Mechanical Solidarity in Eating Christmas in the Kalahari

As of today, the suggestion that human societies can be categorized as primitive, on the one hand, and advanced, on the other, is considered politically incorrect. This, however, does not undermine the suggestion’s factual appropriateness, as the considerations of political correctness do not affect the actual state of affairs, in this respect. In my paper, I will explore the validity of the above statement at length, in regards to what appears to be the discursive significance of Richard Borshay Lee’s article Eating Christmas in the Kalahari.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Mechanical Solidarity in Eating Christmas in the Kalahari specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More When discussing the concerned subject matter, I will promote the idea that it is precisely the primitive people’s endowment with the sense of a mechanical solidarity (as defined by Emil Durkheim), which allows them to maintain the i ntegrity of their traditional societies, while simultaneously denying them the prospect of a socio-cultural and technological advancement. In his article, Lee expounds upon his experience of having bought an ox for the members of one of the Bushmen tribes in Africa, so that the animal could be slaughtered by them, during the course of these people participating in their traditional Christmas festivities. However, even though Lee made a deliberate point in choosing the biggest ox out of those available for purchasing, the Bushmen appeared utterly dismayed by the fact that in their eyes, the animal in question was too small and skinny. As one of the tribe members pointed out: â€Å"Everybody knows there’s no meat on that old ox. What did you expect us to eat off it, the horns?† (Lee 1). Initially, Lee did not know what to make out the tribesmen’s reaction, as there appeared to be no reason whatsoever for them to complain about his Christmas offer. Nevertheless, as time went on, it started to dawn upon Lee that the reason why the Bushmen were so critical about the slaughtered ox, is that it was their way of preventing him from growing too prideful, on the account of having succeeded in appeasing them in reality. Moreover, as it appeared later, downsizing each other’s hunting-related accomplishments represents a commonplace practice among the Bushmen, because it helps them to maintain the inner stability of their tribes. Apparently, the earlier mentioned practice is meant to discourage particularly successful tribesmen from aspiring to claim the position of a leadership, which would threaten the interests the tribe’s elders. As it was implied in the Introduction, Lee’s account can be best discussed within the conceptual framework of how Emil Durkheim used to reflect upon the notions of mechanical and organic solidarities. According Durkheim, in archaic (primitive) societies, people’s individual identities are being ‘dissolved’ within what happened to be this society’s ‘collective archetype’.Advertising Looking for essay on social sciences? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More This explains why in primitive societies, people tend to lead highly ritualized lifestyles while striving to objectualize themselves within the surrounding environment – hence, their endowment with the mostly tribal (mechanical) sense of solidarity (Durkheim 140). As it was shown in Lee’s article, while possessing the rudimentary understanding of the fact that certain preconditions should be created for tribesmen to refrain from challenging each other’s positioning, within the tribe, the Bushmen could not come up with any better (as the mean of encouraging the tribe members to live peacefully), than practicing the ‘ritual of humility’. This presupposes the tribesmen’s automatic assumption that oneà ¢â‚¬â„¢s strive to attain a social prominence is necessarily counterproductive, as it is being potentially capable of undermining the harmony of interrelationships within the tribe. Nevertheless, such an assumption, on the part of the Bushmen, is exactly what prevented them from being able to evolve beyond the Stone Age, as it is namely the never-ending competition between the society’s members for a particular environmental niche, which sets this society on the path of progress. Due to their intellectual primitiveness, it never occurred to the Bushmen that it is possible for people to be simultaneously competitive and moral/tolerant, as it happened to be the case with individuals in Western industrialized societies, the integrity of which is maintained by the citizens’ willingness to profess the virtue of an organic solidarity. People that practice an organic solidarity understand that it is not solely the particulars of their kinship-relationship with each other, whi ch cause them to act in one way or another, but rather the specifics of their professional affiliation and their varying ability to relate to a number of cognitively abstract notions, such as morality or ethics, for example. In its turn, this is being made possible by the fact that in industrialized societies, people are encouraged to distance themselves from what happened to be their animalistic instincts, as the main prerequisite for them to be able to rise to the position of social prominence. This, of course, makes these people naturally predisposed towards entering into ‘social contracts’ with each other, which empowers them even further, as functionally independent but thoroughly integrated parts of the society.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Mechanical Solidarity in Eating Christmas in the Kalahari specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Thus, we can well assume that the fact that the Bushmen profe ss the virtue of a mechanical solidarity signifies these people’s inability to rise above their genetically predetermined perceptual and cognitive atavism. The validity of this suggestion can be well illustrated in regards to the scene in Lee’s article, where the tribe member reflects upon what the Bushmen consider the actual purpose of their existence: â€Å"We love meat. And even more than that, we love fat. When we hunt, we always search for the fat ones, the ones dripping with layers of white fat†¦ fat that slides down your gullet, fills your stomach and gives you a roaring diarrhea† (2). In other words, it is specifically the sheer strength of the Bushmen’s animalistic instincts, which define their existential mode more than anything else does. This creates a specific dead-end circle – being unable to exercise a rational control over their atavistic urges, the Bushmen do not evolve cognitively, which in turn prevents the functioning of th eir societies to be observant of the principle of division of labor. Consequently, this leaves Bushmen with no other option but to practice a number of essentially meaningless rituals, as the mean of preventing their tribes from being destroyed from within. However, whereas, this practice does appear sensible, as a ‘thing in itself’, it makes it rather impossible for the Bushmen to remain on the path of a continual evolvement – hence, these people’s socio-cultural and technological backwardness. I believe that the earlier deployed line of argumentation, in regards to what should be considered the discursive implications of Lee’s article, is fully consistent with the paper’s initial thesis. Apparently, there is indeed a good rationale in referring to the particulars of one’s ‘cultural uniqueness’, as such cannot be discussed outside of what accounts for the measure of his or her evolutionary fitness. This, of course, expose s the methodological fallaciousness of culturally relativist sociological theories. Works Cited Durkheim, Emil. The Division of Labor in Society, London: Macmillan, 1984. Print. Lee, Richard Borshay 1969, Eating Christmas in the Kalahari. 2013. Web.Advertising Looking for essay on social sciences? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More This essay on Mechanical Solidarity in Eating Christmas in the Kalahari was written and submitted by user Estrella Buckner to help you with your own studies. You are free to use it for research and reference purposes in order to write your own paper; however, you must cite it accordingly. You can donate your paper here.

How To Write A Narrative Essay Outline, with Example

How To Write A Narrative Essay Outline, with Example How to Write a Narrative Essay Outline (Guide) How to start Thesis writing How to write main part How to conclude Outline example Writing a narrative essay is an important writing skill in which the author takes the audience in a non-fictional experience, he/she has encountered and wraps it in a story he/she narrates using the first person. The author needs to have a narrative essay outline to guide him/her through the work and avoid unnecessary details whilst ensuring all important aspects of the essay are captured. Narrative essay outline writing is a crucial step that helps the writer to organize his/her content to avoid confusion and ensure a logical flow of ideas and events throughout the essay. The outline for a narrative essay should contain all the key pillars of the essay encoded in clear, concise and comprehensive style. Narrative essay outlining helps the writer to organize and set a chronological flow of events in the essay coherently. Tips concerning introduction writing The introductory paragraph of a narrative essay should be creative to capture the attention of the audience. A compelling introduction is important to avoid losing the attention of the reader. The introduction hook should be concise and clear, pre-empting the chronological flow of the story. Since one of the primary reasons for writing a perfect essay is to prove a point, it is important to have a topic sentence that introduces the point from a conflicting angle. The introduction should be brief, clear and should hook the reader to proceed to uncover the whole story thus the last sentence of the introductory paragraph should lead the reader to the subsequent body paragraph. Tips on thesis writing The thesis statement for a narrative essay focuses on the lesson the writer gains from the experience he/she describes in the story. As such, the thesis statement should compel the reader to go through the entire essay to uncover how the author learned the lesson. The thesis statement should in itself contain the core message the author needs to put across. Therefore, the thesis statement should be concise, clear and carry the theme of the story. It should be derived from the lesson the author has learned in the previous experiences and should be structured in a way to introduce the essay. However, the thesis statement should not overshadow the point of telling the story. The thesis statement should contain a clear conflict based on the theme presented by the story at up front. Tips on Body Paragraphs The body paragraphs contain the entire story that led to the conclusion the author is defending. To write an effective narrative essay, a chronological flow of events is important to avoid losing the reader halfway through the essay. The length of each paragraph should be three to four sentences. The paragraphs should introduce the next by creating a smooth transition. For a narrative essay, a 5-paragraph essay is suitable to avoid wordiness that is likely to bore the reader. Each paragraph should lead to the other with a smooth transition that keeps the reader yearning for more. The paragraph should be set chronologically with each preceding paragraph introducing the next one throughout the essay. It is important for the author to stick to the necessary details of the story. Unnecessary details lengthen the story and overshadow the important facts that support the theme of the story. To avoid irrelevant details in the story, the author should adhere to the outline of the essay and only include the important points as they appear in the essay. Sticking to the outline helps the author to remain within the bounds of the story and ensures the clear and coherent flow of ideas whilst focusing on the topic and theme of the essay throughout the body paragraphs. Tips on Conclusion Writing The conclusion requires the author to wrap the story in a reconciliatory note that matches the theme of the essay. The author should finalize with invoking the theme of the story and showing how the story led to the lesson asserted earlier in the introduction of the story. Invoking the thesis statement can be an effective way to wrap the story in a reconciliatory note. The author should end the story in a climax resolving note and tone to bring together the story with the theme it was describing. An Example of the Outline on â€Å"My Career Plan† Here below is a 5-paragraph narrative essay outline example of a career plan to demonstrate the afore-described writing technique. In the following example of a narrative essay outline, the key elements of the effective narrative essay are described in detail, highlighting the most important tactics of effective writing. The examples are based on the topic ‘My Career Plan.’ Introduction Good approach:   Having a defined career plan in life is important, but learning the importance of a career plan was not a smooth experience. A bad example would be: It is important to have a career plan, though it is not always a smooth experience. The second example lacks the personal attribution to the story and therefore distances the author from the story he/she has to narrate in the first person. Body Paragraphs Paragraph 1: A topic sentence to a body paragraph would set the story in a career related environment. For example: After my graduation, I landed my first job as an intern with a Fortune 500 IT company. Few more details accompany the description to set the setting for the story. A bad approach would be: I started to work as an intern. The issue with the second paragraph is that it fails to hook the audience to the story by avoiding necessary details attributed to the topic. Other sentences which follow the lead sentence would be: Since it was my first job, my career knowledge was largely theoretical than practical and often I found myself unable to make informed decisions about my career. Such sentence is tied to the leading and would introduce the reader to subsequent events of the story based on the hint about bad decisions or experiences encountered. Paragraph 2: In the second paragraph of background information, a new sentence could be framed like this: Upon the termination of my internship contract, the company offered me a chance to renew the contract, an offer I turned down. The second paragraph leading sentence hooks the reader to find out more what happened next. A bad example would be framed like this: The internship lasted a few months, and it expired, and I started looking for a new job. The author avoids necessary details necessary in a narrative essay about key events in the story. Paragraph 3: For a 5-paragraph essay, the third paragraph should start to harmonize the details of the essay. An example of the leading sentence of the third paragraph would be: The turning point in my career came when I went to a seminar on career development, organized by my third employer. A bad example would be: after my third job, I knew how to plan my career. Conclusion To bring the story to a reconciliatory note, the author ought to bring together the story to support his aim of narrating the story. An example of conclusion sentence would be: After all the experiences I have gone through in my years in formal employment, I have realized the importance of career plan first hand and helped me to create one.

Pabst Brewing Company action memo Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Pabst Brewing Company action memo - Essay Example Therefore, I think a well-defined technological appliance would be a recipe for the success of the company. PBC would adopt the cloud based solution which focuses on channel of migration of the PBC datacenter to enterprise web based applications and its identification, extracted and channelize clouding activities for effecting clients web based internet speed and data acquisition. For the years PBC has been in business, it has major been offering competency outsourcing production, which focuses on marketing and promotion of services through internet marketing and distribution of data across world wide websites. This company has been and will be operating on virtualized datacenter because this technique has brought numerous changes to the company as far as digital technology is of concerned. Additionally, the company through the ICT department has been working closely with its customers to ensure that it provides the services on time. Concerning our customers, PBC assesses, prepares, and socialize with its clients via social media such as Facebook in order to enable effectiveness and realization of problems that may affect the business. Further, the company utilizes metrics configurations routine initiating cloud computing applications and operations to remove any forms of complexity dilemma. It provides its subscribers with salient margin minder application which assist in balancing inventory market demands on both sales and data integration. Further, the business offers its clients with free and customized six unique application services. This service includes a total of 28GB migration data space, entailing 4,152 files on system drive and 6,644 files on data drive. Some of the articulations that PBC has initiated in its business that favors, and creates conducive environment to its customers are; i. AppZero slashes the time and complexity of migrating complex, enterprise applications. ii. AppZero leaves the source machine and application untouched. iii. It mak es no change to the source application and requires no AppZero software on the source machine. iv. All AppZero software is on the destination machine in the Rackspace cloud. v. AppZero’s speed maximizes the productivity gains possible during limited maintenance windows vi. AppZero effectively stands in as the application subject matter expert in the absence of documentation or institutional knowledge, discovering and reproducing application inter-dependencies. vii. AppZero results in a clean installation build on the destination machine. viii. Identity Essential’s expertise marshaled technologies and talent to effect the migration. ix. The effort carried a big payload. Overhead is minimized; IT costs are decreased/controlled while its agility and flexibility are increased. PBC is now well positioned to use IT too aggressively and effectively provision fast changing business opportunities. Following its service provision to people, the firm has been accredited as the be st service provider for all gateway services, a service that is credited by the government and limited to the third party companies. I would like to state that Rack Mount Company has the freedom to go independent in order to accomplish their goals. I would also like to bring to your attention that some of the IT policies that the company need to

Psychological treatment plan Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Psychological treatment plan - Case Study Example There are signs for a variety of trauma that she is experiencing and for brief therapy it would be important to find out the type of trauma; she may be suffering from PTSD or the experience of her fathers abuse. The Trauma Symptom Inventory (TSI) is a level B instrument and it would be an important part of her work because it could generate information on why she is attempting suicide at regular intervals. (Briere, n.d.). There are so many challenges for Jane that she is unable to express so the second test I would use would be the House Tree Person Test because it may bring out reference to her "true" sexual orientation as well as other challenges that are affecting her now (Fredman and Sherman, p. 20). This test is usually used on children but I get the impression that Jane is "child-like" in her approach to life and since it may be difficult for her to respond within the therapy session verbally, tests that have her drawing or making up stories would be best. Currently Jane is already a possible danger to herself. If she continues the way she is going a psychiatric evaluation may be necessary. Although she is on medication it does not seem to be doing well for her and this may also be part of the reason why she is having problems with suicidal tendencies. Much of her problem may be due to her sexual orientation and the inability to express what she is feeling. Her relationship with Susan was a positive one for her and had it is not clear whether she had episodes of cutting herself while she was with Susan. According to Suzuki and Ponterotto, a thorough multicultural assessment should be done which would give another piece of information about this client. Because her case is so volatile, there may come a time when she is showing symptoms of psychosis though she is not showing them now. In this case, Jane would be better served by a psychiatrist. In the event that I needed to make a

Turkey-country analysis Essay Example for Free

Turkey-country analysis Essay Turkey is a dynamic promising market due to its geographical and strategic importance. Further more, it has a complex of developed infrastructure and an internationally competitive work force. Its geographical closeness to the emerging energy generating states in the Caspian and Central Asia are other reasons that further elevate its stature economically. Turkey is trying to align its economic policy with the commercial policy measures of European Union and creating free trade zones, signing new Free Trade accords with prospective countries. In addition to implementing Common Customs Tariff, Turkey is further putting into practice the preferential trade regime especially with third world countries i.e. Islamic and Balkans. In order to fulfill the EU measures and to look after its commercial concerns, it is executing this Free Trade accords on priority basis. Until now Turkey concluded 19 preferential trade agreements but only 9 of these preferential agreements are in force: EFTA, Israel, Bulgaria, Romania, Macedonia, Croatia, Bosnia-Herzegovina Palestine and Tunisia. This preferential trade regime was first put into practice by signing a Free Trade Agreement between Turkey and the EFTA States that was implemented in April 1992. After this Turkey reinforced its policy of preferential trade with European countries of non-EFTA members and signed FTAs with Latvia, Lithuania, Slovakia, Poland Hungary, Estonia, Slovenia and Czech Republic. After their membership of European Union, these accords came to an end. So in this context, Turkey Located new preferential states and entered into accord with Israel, Romania and Bulgaria entered into force in May 1997, February 1998 and January 1999 respectively. Turkey has also created free trade zones. Turkish Free Zones are tax free zones. In order to lure the trade and investment, all the commercial and trade activities in these zones are tax-exempted. Furthermore, Free Zones earnings and revenues can be shifted to any country, without any official restraint or any prior permission and are not subject to any kind of taxes, duties and fees. Currencies used in the zone are convertible foreign currencies accepted by the Central Bank. Turkey is trying to integrate with international markets and enhancing the cooperation with trading partners worldwide. Despite various complexities and impediments, Turkey has almost achieved all goals in its global integration process started in 1980s. The stable liberalization of the economy and assimilation with the global economy begun by former President Ãâ€"zal has sustained itself without disruptions. Although it was full of vicissitudes but Turkeys trade sector manifest a mounting proportion of GDP, and foreign funds are a prime source of investment. [1] Despite economic catastrophe of mid-1994 such as the devaluation of the currency, bank failures, stock market crash, Turkey has been labeled a chief emerging market by the main international financial institutes. Turkey recognized its interest in closer multilateral cooperation with Islamic countries, particularly with rich Middle Eastern states and Turkeys augmented its presence in Middle Eastern markets and supplied supplementary sources of foreign direct investment and commercial financing. References Foreign Economic Relations Board ofTurkey. http://www.deik.org/ [1] For further details check Foreign Economic Relations Board of Turkey (DEIK) website that is established with prime purpose is to pave the way for Turkey’s economic, commercial, industrial and financial relations with foreign.

Success and Failure in Two Kinds by Amy Tan Essay -- Two Kinds by Amy

Amy Tan, a child of Chinese immigrants, wrote the story â€Å"Two Kinds†, telling the tale of a Jing-Mei’s rebellion against her mother’s desire to change her into a prodigy. As Jing-Mei’s mother continually tells her she does not try hard enough to succeed, the conflict between Jing-Mei and her mother escalates. Jing-Mei grows more stubborn, making every effort to resist her mother, and the relationship devolves into a standoff where mother and daughter both refuse to budge from their position. â€Å"Two Kinds† shows the irony in Jing-Mei’s relationship with her mother; while her mother believes Jing-Mei does not try hard enough to succeed, Jing-Mei succeeds in her struggle for identity by refusing to become the person her mother wants. The story opens with a brief synopsis of Jing-Mei’s mother’s past. As a Chinese immigrant fleeing from war, her mother leaves behind everything: â€Å"her mother and father, her family home, her first husband, and two daughters, twin baby girls.† (Tan 206) As a resident in America, Jing-Mei’s mother does not wallow in misery but instead looks forward to a life with limitless boundaries, honestly believing that â€Å"[y]ou could become instantly famous.† (Tan 206) Brent tells us that Chinese immigrants view America as a true land of opportunity and that tradition demands a daughter’s obedience to her mother (1). With a history steeped in traditional Chinese culture and a spirit of adventure, her mother decides Jing-Mei will fulfill this dream and become a child prodigy. At first, the anticipation of riches and fame propel Jing-Mei into cooperating with her mother, persuading Jing-Mei in the belief she can attain perfection. She imagines herself in several wonderful images, each colorful and immensely sati... ...elf. In a broader context, Tan says our tendencies to mold our children into our ideal image of success often works against the universal struggle to find one’s identity. Television, powerful advertising, clever marketing, and the myriad opinions of everyone we know swirl around us in a cacophony of conflicting messages, often drowning our pleas for time and space to get to know ourselves and find contentment in being what we are and not what someone else wants us to be. Works Cited Tan, Amy. â€Å"Two Kinds†. Literature: An Introduction to Reading and Writing. Longman. Boston. 10th ed. Brent, Liz. "Overview of 'Two Kinds'." Short Stories for Students. Ed. Ira Mark Milne. Vol. 9. Detroit: Gale Group, 2000. Literature Resource Center. Web. 13 Mar. 2014. Document URL http://go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?id=GALE%7CH1420031606&v=2.1&u=tel_a_tbr&it=r&p=LitRC&sw=w

The Curious Ncident of the Dog in the Night Time

The Curious incident of the Dog in the Night-time demonstrates how challenging life is, not just for the disabled but for everyone. Discuss, making sure you support your ideas with detailed references to the text. Mark Haddon’s novel The Curious incident of the Dog in the Night-time which is written from the view of a fifteen year old boy Christopher who has Asperger’s syndrome, not only does this book demonstrate how challenging life is for the disabled, but also for everyone.Having the main character Christopher narrate the story gives you the chance to connect with him and also to experience and understand the challenges he faces in his everyday life because of the disability that he has. Christopher is not the only character in the novel to face challenges. His mother Judy and his father Ed both face challenges. For example, bringing up Christopher who has a disability and also maintaining a solid relationship with each other.While the reader is shown how challengin g life can be, the author also leaves the reader with a feeling of hope with what can happen in the future. Because Christopher has Asperger’s syndrome life is very challenging for him in more than one way. It is hard for Christopher because he can’t understand facial expressions, so he doesn’t know if someone is sad, happy or angry which can be hard because he has to try and guess their mood from the tone of voice they are using.Christopher tries to understand facial expressions because he ‘got Siobhan to draw lots of†¦faces and then write down next to them exactly what they meant’. Another way that life is challenging for Christopher is that he can’t deal with lies and does not like them. In some situations Christopher thinks that it is alright for him to tell white lies but others have to tell the full truth all the time. ‘I do not tell lies. Mother used to say that this was because I was a good person. But it's not because I am a good person.It is because I can't tell lies. ’ Christopher says that he can’t tell lies but what he does not realize, is that he is telling white lies which are lies. Christopher thinks that telling the truth is a way of life, not just something people choose because it is the right thing to do. Christopher has had many situations where he has been lied to and has not handled it well. He has been lied too about his mother being dead and also about his father killing Mrs Shears dog Wellington.Christopher does not react to this well, because when he found out he ran away and no longer felt safe around his father. Both Christopher’s parents Judy and Ed Boone find life challenging because they are trying to raise a child with a disability. Christopher’s mother finds life challenging because she has to live her life wondering if her only child is alright because she is sending him letters and she doesn’t know whether he is getting them, she also isnà ¢â‚¬â„¢t getting any replies from Christopher to ensure her that everything is alright.Even though she has been writing letters to him for a while she has not been getting any letters back because Christopher’s father, Ed, has been hiding them from Christopher because he hadn’t told him that his mother was not actually dead. Christopher’s mother never stopped loving him even though he made her life really hard sometimes and she still kept writing to him and never stopped. ‘You haven’t written to me yet, so I know you’re probably still angry with me. I’m sorry Christopher. But I still love you’.Another way life is challenging for Judy is that she finds that her only son gets on better with his father. As a mother this would be very heart breaking. She always found it difficult when she took him to the shops or the mall because he would end up crouched down on the floor with is hands over his ears and he would be in the way of eve ryone. If she tried to move him he would just start screaming. Judy didn’t believe that she had the patience like Ed to look after Christopher and then she was having lots of other problems and that is when she decided to leave.Judy is not the only person who is finding life challenging but Ed, Christopher’s father is also finding life challenging. Life is challenging for Ed because it is hard to raise a child with a disability especially when you are left to look after them all by yourself. Ed and Christopher’s relationship also struggles when Christopher found out that his own father killed the next door neighbour’s dog Wellington. Christopher started not to trust him anymore and did not feel safe in his company and did not want to be left alone with him.Life is challenging for Christopher as his Asperger’s syndrome makes if difficult to communicate and to understand others. Life is not only difficult for Christopher but also for his parents, bec ause coping with a child with a disability is not any easy thing to do, but not only that they have also put a strain on their relationship. Though life is challenging not just for the disabled but for everyone, Mark Haddon demonstrates how facing life’s challenges builds a person’s character and ability to cope. Word Count: 910