Globalisation beyond West and America

Courtesy: The Economist

Globalisation, etymologically, can be understood as the process by which something hitherto belonging to a particular place, community or culture expands itself to the world. Also, it is a result of such process. Though the word, thus, carries a neutral meaning and concept primarily without discriminating between places and cultures from different parts of the world, many people view that the process of globalisation is unilateral and its movement is from the West to the East. Hence, for them, globalisation is equal to westernisation. Likewise, many of them believe that America – the United States of America – is the centre of the West and consequently westernisation most of the times means Americanisation.

Yes, America is significant in the West and the West is transmitting its cultures and values across the world in the name of globalisation. Yet, it may be a narrow, thus incomplete, view that America only is the world leader; for other nations too are also proving their powers in different times. European nations including Britain and France assert their dominance in world politics frequently. Also, nations from the "non-west" like China, Japan and Russia also come to the front in different issues backed by their increasing economic strengths.  Globalisation today thus does not mean westernisation; and westernisation is also not limited to Americanisation. Globalisation today is also outside America and the West.  

War of Power

Critical Discourse Analysis of a Section from Rookmangud Katawal's Autobiography

Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) is an act of explaining and interpreting any kind of text – both written and oral – and similar discourses, in order to understand what meaning is created in the text, how and by whom. In a CDA activity, the researcher analyses how the text means what it means in the given social context. As context is a broader term that implies a variety of backgrounds; such analysis attempts to identify how power relationships affect the discourse. Teun A van Dijk, one of the most important theorists of the CDA, defines, "Critical discourse analysis (CDA) is a type of discourse analytical research that primarily studies the way social power abuse, dominance, and inequality are enacted, reproduced, and resisted by text and talk in the social and political context" (352). Van Dijk's definition hence apparently urges analysts to look into aspects of power relationships including social power abuse, dominance, and inequality.

            A couple of weeks back, former Chief of Nepal Army Rookmangud Katawal launched his autobiography titled after his name and written in Nepali language. Published by Nepa~laya, the book, penned by the General assisted by skilled journalist Kiran Bhandari, is a talk of the town in Nepali literary and intellectual circle today.

Critical Discourse Analysis: A Multidimensional Perspective

Defining at the simplest level, Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) is an act of explaining and interpreting any kind of text – both written and oral – and similar discourses that carry a certain message. It is a study of the ways in which language is used in various texts and contexts. In analysing discourses, the discipline pursues to incorporate various perspectives in order to get the richest meaning of the discourses possible. Further, the CDA adopts an in-depth study of play of power and role of socio-cultural, economic and cultural contexts in which texts and discourses are created. The discursive nature of language further necessitates the CDA to interplay among various facets of understanding. Hence, the Critical Discourse Analysis is not a single theoretical framework; rather a combination of a number of multidimensional approaches, for a good CDA necessarily involves as many approaches as feasible.       

Racist Media in Native Son

A scene from Pierre Chenal's 1950 film Native Son. Courtesy: http://filmcomment.com/

Native Son, a novel by Richard Wright, is often named as one of the greatest pieces of literature in showing experiences of the African-American people. There are many issues that the novel raises regarding racial segregation and torture. The novel exposes how black men and women had to live during the first half of the twentieth century, years after slavery ended. It portrays the treatment of black people by various quarters of social and political life. Among them is the press and, in particular newspapers. The newspapers' role is brought into the novel when pressmen significantly cover the death and murder of Miss Mary Dalton and the incidents following that, in the two chapters ‘Flight’ and ‘Fate’ of the novel. Like other institutions established and operated by white people newspapers too in the novel, are apparently racist; and they sensationalize more than inform the public about what is happening.

What if Stronger Women: Retelling The Winter's Tale

A scene from the Utah Shakespeare Festival's 2004 production of The Winter's Tale. (Copyright Utah Shakespeare Festival. Photo by Karl Hugh.) Courtesy: http://www.bard.org/

In The Winter's Tale by William Shakespeare, Queen Hermione is one of the most important characters. Her importance is not only limited to the context of this play in particular; rather Hermione is perhaps one among few strongest women characters Shakespeare has ever created for/ in his plays. Paulina of this very play can also be categorised as similar to Hermione. Yet, the overall development of the play is not presented from her perspective. Although being strong and heroic, the Queen's role is made subordinate, and the role of the King Leontes is highlighted. From a feminist perspective, the point of view which the Shakespearean drama is presented through thus can be called patriarchal, for it presents women in submissive roles who always accept decisions of their male counterparts. If the story is retold with the feminist lens, the plot of the play will go to a completely different direction in which women characters are decisive in themselves for their life.   

Decision Making Right of Women in Pericles

The eight-member cast of California Shakespeare Theater’s Pericles puts on a jousting pageant on stage at the Bruns Memorial Amphitheater in Orinda. Photo by Kevin Berne.  Courtesy: http://www.theaterdogs.net/

Pericles, Prince of Tyre, a romantic play by William Shakespeare revolves around various women characters from diverse family backgrounds. These women have significant roles in movement of the plot, for without them the play would be different. But, their role in decision making moments that actually determine the plot movement is different from character to character. While some characters are not allowed to speak during crucial decision making moments, some other even enjoy it to the extent that they are misused. In some cases, the decision making right awarded to women in the play is not much strong as women generally had in the sixteenth century Shakespearean English society.  But, some women are able to make their voices heard in decision making processes. In overall, the decision making right that women characters in the play can enjoy is not uniform, but different from case to case and person to person.

Dewey and Tagore: Together despite Differences

John Dewey (1859-1952) from the United States and Rabindranath Tagore (1861-1941) from then India can be positioned as two among some most important and influential philosophers of education in the twentieth century. The two scholars have written extensively about what purposes education should serve and how a good education should be. Dewey's Democracy and Education (1916) is a book that discusses in details his ideas and philosophies on education. Likewise, Tagore also has written extensively about educational systems and ideas, as rewritten in the chapter "Founding a New Education" in The Oxford India Tagore by Uma Das Gupta in 2009. These two scholars lived around the same time, but in two poles of the world. Thus, it is interesting to compare their ideas. What looks more interesting is that while Dewey and Tagore agree on some ideas like that education is not separate from life itself; they have many differences like what education should aim.

Augustine on Role of Signs in Learning

A Caravaggio painting of Saint Augustine.
Courtesy: The Guardian

In his dialogue with his son Adeodatus, recorded as 'On the Teacher' (389 AD), Saint Augustine has put forward his views on how one can learn, more specifically what agent can help one learn. In this context, he has also discussed roles of signs, words in particular, in the teaching-learning process. Though the father and son at first agree that a major function of signs is teaching, later they conclude that signs cannot help anyone to teach or learn. Thus, for Augustine, no sign in itself is capable of any help to facilitate understanding.

Aristotelian Definition of Phronesis: Clear and Convincing

Aristotle. Courtesy: www.britannica.com

AC MacIntyre, in his After Virtue: a Study in Moral Theory (1981), has interpreted the concept of "phronesis" developed by Aristotle. Defining Aristotelian concept of phronesis in his own words, MacIntyre says that phronesis is "a moral and intellectual virtue rooted in a natural human capacity to do the right thing in the right place at the right time in the right way" (qtd. in Carr 39). MacIntyre's interpretation of the concept of phronesis has differentiated it from "techne" on the basis of its moral and intellectual aspect. Techne and phronesis are two major branches of practical philosophy of education. Since MacIntyre's definition has clearly hinted the aspect which differentiates the two – presence or absence of moral value, it is well defined and holds the true meaning of phronesis. Thus, it is agreeable.

Censure against Certitude: Lyotard and Derrida

Postmodernism and poststructuralism can be taken as the theories that question modernism and structuralism respectively. Developed in the twentieth century, both of the theories try to undermine authority of what were considered central (establishment) before them. Postmodernism challenges modernism – search for purposes in whatever human beings do – and poststructuralism in the similar fashion poses an encounter against structuralism – the theory that believes words and languages do have meanings. Since it is language that human beings are able to experience anything through, questioning the power of language is also question against meanings of human activities too. In this regard, both 'post-' theories come together in questioning the presence and confidence of a central power or a central meaning. Such questions to certitude of the established authority can be seen very vocal in writings of Jean-François Lyotard, a pioneer of postmodernism and Jacques Derrida, who developed the theory of deconstruction, which is one of the inevitable ingredients of poststructuralism.

Constitution of Human Beings and Behaviours for Marx, Freud and Lacan

Karl Marx, Sigmund Freud and Jacques Lacan, all three are among few most important scholars of the modern era who delved into what constitutes beings and behaviours of human race. The essays "Preface (to a Contribution to the Critique of Political Economy)" by Marx, "A Note on the Unconscious in Psychoanalysis" by Freud and "The Mirror Stage as Formative of the Function of the I as Revealed in Psychoanalytic Experience" by Lacan also present their ideas on what actually forms human personalities and behaviours. Founding fathers of Marxism and two prominent schools of modern psychoanalysis respectively, the scholars have respectively attributed to economy, the unconscious and the Mirror Stage as formative elements of human consciousness, activities and life as a whole.     

BOOK REVIEW: Voices of the Century

Speeches That Changed the World is a collection of some important speeches made by significant players of the twentieth-century world politics (though few speakers don't belong to the political domain). Compiled and edited by an Australian history teacher Alan J Whiticker and published by Jaico Publishing House in India in 2010, the book has 43 speeches covering a span of 104 years (1901-2004). The book talks about diverse issues from war to peace, from socialism to the Holocaust, from nuclear weapons to pacifism, and from women rights to AIDS-related discrimination. Considering the geography, time span and themes it covers, the book is a credible document of major ups and downs in the world politics in the twentieth century.  

Why Ban on Smoking in Public?

By now, after much research is done to study effects of smoking in human health, perhaps

Courtesy: http://www.calvinshub.com/

there is no any debate on whether smoking is unhealthy. But the debate whether people should be allowed to smoke at public places is still a debate in national and international forums. In 2011 April, Nepal also introduced a law called Tobacco Product (Control and Regulation) Act that prohibits smoking in public areas. As expected, the law did not get accepted cleanly. Besides scattered public opinions against such a strict law, some industrialists also launched a campaign seeking cancellation of the law (The Himalayan Times "Anti-tobacco bid").  Arguments for and against allowing smoking in public seem valid on their own. But considering facts established by scientific researches about effects of smoking, national and international legal documents on the issue and sense of moral responsibility, public smoking should be legally banned in Nepal and other places of the world.