. The different selection environments for communications, however, are not given but constructed historically over long periods of time. The modern (standardized) format of the citation, for example, was constructed at the end of the 19th century, but it took until the 1950s before the idea of a citation index was formulated (by Eugene Garfield). The use of citations in evaluative bibliometrics is even more recent.
In evolutionary economics, one distinguishes furthermore between (technological) trajectories and regimes. Trajectories can result from "mutual shaping" between two selection environments, for example, markets and technologies. Nations and firms follow trajectories in a landscape. Regimes are global and require the specification of three (or more) selection environments. When three (or more) dynamics interact, symmetry can be broken and one can expect feed-forward and feedback loops. Such a system can begin to flourish auto-catalytically when the configuration is optimal.
From such considerations, that is, a confluence of the neo-institutional program of Henry Etzkowitz and my neo-evolutionary view, our Triple Helix model emerged in 1994: how do institutions and functions interrelate and change one another or, in other words, provide options for innovation? Under what conditions can university-industry-government relations lead to wealth generation and organized knowledge production? The starting point was a workshop about Evolutionary Economics and Chaos Theory: New directions for technology studies held in Amsterdam in 1993. Henry suggested thereafter that we could collaborate further on university-industry relations. I answered that I needed at least three (sub)dynamics from the perspective of my research program, and then we agreed about "A Triple Helix of University-Industry-Government Relations". Years later, however, we took our two lines of research apart again, and in 2002 I began developing a Triple-Helix indicator of synergy in a series of studies of national systems of innovation.
What would you give as advice to students who would like to get into the field of innovation and global politics?
In general, I would advise them to be both a specialist and broader than that. Innovation involves crossing established borders. Learn at least two languages. If your background is political science, then take a minor in science & technology studies or in economics. One needs both the specialist profile and the potential to reach out to other audiences by being aware of the need to make translations between different frameworks. Learn to be reflexive about the status of what one can say in one or the other framework.
For example, I learned to avoid the formulation of grandiose statements such as "modern economies are knowledge-based economies," and to say instead: "modern economies can increasingly be considered as knowledge-based economies." The latter formulation provides room for asking "to what extent," and thus one can ask for further information, indicators, and results of the measurement.
In the sociology of science, specialisms and paradigms are sometimes considered as belief systems. It seems to me that by considering scholarly discourses as systems of rationalized expectations one can make the distinction between normative and cognitive learning. Normative learning (that is, in belief systems) is slower than cognitive learning (in terms of theorized expectations) because the cognitive mode provides us with more room for experimentation: One can afford to make mistakes, since one's communication and knowledge claims remain under discussion, and not one's status as a communicator. The cognitive mode has advantages; it can be considered as the surplus that is further developed during higher education. Normative learning is slower; it dominates in the political sphere.
What does the "Triple Helix" reveal about the fragmentation of "national innovation systems"?
In 2003, colleagues from the Department of Economics and Management Studies at the Erasmus University in Rotterdam offered me firm data from the Netherlands containing these three dimensions: the economic, the geographical, and the technological dimensions in data of more than a million Dutch firms. I presented the results at the Schumpeter Society in Turin in 2004, and asked whether someone in the audience had similar data for other countries. I expected Swedish or Israeli colleagues to have this type of statistics, but someone from Germany stepped in, Michael Fritsch, and so we did the analysis for Germany. These studies were first published in Research Policy. Thereafter, we did studies on Hungary, Norway, Sweden, and recently also China and Russia.
Several conclusions arise from these studies. Using entropy statistics, the data can be decomposed along the three different dimensions. One can decompose national systems geographically into regions, but one can also decompose them in terms of the technologies involved (e.g., high-tech versus medium-tech). We were mainly relying on national data. And of course, there are limitations to the data collections. Actually, we now have international data, but this is commercial data and therefore more difficult to use reliably than governmental statistics.
For the Netherlands, we obtained the picture that would more or less be expected: Amsterdam, Rotterdam, and Eindhoven are the most knowledge-intensive and knowledge-based regions. This is not surprising, although there was one surprise: We know that in terms of knowledge bases, Amsterdam is connected to Utrecht and then the geography goes a bit to the east in the direction of Wageningen. What we did not know was that the niche also spreads to the north in the direction of Zwolle. The highways to Amsterdam Airport (Schiphol) are probably the most important.
In the case of Germany, when we first analyzed the data at the level of the "Laender" (Federal States), we could see the East-West divide still prevailing, but when we repeated the analysis at the lower level of the "Regierungsbezirke" we no longer found the East-West divide as dominant (using 2004 data). So, the environment of Dresden for example was more synergetic in Triple-Helix terms than that of Saarbruecken. And this was nice to see considering my idea that the knowledge-based economy increasingly prevails since the fall of the Berlin Wall and the demise of the Soviet Union. The discussion about two different models for organizing the political economy—communism or liberal democracy—had become obsolete after 1990.
After studying Germany, I worked with Balázs Lengyel on Hungarian data. Originally, we could not find any regularity in the Hungarian data, but then the idea arose to analyze the Hungarian data as three different innovation systems: one around Budapest, which is a metropolitan innovation system; one in the west of the country, which has been incorporated into Western Europe; and one in the east of the country, which has remained the old innovation system that is state-led and dependent on subsidies. For the western part, one could say that Hungary has been "europeanized" by Austria and Germany; it has become part of a European system.
When Hungary came into the position to create a national innovation system, free from Russia and the Comecon, it was too late, as Europeanization had already stepped in and national boundaries were no longer as dominant. Accordingly, and this was a very nice result, assessing this synergy indicator on Hungary as a nation, we did not find additional synergy at the national (that is, above-regional) level. While we clearly found synergy at the national level for the Netherlands and also found it in Germany, but at the level of the Federal States, we could not find synergy at a national level for Hungary. Hungary has probably developed too late to develop a nationally controlled system of innovations.
A similar phenomenon appeared when we studied Norway: my Norwegian colleague (Øivind Strand) did most of our analysis there. To our surprise, the knowledge-based economy was not generated where the universities are located (Oslo and Trondheim), but on the West Coast, where the off-shore, marine and maritime industries are most dominant. FDI (foreign direct investment) in the marine and maritime industries leads to knowledge-based synergy in the regions on the West Shore of Norway. Norway is still a national system, but the Norwegian universities like Trondheim or Oslo are not so much involved in entrepreneurial networks. These are traditional universities, which tend to keep their hands off the economy.
Actually, when we had discussions about these two cases, Norway and Hungary, which both show that internationalization had become a major factor, either in the form of Europeanization in the Hungarian case, or in the form of foreign-driven investments (off-shore industry and oil companies) in the Norwegian case, I became uncertain and asked myself whether we did not believe too much in our indicators? Therefore, I proposed to Øivind to study Sweden, given the availability of well-organized data of this national system.
We expected to find synergy concentrated in the three regional systems of Stockholm, Gothenburg, and Malmö/Lund. Indeed, 48.5 percent of the Swedish synergy is created in these three regions. This is more than one would expect on the basis of the literature. Some colleagues were upset, because they had already started trying to work on new developments of the Triple Helix, for example, in Linköping. But the Swedish economy is organized and centralized in this geographical dimension. Perhaps that is why one talks so much about "regionalization" in policy documents. Sweden is very much a national innovation system, with additional synergy between the regions.
Can governments alter historical trajectories of national, regional or local innovation systems?
Let me mention the empirical results for China in order to illustrate the implications of empirical conclusions for policy options. We had no Chinese data set, but we obtained access to the database Orbis of the Bureau van Dijk (an international company, which is Wall Street oriented, assembling data about companies) that contains industry indicators such as names, addresses, NACE-codes, types of technology, the sizes of each enterprise, etc. However, this data can be very incomplete. Using this incomplete data for China, we said that we were just going to show how one could do the analysis if one had full data. We guess that the National Bureau of Statistics of China has complete data. I did the analysis with Ping Zhou, Professor at Zhejiang University.
We analyzed China first at the provincial level, and as expected, the East Coast emerged as much more knowledge intense than the rest of the country. After that, we also looked at the next-lower level of the 339 prefectures of China. From this analysis, four of them popped up as far more synergetic than the others. These four municipalities were: Beijing, Shanghai, Tianjin, and Chongqing.
These four municipalities became clearly visible as an order of magnitude more synergetic than other regions. The special characteristic about them is that –as against the others – these four municipalities are administered by the central government. Actually, it came out of my data and I did not understand it; but my Chinese colleague said that this result was very nice and specified this relationship.
The Chinese case thus illustrates that government control can make a difference. It shows – and that is not surprising, as China runs on a different model – that the government is able to organize the four municipalities in such a way as to increase synergy. Of course, I do not know what is happening on the ground. We know that the Chinese system is more complex than these three dimensions suggest. I guess the government agencies may wish to consider the option of extending the success of this development model, to Guangdong for example or to other parts of China. Isn't it worrisome that all the other and less controlled districts have not been as successful in generating synergy?
Referring more generally to innovation policies, I would advise as a heuristics that political discourse is able to signal a problem, but policy questions do not enable us to analyze the issues. Regional development, for example, is an issue in Sweden because the system is very centralized, more than in Norway, for example. But there is nothing in our data that supports the claim that the Swedish government is successful in decentralizing the knowledge-based economy beyond the three metropolitan regions. We may be able to reach conclusions like these serving as policy advice. One develops policies on the basis of intuitive assumptions which a researcher is sometimes able to test.
As noted, one can expect a complex system continuously to produce unintended consequences, and thus it needs monitoring. The dynamics of the system are different from the sum of the sub-dynamics because of the interaction effects and feedback loops. Metaphors such as a Triple Helix, Mode-2, or the Risk Society can be stimulating for the discourse, but these metaphors tend to develop their own dynamics of proliferating discourses.
The Triple Helix, for example, can first be considered as a call for collaboration in networks of institutions. However, in an ecosystem of bi-lateral and tri-lateral relations, one has a trade-off between local integration (collaboration) and global differentiation (competition). The markets and the sciences develop at the global level, above the level of specific relations. A principal agent such as government may be locked into a suboptimum. Institutional reform that frees the other two dynamics (markets and sciences) requires translation of political legitimation into other codes of communication. Translations among codes of communication provide the innovation engine.
Is there a connection between infrastructures and the success of innovation processes?
One of the conclusions, which pervades throughout all advanced economies, is that knowledge intensive services (KIS) are not synergetic locally because they can be disconnected – uncoupled – from the location. For example, if one offers a knowledge-intensive service in Munich and receives a phone call from Hamburg, the next step is to take a plane to Hamburg, or to catch a train inside Germany perhaps. Thus, it does not matter whether one is located in Munich or Hamburg as knowledge-intensive services uncouple from the local economy. The main point is proximity to an airport or train station.
This is also the case for high-tech knowledge-based manufacturing. But it is different for medium-tech manufacturing, because in this case the dynamics are more embedded in the other parts of the economy. If one looks at Russia, the knowledge-intensive services operate differently from the Western European model, where the phenomenon of uncoupling takes place. In Russia, KIS contribute to coupling, as knowledge-intensive services are related to state apparatuses.
In the Russian case, the knowledge-based economy is heavily concentrated in Moscow and St. Petersburg. So, if one aims –as the Russian government proclaims – to create not "wealth from knowledge" but "knowledge from wealth" – that is, oil revenues –it might be wise to uncouple the knowledge-intensive services from the state apparatuses. Of course, this is not easy to do in the Russian model because traditionally, the center (Moscow) has never done this. Uncoupling knowledge-intensive services, however, might give them a degree of freedom to move around, from Tomsk to Minsk or vice versa, steered by economic forces more than they currently are (via institutions in Moscow).
Final question. What does path-dependency mean in the context of innovation dynamics?
In The Challenge of Scientometrics. The development, measurement, and self-organization of scientific communications (1995), I used Shannon-type information theory to study scientometric problems, as this methodology combines both static and dynamic analyses. Connected to this theory I developed a measurement method for path-dependency and critical transitions.
In the case of a radio transmission, for example, you have a sender and a receiver, and in between you may have an auxiliary station. For instance, the sender is in New York and the receiver is in Bonn and the auxiliary station is in Iceland. The signal emerges in New York and travels to Bonn, but it may be possible to improve the reception by assuming the signal is from Iceland instead of listening to New York. When Iceland provides a better signal, it is possible to forget the history of the signal before it arrived in Island. It no longer matters whether Iceland obtained the signal originally from New York or Boston. One takes the signal from Iceland and the pre-history of the signal does not matter anymore for a receiver.
Such a configuration provides a path-dependency (on Iceland) in information-theoretical terms, measurable in terms of bits of information. In a certain sense you get negative bits of information, since the shortest path in the normal triangle would be from New York to Bonn, and in this case the shortest path is from New York via Iceland to Bonn. I called this at the time a critical transition. In a scientific text for instance, a new terminology can come up and if it overwrites the old terminology to the extent that one does not have to listen to the old terminology anymore, one has a critical transition that frees one from the path-dependencies at a previous moment of time.
Thus, my example is about radical and knowledge-based changes. As long as one has to listen to the past, one does not make a critical transition. The knowledge-based approach is always about creative destruction and about moving ahead, incorporating possible new options in the future. The hypothesized future states become more important than the past. The challenge, in my opinion, is to make the notion of options operational and to bring these ideas into measurement. The Triple-Helix indicator measures the number of possible options as additional redundancy. This measurement has the additional advantage that one becomes sensitive to uncertainty in the prediction.
Loet Leydesdorff is Professor Emeritus at the Amsterdam School of Communications Research (ASCoR) of the University of Amsterdam. He is Honorary Professor of the Science and Technology Policy Research Unit (SPRU) of the University of Sussex, Visiting Professor at the School of Management, Birkbeck, University of London, Visiting Professor of the Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (ISTIC) in Beijing, and Guest Professor at Zhejiang University in Hangzhou. He has published extensively in systems theory, social network analysis, scientometrics, and the sociology of innovation (see at http://www.leydesdorff.net/list.htm). With Henry Etzkowitz, he initiated a series of workshops, conferences, and special issues about the Triple Helix of University-Industry-Government Relations. He received the Derek de Solla Price Award for Scientometrics and Informetrics in 2003 and held "The City of Lausanne" Honor Chair at the School of Economics, Université de Lausanne, in 2005. In 2007, he was Vice-President of the 8th International Conference on Computing Anticipatory Systems (CASYS'07, Liège). In 2014, he was listed as a highly-cited author by Thomson Reuters.
Literature and Related links:
Science & Technology Dynamics, University of Amsterdam / Amsterdam School of Communications Research (ASCoR)
Leydesdorff, L. (2006). The Knowledge-Based Economy: Modeled, Measured, Simulated. Universal Publishers, Boca Raton, FL.
Leydesdorff, L. (2001). A Sociological Theory of Communication: The Self-Organization of the Knowledge-Based Society. Universal Publishers, Boca Raton, FL.
Leydesdorff, L. (1995). The Challenge of Scientometrics . The development, measurement, and self-organization of scientific communications. Leiden, DSWO Press, Leiden University.
http://www.leydesdorff.net/
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Un viejo proverbio chino señala que "la puerta mejor cerrada es aquella que puede dejarse abierta". Efectivamente la transformación de China durante la segunda mitad del siglo XX grafica este dicho. De manera impensada para muchos, luego de casi tres décadas de férreo control estatal sobre la economía bajo el liderazgo de Mao Zedong, la dirigencia china que lo sucedió en el poder decidió hacia fines de los setenta "abrir una puerta bien cerrada" y emprender un ambicioso proceso de modernización, liberalización y apertura económica. De la mano de Zhou Enlai primero y Deng Xiaoping después, el Estado chino se embarcó en la tarea de modernizar dentro del país su sector agrícola, su estructura productiva, la ciencia y tecnología y la defensa nacional. El interés central detrás de esta transformación radicaba en acortar la brecha de desarrollo existente con los países más avanzados, situación que se reflejaba en el éxito económico de "vecinos" como Japón, Corea del Sur, Taiwán y Hong Kong. Para Deng, China sólo podría convertirse en una gran potencia a través de una política sistemática de modernización, con énfasis en el desarrollo económico y manteniendo la estructura de control político del Partido Comunista (Wilhelmy y Soto, 2005: 52). El desafío a superar consistía en dejar atrás una empobrecida, cerrada y estancada economía planificada y avanzar en la configuración de una economía competitiva. En la opinión del periodista Li Datong (2009), la política de reformas contó a grandes rasgos con dos etapas bien claras. En la primera, que se extendió de 1978 a 1989, el ímpetu de cambio fue puesto en la reducción de la pobreza rural y urbana. En la segunda, iniciada en 1992 con el famoso viaje de Deng al sur del país y culminada en el 2001 con el ingreso de China a la Organización Mundial de Comercio, el gobierno en estrecha alianza con sectores empresariales concentró esfuerzos en impulsar el crecimiento económico.Las principales medidas adoptadas consistieron en: la descolectivización de la agricultura y la autorización del uso privado de las tierras comunales (household responsibility system); el levantamiento de la prohibición para realizar actividades empresariales de índole privada; la apertura por primera vez desde la Revolución de 1948 al ingreso de capitales extranjeros; la creación de zonas económicas especiales y de apertura (existen actualmente una veintena, entre ciudades, provincias y áreas costeras); la privatización de numerosas empresas (a excepción de algunos grandes monopolios vinculados a energía y al sistema bancario); la descentralización del control estatal nacional hacia los gobiernos provinciales; la reducción general de aranceles y barreras comerciales; y el reconocimiento legal en 2005 de la propiedad privada.Estas reformas hicieron posible el denominado "milagro chino", la gran performance económica desatada a partir de 1978. Entre aquel año y el 2006 China mantuvo un promedio anual de crecimiento del 9,7%, tendencia que sólo se interrumpió tras los incidentes de la Plaza de Tiananmen en 1989 y que apenas se redujo en 1997 y 1998 durante la dura crisis asiática (Zhao, 2006: 3). Asimismo, mientras en los objetivos iniciales se esperaba cuadruplicar el PIB para comienzos del siglo XX, el desempeño real arrojó un impresionante crecimiento de trece veces del PIB de 1978 hacia el año 2006. En materia comercial, su comercio exterior se ha quintuplicado en los últimos diez años, mientras que su participación en el comercio mundial en ese mismo período se ha más que duplicado, llegando en 2007 al 9% de las exportaciones y al 6,8% de las importaciones globales. Además, China incrementó su penetración en los mercados de las economías desarrolladas y simultáneamente se transformó en un importante destino de exportación, especialmente para las economías de la región asiática, convirtiéndose en un nuevo eje del comercio mundial –segundo exportador y tercer importador en 2007–, disputando así el papel de Estados Unidos, la Unión Europea y Japón (D'Elía et al., 2008: 67-8). Una de las principales fuentes de esta expansión comercial ha sido el creciente emplazamiento de firmas extranjeras en el país, las que se valen de los bajos costos de producción para sus operaciones. La participación de dichas firmas en las exportaciones chinas aumentó del 10% en 1990 a casi un 60% en 2004 (Blonigen y Ma, 2010: 475). Este fenómeno denominado "processing trade"explica que China se haya convertido en el principal receptor entre los países en desarrollo de inversión extranjera directa por primera vez en 1993 y uno de los tres primeros a nivel mundial entre 2003 y 2005 (Cheng y Ma, 2010: 545). Conjuntamente, el doble éxito comercial y en atracción de capitales apuntaló también las reservas internacionales. Mientras que en 1992 se registraron reservas por 19 mil millones de dólares, equivalente a un 4% del PIB, tan sólo quince años después éstas alcanzaron 1,4 billones, correspondiente al 50% del PIB (Truman, 2008: 169).A nivel doméstico, la principal transformación ha consistido en el establecimiento gradual de una "economía de mercado socialista". Su avance se evidencia en que hacia 1979 la totalidad de las industrias eran estatales o "colectivas" y el Estado controlaba los precios del 97% de los productos en circulación, mientras que hacia fines de la década de los noventa, menos del 30% de las empresas seguían siendo estatales y las fuerzas del mercado fijaban ya el 97% de los precios. Desde el 2001 estos márgenes se han mantenido mayormente constantes. Pero este ascenso económico posee una contracara de obstáculos, desafíos y debilidades bien marcados que pondrán a prueba la potencialidad de crecimiento a futuro. Por un lado, China es todavía un país pobre en términos de su ingreso per capita, estimado en aproximadamente U$S 3.000 anuales, lo que equivale sólo al 10% de los ingresos registrados en Estados Unidos y Europa. Este bajo registro se conjuga con una mayor desigualdad y una aguda concentración de los ingresos, siendo el 90% de la riqueza acaparada por el 1% más rico de la población (Datong, 2009). La razón detrás de éste pasivo social yace en las privatizaciones, la liberalización y el marcado contraste entre el interior del país y las más dinámicas zonas costeras e industriales —el 57% del PIB se produce en el este de China, un 26% en la región central y apenas el 17% en el oeste (D´Elía et al., 2008: 69). Consecuentemente, ello explica que el crecimiento de la economía esté principalmente impulsado por las exportaciones y la inversión más que por el consumo doméstico. Por el otro lado, los problemas ambientales se han vuelto verdaderamente acuciantes de la mano de este crecimiento. China ha reemplazado recientemente a los Estados Unidos como principal emisor mundial de gases de efecto invernadero. A causa del creciente parque automotriz, las industrias contaminantes y las numerosas plantas procesadoras de carbón, la calidad del aire se ha deteriorado en las principales ciudades. Así, por ejemplo, la concentración de partículas tóxicas inhalables en Beijing en el año 2008 superó en un 80% el estándar tolerable fijado por la Organización Mundial de la Salud (Jacobs, 2010). En las zonas rurales, la masificación del uso de fertilizantes y agrotóxicos para apuntalar la productividad de la agricultura ha contaminado buena parte de las cuencas hídricas.En el plano de los desafíos, debe sumarse que China no es una democracia. El sistema de gobierno es esencialmente autoritario, regido por actores que se imponen en contiendas intrapartidistas y burocráticas libradas a puertas cerradas en Beijing (Wilhelmy y Soto, 2005: 53). Lejos de ser China una "sociedad armónica", se han registrado al compás de las transformaciones importantes conflictos sociales con base en diferentes reclamos: mayor democratización, mejores condiciones de vida, reconocimiento de autonomía política en el caso del Tíbet, etc. Desde los años de Deng, la regla ha sido la aplicación de una política de "mano dura" para contener el disenso interno —como se evidenció en la plaza de Tiananmen en 1989. No obstante, este disenso ha ido en ascenso. En septiembre de 2003, Human Rights Watch informó que más de tres millones de personas se movilizaron en distintas protestas en sólo un mes y que, en más de cien casos a lo largo del país, los reclamos escalaron en violentos choques con las fuerzas de seguridad locales y la destrucción de edificios gubernamentales (Becker, 2006: 169). Por tanto, resta ver cómo el sistema político logra adaptarse a las radicales modificaciones sociales en curso y da cabida a nuevos actores en la lucha por el poder. A pesar de estos desafíos por resolver, existe un fuerte consenso mundial sobre el actual proceso de ascenso de China al status de gran potencia. La célebre predicción de Napoleón —"Let China sleep, for when she wakes, she will shake the world"—, parece estar siendo confirmada (Kynge, 2006). En efecto, "China is reemerging as a major power after one hundred and fifty years of being a weak player on the world stage—a brief hiatus in China's long history", de acuerdo con Susan Shirk (2007: 4), máxima responsable en el Departamento de Estado de las relaciones con China durante la administración Clinton. Si se considera su situación estructural, una estimación reciente del poder comprehensivo de China comparada con las otras grandes potencias del sistema internacional arroja los siguientes resultados. Allí se advierte que China es la única potencia con un status fuerte de poder en cada una de las dimensiones contempladas y por tanto la principal competidora estratégica detrás de la superpotencia estadounidense. Pero el nuevo protagonismo chino también se percibe de una manera más dinámica. Crecientemente el país empieza a desempeñar roles críticos en distintos asuntos de interés mundial, desde la no proliferación hasta el cambio climático, además de ser materia de controversia en Occidente en asuntos relacionados con la pérdida de empleos, déficits comerciales y derechos humanos. En la última década, además, China ha combinado su dinamismo económico con políticas pragmáticas de seguridad y defensa y un fuerte activismo diplomático, gracias a lo cual ha empezado a establecer sólidas relaciones no sólo en toda Asia sino también en Europa, África y Sudamérica, aprovechando en buena medida los "espacios" generados por la focalización de los Estados Unidos en las guerras de Afganistán e Irak y la lucha contra el AlQaeda (Gill, 2007: 1).En el caso particular de América Latina, el carácter actual de los vínculos con China se remonta a la finalización de la Guerra Fría. Fue entonces cuando la desideologización de la política exterior del gigante asiático y el auge del proceso de globalización brindaron un marco propicio para una fuerte expansión económica de las relaciones sino-latinoamericanas (Cesarín, 2006: 52). Algunas cifras ilustran el fenómeno. Las exportaciones de América Latina y el Caribe a China aumentaron en forma súbita desde los US$1.500 millones en 1990, a los casi US$3.000 millones en 1995 y US$5.400 millones en 2000, para crecer posteriormente un 42% anual entre 2000 y 2004 hasta llegar a superar los US$21.000 millones en 2004. En 2003, los recursos primarios representaban el 45,5% de la canasta (Davy, 2008: 4). Por su parte, las exportaciones chinas a la región durante la década de los 90 crecieron más de cinco veces, logrando un superávit comercial global que perduró hasta el 2002. Sin embargo, con los países ricos en recursos naturales como Brasil, Argentina, Chile y Perú, la balanza mercantil resultó deficitaria para Beijing (Cheng, 2006).El interés chino en los países del subcontinente se ha vuelto desde entonces más claro: América Latina constituye un importante reservorio de materias primas, alimentos y recursos naturales necesarios para la prosecución de su crecimiento —no debe perderse de vista que China importa el 30% del petróleo que consume, el 45% del mineral de hierro, el 44% de otros metales no ferrosos y una proporción cada vez más alta de productos agrícolas. El patrón de intercambio comercial y de inversiones en los últimos años refleja dicho interés: minería y forestación (Perú y Chile), pesca, agroalimentos y petróleo (Argentina y Venezuela), mineral de hierro y acero (Brasil), producción de alimentos (Brasil, Chile, Argentina y Perú) y minería (Perú, Colombia, Chile). (Cesarín, 2006: 52-3.) En efecto, la relativa bonanza económica latinoamericana de comienzos de siglo —en parte— se debe a la fuerte demanda china de este tipo de bienes y commoditiesque traccionó al alza los precios internacionales. Para algunos, esto representa una importante oportunidad de optimizar los procesos subregionales de integración e impulsar cambios en las estructuras productivas nacionales mediante la participación inversora de firmas chinas (Cesarín, 2005: 3). Pero esta situación, en principio favorable, amerita una reflexión cautelosa en la medida en que "el auge de los commodities encubre los riesgos inherentes de depender de un sector volátil y en gran medida poco calificado para el sostenimiento de un crecimiento económico a largo plazo y la prosperidad" (Davy, 2008: 2). En este sentido, China ofrece a la región oportunidades pero también desafíos: detrás de los cantos de sirena, se esconde el peligro de un comercio asimétrico que conduzca a la reedición de lazos de dependencia y a una inserción internacional de América Latina subordinada a los dictados de una gran potencia distante. Precisamente, el profesor Julio Sevares (2007: 12) ve en la relación económica Latinoamérica-China no una relación Sur-Sur, sino más bien el clásico esquema comercial Norte-Sur y el patrón inversor de tipo extractivo británico del siglo XIX.Con respecto estrictamente al plano político-estratégico, dos cuestiones deben considerarse. La primera es que China resulta para muchos de los liderazgos latinoamericanos un simpático ejemplo de éxito en materia de reformas dado el importante rol estatal en la conducción de la transformación económica. Representa así un exitoso experimento, distinto de las propuestas neoliberales que fracasaron en América Latina (Cesarín, 2010: 8). Y la segunda, es que la irrupción de China en la región plantea interrogantes sobre la eventual reacción de los Estados Unidos ante un eventual socavamiento de influencia en su "patio trasero". Se trata de un escenario que desde comienzos del siglo XXI se sigue con atención en las usinas de pensamiento estratégico en Washington. Allí se distinguen al menos dos posiciones: una, la de los decisores estadounidenses más temerosos que entienden a la nueva presencia china en la región como la movida inicial de una ofensiva diplomática a gran escala de Beijing para desafiar a los Estados Unidos en su propio hemisferio; y la otra perspectiva, más benigna, que percibe los crecientes vínculos como una oportunidad antes que una amenaza y como una manifestación natural de las necesidades energéticas y de recursos del país asiático sin miras explícitas de choque con la superpotencia (Roett y Paz, 2008: 1). Esta última visión es la que acepta la idea del ascenso pacífico ("peaceful rise") que ha publicitado Hu Jintao. De acuerdo con Zheng Bijian, uno de sus principales ideólogos, "China no tiene la intención ni de desafiar ni de subvertir el orden internacional político y económico ya existente (…). No buscamos la hegemonía ni en el pasado, ni ahora, ni nunca jamás en el futuro cuando hayamos alcanzado el desarrollo. Hemos convertido ya en una premisa básica de nuestro Estado la de no pretender nunca la hegemonía" (Bijian, 2005).La reemergencia histórica de China debe por tanto discurrir a través de la integración a las reglas de juego internacionales, a través del multilateralismo, la resolución pacífica de las disputas y la tolerancia hacia el resto de las naciones. En última instancia, la evolución hacia un abierto desafío estratégico entre los Estados Unidos y China o hacia una convivencia respetuosa entre superpotencias, dependerá del factor que prime en la interacción mutua: un juego de suma cero producto de las transformaciones estructurales en el sistema político internacional, o bien un juego de suma positiva resultado de intereses y percepciones convergentes.(1) El presente artículo es un fragmento de un capítulo de libro en elaboración sobre la inserción internacional de la Argentina entre el 2003-2007. *Candidato doctoral, Universidad Nacional General San Martín (UNSAM).Referencias bibliográficasBecker, Jasper (2006): Dragon Rising. An inside look at China today (Washington D.C.: National Geographic). Bijian, Zheng (2005): "Diez puntos de vista sobre el ascenso pacífico de China y sobre las relaciones entre China y Europa", Real Instituto Elcano, disponible en:«http://www.realinstitutoelcano.org/analisis/867/867_DiscursoZheng.pdf».Blonigen, Bruce A. y Alyson C. Ma (2010): "Please Pass the Catch-Up. The Relative Performance of Chinese and Foreign Firms in Chinese Exports", en Feenstra, Robert C. y Shang-Jin Wei: China's Growing Role in World Trade (Chicago and London: The University of Chicago Press).Cesarín, Sergio (2005): "Ejes y estrategias del desarrollo económico chino: enfoques para América Latina y el Caribe", en Cesarín, Sergio y Carlos Moneta: China y América Latina. Nuevos enfoques sobre cooperación y desarrollo. ¿Una segunda ruta de la seda? (Buenos Aires: BID-INTAL).Cesarín, Sergio (2006): "La relación sinolatinoamericana, entre la práctica política y la investigación académica", Nueva Sociedad, N° 203, Mayo/Junio, pp. 48-61.Cheng, Joseph Y. S. (2006): "Latin America in China's Contemporary Foreign Policy", Journal of Contemporary Asia, Vol. 36, No. 4, pp. 500-528.Cheng, Leonard K. y Zihui Ma (2010): "China's Outward Foreign Direct Investment", en Feenstra, Robert C. y Shang-Jin Wei: Op. Cit.Datong, Li (2009): "China's stalled transition", Open Democracy (February 19), disponible en «http://www.opendemocracy.net/article/chinas-stalled-reforms». Accedido 16/09/2010. Davy, Megan (2008): "¿Qué presagia el crecimiento de China para América Latina?",Panorama del Desarrollo Internacional del American Enterprise Institute, N° 2, julio.D´Elía, Carlos, Carlos Galperín y Néstor Stancanelli (2008): "El rol de China en el mundo y su relación con la Argentina", Revista del CEI, N° 13, pp. 67-89.Gill, Bates (2007): Rising Star. China's New Security Diplomacy (Washington D.C.: Brookings Institution Press).Jacobs, Andrews (2010): "In China, Pollution Worsens Despite New Efforts", The New York Times (July 28), disponible en «http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/29/world/asia/29china.html?_r=1»(accedido 18/9/10). Kynge, James (2006): China Shakes the World: A Titan's Rise and Troubled Future - and the Challenge for America (New York: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt).Roett, Riordan y Guadalupe Paz (eds.) (2008): China's expansion into the Western Hemisphere (Washington D.C.: The Brookings Institution).Sevares, Julio (2007): "¿Cooperación Sur-Sur o dependencia a la vieja usanza?", Nueva Sociedad, N° 207, enero-febrero, pp. 11-22.Shirk, Susan L. (2007): China. Fragile Superpower (New York: Oxford University Press).Truman, Edwin M. (2008): "The Management of China's International Reserves: China and a Sovereign Wealth Fund Scoreboard", en Goldstein, Morris y Nicholas R. Lardy (eds.):Debating China's Exchange Rate Policy (Washington: Peter G. Peterson Institute for International Economics).Wilhelmy von Wolff, Mandfred y Augusto Soto (2005): "El proceso de reformas en China y la política exterior: de Deng Xiaoping a Hu Jintao", en Cesarín, Sergio y Carlos Moneta: Op. Cit.Xuetong, Yan (2006): "The Rise of China and its Power Status", Chinese Journal of International Politics, Vol. 1. Zhao, Min (2006): External Liberalization and the Evolution of China's Exchange System: an Empirical Approach (Final Draft, The World Bank Beijing Office), disponible en «http://siteresources.worldbank.org/INDIAEXTN/Resources/events/359987-1149066 764594/Paper_MinZhao.pdf».
Inhaltsangabe: Introduction: Ghettos of poor and unemployed people, homeless people, families relying on food banks, sick people without health insurance. There is a long list of people which comes into our minds when we think about poverty and people who are affected by it. If we search for an exact definition of poverty we will not find a single, universally accepted standard definition of it. Poverty is hardly measurable. Every interpretation is affected by credos of value. The ethical correctness of these trails to valuate poverty is scientifically not concluding appraised. The European Union's working definition of poverty is: 'Persons, families and groups of persons whose resources (material, cultural and social) are so limited as to exclude them from the minimum acceptable way of life in the Member State to which they belong'. This definition is the basis of the valuations of poverty in this assignment. The variety of poverty shows how many groups of people in particular are at risk of becoming poor. In Germany the gap of income and the number of poor people in the society increased from the year 2000 to the year 2005 faster than in any other country of the OECD. Causes are the high unemployment rate in the year 2005 and a significant gap of income. Nobody can be excluded if we talk about the poor ones in future. High income during employment does not mean that there is enough money for times of unemployment or old-age-pension. When thinking about poverty we should never forget of what advantage it is to have a high old-age pension when you are lonesome and you have to pay for every help you need? Policy options have to be divided in to groups: Actions to prevent poverty. Actions to help people out of poverty. From a scientific point of view there is only one thing needed to stay out of poverty: enough money to sustain your expenditures. Therefore a well paid job is necessary. Minimum wages are a controversially discussed topic during the last months. Only an occupation with an adequate salary is good for covering all costs. Another crucial point is to secure the old age pensions. Due to this the Federal Government promotes a 3-layer programme. The tax policy is also a point which can be influenced by the state. Prevention of excessive indebtness and a adequate asset accumulation are also important topics. Proper education is a crucial point to prevent poverty and likewise the core measure to get out of poverty. Only good education opens the doors to the well paid jobs. Some social groups are usually not able to get out of poverty on their own. Therefore help is needed. Especially for single parents, families with many children, drug addicts and disabled people as well. Proper programmes for social housing or for improving language skills are often helpful for the poor. Here, the government has countless options to help people, but the realty is often different. In the fight against poverty the Federal government starts several actions to avoid and to help people out of poverty. The central statements behind these actions are: Every person should secure his life by gainful employment at first. Furthermore specific social transfer benefits should help to secure basic needs, especially for families. They directly stress the responsibility of the successful fight against poverty lying in the hands of everyone. Especially one aspect implied in the first statement is important for every citizen: Gainful employment, everyone himself is responsible for, gives the chance to secure life. In the past poverty and employment were inseparably connected and mutual exclusive. As employment was taken poverty was banned, in case of unemployment poverty threatened. Today especially the first statement is no longer true without restrictions. The effectiveness of employment as major driver in avoiding and helping out of poverty was weakened. The reason is the increase of low-wage employees. The belief gainful employment can always secure life is no longer true. The actual problem in Germany is a high amount of fully-employed people becoming poor. The expression 'working poor' describes working full-time in one and even more jobs earn wages under the existence minimum. Labour unions claim legal minimum wages in the different lines of business. The Confederation of German Employers BDA demands the negotiation of minimum wages by the bargaining parties, employer associations and labour unions. The free social market economy of Germany may not be influenced by law. The Federal Government established and renewed the 'Mindestarbeitsbedingungsgesetz' and 'Arbeitnehmer-Entsendegesetz', which do not give legal minimum limits. The laws ease the establishment of minimum wages in business lines. Low wages and the difference of income are one reason of the gap between rich and poor. To even this income differences the federal government introduce the progressive income tax rate. It attenuates the inequality of the gross incomes. But the gap between rich and poor is only less affected by the tax policy. The other reason for the gap between rich and poor is the difference of assets. The gap increases because the middle-class decreases. More and more people become poor. Poor people are not able to establish coverage by accumulating asset. People who are able to accumulate asset need the right strategy. Capital investments offer different strategies to accumulate asset, from conservative to risky. In the actual financial crises many people and companies have lost much asset. The trust of savers in the banking system and especially in shares hits the rock bottom. Today every possibility to accumulate asset is questioned. The coverage in old-age was formerly granted by legal pensions. But legal pensions are no longer safe, as it was belief for a long time. The 'three-layer-concept' of retirement provision offers possibilities to close the increasing gap. The intention is to support the conventional public old-age pension by two additional layers. Nevertheless every layer and every kind of provision has its own particularities which should be considered. Poor and unemployed people are often threatened by indebtedness. Especially unemployed people are not able to pay back their bills and become excessively indebted soon. To leave this hopeless way debt relief and employment are the best means. In insolvency proceedings the debt relief is pronounced. From the year 2002 until now the annual increase of insolvency proceedings decreases. Additionally the average amount of indebtedness decreases in these years too. The basic requirement for employment and therefore a central driver to avoid and to help out of poverty is education. Federal Chancellor Angela Merkel proclaimed the 'Educational Republic of Germany'. One reason for her reaction is secondary general schools are in trouble. After graduation many youngsters stay in the transitional system for too long. They don't find a vocational education. Another reason is even the vocational education has a problem. The participation in the Dual System in the vocational education decreases from 51.2 percent to 42.6 percent in 2005. This is an alarming development. Although the tendency is declining in the year 2005 to 2006 the efficiency of the Dual System should be improved even more. Forecasts of the employment market show a growing demand for highly qualified employees between 2003 and 2020. The demand for low qualified people will reduce. According this forecast qualification and competence become the securing means of future, for everyone at anytime. This can only be granted by lifelong learning. Besides the stated major effects of policy options affecting the whole society there are some groups of people, which need special support: Single parents, families with many children, people addicted to drugs, homeless, disabled and migrated people are treated in detail.Inhaltsverzeichnis:Table of Contents: Executive SummaryI Table of contentsVI List of AbbreviationsIX List of FiguresX List of TablesXII 1.Introduction1 2.Problem Definition2 3.Objectives3 4.Methodology4 5.The Fight Against Poverty5 5.1Poverty – A Definition5 5.2How to Measure Poverty7 5.3The Variety of Poverty7 5.3.1Key Factors of the Risk of Becoming Poor7 5.3.2Poverty Among Poor Educated People8 5.3.3Child Poverty9 5.3.4Poverty of Seniors10 5.3.5Poverty Among Handicapped People12 6.The International Day for the Eradication of Poverty14 7.Poverty in Germany15 7.1The Risk-of-Poverty-Line in Germany15 7.2The Present Situation in Germany17 8.Prospective Poor People19 8.1Outsiders of Today are the Poor of Tomorrow19 8.2An Income Above the Average is No Relaxing Situation20 9.Policy Options Against Poverty21 9.1Actions to Avoid Poverty22 9.1.1Minimum Wages22 9.1.2Securing Pensions23 9.1.3Tax Policy27 9.1.4Asset Accumulation27 9.1.5Prevent Excessive Indebtedness28 9.1.6Education28 9.1.7Basic Education29 9.1.8Vocational Education29 9.1.9Lifelong Learning30 9.2Actions to Help People Out of Poverty30 9.2.1Education30 9.2.2Help for Single Parents31 9.2.3Language Skills32 9.2.4Aid for Families with Many Children32 9.2.5Help People Out of Drug-Addiction32 9.2.6Social Housing33 9.2.7Disabled People33 10.Reality – How Political Options Impact on Life The Status Quo – Facts35 10.1Policy Options to Avoid Poverty Impact Reality36 10.1.1Effects of the Policy Option 'Minimum Wages'38 10.1.2Effects of Policy Options to Secure Pensions41 10.1.3Effects of the Tax Policy45 10.1.4Effects of Asset Accumulation46 10.1.5Effects of Policy Options to Prevent Indebtedness48 10.1.6Effects of Policy Options to Improve Education50 10.1.7Basic Education in Reality51 10.1.8Vocational Education in Reality54 10.1.9Lifelong Learning in reality55 10.2Policy Options to Help out of Poverty Impact Reality56 10.2.1Education56 10.2.2Effects of Policy Options to Support Single Parents56 10.2.3Effects of Policy Options to Improve Language Skills57 10.2.4Effects of Policy Options to Support Families with Many Children59 10.2.5Effects of Policy Options Against Drug-Addiction60 10.2.6Effects of the Policy Option 'Social Housing'63 10.2.7Effects of Political Options to Support Disabled People65 11.Results68 12.Conclusion69 13.Integral Total Management (ITM) – Checklist70 13.1General Economics70 13.2Strategic Management70 13.3Marketing70 13.4Financial Management70 13.5Human Resources Management70 13.6Business Law70 13.7Research Methods/Management Decision Making70 13.8Soft Skills/Leadership71 14.Bibliography72Textprobe:Text Sample: Chapter 9.1.3, Tax Policy: Tax policy is the whole of tax actions of a state with policy objectives. Through tax policy the state pursuits the aim to generate income to cover all expenditures. The state is able to pursuit socio-political aims through tax reduction or tax increase. An effective instrument to even the income differences is in particular a progressive in-come tax rate. Within the tax reform of 2000 the Federal Government decreased the in-come tax rate radically. According to the judgement of the Federal Constitutional Court that the minimum living wage must be tax free, the German government increased the tax free level virtually every year. This goes along with a decrease of the marginal tax rate from 25.9% in 1998 to 15.0% in 2005. 9.1.4, Asset Accumulation: Having savings in the bank is a good way to avoid poverty. In times of unemployment citizens are able to draw money from the bank and cover the financial gaps without being dependent on public benefits. The Federal government offers mainly two types of investment: Savings. Acquisition of shares. These are both appropriate to accumulate assets on a long range. 9.1.5, Prevent Excessive Indebtedness: Debts are always a fast way to cross the poverty line! Therefore is very important to prevent indebtedness before it begins. In 2002 approx. 9% of all households in Germany were over-indebted. Debtors are often not able to solve the problem on their own. For that reason they need help. The government financed debt counselling and measures for debt relief. This came along with a programme to educate indebted people. 9.1.6, Education: The significance of education to prevent poverty is indisputable. School education and vocational qualification are the best way to participate on the job market as well as the best protection against unemployment and poverty. The European Union regards a graduation from secondary school as minimum qualification to participate in modern knowledge society and for the best prospects on the job market. In January 2008 the Federal Cabinet approved the draft law for the qualification initiative (i. e. Qualifizierungsinitiative). It mainly contains actions to: Improve education opportunities for children younger than six years of age. Improve the permeability in the education system. Improve the way to be promoted. Improve the options of further education. 9.1.7, Basic Education: Education does not start in school. Potentials of children should in fact be developed earlier and dependent on their age. Kindergartens, beside the family, have as places for infantile education a particular duty. In kindergartens talents – even from children of underprivileged families – may foster at an early stage and learning difficulties may be discovered early. Primary schools cover the first four years of schooling (in Berlin and Brandenburg six years). They are attended by all children and provide basic education, preparing children for secondary schools. At the end of primary school parents and teachers have to decide which type school the pupils should attend further on. Available are: Secondary general schools (i. e. Hauptschulen). Intermediate schools (i. e. Realschulen). Grammar schools (i. e. Gymnasien). Comprehensive schools (i. e. Gesamtschulen). Special schools (i. e. Förderschulen). This affects the life and future job options of the child profoundly. Therefore promotion of primary school pupils is essential. One out of eleven pupils in a grammar school lives in poverty, but every second in a secondary general school. Poverty is one causal reason for bad education. Out of 100 children who were considered to be poor during kindergarten only four manage to archive the entry qualification for grammar school – compared to 30 in well-off families. These are the results of a long term study by the Workers Welfare Federal Association from 1997 to 2005. 9.1.8, Vocational Education: A Certificate of Education (minimum: Certificate of Secondary Education / Hauptschulabschluss) is necessary to get a proper chance on the apprenticeship market. The Federal Government takes actions to educate juveniles in the dual system of vocational education to decrease the number of untrained youngsters. Because a qualified apprenticeship is crucial for partaking and fulfilment in the community and the best protection against the risk of unemployment and income poverty. 9.1.9, Lifelong Learning: Learning will not end after school, vocational training or university degree. Learning is an essential mean to shape an individual's chances in life. Lifelong learning is the keyword for coping with the job market, to finally get a school's or a vocational qualification or just for further training. Once archived qualifications are less and less sufficient to cope with the challenge of business and community. Continuing learning all lifelong is becoming more and more important to secure the participating on the job market permanently. The partaking in further education is low in Germany - compared to other countries. In particular, people with lower qualification do not take part in further qualification sufficiently. 9.2, Actions to Help People Out of Poverty: 13.5 % citizens of the total population live below the poverty line. These need help to become better off and – even more important – stay below the line. 9.2.1, Education: As stated in chapter 9.1.6 proper education is the best way to prevent poverty, but it's also a lasting way to get out of it. People with no or only basic education have a strictly limited access to well paid jobs or no access jobs at all. In 2006 7.9 % of all pupils left school without any graduation. However, without any graduation the prospects of an apprenticeship are very small. Thereby the vicious circle of poverty starts turning. The government provides different measures to help juveniles and adults to improve their education: Help to get the Certificate of Secondary Education (i. e. Hauptschulabschluss). Help to get an apprenticeship. Help to make the change from Secondary Education to higher education entrance qualification easier. Olaf Scholz (Secretary of State for Employment) even recommended a legal claim to achieve a Certificate of Secondary Education. This should be financed by the Federal Employment Office. But he wasn't able to convince the CDU-parliamentary group.
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Como se puede apreciar previo a la declaratoria de emergencia sanitaria ocasionado por el COVID-19, las ciudades eran centros estratégicos en un mundo de cambios y desarrollo de los medios de comunicación, y esto se debe a la influencia de la demanda del público al momento de consumir; es por ello, que es una realidad que la vía pública de la provincia de Lima, es un escenario propicio para el desarrollo de diversas actividades económicas, por lo que cada vez son más las estrategias de comunicación que apuestan por ingresar al sector de publicidad en los espacios abiertos y públicos de la provincia de Lima, por ello, resulta importante obtener un panorama amplio, en el extremo de lograr un adecuado aprovechamiento de los espacios geográficos en la ciudad, a través de mejores ubicaciones para instalar anuncios y avisos publicitarios, ello sin afectar no sólo el desarrollo diario y continúo de las actividades humanas, como por ejemplo ir al trabajo, salir a almorzar o transitar por lugares de compra, solo por comentar algunos casos, sino que se logre una armonía y conservación del medio ambiente. Estas acciones implican tener alguna interacción con el medio externo, es por ello, que se tiene una aceptación de un 95% con mayor contacto son las calles y avenidas. En la actualidad, la provincia de Lima cuenta con un total de 683 de vías metropolitanas (expresas, arteriales y colectoras) espacios públicos que, entre otras formas de uso, a través de la normativa metropolitana establecida en la norma que regula la ubicación de anuncios y avisos de publicidad en la provincia de Lima -Ord. N° 1094-MML, mediante una autorización municipal que otorgará el derecho de uso de éstos espacios públicos las personas jurídicas y/o naturales que lo soliciten, en conformidad a las competencias que la Ley Orgánica de Municipalidades-LOM, le brinda a dicha comuna edil la regulación en las vías metropolitanas de la provincia, por ello, en atención a su función reguladora del espacio físico urbano de la ciudad, es que a través de ordenanzas provinciales regulan no sólo los lineamientos técnicos y legales sino se establece los requisitos que los anuncios y avisos publicitarios deben seguir .Sin embargo, pese a la existencia de una normativa a nivel provincial, respecto de la cual las comunas distritales de la provincia de Lima adaptan a sus ordenanzas que regulan su jurisdicción, se tiene que dicho dispositivo legal no ha podido generar un impacto positivo en lo social, ambiental, económico, entre otros, ello por cuanto según un reporte periodístico del 30 de diciembre de 2019 en el diario El Comercio, señaló que de 19 vías metropolitanas, el 80% de anuncios y/o avisos publicitarios no cuentan con autorización municipal que les permita su funcionamiento, lo cual genera no sólo un clara desacato a los dispositivos legales sino que dicha conducta infractora viene ocasionando y/o afectando la preservación y afectación del medio ambiente y los espacios públicos, la tranquilidad y salud de los ciudadanos, y una afectación económica no sólo de los administrados que cuentan con una autorización formal sino en la recaudación de la entidad pública. Un reporte del Ministerio del Ambiente (MINAM) con el apoyo de Marisol Núñez, profesora de la Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia (UPCH) reveló que la competencia de marcas en el mercado provoca problemas a la salud, a su vez explicó que los efectos de la contaminación visual se relacionan con el mal humos y el estrés, deteriorando la calidad de vida, afectando directamente en su desarrollo personal y posibles problemas de salud cardiovascular en las personas. Por otro lado, según información obtenida por acceso a la información de la corporación edil provincial, en el año 2019 como resultado de las labores de inspección a 31 vías metropolitanas (principales)se reportó un total de 1873 anuncios y avisos publicitarios instalados sin autorización municipal, hecho que no sólo genera alarma y preocupación ante los diferentes perjuicios que ocasiona a la ciudad y sus habitantes, sino que si se tiene como información, que en dicho año, la Municipalidad Metropolitana de Lima había otorgado un total de 179 autorizaciones de anuncios y avisos publicitarios en toda la ciudad, se puede concluir que la informalidad viene generando un impacto sobre el ciudadano induciendo a repetir estas conductas infractoras al no acatar las leyes y coloca en un estado de exposición al peligro a todo ciudadano que transita de diversas modalidades por éstas vías metropolitanas, ya que la ubicación y su posterior instalación de anuncios y avisos publicitarios sin haber sido analizados y/o evaluados técnico y legal, son supuestos de posibles daños y perjuicios a la integridad. Como se mencionó en los párrafos precedentes la comuna provincial es competente para regular sobre temas de acondicionamiento territorial. A continuación, se indica el artículo que se debe cumplir para este tipo de trabajo en vía pública. En el literal l) del Art. 18° de la LOM -Ley N° 27972-, entre otros, se establece que la comuna edil está facultada para brindar la autorización de la instalación e ubicación de publicidad comercial y anuncios luminoso, por ello, a través de la Ord. N° 1874-MML que aprobó el TUPA de la acotada corporación edil, mediante la Ord. N° 1094-MML regula el procedimiento para la autorización de ubicación de anuncios y avisos publicitarios en Lima, y la Ord. N 203-MML establece el procedimiento para ejecutar obras en las áreas de propiedad pública. Aun contando con dos procedimientos administrativos que regulan un solo propósito, conlleva a la generación de tiempos muertos lo cual tiene como resultados tangibles la percepción por parte del ciudadano de una atención deficiente lo que conlleva a la poca confianza de los usuarios de un adecuado desarrollo de dicha gestión. Asimismo, la Municipalidad Metropolitana percibió un ingreso total de 3 ́834,137.70 soles entre los años 2019 y2020 que provienen de éstos procedimientos, es por ello, que se deberá abordar la mejora de la gestión a través de la aplicación de simplificación administrativa, utilizando herramientas como por ejemplo, las que se encontrará en la Política Nacional de Modernización de la Gestión Pública -Eje transversal de Gobierno Abierto – respecto al uso de medios electrónicos donde por medio de una plataforma digital se permita mejorar el servicio de calidad a los usuarios y con ello hacer de éstos unos procesos dinámicos y accesibles para que los agentes económicos del mercado puedan acceder con mayor facilidad. En ese sentido, en aras de recuperar los espacios públicos utilizados indebidamente e indiscriminadamente, lograr con esta mejora un adecuado ordenamiento territorial, un control de la contaminación visual y evitar una afectación al medio ambiente, a la salud y derecho de propiedad del ciudadano, así como la búsqueda del restablecimiento del principio de autoridad y con ello optimizar la atención y buen servicio al ciudadano. ; As can be seen prior to the declaration of a health emergency caused by COVID-19, cities were strategic centers in a world of change and development of the media, and this is due to the influence of public demand at the time to consume; That is why it is a reality that the public thoroughfare of the province of Lima is a favorable setting for the development of various economic activities, so that more and more communication strategies are committed to entering the advertising sector in the open and public spaces of the province of Lima, therefore, it is important to obtain a broad panorama, in order to achieve an adequate use of the geographical spaces in the city, through better locations to install advertisements and advertisements, it Without affecting not only the daily and continuous development of human activities, such as going towork, going out for lunch or passing through places of purchase, just to comment on some cases, but harmony and conservation of the environment is achieved. These actions imply having some interaction with the external environment, which is why there is an acceptance of 95% with greater contact with the streets and avenues. These actions imply having some interaction with the external environment, which is why there is an acceptance of 95% with greater contact with the streets and avenues.Currently, theprovince of Lima has a total of 683 metropolitan roads (express, arterial and collector) public spaces that, among other forms of use, through the metropolitan regulations established in the rule that regulates the location of advertisements and advertising notices in the province of Lima -Ord. N ° 1094-MML, through a municipal authorization that will grant the right to use these public spaces to legal and / or natural persons who request it, in accordance with the powers that the Organic Law of Municipalities-LOM, provides to said commune council regulation in the metropolitan roads of the province, therefore, in attention to its regulatory function of the urban physical space of the city, is that through provincial ordinances they regulate not only the technical and legal guidelines but also the requirements that the Advertisements and advertisements should follow.However, despite the existence of regulations at the provincial level, with respect to which the district communes of the province of Lima adapt to their ordinances that regulate their jurisdiction, it is necessary that said legal device has not been able to generate a positive impact on the social, environmental, economic, among others, because according to a journalistic report of December 30, 2019 in the newspaper El Comercio, it indicated that of 19 metropolitan roads, 80% of advertisements and / or advertisements do not have municipal authorization that allows them to function, which generates not only a clear disregard for legal provisions but that said offending conduct has been causing and / or affecting the preservation and impact of the environment and public spaces, the tranquility and health of citizens, and an economic affectation not only of the administered that have a formal authorization but also in the collection of the public entity.A report from the Ministry of the Environment (MINAM) with the support of Marisol Núñez, professor at the Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia (UPCH) revealed that the competition of brands in the market causes health problems, in turn explained that the effects of Visual pollution are related to bad smoke and stress, deteriorating the quality of life, directly affecting their personal development and possible cardiovascular health problems in people.On the other hand, according to information obtained by accessing the information of the provincial council, in 2019 as a result of the inspection work on 31 metropolitan (main) roads, a total of 1873 advertisements and advertisements installed without municipal authorization were reported. , a fact that not only generates alarm and concern about the different damages that it causes to the city and its inhabitants, but if it is taken as information, that in said year, the Metropolitan Municipality ofLima had granted a total of 179 authorizations for advertisements and advertising notices throughout the city, it can be concluded that informality has been generating an impact on the citizen, inducing them to repeat these offending behaviors by not complying with the laws and placing all citizens who pass through them in various ways in a state of exposure to danger metropolitan roads, since the location and their subsequent installation of advertisements and advertisements without having been analyzed and / or evaluated technically and legally, are assumptions of possible damages to integrity.As mentioned in the preceding paragraphs, the provincial commune is competent to regulate issues of territorial conditioning, therefore, in literal l) of Art. 18of the LOM -Law No. 27972-, among others, it is established that the Edil commune is empowered to provide authorization for the location and installation of luminous signs and commercial advertising, therefore, through Ord. N ° 1874-MML that approved theTUPA of the limited municipal council, but through Ord. N ° 1094-MML that regulates the procedure to authorize the location of advertisements and advertisements in Lima, and Ord. N 203-MML that establishes the procedure to execute works in public propertyareas, however, the fact of having two administrative procedures that regulate a single purpose, leads to the generation of downtime, which has tangible results in the perceptionfor the citizen of a deficient attention which entails to the little confidence of the users of a suitable development of this management.Likewise, the Metropolitan Municipality received a total income of 3'834,137.70 soles between the years 2019 and 2020 that come from these procedures, which is why the improvement of management should be addressed through the application of administrative simplification, using tools several such as, for example, those that will be found in the National Policy for the Modernization of Public Management -Transversal Axis of Open Government -regarding the use of electronic media where through a digital platform that allows improving the quality service to users and thereby make these processes dynamic and accessible so that the economic agents of the market can access it more easily.Inthis sense, in order to recover public spaces used improperly and indiscriminately and thereby achieve an adequate territorial ordering, control of visual pollution and avoid affecting the environment, health and property rights of the citizen, as well asthe search for the reestablishment of the principle of authority and thereby optimize the attention and good service to the citizen. ; Escuela de Postgrado
Can we, today, address the citizens' healthcare without talking about his territory ? This seems unbelievable, and the French government has already understood this and to answer to this question has designed and launched the "ARS", which stand for "Healthcare Regional Agency", in order to define and manage healthcare strategy at its own territory level (region). But, before arriving to this conclusion, the healthcare system had to reform itself along four centuries moving from healthcare concept to healthcare system concept. This has been conducted through several reforms from decision makers that had to use quantifiable elements to perform so. Therefore, some specific indicators, called "health deterministic indicators", have been put in place. Then, the sum of all these along the years bring the French government to launch the ARS which are defined within the law called "HPST" standing for Hospital Patient Healthcare and Territory). Now, if we are looking closer to the ARS mission, it clearly appears that they are closely linked to the notion of "sustainable performance" for which it is important to define underneath concepts as "Performance", "sustainable performance" and of course "healthcare sustainable performance". Then, to applied those healthcare sustainable performance principles, the ARS would have to learn how this performance could be increased or decreased based on some specific mechanisms. Therefore, the notions of "risk" and "vulnerability" became key components of such an approach. However, looking forward it appears that the vulnerability has a close link to risk and that the risk is essentially linked to a mismatch between the "offering" and the "demand" or the "needs" of the citizens. Then, by integrating all those aspects, the ARS would became a healthcare sustainable performance for a territory vector, thanks to new governances, a better risk management politic and the usage of performance measures as healthcare expenses for a territory, regulation tool. Based on this it is easy to understand that the ARS will be at the heart of the reform and will have to drive the regional health system. But, and it is true for all sectors (private and public), the management of such a system cannot be done without an accurate information system. Then, the next question is "what is an information system for a health system?" but also, "how to feed this information system in order to let it provide relevant information?" Therefore, to understand this, it is necessary to understand the definition of all existing information system types and their role in the healthcare environment and how the citizen and the patient will take benefits of that. Based on this theory, it is now interesting to better understand the status of the current health information system and why he has failed in his pupil service missions, and that in order to better understand how, through a new ARS governance, it will be possible to have health information system able to reach the sustainable performance goals. The failure notification and the willingness to get the French healthcare system out of this trap is real. However, it is important to notice that to succeed in the mission regarding the information system, it will be necessary to adopt an accurate methodology. But, it is also important to understand that after investigation, no such methodology has been found and it appears necessary to build one in order to satisfy the needs of health professionals, citizens, patients. The final goal being to allows the French health system to reach the health sustainable performance goals by the understanding and the resolution of business pains coming from the citizen requests known and understood at the right time and the right location. It is easy to understand that cannot be done without a better understanding of the human, geographical, politic, social and health environment that could be better handled through new technologies. Therefore, it will be possible to put in place certain of these technologies that will enable this approach by allowing a global access to data or simplifying application integration into complex business processes or providing analysis and permanent traceability tools allowing to take "preventive" decisions (real time) or "corrective" decisions (after past facts analysis) . Everything, of course, being at maximum secured and with maximum integrity guarantee. This thought has bring to the definition of MAEVA methodology which seat in the middle of a particular context composed by actors (health professionals, citizens, politicians, patients, etc.), stimulus (known or unknown meaning handled or not), the health system itself (on which the methodology is applied) and results (benefits for the health system increasing the sustainable performance of the health system). To do so, I has been necessary to build the method in two "layers". The first layer is made of components called "fundamentals" which permit to define the project foundations that has to be implemented by following MAEVA rules. These fundamentals, counted as four (plus one) allow the definition of a global consensus for the project and for the associated community of practice in order to successfully deliver the related project. The "fifth" fundamental allows the rationale to pursue on a new version or to stop the project in its current stage if the necessary condition to continue it are not met. Once these basis have been setup, the method offer the capability to define five actions which will allow to manage the project from the beginning until the final delivery. These actions are: "Integration", allowing the integration of the data sources needed to the project implementation; "Detection", allowing the definition of "actuators" components bringing to a risky situation ; "Anticipation", allowing the definition of self defense mechanisms against the previously mentioned "actuators"; "Action", allowing the realization of the project mission; and at the end, "Evaluation", offering factual elements to analyze project outcomes and provide therefore facts to the fundamental "Decide". All these components are linked within the methodology through two "tools": Iteration, allowing to complete a phases with results coming from an upfront phase; and the Active Memory Zone (ZAM) which is used to be the project memory in order to store traceability data, but also "keep in mind" all taken decisions. This methodology, as defined, hasn't been designed theoretically in few months, but has been the result of real life projects analyze done during the past five years in the area of health system performance. It is also good to know that the MAEVA approach based on consensus will be a great help for the ARS, as they will have, since the beginning, work with people, processes and information coming from diverse horizons that were, until now, more in competition rather than in collaboration mood. But all of this is just about the first version of the methodology and already, due to read publications, it appears that some research works, like "Design Thinking" should be integrated partially or totally in a future "release" of MAEVA. ; Est-il possible, de nos jours, de parler de santé des citoyens sans faire référence au territoire qu'ils occupent ? Ceci est fort peu probable, et le gouvernement français en a pris conscience et pour cela a créé et mis en place les " Agences Régionales de Santé " (ARS) permettant de définir et gérer la stratégie de la santé sur son territoire régional. Mais avant d'en arriver là, le système de santé a dû se réformer, pendant près de quatre siècles, afin d'évoluer du concept de santé au concept de système de santé. De plus, pour mener à bien ces réformes, il a fallut que les différents organismes décideurs puissent s'appuyer sur des éléments concrets, et, de fait, des indicateurs particuliers, appelés " déterminants de santé " ont été mis en place. Ainsi, tout ceci a amené le gouvernement français à créer les ARS organisés autour d'un territoire de santé et dont le cadre légal est défini à travers la loi HPST (Hôpital Patient Santé Territoire). Dès lors, en s'intéressant de plus près à la mission des ARS, il apparait qu'elle est clairement liée à la notion de performance durable, d'où l'importance de définir les concepts sous jacents à savoir : " Performance ", " Performance durable " et bien sur " Performance durable en santé ". Ainsi, pour pouvoir appliquer des principes de performance durable en santé, les ARS vont devoir s'appliquer à comprendre les mécanismes favorisant ou pénalisant une telle performance. Dès lors, les notions de " risque " et de " vulnérabilité " sont devenus des éléments clés d'une telle approche. De fait, en regardant, une fois de plus, d'un peu plus près, il apparait que la vulnérabilité est liée au risque, et que le risque est essentiellement lié à une inadéquation, ou déséquilibre, entre " l'offre " la " demande " et les " besoins " du citoyen. De fait, en intégrant ces éléments, les ARS vont devenir un véritable vecteur de performance durable en santé au niveau d'un territoire, grâce à un nouveau pilotage, à une meilleure gestion des risques et l'utilisation de la mesure de performance comme d'un outil de régulation des dépenses de santé sur le dit territoire. De part ces propos, on comprend bien que les ARS vont être au cœur de la réforme et du pilotage du système de santé en région. Or, et cela est vrai dans tous les secteurs (aussi bien privés que publics), la gestion d'un tel système ne peux s'effectuer sans un système d'information adapté. Ainsi va se poser la question de ce qu'est un système d'information pour un système de santé, mais aussi comment faire en sorte que ce système d'information consomme et produise des informations de qualité. De fait, et pour mieux comprendre tout cela, il est nécessaire d'appréhender la définition de tous les types de systèmes d'information existants, mais aussi leurs rôles dans le domaine de la santé et comment cela va bénéficier au citoyen et patient. Fort de cette approche théorique, il est maintenant intéressant de s'attarder sur l'état du système d'information en santé, et de comprendre pourquoi, en l'état actuel, il a échoué dans sa mission de service public, et ce afin de mieux comprendre comment à travers la nouvelle gouvernance des ARS, il sera possible d'avoir un système d'information en santé permettant d'atteindre des objectifs de performance durable. Le constat d'échec, ainsi que la volonté de sortir le système de santé français de l'ornière dans laquelle elle s'est enfoncée est réel. Cependant, force est de constater que pour mener à bien cette mission, et notamment en regard des systèmes d'information, il sera nécessaire d'utiliser une méthodologie adaptée. Or, après investigation, il apparait qu'une telle méthode ou approche n'existe pas, d'où la nécessité d'en définir une nouvelle, afin de satisfaire les besoins des professionnels de la santé, des citoyens et patients, et ce pour permettre au système de santé français d'atteindre des objectifs de performance durable en santé par la compréhension et la résolution de problèmes métiers issue de la demande, connue et comprise en temps et en lieu, des citoyens. Il est clair que ceci ne peut se réaliser que par une meilleure compréhension de l'environnement humain, géographique, politique, social et médical qui peut mieux être appréhendé au travers des nouvelles technologies. Ainsi, il sera possible de mettre en œuvre un certain nombre de ces technologies facilitant cette approche, soit en garantissant un accès global aux données, soit en simplifiant l'intégration d'applicatifs au sein d'un processus métier complexe, soit en fournissant des outils d'analyse et d'audit permettant des prises de décision " préventives " (temps réel) ou " correctives " (après analyse des faits passés). Le tout, évidemment, en garantissant un niveau de sécurité et d'intégrité maximum. Ainsi, cette réflexion a amené à la définition de la méthode MAEVA qui se situe au milieu d'un contexte bien particulier, composé d'acteurs (professionnels, citoyens, politiques, patients, etc.), de perturbants (connus ou inconnus, donc maitrisés ou non), du système de santé en soit (sur lequel la méthode s'applique) et des résultantes (résultat de la méthode appliquée sur l'accroissement de la performance du système de santé). Pour se faire, il a été nécessaire de bâtir la méthode en deux " couches ". La première couche, composée d'éléments appelés " fondamentaux ", permet de définir les fondations du projet à implémenter selon MAEVA. Ces fondamentaux, au nombre de quatre (plus un), permettent de définir un consensus global, pour le projet et pour la communauté de pratique associée afin de mener à bien ce projet. Le " cinquième " fondamental permettant lui de définir les éléments de poursuite vers une nouvelle version ou d'arrêt du projet si les conditions nécessaires ne sont pas atteintes pour reconduire une nouvelle version du projet. Une fois ces fondements posés, la méthode offre la possibilité de définir cinq actions qui vont permettre de gérer le projet du début à la fin. Il s'agit de : " l'Intégration ", qui permet d'intégrer les sources de données nécessaires à la réalisation du projet ; la " Détection ", qui permet de définir les éléments " déclencheurs " amenant à des situations à risque ; " l'Anticipation ", qui permet de définir des mécanismes d'auto défense vis-à-vis des " déclencheurs " ; " l'Action ", qui permet de réaliser la mission pour laquelle le projet a été défini, et enfin " l'Evaluation " qui va offrir les éléments pour analyser le projet et de fait fournir des éléments factuels au fondamental " Décider ". Tout ces éléments, étant relié au sein de la méthode à travers deux " outils " : l'itération, qui permet de compléter une phase amont avec des éléments issus d'une phase aval ; et la Zone Active de Mémorisation (ZAM) qui sert de mémoire au projet et permet non seulement d'entreposer des données de traçabilité, mais aussi de garder la mémoire des décisions prises. Cette méthode ainsi définie n'a pas été établie de façon théorique en quelques mois, mais a été issu de l'analyse d'expériences vécues au fil de cinq ans de labeur dans le domaine de la performance du système de santé. Il est à noter que l'approche consensuelle proposée par MAEVA sera d'une grande utilité pour les ARS qui vont devoir, dès le début de leur existence, travailler avec du personnel, des processus et des informations issus de divers horizons jusqu'à présent plutôt compétitifs que collaboratifs. Mais tout ceci ne constitue que la première version de la méthode, et déjà, compte tenu des publications lues ces derniers temps, il est apparut que certains travaux de recherche tels que le " Design Thinking " devraient pouvoir être intégrés partiellement ou totalement dans une prochaine " release " de MAEVA.
MENTAL BULLYING AND ITS IMPACT TO VICTORIA DAWSON IN DANIELLE STEEL'S BIG GIRL Karina Rachmawati English Literature, Faculty of Languages and Arts, Surabaya State University rahmakarina92@gmail.com Prof. Dr. FD Kurnia, M.Pd. English Department, Faculty of Languages and Arts, Surabaya State University Abstrak Novel Big Girl adalah novel Danielle Steel yang mempunyai tema Mental Bullying dalam penulisannya. Victoria Dawson mental bullying menjadi topic utama dalam penelitian ini. Dengan demikian penelitian ini berfokus pada tiga masalah utama (1) Mental Bullying seperti apa yang dialami oleh Victoria Dawson dalam novel Big Girl oleh Danielle Steel (2) Penyebab Victoria Dawson Mental Bullying dalam novel Big Girl oleh Danielle Steel (3) Dampak Victoria Dawson Mental Bullying dalam novel Big Girl oleh Danielle Steel. Data dari tesis ini diambil dari novel sebagai sumber utama dan membaca intensif untuk langkah analisis berikutnya. Untuk menjawab semua masalah, penelitian ini menggunakan teori Psychology of Bullying untuk menggambarkan Mental Bullying, Penyebab dan Dampaknya. Penelitian kepustakaan digunakan untuk data yang dibutuhkan perguruan tinggi. analisis yang digunakan untuk menganalisis data yang dikumpulkan berdasarkan teori. Deskripsi digunakan untuk menjelaskan hasil analisis. Setelah melalui analisis yang panjang dengan menggunakan tiga macam metode di atas,Ditemukan bahwa mental bullying membawa dampak buruk bagi korban bullying karena menggunakan kata kata dan emosi untuk menghina seseorang. Korban mental bullying mengalami depresi, merasa takut, dan merasa kesepian untuk bergaul dengan orang lain dan sebagian besar dari mereka tidak mempunyai teman. Kata kunci: Bullying, Mental Bullying, Insult Abstract Big Girl is Danielle steel's novel which has Mental Bullying themes she writes on throughout her work. Victoria Dawson mental bullying has become the main topic of this study. Thus this study focuses on three major problems, (1) What mental bullying is experienced by Victoria Dawson in Danielle Steel's Big Girl, (2) What are the causes of Victoria Dawson mental bullying in Danielle Steel's Big Girl, and (3) What are the impacts of Victoria Dawson mental bullying in Danielle Steel's Big Girl. The data of the thesis is taken from the novel as the main source and intensive reading to next step of analysis. To answer the all problems, this study is using Psychology of Bullying Theory to depict the mental bullying, causes and impacts. This study also used library research, analysis and description. Library research is used to college data needed. An analysis is used to analyze the collected data based on the theories. Description is used to describe the result of analysis. After getting through long analysis by using three kinds of method above, it finds out that mental bullying bring bad impacts to victim of bullying because using words and emotions to insult someone. The mental victims of bullying are depressed, always feeling afraid and feel lonely to associate with other people and most of them has not a friend. Key words: Bullying, Mental Bullying, Insult. INTRODUCTION Many people may probably had problems. One of their problems related with psychological. Psychology term is a thing that can not be separated far from human life. Psychology terms have touched all of the aspect about human life. Everything about human life's conflict has always touched the deepest side of human's psychology condition. There must be something that related to the psychology. When somebody gets the hurt from anything, there is always a big possibility of one who get the messy thing in his mind; it could influence his internal condition such as his way of thinking, his emotional reaction, etc. For the most serious effect, they might get the trauma and also the death of somebody because they can not control the internal conflict inside their soul. One of psychological experiences in this paper is Bullying. Bullying is a serious issue that is faced by many people, and can leave a people to live in complete fear. Bullying it self mean typically a form of repeated, persistent and aggressive behaviour directed at an individual or individuals that is intended to cause (or should be known to cause) fear and distress and/or harm to another person's body, feelings, self-esteem or reputation. Bullying occurs in a context where there is a real or perceivedpower imbalance. Bullying is the use of force to intimidate someone. It can happen to anyone, anywhere and any time. It can come from a single person or a group. Bullying can be delivered verbally or in some extreme cases physically where the victim suffers actual bodily harm. Bullying behavior can be direct or indirect bullying. Direct bullying behaviors (overt) involve behaviors that are observable and that are usually expressed by physical and verbal means. Usually direct bullying involves relatively open attacks on a victim and are "in front of your face" behaviors. However, bullying behavior is not always hitting, kicking, teasing, or name calling. Children who bully others may use subversive acts that hurt just as much, but are harder to detect. Indirect bullying is related with Mental Bullying. This bullying practice occurs secretly and in the outside of our monitoring radar. Examples of indirect bullying are leaving others out on purpose, spreading rumours to destroy another's reputation or getting others to dislike another person, a cynical viewing, public humiliating, isolating, humiliating, accusing, gossiping, slandering, snapping, glaring and pouting. This is covert bullying or "behind your face" behaviours. Bullying is not just a childhood problem: it extends to adulthood, the boardroom, shop floor and the dysfunctional family. (Beane, 2003:6). It can be concluded that bullying related with mental abuse, also known as mental bullying. Mental Bullying can occur in close relationships, including parent/child relationships, marital relationships or sibling relationships. Mental bullying causes damage in the victim as she is made to believe she is worthless and at fault. Mental bullying is particularly harmful on children because of the impact it has on developing self-esteem and patterns relating to others. As mentioned above, one of the novels deals with theme Mental Bullying is Big Girl, because this study will describe about Victoria Dawson mental bullying is the main topic of Big Girl, because it's interesting for discussed through topic. Victoria Dawson experienced mental bullying when the firstborn child, she grows up out of place in her family because of her fair hair and thicker build. While the rest of her family is dark haired and thin, Victoria is blond, blue-eyed and according to her father, has his grandmother's 'big' build. Victoria puts up with her father's thinly-veiled barbs while her mother constantly drops weight remarks. Meanwhile her parents dote on the younger sister Grace, as she is beautiful and thin. In accordance of background study above, it can be simplify to discuss among three problems that emerge as significant concern toward this novel. 1. What mental bullying is experienced by Victoria Dawson in Danielle Steel's Big Girl? 2. What are the causes of Victoria Dawson mental bullying in Danielle Steel's Big Girl? 3. What are the impacts of Victoria Dawson mental bullying in Danielle Steel's Big Girl? This study will uses Psychology of Bullying theory in order to answer the question in the statement of the problems, this study tries applying theory as the base of analysis this theory is: Psychology of bullying to analyze about Victoria Dawson Mental Bullying in Danielle Steel's Big Girl. The first problem is what mental bullying is experienced by Victoria Dawson in Danielle Steel's Big Girl. This statement will use Psychology of bullying theory. with several kinds of mental bullying are; public humiliating, isolating, accusing, gossiping, slandering, snapping, embarrassed, humiliated and condescended. But of the several kinds mental bullying that have been mentioned above, which includes kinds of mental bullying that occurred and depicted to Victoria mental bullying are humiliation; embarrassed and condescended. Then the second is what are the causes of Victoria Dawson mental bullying in Danielle Steel's Big Girl. This statement will use Psychology of Bullying theory. The causes of Victoria Dawson mental bullying its come from Family factor, There are two causes that made Victoria experienced Mental Bullying from family factor; Narcissistic her parents and Being Different from her Family. And the last is What are the impacts of Victoria Dawson mental bullying in Danielle Steel's Big Girl. This statement will use Psychology of Bullying theory. The impacts of Victoria Dawson mental bullying its she feel sadness and self esteem which is there are three impacts because of Victoria feel sadness and self esteem; Search for Self Identity to New York, Struggle from her Body Image, and See a Psychiatrist. RESEARCH METHOD This thesis is regarded as a descriptive-qualitative study and use a library research. Therefore, the data will not be in number. The descriptive method of his study can be elaborated as follows. The main source of the study is taking from Danielle steel novel entitled Big Girl by Danielle steel, is an American novelist who is currently the bestselling author alive and the fourth bestselling author of all time, with over 800 million copies sold. Based in California for most of her career, Steel has produced several books a year, often juggling up to five projects at once, all her novels have been bestsellers, including those issued in hardback. Big Girl published by Delacorte Press on February 23, 2010. In analyzing the data, a descriptive qualitative method was applied. The data mostly got from library research. The data consist of the main data and additional data. The main data are collected or taken from Danielle Steel's Big Girl in the form of quotations, comments on the events and action related with the issue that is Victoria Dawson mental bullying, the causes and the Impacts of Victoria Dawson mental bullying in Big Girl. The supporting data are taking from many sources such as articles, reference books, journals, magazines, internet sources that are relevant with the topic and other related sources. Then the data are collected, clarified, analyzed and made a conclusion. To assist and strengthen the data will be analyze; Victoria Dawson mental bullying in Danielle Steel's Big Girl used Psychology of bullying, the causes and the impacts of Victoria Dawson mental bullying. Overall, those concepts are relating with the Victoria characterization in her life. This study contains four chapters. The first chapter is about introduction consist of background of the study, statement of the problem, purpose of the study, significance of the study, limitation of the study, research method and organization of the study. The second chapter is Review related of literature; consist of Psychology of bullying, Victoria Dawson mental bullying, the causes and the impacts of Victoria Dawson mental bullying, and paradigm of analysis. The third chapter is analysis about the novel Big Girl. The fourth or the last chapter in this study is conclusion of the analysis. This study encloses appendices: the biography of Danielle Steel and the synopsis of Big Girl. ANALYSIS Which the theories that are state in the previous chapter are used as a guide to accomplish it. This analysis will divided into several sub chapters. The first part in this chapter is about the Mental Bullying is experienced by Victoria Dawson in Danielle Steel's "Big Girl". The second part is about the causes of Victoria Dawson mental bullying and the last chapter about the impacts of Victoria Dawson mental bullying in the novel. Victoria Dawson Mental Bullying Bullying is emotional negative action performed against others who have traits that differ from other large groups, for example, of different races, shapes hair, skin color and so on. Bullying can be emotional done by cursing or acting intentionally using motion - a particular movement aimed to insult. (Elliot , 2005:2). One of kind bullying is related with mental abuse, and usually called with mental bullying. According to Sejiwa, (2007:2) mental bullying is a type of bullying. It is one of the most hurtful types of bullying. It is the act of using words and emotions to hurt someone. Mental bullying has two types, Verbal and Emotional. In this part it will discuss about Victoria Dawson mental bullying. To depict Victoria mental bullying, it uses Psychology of Bullying theory, with several kinds of mental bullying are; public humiliating, isolating, accusing, gossiping, slandering, snapping, embarrassed, humiliated and condescended. But of the several kinds mental bullying that have been mentioned above, which includes kinds of mental bullying that occurred and depicted to Victoria mental bullying are: Humiliation Humiliation is a kind of mental bullying that depicted to Victoria Dawson mental bullying. Big Girl tells about Victoria Dawson as the main character, she experienced mental bullying from her parents and people around her because different physical appearance than her family. Victoria parents were born from perfect physical appearance. Her father, mother and sister have the same appearance, but Victoria was different. When Victoria was a child, she experienced mental bullying from people around her and especially from her parents. In Victoria Dawson mental bullying is found quotations to depicted humiliation as kind of mental bullying. Victoria Dawson is an outcast in her own family, the round peg in a family of square holes. It is precisely her roundness that marks her as an outsider. Chubby, blond and blue-eyed in a family of slim, dark stunners, she is the daughter whom her father called "the tester cake," before getting the recipe right with younger daughter Gracie. When Victoria had a sister, Grace born with perfect physique appearance and Victoria parents satisfied with grace born. Jim always said to Victoria that she was a little tester cake. It can be seen from the quotation here: "I guess you were our little tester cake," he said, "This time we got the recipe just right," he commented happily." (p. 20) The quotation shows that Victoria is tester cake for her parent, because Victoria did not have beautiful appearance liked her parents. It made Victoria suddenly terrified that because Grace had come out so perfectly, maybe they would throw her away. She thought of what her father had said then about her being the tester cake, and wondered if it was true. Maybe they had only had her to make sure they got it right with Grace. And by then, her father still regularly teased her about being their "tester cake." Victoria knew exactly what that meant, that Grace was beautiful and she wasn't, and they had gotten it right the second time around. And her father always introduced Victoria to a business associate as his tester cake, but he also said he as proud of her, more than once, which surprised Victoria, since she never really thought that her father was proud of her. Embarrassed Embarrassed is also a kind of mental bullying that depicted to Victoria Dawson mental bullying. embarrassed occurs to others who have traits that differ from other groups or society, for example, of different races, shapes hair, skin color and so on. In this novel Victoria Dawson embarrassed by her parents and society because she had different physical appearance from her parents, she was a blond-haired, blue-eyed, chubby little girl; the complete opposite of her tall, slim, and beautiful parents. She resembled her paternal great-grandmother. She was viewed as a disappointment to her parents. Her father always referred as Queen Victoria. It can be seen from quotation here: "Jim always commented that she'd been named for Queen Victoria, whom she looked like, and then laughed heartily. It became his own favorite joke about the baby, which he was more than willing to share." (p. 10) From the quotation above, the reader know that Jim, he had perfect appearances unsatisfied with his child, Victoria. He always said that Victoria looked like Queen Victoria because she had bad appearance. And it is became his own favorite joke and he liked to share with other people. He reveals unsatisfied feeling to Victoria used jokes that made Victoria feel sad. Condescended And the last kind of mental bullying besides humiliation and embarrassed that depicted to Victoria Dawson mental bullying is condescended. Nobody likes to be condescended; when condescending person is increased endlessly it would make someone feel frustrating, annoying and humiliating. In this novel Victoria parents condescending Victoria about her physical appearance and her job and some quotations will be explained about Victoria condescending. When Victoria decided moves to New York and she want become a teacher, Victoria's choice of profession was also a source of displeasure for her father and he often told her she could do better. Victoria was a teacher for high school seniors in a prestigious private school in New York City. Instead of being proud of her as he should, her father constantly reminded her that she should get a "real job" in the business world. However, Victoria loved what she was doing and feels a true calling to be a teacher. All he had to say was that it was the wrong job in the wrong city; he usually condescended about her job because she can be poor. "You don't want to be poor for the rest of your life, do you? He said with a look of condescended." (p. 128) From the quotation above, when Victoria announced she wanted to be a teacher, her father pressures her to join him in advertising because that is where she'll earn the most money. Her father did not agree with her decision, now, her father not only insult Victoria about her physical but also condescending about her job. Tracing the quotation above, Jim refused Victoria become a teacher, he did not sure that Victoria afford to be a teacher, and he contempt that become a teacher made she to be poor and Jim did not want to subsidize Victoria. The Causes of Victoria Dawson Mental Bullying Olweus, (2004) explained that family, especially the Parents is an important factor that has a strong influence on the development of Bullying than the environments. Ahmed and Braithwaite, (2004:36) also state that family is the most influential factor in determining a person's involvement in bullying behavior. The family is the primary socializing place for children; families also have an important role in shaping a child's behavior. In the novel Big Girl, Victoria Dawson is a 6-year-old girl; for the first, she experienced mental bullying from her family when she was born And from people around her because she was a chubby little girl with blond hair, blue eyes, and ordinary looks. Victoria Dawson mental bullying occurs from family factor and there are two causes that made Victoria experienced Mental Bullying from family factor; Narcissistic her parents and Being Different from her Family. Narcissistic her parents A narcissist always hopes that people will respect himself in any situation, on other hand a narcissistic does not want to admit people's greatness but always envies someone else who seems smarter, more handsome or more successful. A narcissistic tries to impede the perception of real condition so that everything which is just belonging to one's self is highly valued and everything that belonging to another is devalued (Feist , 2002). From the explanation about Narcissistic above, the readers know about definition of narcissistic. And this one of the example causes Victoria Dawson mental bullying from family factor. In "Big Girl" Victoria Dawson is the main female character who received mental bullying because of narcissistic her parents. When Victoria twenty two years old, she go to North-western. Then she moved to New York and become an English teacher. And it made her father looked annoyed, to him; it was not even a job. He kept telling her to get a "real" job for decent money, but Victoria refused her father decisions, she still wanted to be a teacher. It can be seen from the quotation here: "I don't want to work in advertising," she said firmly. "I want to be a teacher." It was the thousandth time she'd said it to him." (p. 129) From the quotation above, we know that Victoria wanted to be a teacher, her parents belittle and mock her throughout, he disagrees with her decisions, her father forced Victoria to work in advertising because he had opinion that Victoria can not live from teacher's salaries. Her father said that Victoria can get precious job than become a teacher, she could be making three or four times what they pay to her, at any advertising agency or in any company. Jim disapproving about Victoria decisions work to private school in New York. The conclusion that Victoria parents is a narcissistic people, they just looked from handsome or beautiful and more successful perceptions and did not care with her child opinions. Quotation above explained that Victoria sister was married to a rich man was going to be a perfect complement to her father narcissism. With her ring on her finger, Grace had become a trophy proof of his success as a father, that he raised a daughter who could marry a rich man. And it made Grace no had voice and no opinions. Gracie bought into a lot of it, their lifestyle, their opinions, their politics, and their philosophies about life. Narcissistic her parents is the causes Victoria experienced mental bullying from her parents. Being Different from her family Being different from her family is the other example of causes mental bullying from family factor that Victoria experienced. Victoria Dawson is a main female character in "Big Girl" she was born from perfect physical appearance; Jim Dawson (Victoria father) was handsome from the day he was born. . He was tall for his age, had a perfect physical. Christine Dawson (Victoria Mother) she was petite and slim with hair and eyes as dark as his, and skin like Snow White. And Grace (Victoria Sister) she really a pretty girl like her mother. When she was a year old, she grew into a beautiful baby, Grace and her parents have the same appearance but Victoria was different from her family. She was naturally a big girl, liked her paternal great-grandmother, and her breasts made her like heavier. She had an hourglass figure that would have worked well in another era. It can be seen from the quotation here: "Victoria was different; she had a square look to her, a bigger frame, and broad shoulders for a child." (p. 28) From the quotation above, Victoria was born different with her family, both her parents and grace had thin frames, her father was tall and her mother and the baby were delicate and fine boned and had small frames. Grace and her parent have the same appearance, Victoria was different, and she look liked her grand mother that has big body. Victoria always become mockery from people around her, in her school, the teacher also mocked Victoria about her physical, Victoria feel that she really born different from her family. We can take conclusion that Victoria always feel that she was the galoshes because she had big body and she did not same with her family, her parent and sister are thin. And they like an apple, orange and banana but Victoria was always galoshes in her family and it is causes that made Victoria experienced mental bullying from her parent and people around her. The Impacts of Victoria Dawson mental bullying Bullying is a major social problem that can have serious effects on the wellbeing of young people. Many studies have suggested that greater frequency and severity of bullying is associated with poorer psychological wellbeing and with adjustment problems in later life. Difficulties later in life, such as family or workplace violence, may be more likely if the person is a bully- victim. Of the several impact of mental bullying that has been mentioned in review of related literature, which include that impacts of mental bullying that occurs in the character of Victoria is she feel sadness and self esteem. Victoria feel Sadness and self esteem; sadness is different to depression, as when people feel sad the feelings often pass in time but with depression they might not. Bullying can make people feel sad and lead to depression. People who are bullied are at more risk of depression and suicide attempts than those who are not being bullied. And Self esteem is Bullies often attack victims self esteem through verbal harassment and social exclusion. Individuals who are consistently berated and excluded by bullies may begin to believe that the bully's personal insults are true. (http://bullyingendshere.ca/EFFECTS_OF_BULLYING.html). When Victoria child, she experienced mental bullying especially from her parents. Victoria parents always embarrassed; humiliation; and condescending Victoria. In her society, Victoria also get name calling from people around her. And it made Victoria feel sadness and undermined her self-esteem, which is there are three impacts because of Victoria feel sadness and self esteem are: Search for self identity to New York Search for self identity to New York is an example from the impacts of Victoria Dawson feel sadness. Victoria Dawson always experienced mental bullying from people around her, because physical appearance. She had different physical appearance from her parent. Because her parents and people around her embarrassed, gossiping and give name calling to Victoria about physical appearance, Victoria feel suppressed and unwelcome they had made her feel for so long. Gracie was liked their only Child and she feel like the family stray dog. She did not even look like them, and she could not take it anymore. Growing up being the 'tester cake' is not easy, and even though Victoria is intelligent and ambitious, she is constantly reminded that men did not want smart girls. When Victoria finally moved out to go to college, each visit to her parents results in her dad's teasing and her mother weight-related questions. At least with her new life in New York, where Victoria is soon to be employed as a teacher, she can escaped from her family and finally start a new life in which she is accepted as who she is. Gracie had parents who worshipped and adored her, and supported her every move and decision. That was heady stuff. And she had no reason to rebel against them, or even separate from them. She did everything their father thought she should. He was her idol. And Victoria had parents who ignored her, ridiculed her, and never approved of a single move she made. Victoria had good reason to moved far away "She was willing to push herself out of her comfort zone if it meant finding herself at last, and the place where she belonged. All she knew now was that it wasn't here, with them. No matter how hard she had tried, she just wasn't like them." (p.62) Victoria leaved her cruel family in Los Angeles to become an English teacher at one of Manhattan's swankest private high schools. From the quotation above, we know that Victoria wanted to push herself out of her comfort zone, to finding herself, because they always made fun of her and diminished and dismissed her. They always made her feel unwanted and not really good enough for them. So she decided to become an English teacher at New York. The conclusion from analysis about Search for self identity to New York is Victoria decided to move to New York to fulfill her dreams and escape her family. She ready to start her new life in which she is accepted as who she is. And though her new life is exciting, the old temptations remain, and she continues to wage war with the scales. Victoria struggles to find a life far from the hurt and neglect of her childhood, the damage created by her parents, the courage to find freedom, and become who she really is at last. Struggle from her Body Image Struggle from her body image is a second example of the impacts Victoria Dawson experienced mental bullying. That makes Big Girl fascinating is how it chronicles Victoria struggles with her weight. Victoria becomes known as their tester cake, an experiment allowing them to get the recipe right the second time. She receives years of put-downs from her narcissistic father, and her mother ignores the comments, often adding her own advice as to how Victoria could make more of her looks and maybe someday get a man. The main character, Victoria, struggles with her weight, body image and self-esteem from childhood. Her parents frequently criticize her and favor her younger, thinner sister. As a consequence, Victoria constantly battles her weight, trying different diets and exercise programs, only to slide back into comfort eating when her parents upset her. It can be seen from the quotation here: "The summer before Victoria entered high school she went on her first diet, she had seen an ad for an herbal tea in the back of a magazine, and sent away for it with her allowance. The ad said that it was guaranteed to make her lose ten pounds, and she wanted to enter high school looking thinner and more sophisticated than she had in middle school." (p. 34) From the quotation above we know that Victoria Dawson had a big body and she unsatisfied with her body and she felt sad. So, she went on her first diet, she want looking thin and more sophisticated likes Victoria's sister Grace, the beautiful anger and the perfect replica of her parents is at the center of attraction in this family. We can take the conclusion that Victoria really wants struggles with her weight, Victoria parents frequently criticize her about her weight, and Victoria constantly battles her weight. Victoria really wants to look thin and reflected her family, so she did everything possible in order to lose her weight. She attempting diets, failing diets, trying at the gym, putting the weight back on, and getting therapy and surgery her nose. Finally, she gets a nose job to increase her self-worth. See a Psychiatrist People who bully others may also benefit from therapy, though they may be reluctant to acknowledge their bullying behavior openly. In therapy, bullies may begin to understand the impact their hurtful behavior has on others, explore reasons for why they bully, learn new skills for communicating positively with others, and/or address personal experiences that may have contributed to their bullying behavior. Often bullies have unresolved personal wounds that contribute to their bullying behavior, and addressing these emotional wounds or identity/social issues in therapy can be an integral step towards stopping bullying behavior. (http://www.goodtherapy.org/therapy-forbullying.html). And the last example of the impacts Victoria experienced mental bullying is she see a psychiatrist. "Big Girl" tells the story about a young woman who has been made to feel different because she does not look like her family all her life. Victoria Dawson was considered too big boned and heavy in her family and for most of her life, she was made to feel different and inadequate. She was also made to feel unloved, unlovable, and ugly. Her parents were of a different time and were very narcissistic. Her father was the kind of man who would make comments about something but make it out to be a joke, but the comments, even though joking, her mother was not much better and followed along with whatever her husband did and said. And it is hurt and would make Victoria feel like she was worth nothing for many years. When she got back to New York, she was disheartened by the things her parents had said, and the weight she had put back on, and because Harlan suggestion she see a psychiatrist. At the first time Victoria meet the psychiatrist, she asked few details about Victoria and her family background. It can be seen from quotation here: "She asked Victoria a few details about where she had grown up, where she had gone to school, and college, how many siblings she had and if her parents were still married or divorced." (p.234) From the quotation above, we know that Victoria really see a psychiatrist because suggestion from Harlan. Although in the beginning she feel agonized and afraid, she afraid if the women discovered that she was crazy. When she asked few details about Victoria, all the question is easy to answer for Victoria, especially when she answered the question about Grace, Victoria lit up like a light bulb when she answered the question about having a sibling, and then described her and how beautiful she was. From analysis about see a psychiatrist, we can take the conclusion that Victoria feel sadness and father joke is hurt her heart. So, she see a psychiatrist because Harlan suggestion. And after she sees a psychiatrist she feels free than before, she had been entirely open and honest with her. She had a feeling that she had opened a door that afternoon and let the light into the dark corners of her heart. CONCLUSION The conclusion is divided into two in This Study is about the main female character, Victoria Dawson from the novel "Big Girl" based on the statement of the problem. In analyzing the character, this study uses Psychology of Bullying theory. There are three statements of problem; What mental bullying is experienced by Victoria Dawson in Danielle Steel's Big Girl, What are the causes of Victoria Dawson mental bullying in Danielle Steel's Big Girl and What are the impacts of Victoria Dawson mental bullying in Danielle Steel's Big Girl. Those questions have been answered in the analysis. Victoria Dawson mental bullying is the main topic has been explained detail based on the theory above. As explained in the review of related literature there are several kind of mental bullying, But of the several kinds mental bullying that have been mentioned, which includes the kinds of mental bullying that depicted to Victoria Dawson mental bullying are; Humiliation, Embarrassed and Condescended. And the first explanation has used those three kinds of mental bullying to analyzing Victoria Mental Bullying. As seen in the novel, Victoria Dawson as the main character, she experienced mental bullying from her parents and people around her because different physical appearance than her family. Victoria parents were born from perfect physical appearance. Her father, mother and sister have the same appearance, but Victoria was different. When Victoria was a child, she experienced mental bullying from people around her and especially from her parents and three kind of mental bullying that have been mentioned its occurs to Victoria Dawson. In the second explanation, this study discusses about the causes of Victoria Dawson mental bullying. The causes of Victoria Dawson mental bullying its come from Family factor, There are two causes that made Victoria experienced Mental Bullying from family factor; Narcissistic her parents and Being Different from her Family. Victoria Dawson is a 6-year-old girl; for the first, she experienced mental bullying from her family when she was born And from people around her because she was a chubby little girl with blond hair, blue eyes, and ordinary looks, Victoria Dawson has always felt out of place in her family, because narcissistic her parents and she was being different from her family especially in body-conscious. And the last explanation discusses about the Impact of Victoria Dawson Mental Bullying. The impacts of Victoria Dawson mental bullying its she feel sadness and self esteem which is there are three impacts because of Victoria feel sadness and self esteem; Search for Self Identity to New York, Struggle from her Body Image, and See a Psychiatrist. Mental Bullying that Victoria experienced from her parents and people around her brings many impacts to Victoria, She feel sad, not confident and lonely. So, she decided to search self identity to New York, Struggle from her body and See a Psychiatrist to fulfil her dream, raised her self esteem and wants to look thin and reflected with her family. REFERENCE Ahmed, E. & Braithwaite, V. (2004). Bullying and Victimization. Causes of Concern for Both Families and Schools. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Beane, A. (1999). Facts about bullies/victims and preventive advice. United States: Free Spirit Publishing Inc. Beane Allan L., Ph.D. (2003). Bully Free Program. Helpful Fact Sheets for Parents. United States: Free Spirit Publishing Inc. DeHaan, Laura Ph.D. (2009). Bullies. United States: NDSU. Elliot, Michele. (2005). Bullying Wise Guides. New York: Hodder Children's Books. Feist, Jess, and Gregory J. Feist. (2002). Theories of Personality 5th ed. Boston: MC Graw Hall. Olweus, Dan. (1993). Bullying at School. What we know and what we can do. London: Blackwell Publishing. Olweus, Dan. (2004). Bullying at School. London: Blackwell Publishing. Sejiwa. (2007). Bullying panduan bagi orang tua dan guru. Jakarta: Grasindo. Steel, Daniell. (2010). Big Girl. United States: Delacorte Press Publisher. Sullivan, Keith. (2000). The Anti Bullying Handbook. London: Oxford University. Internet Source: (http: Bullyingendshere.ca/ Effect of Bullying. Html) Accessed in 14th 2013 (http: Selfishness and Narcissism in Family Relationships - article by Dr. Lynne Namka.html) Accessed in February 2013 (http: Goodtherapy.org) Accessed in 12th 2013 (http: What causes bullying.html) Accessed in 11th 2014
Having reached the mark of 2,118 delegates, Barack Obama has gone from candidate in the closest head-to-head primary ever to presumptive nominee. Appropriately, he will accept the nomination at the August convention in Denver, on the 45th anniversary of Martin Luther King's "I have a dream" speech. This is political history in the making: he is the first African-American to be the head of the presidential ticket of a major party. After years of angst and self doubt, there is a renewed optimism on the street, and a whole new group of voters has been mobilized. However, Obama, who has run on a message of hope and change, faces an extremely difficult path ahead. His vulnerabilities have become apparent in the succession of events over the last few weeks of this long primary season.He lost nine of the last fourteen primaries, including South Dakota, where he was favored (55% to 45%), and Puerto Rico (68% to 42%); he has had to cut ties with his Church due to its radicalism and anti-establishment stance, and, one day after Obama claimed the nomination, one of his top fund-raisers was found guilty of wire fraud and money laundering in a federal court in Chicago. Now his campaign will have to overcome this dry patch and move forward to the greater challenge, that of defeating McCain. His next task at hand is to choose a vice-president, and this, too, poses a serious dilemma.In the first place, Hillary Rodham-Clinton took five days to acknowledge defeat, giving cause for some speculation that she is pressing for the vice-presidential spot with the implied threat that she will continue fighting all the way to the convention. She has the right to do so, if we consider the fact that she has won all of the big states and probably a larger number of the popular vote (around 18 million). And, as she not so humbly claims, she is the more experienced candidate who could better stand up to McCain. On the other hand, there is great concern that Barack's image as the unconventional, charismatic, post-modern Washington outsider will be damaged if he chooses her. So the decision will require reflection, pondering and a lot of vetting interviews of alternative candidates.Much ink will be spent in speculating why Hillary lost the primary. Here, I will just offer a few reflections, leaving the second guessing of the way her campaign was run to those who will manically analyze every decision taken, every tactic used, every gesture, every word, and will have their eureka moments when finding the flaw, the error, the underestimation that brought her down. And yet, quite often fate, luck and other imponderables irrevocably determine the outcome of a narrow race, regardless of the brilliant strategies of the campaign managers, advisers and other experts. It has already been said that Rodham Clinton started her campaign as the inevitable candidate, as the incumbent, and that her sense of entitlement turned many voters away. At the same time, her main message was one of change, of moving forward, of undoing the Bush legacy, but Obama co-opted that message, and he was much more convincing as an agent of change. Hillary began her campaign running not as a woman, but as the most hardened and experienced, candidate that would deliver both peace and prosperity to all Americans. Obama ran from the beginning as the post-racial candidate and this theme remained constant throughout his campaign. She was trying to woo independents and disaffected Republicans and had thus to prove that she was as tough as John McCain. Obama had no intention of treading down that path, which he derided as part of the Washington game. Instead, he stuck fearlessly to his convictions. It was this independent streak, his absolute confidence in the soundness of his cool, post-modern world vision that was irresistible to the young voters. This should not obfuscate the fact that both ran historic campaigns and have unremittingly shattered the barriers of gender and race in American politics at the highest level. Still, the promise of change was more credible when pledged by the young unknown than by the seasoned insider. With no substantial philosophical differences between the two, the richer contrast was all inspiration and charisma versus politics as usual.First of all, we need to consider a fundamental fact: even if the media and their respective campaigns have played up the differences between the two candidates, their basic policy choices and ideologies are one and the same. From health care to fiscal policy, from education to foreign policy, there may be some minimal disagreements but they both share the basic ideology of more equitable economic distribution, protection of civil rights and overall tolerance toward others that typify Democrats in the United States. Some observers may bring up Hillary's vote in favor of the Iraqi invasion of 2003 as evidence of an important disagreement, and also a cause of her loss of popularity in the early stages of the campaign. That certainly did her harm, which is ironic because, in academic and political circles alike, few believe it represents her real conviction. As a Senator for New York and a future presidential candidate, she carefully chose to vote in favor of a war that, in October 2002, had a high rate of approval among the population, who had clearly bought the Republican idea that the invasion "over there" would make us safer "over here". At the time, she hedged that gamble against the fact that "there was enough evidence" Saddam was piling up WMDs, which had little to do with 9-11 and Al Qaeda. But a scared populace is an easy target for deception and false reassurances. Intent on proving her masculine toughness on security issues, she fell into the Republican trap. Five years down the road, this carefully measured decision came back to haunt her, and the controversy over that vote generated an enormous surge of support for Obama that might have created the momentum that helped him win the early contests, namely, the Iowa caucuses and the wins of February 5th. This momentum, coupled with the televised debates, proved he was a worthy, viable candidate; it brought the media to his side and attracted new voters. He irradiated a cool self-assurance, a subdued charm, an understated intelligence that was indeed enchanting to young voters, to black voters and to hard core Democrats tired of the vitriol of Washington. The country, it seemed, was ready for Obama. His timing was impeccable and had the effect of making Rodham-Clinton look tired, strident and blasé. The media had found its golden boy and started treating Hillary as the intruder, who would do anything to prevent a new Camelot.After his initial sweep, Hillary slowly started to recover and as the campaign progressed, her message became more focused and she found her voice. She switched strategies and, from being the more experienced candidate that would deliver peace and prosperity to all Americans, she turned back to her traditional constituencies, namely, women and blue-collar workers. Speaking to her strengths, namely, her devotion to public service and her familiarity with the intricacies of policy-making, she became a great communicator that invariably connected with her audiences. And she started winning again.Even those that dislike her have to acknowledge her skills as a campaigner, her endurance and poise under tremendous pressure and, more importantly, her dramatic recovery of the popular vote towards the end of the campaign, which made her claim to bring this battle to the convention quite legitimate. Her wins in Pennsylvania, Ohio and West Virginia, as well as her immense support in the Hispanic community as shown by the Puerto Rican vote, cannot be discounted by the party when it looks ahead to the national election in November.One should bear in mind that these primaries were the closest contest in primary history, and in spite of having the whole media establishment against her from the beginning, Hillary did not at any time show signs of faltering or self-doubt and never allowed herself to make the road easier for Obama. She stayed on message, speaking to the issues, proving she was ready to become the first woman president. Both her competency and her warmth gained her a huge following. But once she lost the media she also started losing the super-delegates from inside the party. One after the other, the big names in the party started lining up behind Obama: Tom Daschle, Ted and Caroline Kennedy, Christopher Dodd, Bill Richardson, and towards the end, even John Edwards.This took many by surprise, and is related to another phenomenon that very few had perceived before: the animosity that the Clintons, especially Bill, provoke from within the party itself. Although Bill and Hillary are the most powerful brand name in the Democratic Party, there is a surprising amount of anger against them that had remained latent till now. Bill Clinton's harsh remarks in South Carolina primary astonished many and may have hurt her campaign, reinforcing the perception that the Clintons would do anything, even play the race card, in order to win the White House.Then there was the question of demographics and identity politics. Although Rodham-Clinton attempted to run as the candidate for all, after the first losses and as she increasingly won the vote of women and blue collar workers, she turned to her natural constituencies. She started running as a woman and as the champion of the working class. In her new more populist persona, she also won among Jews, Catholics and rural workers. Obama did best among college educated youth, intellectuals and black voters. In other words, they both win the identity vote. Identity has come up often during the campaign, and not in a positive way. Irate at the way the media were treating Hillary and indulging Obama especially in interviews (there was even a sketch in Saturday Night Live that parodied this noticeable difference), Geraldine Ferraro accused the media of sexism and went as far as saying that Obama would not be treated with so much deference if he was a white man. After disproportionate outcry by the media and the public, Clinton had to fire Ferraro as her advisor. Thus, bringing up sexism completely backfired for Hillary.The irony once again, is that Identity Politics is most likely the prism through which both Hillary and Obama, see America: as a society divided by categories of class, gender, race, ethnicity and sexual preference. His as well as her policies are informed by this view. But Obama skillfully downplays it and tries to portray himself as the candidate for all Americans who want change and are tired of Washington politics. He does not deny that race and gender play a role in politics but prefers not to bring it up since it is "not productive". His strategy has paid off so far, but this topic will certainly be revisited in the national election. Due to his background and life experience, McCain has a very different view based on patriotism and service to the country, on individual responsibility and a common civic culture. He will find a way to turn the notion of Identity Politics against Obama, who, in spite of his unifying message, often speaks about redressing balances and ending injustice.Finally, the closeness of the race and the resilience of these two formidable candidates were again in display towards its end, and led to a new critical stage. The momentum that had carried Obama through the early and middle stages started to weaken. As time went by, more scrutiny brought up the issue of his membership in a radical Black Liberation Theology Church, the (inane) fact that he did not wear a US flag pin on his lapel (a symbol of patriotism that became particularly important after 9-11, when even academics came under no small degree of peer pressure to wear one), and this past week, the conviction by a Chicago federal jury of former fund-raiser and friend, Antoin Retzko.As momentum weakened, and as Clinton seemed to resurrect and come closer to Obama in the delegate count, party rules regarding delegate selection became more important . Because in most primaries there has been an early front-runner, and because the last primary contest that had to be taken all the way to the convention without a presumptive nominee was in 1976, very few party leaders and even fewer journalists are aware of the rules. As they began to play out, we were all submitted to a crash course on these intra-party rules. The Democratic Party has a centralized structure, so all states play by the same rules, and its selection system is based on proportional representation, the most democratic form of representation: within each state, any candidate that reaches a threshold of 15% of votes is allocated delegates proportionally to the vote. This, while it is better for representation, tends to prolong the race and make it closer. While Clinton was recovering and making important gains, Obama still continued to pick up a few delegates here and there, and the media kept its constant drum roll in his favor. Super-delegates were swayed to his side, irrevocably. In contrast, Republicans have a decentralized structure so that each state establishes its own rules, and most choose a winner-take-all selection system. This system, while less democratic and representative, enabled them to have a clear winner by March, with all the advantages that that entails.This year a very peculiar situation arose out of Michigan and Florida, where the state governments scheduled the primaries too early, in breach of the Democratic Party rules, so the Democratic National Committee determined they would not seat their delegates. There were 313 delegates at stake. Obama withdrew his name from the ballot in Michigan, and did not campaign in Florida. Clinton won both. At that time nobody thought this issue would become decisive for the nomination, but in such a close race, it certainly did. Last weekend the DNC met with representative so both sides and settled on a formula that allocated delegates to both in a very non-scientific way. It gave each of those delegated half a vote at the convention. While the formula was accepted by both sides, it has been perceived as a bonus for Obama, whose name was not even on the ballot in Michigan and yet he still got delegates allocated. This may still come up again at the National Convention in August. Many factors have thus combined to make Obama the presumptive nominee of the Democratic Party. In addition to momentum and rules we should also consider the fortunate pairing of Obama to the spirit of the times. The timing for an unconventional candidate could not have been better, and he emerged as the prophetic leader the times demanded. His demeanor, his background, and his non-assuming attitude, all make for the perfect post-modern candidate. The public embraced him and the media anointed him. Now, the question still remains, is his "gift of grace" strong enough to unify America? Can he summon the support he needs to win a national election? Given the complex electoral system based on state votes and an electoral college, and not on the popular vote, can he win the major states and the swing states?Here is where the selection of a vice-president becomes crucial.There is a big movement both from the grassroots and from Clintonites inside the party (yes, there are still some left!) to pressure Obama to pick Hillary as running mate. There are of course, both huge advantages and dismal disadvantages for Obama to ponder in his selection. His first consideration must be to win the election, but he also needs to be able to govern, once he wins.Hillary would bring in those votes that have eluded Obama: mature women, blue collar, rural. Seventy-six of her supporters want her to be Vice-president. She energizes audiences and has won the hearts of all those groups above-mentioned. They feel very strongly about her place in History and demand respect for their candidate. Some may not even come out to vote if Obama's ticket does not include her. She would also help win the big states (she won them all, among them California, Texas and New York) and the swing states, noticeable among them, Ohio, that determined Bush's victory in 04. On the other hand, she does evoke the past in the minds of many voters, and she is now undoubtedly a Washington insider (in fact, her experience has been counted as both an asset and a liability in this sense). She would distort Obama's image as the unconventional candidate, and his message of change and hope may be, if not lost, at least diminished.Insofar as governing, their ideologies and policy positions are perfectly compatible, if not identical, so that would not constitute a problem. She has been studying the intricacies of policy and politics since she was a university student at Wellesley College. She is capable, efficient, convincing and tireless. She is experienced in navigating the meandering straits of policy making, and can muster bipartisan support with her well-reasoned arguments.Another often-mentioned handicap is Bill Clinton himself. With his larger than life personality, can he play prince consort? Or would he be the one that governs behind the scenes, and have his own shadow cabinet, Cheney-style? His reputation has suffered a lot lately, not any more because of that infamous blue dress but because he has not disclosed the list of donors to his library, among which there allegedly are several Middle Eastern governments. There is real vitriol against him, and that is directly transferred to Hillary.For now, both candidates seem to be catching their breaths.Hillary postponed her concession speech for as long as possible, some say to put pressure on Obama to include her in the ticket. Barack, on his part, has quietly named a vetting team for a vice-presidential search. Caroline Kennedy is among its members, as is Eric Holden, President Clinton's former attorney- general. It is headed by Jim Johnson, former Chairman of Fannie Mae, who vetted VPs for John Kerry and Walter Mondale. After exhaustive interviews and background checks, Obama will decide.In the last two months of the campaign, the pundits were prone to repeating that the "math" was against Hillary. This was a gross oversimplification of a race that was characterized by peculiar circumstances and surprises at every turn, and one which was less about math than about intangibles: momentum, media frenzy, rules, emotions, charisma and zeitgeist . In the end, however, it may all very well come down to the "math": if Barack can be convinced that he needs Hillary to win against McCain, then he will pick her as his VP and put the rest of his concerns aside. This will also heal party wounds and bring into the fold her loyal constituencies. But public opinion is fickle, politics is an inexact science and many times emotions can trump the best thought- out and scientifically devised plans. Like Sisyphus rolling the boulder up the mountain, Obama may find he has to prove himself all over again and then come out empty-handed in November.In the meantime, and just for good measure, Obama, the "transformative candidate" is now wearing a US flag pin on his lapel.Puerto Ricans do not have the right to vote in national elections due to the "associated state "status, but they can vote in primary elections.This dynamic in the relationship between momentum and rules has been pointed out in a recent article by Jason Bello and Robert Shapiro, published in the Political Science Quarterly, vol. 123 No.1 Spring 08.Super delegates are unpledged party leaders who do not have to declare their presidential preferences until balloting takes place at the ConventionSenior Lecturer, Department of Political Science and Geography Director, ODU Model United Nations Program Old Dominion University, Norfolk, Virginia