Agriculture is among the most risk-prone sectors in the economies of Central Asia. Production shocks from weather, pests and diseases and adverse movements in agricultural product and input prices not only impact farmers and agri-business firms, but can also strain government finances. Some of these risks are small and localized and can be managed by producers. Others are the result of more severe, exogenous shocks outside agriculture or outside the country, which require a broader response. Failure to respond adequately to these more severe risks leads to a perpetual cycle of 'shock-recovery-shock', which reinforces poverty traps and compromises long-term growth. The agriculture sector's exposure to production and price risk is increasing. Climate change is increasing production risks in the short to medium-term by increasing the frequency and severity of droughts and floods and in the longer-term by reducing the availability of water for irrigation due to accelerated glacial melt. The modernization and commercialization of agricultural production and processing, which is critical for sector growth, also raises the sector's exposure to price risk at a time of high volatility on international markets for agricultural commodities. An effective response to these risks requires a broader, more integrated approach to risk management than the current system of ex-ante, public sector activity associated with crop and livestock disease and ad hoc, ex-post emergency responses to local disasters. Measures to strengthen risk mitigation will need to be mainstreamed into sector development and investment programs, additional human and financial resources will need to be allocated to the public institutions responsible for ex-ante and ex-post risk management, and the potential for transfer (insurance) mechanisms will need to be clarified and developed where feasible. Given the limited human and financial resources available for public sector activity, a clear sense of the priorities for agriculture risk management is also required, together with a balanced view of the respective roles of public and private sector stakeholders.
The Central America region is a small market. The region contains around 43 million inhabitants (0.6 percent of total world population) who generate around 0.25 percent of the world's Gross Domestic Product (GDP). While the region has successfully embarked on a regional integration agenda and has strong commercial links with the US, extra-regional trade-mainly with large fast-growing emerging economies-remains a challenge. Export performance is analyzed along three dimensions that, together, give a fairly comprehensive picture of competitiveness: 1) the composition, orientation and growth of the export basket; 2) the degree of export diversification across products and markets; and 3) the level of sophistication and quality of their main exports. This analysis allows exports dynamics at the different margins of trade (intensive, extensive, and quality) to be evaluated and individual countries' to be benchmarked with peers in the Central American region. The results of this report allow policy makers to identify key areas to explore in the overall discussion of export competitiveness in the Central American region. This paper relates to the literature on challenges and opportunities that trade liberalization can bring to the Central American region. Much of the recent literature focuses on the role of the free trade agreement negotiated by Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua, with the US.
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John M. Hobson on Eurocentrism, Historical Sociology and the Curious Case of Postcolonialism
International Relations, it is widely recognized, is a Western discipline, albeit one that claims to speak for global conditions. What does that mean are these regional origins in and by themselves a stake in power politics? This Eurocentrism is often taken as a point of departure for denouncing mainstream approaches by self-proclaimed critical and postcolonialist approaches to IR. John Hobson stages a more radical attack on Eurocentrism, in which western critical theories, too, are complicit in the perpetuation of a dominantly western outlook. In this extensive Talk, Hobson, among others, expounds his understanding of Eurocentrism, discusses the imperative to historicize IR, and sketches the outline of possible venues of emancipation from our provincial predicament.
Print version of this Talk (pdf)
What is, according to you, the biggest challenge / principal debate in current International Relations? What is your position or answer to this challenge / in this debate?
In my view, there are two principal inter-related challenges that face IR. The first is the need to deal with the critique that the discipline is constructed on Eurocentric foundations. This matters both for critical and conventional IR. The latter insists that it works according to value-free positivistic/scientifistic principles. But if it is skewed by an underlying Western-centric bias, as I have contended in my work, then the positivist mantra turns out to constitute a smokescreen or veil behind which lies the dark Eurocentric face of conventional IR. And of course, if Eurocentrism in various forms infects much of critical IR, then it jeopardizes its critical credentials and risks falling back into problem-solving theory. For these reasons, then, I feel that the critique of Eurocentric IR and international political economy (IPE) poses nothing short of an intellectually existential challenge to these disciplines.
The second inter-related challenge is that if we accept that the discipline is essentially Eurocentric then we need to reconstruct IR's foundations on a non-Eurocentric basis and then advance an alternative non-Eurocentric research agenda and empirical analysis of the international system and the global political economy. This is a straightforward challenge vis-à-vis conventional IR/IPE theory but it is more problematic so far as critical IR/IPE is concerned (which is why my answer is somewhat extended). The more postmodern wing of the discipline would view with inherent skepticism any attempt to reconstruct some kind of (albeit alternative) grand narrative. And the postmodern postcolonialists would likely concur. It is at this point that the thorniest issue emerges in the context of postcolonial IR theory. For however hard this is to say, I feel that simply proclaiming the Eurocentric foundations of the discipline does not hole its constituent theories deep beneath the waterline; a claim that abrades with the view of most postcolonialists who view Eurocentrism as inherently illegitimate either because it renders it imperialist (which I view as problematic since there are significant strands of anti-imperialist Eurocentrism and scientific racism) or because they conflate Eurocentrism with the unacceptable politics of (scientific) racism (which I also find problematic notwithstanding the point that there are all manner of overlaps and synergies between these two generic Western-centric discourses, all of which is explained in my 2012 book, The Eurocentric Conception of World Politics). The key point—one which will undoubtedly get me into a lot of trouble with postcolonialists—is that I feel we need to recognize that in the end Eurocentric IR (and IPE) theory constitutes a stand-point approach, just like any other, and its merits or de-merits can ultimately only be evaluated against the empirical record, past and present (notwithstanding the points that I find Eurocentrism to be deeply biased and that what I find so deeply galling about it is its dismissive 'put-down' modus operandi of all things non-Western, wherein all non-Western achievements are dismissed outright, alongside the simultaneous (re)presentation of everything that the West does as progressive and/or pioneering).
So the second principal challenge facing the discipline—one which will no less get me into trouble with many postmodern/poststructuralist thinkers—is the need to reconstruct an alternative non-Eurocentric set of disciplinary foundations, which can then generate fresh empirical narratives of the international system and the global political economy. For my view is that only by offering an alternative research agenda and empirical analysis of the world economy can IR and IPE be set free from their extant Eurocentric straitjackets and the Sisyphean prison within which they remain confined, wherein IR and IPE scholars simply re-present or recycle tired old Eurocentric mantras and tropes in new clothing ad infinitum. For if nothing else, the absence of an alternative reconstruction and empirical analysis means that IR and IPE scholars are most likely simply to default to, or retreat back into, their Eurocentric comfort zone. Accordingly, then, the battle between Eurocentrism and non-Eurocentrism needs to be taken to the empirical field and away from the high and rarified intellectually mountainous terrain of metanarratival sparring contests.
How did you arrive at where you currently are in your thinking about International Relations?
Another way of asking this question would be: what influenced you to become a non-Eurocentric thinker? I get asked this question a lot, especially by non-white people. A good deal of this is related to my life-experience, much of which is sub-conscious of course and both too personal and too detailed to openly reflect upon here (sorry!) More objectively, the initial impetus came around 1999 when I came across a book on Max Weber by the well-respected Weberian scholar, Bryan Turner, in which he argued inter alia that Weber's sociology had Orientalist properties; none of which had occurred to me before. Following this up further I became convinced that Weber was indeed Eurocentric, as was Marx. More importantly, I came to see this as a huge problem that infected not just Marx and Weber but pretty much all of historical sociology (which was reinforced in my mind when I came to read James Blaut's books, The Colonizer's Model of the World (find it here), and Eight Eurocentric Historians). So I set out to develop an alternative non-Eurocentric approach to world history and historical sociology as a counter (which resulted in my 2004 book, The Eastern Origins of Western Civilisation).
Two further key IR texts that I became aware of were L.H.M. Ling's seminal 2002 book, Postcolonial International Relations and Naeem Inayatullah and David Blaney's equally brilliant 2004 book International Relations and the Problem of Difference, both of which led me to explore further the Eurocentric nature of IR and later IPE. But it would be remiss of me not to mention the influence of Albert Paolini; a wonderful colleague whom I had the pleasure to know at La Trobe University in Melbourne back in the early 1990s before his exceedingly unfortunate and premature death (and who, I must say, was way ahead of the game compared to me in terms of developing the critique of Eurocentrism in IR (see his book, Navigating Modernity (1997)). However, it would be unfair to the many others who have influenced me in countless ways to single out only these books and writers, though I hope you'll forgive me for not mentioning them so as to avoid providing yet another overly extended answer!
What would a student need to become a specialist in IR or understand the world in a global way?
This is an excellent but very challenging question and I want to try and make a succinct answer (though I shall build on it in some of the answers I will provide later on). The essential argument I make about 'thinking inter-culturally' is that while the more liberal side of the discipline thinks that its cosmopolitanism does just this, its Eurocentrism actually prevents it from fulfilling this. Because ultimately, cosmopolitanism wants to impose a Western standard of civilization upon the world, thereby advancing cultural monism rather than cultural pluralism. And this is merely the loudest expression of a spectre that haunts much of the discipline. But I guess that in the end, to achieve genuine cultural pluralism and to think inter-culturally requires us to take seriously how other non-Western peoples think of what their cultures comprise and what it means to them, and how their societies and states work along such lines. Dismissing them, as Eurocentrism always does, as inferior, backward and regressive denies this requirement outright. Interestingly, my great grandfather, J.A. Hobson flirted with this idea in his book, Imperialism: A Study (though this has largely escaped the notice of most people since few have read the more important second part of that book where all this is considered). But this is merely a first step, for as I will explain later on in the interview, ultimately thinking inter-culturally requires an analysis of the dialogical inter-connections and mutual co-constitutive relations between West and non-West which, in turn, presupposes not merely the presence of Western agency but also that of non-Western agency in the making of world politics and the global political economy.
All of which is clearly a massive challenge and I am certainly not advocating that the discipline of IR engage in deep ethnographical study and that it should morph into anthropology. And in any case I think that there are things we can do more generally to transcend Eurocentrism while learning more about the other side of the Eurocentric frontier without going to this extreme. I shall talk about such conceptual moves later on in this interview. One such theoretical move that I talk about later is the need to engage historical sociology (albeit from a non-Eurocentric perspective) or, more precisely global historical sociology. Again, though, I'm not advocating that the discipline should morph into historical sociology. And I'm aware that one of the biggest obstacles to IR making inroads into historical sociology is the sheer size of the task that this requires. It has always come naturally to me because that is where I came from before I joined the IR academic community. But there is quite a bit of historical sociology of IR out there now so I do think it possible for new PhD students to enter this fold. All of this said, though, I'm unsure if I have answered your question adequately.
The west is often seen as the source of globalization and innovation, which have historically radiated outwards in a process without seeming endpoint. What is wrong with this picture, and, perhaps more interestingly, why does it remain so pervasive?
In essence I believe this familiar picture—one which is embraced by conventional and many critical IR/IPE and globalization theorists—is wrong because this linear Western narrative brackets out all the many inputs that the non-West has made (which returns me to the point made a moment ago concerning the dialogical relations that have long existed between West and non-West). In my aforementioned 2004 book I argued that the West did not rise to modernity as a result of its own exceptional rational institutions and culture but was significantly enabled by many non-Western achievements and inventions which were borrowed and sometimes appropriated by the West. In short, without the Rest there might be no modern West. Moreover, while the West has been the principal actor in globalization since 1945, the globalization that preceded it (i.e., between 1492 and c.1830) was non-Western-led (as was the process of Afro-Eurasian regionalization that occurred between c.600 and 1492 out of which post-1492 globalization emerged). And even after 1945 I believe that non-Western actors have played various roles in shaping both globalization and the West, all of which are elided in the standard Eurocentric linear Western narrative of globalization.
But why has this image remained so persistent? This is potentially a massive question though it is a very important one for sure. Conventional theorists are most likely to disagree outright with my alternative picture in part because they are entirely comfortable with the notion that the 'West is best' and that the West single-handedly created capitalism, the sovereign inter-state system and the global economy. Critical theorists are rather more problematic to summarize here. But one that springs to mind is the type of argument that Immanuel Wallerstein (Theory Talk #13) made in a1997 article, in which he insisted that it be an imperative to hold the West accountable for everything that goes on in the world economy so that we can prosecute its crimes against the world. Arguments that bring non-Western agency in, as I seek to do, he dismisses as deflecting focus away from the West and thereby diluting the nature of the crimes that the West has imparted and therefore serves merely to weaken the case for the critical prosecution. I fundamentally disagree with him for reasons that I shan't go into here (but will touch upon below). But in my view it is (or should be) a key debate-in-the-making not least because I suspect that many other critical theorists might agree with him and, more importantly, because it brings fundamentally into question of what Eurocentrism is and of what the antidote to it comprises. Either way, though, critical theorists, at least in my view, often buy into the Western linear narrative, albeit not by celebrating the West but by critiquing it. All of which means that both conventional and many critical IR scholars effectively maintain the hegemony of Eurocentrism in the discipline though for diametrically opposed reasons; and which, at the risk of sounding paranoid, suggests a deeply subliminal conspiracy against the introduction of non-Eurocentrism.
Nevertheless one final but rather obvious point remains. For the biggest reason why Eurocentrism persists is because it makes Westerners feel good about themselves. And at the risk of sounding like sour grapes (notwithstanding very decent sales for my non-Eurocentric books), I have been struck by the fact that there seems to be an insatiable appetite—particularly among the Western public readership—for high profile Eurocentric books that celebrate and glorify Western civilization; though, to be brutally frank, many of these rarely add anything new to that which has been said countless times in the last 50 years, if not 200—notwithstanding Ricardo Duchesne's recent avowedly Eurocentric book The Uniqueness of Western Civilization as constituting a rare exception in this regard. All of which means that writing non-Eurocentric books is unlikely to get your name onto the bestseller list (though granted, the same is true for many of the Eurocentric books that have been written!)
International theory and political theory originates mainly from Europe, but makes universal claims about the nature of politics. How does international theory betray its situated roots and how do these roots matter for how we should think about theory?
I'm not sure that I can answer this question in the space allowed but I'll try and get to the broad-brush take-home point. I guess that when thinking about modern IR theory we can find those theorists who in effect advocate a normative Western imperialist posture even if they claim to be doing otherwise. Robert Gilpin's work on hegemonic stability theory is perhaps the clearest example in this respect. Anglo-Saxon hegemony, he claims, is non-imperialist because it always seeks to help the rest of the world, not exploit it. But the exercise of hegemony, it turns out, returns us to the old 19th century trope of the civilizing mission where Western practices and principles are transferred and imposed on non-Western societies in order to culturally convert them along Western lines. And this in turn issues from the assumption that the British and American interests are not selfish but are universal. This mantra is there too in Robert Keohane's (Theory Talk #9) book, After Hegemony, where cultural conversion of non-Western societies to a neoliberal standard of civilization by the international financial institutions through structural adjustment is approved of; an argument that is developed much more expansively in his later work on humanitarian intervention. And this trope forms the basis of cosmopolitan humanitarian interventionist theory more generally, where state reconstruction, which is imposed once military intervention has finished, is all about re-creating Western political and economic institutions across the world. I don't doubt for a moment the sincerity of the arguments that these authors make. But they can make them only because they believe that the Western interest is truly the universal. In such ways, then, IR betrays its roots.
Ultimately, Western IR theory constructs a hierarchical conception of the world with the West standing atop and from there we receive an image of a procession or sliding scale of gradated sovereignties in the non-Western world. For much of IR theory that has neo-imperialist normative underpinnings, it is this construction which legitimizes Western intervention in the non-Western world, thereby reproducing the legal conception of the (imperialist) standard of civilization that underpinned late 19th century positive law. Nevertheless, there has been a significant strand of anti-imperialist Eurocentrism within international theory (and before it a strand of anti-imperialist scientific racism, as in the likes of Charles HenryPearson and LothropStoddard). But once again, as we find in Samuel Huntington's famous 1996 book, The Clash of Civilizations—which comprises a modern equivalent of Lothrop Stoddard's Eugenicist texts, The Rising Tideof Color (1920) and Clashing Tides of Color (1935)—the West is held up as the highest expression of civilization, with non-Western societies viewed as socially inferior such that the West's mandate is not to imperially intervene across the world but to renew its uniquely Western civilized culture in the face of regressive and rampant non-Western regions and countries (particularly Middle Eastern Islam and Confucian China). Hedley Bull's anti-imperialist English School argument provides a complementary variant here because, he argues, it is the refusal of non-Western states to become Western wherein the source of the (unacceptable) instability of the global international society ultimately stems. All of which, as you allude to in your question, rests on the conflation of the Western interest with the universal. It is for this reason, then, that the cardinal principle of critical non-Eurocentrism comprises the need to undertake deep (self) reflexivity and to remain constantly vigilant to Eurocentric slippages.
In turn, this returns me to the point I made before: that IR theory does not think inter-culturally because it denies the validity of non-Western cultures. Because it does so, then it ultimately denies the full sovereignty of non-Western states. For one of the trappings of sovereignty is what Gerry Simpson usefully refers to as 'existential equality', or 'cultural self-determination'. It seems clear to me that the majority of IR theory effectively denies the sovereignty of non-Western states because it rejects cultural pluralism and hence cultural self-determination as a function of its intolerant Eurocentric monism. The biggest ironies that emerge here, however, are two-fold; or what I call the twin self-delusions of IR. First, while conventional IR theory proclaims its positivist, value free credentials that sit comfortably with cultural pluralist tolerance, nevertheless as I argued in my answer to your first question, this positivist mantra turns out to constitute a smokescreen or veil behind which lies the face of intolerant Eurocentric cultural monism. And second, it means that while IR proclaims that its subject matter comprises the objective analysis of the international system which focuses on anarchy and the sovereign state, nevertheless it turns out that what it is really all about is narrating an analysis of Western hierarchy and the 'hyper-sovereignty' of Western states versus the 'conditional sovereignty/gradated sovereignty' of non-Western states.
Linking your work to Lizée's as a critique of extrapolating 'universals' on the basis of narrow (Western) experiences, Patrick Jackson (Theory Talk #44) wrote as follows: 'Perhaps the cure for the disease that Hobson and Lizée diagnose is a rethinking of what "theory" means beyond empirical generalizations, so that future international theorists can avoid the sins of the past.' What is your conception of what theory is or should be?
As noted already, I am all in favor of developing non-Eurocentric theory. To sketch this out in the most generic terms I begin with the proposition that Eurocentric IR/IPE theory is monological, producing a reductive narrative in which only the West talks and acts. It is essentially a 'winner/loser' paradigm that proclaims the non-West as the loser or is always on the receiving end of that which the West does, thereby ensuring that central analytical focus is accorded to the hyper-agency of the Western winner. And its conception of agency is based on having predominant power. We find this problem particularly within much of critical IR theory, where because the West is dominant so it qualifies as having (hyper) agency while the subordinate position of the non-West means that it has little or no agency. In turn, particularly within conventional IR and IPE we encounter a substantialist ontology, where the West is thought to occupy a distinct and autonomous domain. From there everything else follows. And even in parts of critical IR and IPE where relationalism holds greater sway we often find that the West still occupies the center of intellectual gravity in the world.
My preference is for a fully relationalist approach which replaces the monologism of Eurocentrism and its reification of the West with the aforementioned conception of dialogism that brings the non-West into the discussion while simultaneously focusing on the mutually constitutive relations between Western and non-Western actors. It also allows for the agency of the non-West alongside the West's agency (even though clearly after c.1830 the West has been the dominant actor). This in effect replaces Eurocentrism's either/or problematique with a both/and logic, enabling us to reveal a space in which non-Western agency plays important roles without losing focus of Western agency, even when it takes a dominant form as it did after c.1830. In this way then, to reply to Wallerstein's argument discussed earlier, one does not have to dilute the critique of the West when bringing non-Western agency in for both can be situated alongside each other. While I could of course say much more here, these conceptual moves are paramount to me and inform the basis of my empirical work on the international system and the global political economy.
All in all, IR theory needs to take a fully global conception of agency much more seriously; structuralist theory in its many guises is necessary but is ultimately insufficient since it diminishes or dismisses outright the prospect or existence of non-Western agency. Moreover, I seek to blend materialism and non-materialism, which means that neither constructivism nor poststructuralism can quite get us over the line. Even so, blending materialism and non-materialism is not an especially hard task to achieve though IR's preferred ontologically reductionist stance certainly makes this a counter-intuitive proposition.
You combine historical sociology with international relations. What promises does this interdisciplinary approach hold? Why do we need historical sociologies of IR?
Following on from my previous answer I argue that a relationalist non-Eurocentric historical sociology of IR is able to problematize the entities that IR takes for granted—states, anarchy (as well as societies and civilizations)—in order to reveal them, to quote from the marvelous introduction that Julian Go and George Lawson have written for their forthcoming edited volume Global Historical Sociology, as 'entities in motion'. Indeed such entities are never quite complete but change through time. Here it is worth quoting Go and Lawson further, where they argue that
'social forms are "entities-in-motion": they are produced, reproduced, and breakdown through the agency of historically situated actors. Such entities-in-motion, whether they are states, empires, or civilizations often appear to be static entities with certain pre-determined identities and interests. But the relational premise, and perhaps promise, of GHS is its attempt to denaturalize such entities by holding them up to historical scrutiny'.
It is precisely this global historical sociological problematique that underpins the approach that I develop in a forthcoming book, provisionally entitled Reorient International Political Economy where inter alia, I show how many of the major processes of the global economy are never complete but are constantly mutating as they are shaped by the multiple interactions of Western and non-Western actors. To take the origins of capitalism or globalization as an example, I show how these have taken not a Western linear trajectory but a highly discontinuous path as West and non-West have interacted in complex ways.
A good number of IR historical sociologists have focused specifically on particular historical issues—especially that of the rise of the sovereign state in Europe. Such analyses have in my view proven to be extremely valuable because they allow us to puncture some of the myths that surround 'Westphalia' that populate standard or conventional IR reportage (particularly that found in undergraduate text-books). But ultimately I feel that the greatest worth of the historical sociology of IR project lies in using history (understood in historical-sociological terms rather than according to traditional historians' precepts) as a means of problematizing our understanding of the present international system and global political economy. Thus, for me, historical sociology is ultimately important because it can disrupt our understanding and explanations of the present. And I believe that this kind of inter-disciplinarity can bear considerable fruit (notwithstanding the difficulty that this task poses for IR scholars).
You famously criticized IR's Eurocentrism and argued for the need for inter-cultural thinking. What is inter-cultural thinking and how can it benefit IR?
As I already discussed what inter-cultural thinking is a bit before, I shall consider how it might benefit IR and indeed the world in various ways. First, if the rise of the West into modernity owes much of this achievement to the help provided by non-Western ideas, institutions and technologies, then acknowledging this debt could go a long way to healing the wounds that the West has inflicted upon the non-West's sense of self-esteem. Moreover, the hubristic claim ushered in by Eurocentrism, that the West made it to the top all by itself and that the very societies which helped it get there are then immediately denounced as inferior and uncivilized, significantly furnishes the West with the imperialist mandate to intervene and remake non-Western societies in the image of the West. So in essence, the help that the once-more advanced non-Western societies that the West benefited from is rewarded by 150 years of imperial punishment! Of course, IR scholars do not really study the rise of the West, but it is implicit in so much of what they write about. So acknowledging this debt could challenge the West's self-appointed mandate to remake the world in its own image as well as problematize many of the historical assumptions that lie either explicitly or implicitly within IR.
Second, and flowing on from the previous point, thinking inter-culturally means recognizing the manifold roles that the non-West has played in shaping the rise of Western capitalism and the sovereign state system as well as the global economy, as I have just argued, but also appreciating their societies and cultures on their own terms rather than simply dismissing them as unfit for purpose in the modern world. Less Western Messianism and Western hubris, more global understanding and empathy, is ultimately what I'm calling for. But none of this is possible while Eurocentrism remains the go-to modus operandi of IR and IPE. And this is important for IR not least because significant parts of it have informed Western policy, most especially US foreign policy.
Third, a key benefit that inter-cultural thinking could bring to IR is that while the discipline presumes that it furnishes objective analyses of the international system, the upshot of my claim that the discipline is founded on Eurocentrism is that all the discipline is really doing is finding ways to reaffirm the importance of Western civilization in world politics, defending it and often celebrating it, rather than learning or discovering new things about the world and world politics. I believe that only a non-Eurocentric approach can deliver that which IR thinks it's doing already but isn't.
You've said that 'what makes an argument [institutionally] Eurocentric…lies with the nature of the categories that are deployed to understand development. And these ultimately comprise the perceived degree of 'rationality' that is embodied within the political, economic, ideological, and social institutions of a given society.' In order to think inter-culturally, does IR needs new conceptions of rationality, or standards other than rationality altogether?
What an extremely interesting and perceptive question which has really got me thinking! Again, it's something that I've been aware of in the recesses of my mind but have never really thought through. Certainly the essence of Eurocentrism lies in the reification of Western rationality (or what Max Weber called Zweckrationalität) and its simultaneous denial to non-Western societies. But what with all the revelations that have happened in Britain in the last decade, where a seemingly never ending series of fraudulent practices have been uncovered within British public life—whether it be MPs' expenses scandals, banking scandals, newspaper scandals and the like—then one really wonders about the extent to which the West operates according to the properties of Zweck-rationality that Weber proclaimed it to have. Corruption and fraud happen in the West but clearly they are much more hidden than in those instances where it occurs in non-Western countries (notwithstanding the revelations mentioned a moment ago). But if one were to open the lid of many large Western companies, for example, and delve inside one might well find all sorts of 'rationality-compromising' or 'rationality-denial' practices going on. To mention just two obvious examples: first, promotions are often tainted by personal linkages rather than always founded on merit; and second, managers often mark out and protect their own personal position/territory even when it (frequently) goes against the 'rational' interests of the said organization.
To return to your question, then, one could conclude that many Western institutions are far less rational than Eurocentrism proclaims, which in turn would challenge the foundations of Eurocentrism. Of course, corruption and fraud are not unique to the West, but it is the West that proclaims its unique 'rational standard of civilization'. Whether, therefore, we need to abandon the term (Zweck) rationality on the grounds that it is an impossibly conceived ideal type remains the question. Right now I don't have an answer though I'll be happy to mull over this in the coming years.
You've written that engaging with the East 'creates a genuinely global history' and articulate a 'dream wherein the peoples of the Earth can finally sit down at the table of global humanity and communicate as equal partners'. Do you consciously operate with an 'ontology' of 'peoples' and 'civilizations' as opposed to 'individuals'? How do you conceive of the relationship between global humanity and plural peoplehood? Is there an underlying philosophical or anthropological view that you are drawing on in these and similar passages?
Certainly I prefer to think of peoples and even of civilizations rather than individuals and states, though I'll confess right now that dealing theoretically with civilizations and articulating them as units of analysis is extraordinarily challenging. At the moment I leave this side of things to better people than me, such as Peter Katzenstein (Theory Talk #15) and his recentpioneering work on civilizations. The term 'global humanity' concerns me insofar as it is often a politically-loaded term, particularly within cosmopolitanism, where its underbelly comprises the desire to define a single civilizational identity (i.e., a Western one) for 'global humanity'. In essence, cosmopolitanism effectively advances the conception of a 'provincial (i.e., Western) humanity' that masquerades as the global. So I prefer the notion of plural peoplehood, so as to allow for difference. I wouldn't say that I am operating according to a particular philosophical view although it strikes me that such a notion is embodied in Johann Gottfried Herder's work which, on that dimension at least, I am attracted to. But to be honest, this is generally something that I have not explored though it is something that I've thought that I'd like to research for a future book (notwithstanding the point that I'll need to finish the book that I have started first!).
In your reply toErik Ringmar, you draw on psychoanalytic metaphors to discuss the benefits of overcoming Eurocentrism, writing that, 'Eurocentrism leads to the repression and sublimation of the Other in the Self. Thus, doing away with Eurocentrism can end the socio-psychological angst and alienation that necessarily occurs through such sublimation.' How do you envision what we now call the West (or Europe) after its socio-psychological transformation? What does a world after angst and alienation look like? Is it possible, and is that the goal you think IR theory should aim at?
Another massively challenging and fascinating question, let me have a go. Since you raised the issue of socio-psychological/psycho-analytical theory (though it is something that I am no expert on), it has always struck me that Eurocentrism itself is not simply a construct designed to advance Western power and Western capitalist interests in the world. This seems too mechanistic. For recall that it was a series of largely independent sojourners, travel-writers, novelists, journalists and others rather than capitalists who played such an important role in constructing Eurocentrism. Something more seems to be at play. One can think of the battles between 'Mods and Rockers' or Skinheads and heavy metal fans in Britain in the 1960s and 1970s, who detested each other simply because they held different identities and prized different cultural values. Most importantly, I feel, the constant need to denounce, put down and dismiss the Other as inferior seems reminiscent of those kinds of people we sometimes meet who, in constantly putting down others to falsely elevate themselves to a position of superiority, ultimately reveals merely their own insecurities. The same issues, of course, underpin racism and Eurocentrism. The West rose to prominence in my view as a late-developer and having got to the top it very quickly came to view its duty as one of punishing all others for being different – all done, of course, in the name of helping or civilizing the very 'global humanity' that had done so much to help the West rise to the top in the first place! And to want to culturally convert everyone in the world according to the Western standard of civilization seems to be symptomatic of a deeply insecure mindset. A secure person or society for that matter does not feel threatened by, but openly embraces, difference.
Can we move beyond this stand-off given that such a mentality has been hard-wired within Western culture for at least three centuries? And ten if you count the sometimes terse relations between Europe and Middle Eastern Islam that emerged after 1095! We need to move beyond an identity that is based only on putting others down. It's 'bad karma' and, like all bad karma, damages the Western self, not just the non-Western other. But to transcend this identity-formation process requires us to do away with logocentrism; clearly a very big task. Nevertheless, that is exactly what my writings are all about. And it is something that I think IR theory needs to strive to achieve. Because IR theory is to an extent performative then I live in the hope, at least, that such a mentality might, just might somehow seep into international public life, though if it were to happen I strongly suspect that I would not be around to see it. Still, your question—what would a world beyond Eurocentrism look like?—though very important is nevertheless perhaps too difficult to answer without seeming like a hopeless idealist… other than to say that it could be rather better than the current one.
You write that 'IPE should aim to be an über-discipline, drawing on a wide range of disciplines in order to craft a knowledge base that refuses to become lost in disciplinary over-specialization and the depressing academic narcissism of disciplinary methodological differentiation and exclusion.' Why do you prefer that IPE should be the überdiscipline, instead of IR (or something else altogether), with IPE as a subset?
My degree was in Political Economy, my Masters in Political Sociology and my PhD in Historical Sociology and (International) Political Economy. Despite the fact that the majority of my academic career to date has been in IR research, I have always returned at various points to my old haunting ground, IPE (as I have most recently). I have always found IR a little alienating for its reification of politics, divorced from political economy. I'm not a Marxist, but I share in the view that political economy, if not always directly underpinning developments and events in the international system is, however, never far away.
The quote that you took for this question came from the end of my 2-part article that came out in the 20th anniversary edition of Review of International Political Economy. This was partly responding to Benjamin Cohen's (Theory Talk #17) 2008 seminal book, International Political Economy: A Intellectual History. One of the challenges that I issued to my IPE readership, echoing Cohen, is the need for IPE to return to 'thinking big' (in large part as a reaction to the massive contraction of the discipline's boundaries that has been effected by third wave American IPE, which labors under the intellectual hegemony of Open Economy Politics). In that context, then, I argued that IPE needs to expand its boundaries outwards not only to allow big or macro-scale issues to return to the discipline's research agenda but also to incorporate insight from other disciplines. For in my view IPE has the potential to blend the insights of many other disciplines that can in turn transcend the sometimes myopic or tunnel-vision-based nature of their particular constituent specialisms.
One of the implications of 'thinking big' is that IPE should be able to cover much of that which IR does… and more. Like Susan Strange, who expressed her exasperation with IR for its exclusion of politico-economic matters, so I feel that the solution lies not with IR colonizing IPE (which is not likely for the foreseeable future!) but with IPE expanding its currently narrow remit. If it could achieve this it could become the 'über-discipline', or the 'master discipline', of the Social Sciences, notwithstanding the point that my postcolonial and feminist friends will no doubt upbraid me for using such terrible terms!
Final question. Beyond the East outside the West, Greece is now being remade as the 'East' within the West, with a range of measures applied to it that had hitherto been the preserve for the 'East' or Global South. How can your work help to make sense of the stakes?
Your question reminds me of a similar one that I was asked in an interview for Cumhurieyet Strateji Magazine concerning Turkey's ongoing efforts to join the EU, the essence of my answer comprising: 'be careful what you wish for'. One of the things that I have felt uneasy about is the way, as I see it (and I might not be quite right in saying this), that European Studies (as a sub-discipline) sometimes appears as rather self-affirming, thereby reflecting the core self-congratulatory modus operandi of the EU. I am not anti-European or in any way ashamed to be Western (as some of my critics might think). But I'm deeply uneasy about the EU project, specifically in terms of its desire to expand outwards, not to mention inwards as we are seeing in the case of Greece today. For this has the whiff of the old civilizing mission that had supposedly been put to rest back at the time of the origins of the European Economic Community. Although Greece is a member of the EU (notwithstanding its non-European roots), it seems clear that what is going on today is a process of intensified internal colonization under the hegemony of Germany, wherein Greece is subjected to the German standard of civilization. All of which brings into question the self-glorification of the self-proclaimed 'socially progressive' EU project. And to return to my discussion of Turkey I recognize that candidate countries have their reasons for wanting to join the EU. But I guess that what my work is ultimately about is restoring a sense of dignity to non-Western peoples, in the absence of which they will continue to self-deprecate and live in angst in the long cold shadow of the West. All of which brings me back to the answers I made to quite a few of the earlier questions. So I would like to close by saying how much I have enjoyed answering your extremely well-informed questions and to thank you most sincerely for inviting me to address them.
Professor Hobson gained his PhD from the LSE (1991), joined the University of Sheffield as Reader and is currently Professor of Politics and International Relations. Previously he taught at La Trobe University, Melbourne (1991–97) and the University of Sydney (1997–2004). His main research interest concerns the area of inter-civilizational relations and everyday political economy in the context of globalization, past and present. His work is principally involved in carrying forward the critique of Eurocentrism in World History/Historical Sociology, and International Relations.
Related links
Faculty Profile at the University of Sheffield Read Hobson's The Postcolonial Paradox of Eastern Agency (Perceptions 2014) here (pdf) Read Hobson's Is critical theory always for the white West and for Western imperialism? (Review of International Studies 2007) here (pdf)
0 0 1 6773 38610 Danish Institute for International Studies 321 90 45293 14.0
1. Diese Arbeit ist eine Nachfragestudie, die auf den Mikro-Daten des Verbrauches für Lebensmittel und im Rahmen einer statisch, Nutzenmaximierend, und partielle Modell bearbeitet ist. Die Studie ermöglicht eine Bereitstellung von Information über das Zusammenhang zwischen den konkurrierenden Warengruppen in einer vollständigen Nachfrage System. 2. Derzeitige Wirtschaftentwicklung, die unter anderen wegen der im Juli 1997 ausgebrochene Krise ausgeprägt ist, hat eine dringende Notwendigkeit für die Politik und Wissenschaftler der Lebensmittel und Landwirtschaft dieses Landes um eine Information auf die Konsumsverhalten der Haushalte in ihrer Reaktionen auf die Änderung der Verbrauch determinierenden Faktoren wie Einkommen, Preisverhältnis, Einführung neuer Marken in Lebensmittelprodukte, Intensivierung der Anzeigen, Änderung im Modus des Einzelhandels, usw., sowie die Änderungen in demographische Faktor der Haushalte. Der Bedarf nach dieser Informationen sind um so großer, weil es nach im Juli 1997 ausgebrochene Wirtschaftkrise ein tief greifende Strukturwandel gibt, die vielfältige Folge mitgebracht hat. Diese Folge sind unter anderen: (i) Indonesien ist daran gezwungen, die Wirtschaft, einschließlicher Lebensmittelmarkt sich an einem Markt System zu orientieren; (ii) die durchschnittliche Kaufkraft des Volkes ist zu der Ebene der vor zehn Jahre zurück gegangen; (iii) Der Preisverhältnis verändert sich. (iv) Politisch gesehen, steht die indonesischen Regierung derzeit vor einer Ära der Dezentralisierung. Diese Faktoren konnte es dazu führen, der sich Struktur der verschiedenen Haushaltsgruppen in Indonesien zu ändern. Dazu ist es Notwendig, eine Studie mit den lokalen spezifische Sicht des Verbrauchs verhaltens durchzuführen. 3. Zu den Zeitpunkt ist die existierende Information unzulänglich, weil die vorherigen Studien wenn überhaupt da sind, lediglich nur auf Einzel Gleichung schätzende Modell begrenzt sind, und sie sind meisten basiert auf einen argregierten Datei. Auf Grund der Wichtigkeit des Haushalts als die entscheidende Einheit in Verbrauch und auf Grund einer wachsenden Erreichbarkeit von Makrodaten, hat diese Studie einen disaggregierten Haushalt Mikrodatensatz von der Provinz Ost Java, Indonesien benutzt. 4. Die Studie hat folgende Ziele: Erstens, Nachfragenparameter für die untersuchten Lebensmittelgruppen zu finden, damit man die Wirkung einer Preisänderungen auf die Nachfrage der Lebensmittelgruppen für verschiedene Einkommengruppen in der Provinz Ost Java, Indonesien analysieren kann. Zweitens, um zu zeigen, wie man die Studienergebnisse für real politische Grundsatzfragen um die Lebensmittel und die Landwirtschaft nutzen kann. Drittens, um die spezifischen Wohlfahrtwirkungen der ausgewählten Preispolitik für verschiedene Einkommengruppen zu bewerten. 5. Ein historisch perspektive Überblick über die Republik von Indonesien zeigt an, dass Indonesien eine Wirtschaft mit schwerer staatlicher Einmischung in der Vergangenheit ist, und eine Änderungen von diesem grundlegenden Modell eine Sache des politischen Pragmatismus ist. Die ändernde Wirtschaftstruktur des Landes hat dazu zuführen, das die Rolle der Landwirtschaft im Brutto Inland Produkt (BIP) Beitrags verringert ist, obwohl diese noch wichtig ist für die Lebensmittelsevorkehrung und Anstellung. Steigende pro Kopfseinkommen pro Jahr auf dem Land hat nur geringe Minderung des Verbrauches auf Nahrungsmitteln zu Folge. Reiskonsum hat einen hohen Anteil der gesamter Nahrungsmittelausgaben in allen Haushaltgruppen. Daher hat sich Nahrungsmittelpolitik in Indonesien vorherrschend noch auf Reis konzentriert. 6. Dieses Studie hat den disaggregierten Mikrodatensatz von Haushaltsausgaben bearbeitet. Dieser Datensatz ist von so genannten SUSENAS (die nationalen Sozial Wirtschaftliche Datenerhebung), für die Perioden 1990 1993, 1996 und 1999 von Ost Java Provinz Indonesien eingestellt. Der Ausgaben und der Einkommenmodul von dem SUSENAS Verhebung bedecken alle Haushaltausgaben in einer Woche der Aufzählung mit voller Spezifikation von Waren. Aufgeführt in den Umfragen sind 231 Verbrauchwaren, die Daten auf Quantitäten und Werte gesammelt wurden. Der Datensatz für jede Verhebungsperiode ist von 5692 Haushalten (1990), 7638 Haushalten (1993), 8015 Haushalte (1996), und 8552 Haushalte (1999) in städtischen und ländlichen Gebieten gesammelt. Die zentrale Behörde der Statistik hat die dreistufige stratifizierte Probe für den SUSENAS angewandt. Für Verbrauchsdaten der Nahrungmittels war das Zeitreferenz eine Woche vor der Aufzählung von Daten. 7. Die theoretische Grundlage dieser Studie ist die Neonklassische Verbraucherwirtschaft. Theorie und die verwandten Methoden sind präsentiert, um das in dieser Studie gebrauchten Modell zu rechtfertigen. Wir haben aufgrund einige theoretisch, empirisch und pragmatische Berücksichtigungen die Entscheidung getroffen, die linearen Annäherung von der nahezu idealen Nachfragensystem ( (LA/AIDS) Modell zu benutzen. Es befriedigt die Axiome der Wahl, argregiert perfekt über die Verbrauchern, hat eine praktische Form, die verträglich mit Haushalthaushaltdaten ist, ist einfach zu schätzen, und kann prüfen die wahren Einschränkungen der Nachfragentheorie. Es kombiniert auch den Beste von theoretischen Eigenschaften von sowohl Rotterdam als auch Translog Modelle. Wenn man der Preisindex von Stone im Modell anwendet, ist das Modell als eine Lineare Annäherung der Nahezu idealer Nachfrage System (LA/AIDS) genannt. Der Gebrauch des Compensating Variation (CV) Konzeptes schlägt vor, dass die Ergebnisse der Nachfragenschätzung gut zur politische Analyse beitragen kann. Das CV ist die Entschädigungszahlung (Betrag des Geld) der den Verbraucher ebenso wohl als vor der wirtschaftlichen Änderung verlässt. Es mag positiv oder negativ sein. Es ist positiv, wenn die wirtschaftliche Änderung dem Verbraucher schlechter drauf macht, und Negativ, wenn die wirtschaftliche Änderung dem Verbraucher Verbesserung bringt. 8. Da das CV Geld metrisch ist, ist sein Ausdruck abhängig auf einem absoluten Wert der Währung des Landes. Dies ist weniger vergleichbar. Um dies zu vermeiden, kann es in einem relativen Begriff durch Gebrauch zum Beispiel, eines Preisindexes, umgestalten werden. Dadurch ist es metrisch unabhängig. Auf diesen Grund, wurde Fischer Idealer Preisindex in dieser Studie benutzt, der Wohlfahrtsänderung anzunähern. Fischer Idealer Preisindex ist ein geometrisches Mittel des Laspeyres- (PL) Preisindex, PL = , und der Paasche (PP) Preisindex Pp = . Es ist algebraisch als .ausgedrückt. Es vertritt eine Änderungskaufkraft, die als eine Annäherung der Wohlfahrtsänderung gilt. 9. Die geschätzten Gleichungen für das LA/AIDS sind in Tabelle 6. 2 zu 6. 9 zusammengefasst. Für die ganzen Perioden von der Verhebungen, die städtische und ländliche Gebiete bedecken, gibt es 88 Gleichungen für das LA/AIDS. Achtzig Gleichungen aus diesen 88 wurden direkt durch das SAS Program (die 6,12 Ausgabe) geschätzt, durch die Verwendung der iterativen scheinbar nicht verwandten Regression (ITSUR) Schätzungsverfahren. Die Parameterschätzungen für den Rest von 8 Gleichungen wurden von Gebrauch der Prinzip summierung (add up principle) wiedererlangt. In diesen Modellen wird die Veränderung der Budgetanteilen von elf Nahrungsmittelsgruppen in den Studiegebieten von den folgenden Faktoren bestimmt: Preise (das eigene- und kreuzt Preis), Einkommensnivue, die vom totalen Ausgaben der wöchentlichen Budget auf Nahrungsmitteln angenähert werden, die Einkommengruppe von den Haushalten, und der Haushaltgröße, die den Rest des demographische Merkmale vertritt. Insgesamt sind 220 Parameter in jeder Gleichung, die direkt oder indirekt von dieser Schätzung resultiert. Tabelle 6.10 fasst die Schätzungsleistung durch die Vorlage der Anzahl der statistisch signifikante Schätzungen von 170 Parametern der einzelnen Gleichungen zusammen, die direkt in dieser Studie geschätzt wurden. Statistik gesehen, wird die schlechter Leistung der Schätzung von einer vertreten, die 55 Prozent statistisch signifikante Schätzungen gibt (Tabelle 6.2: Urban90). Die beste Schätzungsleistung wird von einer vertreten, die 78 Prozent statistisch signifikante Schätzungen gibt (Tabelle 6.3: Rural90). Die Tatsachen, dass mehr als die Hälfte von Parameterschätzungen in jedem Gleichungssystem statistisch signifikant sind, gibt einen Grund zu beanspruchen, dass die Modellspezifikation passend ist. Auch direkte Beobachtung auf den Ergebnissen der Schätzung zeigt an, dass Mehrheit von Parameterschätzungen großer sind, im Vergleich mit ihren Standard Fehlern. Die liefern ein gewisses Maß an Vertrauen zu sagen, daß die Schätzungen zuverlässig sind. Diese i n allen vorschlagen, daß unsere Hypothese, wie ausdrücklich in der LA/AIDS Modell, von der Daten unterstuzt wird. Das ist zu sagen, dass die Nachfrage nach Nahrungsmittel in den Studiensgebieten ansprechend ist zu Preisen, totale Ausgaben für Nahrungsmitteln, Einkommengruppen und die Haushaltgröße. 10. Die asymptotische Likelihood Ratio Test auf die Nachfrage Ristriktionen zeigt an, dass das Ergebnis der Prüfung im Einklang mit der früheren algemeinen Ergebnisse von anderen Autoren steht. Das ist, der Homogenität und der Symmetrie Restriktionen in den meisten Fällen von der Daten übertreten worden sind. Es bedeutet aber nicht unbedingt, dass die Theorie falsch ist. Es kann der Fall sein, dass die Daten und Modell nicht die Theorie unterstutzen kann entweder wegen der Dateneigenschaft, und/oder Modell Spezifikation. 11. Die Zeichen von den AIDS Parametern liefern Informationen über die Eigenschaften der Nachfrage nach Nahrungmitell. Man kann durch Besichtigung folgern, dass Waren mit negativen Verbrauchparameter ( a) Einkommen unelastisch sind, und diejenige, die mit positiven Parametern ( , Einkommen elastisch sind. Beobachtung auf den AIDS Schätzungen hat angezeigt, dass Reis in alle Fälle einkommen unelastisch ist. Andere Waren haben eine Mischungsleistung ausgestellt, die von den Gebieten und Verhebungsperioden abhängen. Fisch, Fleisch, Tabake und Betel, und vorbereitete Speise haben eine Allgemeinheit ausgestellt, einkommen elastisch zu sein. Andere Ergebnisse, die im Einklang mit der Intuition haben, sind die Ergibnisse die angezeigt haben, dass alle Nahrungsmittelgruppen eine negative Preiselastizitäten besitzen. Meisten von der untersuchten Waregruppe, mit Ausnahme von Eiern und Milch, sind Eigenpreis unelastisch. Die Tatsache, dass die entschädigten eigenen Preiselastizitäten (compensated ownprice elasticity) deutlich verschieden sind von denen der gewöhnlichen eigenen Preiseselastizitäten hat angezeigt, dass es Nachfragenwirkungen in jeder Preisesänderung der Warengruppe gibt. Andere Warengruppen sind ansprechend (responsive) auf der Änderung des Reisespreises. Das Gegenteil ist nicht der Fall. In Allgemein ist kreuze Preisbeziehung unter den Speisengruppen weniger einflussreich ist. Die Einbeziehung der Haushaltsgröße in den ganzen AIDS Model fuer Nahrungsmittel wird gerechtfertigt von der Tatsache, dass die meisten Parameterschätzungen, die Haushaltgröße vertreten, statistisch bedeutsam (significant) waren. Deswegen, ist es fest gestelt, das die Ausgaben fuer die Mehrheit der Nahrungsmittel von der Anzahl von Haushaltsmitglieder beeinflusst werden. Ein zusätzliches Haushaltmitglied kann verursachen, dass einige Haushaltausgaben steigen fuer das eine oder mindern für das anderen, um auszugleichen. Als die Anzahl von Haushaltmitglied zunimmt dan verringern der Verbrauch des Tabaks, Früchte und Gemüse, vorbereite te Speisen, und Fisch und Fleisch. Diese Reduktionen sind gemacht, um der Verbrauch von anderen Nahrungskategorien mit positiven elastizitäten, hauptsächlich Reis, Nicht-Reisstoffen, und essbares Öl. Die Zunahme der Haushaltsgröße ist mit der Abnahme derjenigen Speisenqualität verbunden. Der Verbrauch der billiger Kohlenhydrats-reicher Speise ist hauptsächlich eine Strategie, die von Haushalten mit große Mitgliedszahl genommen wird. 12. Die geschätzten Nachfragenparameter versorgen einen vollständigen und gleichmäßigen Rahmen für Bewertenschläge irgendeiner Regierungspolitik. Die Kombination des direkten Reises- und indirekte Tabak Preispolitikes ist in diesem Studie benutzt worden, die Nützlichkeit der Ergebnisse dieses Studie vorzuführen. Der Preis des Reises hat einen wichtigen Auswirkung auf das Ausgabenmuster von privatem Haushalt; weil Reis ein wichtigen Einflusses auf dem Haushaltausgaben hat. Die Preisberechnung, die in diesem Studie geleitet wird, schlägt vor, dass die Liberalisierung des Reismarktes eine Wohlfahrtsverbesserung an aller Einkommensgruppen macht. Wenn der Verbrauch von Tabak besteuert wird (indirekter Preisberechnung), wird dann Regierungseinkünfte steigen, ohne das Schaden von so viel armen Haushalten. ; This is a micro-data based study of demand for food in the framework of a static, utility maximizing, and partial model that enables the provision of knowledge on the interrelatedness among the competing commodity groups in a complete demand system. The dynamics which took place in the economy of contemporary Indonesia has created an urgent need for policy makers and scholars of food and agriculture sector of this country to have a knowledge on the spending behavior of the households in their response on changing consumption determinants like income, relative prices, the introduction of new brands in manufactured foods, an intensifying advertisement, changing mode of retailing, etc., as well as the changes in the demography of households themselves. The need is reinforced, as Indonesia after enjoying two decades of economic booming was hit by a devastating economic crisis that broke out in July 1997, the ramification of which prevails until the time of study. The consequences of this crisis are manifold. Economically speaking, the crisis has (i) forced Indonesia to approach a market system that among others, liberalizes the previously intervened food market, (ii) set the purchasing power of the average Indonesian back to the level of ten years before (iii) also changed the prices relatively. Politically, the Indonesian government is now facing an era of decentralization. These factors in combination might change the consumption structure of different household groups in Indonesia. Additionally, it places an urgent need to conduct a study also with local specific perspective of consumption behavior. Until today, the existing knowledge is deficient, because previous studies are limited to the estimation of single equation model based on an aggregated data. Due to the importance of the household as the decisive unit in consumption, and due to an increasing accessibility of micro data, this study used a dis- aggregate micro data set from the province of East Java, Indonesia. Given that background, the objective of this study is firstly to find demand parameters for food groups under investigation, based on which one can analyze the effects of expenditure and price changes on demand of eleven food groups for different income groups in the province of East Java, Indonesia. Secondly, to demonstrates the use of the study results for real policy questions about the food and agricultural sector. Thirdly, to evaluate the specific welfare effects of selected price policies for different income groups. The brief exposition of the republic of Indonesia in a historical perspective indicates that Indonesia is an economy with heavy state intervention in the past and departing from this basic model is a matter of political pragmatism. Changing the economic structure reduced the role of agricultural sector in terms of GDP contribution, but it is still important for food provision and employment. Increasing income per capita per year in the country reduced slightly percentage of expenditure on food. Rice expenditure has a high share of total food expenditure in all household groups. Therefore, food policy in Indonesia has dominantly centered on rice. This study employed the cross sectional household consumption/expenditure micro data set from the so called SUSENAS (the National Socio -Economic Survey), for the periods 1990, 1993, 1996 and 1999 representing the province of East Java, Indonesia. The consumption and income module of the SUSENAS survey covers all household expenditures during a week of enumeration with full specification of commodities. Listed in the questionnaires are 231 consumption items, for which data on quantities and values were gathered. The data set of each survey periods is collected from 5692 households (1990), 7638 households (1993), 8015 Households (1996), and 8552 households (1999) in urban and rural areas. The central Bureau of Statistics applied the three-stage stratified sampling for the SUSENAS. For food consumption the survey reference period was one week prior to the enumeration of data. The theoretical framework of this study is the neo-classical consumer economics. Theory and the related methods are presented in order to justify the model used in this study. Some theoretical, empirical and pragmatical considerations have brought us to the decision to use the linearized approximation of an almost ideal demand system (LA/AIDS) model. It satisfies the axioms of choice, aggregates perfectly over consumers, has a functional form, which is consistent with household budget data, and simple to estimate and test the true restrictions of demand theory. It also combines the best of theoretical features of both Rotterdam and translog models. When Stone s index is used in the model it is termed as a linear approximation of almost ideal demand system (LA/AIDS). The use of the concept of compensating variation suggests that results of demand estimation contribute well to the analysis of policy. Compensating variation is the compensating payment (amount of money) that leaves the consumer as well of as before the economic change. It may be positive or negative. It is positive, if the economic change makes consumer worse off, and negative, if the economic change brings betterment to the consumer. Because compensating variation is money metric, its expression is dependent on an absolute expression in term of country s currency unit. This is less comparable. To avoid this, one can transform it in a relative term by using for example, price index, which is metric independent. Based on that, Fischer Ideal Price Index was used to approximate the welfare change. Fischer Ideal Price Index is a geometric means of Laspeyres- (PL) price index , PL = ), and the Paasche (PP) price index, Pp = . It is expressed algebraically as = . It represents a changing purchasing power as an approximation of welfare change. The estimated equations for the LA/AIDS are summarized in table 6.2 to 6.9. For all the periods of surveys, covering urban and rural areas, there are 88 equations for the LA/AIDS. Eighty equations out of these 88 were estimated directly using SAS program the 6.12 edition, by applying the iterative seemingly unrelated regression (ITSUR) estimation procedure. The parameter estimates for the rest of 8 equations were recovered by using adding-up principle. In these models, the variation of budget shares of eleven food groups in the study areas are determined by (the own- and cross) prices, income level which is approximated by the weekly household s total expenditure on food, the income group of the households, and the household size accommodating the rest of demographical characteristics of the households. In total, 220 parameters in each of equation are resulted directly or indirectly from this estimation. Table 6.10 summarizes the estimation performance by presenting the number of statistically significant estimates out of 170 parameters in each equation that directly estimated in this study. As a matter of statistics, the worse performance of the estimation is represented by the one that give 55 per cent statistically significant estimates (table code 6.2: Urban90). The best estimation performance is exhibited by the one that brought 78 per cent statistically significant estimates (table code 6.3: Rural90). The facts, that more than the half of parameter estimates in each equation system is statistically significant may be the basis to claim, that the model specification is appropriate. Also, direct observation on the results of estimation indicates that majority of parameter estimates are large relative to their standard errors. These deliver some degree of confidence to say that the estimates are reliable. These in all suggest that our hypothesis, as explicitly expressed in the LA/AIDS model, is supported by the data. That is to say, that food demands in the study areas are responsive to prices, total food exp enditure level, income groups and the household size as measured from survey data. The asymptotic likelihood ratio test on demand restrictions indicates that the result of the test is consistent with the previous common findings by other authors. That is, the homogeneity and symmetry restrictions were in most cases violated by the data. However, it does not necessarily mean, that the theory is wrong; it may be rather the case, that the data and model combined do not support the theory either because of data property, and/or model specification. The signs of the AIDS parameters deliver information on the nature of the demand for food commodities. So, by inspection one can infer, those with negative expenditure parameters are income inelastic, and those with positive parameters, are income elastic. Observation on the AIDS estimates indicated that rice is in all cases income inelastic. Other commodities exhibited a mix performance depending on the areas and survey periods. Fish, meat, tobaccos and betel, and prepared food exhibited a generality of being income elastic. Other findings that support the intuition is that all food groups showed a negative own price elasticities. Most of commodity groups under investigation, with exception of Eggs and Milks, are own price inelastic. The fact, that the compensated own price elasticities are different clearly from those of the ordinary own price elasticities indicated that there is a demand effects in each of price change of the commodities groups being analyzed. Other food groups are responsive on the change of rice price. The reverse is not the case. In general, cross price relationship among the food groups are less influential. The inclusion of household size in the AIDS model for food is justified by the fact, that most of the parameter estimates representing household size were statistically significant. So for the majority of food items it holds that an additional of household s member will cause some household expenditure to increase and others to decline to balance the household size variable. As the number of household member increases, households reduce their consumption of tobacco, fruits and vegetables, prepared foods, and some time, fish and meat. These reductions are made in order to increase the consumption of other categories with positive household size elasticities mainly rice, non-rice staple, and edible oil. The increase of household size definitely associated with the decline in the food quality consumed by the households. The consumption of cheap carbohydrate-rich food is mainly the s trategy taken by households having a large membership. The estimated demand parameters provide a complete and consistent framework for evaluating impacts of any government policy. The combination of direct rice- and indirect tobacco pricing policies has been used in this study to demonstrate the usefulness of the results of this study. The price of rice has an important impact on private household s spending pattern, because of its important influence on the household s budget. The policy exercise conducted in this study suggest, that liberalizing the market of rice will make households of all income groups better-off, and a combination of it with a tobacco-taxing (indirect pricing) will increase government revenue without harming so much the poor households.
Anhand der Daten der Bundeswaldinventur (BWI, Stichjahre 2002 und 2012) wurde das Aufkommen an Laubholz mit niedriger Umtriebszeit (ALn) in Niedersachsen analysiert. Es wurden eigene Berechnungen durchgeführt, um in Erweiterung zu den Standardergebnissen der BWI eine Einzelbetrachtung der unter ALn zusammengefassten Arten zu ermöglichen. Es lässt sich festhalten, dass sowohl beim Vorrat als auch bei der Fläche Birke und Erle mit 80 % den überwiegenden Anteil des ALn in Niedersachsen ausmachen. Daneben besitzen die Pappeln gewisse Bedeutung, die übrigen Arten zusammengenommen (Weide, Eberesche, Wildobst, Kastanie, Traubenkirsche, Hasel) weisen ca. 10 % des Vorrats- bzw. Flächenanteils auf. Mit 10 Mio. m³ stockt knapp ein Drittel des ALn-Vorrates in besonders geschützten Biotopen (§ 30 BNatSchG), wobei die Erle mit ca. 8 Mio. m³ den höchsten Beitrag leistet. Etwa 5 Mio. m³, d.h. 12 % des Gesamtvorrates, unterliegt rechtlichen und/oder geländebedingten Nutzungseinschränkungen. In der Verjüngung weisen Birke und Eberesche mit jeweils 30-40 % die höchsten Anteile auf. Daneben ist noch die Traubenkirsche (15 %) von Bedeutung. Die Alterklassenverteilung des Hauptbestandes zeigt eindeutige Schwerpunkte in der zweiten und dritten Altersklasse (Birke, Pappel) bzw. in der dritten Altersklasse (Erle). Das übrige ALn ist vor allem in der ersten Altersklasse vertreten. Aufgrund des Altersklassenaufbaus ist davon auszugehen, dass die Vorräte bei Birke und Erle zumindest in der nächsten Inventurperiode weiter zunehmen, mittelfristig ist aber mit einem Rückgang zu rechnen. Momentan ergeben sich bei beiden Baumarten zumindest theoretisch (d.h. ohne Berücksichtigung ökonomischer Restriktionen) relativ hohe Nutzungspotenziale, zumal gezeigt werden konnte, dass beachtliche Anteile des ausgeschiedenen Vorrates derzeit ungenutzt bleiben. Bei der Pappel mit dem dritthöchsten Anteil am ALn-Vorrat hat durch die Umwandlung der Nachkriegsaufforstungen bereits ein Vorratsabbau eingesetzt, der sich weiter fortsetzen wird, da der Pappel in der waldbaulichen Planung keine Rolle mehr beigemessen wird. Bezogen auf die Fläche ist davon auszugehen, dass das ALn insgesamt vor allem im Tiefland weiterhin bedeutende Anteile einnehmen wird. Allerdings muss künftig vermutlich mit einem leichten Rückgang der Fläche gerechnet werden. Bei der Erle sind aufgrund der spezifischen Standortansprüche keine gerichteten Flächenveränderungen zu erwarten. Die übrigen Baumarten (Birke, Eberesche, Weide, Aspe) dürften zwar einerseits von bestimmten Elementen des waldbaulichen Strategiewechsels profitieren. Dazu zählen z.B. das Einbeziehen von Naturverjüngung bei der Bestandesbegründung, die Erhöhung des Laubbaumanteils sowie die gezielte Förderung von Neben- bzw. Mischbaumarten. Auf der anderen Seite stehen aber der verstärkte Anbau von schattentoleranten Baumarten (z.B. Ablösung der Kiefer durch Buche und Douglasie im Tiefland) und die Wiedervernässung degradierter Moore, wodurch sich das Flächenpotenzial für das ALn konkurrenz- bzw. standortbedingt reduzieren dürfte. Zudem wurde für die Inventurperiode 2002-2012 ein Rückgang der sukzessionsbedingten Neuwaldbildung auf Grenzertragsböden im Tiefland festgestellt, der noch in der Vorperiode (1987-2002) ausschlaggebend für den deutlichen Anstieg beim ALn (v.a. Birke) war. Weiteres Ziel war es, für die ALn-Arten Einzelbaummodelle zu konstruieren und diese in eine forstliche Simulationssoftware zu integrierten, wobei ein Einzelbaummodell jeweils aus mehreren Komponenten (Regressionsmodellen) besteht. Der Fokus lag auf der Abbildung von Durchmesser- und Höhenzuwachs, Kronenbreite, Kronenansatz, Einzelbaumvolumen und -biomasse, Site Index sowie dichte- und altersbedingter Mortalität. Soweit möglich wurden die Funktionen an den Daten der Bundeswaldinventur in Niedersachsen und der Betriebsstichprobe der Niedersächsischen Landesforsten parametrisiert. Bei nicht ausreichender Datenlage wurden Modelle in der Fachliteratur recherchiert und nach Überprüfung ausgewählt. Der Durchmesserzuwachs auf Einzelbaumebene wurde über ein lineares Modell mit linksseitiger Variablentransformation formuliert. Die Box-Cox Transformation erwies sich dabei der üblicherweise verwendeten logarithmischen Transformation als überlegen. Als Prädiktoren wurden Durchmesser, Alter und Konkurrenzstatus des betrachteten Einzelbaumes verwendet. Der Höhenzuwachs wurde nichtlinear über den algebraischen Differenzenansatz in Abhängigkeit sowohl der Höhe als auch des Baumalters zum Ausgangszustand modelliert. Es wurden verschiedene Modelle getestet und entsprechend der Güte der Anpassungsstatistiken ausgewählt. Nach dem gleichen Verfahren wurden Funktionen zur Abbildung des Site Index ermittelt. In beiden Fällen konnten für alle betrachteten Baumarten stabile Parameterschätzungen erreicht werden. Über die Methode der Quantilsregression wurde aus den Einzelbaumdaten ein baumarten- und alterspezifischer maximaler Höhenzuwachs ermittelt und somit eine Begrenzungsfunktion für den Höhenzuwachs erstellt. Die Kronenbreite wurde als lineare Funktion des Baumdurchmessers beschrieben. Aufgrund der Datenlage musste hier auf Angaben aus der Literatur zurückgegriffen werden. Gleiches gilt für die Volumenschätzung auf Einzelbaumebene. Der Kronenansatz wurde nichtlinear über die Eingangsgrößen Baumhöhe, Baumdurchmesser, Verhältnis von Höhe zu Durchmesser sowie Bestandesoberhöhe beschrieben. Erwies sich die Schätzung eines oder mehrerer Parameter als instabil, wurden reduzierte Modelle verwendet. Die Einzelbaumbiomasse wurde über eine dreiparametrige Exponentialfunktion hergeleitet. Bei Birke und Erle konnte dabei auf eigene Daten zurückgegriffen werden, für die übrigen Arten wurden aus den Angaben zur Einzelbaumbiomasse in den Daten der Bundeswaldinventur Pseudobeobachten generiert und anschließend das Modell angepasst. Die maximale Bestandesdichte zur Berücksichtigung der dichtebedingten Mortalität im Modell wurde über die Bestandesgrundfläche als Funktion der Oberhöhe hergeleitet. Der Schwellenwert, ab dem die altersbedingte Mortalität mit einer vorgegebenen Wahrscheinlichkeit einsetzt, wurde baumartenweise aus dem 95%-Quantil der Altersverteilung bestimmt. Die aufgestellten Einzelbaummodelle bildeten die Basis für eine waldbauliche Szenariensimulation für die Baumarten Birke und Erle. Aktuelle waldbauliche Behandlungsempfehlungen, die zusammenfassend eine früh einsetzende und gezielte Bestandespflege zur Stammholzerzeugung vorsehen (NLF-Konzept), wurden mit vier alternativen Behandlungsvarianten verglichen (Nullvariante, Ertragstafel, Extensiv, Z-Baum-Auslese). Dies erfolgte anhand ertragskundlicher Kenngrößen, ökonomische Restriktionen blieben unberücksichtigt. Die Modellbestände wurden mit Oberhöhenbonitäten von 27 m (Birke) bzw. 32 m (Erle) initialisiert, das Anfangsalter wurde auf 15 Jahre (Birke) bzw. 10 Jahre (Erle) gesetzt, die Simulation erfolgte bis zum Alter 70. Im Variantenvergleich zeigte sich, dass das NLF-Konzept bei beiden Baumarten einen guten Kompromiss zwischen gesamter flächenbezogener Volumenleistung (VL, = verbleibender Vorrat + Nutzungsmenge) und Durchmesserentwicklung der Z-Bäume darstellt. Die höchste Gesamtwuchsleistung (GWL, = Volumenleistung + Mortalität) zeigte bei beiden Baumarten die Nullvariante, allerdings waren hier die Durchmesser (dg und dg der Z-Bäume) deutlich geringer als in den übrigen Varianten. Es wurde weiterhin bestätigt, dass bereits wenige, frühzeitige Eingriffe zu einer erkennbaren Steigerung des Durchmesserzuwachses führen können (Extensiv-Variante). Im Vergleich dazu führte eine permanente Auskesselung der Z-Bume über den gesamten Betrachtungszeitraum zwar zu den höchsten Durchmesserzuwächsen, allerdings wurde vor allem bei Erle die Volumenleistung in den Zwischenfeldern dadurch stark herabgesetzt und die GWL dieser Variante war entsprechend gering. Die Ertragstafelvariante zeigt bei beiden Baumarten sowohl bei Volumenleistungen und erreichten Durchmessern mittlere bis gute Ergebnisse. Im Unterschied zum extensiveren NLF-Konzept finden die Eingriffe jedoch über den gesamten Simulationszeitraum statt und es wird zusätzlich zur Z-Baum Freistellung eine Hochdurchforstung in den Zwischenfeldern bis zum Erreichen der Soll-Grundfläche durchgeführt, wodurch der Pflegeaufwand höher ist. Weiterhin konnte gezeigt werden, dass die dichtebedingte Mortalität bei beiden Baumarten einen hohen Anteil an der GWL ausmachen kann, wenn eine Bestandesbehandlung ausbleibt. Das zu wählende Behandlungskonzept hängt entscheidend von den individuellen Zielen in Bezug auf die angestrebte Sortimentsstruktur ab. Hierfür konnten die aufzeigten Varianten Hinweise geben. Eine Nichtbehandlung (Nullvariante) kann sich bei teuren Erntekosten und dem Ziel der Energieholzproduktion als geeignet erweisen. Andererseits lässt sich aber bereits durch wenige Eingriffe, vor allem in der frühen Altersphase, die Durchmesserentwicklung fördern und damit die Zusammensetzung der Sortimentstruktur verbessern. Eine permanente Auskesselung der Z-Bäume über den gesamten Produktionszeitraum scheint nicht ratsam, da hierdurch die Volumenleistung auf der Fläche zu stark vernachlässigt wird. ; The supply of short-lived deciduous trees (ALn) in Lower Saxony was analysed using data from the German national forest inventory (NFI, 2002 and 2012). The standard results of the NFI were augmented by own calculations, which allowed ALn species to be looked at individually. In terms of both standing volume and area covered, birch and alder, with 80 %, make up the major share of the ALn in Lower Saxony. Apart from these species, poplars are of some importance, while the remaining ALn species (willow, Mountain ash, wild fruit trees, chestnut, Red cherry, hazel) combined make up only around 10 % of the volume / ground cover. Almost one third (10 Mio. m³) of the ALn stock is growing in specially protected biotope areas (§ 30 BNatSchG – the nature protection legislation in Germany), with the alder, at ca. 8 Mio. m³, making up the greatest share. Around 5 million m³, or 12 % of the total standing volume, are subject to limitations on usage, either legal restraints or restrictions caused by difficult terrain. Birch and Mountain ash, with 30-40 % respectively, make up the highest proportion of the regeneration, with Red cherry (15 %) also having a considerable share. Trees in the second and third age-class (birch, poplar), or the third age-class (alder), make up the bulk of the main crop. The remaining ALn consists mainly of trees in the first age-class. The age-class structure means that, while the standing volume of birch and alder will probably further increase in the next inventory period, this volume will, however, decrease in the medium term. Both species have, at least theoretically (i.e. without taking economic restrictions into account), a relatively high usage potential, particularly as it could be shown, that a considerable proportion of the harvested wood-volume is currently not used. The transformation of poplar stands planted in the 1950s has already resulted in a reduction of the timber volume of poplar, the species with the third highest share of the ALn timber volume. As poplar is no-longer of importance for silvicultural planning, this trend will continue in the future. It can be assumed that ALn will continue to make up a significant share of the forest area, above all in the lowlands, although a slight decrease in the area covered is anticipated. Due to the very specific site requirements of alder, no intentional changes in the area covered for this species are expected. The remaining ALn species (e.g. birch, Mountain ash, willow, aspen) may benefit from some aspects of a silvicultural strategy change, for instance the inclusion of natural regeneration in stand establishment, the increased proportion of deciduous trees, or the targeted increase in secondary and admixed tree species. On the other hand, the increased planning of shade-tolerant species (for instance the replacement of pine with beech or Douglas fir in lowland areas) and the re-wetting of degraded moors will, through increased competition or denial of habitat, mean a reduction in the potential area available for ALn species. Furthermore, in the inventory period 2002-2012 a decrease in natural afforestation through succession on marginal ground in lowland areas has been recorded. This process was the main reason for the clear increase in ALn (above all birch) in the previous inventory period (1987-2002). The aim was to construct single-tree models for each ALn species and subsequently to integrate these models in a forestry simulation software. Each single-tree model consists of several components (regression models). The focus lay on the depiction of diameter and height growth, crown width, height to crown base, single tree volume and biomass, site index, as well as density and age related mortality. As far as possible the functions were parameterised using the national forest inventory (NFI) data for Lower Saxony and the Lower Saxony state forestry service inventory. Where insufficient data was available, models were researched in the relevant literature, checked and selected on merit. The diameter growth at the level of the single tree was formulated using a model with left-sided variable transformation. For this the Box-Cox transformation proved to be superior than the logarithmic transformations usually used. The diameter, age and the competitiveness of the observed single tree were used as predictors. The height growth was modelled non-linearly using the algebraic difference approach as a function of the initial tree height and tree age. Different models were tested, the goodness of fit statistic being the selection criteria. Functions for determining the site index were developed using the same method. In both cases robust parameter estimates were achieved for all observed tree species. Using quantile regression, an age and species specific maximal height-growth was determined from the single tree data. A limiting function for height-growth was thus created. The crown width was described as a linear function of tree diameter. Because of insufficient available data, data from the literature had to be used in this case. The same was true for the volume estimate at the level of the single-tree. The crown basal height was described non-linearly using tree height, diameter, height/diameter ratio and stand top height as input variables. If the estimation of one or more parameters proved to be unstable then reduced models were used. The single-tree biomass was derived using a three parameter exponential function. For birch and alder own data was used. For the remaining ALn species pseudo-observations were generated from the NFI data on single-tree biomass and fitted to the model. The maximum stand density (for factoring density-related mortality into the model) was derived from the stand basal area as a function of stand top height. The threshold value, above which the age-related mortality is applied with a pre-defined probability, was determined per species from the 95 % quantile of the underlying age distributions. The single-tree models introduced here form the basis of a silviculture scenario simulation for the species birch and alder. Current recommendations for silvicultural treatments, which envisage a stand treatment, that begins early and is aimed at the production of logs (NLF concept), were compared with four alternative treatment variants (no-action alternative, yield-table, extensive, elite-tree selection). This comparison was carried using yield performance indicators. Economic restrictions were not taken into account. The model stands were initialised with top-height site quality classes of 27 m for birch and 32 m for alder, while the initial age was set to 15 years for birch or 10 years for alder. The simulation ran to age 70. The comparison showed that the NLF concept is a good compromise between volume productivity (VP, = remaining volume + harvested volume) and the diameter growth development of the elite trees. The maximum total productivity (TP = VP + mortality) exhibits, for both species, the no-action treatment, although here the diameter (dg and dg of the crop trees) were considerably smaller than in the other variants. It was confirmed, that even few, early thinnings can lead to a recognisable increase in the incremental diameter growth (extensive variant). In comparison, although permanent release of crop trees over the entire simulation period led to the highest incremental diameter growth, the volume growth in the remaining trees was greatly reduced, in particular for alder, and the TP for this variant was lower. The yield table variant showed medium to good performance for both volume growth and in achieved diameter for both species. In contrast to the extensive NLF concept, the thinnings are performed over the entire simulation period and, in addition to the release of crop-trees, a thinning form above is carried out on the remaining stock until the targeted stand basal area is achieved. The maintenance costs are thus higher. It could also be shown that, for both species, the density-related mortality can make up a high proportion of the TP, if no stand treatment is undertaken. Which treatment concept is most appropriate depends entirely on the objectives, with regard to the desired assortment structure. The treatment variants listed here can provide some guidelines. No treatment, the no-action alternative, can be adequate if the harvesting costs are high and the goal is to produce fuel wood. On the other hand, even a few interventions, especially in the early phase, can improve the diameter growth, and thus improve the assortment structure. Keeping crop trees free over the entire production period does not seem advisable, as this leads to a reduction of volume productivity in the stand as a whole.
The story of agricultural policy in Northeast Asia over the past 50 years illustrates the dramatic changes that can occur in distortions to agricultural incentives faced by producers and consumers at different stages of economic development. In this study of Japan, the Republic of Korea (the southern part of the peninsula, hereafter referred to as Korea) and the island of Taiwan, China (hereafter referred to as Taiwan), the authors estimate the degree of distortions for key agricultural products as well as for the agricultural sector as a whole over a period when these economies transitioned from low- or middle- to high-income status the beginning of the so-called East Asian economic miracle of dramatic industrial development. The three economies in terms of the nature of their economies, including their resource endowments that determined the course of their modern economic growth and development. The evolution of agricultural policies in the three economies is then reviewed before discussing how to measure distortions to agricultural incentives using the methodology from Anderson et al. (2008), the focus of which is on nominal and relative rates of assistance. Implications of empirical findings for policy reforms in the three economies are discussed in the final section, where the authors also identify lessons for later-developing economies experiencing similar structural transformations in the course of their economic growth. Statistical observations are found to be consistent with the hypothesis that the success of rapid industrialization that advanced these economies to the middle-income stage resulted in declines in agriculture's comparative advantage associated with the growing income disparity between farmers and employees in non-agricultural sectors.
AbstractThis thesis describes about the domination of Western knowledge toward Chinese tradition by illustrating the superiority or prominence of Western knowledge in the novel East Wind: West Wind written by Pearl S. Buck. The analysis focuses on two goals, there are (1) to portray how are the Eastern and the Western represented in the novel, and (2) to analyze how the influence of western knowledge dominated Chinese tradition. To analyze this novel, the the writer applied post-colonial criticism the writer focused on Orientalism as an approach by Edward Said. In analyze aspech the way Western discourse dominates the main character, Kwei-lan, as represented of Chinese people by issuing the discourse of superiority. In addition, the writer applied content analysis method to analyze documents in order to give a deep understanding toward the novel by using close reading technique, which requires to read the whole of the novel for several times. From the analysis, the writer found that Western discourse did construct the domination over the Orient (Chinese culture) by representing the differences in term family relationships (simple vs complex), mind (open minded vs narow minded) and beliave (superstitious vs rational), the discourse succeed to dominate and create the truth or reality as the assumption about the West as supperior and the East as inferior.Key word: orientalismBackgroundThe term discourse is the range of social practices, customs, and institutions that cover any given subject matter. According to Michel Foucault, ―.discourse is strongly bounded area of social knowledge; a system of statements within the world can be known‖ (1967:70). Through language, discourse gives the role of us in our society. It constructs our knowledge and understanding about who we are and what the world we live are. Because of discourse covers every social matters, it can be used in any perspective.Therefore, the influence of Western discourse to the world made people tend to consider West is more superior than East. The Western discourse of domination is one of the effects of Industrial revolution that born the idea of imperialism that implement in the form of colonialism.In journal of universty of pretoria by Lazere S. Rukundwa and Andries G. Van Ardel The Formation of Postcolonial Theory2Research Associate (2007:421), through Orientalism, Said presented the discourse that have been constructed to society about the perception of Eurocentric or Western where naturally they represented as the rational, mature, progressive, honest, normal, masculine, good, upright, democratic, and superior instead of Eastern which represent irrational, abnormal, backward, passive, undisciplined, primitiveness, and inferior. The simplest example regarded to this is people are assumed as smart or intelligent whenever we use English to non-native. It widely influenced people, society, lifestyles, and human life. Such discourse was able to construct the human standard as seem as they are. This system, discourse, has taught people, certainly us, the world of what they want us to be.Thus, literary works is one of the ways western domination affect our mind. However, it is also a good implementation in understanding aspects of post-colonialism issues which concern the life; cultural, and interactions of cultural aspects. The interactions of difference cultures have much inspire author to make various literary works to explore those issues. Pearl S. Buck's novel East Wind: West Wind (1930) is one of popular works considered has postcolonial implication.The novel East Wind: West Wind tells about Kwei-Lan, a girl who was born as traditional noble Chinese family. She has no experience with modern western style before. As a Chinese royal woman, she has taught everything to become a good daughter of the family and to be good wife for her husband. Her husband is a noble Chinese royal man that had twelve years abroad, America, studying medicine. Kwei-lan has been betrothed to her husband since she was born. Her husband has adapted and adopted western lifestyle. He feels western life is better and rational than his Chinese culture that strange and irrelevant. Different perspective about being woman makes Kwei-Lan cannot win her husband's heart as she thinks and has taught before. Kwei-Lan as a Chinese traditional woman and her husband's lifestyle emerge distinguishes understanding about family between the West and the Chinese tradition.The novel describes how Kwei-Lan's cultural traditional background opposed with her husband's Western lifestyle. In the part II of the novel, Kwei-Lan has to accept that her brother goes to study in America. Later the conflict comes up when her brother has already married with a foreign woman. Even though he has betrothed to one of daughters of Li family since he was child. Their mother is shocked to know such news. The family has to accept that son has been betrayed the family. Her brother chooses to disobey the Chinese tradition of married and his duty as a3son of Royal Family to keep the heir. It is seen as the impact of western culture influence toward her brother.Based on explanation above, the writer is interested and challenged to discuss this novel. Pearl S Buck is able to tell the story with her elegant way. East Wind: West Wind shows the elegant internal conflict of traditional Chinese woman who tries to oppose her ideology of being good woman and wife toward the western discourse that influences her life.In this novel, Pearl S Buck portrays how the Western culture meets the Eastern old tradition and tended to degrade the East. It seems she shows West lifestyle is better and rational than East. Through the main character Kwei-Lan, Buck explains in detail Chinese woman's role in life and compares to the knowledge of Western within her husband. The author also shows the reader how Kwai-Lan's brother finally betrays his old tradition, the Chinese Family tradition, by secretly marriage a foreign woman. Until the end of this novel, Buck confirms the superiority and rationality of Western discourse toward Chinese tradition as East.By using post-colonialism, especially Orientalism of Edward Said, the writer will analyze how these texts construct the Orient through imaginative representations of the main character, Kwei-Lan, in the novel. The writer wants to analyze the differences of two cultures and perceptions based on the the orientalism that found in the novel. It is able to create the assumption about the West as superior and the East is inferior. Orientalism argues those discourses made by Western as a political tool to conquer the reader's minds showing inferiority of the East.Further, Post-colonial criticisms also appropriate as a ―knife‖ to discuss, analyze, and examine a work with its relations and effect of colonialism and the interaction of two different cultures. Therefore, this research is entitled ―Western Domination Implied over Chinese Tradition in Pearl S Buck's East Wind: West Wind (An Orientalism Reading)‖.MetodologyIn this chapter, the writer focuses on the steps that must take to finish this research, that proposed by Sudaryanto (1993). Some steps make this research success. This step relates each other and cannot release form the other steps. There are three steps, first, collecting the data, second, analyzing the data, and third presenting the data.1. Collecting the dataIn collecting data, the writer conducts a library research. Through the library research, the writer collects the data needed,4which can be categorized as primary and secondary data. The primary data itself is; "East Wind; West Wind" by Pearl S Buck, the more specific is sentences and quotations that have relationship with the topic and that have relations with the theory. The secondary data function as tools in analyzing the primary data. It consists of books and other sources from journals and internet sites.The writer conducts the library research about post-colonial criticism. In this step writer finds the definitions and concept of post colonialism, especially the theory of Orientalism by Edward Said. It is helpful to broaden the perspective of writer about the term.2. Analyzing the DataIn analyzing the data writer examines the primary data by the way of close reading and in analyzing specific sentences and quotations that have relationship with the topic and the theory. Based on Edgar Robert, ―to analyze the problems in the literary work, it can be found by digging up through characters in the ways of speech, dialogue and action between one character and other characters‖ (56).Besides, the writer explores some data related about the Post-Colonial criticism, especially Orientalism approach by Edward Said. Writer will identify the sentence related to the topic and the theory supporting to completing the research.3. Presenting the ResultThe last step is presenting the analysis. The writer thus uses descriptive method to present the data. Based on Bogdan and Biklen, qualitative research is descriptive, the data are collected in the form of words, rather than number, and result of analysis is written descriptively (1982:27) as the rule to conducts this research. The data is presented descriptively in this analysis by quoting the sentences of dialogue from the novel that relevant to the analysis.Result and DiscussionIn this chapter, the writer wants to analyze about the data. In analyzing data the writer uses the theory orientalism by Edwar said. The writer analyzes about the The analysis focuses on two goals, there are (1) to portray the different perspective between Western knowledge and Chinese tradition, and (2) to analyze the implication of Western knowledge as domination over Chinese tradition.Orientalism is a branch of Postcolonial theory that developed by Edward Said According to said this theory is about how The West see the world by binary oposition where It seems to explore the overplus of Western and expose the lacking5of Eastern and make it as if those are natural by using discourse. And the discorse is formed and it will effect to human mind who read it. Besides based on discourse the reader consciusness or uncansciousness will judge what that they read it is god or it is bad. Said does not question about the truth or the wrong. He tries to give us deeply understanding of how colonizer or Western discourse constructs the domination of the world toward colonized or Eastern in every way and how it continues until now.The Different Perspective of the Eastern and the Western in the NovelIn this chapter, the writer would discuss the portrait of contradictive perspective between western Knowledge or Occident and Chinese old tradition or orient. Pearl S Back does not frankly describe what the western culture in the novel East Wind: West Wind is. She implicitly explains how Western culture by contrasted it with Chinese culture experienced by the character Kwei-lanThis chapter, the writer cuncludes that there are saveral contradictions of differernt perspective of the western knowledge and the chinese tradition. The writer divided two subchapter, the Eastern and the Western. It consist the complex family relationships and simple family relationships, narrow minded and open minded, superstitious and rational.Family in the eastern in this case family in Chinese is narrated differently with family in western. It is described that Chinese family is a big extended family, complex and has not much freedom because bound of tradition. Different with western family, that consists of nuclear family, father, mother and children and has more freedom because not bound with the old tradition, it is because they explained are more logic and more simple besides they has right and free will to choose and do whatever they want to do.In the novel describe although the Chinese man has been married, they are allowed or naturally believed to take some concubines as they like. It can be seen by following quotation in the novel:―The desire for sons in a household like ours, where my father had three concubines whose sole interest was in the conceiving and bearing of children was too ordinary to contain any mystery.‖ [11-12]Kwei-Lan's father, as stated above, has three concubines in order to pour his desire in woman and to conduct a birth son for his clan. In the Chinese family, it is normal for the husband to marry other woman. Man in Chinese tradition has a duty to give great male offspring to maintain their clan. Further, Buck states:―They had caught my father fancy at first though a6prettiness which faded like flowers plucking in spring, and my father's favor ceased when their brief beauty was gone.‖[19]The husband can marry any woman if his wife cannot give birth and give him a son. Chinese man can whenever he wants to marry woman and leave them when their beauties are gone.In contrast, the portrayal of Western woman is described as dichotomy to Chinese tradition where the family relationship is simpler. Besides the family in the western is nuclear family and the decision is make by own self \. They do not need many procedure to do something. In the novel, it is narrated by Kwei-lan brother to marry his girlfriend, the kwei-lan brother and hiss wife do not need many procedure to get merit. In this case Buck tries ti show that thee western people are better than Eastern peoplebecause western people has more freedom.In addition, the wife or woman in the western culture tends to not accepting become subordinate position in family. It clarifies in the novel:―The trouble in all this may be that the foreigner is not willing to accept a subordinate position. It is not customary in their country to have secondary wives.‖ [160]Western women believe that they have right and capable to follow their own will. There are no such certain rules either as woman or as wife of their family that have to be obeyed.Kwei-Lan's brother who has been taught the wisdom of the Great Master, has to fulfill the first duty as a man to pay careful heed to every desire of his parents. In spite of obeying the custom, he married a foreign woman when he studied in America. Kwei-lan who shocked to hear is alarmed by her husband. It can be seen in the novel that, he said:―You must be prepared…it is better to face the truth. He will probably not obey you mother… Old foundations are breaking – have broken… there must be stronger reasons than in this days‖ [150]As the one who adapts the Western culture, Kwei-Lan's husband precisely knows that her brother will consistently disobey the old and primitive tradition. Kwei-lan's brother breaks the old custom and chooses to live in progressive and democratic ways as his will. Related to this, Hans Bertens states that―The inferiority that Orientalism attributes to the East simultaneously serves to construct the West's superiority. The sensuality, irrationality, primitiveness, and despotism of the East construct the West as rational, democratic, progressive, and so on‖ [Bertens, 2006: 205]The writer examines that the novel describes the primitiveness and despotism of Chinese7old tradition. Western discourse seems to take place and dominates the character Kwei-Lan's brother, even our perspective, to disobey such custom.Secondly, it is also happened to different perspective can also be seen in the mindset or lifestyle contradiction in the novel. in the family, that is to produces son to maintain the clan and descendent. In Chinese custom, Kwei-lan and her husband should remain stay within the ancestral home. For his father, a noble Chinese man should not waste their dignified leisure time and stay still in home. The family has plenty of food and space. It can be seen when Kwei-lan's father in law spoke to her husband;"here is plenty of food and space. You need never waste your body in physical labor. Spend your days in dignified leisure and in study that suits your pleasure. Allow your daughter in law of your honored mother to produce son. Three generations of sons less than one roof is sight pleasing to heaven‖ [43]In Chinese custom, a noble family should only worry to give born the great son in order to maintain the clan and the descendant of family. It is reflected in the important of a son existence. A husband should not be worried about food and money. This is what has been taught by the ancestor for hundred years. In the other side, Kwei-lan's husband, who has been studied in West, has his own perception. It can be seen in the quotation below:I wish to work father, I am trained in scientific professions – the noblest in the western world. As for sons, they are not my desire. I wish to produce the fruit of my brain for my country's good. A mare dog may fill the earth with the fruit of his body‖ [43]The father of Kwei-Lan's husband wants to keep them in the house without worrying about food and money. He wants them to pay attention to deliver his grandson. Rather than focus on producing son, Kwei-lan's husband wants to work and earn money by himself to his family. His custom cannot change the decision he has taken.Thirdly difference is seen based on the story is superstition and custom and Chinese culture which is described so irrational to be believed. In the novel, Kwei-lan's husband is a doctor. One day someone called him to come to the house where a lady tried to kill herself by hanging her neck. She is still alive but unconscious. In order to heal the woman's soul, the priest came and made a ceremony by plugging a piece of cloth to her nose and mouth.―He sent for the priests to beat the gongs to call the woman's soul back, and her8relatives gathered about and placed the poor unconscious girl…into a kneeling position on the floor; then they deliberately filled her nose and mouth with cotton and cloth and bound clothing around her face‖ [76]Kwei-lan firstly agreed to the old tradition, taking back the soul, which has been done for hundred years. In the contrary, Kwei-lan's husband totally disagreed with such custom that has lost so much spirit of human life.―Would you die if I did this long enough? And he seized my hands in one of his and placed his handkerchief roughly over my mouth and nose. I twisted free and tore it away‖ [76-77]The quotation convinces the irrationality of Chinese old custom, and on the contrary also convinces the rationality of Western discourse. The way of Kwei-lan's husband tries to show to Kwei-Lan seems like confirm the opposite of perspective between Kwei-lan, reprented Chinese tradition, over Western discourse of her husband.The writer concluded that those contradictions are the portrayal of different perspective of the Eastern in this case traditional Chinese and the western knowledge.The Western Knowledge as Domination Implied over Chinese Tradition in The NovelThe writer found the orientalism issues which Western is assumed to has much more realistic to be true. This is a discourse, western discourse, which dominates the assumption about Chinese tradition in the novel. The changing perception of the character, even the readers, seem t confirms this discourse.Kwei-Lan's husband seems to confirm Western discourse based on the way he treat Kwei-lan Kwei-Lan also surprises to hear ‗the new ways' her husband meant to her. Her husband has been certainly influenced by Western culture. For twelve years he studied in foreign country. Then, he now tries to convince Kwei-lan as it is best way for their life. Kwei-lan then responds to think that, it can be seen in the following quotation:―I equal to him? But why? Was I not his wife? .was he not my master by law? …what else could I do if I did not marry? And how could I marry except as my parents arranged it? … it was all according to my custom‖ [36-37].In order to construct the superiority of Western culture, the text shall describe the inferiority of others. In this novel, Pearl S Buck draws the domination or superiority of9Western culture by contrasting to Chinese custom. Therefore, Pearl S Buck's novel has been influenced by Western discourse in the perspective of Orientalism. The writer found that the novel conducts unintentionally domination of Western over Chinese tradition.―… I wish to follow the new ways. I wish to regard you in all things as my equal. I shall never force you anything. You are not my possession—my chattel‖ [36]Changing perception about Western people also described in which the character Kwei-lan asked to her husband about what they think about Chinese tradition. In the novel, Kwei-lan's husband told that;―They think our clothes are funny and our faces and our food and all what we do. It does not occur to them that people can look as we do and behave as we do, and be wholly as human as they are… In fact, I believe they come over here thinking to teach us civilization‖ [88-89]Assuming the clothes, faces, food and all what Chinese people do are funny imply the issue of imperialism of Western domination to Chinese people. The text seems to approve and convince that Western culture is more rational and represented universal civilization. Again, our perception about Eastern culture is conducted to change by contrasting the superiority of Western culture.Further, the writers also found the changing perception of characters in the way Kwei-lan become happy to adopt the modern way of life.―But now, selfish woman that I am, I do not care that the tradition is broken, I think only of my son… I thank the gods that I am married to a modern man… he gives me my son for my own…all my life is not enough to repay my gratitude‖ [114]The climax of disobedient of Chinese tradition as the impact of Western discourse is when Kwei-lan's brother in the end chooses to live freely like what he has been experienced in Western country. It can be seen in the end of novel:―…from this day I have no father. I have no clan – I repudiate the name of Yang! Remove my name from the books! I and my wife, we will go forth. In this day we shall be free as the young if other countries are free‖ [264]In Orientalism perspective, the character Kwei-lan's brother clearly emphasize the domination over Eastern Culture, or Chinese tradition. The final disobedient of character against the old custom confirms the primitiveness and10irrational way of life. Kwei-Lan's brother asserts that that Western culture represented the universal civilization. Accepting the domination of Western culture could benefit him from the ‗backward' or ‗superstitious' conditions in which he lived.In the end, the writer concluded that the the main character Kwei-lan is influenced by Western discourse.―We must let all that go, my love, my love! We do not want our son fettered by old, useless things!‖And thinking of these two, my son and his cousin brother I know that my husband is right – always right! [277]The effect of such discourse is a change of Kwei-lan's perspective about the modernism of Western culture and the backward of her Chinese tradition. Through the hand of her husband, Kwei-lan admitted that Western discourse dominate her whole life assuming as the best way of civilization rather than Chinese ancestors. Influence and changing perception also gives impact to disobey the law of old Chinese tradition that for hundred years believed by the ancestors.ConclusionIn the conclusion, the novel East Wind: West Wind written by Pearl S. Buck tells about Kwei-Lan, a noble Chinese woman who had no experience with modern western style before. She has been taught to become a good daughter of the family and to be good wife for her husband. Kwei-lan has been betrothed since she was born to a noble Chinese royal man whom had twelve years abroad studying medical science. Her husband has adapted and adopted western lifestyle. Kwei-Lan as represented Chinese woman and her husband's lifestyle emerge distinguishes understanding about family between the West and the Chinese tradition. Kwei-Lan's cultural traditional background opposed her husband's Western lifestyle. The conflicts come up from the different perception of life between Western Knowledge and Eastern culture (Chinese Tradition). It is seen in binary opposition such as complex family relationshps and simple family relationships, open minded and narow minded, and superstition and rationality.By using Orientalism approach presented by Edward Said, the writer found that the novel East Wind: West Wind constructs the imaginative representations of the Orient (Chinese culture) through the main character Kwei-Lan. The writer found the indication of Western discourse which dominates the Orient, in this case Chinese culture, through negative perception by describing cultural conflicts of the main character. Kwei-lan is influenced by her11husband who taught her about the Western knowledge. She gradually changed her perception about the West. Kwei-lan who applied her ancestors' custom, started to doubt and questioning the truth about Chinese tradition. Orientalism examined the West constructs such discourse through contrasting the right and rational way of life and the backward and irrational custom of Chinese.In the end, through the analysis the writer emphasize that the novel East Wind: West Wind written by Pearl S. Buck implied the Western Domination over Chinese Tradition. Western discourse succeeds to dominate the assumption and about the West as superior and the East is inferior. Orientalism argues those are constructed by Western as a political tool to conquer the reader's minds showing inferiority of the East. This novel construct discourse of Western domination as well as judgment of China's tradition, which are funny, strange, and backward and need help. The discourse of West to dominate the Chinese tradition by degrading them and shows their better and rational way of life finally create the ‗truth' or ‗reality' about West as standard civilization.Acknowledgement Alhamdulillahirobbil'alamin, First of all let me give my highest praise to Allah SWT, The Almighty God, for help, blessing, mercy, loves and guidance to me. Without the help, guidance and mercy this thesis could not have finished, and for opportunities and everything in my life. Then the writer would like to say thank to great human leader Muhammad SAW who guide people from the bad style of life to the good style of life.I wish to express my gratitudes to both my supervisors: Ms. Suci Humairah, S.Pd.,M.A., and Mrs. Dra. Mariati, M.Hum., for their support and guidance in finishing this thesis. The contribution and guidance in my thesis are valuable things which will not be forgotten to me. I also want to say Thanks to Mrs. Femmy Dahlan, S.S.,M.Hum., and Mr. Dr. Elfiondri, S.S.,M.Hum., as my examiners. Thank you so much for the suggestion, correction, advices and time, so that I can finish my thesis. I would like to thank too, to all of the lectures in English Department. Many tanks to guide and teach the writer during studied in English department.Thank you for my mom Syahlidarmiwati and my dad Bukhari. I would like to say thank you to suggestion, sacrifice, sincere love, patience, and always remaind me to pray and work hardly. And thank you to my brother Renza Putra, Rolanda Putra, and Fauzan Azim. Then I want to dedicate this thesis to science and human live.12I also would like to say Thanks to all of my friends, Sing 08, who have helped me in process of writing this thesis, my friend in faculty, My friend in boarding house, For all of my friends who I cannot mention one by one, thank you very much to have been contributing the most beautiful part in my life. Do the best in our life and get the greatest future.BibliographyBartens, Hans. Literary Theory: The Basic. London: Rouledge, 2001Buck, S. Pearl. East Wind: West Wind. New York. Mayor Bell. 2010Childs, Peter. Roger Fowler. The Rouledge Dictionary of Literary Terms. New York: Rouledge, 2006Hithcock, Loise. A Theory for Classics: a Strident Guide. New York: Rouledge, 2008.Lane, Richard J. Fifty Key Literary Theorists. New York: Rouledge, 2006M. A. R. Habib. Modern Literary Criticism and Theory: A History. Cornwell: Blackwell, 2005Malpas, Simon. Paul Wake. The Rouledge Companion to Critical Theory. New York: Rouledge, 2006Tyson, Lois. Critical Theory Today: A User Friendly Guide. New York: Rouledge, 2006Sudaryanto. Metode dan Aneka Teknik Analisis Bahasa: Pengantar Penelitian Wahana Kebudayaan secara Linguistis. Yogyakarta: Duta Wacana University Press, 1993Journal:Lazare S. Rukundwa & Andries G. van Aarde1. The Formation of Postcolonial Theory Research Associate: Department of New Testament Studies. Cornwell. 2007
L"olivicultura de la comarca del Priorat es basa en la varietat "Arbequina" i està inclosa dins la DOP "Siurana" (Tarragona) on ocupa unes 2.900 ha que produeixen 4.700 t d"olives i 900 t d"oli, que ha de competir amb unes 100.000 t d"oli d"aquesta varietat produïdes a tot el mon, més de la meitat fora de Catalunya i amb tecnologies de producció modernes que permeten reduir costos i millorar la rendibilitat. Per aquest motiu els productors de la zona van fundar l"Associació d"Oleïcultors del Priorat (AOP) amb la finalitat de crear una estructura comercial que permetés accedir a mercats d"alt preu, semblants als que utilitzen els vins de qualitat de la comarca. La AOP signà el 2002 un conveni amb l"IRTA i el DAAM per a desenvolupar un programa científico-tècnic que permetés la caracterització i tipificació dels olis de la comarca, establint criteris objectius de selecció d"aquells olis de qualitat superior i diferenciable de la resta d"olis de "Arbequina" de Catalunya, per a facilitar la seva comercialització. Aquesta tesis doctoral inclou tots els aspectes científics sobre els que està fonamentada l"aplicació comercial d"aquest programa. Els objectius fixats són: (1) caracteritzar els olis produïts a la comarca, a nivell fisicoquímic i sensorial; (2) constatar si aquests olis són objectivament diferents dels d"altres zones, produïts amb la mateixa varietat "Arbequina"; (3) identificar en què consisteix la seva tipicitat, relacionant-la amb factors propis del clima i sòls de la comarca; i (4) caracteritzar l"olivicultura i elaiotècnia de la comarca. Els treballs s"han desenvolupat durant sis campanyes successives (2002-03 a 2008-09) i es basen en l"anàlisi sistemàtica de pràcticament el 100% dels olis produïts a la comarca durant aquests anys (6.308.124 litres), la descripció de l"olivicultura de la zona (mitjançant enquesta) i dels processos d"extracció (descripció de les instal·lacions i anotació de les condicions de procés en campanya) i l"estudi de la relació existent entre l"oli i els factors de producció, edàfics i climàtics. Als olis s"han analitzat les característiques sensorials, paràmetres fisicoquímics de qualitat, àcids grassos, esterols, polifenols totals, índex d"amargor, estabilitat i, en alguns casos, ceres i compostos volàtils. La metodologia utilitzada és similar a la dels nombrosos treballs de tipificació i caracterització d"olis d"oliva verge, normalment associats a DOP espanyoles i d"Itàlia, la qual fiabilitat està relacionada amb la representativitat de les mostres d"oli analitzades i que apliquen tècniques estadístiques univariants i multivariants diverses. Els resultats demostren que fins un 54% dels olis de la zona Priorat, elaborats majoritàriament amb "Arbequina", es poden diferenciar objectivament dels d"altres zones productores del mon que utilitzen la mateixa varietat, inclús de les veïnes Garrigues i Siurana-Camp. Aquestes diferències ho són tant a nivell sensorial (principalment els atributs picant, aromes secundàries, fruitat, astringència i dols), como a nivell d"àcids grassos (principalment palmitoleic, oleic, palmític i esteàric). Existeix una variabilitat intrazonal (inferior al 20% en tots els paràmetres, excepte els esterols) que sembla aleatòria en el cas d"atributs sensorials i, en el cas de la composició química, està relacionada amb factors geogràfics, de tècniques de cultiu i de clima de cada municipi. Les diferències respecte d"altres zones veïnes on es cultiva la mateixa varietat estan relacionades amb l"orografia i geologia particular de la comarca (més del 50% de plantacions estan a més de 400 m d"altitud i sobre sòls del Paleozoic de baixa fertilitat i amb zones de transició cap a sòls sedimentaris del quaternari cap al Camp de Tarragona i del terciari cap a Les Garrigues) i amb el clima particular i bastant homogeni a tota la zona (règim termo-pluviomètric de tipus "mediterrani prelitoral sud", amb transició cap a "mediterrani continental sec" a Les Garrigues i "mediterrani litoral sud" al Camp de Tarragona). S"ha definit un model matemàtic per a predir si una partida d"olives té possibilitats de produir olis de qualitat suficient per a la seva diferenciació, així com funcions discriminants de Fischer per a determinar si el perfil sensorial o la composició en àcids grassos d"un oli són típics de la comarca del Priorat i, per tant, diferenciables de les zones veïnes. Actualment, els resultats d"aquests treballs serveixen de base per a establir les estratègies comercials de venda dels olis del Priorat. Els moliners i envasadores trien aquells olis considerats com típics de la zona per a ser envasats (s"ha passat del 20% al inici del programa fins al 65% actual), dedicant la resta de la producció a l"autoconsum i al mercat a doll ; El olivar de la comarca del Priorat se basa en el cultivo de la variedad "Arbequina" y está incluido en la DOP "Siurana" (Tarragona), ocupando unas 2.900 ha que producen 4.700 t de aceitunas y 900 t de aceite, que debe competir con unas 100.000 t de aceite de esta variedad producidas en todo el mundo, más de la mitad fuera de Cataluña y con tecnologías de producción modernas que permiten reducir los costes y mejorar la rentabilidad. Por este motivo, los productores de la zona fundaron la Asociación de Oleicultores del Priorat (AOP) con el fin de crear una estructura comercial que permitiera acceder a mercados de alto precio, parecidos a los que utilizan los vinos de calidad de la comarca. La AOP firmó, en 2002, un convenio con el IRTA y el DAAM para desarrollar un programa científico-técnico que permitiera la caracterización y tipificación de los aceites de la comarca, estableciendo criterios objetivos de selección de aquellos aceites de calidad superior y diferenciable del resto de aceites de "Arbequina" de Cataluña, para facilitar su comercialización. La presente tesis doctoral incluye todos los aspectos científicos sobre los que se fundamenta la aplicación comercial de este programa. Los objetivos que se plantean son: (1) caracterizar los aceites producidos en la comarca, a nivel físico-químico y sensorial; (2) constatar si estos aceites son objetivamente diferentes de los de otras zonas producidos con la misma variedad "Arbequina"; (3) identificar en qué consiste su tipicidad, relacionándola con factores propios del clima y suelos de la comarca; y (4) caracterizar la olivicultura y elaiotecnia de la comarca. Los trabajos se han desarrollado durante seis campañas (2002-03 a 2008-09) y se basan en el análisis sistemático de prácticamente el 100% de los aceites producidos en la comarca durante esos años (6.308.124 litros), la descripción de la olivicultura de la zona (mediante encuesta) y de los procesos extractivos (descripción de las instalaciones y anotación de las condiciones de proceso en campaña) y el estudio de la relación existente entre el aceite y los factores tanto de producción como edáficos y climáticos. En los aceites se han analizado las características sensoriales, parámetros físico-químicos de calidad, ácidos grasos, esteroles, polifenoles totales, índice de amargor, estabilidad y, en algunos casos, ceras y compuestos volátiles. La metodología utilizada se basa en los numerosos trabajos de tipificación y caracterización de aceites de oliva virgen, normalmente asociados a DOP españolas e italianas, cuya fiabilidad está relacionada con la representatividad de las muestras de aceite analizadas y que aplican técnicas estadísticas univariantes y multivariantes diversas. Los resultados demuestran que hasta un 54% de los aceites de la zona Priorat, elaborados mayoritariamente con "Arbequina", pueden diferenciarse objetivamente de los de otras zonas productoras del mundo que utilizan la misma variedad, incluso de las vecinas Garrigues y Siurana-Camp. Dichas diferencias lo son tanto a nivel sensorial (principalmente los atributos picante, aromas secundarios, frutado, astringencia y dulzor), como a nivel de ácidos grasos (principalmente palmitoleico, oleico, palmítico y esteárico). Existe una variabilidad intrazonal (inferior al 20% en todos los parámetros, excepto los esteroles) que parece aleatoria en el caso de atributos sensoriales y que, en el caso de la composición química, está relacionada con factores geográficos, de técnicas de cultivo y de clima de cada municipio. Las diferencias respecto de otras zonas vecinas, donde se cultiva la misma variedad, están relacionadas con la orografía y geología particular de la comarca (más del 50% de plantaciones están a más de 400 m de altitud y sobre suelos del Paleozoico de baja fertilidad y con zonas de transición hacia suelos sedimentarios del cuaternario hacia el Camp de Tarragona y del terciario hacia Les Garrigues) y con el clima particular y bastante homogéneo en toda la zona (régimen termopluviométrico de tipo "mediterráneo prelitoral sur", con transición hacia el "mediterráneo continental seco" de Les Garrigues y el "mediterráneo litoral sur" del Camp de Tarragona). Se ha definido un modelo matemático para predecir si una partida de aceitunas tiene posibilidades de producir aceites de calidad suficiente para su diferenciación, así como funciones discriminantes de Fischer para determinar si el perfil sensorial o la composición en ácidos grasos de un aceite son típicos de la comarca del Priorat y, por tanto, diferenciables de las zonas vecinas. Actualmente, estos resultados sirven de base para establecer las estrategias comerciales de venta de los aceites del Priorat. Los almazareros y envasadores escogen aquellos aceites considerados como típicos de la zona para su envasado (se ha pasado desde un 20% al inicio del programa hasta el 65% actual), dedicando el resto de la producción al autoconsumo y al mercado de graneles. ; Olive production in the Priorat area raws on "Arbequina" cultivar and is included into PDO "Siurana" (Tarragona), with 2.900 ha and yielding 4.700 t fruits in average, equivalent to 900 t of virgin oil. This oil competes with 100.000 t of oil from the same cultivar produced worldwide (more than a half out of Catalonia and using new technologies to reduce costs and enhance profitability). This was the reason to promote the Priorat"s Producer Association (PPA) in order to build a commercial structure to gain high value markets, similar to those used by high quality wines of this area. PPA proposed in 2002 an agreement with IRTA and the Agricultural Services from the Catalan Government with the aim to develop a scientific and technical program to characterize and differentiate virgin oils from Priorat and setting objective criteria to select high quality oils different from others "Arbequina". This ought to improve current commercialization. This thesis includes all scientific aspects supporting the commercial application of the program. Research goals were: (1) to characterize oils from Priorat using physic, chemical and sensorial parameters; (2) to assess if these oils can be differentiated from others produced with the same cultivar "Arbequina" in other regions; (3) to test their "typicality", related to Priorats" climate and soil characteristics; and (4) to characterize olive production and mill technology in Priorat. The study was carried out during a six years period (2002-03 to 2008-09 harvests) with systematic analysis of almost 100% virgin oil produced in the area (6.308.124 liters). Olive crop production was studied using a questioner, while mill technology was assessed by registering processing conditions along harvest every year. The relationship between oil quality and climate, soils and cultural practices was studied. Chemical parameters analyzed were: sensory profile, physic and chemical quality parameters, fatty acids, sterols, total polyphenols, bitterness index, stability and, sometimes, waxes and volatiles. Methodology was similar to that applied in many scientific studies on virgin oil characterization in wide areas, usually linked to PDO in Spain and Italy. Results reliability depends on oil sampling representativeness. Both univariate and multivariate statistics were used. Results show that up to 54% of Priorat virgin oils made with "Arbequina" can be classified to be typical and different from other producing regions, even the neighboring areas of Garrigues and Siurana-Camp. Such differences are both sensorial (mainly pungency, secondary aromas, fruity, astringency and sweet) and chemical (fatty acids palmitoleic, oleic, pamitic, and stearic). Variability between Priorat areas, is lower than 20% (except for sterols) and seems to be random for sensory profile while is related to geography, cultural practices and climate, for chemical composition. Differences to other regions with the same cultivar are related to the Priorat"s geography and geology (more than 50% orchards are placed higher than 400 m and over soils from Paleozoic with low fertility with transitions to quaternary sedimentary soils towards Camp of Tarragona and transitions to tertiary sedimentary soils towards Garrigues) and climate (Priorat"s climate belongs to "south pre-littoral Mediterranean" with transitions to "dry continental Mediterranean" towards Garrigues and transitions to "south littoral Mediterranean" towards Camp of Tarragona). A mathematic model was fitted which makes possible to decide if an olive lot is able to produce virgin oil of enough quality to be classified as typical of Priorat. Fischers" discriminate functions were fitted that make possible to decide if a virgin oil sample has a fatty acid composition or a sensory profile characteristics from Priorat and different to other regions. Currently, these results are used to establish commercial strategies to sell Priorat virgin oils. The oil producers from this area select those more characteristics oils to be retailed (this increased from 20% at the beginning of the program to currently 65%) while the standard oils are used to self consumption or for bulk market.
A major problem in the transition countries of Europe and Central Asia (ECA) during the transition was the breakdown of the relationships of farms with input suppliers and output markets. The simultaneous privatization and restructuring of the farms and of the up- and downstream companies in the agrifood chain has caused major disruptions. The result is that many farms and rural households face serious constraints in accessing essential inputs (feed, fertilizer, seeds, capital, etc.) and in selling their products. The problems are worsened by the lack of public institutions necessary to support market-based transactions, such as for enforcing property rights and contractual agreements. The objective of the study is to analyze Vertical Coordination (VC) in agrifood supply chains in ECA and to identify options for improved policies, institutions, and investments which Governments could make, and which the World Bank could support, in order to improve links in the agricultural marketing and processing chain and increase access of farmers to input and output markets. This is especially important in those countries where contractual arrangements are slow to develop. It is also important if farmers are to be lifted out of subsistence farming and into a modern agrifood economy.
Food, water, and shelter, as fundamental components of human existence are no less critical in an aviation unit than the number of enemies shot down, as a combat force can be made or broken over necessities. During World War II, Russian pilots returned to bases where food and housing were not to be taken for granted, and free time was dictated by forces largely outside their control. The overall living conditions of Russian pilots during the war were varied, unpredictable, and improvised. ; Winner of the 2020 Friends of the Kreitzberg Library Award for Outstanding Research in the Junior Arts/Humanities category. ; Borscht, Barracks, and Bears: How Russian Pilots Lived in WWII Sarah Clark HI 355: WW2 Colloquium Phase 3 Word Count: 3,307 December 6, 2019 Clark-Borscht, Barracks, and Bears-page 1 Introduction What were the living conditions of Russian pilots in WWII? Food, water, and shelter, as fundamental components of human existence are no less critical in an aviation unit than the number of enemies shot down, as a combat force can be made or broken over necessities. During World War II, Russian pilots returned to bases where food and housing were not to be taken for granted, and free time was dictated by forces largely outside their control. The overall living conditions of Russian pilots during the war were varied, unpredictable, and improvised. When the war began, pilots unused to wartime conditions had to adapt quickly to their new conditions. One pilot recalled: the sun was baking hot on the street. I walked slowly towards the airfield and came up to the dispersal area. It was like a disturbed anthill. They were repairing the old shelters. Here and there they were digging new ones. They assigned the headquarters dug-out for the use of the staff. Fyodorov and Godunov decided to use an enormous plywood container in which, at one time, an aircraft had arrived from the factory in parts…We had supper –field rations, as if we were at the front—and spent the night in the dug-out. Tired after the day's work and even more so after the previous sleepless night, everyone soon dropped off. Of course, after comfortable quarters, snow-white sheets and a soft bed, it is not cosy to sleep on a plank bed; but aircrew get used to anything.1 Food Sources Throughout the war, sources of food varied, but the three most common were rations, villagers, and American Lend-Lease food. Rations were the primary source of food for Russian pilots. The military had its own rationing system, separate from and prioritized above the civilian system.2 At first, most foods were produced and distributed by state associated farms and collectives. Throughout the war, more and more initiative was given to peasants to make food production a private enterprise to increase production and reduce the burden on state-owned 1 Kaberov, Swastika in the Gunsight, 5. 2 Ganson, "Food Supply," 78. Clark-Borscht, Barracks, and Bears-page 2 sources.3 Typical rations for the Russian armed forces consisted of a simple breakfast of porridge known as kasha, a type of soup called borscht for lunch, and bread with pickles or cucumbers for dinner, and for aviators 100 grams of vodka after combat missions.4 In general, variety and items such as meat, fat, and fresh fruits and vegetables were hard to come by. Throughout the war, Russians both were allocated and received fewer daily calories than the soldiers of several other countries. In early 1941, Russian infantrymen were allocated 2,954 calories a day, which was increased to 3,450 in September.5 Members of active flying units were supposed to receive 4,712.6 Compared to other Allied nations, this basic allowance was low. For instance, the United States allocated 4,748 calories for front-line soldiers, and Britain allocated 5,300 for soldiers fighting in cold weather.7 Despite official instructions, it was common for Russians to receive less than their daily allotted calories, placing them even farther below their Allied comrades. Pilots overcame the lack of food and added variety by trading with nearby villagers if based near or in a village. There are multiple accounts of pilots and technicians going into towns to exchange unused items such as underwear or more common items such as "tobacco, cigarettes, bread, and sugar for milk, sour cream, eggs, and butter and sometimes meat."8 Exchanges could be a one-time or reoccurring transaction. For instance, while in Romania, one squadron member paid a Romanian for a daily supply of ten eggs.9 However, making deals with the locals was not always favored by senior officers, as squadron members were arrested and 3 Moskoff, "The First Priority," 126; Ganson, "Food Supply," 75-76. 4 Collingham, "Fighting on Empty," 319. 5 Collingham, "Fighting on Empty." 319. 6 Moskoff, "The First Priority," 127. 7 Collingham, "Out of Depression," 434; Collingham, "Fighting on Empty," 319. 8 Noggle, A Dance with Death, 145, 186. 9 Mariinskiy, Airacobra, 142. Clark-Borscht, Barracks, and Bears-page 3 imprisoned in some units.10 Yet, the prevalence of such transactions illustrates the desperation for sufficient and adequate food. Pilots not only traded with villagers and peasants, but they also took advantage of their surroundings. They scavenged through the remains of old villages, especially on the way towards Berlin in 1944 and 1945.11 One of the most common items searched for was alcohol. For instance, one fighter pilot, heading towards Berlin, recalled that "in the deserted workshops of the sugar mill the omnipresent procurement officers…found tanks of spirits."12 In other locations, where natural resources such as rivers were more abundant, pilots occasionally resorted to fishing to provide fresh meat in desperate times, when the food supplied in the mess hall was either meager or nonexistent.13 Another way variety was increased was through the introduction of American Lend- Lease items, especially in 1943 and after. For instance, dairy items from America like dried eggs and milk powder, hard to come by in Russia, supplemented protein and fat intake, and packaged meats such as Spam were a welcome respite from dried fish.14 To show this one pilot reported that "American food, it was a feast—canned meat, dried eggs, canned milk."15 While American food was only a tiny sliver of what the air forces ate during the war, it certainly provided a respite from the standard fare. 10 Noggle, A Dance with Death, 145. 11 I Remember, "Airmen: Ivan Konovalov," https://iremember.ru/en/memoirs/airmen/ivan-konovalov/ [accessed 14 October 2019]. 12 Kramarenko, Combat over the Eastern Front, 77-78. 13 Timofeyeva-Yegorova, Red Sky Black Death, 114. 14 Collingham, "Fighting on Empty," 340; I Remember, "Airmen: Kolyadin Victor Ivanovich," https://iremember.ru/en/memoirs/airmen/ kolyadin-victor-ivanovich/ [accessed 14 October 2019]. 15 Pennington, Wings, Women, and War, 119. Clark-Borscht, Barracks, and Bears-page 4 Factors that Affected Food Squadron location, when correlated with timeframe, was one of the most significant factors affecting food availability and type, including geographic location, distance relative to frontlines, and proximity to inhabited villages. Geographic location was significant because Russia is a massive country, and front lines stretched for hundreds of miles. Food supplies were inadequate to begin with, and the distribution system was incomplete and inefficient. These issues were only compounded by the rapidly advancing German forces during Operation Barbarossa.16 Not every unit received equal amounts of food, and food reserves were not in place, especially at the beginning, resulting in troops at the front and rear being shorted.17 To show the variation, one fighter pilot, who spent some time near the front lines at Smolensk, wrote "I'm still amazed that—whether advancing or retreating—we were always well supplied with food."18 Conversely, other pilots reported periodic food shortages lasting several days near front lines.19 Therefore food availability varied greatly from one unit to the next. Distance from the front impacted food supply because it affected the ability of food to reach airfields. At the beginning of the war, food shortages were common in contested areas, such as the North Caucasus and Ukraine.20 Plus, reserves were either too far away or not built up enough to sustain prolonged shortages.21 During German advances supplies were not always able to be delivered, causing aircrews to survive on what meager items they had stockpiled.22 Other 16 Moskoff, "The First Priority," 113. 17 Moskoff, "The First Priority," 115. 18 Drabkin, Barbarossa, 85. 19 Noggle, A Dance with Death, 186. 20 Pennington, Wings, Women, and War, 79. 21 Moskoff, "The First Priority," 115. 22 Noggle, A Dance with Death, 186; Pennington, Wings, Women, and War, 79. Clark-Borscht, Barracks, and Bears-page 5 times, aircrews were forced to pick up supplies with their aircraft because the ground vehicles were unable to reach their airfields.23 The type of action an air unit was supporting, such as a retreat or an advance, also affected their food supply. When a regiment formally moved to a new airfield in preparation for an operation, and if time allowed, the airfield would be prepped by a service battalion consisting of combat support and maintenance personnel, who stocked up supplies and prepared the housing and airfield facilities for the arrival of the unit.24 Thorough preparation resulted in efficiency and ease of movement. However, when movement to a new airfield was either hastily planned or unplanned as a result of an unexpected retreat, there was no preparation, resulting in the opposite effect: no supplies. For instance, while retreating in 1942, one pilot wrote that upon reaching the assigned base they "found nothing there—no staff, no mess hall, no fuel" because the ground support had been unable to reach the base in time to prepare it.25 However, the unit in that scenario ended up being fed by a woman from a local village, illustrating the last essential component of location: proximity to an inhabited area.26 Airfields were frequently built near villages. Consequently, instead of official housing, pilots would be billeted with the town residents. Occasionally villagers had items unavailable to military members, such as fresh vegetables from their gardens or dairy products, such as milk. 27 One last factor to consider in analyzing food supply is unit type: bombers versus fighters. Food for both types of units was dreary and monotonous with occasional highlights of canned 23 Noggle, A Dance with Death, 67. 24 Bessette, "Soviet Military Transportation Aviation," 196. 25 Timofeyeva-Yegorova, Red Sky Black Death, 108. 26 Timofeyeva-Yegorova, Red Sky Black Death, 108. 27 Timofeyeva-Yegorova, Red Sky Black Death, 85, 176. Clark-Borscht, Barracks, and Bears-page 6 American food, items gained from the locals, or the rationed chocolate and Coca-Cola.28 For instance, in 1942, one bomber pilot reported eating brown bread, a lot of cereal, and in the fall-potatoes, while another bomber pilot reported eating a breakfast of gruel, bread, butter, and tea the following year.29 Fighter pilots reported similar types of food including soup, tea, and bread.30 Overall, food was more affected by location, type of action, and timeframe than type of unit because units across all aircraft types experienced times of relative abundance and shortage, based on locational and situational factors. Housing Housing was also based on location and situation. The spectrum ranged from sleeping in and under aircraft using tarps and covers as blankets to large houses in nearby villages, and later even villas. Pilots were usually billeted separately from the enlisted technicians. Commonly, the technicians were kept closer to the aircraft in dugouts, huts, or trenches, so that they were quickly accessible and ready for action, while it was more common for pilots to live outside the airfield. However, there were times when pilots and technicians lived together, such as one tail gunner who lived in the same local home as her pilot.31 Housing Situations One of the main differences in airfield accommodations was the age of the airfield. New airfields were usually less developed because they were formed during war when a base was needed during a rapid advance or unplanned retreat. Hasty quarters usually consisted of dugouts built into the ground, sometimes made by female workers from nearby cities, such as 28 I Remember, "Airmen: Kolyadin Victor Ivanovich," https://iremember.ru/en/memoirs/airmen/ kolyadin-victor-ivanovich/ [accessed 14 October 2019]. 29 I Remember. "Airmen: Kolyadin Victor Ivanovich," https://iremember.ru/en/memoirs/airmen/ kolyadin-victor-ivanovich/ [accessed 14 October 2019]; I Remember, "Airmen: Ivan Konovalov," https://iremember.ru /en/memoirs/airmen/ivankonovalov/ [accessed 14 October 2019]. 30 Kramarenko, Combat over the Eastern Front, 78. 31 Timofeyeva-Yegorova, Red Sky Black Death, 176. Clark-Borscht, Barracks, and Bears-page 7 Leningrad.32 Pilots also lived in trenches or around the aircraft until more permanent quarters could be made.33 Again, there were exceptions. New airfields were better prepared when movements were planned well in advance, and airfield service battalions were available to go to the airfield first and prepare it for the unit, which included billeting arrangements.34 Conversely, older airfields, many of which had been training schools or air bases before the war, already had a developed infrastructure. They had permanent quarters or at least buildings that could be readily turned into barracks. For instance, one pilot recalled living in an old school building on an airfield that had been a training school two years before the war.35 Even in 1944, when the Russians refitted three Ukrainian air bases for the Americans, they refitted an artillery barracks and school buildings for the Americans to live in.36 Also, as the Russians moved east in 1944 and 1945 they utilized barracks on former German airfields. If housing was not available on the airfield, pilots were billeted in the homes of villagers or other available buildings, within several miles of the airfield. Even within the homes there was a lot of variation. Usually the home's residents still lived there, and one of two scenarios occurred: either a couple or as many as possible pilots would be billeted there. For example, one pilot recalls that "the overcrowding was horrendous, but room was found for me. In a crooked hut…having delicately pushed the hostess to the oven in her kitchen."37 Houses could become crowded and uncomfortable when pilots, other officers, and non-maintenance personnel, were forced to live together. Alternatively, other pilots were billeted alone and given a lot of space and 32 Kaberov, Swastika in the Gunsight, 91. 33 Timofeyeva-Yegorova, Red Sky Black Death, 106. 34 Bessette, "Soviet Military Transportation Aviation," 196. 35 Reshetnikov, Bomber Pilot on the Eastern Front, 33. 36 Plokhy, Forgotten Bastards, 35. 37 Reshetnikov, Bomber Pilot on the Eastern Front, 138. Clark-Borscht, Barracks, and Bears-page 8 relatively nice accommodations. Also, nearby villages were occasionally abandoned, resulting in pilots living in vacant homes.38 Overall, village billeting was varied. Uncontrollable Factors Another variable that should not be overlooked is the effect of the war on housing options. Barracks and dugouts were not immune to German air raids. When permanent buildings or dugouts were destroyed, pilots slept in hastily rebuilt dugouts or under the aircraft. Combat readiness also dictated how close aircrews slept to their aircraft because if a raid was expected, pilots needed to be ready to defend their airfield at a moment's notice.39 Bombings, when the signal of a German advance, also contributed to units moving from new bases and having to find new quarters altogether. Other times, the housing at a new base was inhabitable. For instance, one mechanic wrote that "all of the habitable dwellings nearby were mined by the Germans, so we had to live under the wings of our aircraft."40 Therefore, stable and safe housing was not to be taken for granted in combat conditions. Weather also played devil's advocate with housing. Mud, rain, and snow are all part of life in Russia and had devastating effects on airfield usage and quality of life inside aircrew quarters. During the rainy season, dugouts were flooded with inches to feet of water, either forcing pilots to pump the water out in colder seasons or live under the aircraft in warmer weather.41 Snow, on the other hand, made its way into primitive buildings in the form of ice. Escaping the cold was impossible. Changes in weather patterns and the beginning of colder seasons also resulted in insect and animal infestations, such as fleas, rats, and mosquitos. One rat 38 Kramarenko, Combat over the Eastern Front, 26. 39 Tomofeyeva-Yegorova, Black Sky Red Death, 106. 40 Noggle, A Dance with Death, 151. 41 Noggle, A Dance with Death, 110, 173. Clark-Borscht, Barracks, and Bears-page 9 infestation was so bad a pilot remarked that "they were routinely crushed under people's feet."42 Overall, weather was just one more variable that made housing unpredictable. Commodities Not only was housing itself varied and often improvised, but commodities nowadays taken for granted were as well. Most of what the pilots had for furniture, light, and linens were makeshift. Oil drums and shell casings were used as crude lamps and stoves. Any available material was burned in those stoves, including used bomb fuse-boxes.43 Beds, tables, and any other furniture were typically cobbled together from planks, wood scraps, straw, and aircraft covers. Pillows were stuffed with everything from weeds to straw. Again, there were exceptions, especially later in the war, when air units took over German airfields or lived in residences currently or previously owned by the wealthy. For example, one pilot wrote that his unit was "billeted for a rest in some factory-owner's villa…on soft feather beds," and remarked that "the conqueror's position has its advantages."44 Overall though, pilots did not live in luxury. They made what they needed from what was available. Personal Free Time The small amount of free time in between tasking, or during rough weather, helped the pilots let loose and mentally cope with being in combat. On a personal level, people kept busy with what was available. Those who had books read them and then shared them, which led to book discussions.45 Games requiring little space, such as dominos, chess, and cards were played; although, some commands forbade cardplaying, calling it bourgeois.46 People who were musically gifted and carried their instrument, such as a guitar or accordion, around would play 42 Pennington, Wings, Women, and War, 116. 43 Noggle, A Dance with Death, 124. 44 Kramarenko, Combat over the Eastern Front, 73. 45 Reshetnikov, Bomber Pilot on the Eastern Front, 138. 46 Drabkin, Barbarossa, 42. Clark-Borscht, Barracks, and Bears-page 10 for their fellow airmen. Some of the women would knit, embroider, or sew new pairs of silk underwear. And everyone looked forward to letters from home, especially when the Germans occupied territory where their loved ones lived. For instance, one pilot wrote that when she received the first letter from her mother, five months into the war, she "felt such relief! All these months I had worried about my family, whether they were suffering somewhere under German occupation."47 Pilots were desperate for news about the wellbeing and whereabouts of relatives and friends. Unit Free Time Beyond the personal level, units organized events amongst themselves. Some had a newsletter that members would write in and distribute amongst the unit.48 Usually those had a political overtone. Nevertheless, they were an opportunity for people to use skills other than flying, such as creative writing, journalism, and drawing. Activities such as talent shows and performances were also organized, including events such as formal readings, performance of plays or sketches, and solo acts. For example, one squadron had the only Gypsy to fly for Russia in the war, who performed dances of his culture, until he died in combat.49 Parties and dances were also held, especially in some of the female units, to celebrate successful missions with dancing and singing.50 Celebrations were an outlet for the emotion created by the stresses of combat and unpredictable living conditions. Occasionally if located near a larger city, such as Leningrad, and if tasking allowed, pilots were able to partake in urban activities, such as movies, concerts, and dance classes. At times, events were formally organized by unit commanders to increase morale and let their 47 Timofeyeva-Yegorova, Red Sky Black Death, 81. 48 Kaberov, Swastika in the Gunsight, 6. 49 Kramarenko, Combat over the Eastern Front, 61. 50 Noggle, A Dance with Death, 71 . Clark-Borscht, Barracks, and Bears-page 11 personnel get away from the humdrum of front-line duties, while other times, attending a movie or performance was not command mandated. For instance, one corps commander gave circus tickets to his officers and ordered them to go on a night when no flights were scheduled.51 While in a different squadron a group of pilots was invited to a musical premiere in Leningrad while the city was being barraged by the Germans.52 Not only did pilots seek out entertainment, but entertainment sought them out, in the form of traveling performers, artists, and mobile theaters that traveled throughout the eastern front, providing performances for units unable to go to a city or populated area. Relationships Beyond mere activities, relationships were another way to pass the time. Wedding ceremonies were a change from the more frequent funeral ceremonies. Pilots married either pilots from other commands or members of various service battalions. To illustrate the difference between a funeral and wedding, an airman wrote, "the regiment personnel celebrated a festive and memorable event. And it had nothing to do with war, blood, or death. It was quite the opposite of a funeral."53 Joyous occasions were a welcome relief from the cruel ways of combat. Relationships were unavoidable in squadrons where technicians and combat support staff were frequently female. Even in units with only female pilots, relationships were not uncommon with male members of the same or other units. There was one female pilot, for example, whose former commanding officer proposed after the war ended.54 Relationships were crucial in motivating pilots to return from every flight and survive the war, while also serving to satisfy the soft side of human existence. 51 Reshetnikov, Bomber Pilot on the Eastern Front, 157. 52 Kaberov, Swastika in the Gunsight, 178. 53 Antipov & Utkin, Dragons on Bird Wings, 75. 54 Timofeyeva-Yegorova, Red Sky Black Death, 201. Clark-Borscht, Barracks, and Bears-page 12 However, humans were not the only ones to fulfill this need for affection, as pets were not forbidden. Often, stray dogs or cats were picked up when a unit passed by an abandoned area. They were either adopted by a whole unit or individuals, as was the case with the Gypsy and his dog, Jack.55 However, there were other scenarios, where a pet would be left behind by higher-ups who briefly visited the unit. For example, Alexander Novikov, then Air Force supreme commander, left behind a bear cub he had been given. At the squadron, the small cub ate and slept with the men, which became difficult as she grew. In the end, she was killed by outsiders, and the air unit refused to eat her.56 While an unusual scenario, it still shows the connections unit members made with animals that ended up in their possession. Focusing on caring for a pet was a needed distraction. Conclusion During World War II, the men and women in the Russian air forces lived an unpredictable life, dictated by the whims of combat. Food would be available one day and not the next. Moving from base to base increased unpredictability, as not all locations were supplied equally, especially when close to combat or advancing German forces. Air force units stretched from Leningrad to Ukraine, which strained the initially inadequate supply system. Time was not always available for building new housing, resulting in external billeting and quickly-built dugouts. Improvisation was the name of the game, as the pilots had to make do with the food, materials, and housing they could scavenge or trade for. Pilots with imagination and creativity were able to create a home away from home that at least met the bare minimum of their needs, despite limited free time to decompress and get away from combat stressors. 55 Kramarenko, Combat over the Eastern Front, 61. 56 Kramarenko, Combat over the Eastern Front, 69. Clark-Borscht, Barracks, and Bears-page 13 Research Question: What were the living conditions of Russian pilots in WWII?Outline 1. Introduction 1.1. Research question 1.2. Idea of the variability, range of living conditions 2. Living Conditions 2.1. Food 2.1.1. Food sources 2.1.1.1. Rations 2.1.1.1.1. Calorie comparison 2.1.1.2. Local sources 2.1.1.3. American food 2.1.2. Factors affecting food 2.1.2.1. Location 2.1.2.1.1. Timeframe 2.1.2.1.2. Movement type 2.1.2.1.3. Billeting 2.1.2.2. Unit type 2.2. Housing 2.2.1. Introduction 2.2.2. Housing Situations 2.2.2.1. New Airfields 2.2.2.2. Old Airfields 2.2.2.3. Living in Villages 2.2.3. Uncontrollable Factors 2.2.3.1. Combat Conditions 2.2.3.2. Weather 2.2.4. Commodities 2.3. Free Time 2.3.1. Personal Level 2.3.1.1. Hobbies: sewing, knitting, poetry, music 2.3.1.2. Letters from home 2.3.2. Unit Level Activities 2.3.2.1. Newspapers, performances 2.3.2.2. Nearby towns 2.3.2.2.1. Leader/command initiated 2.3.3. Relationships 2.3.3.1. People 2.3.3.2. Pets 3. Conclusion Clark-Borscht, Barracks, and Bears-page 14 Bibliography Primary Sources Drabkin, Artem. Barbarossa and the Retreat to Moscow: Recollections of Fighter Pilots on the Eastern Front. South Yorkshire: Pen & Sword Books LTD, 2007. I Remember. "Airmen: Kolyadin Victor Ivanovich." https://iremember.ru/en/memoirs/airmen/ kolyadin-victor-ivanovich/ [accessed 14 October 2019]. I Remember. "Airmen: Ivan Konovalov." https://iremember.ru/en/memoirs/airmen/ivan-konovalov/ [accessed 14 October 2019]. Kaberov, Igor. Swastika in the Gunsight: Memoirs of a Russian Fighter Pilot 1941-1945. Stroud: Sutton Publishing, 1999. Kramarenko, Sergei. The Red Air Force at War: Air Combat over the Eastern Front and Korea: A Soviet Fighter Pilot Remembers. Barnsley, England: Pen & Sword Military, 2008. Mariinskiy, Evgeniy. Red Star Airacobra: Memoirs of a Soviet Fighter Ace, 1941-45. Solihull: Helion & Company, 2006. Noggle, Anne. A Dance with Death: Soviet Airwomen in World War II. College Station: Texas A&M University Press, 1994. Reshetnikov, Vasiliy. Bomber Pilot on the Eastern Front: 307 Missions Behind Enemy Lines. South Yorkshire: Pen & Sword Books LTD, 2008. Timofeyeva-Yegorova, A. Red Sky, Black Death: A Soviet Woman Pilot's Memoir of the Eastern Front. Bloomington: Slavica Publishers, 2009. Scholarly Books Pennington, Reina. Wings, Women, and War: Soviet Airwomen in World War II Combat. Modern War Studies. Lawrence: University Press of Kansas, 2001. Plokhy, Serhii. Forgotten Bastards of the Eastern Front: American Airmen Behind the Soviet Lines and the Collapse of the Grand Alliance. New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 2019. Clark-Borscht, Barracks, and Bears-page 15 Scholarly Articles Bessette, John. "Soviet Military Transport Aviation" in The Soviet Air Forces edited by Paul Murphy, 188-211. Jefferson, NC: McFarland, 1984. Collingham, Lizzie. "The Soviet Union—Fighting on Empty" in The Taste of War, 317-346. New York: Penguin Press, 2012. Collingham, Lizzie. "The United States—Out of Depression and into Abundance" in The Taste of War, 415-466. New York: Penguin Press, 2012. Ganson, Nicholas. "Food Supply, Rationing, and Living Standards" in The Soviet Union at War, 1941-1945 edited by David Stone, 69-92. South Yorkshire: Pen & Sword Books Ltd, 2010. Moskoff, William. "The First Priority: Feeding the Armed Forces" in The Bread of Affliction: The Food Supply in the USSR During World War II, 113-134. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2002. Additional Sources Antipov, Vladislav, and Igor Utkin. Dragons on Bird Wings: The Combat History of the 812th Fighter Regiment. Translated by James F. Gebhardt. 1st English ed. Kitchener, ON: Aviaeology, 2006.
Issue 71.1 of the Review for Religious, 2012. This was the final issue. ; Volume 71 2012 Editor Michael G. Harter sj Associate Editor Garth L. Hallett sj Book Review Editor Rosemary Jermann Scripture Scope Eugene Hensell osb Editorial Staff Mary Ann Foppe Tracy Gramm Judy Sharp e v i e w f o r r e l i g i o u s A Journal of Catholic Spirituality contents prisms 4 Prisms Ignatian spirituality 8 Were Not Our Hearts Burning within Us? We Are Sent Kathleen Hughes rscj explores the provocative parallels between the Four Weeks of the Spiritual Exercises and the four-part rhythm of the Eucharist as two ways we are caught up in the work of God in Christ, and two invitations to replicate the whole life, death, and rising of Jesus. This article was one of the keynote presentations at Ignatian Spirituality Conference V held in St. Louis, Missouri, July 21-24, 2011. 29 Without the Drama: The Transition from Third to Fourth Week Ronald Mercier sj explores how those who make the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius are invited to enter into a grand silence where they contemplate the empty space without answers that follows the crucifixion—the space that remains the context of our lives, the place of our ministries, and the space within which joy dawns for those who know the Risen Lord. Questions for Reflection 58 Finding or Seeking God in All Things: A Few Cautionary Notes Peter J. Schineller sj researches the phrase "finding God in all things," common in writings about Ignatian spirituality, and discovers that it is rare in the writings of Ignatius. He finds that phrases such as "searching for and seeking God in all things" more accurately describe the Ignatian approach. 2 Review for Religious sharing experience 69 The Warmth, the Will, and the Way Ben Harrison mc is discovering that it helps him be more consistent in his spiritual journey if he is attentive to the warmth of the Spirit's presence in his heart and to the vows as an expression of the will to move deeper in his relationship with God. 78 Getting with the Program A young man writes of his experience of coming to terms during the novitiate with his addiction to pornography. This article could be used profitably as a case study during a novitiate class or read as background for a community discussion. Questions for Personal Reflection and Group Study discernment models 86 Dialogue with the Radically Other: Models of Discernment in the Old Testament Ligita Ryliskyte md phd sje explores the rich imagery of the Old Testament and offers valuable paradigms to understand spiritual discernment as a dialogue with God. In this essay she describes four models of discernment that might be distinguished in Old Testament imagery. departments 100 Scripture Scope: Vocation and the Call to Discipleship: A Reflection on Mark 1:16-20 105 Book Reviews 71.1 2012 3 Review for Religious prisms 4 A wise man once said: "It's a shame to waste a good crisis." If that is true, Review for Religious is facing a moment of great opportunity. In recent years the number of subscribers has steadily fallen off, and the cost of publication has risen to the point that our future as a print journal is in jeop-ardy. The recent deaths of Fathers Fischer and Fleming have taken their toll. We have reached a critical point in our history. When my provincial assigned me to succeed David Fleming as editor, he gave me a specific mission: Assess the viability of the publication. So for the past year, the staff and our advisory board have taken that mission seriously even as we worked to meet our ordinary production schedule. While we all hoped to be able to keep this good work alive, the real goal of our discernment was not to save or to close the journal, but to explore ways to more effectively serve the church. In the past months we have consulted widely. We looked at the shifting demographics of reli-gious life and understood that younger reli-gious are getting more of their information on 71.1 2012 5 the Internet than through printed periodicals. We sorted through spreadsheets of detailed financial information. We looked hard at our available resources and realized that we could sustain publication of the journal in its present format for a maximum of three to five years. The hand-writing on the wall could not be clearer: Simply maintain-ing operations as they are will inevitably lead to closure. Maintenance, without change, is not an option. Part of our analysis took us back to look at our history. Our journal came into being in 1941 at a Jesuit theolo-gate in St. Marys, Kansas, where three enterprising faculty members—Augustine Ellard, Adam Ellis, and Gerald Kelly (later joined by Henry Willmering)—invited their students to edit and publish the papers they wrote as class assignments in what became the early incarnation of this journal which has served the church and religious life proudly for the past 70 years. Richard Smith, Daniel F. X. Meenan, Philip Fischer and David Fleming edited the publi-cation over the subsequent decades. Since Review for Religious was founded at a small theology school, we began exploring the idea that a theology center, rather than the confines of our office, would be a more logical site for the publication of this journal. As we realized that a network of theology centers around the world linked through the Internet could have great potential for producing articles and generating lively discussion, we began exploring that path. We contacted the moderators of Jesuit Conferences that have significant centers of religious formation in Africa, India, and the Asia-Pacific region—in parts of the world Augustine Ellard, Adam Ellis, Gerald Kelly, Henry Willmering Review for Religious Author • Title 6 where religious life is growing—to see if any of them would have an interest in assuming responsibility for the journal. As a result of our inquiries, we are engaged in a conversa-tion with just such a center about continuing the mission of Review for Religious. We are not looking to replicate the journal as it cur-rently exists, but are talking about re-envisioning and re-designing it with current and future generations of religious in mind. As a result of our discussions and discernment, we have determined that this copy of Review for Religious is the final issue that will be produced by our St. Louis office. Whether the journal remains as a print publication, or is redesigned for delivery on the Internet, or ceases publication altogether is yet to be determined. In the meantime, we are suspending publication and putting a moratorium on renewals or new subscriptions until our discernment is completed. To say that we have reached the end is premature. A hiatus or pause is a more accurate description. As Ron Mercier points out in his article in this issue, a rest is as important a part of a musical score as is a chord or a whole string of arpeggios. And such a time of waiting can be a rich moment. We are not sitting idly while the discussion goes on but are in the process of digitizing our entire collection. We plan to make every article, poem, and book review we have published available on the Internet. It should be an invalu- Richard Smith, Daniel Meenan, Philip Fischer, and David Fleming. 71.1 2012 7 able archive for anyone wishing to research the shifts in religious life during the past 70 years. I am grateful to our current staff: Mary Ann Foppe, who has been the office manager for the past 25 years; Judy Sharp, our receptionist, who has handled subscriptions; Rosemary Jermann, who has written the Bookshelf column; Garth Hallett sj, who has served as Associate Editor; Tracy Gramm, who has done layout and graphic design. I have appreciated Ed Hensell osb, Elizabeth McDonough op, Richard Hill sj, and Joseph Gallen sj, who have provided regular columns over the years, and Jean Read, Iris Ann Ledden ssnd, Regina Siegfried asc, Claire Boehmer asc, Joe Meek, and many oth-ers who have made major behind-the-scenes contri-butions. They have been an excellent staff. We are grateful to the countless number of con-tributors who have sent us manuscripts and poetry for our consideration. They helped us keep our finger on the pulse of religious life. And finally, we thank you, our faithful subscribers. We are grateful for your support, and we trust that we have been an important resource for you over the years. Please read the inside of the back cover of this issue. It contains details about how to keep informed about the progress of our discernment. We will notify each subscriber about the outcome of that discernment. Please pray that the Spirit will lead us to a good conclusion. Michael Harter SJ Rosemary Jermann, Mary Ann Foppe, Tracy Gramm, Judy Sharp and Michael Harter Review for Religious Were Not Our Hearts Burning within Us? We Are Sent I need to begin with a confession. I was given an assignment to speak about the Eucharist, particularly as it describes a way of life flowing from Weeks Three and Four of the Exercises. I am not an expert on the Spiritual Exercises, but I have been a student of the Eucharist for many decades, so I was happy to think about this topic. And, though the talk was still non-existent, a description had to be prepared for the program booklet. Many of you have prob-ably had the same experience. You make up a description of a talk right out of thin air, hop-ing to be sufficiently generic so you can talk about almost anything at all. kathleen hughes ignatian spirituality 8 Kathleen Hughes rscj, former professor of Word and Worship at the Catholic Theological Union in Chicago and former provincial of her order's United States prov-ince, is currently a mission consultant in the Network of Sacred Heart Schools. Her address is 541 S. Mason Road; St. Louis, Missouri 63141. 71.1 2012 9 But a funny thing happened to me on the way to the topic assigned. I took a detour. I stumbled onto what I regard as an amazing new insight about how the Eucharist and the Spiritual Exercises mirror each other. At first I thought I was the last to arrive. Then I checked with those who have far greater familiarity with the literature on the Spiritual Exercises, and no one had heard any reflection on such a topic. That, too, gave me pause and left me wondering how far out on a limb I was climbing. Nevertheless, here's the insight I want to develop in the first part of this talk: there seems to be a quite provocative parallel between the Four Weeks of the Spiritual Exercises and the four-part rhythm of the Eucharist. The gathering rites of the Eucharist include elements of praise and penitence, as are typical of movements in Week One of the Spiritual Exercises; the Liturgy of the Word is the gradual unfolding of the person and work of Jesus Christ, as occurs in Week Two; the Liturgy of the Eucharist, the celebration of Jesus' death for the life of the world, is the heart of Week Three; and the concluding rites of the Eucharist have an affinity with the rhythms of Week Four. In these pages I intend to develop this thesis in more detail, hoping in the process to give fresh insight into God's activity in these two parallel celebrations of the paschal mystery—these two ways we are being caught up in the work of God in Christ. Then I will move to a focus on the Eucharist itself, as it flows from Week Three, incarnates the intimacy of Week Four, and remains the abiding experience of consolation, chal-lenge, and invitation to faithful living, parallel to leav-ing retreat and picking up everyday life. Review for Religious Hughes • Were Not Our Hearts Burning within Us? 10 Part I: Parallels Overview First, then, before we look at the Four Weeks of the Spiritual Exercises and the four parts of the Eucharist in more detail, let me offer an overview of the resonances I've discovered between them. Both the Eucharist and the Spiritual Exercises are a series of movements or stages that, negotiated with grace, realize the Christian ideal of identification with Christ. Both are invitations to conversion; both, at their heart, are offers of holi-ness and transformation. Both the Exercises and the Eucharist have a basic psychological rhythm that facili-tates growth in the spiritual life. The Exercises and the Eucharist as we know them only gradually evolved to their present form. The Exercises began as jottings in Ignatius's personal notebook—conso-lations, desolations, graces received—and this collec-tion of insights developed into a practical manual as Ignatius gave them to oth-ers and learned from their experience. They remain a core series of spiritual exercises that are endlessly flexible as enfleshed in the lives of individuals. The Eucharist, too, is the result of a gradual evolution over time around the core of readings and the breaking of bread, making every age and every human commu-nity a fresh inculturation of a basic pattern. Happily, in our day the basic four-part structure of gathering, listening, responding, and sending has been recovered in the liturgical reforms of the Second Vatican Council. Both the Eucharist and the Spiritual Exercises interrupt our ordinary time with extraordinary grace. 71.1 2012 11 Interestingly, both the Exercises and the Eucharist are filled with words, indeed with dialogue, and with spaces of silence. Both also make appeal to all of our senses and stir up mystagogical insights in those who are attentive. Both the Eucharist and the Spiritual Exercises interrupt our ordinary time with extraordinary grace; they help us to make sense of our life as it is unfolding before the living God. And both the Eucharist and the Exercises send us to live, in deed, what we have just experienced in this time of encounter with the divine. Finally, both these patterns of prayer follow, for most of us, familiar and predictable dynamics and so, for each, we need the grace to pay attention, to move beyond the familiar in order to get inside the mysteries. The First Week and the Gathering Rites of the Eucharist We come to retreat or to Eucharist just as we are, and we bring our history and our particular world with us into this sacred time and place. We come, sometimes breathlessly, from the work we have just left behind and the preoccupations that fill our minds and hearts. We come always with unfinished business and with distrac-tions, even burdens, of body and spirit. We come with our crosses and our inexhaustible needs. We come because we are drawn to a time and space of intimacy and prayer, of encounter with the Lord who will tutor our hearts, of transformation to new and deeper life. We come to be nourished. We come remembering God's goodness and God's fidelity to us, no matter our own response. We come hoping to touch our finger to the flame once again, placing ourselves, for this span of time, on holy ground. God's unconditional and ever-faithful love perme-ates our awareness in Week One. Each one of us has Review for Religious Hughes • Were Not Our Hearts Burning within Us? 12 been blessed with divine life; God's creative activity has showered each of us in unique ways and has supported and sustained us throughout our lives. In face of the immense goodness of God, we acknowledge our inade-quate response; we know that sin has hindered our rela-tionships with self and others and, above all, with God. Week One provides the opportunity to recognize sin as our failure to respond with love to God always present, to express our own sorrow and repentance, and then to know God's ever-greater love, mercy, and forgiveness. We reflect on our lives in light of God's boundless love for us, knowing that God wants to free us of everything that gets in the way of a loving response. The focus is less on particular sins than on our relationship with God that has been damaged, perhaps even shattered. Yet it is a relationship always available, for God longs for intimacy with us far more than we could ask or even imagine. Our personal history gives us hope: God is filled with mercy and compassion, slow to anger, full of kindness. God's response to our repentance is mercy and forgiveness. By the end of the First Week, we know ourselves as sinners, loved and rescued by a God who is so much greater than our hearts. These same heart movements are present in the gathering rites of the Eucharist. We generally begin the celebration with a hymn of praise and thanksgiving. We are then invited into a time of silence before the liv-ing God, and we cannot but realize our unworthiness and our experience of sin. In the language of the new Missal we own our complicity in sin "through my fault, through my fault, through my most grievous fault," and we join with one another in begging for mercy and for-giveness: "Lord, have mercy." Then the Gloria is our hymn of praise after the words of absolution: "May 71.1 2012 13 almighty God have mercy on you, forgive you your sins, and bring you to life everlasting. Amen." We begin the Eucharist knowing ourselves as loved sinners, disposed to open our hearts to the word proclaimed in our midst. There are two additional striking parallels between the First Week of the Exercises and the gathering rites of Eucharist. The first has to do with the cross of Christ, for the cross is prominent at the beginning of both experiences. The retreatant is invited to make a first meditation before the cross; similarly, when we gather for the Eucharist, the entrance procession places the cross at the very beginning of the celebration. There is nothing like the cross of Christ to sharpen our focus, to bring us to the sober reality that relationships have consequences, that the paschal mystery of Jesus' life, death, and rising is what has made it possible to draw near to the throne of grace. And here's a second intriguing possibility with the Eucharist. There is a presidential prayer at the conclu-sion of the entrance rites, another at the preparation of the table and the gifts, and a third after Communion. These are all, essentially, prayers of petition; they each ask for a specific grace that is dependent for its focus on the place of the prayer in the rite. We really could think of these prayers as "preludes" that name and ask for a specific grace as we move from one week to the next, from one part of the Eucharist to the next. For example, the opening prayer for today's liturgy, the Seventeenth Sunday, Year A, from icel's Missal of 1998, reads: God of eternal wisdom, You alone impart the gift of right judgment. Grant us an understanding heart that we may value wisely the treasure of your kingdom Review for Religious Hughes • Were Not Our Hearts Burning within Us? 14 and gladly forego all lesser gifts to possess that kingdom's incomparable joy. We make our prayer through Our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son Who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit God for ever and ever. Amen.1 What a perfect presidential prayer to open our hearts to the Word of God; what a perfect prelude to move to Week Two of the Exercises. The Second Week and the Liturgy of the Word The parallels between the Second Week of the Exercises and the Liturgy of the Word are easily dis-cernible. Both focus on the scriptures, and both invite decision; both are grounded in the Gospels and in the Mystery who is Christ; both the Spiritual Exercises and the Liturgy of the Word, over time, offer an intimate encounter with Jesus of Nazareth—healing, teaching, sharing meals, welcoming sinners, going about doing good, spending the night in union with his Abba, gath-ering disciples and forming their hearts. We reflect on scripture passages, in retreat as at Mass, one after another, not in order to know the scriptures better but to discover ever more fully the One whom they disclose to us. During the Second Week of the Exercises, like Martha's sister, Mary, the retreatant sits at the feet of Jesus, the teacher, drawn to his person, absorbing his attitudes and values, his choices, his preaching of the dream of God for the world, for humankind, for each of us. The Second Week, of course, is not full only of the consolation of spending time with a dear friend. That 71.1 2012 15 dear friend of ours also reveals to us the cost of dis-cipleship, the misunderstandings, the disappointments, the gathering storm of criticism and anger. We take in the whole of the life of Jesus Christ and are drawn to know him more intimately, to love him more ardently, and to follow him more faithfully. We choose to be dis-ciples of the perfect disciple. Empowered by the love of God experienced in Week One and by Jesus' friendship, which deepens for us in Week Two, we choose an ever closer relationship with him, no matter what. Loved sin-ners become loving servants, embracing and following Jesus, setting our faces, with him, to Jerusalem. It has been written that during the Second Week "We find ourselves drinking in the experiences of Jesus, so that we begin to assimilate his values, his loves, his freedom. This style of praying provides the necessary content of decision-making or discernment, which forms an essential part of the Second Week and is meant to be an abiding part of a Christian's life that is shaped by the Exercises."2 Of course, those statements also describe a regu-lar pattern of solitary prayer in daily life that reaches its summit in the Eucharist. God speaks to our hearts, opening up for us the mystery of redemption and salva-tion and offering us spiritual nourishment; Christ him-self is present in the midst of the community through the Word proclaimed.3 The cycle of readings, highlighting first one evange-list's portrait of Christ and then another's in the three-year cycle, invites our reflection on the life and ministry of Jesus, his proclamation of the Good News, his say-ings and parables, his teachings and miracles, and, espe-cially during Lent and the triduum, how his face was set to Jerusalem during his last days on earth. The Gospel is the highpoint of the Liturgy of the Review for Religious Hughes • Were Not Our Hearts Burning within Us? 16 Word, and we mark it with various signs of reverence for the book and with the tracing of the cross on our forehead, lips, and breast, praying that our mind be opened, that our words be true, and that our whole being be exposed to the consolation and the challenge of a Gospel way of life. The homily follows. The General Instruction of the Roman Missal describes the homily as a necessary source of nourishment of the Christian life.4 In fact, for a majority of Christians it is often the only source of spir-itual nourishment in a busy week. The Second Week of the Exercises illuminates the challenge to those who give the homily in the Eucharist. The point of the hom-ily is identical to the grace sought in Week Two of the Exercises, namely, to enable the assembly to know Jesus more intimately, to love him more ardently and to follow him more faithfully. Nothing less! Not entertainment. Not exegesis. Not personal self-disclosure. Nothing less than knowing, loving, and following Christ, choosing his choices, becoming gradually and almost imperceptibly more like him, putting on his mind and heart. Just as one chooses discipleship at the end of Week Two, so too there is a choice at the end of the Liturgy of the Word. As we prepare to move from the Table of God's Word to the Table of the Lord's Supper, we join ourselves to Christ and ask that we too be transformed every bit as much as the bread and the wine, that we and they may become for us and for our world the Body and Blood of Christ. The Third Week and the Liturgy of the Eucharist The focus of Week Three is both the Last Supper and the Passion. So, too, these two themes are conflated in the Liturgy of the Eucharist: "the Sacrifice of the 71.1 2012 17 Cross and its sacramental renewal in the Mass, which Christ the Lord instituted at the Last Supper and com-manded the apostles to do in his memory, are one and the same, differing only in the manner of offering, and . . . consequently the Mass is at once a sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving, of propitiation and satisfaction."5 The first meditation of the Exercises in Week Three is on the Last Supper in its entirety—including the preparations, the choice of place, the arrangements for the meal, the assembling in the upper room, Christ's washing of the apostles' feet, the supper itself, Christ's giving of his body and blood in Eucharist as the ultimate expression of his love for them, and his final words, his last will and testament, that they continue this same action in his memory. Much of this finds a resonance in the Liturgy of the Eucharist. There is, of course, first the preparation of the table and the gifts, the preparation of the altar itself and then of the offerings of bread and wine. There is the washing of the hands of the presider, a ritual of cleansing and interior purification in readiness for all that will follow. There is the prayer over the gifts, a simple and focused petition—a second "prelude," if you will, asking in a variety of ways that the gifts we have placed on the table will become holy and that we our-selves will be caught up in this action and be made holy to the praise and glory of God. Then the great prayer of praise and thanksgiving, the Eucharistic Prayer, begins. We tell the story of Jesus' life, death, and rising. We enter into Christ's liturgy, the endless self-giving of Christ into the hands of the One he called Abba, from whom he receives back his life. Our worship is an offering of our whole selves with and in Christ to God. That is our participation in the paschal Review for Religious Hughes • Were Not Our Hearts Burning within Us? 18 mystery of Christ's obedience unto death, our identifica-tion with Christ in his radical obedience to God. Have you ever used one of the Eucharistic Prayers for your meditation during Week Three? The Eucharistic Prayer is addressed to God the Father. Could we not think of it as a colloquy with the One Jesus called Abba, our own intimate conversation with God, as we ponder the mystery of the Passion? By turns, the Eucharistic Prayer "collo-quy" offers thanksgiving to God for the whole work of salvation realized in Christ; it implores the action of God's transforming Spirit; it tells the story again of the night before Jesus died when he offered his body and blood, gave the apostles to eat and drink, and left them a command to perpetuate this mystery; it recalls the events that fol-lowed the supper, especially the blessed Passion of Christ together with his victory over sin and death; it makes an offering to God not only of the spotless victim but of our-selves so that day by day we might be perfected through Christ the mediator and be brought into unity with God and with each other when God may be all in all.6 It is a perfect prayer; it is a perfect condensed statement of what we believe and what we long for; it is a colloquy, if you will, that gathers up and gives expression to the faith of the community in Jesus' salvific death and rising and our par-ticipation in that mystery. There is no better word at the end of the Eucharistic Prayer, or at the end of our Third Week meditation on the Passion as we dwell in the silence of God, than the word "Amen." So be it. Week Four and the Communion and Concluding Rites We are ready for Week Four—Jesus' resurrection and his apparitions to his mother, to the women, to the disciples, to Mary in the garden. Always the message is 71.1 2012 19 the same: do not be afraid; peace be with you; go now and tell the good news; go now to feed my lambs. And as peace is the gift of the Risen One, we beg that same peace for the whole human family, and we ask for mutual love among ourselves. We approach the table of the Lord and receive the one Bread of Life, which is Christ who died and rose for the salva-tion of the world. Our Communion makes us one with the Risen Christ, and the last presidential prayer, the prayer after Communion, is a final "prelude"—a peti-tion that we might go forth and live, in deed, what we have just done in word and ritual action. "Please make this Communion take!" this prayer seems to beg. We become what we eat. Through the Communions of our lifetime we are gradually being transformed into God. We know that we ourselves and our world have been radically changed by Jesus' resurrection, and we embrace his commission to become the Heart of God on earth. In contemplating the love of God in the conclud-ing exercise of Week Four, we pray an intimate prayer of thanksgiving to the One who has shared his life so completely with us that we are filled with gratitude and with a desire to make a generous return of love. "Take, Lord, receive," we say, and in so doing we express our availability before God for whatever we will face, rely-ing simply and completely on God's grace. We know ourselves as blessed and sent. Thus far I have been developing the ways that the Eucharist and the Spiritual Exercises mirror and some-times illuminate aspects of each other. As a transition to the second part of this reflection, I suggest pausing over the words of the "Anima Christi" using David Fleming's translation. It was David who said that this prayer is a summary of the dynamics of the whole movement Review for Religious Hughes • Were Not Our Hearts Burning within Us? 20 of the Exercises, and he also described the prayer as a summary of the transformation wrought through the Eucharist. Jesus, may all that is you flow into me. May your body and blood be my food and drink. May your passion and death be my strength and life. Jesus, with you by my side enough has been given. May the shelter I seek be the shadow of your cross. Let me not run from the love which you offer, but hold me safe from the forces of evil. On each of my dyings shed your light and your love. Keep calling to me until that day comes, when, with your saints, I may praise you forever. Amen.7 Part II: Living the Eucharist David Fleming also called the "Anima Christi" a summary of the living of the Fourth Week in the everyday, so it is to that topic we turn, the living of the Eucharist. Many years ago I read a book by Gregory Dix called The Shape of the Liturgy, a very long, very erudite history of the Eucharist by an Anglican clergyman and liturgi-cal scholar. At the conclusion, around page seven hun-dred something, the author shifts from liturgical history, archeology, and philology to spirituality. He quotes the words of Jesus at the Last Supper, "Do this in memory of me," and then poses an intriguing question: Was ever another command so obeyed? Dix paints an extraordinary picture: Century after century, spreading slowly to every continent and country, to every race on earth, this action of Eucharist has been carried out in every conceivable human circumstance and for every conceivable human need, from the heights of 71.1 2012 21 power to places of poverty and need, for royalty at their crowning and for criminals going to the scaffold, for a bride and bridegroom in a little country church, for the wisdom for the Parliament of a mighty nation, for a sick old woman afraid to die, for Columbus setting out to discover the New World, for a barren couple hoping for a child, by an old monk on the fiftieth anniversary of his vows, and on and on. Dix lyrically enumerates these and scores of other instances in which the Christian com-munity has been faithful to Jesus' command, "Do this."8 Over the centuries the Eucharist has been celebrated by innumerable millions of entirely obscure faithful women and men like you and me, people with hopes and fears and joys and sorrows and sins and temptations and prayers every bit as vivid and alive as yours and mine are now. Week by week, on a hundred thousand succes-sive Sundays, faithfully, unfailingly, the followers of Jesus have done just this for the remembrance of him.9 This is an extraordinary picture of the sacrament that constitutes the community, of the event that binds us together, one with another and with Christians of every age, place, race, tongue, and way of life. The Eucharist has been like a wave of grace rolling over the community again and again across the centuries of Christendom, hollowing out spaces for the divine in the midst of the everyday. Was ever another command so obeyed? But after pondering Dix, I realized that when I con-sidered that Last Supper of Jesus and his friends, there was another question on my mind. When Jesus said "do this in remembrance of me," what did he mean by the this? Surely not just the Jewish pattern of the meal, though we know a lot about Jewish rituals, the blessing of bread, the number of cups, the style of blessing said over both. Surely the this is something more. What are Review for Religious Hughes • Were Not Our Hearts Burning within Us? 22 we being asked to do? to be? to embrace? to celebrate? What commitment do we make when we say "Amen"? Scripture supplies two directions toward an answer: one in the Synoptic accounts of the supper and Paul's First Letter to the Corinthians, and the other in the Gospel of John. Recall the words of Paul describing the Last Supper: I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, "This is my body which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me." In the same way also the cup, after supper, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me" (1 Cor 11:23-25). Do this in remembrance of me. But what is the this? Have you ever considered that the Last Supper was precisely that—it was the last. The Last Supper was the last of a whole series of Jesus' meals recorded in the Scriptures. Jesus never played the pious ascetic, keep-ing away from celebrations. He loved a good feast. He used that image of feasting as a metaphor of the reign of God—a great banquet. It was said of him, "This man is a glutton and a drunkard." An even more shocking accusa-tion was whispered behind his back: "This man sits down at table with sinners, with the morally dubious, with the outcasts of society, with those living on the fringes." On nearly every page of the Gospels there is a meal or a reference to food. Jesus calls out to Zacchaeus, "Get down from that tree. I'm coming to your house for What commitment do we make when we say "Amen"? 71.1 2012 23 lunch." There is the story of Simon who threw a din-ner party but was an inattentive host, and of the woman who slipped in to minister to Jesus as he sat at Simon's table. There is the story of Peter's mother-in-law who is cured only to get up and wait on them. There is the Syrophoenician woman who would not take no for an answer, who spoke about crumbs that fell from the table and who expected—and received—more than crumbs from this man. There are the feeding miracles that tell us something of the utter lavishness of the banquet and that everyone will receive enough and there will still be something left over for another day. There are parables of feasts, of great abundance, of jockeying for places at table, of appropriate attire, of filling the room with those drawn from the highways and the byways. Even the risen appearances of Jesus include meals. "Peace be with you," Jesus says. "What's for dinner?" On the shore, in the upper room, on the way to Emmaus, they recognize him in the breaking of the bread. How do you recognize someone? Even at a distance, you rec-ognize the timbre of a voice, or a particular gesture, or the slight tilt of the head so characteristic of an indi-vidual. The disciples recognized Jesus for what was most characteristic of him: the way he broke the bread. What is the this that we are to replicate? It is the whole life and ministry of Jesus at table. Scripture scholars refer to this as Jesus' ministry of table fellow-ship. To share food, in Semitic times, was to share life itself. And Jesus shared life with an astonishing assort-ment of people. Everyone was welcome to sit with him at table, to tell stories and to break the bread. Jesus' ministry of table fellowship is a ministry of universal reconciliation, no exceptions. The Last Supper reca-pitulated the attitudes and values of Jesus, who opened Review for Religious Hughes • Were Not Our Hearts Burning within Us? 24 his table and his heart to everyone, who offered hospi-tality to all, who was himself at home with all manner of people, who knew the human need for nourishment of body, mind, and spirit and who was always present to the other—welcoming, reconciling, offering life. Do this in memory of me. The Gospel of John offers a second answer to the question "What is the this?" In John there is a very dif-ferent institution narrative. It is the account of the foot washing. We know the story so well. Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he had come from God and was going to God, rose from supper, laid aside his garments, and girded himself with a towel. He poured water into a basin, and began to wash the disciples' feet, and to wipe them with the towel. Peter resisted this tenderness until Jesus pressed: "If I do not wash you, you have no part with me." Peter relented in typical Peter fashion: "Not my feet only but also my hands and my head!" When Jesus had com-pleted the washing and resumed his place, he said to them, "Do you know what I have done to you? You call me Teacher and Lord; and you are right, for so I am. If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet. For I have given you an example, that you also should do as I have done to you" (Cf. Jn 13:1-15). You should do as I have done. In other words, "Do this in memory of me." I had an experience when I was studying at the University of Notre Dame that colors my understand-ing of the washing of the feet after the manner of Jesus. Notre Dame has a reputation for the excellence of its liturgical studies program and, at least when I was there, for the perfection of its liturgical celebrations: every 71.1 2012 25 minister rehearsed; every detail on a checklist; every liturgy perfect. And, during the sacred triduum, the lit-urgies were even more perfect! It was Holy Thursday and time for the foot washing. Twelve people moved forward, probably having prepared for the foot wash-ing by carefully washing their feet! Then, seemingly from nowhere, a very unkempt man started up the aisle, staggering a bit, perhaps under the weather. It was one of those stunning moments. Time stood still. Then the deacon walked down the aisle to help the man for-ward and assist him in taking off his shoes and socks. What is the this? Tender and loving care for the other; accepting our mutual vulnerabilities; choosing to open our hearts to all, even the one staggering into our life and upsetting its plans and perfections. Foot washing is not just a way of life but an attitude of heart, a kneeling before the other in reverence. Foot washing is embrac-ing a way of service after the manner of Jesus, simply, generously, not counting the cost. Do this: Embrace my attitudes and values as your own. Love those I love, and be my heart to them. Welcome the stranger, the one on the margins, the disenfranchised. Become vulnerable with one another. Kneel in reverence, especially before those whom soci-ety shuns. Nourish one another's bodies and spirits. Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep, both here at home and half a world away— those in Norway who are paralyzed by a massacre they Foot washing is not just a way of life but an attitude of heart, a kneeling before the other in reverence Review for Religious Hughes • Were Not Our Hearts Burning within Us? 26 could never have imagined, those who are starving from the drought in Africa, those who are terrified of nuclear contamination in Japan, those who are caught up in trafficking around the globe or denied asylum here at home, those who have lost the ones they love and all they owned in fire, flood, tornado, or earthquake. Make a habit of roaming the globe in prayer so that you do not remain distant from the joys and pain of the world. Send those waves of grace once again across continents and cultures to bathe our world in the love and mercy of Eucharist. Do this in memory of me. Conclusion Week Three invites us to experience the Last Supper, to place ourselves there in the upper room, to look around at the faces, to listen to the words, to pon-der them in our hearts as we watch the immense tender-ness of the Lord with those he loved even to the end, whose hearts he was tutoring even on the night before he died. And we have stayed with him, watched and prayed with him, and accompanied him as he gave up his life. Then we have simply dwelt in silence. That same intimacy and presence to one another marks Week Four, a time of tenderness and affection with the risen Jesus who shares his love and his joy with us but does not let us cling to him. He sends us as apostles, empowered by his Spirit, to continue his sav-ing presence, to be his heart on earth. And day by day, week by week, the Eucharist con-tinues to draw us into these mysteries. The heart of the Eucharist is Jesus Christ. The heart of it is the cel-ebration of Jesus' life, death, and rising every time we gather—and the merging of our daily living and dying with his and with one another—for the life of the world. 71.1 2012 27 The heart of it is joining ourselves to Christ, the perfect sacrifice, to the praise and glory of God. The heart of it is begging that the Spirit will transform each one of us just as really as the bread and wine so that we become more and more Christ's Body in truth, not just in name. The heart of it is learning over and over again to say "Amen" to all of these realities and—at least some-times— actually meaning it. Meaning "Amen," meaning yes I will try to live, in deed, in the coming days, what we have just enacted in word and ritual action. I conclude with a favorite reflection of mine on the word "Amen." Be careful of simple words said often. "Amen" makes demands like an unrelenting schoolmaster: fierce attention to all that is said; no apathy, no preoccupation, no prejudice permitted. "Amen": We are present. We are open. We hearken. We understand. Here we are; we are listening to your word. "Amen" makes demands like a signature on a dotted line: sober bond to all that goes before; no hesitation, no half-heartedness, no mental reservation allowed. "Amen": We support. We approve. We are of one mind. We promise. May this come to pass. So be it. Be careful when you say "Amen."10 Notes 1 Cf. Sunday Celebration of the Word and Hours (Ottawa: Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops, 1995). This book contains the Sunday collects prepared by the International Committee on English in the Liturgy for the Missal of 1998, since withdrawn. Review for Religious Hughes • Were Not Our Hearts Burning within Us? 28 2 David L. Fleming sj, "The Ignatian Spiritual Exercises: Understanding a Dynamic," in Notes on the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius of Loyola (St. Louis: Review for Religious, 1981) 11. 3 General Instruction of the Roman Missal, 2003, §29, paraphrase. 4 GIRM, § 65. 5 GIRM, § 9. 6 GIRM, § 79. 7 David L. Fleming sj, The Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius. A Literal Translation and a Contemporary Reading. (St. Louis: The Institute of Jesuit Sources, 1978) 3. 8 Gregory Dix, The Shape of the Liturgy (London: Dacre Press, 1945) 744-5, passim. 9 Ibid. paraphrase. 10 Barbara Schmich Searle, "Ritual Dialogue," Assembly 7:3, February, 1981. Obedience You have had my yes for years– and I have had yours since the sun, the seashells, and the storms at sea. But now, ah . . . you and I are more than yes. As time moves with, within, and around, this yes of ours takes on wings, takes on colors I never imagined, challenges that strengthen and soften me, glory that stills me, stirs me, extends and opens me. It becomes a murmur of love that we share. Love that frees me and compels me to choose you again and yet again . . . that I might respond as I wish to respond . . . openly, knowingly, even a little mysteriously . . . as the bush in the desert responded to flame. Kimberly M. King rscj 71.1 2012 ronald mercier 29 Without the Drama: The Transition from Third to Fourth Week of the Spiritual Exercises S travinsky's "Rite of Spring" caused a furor when it was first performed in 1913, but the more I listen to it, the more I think it expresses something important, and not only from a musical point of view. At the tail end of the piece, the "Sacrifice," Stravinsky tries to cap-ture the human spirit in its "pagan"—pure—form. You might want to find a recording of it and play it before you read further. Cacophony—there's no other way to describe it! Bad sound. It assaults the senses. It builds to a crescendo and with the violence of spirit that leads to the sacrifice of a human, a woman who dances herself to death for the Ronald Mercier sj is associate professor of theology at Saint Louis University and rector of the community where Jesuit scholastics pursue the study of philosophy and theology. This article was originally given as a keynote presentation at Ignatian Spirituality Conference V on July 22, 2011, in St. Louis, Missouri. Comments can be addressed to him at Bellarmine House of Studies; 3737 Westminster Place; St. Louis, Missouri 63108. Review for Religious Mercier • Without the Drama 30 sake of the community. It is violence that can kill and wound and send to hell, to use Ignatius's words from the Incarnation meditation. In the ballet that goes with the music, there is a frenetic dance that is almost a form of madness. No wonder people were so challenged by the music; this is not about some nice ethereal enjoyment, but is a revelation of what can shape the human heart and actions. This revelation opens to our fears but not to our hopes. Curiously, the music ends with a bang, a loud discor-dant chord that leaves us waiting for something more. We would like some kind of resolution at this point, but we are left with utter silence after that dramatic end. We wait, but the music just ends. Or does it? For me, this piece leads to a reflection on the transition from the Third to the Fourth Week in the Ignatian Exercises, a movement out of a murderous drama into a disorienting grand silence within which the Fourth Week dawns. I would like to invite you to sit with Ignatius in what we would name "Holy Saturday," a place he sketches as the space for contemplation within which we experience Resurrection. My thesis is simple: Without the grand silence of Holy Saturday, the "seventh day" for Ignatius, we do not experience the joy and freedom of the Fourth Week. Waiting in the transition—a transition into, not out of, emptiness—allows for creation of the space into which the Risen Lord comes, if we let the quiet ripen. The music of Stravinsky captures the movement of the Third Week, a drama of human making. We walk with Jesus as he experiences being sacrificed for "the good of the people." Curiously, Ignatius invites us to experience the Passion, but he does not describe the gore that would have been standard fare in the spiritual-ity of his time. No doubt he assumed that people knew 71.1 2012 31 the specifics of the passion, crucifixion, and death from the religious imagination of his time. I wonder, though, whether that is all. It strikes me that we are invited into two spaces: the fullness of the world upon which the Trinity gazes in the Incarnation mediation, but also the reality of the Trinity's desire effected through what happens in these moments. In this transition, we fulfill the movement of the Incarnation meditation. Ignatius certainly invites us to "consider what Christ our Lord suffers in His human nature . . . [and] to strive to grieve, be sad, and weep" (SpEx §195). We "must be with the Lord in his suffering, [and] follow him unto his death," lest we be "simply spectators at a Passion event which may be very touching, but which in no way dis-turbs the egotism of our lives,"1 as Gilles Cusson so nicely puts it. We experience with Jesus what human egotism can do, the dramatic clash that seeks sacrifice to maintain some order. Ignatius's contemplation of the Passion has little to do with Mel Gibson's hero worship; we con-template one who embraces utter powerlessness, not "muscular humanity." Yet, Cusson also says that we need to attend to Ignatius's Fifth Point, "how the divinity hides itself; . . . it could destroy . . . but does not do so" (SpEx §196). What is God about in Christ? What goes beyond the "work of our hands," the murderous sacrifice, and actu-ally effects the will of the Trinity? Is God violent? Is We contemplate one who embraces utter powerlessness, not "muscular humanity." Review for Religious Mercier • Without the Drama 32 this the "divinity [who] hides"? Or is the violent god our god? What occurs when our dramatic violence ends? For me, personally and as a director, this question is never academic. The temptation to remain specta-tors or to wonder at the horrors of the Passion—and so to remain distant from it and from the Resurrection— always presents itself as a path of light, as "really feeling bad" for Jesus, and perhaps knowing real (even mur-derous) anger toward those who create perverse tor-tures for him. The experi-ence of the Fourth Week then somehow appears too remote, not surprisingly, and not only because by that time we know the exhaustion of having given ourselves so radically to prayer. But if we remain spectators of the Passion, what also becomes remote is the real joy of the Fourth Week, a joy so different from the transient happiness that we may whip up but never suffices for the long-term journey. And the Fourth Week is really for the long haul, not transient at all. What alternative remains? Consider for a moment where Ignatius leads us. As he did in the contemplation on the Incarnation, he places us with the work of the Trinity and with Mary. This gives us our transition point and deserves some pause. Notice how he frames our prayer at the end of the week, the time of transition: One should consider as frequently as possible . . . that the most Sacred Body of Christ our Lord remained If we remain spectators of the Passion, what also becomes remote is the real joy of the Fourth Week. 71.1 2012 33 separated from the soul, and the place and manner of his burial. Let [the exercitant] consider, likewise, the desolation of our Lady, her great sorrow and weariness, and also that of the disciples (SpEx §208, Seventh Day). Two dimensions frame the time after the death of Jesus on the cross, two movements that invite us into a depth within which resurrection happens: the experi-ence of death in Jesus and its impact on those (like us) who love him. Resurrection, Cusson rightly suggests, never becomes a topic for consideration, but encounters us in and through the one whom we love and who has conquered death, a "confirmation from above surpass-ing all human hope."2 Let us stay, though, for a moment with the two aspects Ignatius gives us not so much as a conclusion to the Third Week as the door through which the Third Week becomes, or opens to, the Fourth Week. We have in the Christian tradition a powerful sense that the Paschal Mystery—the death, coming to the dead, and Resurrection of the Lord—never constitutes the past, something complete and over, but, rather, remains the context of our lives, the place of our ministries, the space within which joy dawns for us and for all who know the Risen Lord. Two things, then, shape this contemplation, which really becomes the shape of "the seventh day," a con-templation of the Passion as a whole. First, Ignatius begs us to consider the fullness of the death of Jesus because, without an experience of that fullness, we really cannot complete the journey of the Third Week (and of the Incarnation) or comprehend the fullness of the ways in which Jesus' ministry touches and shapes our lives and our world. We need to ponder, prayerfully, what it Review for Religious Mercier • Without the Drama 34 means for Jesus to "remain separated from his soul," to know death, not just to "be killed." Let me suggest that this consideration never rep-resents some thought exercise or parlor game. In our culture we often trivialize death and, in fact, avoid the topic completely or paper it over with euphemisms. We do not say that people die, but that they "pass away." We make the reality so antiseptic, so unreal, that we actually generate a fear of death that drives us even to try to con-trol it, like some unruly passion. Humans have always feared death, as the social critic Ernst Becker makes clear. In our modern North American culture, though, we have created a kind of nightmare; we rarely encoun-ter the reality of someone's dying. Even worse, people have to die not freely as Jesus did, but alone, caught up in our medicalized model. Alternatively, we can make death into a mere video game: how many can we kill? By contrast, Ignatius invites us to a thoroughgoing realism. In Jesus' death, we contemplate the fullness of his human death, freely embraced for us, the fullness of the trajectory of the Incarnation. We are invited to consider especially his embrace of abandonment. Hans Urs von Balthasar, the great Swiss theologian and pro-foundly Ignatian thinker, asks us to ponder just what this means, as a path toward hope: The Redeemer showed himself therefore as the only one who, going beyond the general experience of death, was able to measure the depths of that abyss.3 Think about that with me for just a moment. For Balthasar (and here he places himself in the whole strand of Christian mystics) we desire to shield our-selves from death. We may have "the general experience of death," but we seek to hold it at bay, often at great cost. No one wants to die, of course, and from time 71.1 2012 35 immemorial we have created lovely myths of "afterlife" as ways of avoiding the fullness of what we would expe-rience in death, so that we do not really die. Instead, Ignatius invites us, in the wake of the cry by which Jesus freely gives up his spirit and accepts death, to consider what it would mean for someone freely and fully to enter into the realm of Hades, of Sheol, in which, as the psalmist says, "no one can praise You." In Jesus, God goes fully to claim the reality of human death and dying as God's very own. Balthasar uses the image of the abyss—a wonderful image—for this. We need to ponder, not morosely but in faith, the full tra-jectory of the Third Week. Ignatius places us there and asks that during the Seventh Day—however long it might be—we continually call that reality to mind and keep it before us. He invites us there in place of repetitions or Applications of the Senses, because in pon-dering the fullness of the death of Jesus, in letting it "ripen to fullness," as it were, we begin to grasp the fullness of what it means that he dies for our sake, that he goes where we would not go. If, as David Fleming, John Futrell, John English and many others suggest, the Last Supper sets the tone for the Third Week, here we know what it means to "be broken and poured out," even to the fullness of death itself. We have been praying for the grace of freedom throughout the Exercises, and in a sense here we encounter freedom in its fullness. Balthasar notes what freedom—in its purest form, free from all stain of sin—would mean: "And precisely in that did his mortal anguish and God-abandonment differ radically from the habitual anxiety of the sinner." 4 Jesus freely—and with-out defense—walks the way ahead of us, embraces our path. Jesus claims the fullness of death as a space within Review for Religious Mercier • Without the Drama 36 which to meet us—thus, the implication of the seventh-day exercise. We can—and do—often hurry by the real-ity, or simply marvel at the wreck of a corpse in the Pietà. Ignatius, according to Balthasar, invites us to let death be full, that we might know freedom with Christ, freedom for our mission ultimately, freedom to love "even to death itself." No masochism or delectatio morosa marks this moment, but only a profound invitation to explore what we fear with the One who has gone the way before us. For Ignatius, that remains key. If Resurrection cannot grasp the fullness of what death means, if it can-not meet us in the anxiety that would hold us bound and create the kind of craziness that marks our death-obsessed culture, it remains but a "nice idea," easily dis-pensed with, perhaps. For Balthasar, Jesus delves into death as abandonment, freely, without losing hope, but relying completely on the God who alone can overcome death. Imagine "separation of soul and body" in its totality, without the experience of Resurrection that often shields us. Jesus embraces that. This descent remains but part of the story for Ignatius, since he invites us to place ourselves with Mary and the disciples in their desolation—an impor-tant context. The imagery of that placement reveals a deliberate quality in two ways: it prepares us to encoun-ter the Risen Lord and accept our mission. In one sense, of course, we explore the same space as previously, explore what it means for Jesus to have died—but now from the perspectives of those left behind. Again, Ignatius invites us to contemplate with Mary—and to some extent with Mary Magdalene—to share space and time with women who also embrace the "empty space" without defense, freely. The sinlessness of Mary parallels Jesus' own condition, and invites us 71.1 2012 37 to imagine how she, whose heart knew only openness, would experience the "separation" of soul from body. In her once again, Ignatius asks us to confront death as death, in its fullness in Jesus, in one whom we pas-sionately love. While I will focus on the encounter with Mary, the mother of Jesus, as a basic form of the Resurrection con-templations, I do not mean to suggest that one must force people to engage that path. Eventually the pattern of the Exercises does lead us there, but as John English suggests in Spiritual Freedom,5 a directee may find it difficult to enter into the purity of Mary's openness to encounter the Risen Lord; a person may find more fruitful prayer with the grief of Mary Magdalene, or the guilt of Simon Peter, or others. Still, the fullness of that openness to the Risen Lord brings us back to the full "yes" of Mary, mother of Jesus, as a paradigm of freedom. We have probably all known a parent who has lost a beloved child. As I write this I cannot help but think of the parents of a young Chinese student who failed at university and chose suicide in the face of despair. I cannot begin to imagine the grief of soul such a moment would entail for those parents; nor can I imagine the added burden of feeling guilt for having laid on a child expectations that he could not fulfill. That empty space of a dead child shocks us; "it should not happen," we say quite rightly. Parents should die before their children do. The empty space becomes almost too much to take in, though with Michelangelo's Pietà we catch a glimpse of how a face might appear when gazing on that emptiness. Yet, for the director at this point in the Exercises, especially in the face of what happens in the transition, an important distinction remains. Monty Williams, in a work in progress that he shared with me, advises that we Review for Religious Mercier • Without the Drama 38 note two different paths as one encounters fear, notably the fear of death. There are two ways of being present to our fears. We could look at them and wonder how we can be so stupid, and then make the plans . . . to ensure those mistakes never happen again. . . . The other way . . . is to experience the amazement. . . . The more we ponder . . . it, the more we are filled with a sense of wonder—which gives no answer. That wonder, that sense of amazement, is our first awareness of the presence of God in the space we have created by looking at our fears. As Williams frames it, two choices remain. We can panic and move into flight or analysis or simply an excess of emotions to make us feel better. Or we can be attentive, in the face of such fears, to an empty space without answers—a much harder place to be. When Ignatius invites us to contemplate, to recall Mary, all of those spaces we have known in the Second Week come to mind. Mary remains for us always the one who attends, who does not withdraw, even in the face of the horror of the slaughter of the innocents, but who pon-ders. The path of our entry into the Seventh Day parallels Mary's path, and a director looks at whether the exerci-tant gets caught up in his or her own pain or can ponder the empty space with Mary—that dreadful emptiness the church hints at in stripped altars and empty tabernacles after the Good Friday service. With Mary, we hear the invitation in freedom to know our beloved Jesus as dead. A terrible space, but not a maudlin one! We hear the call to compassion, to attentiveness, to let an empty space open. In essence, Michelangelo's Pietà invites us not to wild grieving but to face the reality of Mary holding her dead son. Attentiveness is a state of waiting, but for what? 71.1 2012 39 I can't help but remember Mary Oliver's powerful poem "The Uses of Sorrow," which captures so much of what I think Ignatius presents to us in constructing a place for prayer: (In my sleep I dreamed this poem) Someone I loved once gave me a box full of darkness. It took me years to understand that this, too, was a gift.6 The poem admirably catches the difference between panic/analysis and attentiveness as ways of responding to the human—and here divine—reality of death. For us the path takes time; Ignatius invites us on the seventh day to recall this to mind again and again, but the full process may well be the journey of our lives and our dying. However, contemplating the loss of Jesus is but one dimension. With Mary—and with the disciples—we are invited to ponder the world in which, as Cleopas said, "we had hoped" but which is now a space of desolation. We face the fullness of what Ignatius means when he invites the retreatant to see and consider the Three Divine Persons. . . . They look down upon the whole surface of the earth and behold all nations in great blindness, going down to death and descending into hell (SpEx §106). The reality of human violence is seen in its full-ness in this moment, especially when, with the disciples, we see that violence is also part of their lives—in their abandoning their Master. With Mary and them, the full brutality of violence in the name of God, yet murder-ous of God, comes home to us in all its savagery. No doubt they had seen or heard of crucifixion before. This Roman "tool" helped maintain fear in the populace by destroying its memory of the one killed, lest anyone else Review for Religious Mercier • Without the Drama 40 attempt to do what the crucified one had done. We can all rationalize human cruelty to suit our purposes. Here, though, their Master, Lord, Mentor, the one who healed, raised from the dead, preached Good News—the one they loved—becomes the victim of such cruelty. With him, the hope he had proclaimed also becomes a victim, exactly as the Romans would have desired. Hope is too dangerous a drug to a people fac-ing death. Is the reality of what Cleopas proclaimed— that "we had hoped"—also dead? With Mary and the disciples, we gaze on the empty space in the wake of the cross, and we know the dying of our hopes, of the ways in which all of our plans and expectations go to the cross with Jesus. Our history, our world, hangs in that balance. As director, how often have I sat with people who, in the wake of Jesus' death and burial, have to encounter again their own history of violence—received, experienced in others, commit-ted! The call to attentiveness in this space where our wounded history is made so evident places the past and the future in the balance. If in the first movement with Jesus and Mary we know the fear before death, in this second movement perhaps we face the fear of living in a world mediated by violence, a violence that we can usually hold at bay or ignore by switching the televi-sion channel. Yet, in this transition place, we face the brokenness and "poured-out" quality of our world, and we hear the call not to stronger forms of violence or retribution but to attend in that quiet space and know the fullness of a hope that might have died too. So many people live in this space. It is not theoretical. So, for me, the power of Stravinsky's piece, build-ing to that awful crescendo, that cacophony of death, followed by nothing, silence, lies in wanting some reso- 71.1 2012 41 lution other than the sacrifice. He captures well what those first disciples must have been going through on their "seventh day," after the terrible dramatics of human violence, cruelty, power; now Mary and the others know an empty silence made all the more desolate by what had come before. Building better plans, creating monu-ments, assigning guilt or blame—all of these would have tempered the grief. Instead, we hear the invitation to silence, to attentiveness. It may be that real forgiveness, hope, and resurrection can occur only in such silence. Ignatius places us before those realities that so easily move us away from attentiveness—fear of death and fear of violence or rejection—as a space within which some-thing very different—freedom—can arise. This experience could well represent a kind of "downer" for us, but need it be so? The sense of the deaths we experience—whether the physical death that Jesus freely embraces or the death of our illusions about the world and our patterns of dealing with it—create, as it were, a wasteland, an emptiness before which we stand and pray with Mary and the disciples. Its all-encompassing nature seeks to enlarge our freedom by placing before us our fears. Facing the wasteland yields fruit not in darkness or desolation (though we do indeed pass through these) but, as Antonio Valentino noted in a Directory written in the first generation after the death of Ignatius, aims at perfection in prayer and work, holding always God before one's eyes with gentleness and consistency, and remembering God whenever we think, speak or act.7 If we are moving toward the Contemplatio here as a mode of engaging the world, then this transition that "clears the ground" can yield an abundant harvest. We are left waiting for God's action—not ours. Review for Religious Mercier • Without the Drama 42 I do not use the imagery of "clearing ground" acci-dentally. I find myself touched by the way in which one deals with one sweep of contemplation, which clears, seeds, and bears fruit in ever deeper ways. Think through with me the extraordinary introduction to the Fourth Week that piggybacks on what we have seen. As Cusson mentions, when Ignatius presents the medita-tion on the first resurrection appearance (SpEx §299), he offers a first point, nothing else; the simplicity of the perspective shines through: "He appeared to the Virgin Mary." Ignatius sees no need for second or third points, as are given in all the other meditations. It is a unique tableau.8 Ignatius does complete the sweep from where we have been: His soul, likewise united with the divinity, descended into hell. There he sets free the souls of the just, then comes to the sepulcher, and rising appears in body and soul to His Blessed Mother (SpEx §219). We have before us the same matter as in the con-templations on "the seventh day" of the Third Week; the setting does not change. What happens arises from within where we find ourselves as we attend to the empty space at the end of the Third Week. Our entry into the Fourth Week comes not because we will our-selves to joy. Rather, in the space that death and vio-lence have laid waste, Resurrection dawns like light and, with it, love, joy, and hope as the fruit. We do not change spaces for Resurrection, for the Fourth Week; rather, we extend the Third until it bears fruit. As director, I cannot overemphasize how hard it is to keep people focused at this point; exhaustion has set in. The Fourth Week regularly gets short shrift, as does Resurrection in so much of Christian life; yet, as I pray with the transition from Third to Fourth Week, I 71.1 2012 43 realize how crucial that transition point is to our ability to be in and to serve a broken but risen world. Ignatius leads us to the "hell" which Jesus has entered freely and fully, with all those who have gone before—and with us eventually—and then moves to Mary, in her home and oratory, exactly the order that repeats the end of the Third Week. I would like to move in three points—Jesus' apparition to Mary, Jesus' rising "from the dead," and the gift of joy to a world that killed and can kill still. They are related, but quite distinct too. Think of how redolent Jesus' apparition is for Mary. Ignatius does not describe it much, except for a clear allusion. He asks us to "see the arrangement of . . . the place or house of our Lady. I will note its different parts, and also her room, her ora-tory, etc." (SpEx §220). In §103 we were asked "especially to see the house and room of our Lady." The parallelism is almost exact, and, of course, David Fleming in Like the Lightning alludes to the Annunciation contemplation.9 This is not pious drivel, as some are tempted to say; this really is a new Annunciation, but one that asks Mary—and us—to go on mission for the Trinity with the Risen Lord. After all the Sturm und Drang of the Third Week— the drama of our human violence and blood-lust, even the drama of the Last Supper that begins the Third This really is a new Annunciation, but one that asks Mary—and us— to go on mission for the Trinity with the Risen Lord. Review for Religious Mercier • Without the Drama 44 Week—this dawn of the Fourth Week, of a new world, is so undra-matic. Mel Gibson would have a difficult time with it. We would be tempted to make it dramatic, and certainly the Miraflores altar-piece does so, with Jesus showing his wounds and with Mary por-trayed as quite the medieval lady. Ignatius's description, though, is so different. Certainly, as he notes in the fourth point, the "divinity here manifests itself so miraculously," though in the fifth point the man-ifestation is as the consoler, the one who brings joy in the glory of the Resurrection. What are we to make of the apparition as "con-soler"? By the way, Ignatius gives only this contemplation in the Fourth Week, though we find a number of other texts arranged from §299-312 (in the section on the Mysteries of Christ's Life), with an ever wider circle of people let in on the Resurrection. In the Fourth Week itself, one contemplation alone pre-cedes the Contemplatio, again with Mary. If we take a step back, Mary represents the free per-son who has tasted the fullness of the passage of Jesus, both into death and at the hands of a broken, murderous world. If the darkness that John evokes in the Gospel stands as a hallmark of the Passion, Mary knows that darkness fully. As we wait with her, we hear the invita-tion to know that darkness, to let our own hopes and dreams die, to recognize the fullness of what death, as God-forsakenness, means. Mary roots us in a barren 71.1 2012 45 landscape without familiar landmarks. Stark—not dra-matic. Quiet. As long as we cling to our own artifacts, the land remains cluttered, and we are unable to receive. In essence, Mary descends into a kind of hell as well, the fullness of the First Week's hell, which is not of her doing, but which is the fruit of the world we have created. The more I ponder and pray with these texts, however, the more they strike me as a new "Incarnation," but with a different order and intent. In the Incarnation medita-tion, we move from the work of God, who ponders the broken, murderous world and chooses to enter it, invit-ing Mary—and us—to share in the work of the Trinity here now. With Mary we have been placed in a God-less world, the fullness of hell. We gaze, we ponder with her, in the freedom of those who have elected to follow Jesus. Mary—and we—know what God's heart would have felt in the acute desire to set people free. We now move from the order of "this world" to an encounter with the Trinity as we know the fullness of the desire of the Trinity in the Incarnation prayer, now effected by the Risen Lord. Again, I want to stress the point: Ignatius places us with Mary as the archetype of the person of the Exercises, the free person. While in later contempla-tions we are indeed shown the rest of the Gospel story, here he asks us to share in the fullness of what freedom The Apparition to Mary Reverses the order of the Incarnation meditation From the Trinity To a Broken World To revelation of the Trinity From a Broken World Review for Religious Mercier • Without the Drama 46 means, freedom at the intersection of our engagement with a broken world, and we wonder at the dawning of a world shot through with Resurrection. The transition of this time represents not a movement from Third Week to Fourth Week, as if we could leave the former behind as just a bad memory; rather, the transition is the on-going space of discipleship. We, like Mary, remain in a broken world, but the transition into the Fourth Week recasts the meaning of the world in a dramatic way, so that we can accept the call to serve a world still broken. Contemplation constitutes the basic hallmark of this freedom; the encounter with the Risen Lord that Ignatius sketches out occurs as an offer of new life in the midst of the contemplation of the fullness of death and sinful violence. These two elements of death and life form a diptych, as it were, for our lives and our prayer. We encounter here not merely the Risen Lord but, with Mary, the pattern of what we shall know as we await that ultimate coming of Christ to the world, and we receive a mission to act upon hope. Into that space, the risen Lord comes, not just as resuscitated—"I'm back"—but as a living proclamation of a new world, God's plan for the ultimate healing and completion of the world God so loves. From the broken world, we encounter the divinity made flesh again for us, but now glorified and risen. If Christ performs "the office of the consoler," as Ignatius says, this consolation does not simply cause a "feeling good" or even a happi-ness, but a revelation of a new world and the empower-ing invitation to dwell in that new world and extend it through time and space. That power is "joy." Joy in this case is not an affect, or even a spiri-tual movement, for Ignatius. In fact, he distinguishes between the two realities: 71.1 2012 47 as soon as I awake [I will] place before my mind the contemplation I am to enter upon, and then . . . strive to feel joy and happiness at the great joy and happi-ness of Christ our Lord (SpEx §229). Happiness we know as an affective movement, a passing reality; we feel happy when we experience cer-tain realities. We can know happiness but still be alien to joy, since happiness comes and goes, depending on the experience we feel. Happiness has an object, and in this case Ignatius does want us to evoke within ourselves the experience of happiness; the encounter becomes the cause of our happiness. Joy, however, pertains to a very different reality. Joy—and this is Christ's joy, of course, a gift of the Holy Spirit—intends not a movement of the heart, a feel-ing, but a disposition, a way of being; it is the hallmark of those who have encountered the risen Lord in the midst of surrounding darkness. Joy makes possible the freedom to go on mission into the Fourth Week—our ordinary time. That light dawns in the Resurrection, not apart from but in the midst of the darkness which Mary—and we—have known. G.K. Chesterton's lament about "joyless Christians" captures something very important here: Christianity satisfies suddenly and perfectly man's [sic] ancestral instinct for being the right way up; satisfies it supremely in this; that by its creed joy becomes something gigantic and sadness something special and small. The vault above us is not deaf because the universe is an idiot; the silence is not the heartless silence of an endless and aimless world.10 The joy we experience in the presence of the Risen Lord does not suddenly wipe away the reality of the grief we know at the experience of the brokenness of Review for Religious Mercier • Without the Drama 48 the world and its impact on the vulnerable; rather, such joy places it all in context, allows us to see the world as it is, in the context of God's proclamation of new life and hope in Christ. The way Ignatius ends the Exercises with Mary and this twofold contempla-tion seems to suggest that this joy becomes our "new normal," what God intended in creation and effects through the Incarnation, ministry, and Passover of the Word. We often emphasize the continuity/discontinuity of the Risen Jesus; he is like but different. But is it not really also the world which is continuous/discontinu-ous? In a great line from "Lion in Winter," Eleanor of Aquitaine says, "In a world where carpenters get resur-rected, everything is possible." Exactly—and such is our hope and the cause of our joy. As contemplatives moved to action, we in the Ignatian tradition live in the intersection of the two parts of the diptych, of Holy Saturday and Easter, but with joy as the hinge, something into which we grow. The encounter with the Risen Lord in the midst of a broken world becomes the reality of our lives and a point of conversion into this "new world." In that respect, we are unlike Mary but more like the others who encounter the Lord in a gradual way, but who nevertheless grow into a joyful engagement with the world. However, we can-not separate this encounter from the work which serves life and just peace; we grow in joy and hope only if we place ourselves at the service of justice, as it were, as the thirty-second General Congregation of the Society of Jesus suggested. Yet, we are no longer simply disciples, but apostles, those sent as the Word was sent into the world, but now into a world transformed. This "new normal," a joyful realm, disorients in many ways. Please excuse me as I take a bit of a detour 71.1 2012 49 into a Byzantine theme, that of the "Harrowing of Hell," an ancient icon in the East that depicts a scene sketched by a homily from the second century. I ask you to pon-der it with me for just a few moments. We have here one particu-lar rendition of the icon, but a powerful one with three signifi-cant movements. One of these captures the Contemplation for the Fourth Week as given by Ignatius, namely that the Risen Lord sets free the souls of the just held bound before Christ's Resurrection. For Balthasar and oth-ers, this moment of encounter with the Risen Lord has become the deciding moment for them, the one in which heaven—and the second death—actually open. In that sense, we have a key moment of election again, a confirmation to "fol-low" but now in a different way—to eternal life for them. Yet this Risen Lord calls us to proclaim eternal life and freedom in this world. Second, and this evokes the reality of La Storta, the risen Christ carries the cross, but as a tool through which to break open the gates of Sheol. This Christ on mission invites us to the imagery of the Third Week, but now as a call to freedom, not to death or destruction. The order of the world is profoundly inverted here, and violence gives way to freedom. No wonder the thirty- Review for Religious Mercier • Without the Drama 50 second General Congregation could so freely embrace being "under the banner of the cross" as a mode of identification. This rising Christ changes all the imag-ery of violence, death, and hopelessness we would have taken for granted. One finds joy even in the cross—how odd—but, again, joy is not simply a moment of happi-ness but a consistent mode of being. Again, we cannot separate encounter with the Risen Lord from presence to those who know Holy Saturday and its pain or loss of hope. Last, though, for the East—and for Ignatius, I think—the implications of this little icon and of the work of Christ show free-dom in an even bolder way. A second-century homily proclaims, "I did not create you to be held captive," as does the Office of Readings every Holy Saturday. Do we ponder, though, the implications of that little line, the heart of the link between the Third and Fourth Weeks? The dynamic of the Third Week—from the human point of view—reveals the inevitability of betrayal, duplicity, shame, violence, grief, blood-lust. Not an appetizing menu, to be sure. Ignatius would ask us to contemplate the recreated world in which such patterns have lost their power forever, not just for a moment; we know their power, but as something that has passed away, both from the world and from our lives. If a counterpart to the contemplation on the Incarnation in the Second Week is the Two Standards meditation, perhaps this "diptych" does something Joy is not simply a moment of happiness but a consistent mode of being. 71.1 2012 51 similar. In the Two Standards meditation, Satan calls his demons and "goads them on to lay snares for people and bind them with chains" (SpEx §142). Christ bids, attracts, graces, to a very different world, of poverty, bearing insult and humiliation freely as a means of free-dom (SpEx §146). We have seen that first standard lived to its full-est in the Third Week; now we see Christ who in his revealed divinity, as the fullness of the revelation of the Trinity, continues to serve, to free, to attract, to bid, but now as having conquered all freely and lovingly. Do we not know here the prospect of a whole new world unbound or in the process of unbinding, a process to which Christ missions us? Does Christ not call us in this contemplation with Mary to gather companions in the work of dwelling in this contemplative yet active space? The full import of what has been "the normal" becomes ever clearer to us, even as we enter more fully into com-panionship with Mary in this contemplation. The chal-lenge to us, however, never degenerates into hopeless self-scrutinizing or, even worse, scrupulosity. We do not get forced back into contemplating our sins, as too often happens when people gaze upon the cross, or into the violent guilt or shame of the Third Week. Rather, aware of the Third Week and its full impact on the one whom we love and on the world Christ so loves, we hear the invitation to explore contemplatively a dawning world, one which opens, I think, to the Contemplatio and to our role in extending Christ's joy. James Alison, the British Catholic theologian, has written movingly on this, inviting us to consider how our cultures shape our imaginations through the pat-terns of interaction—rivalistic patterns—which for us constitute "the normal." In Christ, and I think in Mary Review for Religious Mercier • Without the Drama 52 and the disciples, God gives us a dramatically differ-ent pattern of interaction, one that creates relationships touched by joy, not by violence or rivalry or fear. In the complementary contemplations we are given through-out the Fourth Week, we encounter many such persons, wounded in and by the Third Week, even agents of the violence of the Third Week, with whom and in whom we now encounter the pattern of joy and hope. These reflections lead me to ponder the meaning of the "Rules for Thinking with the Church" (SpEx §352-370). They are usually given as a form of Counter- Reformation ecclesiology, a guide on how to engage the debates of the mid-sixteenth century. The text contains all kinds of very context-specific allusions—echoes of debates on predestination, sacraments, authority, and the like that helped tear the church apart. We realize that the inability to attend to what the other was saying represented but one more kind of violence in an already violent age. Ignatius, of course, never had shied away from a fight. One has only to remember how ready he was to dispatch the Moor who had shown insufficient defer-ence to the Blessed Virgin, his Lady. He certainly would not be the first choice as a poster boy for pacifism. Yet, think with me for a moment about the Rules, written at a time when everyone wanted a good fight and looked, all too often, for occasions to pick a fight or score a point. Ignatius's presentation strikes me as curious in that regard, strangely pacific, to use Alison's invitation to a radically different imagination, a con-version of imagination, where our normal expectation is no longer violence or the violent god but rather of a world ordered to and by peaceful relationships. We find here none of the grand drama of the instructions to 71.1 2012 53 the Cardinal Legates to the various Diets and Councils. Instead, we find a man desperate to preserve the unity of the community, to avoid the kinds of clashes that mark his age. Perhaps when we look at the Rules for Thinking with the Church, the metaphor that I have been using— of having had the earth scorched around us and entering a new world—could be helpful. We tend to bring with us the imagery and imagination to which we have grown accustomed. We bring the patterns of guilt or shame or blame or grief or violence that we have learned only too well from the world we have known as normal. Yet, the totality of the presence of the Risen Christ to Mary— and to us—challenges any return to those spaces to which we have grown accustomed. Certainly, if Christ has "harrowed hell" and broken dominant patterns, we are in need of "a way," of his way. Might not the Rules for Thinking with the Church be Ignatius's way of inviting us to turn from the slavish obedience so alien to the freedom of the Fourth Week and to become attentive to the community of people elected in grace, graced by Risen Life, empowered by saints, who could sketch out for us and for our imagi-nation a path with and to Christ? We stand in need of a community of faith, the Church militant in the original Spanish text, which can model for us the new life revealed in and through the Risen Lord. While the Rules invite a kind of docility in seeking a way of peace and renewal of imagination found in the community of the faithful, they do not require checking one's mind at the door. At times we can, like Ignatius, grieve because of a church that shows the marks of the violence and domination of those who killed the Lord. Nevertheless we wait in the hope of encountering Christ in this com- Review for Religious Mercier • Without the Drama 54 munity, in the Holy Saturday-Easter Sunday diptych, still confident that we will contemplatively learn a way forward, not in spite of but in the pain. In a similar way, Ignatius needed the community to foster conversion out of scruples and into Christ. Still, a real encounter as is experienced in the tran-sition opens a path to community. Rooted in a new experience of the world, it is a community of peace, joy, hope, creativity. This, of course, has none of the "grand drama" of the Third Week that would thrill Mel Gibson, but it has the quiet quality of a son meeting a grieving mother who has been wounded by violence but, in joy, is experiencing the possibility of new life, the opening of heart and imagination. Quiet, not dramatic in the ways we are used to, but nonetheless a powerful and creative stance. The difference between the drama at the end of the Third Week and the quiet dawn of the Fourth invites us to know in its fullness what the Two Standards means and what Christ offers: not a crusade of our own, but an allowing of new possibilities to dawn in our age. We have seen such dawns, and their ecclesial power touches deeply. I think of Jean Vanier's L'Arche com-munity embracing the handicapped, those rejected by the world. There is the hospice movement, which rose from Dame Cecily Saunders's refusal to allow cancer patients for whom medical drama could do no more to simply go away and die. Those who serve refugees and bring a moment of tenderness and hope to fragile lives similarly stand at the confluence of this Paschal diptych. Easier, I suppose, would be to follow the temptation to take up arms and fight back or condemn, but we are invited to a very different path, not of moralism but of an embrace like that of Mary by her Son. 71.1 2012 55 We began this talk with Stravinsky's musical image of primal humanity and its lust for sacrifice, a lust that seeks "salvation for the people" in a woman condemned to die by dancing madly. The music crashes to a dra-matic conclusion followed by silence. I would like to end with a different dance, one described by Sydney Carter's words applied to the Shaker hymn "Simple Gifts," here the "Lord of the Dance." Perhaps this could evoke something of the transition to a dance that is joyous, inclusive, expansive. May this be our prayer and our path. I danced on a Friday when the sky turned black— It's hard to dance with the devil on your back. They buried my body, and they thought I'd gone, But I am the Dance, and I still go on. Dance, then, wherever you may be, I am the Lord of the Dance, said he, And I'll lead you all, wherever you may be, And I'll lead you all in the Dance, said he. They cut me down and I leapt up high; I am the life that'll never, never die; I'll live in you if you'll live in me— I am the Lord of the Dance, said he. Dance, then, wherever you may be, I am the Lord of the Dance, said he, And I'll lead you all, wherever you may be, And I'll lead you all in the Dance, said he. Notes 1 Gilles Cusson, Biblical Theology and the Spiritual Exercises (St. Louis: Institute of Jesuit Sources, 1988), p. 299. 2 Cusson, p. 303. Review for Religious Mercier • Without the Drama 56 3 Hans Urs von Balthasar, Mysterium Paschale: The Mystery of Easter (Grand Rapids, Michigan: William B. Eerdmans, 1990), p. 168. 4 von Balthasar, p 169. 5 John English, Spiritual Freedom: From an Expertience of the Ignatian Exercises to the Art of Spiritual Direction (Guelph: Loyola House, 1973), p. 247. 6 Mary Oliver, Thirst (Boston: Beacon Press), p. 52. 7 Martin E. Palmer, S.J., On Giving the Spiritual Exercises: The Early Jesuit Manuscript Directories and the Official Directory of 1599 (St. Louis: Institute of Jesuit Sources, 1996), p. 79. 8 Cusson, p. 303. 9 David L. Fleming, Like the Lightning: The Dynamics of the Ignatian Exercises (St Louis, Institute of Jesuit Sources, 2004), p. 77. 10 Gilbert K. Chesterton, Othodoxy (Garden City, NY: Image Books, 1959), p. 160. Questions for Reflection 1. Where have I embraced the emptiness of death and how has it enabled me to experience the joy of the Risen Lord? 2. Do you have any favorite music, artwork, or poetry that helps you enter into the sacred silence discussed in this article—or that helps you understand other moments in the Spiritual Exercises or in the Gospels? 71.1 2012 57 Dolor 5: At the Foot of the Cross Giving birth is contracting to sleep with death. It is an agreement to pass on everything that has been fed, fondled, fiercely treasured, looked forward to as one looks for the first hibiscus every spring. It is a signature and seal in pledge that one will leave someone something. It holds the possibility—tormenting as tarantula's tricks— that the loved child may pass first, cursedly, of illness, mishap, quick step in the wrong place, by fate or by murderous hatred heaped upon the great. The blood and wash of afterbirth foretell that every holding close lets loose. Small fingers, small toes enlarge as mothering bellies pull back to size and shape. Flowerings green up. They will, they must, brown down with wintering. And every footfall tells an end to every earthly good, each breath started with a slap, each name begun so well that slips into what's next. Pamela Smith sscm Review for Religious 58 peter j. schineller Finding or Seeking God in All Things: A Few Cautionary Notes "T o find God in all things" is a commonplace of Ignatian spirituality. Books and essays on Ignatius and Jesuit spirituality have highlighted the phrase as a hallmark of that spirituality. However, in an essay entitled "The Ignatian Charism and Contemporary Theology," the late Cardinal Avery Dulles wrote that "to the best of my knowledge the expression 'finding God in all things,' does not appear verbatim in the writ-ings of St. Ignatius."1 He admits that we do find "similar expressions" in the writings of Ignatius, and adds that "it seems evident that God can be found in all things." Dulles's observation makes me wonder and leads me to the unanswerable question of whether Ignatius deliberately avoided the phrase "find God in all things." Ignatius does write in many places that we should seek Peter J. Schineller sj is the archivist for the New York Province of the Society of Jesus. He resides at America House, 106 West 56th Street, New York, NY 10019. 59 71.1 2012 and serve God in all things; but, as we will see, except for one place, he does not use the phrase "find God in all things." Jerome Nadal, one of the early companions of Ignatius, clearly believed that Ignatius had the gift or charism to "feel the presence of God" and that this experience should likewise characterize Ignatius's fol-lowers. He writes: "I shall not fail to recall that grace which he had in all circumstances, while at work or in conversation, of feeling the presence of God and of tasting spiritual things, of being contemplative even in the midst of action: he used to interpret this as seeking God in all things."2 Note well that Nadal says Ignatius interpreted this experience as seeking God in all things. So too, Pedro Ribadeneira, also an early compan-ion of Ignatius, reports that "we frequently saw him taking the occasion of little things to lift his mind to God, who even in the smallest things is great. From seeing a plant, foliage, a leaf, a flower, any fruit, from the consideration of a little worm or any other animal, he raised himself above the heavens and penetrated the deepest thought."3 And, in the Autobiography of Ignatius, Luis da Camara, who wrote down the words of Ignatius, states: "At whatever time or hour he wanted to find God, he found Him."4 (To be precise, da Camara says that Ignatius could find God at all times, not that he found God in all things.) So we ask: might there be some wis-dom or insight—or caution—in the fact that Ignatius only once uses the phrase "find God in all things"? The Sole Text and Its Context In the long letter to Antonio Brandão subtitled "Instructions given by our father Ignatius, or at his Review for Religious Schineller • Finding or Seeking God in All Things 60 direction . . ." we read the advice given to scholastics: "the scholastics cannot engage in long meditations . . . they can practice seeking the presence of our Lord in all things; in their dealings with other people, their walking, seeing, tasting, hearing, understanding, and all our activities. For his Divine Majesty truly is in every-thing by his presence, power, and essence. This kind of meditation—finding God our Lord in everything—is easier than lifting ourselves up and laboriously making ourselves present to more abstracted divine realities."5 Again, a caution. This letter was not written by Ignatius, but at his direction by Juan de Polanco. Further, before he says "finding God in everything," he says the scholastics must "practice seeking the presence of our Lord in all things." Finding that presence is not auto-matic— and, perhaps, not so easy as we might think! In the Constitutions of the Society of Jesus, we read that Jesuit novices "should often be exhorted to seek God our Lord in all things . . . loving him in all crea-tures and all creatures in him" [§288]. Again, we see emphasis on the element of search. So too, in the Contemplation to Attain Love in the Spiritual Exercises, we read: "Here it will be to ask for an intimate knowledge of the many blessings received, that filled with gratitude for all, I may in all things love and serve the Divine Majesty" [SpEx §233]. Ignatius wants the retreatants to love and serve God in all; he does not write that they are to find God in all things. I wonder if the rea-son might be that Ignatius wishes to safeguard the Divine Majesty, the ever-greater God. Might it be that he fears that we will believe that we can capture or contain or iden-tify the ever-greater God in any one thing or in all things? In addition to frequently encouraging that we seek or serve God in all things, Ignatius does say that we 71.1 2012 61 can and must "find the will of God." Thus the Spiritual Exercises are a way of preparing the soul to rid itself of attachments and "of seeking and finding the will of God in the disposition of our life for the salvation of our soul" [SpEx §1]. And Ignatius most frequently ends his letters praying for the grace to "know God's most holy will and per-fectly fulfill it." Or, "may God in his goodness give us his abundant grace to know his most holy will and entirely to fulfill it." Even as Ignatius urges us to seek and find the will of God, he emphasizes the method and the search. He never claims that seeking and finding the will of God is easily done. It demands prayer, reflection, seeking, mortification, time, and effort. Today's Background, Context, Horizon In an obvious oversimplification, we might say that in our age we find two extreme tendencies: 1) the skepti-cal, secular way of underbelief and 2) the less critical way of overbelief. These correspond to two rival "isms" in our globalized world, spoken of by Fr. Adolfo Nicolás, supe-rior general of the Society of Jesus, in a major address on higher education: 1) an aggressive secularism and 2) a resurgence of various fundamentalisms.6 We might look at the cautious and critical way of Ignatius in light of these two tendencies. 1. The skeptical and secular viewpoint. Many today, including Christians, experience the distance, absence, Seeking and finding the will of God demands prayer, reflection, seeking, mortification, time, and effort. Review for Religious Schineller • Finding or Seeking God in All Things 62 or otherness of God. Rather than finding God in all things, they do not find God anywhere in their experi-ence. Or God is edged out by many possibilities, alter-natives, and options, by many "things" that are not God. They live in a world come of age that no longer "needs" God and are skeptical of those who find, describe, and talk of God so easily. They are critical of claims or interpretations that seem to make God into one thing among many. This objectification of God, they find, entails a loss of God's otherness and transcendence. 2. The less critical fundamentalism or overbelief. At the other extreme are the many believers who see God at work in every event. God is close and at hand. Some Christians seem to think they have a lock on God, clearly grasping and knowing the divine intentions and will for the world and for humankind. Statements to that effect indicate a temptation to reduce God to our size, to capture and lay hold of God. In a general way, two of today's thinkers reflect these two tendencies. The first is the critic George Steiner. In My Unwritten Books, a sequel to his book Real Presences, which points us to various signs of the transcendent, Steiner writes that he feels strongly the absence of God—a powerful experience of emptiness. "Awesome is the God who is not. . . . I strive to be with His sovereign absence."7 Steiner finds himself groping for and seeking God more than believing in and finding God. He adds that to be great, literature need not believe in or affirm God, but at least must grapple with the question of God, the search and debate over the reality of God. From an explicit Christian perspective, we might also listen to James Gustafson. In an article entitled "The Denial of God as God,"8 Gustafson writes that "the history of our religion is the history of human 71.1 2012 63 attempts to manage and manipulate the awesome power of God, who is finally beyond our capacities to know fully, to capture in human thoughts and deeds. . . . It is the history of efforts to control the times and places of his presence." Gustafson asserts that we overlook this awesome reality of God: "how we want a God we can manage, a God who comes when we beckon him, a God who permits us to say that he is here, but not there; a God who meets our needs on our terms; a God who supports our moral causes and destroys the forces we think are evil; a household God and a kitchen God." Then, drawing from the thought of Martin Luther, he challenges us not to try to manipulate or reduce God, but to "let God be God." Ignatius's Balance Surely Ignatius is not guilty of this reduction or denial of God. He had a strong sense of the immen-sity and majesty of God (he loved stargazing), as well as the closeness of God (recall his meditation on the Incarnation and birth of Jesus Christ in the Spiritual Exercises [§101-117]). But can this be said of all his followers? Might some be at times guilty of oversimpli-fying, reducing, identifying God with their own prefer-ences and thus not "letting God be God"? To put this more boldly; if we think it easy and pos-sible to find God in all things, might we end up by not finding the true God—the transcendent God—in or above any things? Emphasizing the finding of God in all things could become misleading and wrongheaded because it misses or misinterprets the special presence of God in some particular times, places, events, and things. Might this approach be similar to the positive emphasis on the generous and widespread presence and Review for Religious Schineller • Finding or Seeking God in All Things 64 offering of God's grace to all persons. If that view, good in itself, is pushed to the extreme, if all is grace, then we no longer distinguish between grace and non-grace, between grace and nature. Or, if all ground is seen as holy ground, then we might overlook or undercut the special presence or intervention, the special rev-elation of God. If we hold that everything i s sacred and noth-ing is profane or secular, then we could also hold the reverse, that nothing is sacred. Ultimately, it seems important and necessary that we maintain the distinction (not separation) of sacred and secular, of grace and nature, of the God who is in all things and yet above all things. Ignatius also writes of one other thing that Jesuits should seek in all things—namely, greater abnegation and continual mortification! "The better to arrive at this degree of perfection which is so precious in the spiritual life, [the] chief and most earnest endeavor [of the Jesuit candidate and those in formation] should be to seek in our Lord his greater abnegation and continual mortifica-tion in all things possible; and our endeavor should be to help him in those things to the extent that our Lord gives us his grace, for his greater praise and glory" [General Examen of the Constitutions of the Society of Jesus, §103]. While the seeking of mortification does not pre- If we think it easy and possible to find God in all things, might we end up by not finding the true God— the transcendent God— in or above any things? 71.1 2012 65 clude the effort to seek, find, and serve God in all things, surely it derives from a very different, and more sober perspective. It offers a balance to an overly posi-tive, totally one-sided incarnational spirituality. Ignatius is reminding us that the God or Christ that we seek and serve in all things is the Christ of the cross (abnega-tion and mortification) as well as the Christ of glory who comes with power. Thus Ignatius can write regard-ing the qualifications of the rector of a college, that he should "be a man of great example, edification and mortification of all his evil inclinations" [Constitutions, §423]. The ideal superior is one who both practices mortification and seeks to find God in all things! Living with and Maintaining the Tension Deus Semper Major—God Ever Greater—is the title of the monumental work of Erich Pryzwara sj on Ignatius of Loyola.9 The God of Ignatius, the God we seek, find, love, and serve is ever greater, always more. God is in all, but also always above all. Ignatius had the ability to keep seemingly opposing tensions or ten-dencies in view—prayer and action, contemplation and action, the local and the universal, trust in God and trust in our talents and efforts, and obedience and free-dom. In these reflections we are pointing to 1) the ten-sion between the God in all things, and the God above all things and 2) the possible tension between seeking God in all things, and finding God in all things. It seems best and most creative to hold on to both elements of these two tensions and not eliminate one or the other. In one tension we hold that God is in and also above all things: incarnate, indwelling, working in the world, and yet, in keeping with the fourth part of the Contemplation to Attain the Love of God, above Review for Religious Schineller • Finding or Seeking God in All Things 66 and beyond, the source of all. In the second tension, we maintain both the seeking for and the finding of God. St. Augustine writes that we would not seek God unless we had already found (and been found by) God. So I am simply suggesting that rather than conflate the two, or eliminate one or the other, we place a bit more emphasis on the seeking and searching, and less on the finding, in accord with Deut. 4:29: "from there you will seek the Lord your God, and you will find him if you search after him with all your heart and soul." A Caution and a Challenge Does this mean we should not use the phrase "find-ing God in all things"? No. It is in common use and does reflect the way Ignatius was interpreted by his contem-poraries even if Ignatius was normally reticent in using it. At the same time, we should use the words carefully and with awe, recalling that God is always greater and beyond. We dare not think we have captured God. We can preserve and use "finding God in all things" if we emphasize the search, the process, the prayerful effort of trying to find God in places and events around us. Two final cautions: Meister Eckhart said that "Foolish people deem that they should look upon God as though he stood there and they here. It is not thus." God is ever greater, ever here, and ever beyond. We might recall, too, the words of Fr. John Courtney Murray when he saw a poster to be used at a demonstration. Expressing the spirit of the times and a commitment to faith and justice, the poster read: "God Is Other People!" Murray is reported to have said "They forgot the comma after the word 'other.' It should read: 'God is Other, People!' " Probably the strongest challenge now is to seek and find God in the cities, in the world of technology and 71.1 2012 67 computers. We should not seek to find God only in sun-sets and stars and in the least of the sisters and broth-ers, but also amid skyscrapers and elevators, amid steel and concrete buildings, amid asphalt streets, on subways and in airplanes—wherever God seems to be edged out, overlooked, or denied. If the challenge seems daunting, we might be consoled by the words St. Augustine attri-butes to God: "you would not search for me unless you had already found me." And, we might add, we would not search for God "unless God had already found us." Notes 1 Avery Dulles sj, "The Ignatian Charism and Contemporary Theology." America (26 April 1997): 16. 2 Monumenta Historica Societatis Iesu, Mon. Nadal, iv, 651. 3 Monumenta Historica Societatis Iesu, Vita Ignatii Loyolae, in Fontes Narrativi, iv, 742. 4 Ignatius of Loyola, Autobiography, §99. 5 Ignatius of Loyola: Letters and Instructions, (St. Louis: Institute of Jesuit Sources, 2006), p. 342. 6 Adolfo Nicolás sj, "Challenges to Jesuit Higher Education Today." Conversations on Jesuit Higher Education 40 (Fall 2011): 9. 7 George Steiner, My Unwritten Books, (New York: New Directions Books, 2008), p. 209. 8 James Gustafson, "The Denial of God as God." Criterion (Autumn 1977): 6-9. 9 Erich Przywara sj, Deus Semper Major: Theologie der Exercitien (Freiburg im Breisgau: Herder, 1940). Review for Religious 68 In Distressing Disguise for Agnes Gonxha Bejaxhiu he's a lonely old man dandruff dusts his faded black shirt some polyester blend shiny, holding odors of sweat and cigarettes and left-overs some of which remains on the front of his trousers the purple around his neck shabby, soiled, worn-out even burned a little in one place careless as he is with his smokes over my head his palsied hand trembles and to my ears come mumbled words of grace while my heart strains to see Him, to see His true face, here before me in distressing disguise. Sean Kinsella Winter Sunset At exactly five-fifteen p.m. the over-ripe sun paused a second on the town's rim, all the horizon's color sealed in its neon pulp. I could hardly stop gazing, sure it would burst and spill red-orange juice, winter's redemptive blood, across the Western sky. Patricia Schnapp rsm The Warmth, the Will, and the Way The dilemma is that I am not making very steady progress on my spiritual journey. This leads me to think that I need more consistency. Since I already live "a stable way of life" as a member of a religious order, my basic direc-tion is set. I see that this way of life is leading me where the deepest currents of my heart want me to go. But despite that general clar-ity of direction, I find myself dawdling along, sometimes going backwards, often wandering off to explore some curiosity, rarely totally focused on the path, much less on the goal, of this particular journey on which the Way is also the End. We often pray that the Holy Spirit will fill our hearts and "enkindle in them the fire" of 71.1 2012 sharing experi-ence 69 ben harrison Ben Harrison mc is a Missionaries of Charity Brother. He has worked in formation and has journeyed, in the U.S. and Europe, alongside homeless people, prisoners, addicts, and other people on the margins of society. His email is . Review for Religious Harrison • The Warmth, the Will, and the Way 70 his love. Once on a retreat I was complaining to the director that I didn't feel any sense of God's presence, and he assured me that I wouldn't be feeling the absence if there weren't a kind of presence; the longing itself was a sign of the Spirit's presence. If I could welcome that longing as a warming presence rather than endure it as a chilling absence, it would help to enkindle the fire of his love. When I speak of this warmth of heart I am not talk-ing about seeking emotional experiences in prayer but rather of finding that sense of inner presence that is so important in the prayer of Eastern Christianity. My mind and the actions it inspires range all over the place, but if I am attentive to that warmth in my heart, the inner pres-ence not only influences my thoughts and feelings but also anchors my actions and desires. This sense of warmth, then, helps me to be more consistent on my spiritual way. I frequently have very good insights, and for a long time I thought that they could keep me centered. I often thought, "Oh, what a brilliant idea! If I can only remember that every day, I will be set for life." And so I would make a note and stick it on the door, or I would write a prayer and say it every morning, until it became so routine that what I was saying didn't even register. Soon I would have another brilliant insight with life-changing potential. Such thoughts are like matches that provide real fire, but only for a few minutes. Then, unless the match is touched to a candle or to a heap of kindling, it is spent. I need something more reliable than insights. I need something more reliable than insights. 71.1 2012 71 Perhaps the secret is to do what would be done in a cottage in the woods: continually add fuel to the fire, a log at a time, to keep it burning. Then, late at night, bank the coals, rake them together in a little pile so that the heat will not dissipate. A few glowing embers will remain in the morning, upon which new kindling can be placed and fresh wood arranged so all is ready to warm the beginnings of the new day. That way the hearth never grows cold. I am discovering that this warmth of heart is a sign of the Spirit's presence with me, abiding in me, direct-ing me toward the goal. But there is something else that seems to be essential in order to deepen that presence and strengthen God's claim on me—what I would call will. The desire is there: the forward impulse, the yearn-ing for the heights, the longing to surrender my being to the One Who Is. What is the difference between this desire and will? To wish for something is to entertain a desire for it; to want it is to own that desire; to will it is to act on that desire, to put it into operation. Will has about it an element of determination. And it is not something I can drum up within myself. It has to be given. St. Paul says, "work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; for God is at work in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure" (Phil 2:12-13). Will and the Vows As I think about my vocation, I would say that my will is expressed, above all, by the vows. My vows are the way I demonstrate to myself, to God, and to oth-ers this desire to belong totally to him. The Latin verb for will is volo, velle, and the Latin verb voveo, vovere means vow or wish. Though etymologically the roots of volo and voveo do not seem to be related, there is, Review for Religious Harrison • The Warmth, the Will, and the Way 72 to my mind, a consonance of meaning. The vows of religious life are a way of making concrete the double-edged desire that is God's desire for me, expressed in a call—a word spoken silently in the heart—that awakens a reciprocating desire in me. His desire to give himself completely to me sets that very same flame alight in me so that I desire to give myself irrevocably to him. The gentle fire of the Spirit's warmth that God enkindles in my heart is drawing me, slowly but surely, toward the blazing glory at the heart of God, and my vows repre-sent the power of that attraction and my determination by God's grace to reach that goal. I see the vows of religious life as the embodiment and expression of the will to be united with God and to give myself to him totally in a particular context, in response to his gift of himself to us in Christ. This is so whether we are speaking of the monastic vows of obedi-ence, stability, and conversion of life or the evangelical counsels of poverty, chastity, and obedience (or, for that matter, similar sets of vows or promises: those of priest-hood or sacramental marriage, of virginity or service, of oblate-hood or lay association). From primitive times a vow was a solemn promise to make some gift or sacrifice to a divinity as an earnest of a good requested or in thanksgiving for a boon received. Although on a literal level this sounds like a type of bargaining or commerce, I can also see it as a way of demonstrating to myself and my God how important something is to me, how sincerely I desire it, how des-perately I need it, how serious my intentions are. The medieval king might have prayed, "Lord, defend us from the threat of these brutal enemies and I will build a church for your glory." Or a mother may pray, "Lord, if you spare my daughter from this dread disease, 71.1 2012 73 I will do everything I can to support research for its cure." Or a widow may say, as one I know did, "Lord, if I am spared from this condition leading to blindness, I will never use my eyes to take pleasure in what is not good and pure." Thus we see how a vow is an expression of a wish for some good for oneself or others. The Italian word for such a commitment is impegno, which can be translated as "pledge." Literally, some-thing given in pegno is pawned. By the vows I am putting the treasure of my earthly life in pledge for a higher good. I am putting my security, my posterity, and my liberty in pawn for something I need more urgently. What is it, in this case, that I need so urgently? I need the grace to live up to this persistent impulse to give myself—an impulse that God has placed in my heart. I know that the faith, hope, and love in me are too weak and faltering to do the job, to get me where I yearn to go. And so I pledge what I have to him and entrust my poor being to him, not to pay him for what he freely gives, but to show him (and myself) that I am serious about following him and that I trust him with this pre-cious but paltry gift of my life, trust that he will keep it safe and see it redeemed and restored in his own time. Pledging my life to him, I am confident that he will give me the grace I need to live each day. In the world of commerce, one pawns something of value for ready money—something that has value but is not spendable, for something that can be spent. The ready cash makes it possible to buy what is needed today. Another word for this ready cash is currency, also called fluid or liquid assets. All these words—"current," "fluid," "liquid"— suggest an action of flowing and remind us of the Spirit, that spring of living water that flows forth from the heart of Christ. Review for Religious Harrison • The Warmth, the Will, and the Way 74 Thus, when I make my profession of vows, I am proclaiming my faith in God and my desire to belong to him. The vows that I pronounce represent the totality of my gift of self. In the institute to which I belong, we profess the evangelical counsels—the vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience. These three vows are an apt symbol of the totality of my life. By dedicating to God all that I have, all that I love, and all my choices and decisions now and in the future, I am effectively giv-ing him all I am. This triad of the evangelical counsels reflects a totality of being, as do many similar triads. I have no trouble, for example, in seeing parallels between the vows and St. Ignatius's prayer surrender-ing "my memory, my understanding, my entire will." The traditional baptismal formula asks us to renounce "the world, the flesh, and the devil." Scripture tells us that we are to love God with our whole heart, soul, and mind (Mt 22:37). The magi brought the treasures of the nations—gold, frankincense, and myrrh. Micah tells us that our sole obligation is "to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God" (Mi 6:8). It is easy to see how the three evangelical counsels reflect the three theological gifts of faith, hope, and love. And finally, without putting too fine a point on the comparison, I suggest that the vow of poverty is descriptive of my relationship with the Father, without whom I am nothing and have nothing; chastity reflects my relationship with the Word, the Son, who is friend, Savior, and Bridegroom of souls; and obedience is the domain of the Spirit, who prompts the content of obe-dience and makes possible its practice. The act of making vows is thus a statement of my desire to surrender myself absolutely to the Absolute, to dedicate myself to his way and consecrate myself to his 71.1 2012 75 purpose. The mutuality of giving to which God invites me does not mean a mere absorption in each other. Though I would be content to lose myself in God, he seems to want more for me than that. God wants me to share his love for others and so, by my self-offering, he unites me to his own mission—his out-pouring, in-gathering action of universal love. Thus I am given to the particular apostolates and ministries of the institute in which I live my vocation. Sometimes vows are spoken of as sacred bonds. Bonds are something that we feel gripping us, holding or securing us. If bonds are involuntary we feel them as a constraint, an injustice. If they are desired, we feel them as a comfort, a belong-ing, an embrace. I suppose anyone who makes vows feels them sometimes as a restriction and some-times as a liberation. But part of the radi-cal nature of such a commitment is the protestation that one is willing to pay the price, that one values the liberation of giving oneself more than the security of having oneself. It is a recognition that dying to self is the road to life and that the cross shared is the victory won. Like the fox in Antoine de Saint-Exupéry's The Little Prince, I want nothing more than for the Little Prince to tame me, so that "the wheat, which is golden [like your hair], will remind me of you. And I'll love the sound of the wind in the wheat." The act of making vows is a statement of my desire to surrender myself absolutely to the Absolute. Review for Religious Harrison • The Warmth, the Will, and the Way 76 Consistency in the Way Returning, then, to my original point, I am saying that two things will help me to find a salutary consis-tency in my spiritual journey: the abiding warmth of the Spirit's presence in my heart, and the will—the determination—to yield to the relentless attraction of Jesus drawing me, and all, to himself. God's love for me in Christ arouses a reciprocating love in me. I give my poor self to him in pledge, not because I have to but because I want to, and he gives me, in return, the wherewithal to make the journey: the daily bread, the water from the rock, and the yearning for home—for the harbor—at the heart of God. Perhaps the greatest indication of his love that God has given me, from my point of view, is not his love itself for me (of which I can scarcely conceive) but my love for him, which is a sweet hunger, a soothing need. Nor is my love for him something that I can claim or that I often feel, but rather an occasional glimpse of light; a fitful melting of joy; a momentary, faint intima-tion of promised ecstasy. It is to the memory of those rare moments of tender quickening, of nostalgia for the unknown, that my will clings during the long periods of dryness, confusion, and loss. It is will that keeps me walking on the way when even the cherished memory fades and all I have left to fall back on is the Spirit's quiet presence in my heart. Indeed, it is all up to God. It is he who supports the journey from behind with his warm abiding. It is he who lures me from ahead through that hunger in my heart. And it is he who strengthens me on the way by the will to journey on. Each day's reminder of that will at work in me is the comforting burden of the vows, by which I experience within myself the debt of love, the 71.1 2012 77 yoke of gratitude, the claim of oneness by which I know that I am his. Being as I am, the fact that I do not manage to live my vows wholeheartedly is not surprising. But it is important that I feel the rub and the pinch and the chafe of them against my stubborn self. As my need and desire for God become stronger than all lesser needs and desires, so the bonds of my belonging to him will grow stronger than all my resistances. At the point that I can give myself without reserve, I will be free. And how do I dare to think that I will reach that point? St. Paul tells us that if God has gone so far as to give his Son for us, "will he not also give us all things with him?" (Rom 8:32). And Paul says further, "I am sure that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ" (Phil 1:6). I trust that God would not have put this desire in my heart, and that of my companions on the way, if he didn't intend to give us the grace to see it through. Home Walking the Labyrinth at Chartres Home. Is it where I begin or end or at the middle stillpoint? Am I at home on the way? Here I am, Lord. Never far from the beginning always approaching the end continually circling the center. Eugene Cartier Review for Religious Getting with the Program P robably one of the most important graces of my novitiate was coming to realize that I had an addiction. It was a painful and embarrassing experience, and yet I have no doubt that it was the best thing that has happened to me in a number of years. During my novitiate I started accessing pornogra-phy online. It was a development I was so ashamed of that I was afraid it would herald the end of my journey into religious life. Previously I had bought magazines and sought out sexually stimulating images in films or through image search engines on the Internet. My behavior began to take root at an early age in romantic fantasy. I would fantasize about being with a girl and wooing her in some exotic setting. Even though I was sexually inexperienced and naive and did not know what adults did together between the sheets, I would some-times escape into this fantasy when I went to bed. 78 A young man writes of his experience of coming to terms during the novitiate with his addiction to pornography. He has requested that the article be published anonym
