Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Strategies and Benefit

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Strategies and Benefit 1.0 Chapter 2 Literature Review A literature review of research was carried out to put light into the definition of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) as this differs from country to country and different authors have modelled different definition for CSR. This makes the study of CSR more complex. Also factors influencing the strategic issues of CSR are also reviewed. Electronic database is used such as emerald to select appropriate   articles. This   review of literature is worked out on published research on CSR, CSR strategies and benefits. The first focal point is on the definition of CSR, then the strategies of CSR in business was reviewed and the benefits associated with the strategic management of CSR. The main aim of this review is to sum up the studies in relation to the integration of CSR in its core business to gain advantage to the target group that receive the CSR and also to the business in the long run to place the business at a competitive advantage. Findings on environment have also been taken into consideration. 1.1 2.1 Theoretical Review 1.1.1 Models, Concepts, Frameworks In the book ‘Corporate Social Responsibility by Crowther D and Aras G, 2008, Milton Friedman (1970) stated that â€Å"there is one and only one social responsibility of business- to use its resources and engage in activities designed to increase its profits so long as it stays within the rules of the game, which is to say, engages in open and free competition without deception or fraud† So we can understand that according to Friedmans 1970 theory the sole responsibility of the business is to capitalise profit. According to Friedman (1970 cited in   Galbreath 2009, p.111   ), it is the firm responsibility to meet the economic needs and that only leads to the welfare of the society and it is the role of the government, service organizations, educational institution to meet the societal welfare. Galbreath, (2009) cited that after the publication of the thesis of Friedman, (1970)  Ã‚   there was much research on the social responsibilities of the firm. Galbreath, (2009) states that ‘In the late 1970s, Carroll (1979) offered one of the first and perhaps still the most widely accepted conceptualisations of CSR (Matten and Crane, 2005). In Galbreath (2009), Carrolls (1979) model conceptualises the responsibilities of the firm as: the economic responsibility to generate profits; the legal responsibility to comply by local, state, federal, and relevant international laws; the ethical responsibility to meet other social expectations, not written as law (e.g. avoiding harm or social injury, respecting moral rights of individuals, doing what is right, just, fair); and the discretionary responsibility to meet additional behaviours and activities that society finds desirable (e.g. philanthropic initiatives such as contributing   money to various kinds of social or cultural enterprises). The last concept applies to the Mauritian context where NGOs are engaged in the philanthropic activities. They are funded by firms making profit and 1% of the profit after tax is given to the NGOs to look at the vulnerable groups in Mauritius , the other 1% goes to the contribution of programs offered by government, (NEF, 2008). NEF,2008 cited that the economics needs of the firm are met to comply with CSR. The firm has to contribute 2% of its profit after tax in the CSR fund. If the firms make no profit then there is no contribution to CSR. This brings to the circular Mauritian model In Mauritius, the government uses the profit for the welfare of the society. 1.1.2 Activities not meeting the criteria of CSR in Mauritius The following activities do not fall under the definition of CSR IN Mauritius, NEF (2008): Contribution for religious activities Contribution to activities discriminating on the basis of race, place of origin, political opinion, colour or creed. Contribution to Trade Unions Sponsorship for marketing purposes Contribution for political parties Shareholders and Senior Staff benefits (schemes benefiting staff and/ or their family members and shareholders holding more than 5% of shareholding) Staff welfare cost (including e.g. current and future staff training costs), Activities which are against public safety and national interest. In Galbreath (2009), Friedmans (1970) social responsibilities, stakeholder theory and corporate social responsibility, Carroll (1979) are normative: they give a description of what the dos and donts of the firm in terms of their societal responsibilities (Rodriguez et al., 2002) Katamba D and Gisch-Boie (2008) made a study with regards to CSR in Uganda a developing country. They stated that CSR is a new concept in Uganda and the study was carried out to know the perceptions of CSR, approaches and needs of companies in the matter of CSR.   The CSR defined by company managers in Uganda as stated by Katamba D and Gisch-Boie (2008)   are â€Å"when companies consider the interests of society by taking responsibility for the impact of their activities on customers, suppliers, employees, shareholders, communities and other stkaholders as well as the environment.† â€Å"how companies manage their business processes to produce on overall positive impact on society.† â€Å"considering all stakeholders while making business decisions that manage stakeholders relationships â€Å"giving back to society and cementing the bond of the company to society through demonstrating the caring heart of the company† Katamba D and Gisch-Boie (2008) made the observations that large companies in Uganda do not have a CSR strategy and they cannot satisfy all the requests of communities and NGOs. The Government of Mauritius has catered for the approved programmes relating to socio economic development, Health, leisure and sport, environment, education and training and catastrophe, (NEF, 2008). The NEF has an important role to play to drive firms to CSR strategies. The Government of Mauritius stated in NEF (2008)   has set up a guiding principle with the general purpose of   directing registered companies to give 2% of their book profit to programmes contributing to the social and environmental development of the country. NEF (2008) stated the objectives of the fund   to: Support firms to administer their own agenda, resulting in the triple reporting aspect, that is, the economic, social and environmental development. Ease the involvement of the companies to sustain existing Approved National Programmes applied by Companies, national agencies or NGOs support a serviceable society to NGOs working with the approved national development program 1.2 Empirical Review 1.2.1 Applied Studies and Findings Research gaps In Sidsel Grimstad (2011) pp. 73-74, Shrivastava and Hart (1994) suggested green politics will be among the powerful forces of economic, social, and political change,   businesses and managerial theory have to change them drastically to hold environmental distress. In the same paper In Sidsel Grimstad (2011) pp. 73-74, stated that after more than ten years, Kallio and Nordberg (2006)   there are still questions that have not been answered regarding firms and their link with the natural environment. These questions are : â€Å" what is the organisations relationship with the natural environment? Why does integration of concerns for the natural environment happen within organisations? Where does it happen? Who does it happen to? How does it happen? What are the consequences of an integration of the organisation and the natural environment? â€Å" (Sidsel Grimstad 2011 stated by Kallio and Nordberg   (2006 )) They also found that while considerable empirical research had been done, there were few development of theory conbining organizational and management theories with natural environment. Sidsel Grimstad (2011) stated that few research has been carried out to assess how prolonged actions affects firms or clusters competitiveness and the way natural environment is bonded to the involved firms of organisations (businesses, government, non-profit, or others)   day to day activities (Gladwin et al., 1995; Kallio and Nordberg, 2006). Little has been done to judge against framework, local formal and informal institutions while looking at business-driven environmental action (Gjà ¸lberg, 2009; Halme et al., 2009; Hart, 1995 cited in Sidsel Grimstad (2011) ) Sidsel Grimstad (2011) found from the above literature review comes up many knowledge gap. He states that more study   examining how firms operates and implements environmental action, the insight of environmental action, the reason they are doing it, what they see as main factors for the environment and business to mutually develop and benefit each other, the way they carry out environmental action, the way they organize and the short and long term consequences for the environment and society.   Sidsel Grimstad (2011),More concept is required the forming of   the relationships between the natural environment business organizations and competitive advantage. Sidsel Grimstad (2011) cited that â€Å" More comparative research is required analysing how businesses deal with environmental issues within different contexts and different national institutional frameworks.† Sidsel Grimstad (2011)   cited that â€Å"When faced with serious environmental issues, it would be expected that the way/mode and means a business, a business cluster or society will respond to the environmental challenge will differ according to the countrys formal and informal institutions.† Sidsel Grimstad (2011) stated that these matters would be more outstanding in areas where the natural environment and landscape encompasses basis for tourism as an additional strategy for earning income for businesses based on agriculture. Sidsel Grimstad (2011) also found that â€Å".. it would be expected that agriculture based tourism businesses would have a vested interest in going beyond compliance with the environmental regulatory systems. In addition such clusters would also perceive the natural landscape as a prerequisite for value-adding for their tourism businesses in the future and are therefore worth taking care of.† Sidsel Grimstad (2011) found that the two countries chosen, Norway and Australia have clearly different situations and organizational frameworks when dealing with environmental management in rural areas. He chose two business-driven green initiatives have been identified and there are still on-going research. Sidsel Grimstad (2011)   cited that re â€Å"They are self-defined or self-organised clusters, in as such they do not follow administrative or geographical borders, but rather are based on a common business focus agriculture-based tourism in a geographical area where the borders have been defined by the business community itself through formal organisations such as local chambers of commerce.† He also stated that they hold the definition of clusters given by Porter (1998), that describes these geographic clusters of interrelated firms and institutions in a specific field. Sidsel Grimstad (2011) also stated that the clusters include both suppliers of provider of inputs, services, and education( universities, training), and later stage of businesses centered on customers that both compete and work together. In Australia the associating organisation is a Chamber of Commerce in a wine tourism region, and in Norway is a farming of apple and tourism region, a shareholding firm has been set up with the objective of promoting continuing improvement in the area, (Sidsel Grimstad 2011). In Norway, the area in agriculture has received much subsidy to cater for both self-sufficiency in essential foods and secondly in sustaining the rural population. the subsidies in agriculture have been drastically reduced in the last decade, but they have been turned towards subsidies for farm-based ecological protection and preservation. These have led to new ventures in tourism sector for a new value-adding strategy. The above extract is from (Sidsel Grimstad 2011). Sidsel Grimstad 2011 also found in his study that traditional farming has been drifted towards   a mix of farming and agri-tourism, preceded by the principles of geo-tourism. In Sidsel Grimstad ( 2011) the definition of   Geo-tourism is given by â€Å" tourism that sustains or enhances the geographical character of a place its environment, culture, aesthetics, heritage, and the well-being of its residents (National Geographic Society, 2009).† Sidsel Grimstad ( 2011) stated that small agricultutal sector tourism clusters have been founded by the concepts of   geo-tourism that they call landscape parks that are natural and cultural regions described by the natural landscape and by the identification of local population.   The development of home agro and tourism have to undertaken in an sensitive way Taking care of the environment that must be attractive to both local people and the tourist (Sidsel Grimstad, 2011). From the above extract this leads to the creating of strategies to look after the issues of sustaining and preserving environment. Mauritius being a tourism industry can give importance to the environmental programs for maintaining and preserving it keeping in mind the problems that are the world is facing towards natural ecological change. 1.3 2.3 Case Studies Added on17/04/11 Volker Turk (2003) has worked in a paper e-business and CSR- the business case for the new economy. The paper looked at the major significance   for corporations working in the ICT and e-business sector concerning environmental and social issues. Volker Tà ¼rk (2003) developed an essential finding from the research that is e-business is not entirely virtual but it is related to the use of natural resources. Volker Tà ¼rk (2003), identified key factors influencing the ecological consequences of environmental ICTs and e-application. He identified them as â€Å"Monitoring the environmental impacts of ICT and e-business, greening the hardware, shifting to e-services, enabling transport efficiencies, raising awareness and changing habits, recognize and extent the (digital) responsibility, acknowledge the technologies limitations and risks, Improve sustainability and accountability along supply-chains. social responsibilities are different from social issues but closely linked (Galbreath 2009).   The society have expectations on the firm and these are social responsibilities. These responsibilities are related to factors. These are social issues. These factors can have an effect on the ability of the firm to meet objectives , and can also affect the social responsibilities. This view has been supported in the work of Galbreath (2009). ELABORATE HERE Galbreath (2009) states that ‘In this sense, these definitions help to describe what the â€Å"firm side† of the social contract (Donaldson and Dunfee, 1994, 1999) between business and society consists of. On one hand, the â€Å"formal† social contract defines a firms explicit responsibilities, including generating returns for shareholders, obeying laws and regulations, creating jobs, paying taxes, and honouring private contracts. On the other hand, the â€Å"semiformal† social contract reflects societys implicit expectations. Here, societys unspoken expectations of firms include responsibilities such as adherence to global labour and environmental standards (e.g. SA 8000, AA 1000, ISO 14031) that are not required by law, triple bottom-line reporting, following industry norms and codes of conduct, fulfilling brand promises and contributing philanthropically to the community. Scholars have looked at the social issues concept, mainly through the life-cycle approach (cited in Galbreath (2009), Lamertz et al., 2003). Although several definitions exist, a widely accepted definition in the life-cycle tradition describes social issues as: ‘Social problems that may exist objectively but become â€Å"issues† requiring managerial attention when they are defined as being problematic to society or an institution within society by a group of actors or stakeholders capable of influencing either governmental action or company policy (Mahon and Waddock, 1992, p. 20; emphasis added). Galbreath (2009) expressed this view. The definition implies that social problems exist at the societal level (but not necessarily at the organizational level)   and these problems are   elevated to the â€Å"status† of a social issue by the actions of various actors, including stakeholders. However, such a definition does not address how these social problems and issues might be an opportunity for the firm and thus, is problematic with respect to the concept of strategy. Galbreath (2001) cited that ‘some firms signal that CSR is a fundamental purpose mission of their existence. As part of its mission, The Body Shop makes cosmetics that do not hurt animals. Here, The Body Shop has addressed a social issue animal cruelty through the very core of their business: developing the highest quality, innovative, effective and safe cosmetic products. A bank with a heart The Mauritian bank, Mauritius Commercial Bank (MCB) is involved in ‘Corporate Social Responsibility to serve the communities by not only by financing of projects but also to build and sustain schemes for social, environmental and economic welfare of the community. The MCB Group contributes 2% of its bok profits annually to the MCP Forward Foundation . This extract is from MCB Ltd,2010. Another example of Corporate Social Responsibility in a   Mauritian company is the IBL Children (Schumpeter, 1934; Nelson and Winter, 1982; Jacobson, 1992) economic growth can be attained through innovation.   (Schumpeter, 1934; Jacobson, 1992; Hill and Deeds, 1996; Chan Kim and Mauborgne, 2004)   presented the views below. Innovation can be an opportunity to meet social needs and deal with social issues instead of considering them as a threat. The knowledge acquired from the target markets, target customer needs and the unmet social needs and/or social issues directly from the market, can be used to explore the opportunity to reach new markets and gain competitive advantage. This can be done by introducing new customer offerings, developing new processes or creating new market segments. Gabreath , 2009 cited that Corporate managers admit that CSR is a vital reflection for motivating achievement. But they acknowledge to be under pressure to anticipate about the uncertainty of unmet social needs or social matters that will affect their business or how to develop strategies to cater for these problems (Galbreath, 2009) . Galbreath, 2009 said in his findings that much has been on paper to recommend that CSR is important for competitive success, but efforts have been prevalent on conceptual and theoretical advancements and empirical tests between CSR and firm accomplishment. Galbreath, 2009 came to the conclusion that this causes a breach regarding CSR and strategy. Galbreath, 2009 cited ‘If an assumption is made that CSR is important to competitiveness, and if strategy serves as a foundation for a business firms creation, while establishing its position in the market, its competitiveness and its on-going existence, then placing CSR within the context of strategy seems vital. Galbreath, 2009 first implication was that CSR should not be regarded only in terms of   the duties organizations have toward society or to whom they are accountable. Galbreath, 2009 cited that ‘Normatively postulating, for example, that firms have an economic responsibility to generate profits or a legal responsibility to obey appropriate laws or that firms have a responsibility to meet the needs of various stakeholder groups (and who those groups are) does not describe how they can do so in a strategic manner. Galbreath, 2009 suggested that to know CSR strategically, unmet social desires and social matters   and also the firms responsibilities toward society, these have to be considered individually. This is essential to tackle CSR more accurately within the underlying elements of strategy (Galbreath,2009). Galbreath, 2009 implies and questions ‘to what degree does CSR have to be built into strategy before it can be considered â€Å"strategic†? ‘ During its existence, the firm has to frequently face with   different opportunities and threats and decisions are made to deal with them (Galbreath, 2009). According to Galbreath, 2009 there are six-dimensions of strategy firm mission; strategic issues; markets; customer needs; resources; and competitive advantage. Galbreath, 2009 says that at any stage one facet of strategy of the six-dimensions might be more vital than others. In Galbreath, 2009 for some scholars ‘strategic CSR deals with contributing slack resources (profit spending) to the needs of society and community that are related to objectives and strategy of the organisation such as philanthropy, sponsorships and cause-related marketing (Mullen, 1997; Lantos, 2002; Porter and Kramer, 2002). Galbreath, 2009 observed that strategically, this is a limited view and is mainly related to the discretionary (philanthropic) component of Carrolls (1979) theory of CSR. Galbreath, 2009 demonstrated in his paper that CSR is not an organizational occurrence strategically limited to a restricted aspect within the organization. He states that while taking corporate responsibilities, unmet social desires and social matters into account, synergies develop that are essential for several dimensions of strategy.   In Galbreath, 2009 he stated an example;    ‘while the economic responsibility to produce profits constitutes part of the firms formal social contract, by exploring unmet social needs and social issues through strategy dimensions such as markets served, customer needs and resources required to compete, a firm not only can address social opportunities that generate profits (thereby meeting its economic responsibility to shareholders), but can offer societal benefits as well (Burke and Logsdon, 1996; Husted and Salazar, 2006). Galbreath (2009) found from his study that CSR cannot only be philanthropic or an obligation towards ethics, that is code of conduct; CSR can be carried out within six elements of corporate strategy,   adding up to good organisation practice,   profitable to the economy and to the wellbeing of society (Galbreath 2009). Galbreath 2009,   concluded that firms contribute economically to the society and profits making is a social responsibility (Carroll, 1979; Henderson, 2005). But in the present ambience, social matters are cropping up on firms to the extent that CSR seems to be the new battlefield for competitive achievement (Porter and Kramer, 2006 cited in Galbreath 2009). According to the guidelines, NEF, 2008 it can be extracted that the Government of Mauritius is mainly dealing with vulnerable groups as philanthropic activities to eradicate poverty rather than using CSR as an competive edge for the business. But for business perspectives in Mauritius, firms can deal with the CSR activities dealt as per the government program but at the same time build a strong long term competitive advantage by building good reputation for the company and at the same time deal with societal issues. Galbreath, 2009 concluded that if the statement is true then firms do not have to meet the interest of shareholders but also of society at large. Galbreath (2009) sated that â€Å" strategy takes on significant meaning not only with respect to fulfilling social responsibilities and the development of firms, but also with respect to the development and sustainability of society/nations (Raimond, 1996; Rodriguez et al., 2002).† Galbreath, (2009) made an interesting conclusion: companies who have a broader understanding of their social responsibilities and who starts to   investigate further on how they can build CSR into strategy at a more competitive edge in the future benefiting the shareholders and also the society at large. Galbrath (2009), to deal with CSR more strategically, the paper made an argument that organizations should consider six strategy dimensions: â€Å"firm mission†, â€Å" strategic issues†, â€Å"markets†, † customer needs†, â€Å" resources† and â€Å" competitive advantage.† Galbreath (2009) stated that strategy is about recognising matters that have an influence on a organisations capacity to attain its mission, so goods/services can be given to achieve markets needs providing through valuable resource construction to build and maintain competitive advantage. When CSR is thought about in these aspects it provides a way to methodically delve into means where social responsibilities can be constructed into strategy (Galbreath, 2009). If CSR is not done this way, companies  Ã‚   take the risk of defining CSR as â€Å"codes of ethics†, triple bottom line reports and public relations campaigns, (Galbreath 2009).Galbreath(2009) cited that â€Å"Such approaches are too limited, too defensive and are too disconnected from strategy. Nur Diana Hidayati, (2011) , showed in the case study that there is elevated dedication from the four companies she studied to catty out CSR programs and company moral values. The companies attempt to deal with the triple bottom line issues,(Nur Diana Hidayati,2011).   Nur Diana Hidayati, (2011, p104), found in the case study that ‘ two consumer goods companies (Unilever Indonesia and Sari Husada) and one manufacturing company (Astra International) conduct CSR programs that are both related and unrelated to their core businesses while a mining company (Aneka Tambang) tends to conduct CSR programs that are unrelated to its core business. The other finding from the case study is that both programs related to CSR and not related to CSR are   ways for the companies to go for ‘sustainable development, Nur Diana Hidayati, (2011, p104), This leads to carry out a study in the Mauritian context of the competitive advantage placed while incorporating Corporate Social Responsibility as a strategic management in the business. Anonymous, nd from the Emerald Group Publishing stated that it is difficult to manage Corportae Social Responsibility issue if the firm you are running a firm of huge size. Senior management are more conscious that the firm is presumed to put forward some kind of advantages to the wider world, (Anonymous, nd). ‘newspaper articles, academic papers, the activities of their peers and the public all tell them so. ‘ Many executives of firms are anxious that their firm is not looked as making contributions morally to the society and   to the environment as their day to day activities then they can lose their reputation and customers, (anonymous, 2008). Lance Moir ‘the basic idea of corporate social responsibility is that business and society are interwoven rather than distinct entities. Business depends on society to run and it is using natural resources may be at the detriment of the environment. Though it is contributing to the economic development of the country or society, it has other duties to fulfil to contribute part of what it has gained during the business process   by providing Corporate Social Responsibility. Holmes (1976), in a study of executive attitudes to social responsibility, finds that the strongest response was that in addition to making a profit, business should help to solve social problems whether or not business helps to create those problems even if there is probably no short-run or long-run profit potential. This applies to the Mauritian context where the contribution is enforced by 2% contribution after profit although it is given as tax. But how far the business person is agreeable to this is to be studied through the research questionnaire. Proponents of CSR claim that it is in the enlightened self-interest of business to undertake various forms of CSR. The forms of business benefit that might accrue would include enhanced reputation and greater employee loyalty and retention. We can identify this approach in some of the current approaches by business. So, the introductory section of the recent report by the World Business Council for Sustainable Development on Corporate Social Responsibility (WBCSD, 1999) used phrases such as business benefits, could destroy shareholder value, control risks, identify market opportunities, improving reputation and maintaining public support. CSR Europes approach is that business benefits from being more socially responsible and that this can help to build sales, the workforce and trust in the company as a whole. The objective is to build sustainable growth for business in a responsible manner. Frederick (1994) identifies the development in the understanding of CSR up to 1970 as an examination of corporations obligation to work for social betterment and refers to this as CSR1. However, around 1970 he notes a move to corporate social responsiveness, which he calls CSR2. Frederick (1994), identifies corporate social responsiveness as the capacity of a corporation to respond to social pressures. (Moir L. 2001) In effect the move from CSR1 to CSR2 reflects a move from a philosophical approach to one that focuses on managerial action.    Lately, Frederick (1986) has developed this analysis to include a more ethical base to managerial decision taking in the form of corporate social rectitude and terms this CSR3. In this development, Frederick claims that the study of business and society needs an ethical anchor to permit a systematic critique of businesss impact upon human consciousness, human community and human continuity. Frederick (1986), asserts that whilst CSR1 was normative, it was hesitant and that CSR2 led to non-normative enquiry. Thus the requirement for a moral basis provides a normative foundation for managers to take decisions in the area of CSR. As part of a normative manifesto, he proposes that the The World Business Council for Sustainable Development (1999) defines CSR as: â€Å"the ethical behavior of a company towards society . . . management acting responsibly in its relationships with other stakeholders who have a legitimate interest in the business, and CSR is the continuing commitment by business to behave ethically and contribute to economic development while improving the quality of life of the workforce and their families as well as of the local community and society at large.† Examples cited in Moir L, 2002 are from individual companies in the area of CSR reinforcing stakeholder analysis: Johnson Johnson: â€Å"the companys responsibilities to be fair and honest, trustworthy and respectful, in dealing with all our constituents (Johnson Johnson, 2000). Volkswagen (2000): â€Å"adopt a position which builds both shareholder value and workholder value in order to deliver sustainable growth for the future. Shell: â€Å"We all need to assess the impact our business makes on society and ensure that we balance the economic, environmental and social aspects of everything we do† (Moody-Stuart, 1999).   Apart from the triple bottom line, I think business should feel responsible and contribute to the social growth and go beyond the expectation of society   and integrate CSR in the way business is

How Romanticism and Photography Shaped Western Modernitymodern

â€Å"Western modernity was shaped by cross-currents between Europe and North America in the 19th century and in the beginning of the 20th century. † Neoclassicism was a movement which focused on the rediscovery of Ancient Greek and Roman values and style (and called Greek revival in the United States[1]). It was a defining trait of the Enlightenment age and of its reasoning-based political and artistic thinking and saw its apogee during the Napoleonic era.Starting in the 19th century, this movement was opposed by the Romantics, who ended the strict rules of neoclassicism and made the expression of their emotions and feelings the basis for their art, may it be poetry, literature, painting or music. The English romantic poet William Wordsworth called romantic poetry â€Å"the spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings recollected in tranquility†[2]. Compared to the neoclassicists, romantics such as Edgar Allan Poe or Victor Hugo were â€Å"modern†.They anticipated mentality changes in the Western world. Parts of western modernity were shaped by interactions and cross currents between Europe and the United States during the 19th and 20th century. These centuries were characterised by a break from the established rules and the artistic past and were times of new technologies as well as increasing interaction between the two sides of the Northern Atlantic. Such Euro-American relations, may they be artistic, cultural and even political have never died out.To understand our Western modernity, this paper shall examine two different aspects of these artistic cross-currents. Firstly, the romantic current played an important role in all the arts, ranging from poetry to architecture. Finally, the appearance of the documentary art of photography has in many aspects shaped modernity and even later led to the invention of motion picture and cinema[3]. Firstly, the Romantic Movement that swarmed across Europe and North America starting in the 19th century helped to shape western modernity.The Romantics broke away from the neoclassicism and the Enlightenment era and, as Samuel Taylor Coleridge puts it, Romanticism is the expression of â€Å"intellectual intuition†, and combines reason and emotion to find Truth and Beauty. The movement focused on individualism and even egocentrism, the importance of the â€Å"self†; the concept of â€Å"author-as-hero† was particularly popular. Romantics also elevated human and divine imagination and inspiration, revered nature and ts mysteries and authors often opposed an ideal view of reality to the sense of loss and melancholy, as Baudelaire does in the section â€Å"Spleen and Ideal† of â€Å"Les Fleurs du Mal†, his poetry volume. In short, they believed in beauty for beauty's sake and art for art's sake. This was modernity. Edgar Allan Poe and Charles Baudelaire are the epitome of the relations and cross-currents between North America and Europe shaped modernity, as Charles Baudelaire often translated Poe' work from English and made it accessible to French readers.Edgar Allan Poe was a famous American romanticism writer who lived in the first half of the 19th century. He surely deserved William Butler Yeats’s praise for being â€Å"always and for all lands a great lyric poet† as he was one of the earliest short story writers and often considered as the inventor of modern crime fiction and the modern character of the detective, a self-referential character. Poe clearly revolutionized and therefore modernized literature and western modernity greatly inherits from his work. He had a well-know taste for writing ghoulish and mysterious stories.In â€Å"The Man of the Crowd†, a short story he wrote in 1840 for example, an unknown narrator follows a mysterious old man throughout the crowds and bazaars of London. This story emphasizes how the â€Å"wanderer† or â€Å"stroller† can walk through the crowded city whi le still maintaining an outside view: he does not buy anything and does not even notice the narrator. The story opposes the individual to the rest of the people, seen as one group: â€Å"the crowd†. Charles Baudelaire translated this story to French in â€Å"L'homme des foules†. For Baudelaire, the flaneur becomes important to understand urban modernity as he â€Å"walks the city to experience it†.This image of an outsider is also mixed with the image of the dandy, and Baudelaire is known to be somewhere between the two, as his peculiar habits testified. Baudelaire defines modernity as the â€Å"ephemeral, the fugitive, the contingent, the half of art whose other half is the eternal and the immutable† in â€Å"The Painter of Modern Life†, which he writes about Constantin Guys without revealing his name. For Baudelaire, Guys is the painter of modern life because he is not only a flaneur, he is also able â€Å"to distil the eternal from the transito ry†.Guys, who wanted to remained unnamed in Baudelaire's review, was a an army man with no artistic education who started with drawings specialized in war but later also represented modern urban life in London and Paris such as popular celebrations or simply street scenes[4]. Constantin Guys never signed or exposed his paintings and was only recognized in his time by Baudelaire and a circle of friends of which the prominent photograph Nadar. He painted and drew from memory and Baudelaire writes in â€Å"The Painter of Modern Life† that â€Å"Monsieur G. ever ceases to drink the fantastic reality of life; his eyes and his memory are full of it. â€Å"[5] â€Å"Ou il faudrait ne voir que le Beau, notre public ne cherche que le Vrai†, writes Baudelaire in  «Le public moderne et la photographie ». Modernity for Poe, Baudelaire and the Romantics in general is finding and creating beauty for the sake of beauty. Baudelaire did not appreciate the first photographs that were made of him such as the one by Etienne Carjat shown below. In his critique of the Salon de 1859, he blames the new industry of photography for the decline of French spirit.In â€Å"Le public modern et la photographie†, Baudelaire writes that the ignorant modern crowds believe that what is identical to nature is art and that they wrongly believe that therefore photography is â€Å"l’art absolu†. â€Å"Les insenses! †. Even though photography was the refuge of bad painters and was first considered industry and not art at first, it is nowadays considered by many both an art and a way of documenting life and events as in all newspapers and magazines, especially the ones that focus on nature, journalism or even fashion photography. [pic][pic] Baudelaire by Carjat.Carosse, drawing by Guys One of the first kinds of photography, the daguerreotype process was named after its French inventor Frenchman, Louis Daguerre. In 1839, it was eulogized in the Fren ch academies of Sciences and of Fine Arts by Francois Arago because he found it useful for astronomy. Using such processes, the French photographer Nadar, friend of Guys and Baudelaire who lived and had his studio on the rue Saint-Lazare in Paris, had the opportunity to photograph many figures of the French arts and journalism scene such as Gustave Dore or Alexandre Dumas.Until the 1870s defined the modern photographic portrait: thanks to an astute use of lights, his portraits were more life-like than the ones by other photographers. He used no decor, a â€Å"neutral background† and â€Å"clothes that served simply to bring out the sitter's outline†[6]. The telegraph inventor Samuel Morse brought the daguerreotype to the United States after meeting Daguerre in Paris in 1839. Such cross-Atlantic contact was already common in the 19th century and even Poe spent time on both sides of the ocean.Because photographic techniques kept on improving and modernizing, picture look ed more and more lifelike and representative of reality. Photography was most notably used during the American Secession War from 1861 to 1865. Photography was not only used by upper-class citizens in daily bourgeois life but also as documentary photography. The great characters as well as horrible events of the civil war were for instance immortalized, partly for the sake of information and truth. As shown below, Gardner’s pictures of the war have integrated the American historical heritage.It was the avant-garde of modern mass media: in 1933, the first photograph was transferred on a newspaper, revolutionizing forever modern newspapers. [pic][pic] Alexander Gardner's photographs in Antietam, USA, September 1862 But modern photography was also well elevated to the statute of fine art in the life time of the internationally recognized photographer and gallery director Alfred Stieglitz (1864-1946): he is considered â€Å"a crusader for modernism†[7]. Stieglitz worked pa instakingly and succeeded in legitimizing the fine art of photography.He became of Expressionist leaning and started to replace naturalism in his art with exaggeration and the expression of â€Å"intense, subjective emotion†[8] as his piece shown below, Equivalent suggests. , once again proving his pioneering role in the perception of modernity. [pic][pic] The Terminal by Alfred Stieglitz (1892)Equivalent by Stieglitz (1926) Western modernity was shaped by the cross currents across the Atlantic in the 19th and 20th centuries, especially the Romantic Movement of which Poe and somehow his follower Baudelaire were part of.Poe and Baudelaire pioneered western modernity as they have for the self-reflecting character of the flaneur and by for example noticing Constantin Guys and his modern urban dweller drawings. Thanks to the invention and rise of photography during the end of the 19th century painting was liberated from the need to represent accurately and modern painting was tri ggered by a wave of creativity in the beginning of the 20th century. Photography also contributed to shaping western modernity, especially by documenting the Civil War that ravaged North America and by the creation of portraits of intellectuals in France.The invention of photography also eventually led to cinema, which became increasingly popular and accessible throughout the 20th century to become the seventh art and for some companies a very profitable industry. Photography is also one of the ways journalists make us see what is too far from us, such as modern day events like the Arab revolutions. In short, photography, starting with, among others, Daguerre, Nadar, Gardner and later Stieglitz became a full part of western modernity both in industry and fine art.

The Horrors of the Jewish Holocaust - 530 Words

Imagine the skin burning off of a human being, imagine an innocent child walking into a room thinking they are going to finally get to take a shower but die from gas, imagine being frozen almost to death, then being warmed up by a dead body, imagine being put into a burning hot bath repeatedly until you died from the shock, and imagine being torn from your family, home, and the people that you loved. Most all Jewish people in that time had to live through that. There were very few that were lucky enough to have escaped. They were even luckier if they were helped out of camps by other Jewish people and brought home to their families. Now just imagine if all of the Jewish people fought back. Opposing views claim that the Jewish people during the Holocaust should not have fought back; nevertheless, fighting back would have been very dangerous. Admittedly fighting back could have caused a lot more problems for the Jewish people. Because Hitler liked everything to go his way, he may have gotten really angry and killed every one of the Jews. Hitler could have taken all of their food away all at once and just let all of them die from starvation. Another reason the Jewish people wouldnt have fought back was that they did not want to draw attention to themselves if they were not already in a concentration camp. Although fighting back was very dangerous however just being in the camps was very dangerous. The Jewish people should have fought back for their rights, beliefs,Show MoreRelatedThe Horrors of the Jewish Holocaust690 Words   |  3 Pageson whether to be Jewish or Non-Jewish, to either be Jewish and fight back or to go with the flow, and to be Non-Jewish and fight back or go with the flow? Being non-jewish and going with the flow would be the smart choice, if survival is the goal. In that time period being Jewish was awful. Being Jewish basically meant you were an outcast. During the Holocaust it would have been better to not be Jewish and to stay out of the way, or go with the flow. Even though being Non-Jewish and not fightingRead MoreGod and Evil: Can They Co-exist? Essay854 Words   |  4 PagesDuring the Holocaust, the Nazi’s murdered an estimated 6 million Jews, which was about two thirds of the entire European Jewish population. To put this in perspective, the amount of Jews that were murdered during the Holocaust is about the same size as the population of Denmark. The Holocaust is a part of Jewish history that can never be forgotten, and the Jews who fell subject to this inhuman act will never be forgotten either. The Holocaust has changed Jewish culture forever, and has become theRead MoreThe Horror Of The Holocaust859 Words   |  4 PagesThe Holocaust was perhaps the darkest event in the twentieth century. This genocide resulted in the death of six million Jews -not counting the death of soldiers from World War II. 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The movie gives an inside look at the horrors the Jews were faced with during the Holocaust. ?Life Is Beautiful? should be incorporated into a unit on the Holocaust in schools because it shows everything the Jews were faced with, it handles expressing the horrors of the Holocaust without being too graphic, and it would help students get a more personalRead More Children of the Holocaust Essay983 Words   |  4 Pageshistorical precedent for it.† (Lukas, 13 Kindle) About 1.5 million children were murdered by the Nazis during the Holocaust—one million being killed because they were Jews (ushmm.org) The Germans had a clearly defined goal of killing the Jewish children so that there would be no remnants of their race to reproduce, resulting in extinction. Not only were the children that were victimized in the Holocaust persecuted and murdered, but they were a ll stripped of their childhood. Children were not allowed to beRead MoreComparing the Boy in the Striped Pyjamas and Life Is Beautiful910 Words   |  4 Pagesâ€Å"Analyse, evaluate and compare the techniques used to dim the horror of the real life events discussed in the novel The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas and the film Life is Beautiful.† The Holocaust was a distressing time in history and is not a story everyone can absorb. Both the book, The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas written by John Boyne and the film, Life is Beautiful, directed by Robert Benigni, are based upon the real life events of the Holocaust but with a difference. They made clever use of differentRead MoreShooting Stars by Carol Ann Duffy Critical Essay1635 Words   |  7 Pageswritten by Carol Ann Duffy. She adopts the persona of a female Jew speaking out from beyond the grave about her terrifying ordeal before she died in the Holocaust. A powerful impression is left on the reader after reading Duffy’s dramatic monologue and visual descriptions of her ordeal and immense suffering. She urges the reader to remember what the Jewish victims were forced to go through, and begs us not to turn our back and forget. ------------------------------------------------- -------------------------------------------------Read More Schindler’s List, directed by Steven Spielberg and The Pianist, Directed by Roman Polanski1003 Words   |  5 PagesPianist, Directed by Roman Polanski The holocaust is seen as a time of horror, filled with brutal, inhuman actions carried out by the Nazi party. Schindler’s List, directed by Steven Spielberg, is one of the most realistic movies to show the gruesome shock of the concentration camps and torture of Jews. Spielberg captured the true essences of what pain was during World War Two. In 2002, Roman Polanski came out with The Pianist, a movie that focuses on a Jewish man’s struggles outside the walls of a

Psychological Disorder Analysis - 1486 Words

Psychological Disorder Analysis PSY/270 July 18, 2010 Aubrey Noble Psychological Disorder Analysis Psychological disorders can be very debilitating for those who suffer from them. Psychological disorders affect a person’s ability to function normally in their daily lives. In the following case study, you will be introduces to Marla, a Hispanic female who is suffering from an undiagnosed mental disorder. There are many different possible causes that are leading to Marla’s symptoms. A clinical interview will be performed in order to determine a correct diagnosis. Marla appears to suffer from Dysthymic disorder. I will discuss the origin of dysthymic disorder based on the socio-cultural viewpoint. Now that we have†¦show more content†¦Do you have any recurring dreams that affect how you feel when you wake up in the mornings? Marla: I don’t think so. I just have problems with being able to sleep. I just can’t seem to get comfortable and my mind seems to race when I close my eyes. Tiffany: What about your social life? Do you have a lot of friends and stay closely connected to your family? Marla: I really don’t have any friends. I talk to people at work but I feel like they don’t want to do anything with me. As far as my family goes, we really don’t talk much. Tiffany: You said you feel jumpy all of the time. Can you explain to me how you feel jumpy? Is there anything that makes you feel more comfortable? Marla: I seem to get scared over the tiniest things and am always watching to see if someone is going to hurt me. I’m more comfortable when I’m alone but still can’t seem to find anything that makes me happy. Tiffany: Have you ever experienced suicidal thoughts or thought about hurting yourself or others? Marla: No, not really. I’m afraid of dying and I could not do harm to anyone. Tiffany: Marla, I think I know what is causing your symptoms but there is just one more question I’d like to ask you. Do you feel as if you are all alone and cannot do anything to change the way you feel? Marla: Yes, that’s exactly how I feel. I feel like no matter what I do nothing ever seems to change. It’s like a cycle that has no end. Now that we have had a chance to discuss mattersShow MoreRelatedPsychological Disorder Analysis1506 Words   |  7 PagesPsychological Disorder Analysis Psy 270 Melissa Guynn 1-22-2012 The purpose of this assignment was to accurately diagnose Marla and to find causes and prospective treatments for her disorder. Marla is a 42 year old Hispanic female who comes to the mental health clinic complaining of having trouble sleeping, feeling â€Å"jumpy all the time,† and experiencing an inability to concentrate. (Joan Rachmel, syllabus description of final assignment) These symptoms are causing problems for her atRead MorePsychological Disorder Analysis1805 Words   |  8 PagesPSYCHOLOGICAL DISORDER ANALYSIS Psychological Disorder Analysis Amy Verhagen Axia College of University of Phoenix The diagnosis given to Maria is Dysthymic Disorder. Maria has been having trouble sleeping at night, feeling ‘jumpy’, and not able to concentrate. I suspect this has been going on for a while and possibly co-occurs with other psychological symptoms. Further questioning Maria about her past and present symptom onset will help in confirming this diagnosis to help treat her appropriatelyRead MorePsychological Analysis : Mental Disorder Essay2257 Words   |  10 PagesPsychological Analysis Given the information provided through the summary of facts provided by the court reporter and comparing the facts and possible symptoms of Mr. Wertz to those stated within the most recent edition of the Diagnostic Statistic Manual (DSM), the conclusion that I have reached is that Mr. Wertz does indeed suffer from a diagnosable mental disorder. With the description of symptoms provided, it would appear that Mr. Wertz is suffering from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)Read MorePsychological Disorder Analysis Essay example1519 Words   |  7 PagesPsychological Disorder Analysis PSY/270 March 20, 2011 Psychological Disorder Analysis Marla is a 42-year-old Hispanic female who comes to the mental health clinic complaining of having trouble sleeping, feeling jumpy all of the time, and experiencing an inability to concentrate. These symptoms are causing problems for her at work, where she is an accountant (Axia College). 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Psychologists have tried many different approaches to aid in a various amount of disorders and have tried to figure out the causes of them. There are many different perspectives on how to deal with a problem and analyzing it. The Psychological Approach has many different perspectives to it. In the psychodynamic perspective theRead MoreCognitive Behavioral Therapy1111 Words   |  5 Pagesinterventions for adults with anxiety disorder appears to be individual forms of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy. The mean total societal costs were lower for Cognitive Behavioral Therapy as compared to Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (Apeldoorn et al, 2014). In particular, self-help books are cost effective compared with other forms of treatment options. 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