Describe and critically evaluate the contributions of Non-Governmental Essay

Describe and critically evaluate the contributions of Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) to the development and promotion of civil society. Refer relevant li - Essay Example Thus Civil society can be defined as the political space between the individual and the government, expressed by membership of NGOs, social groups, associations and other organizations and networks. But its role in influencing state action and political processes, and in serving as a corrective and complement to market economies, implies that it should not be seen first and foremost as a channel for emergency and development assistance. However, Restrictions on civil and political rights, in particular the right to free association or free political expression, can serve to weaken civil society. Civil society may also be inhibited from playing a peace-building role by intimidation and attack. Information and communication networks may be especially vulnerable then. Thus civil society programme should be rooted in a firm analysis of the context and the role and position of civil-society groups in it. NGO’s thus help to build their capacity and reach by positively monitoring and supporting their provision of basic health and education services to facilitating advocacy roles and their promotion of dialogue (for peaceful dispute resolution, reconciliation etc.), information and other local and international issues. One pioneering consultation with NGO leaders from developing countries suggested that the nature of the state – democratic, one-party, or military dictator – is very important to the development of civil society (Tandon. 1989) More generally, analyses of experience across countries suggests that the â€Å"social origins† of civil societies in historical interactions among major social forces (e.g., elites, workers, the middle class, the Church, and so on) shape the size and resources of the sector (Salamon and Anheier. 1998) Economic globalization is one of the most powerful forces that seem to have shaped the postwar world. Non-Governmental Organizations that emphasize on

Concept Map on Indigenous Peoples Essay Example for Free

Concept Map on Indigenous Peoples Essay Our group came up with concept map that illustrated our ideas when the perception of the indigenous peoples came into our minds. When we hear the said concept, the immediate idea that comes into our minds is the ceremonies that IPs do. We know that their ceremonies or rituals are part of their religion. They believe in spirits, in the notion of the after-life having spiritual leaders guiding them through the visions that the sacred aura gives them. Most of the IPs are very animistic and are called pagans by the Westerners due to the lack of formality in religion, meaning no temples are built for a proper religious ceremony. They practice both primary and secondary burial in the belief that their souls would have to journey to another dimension called the â€Å"after-life. The next thing that comes into mind is their customs and traditions. Every indigenous group has a distinct set of customs or habits. They preserve their songs, dances, literature, prayers and many others through oral tradition. In the Philippines, only the Muslims have the written tradition called tarsila. Art is a very evident characteristic that indigenous groups exhibit. The tattooing tradition which is very evident in many Austronesian societies is a status symbol. Elders and Datus who are considered the tribal leaders are seen with more tattoos than those who have low social status. The term tanda in the Philippines means wisdom which is an indicator of respect for the elders. Every indigenous group has its own language. Language is the factor, which makes an individual belong to an ethnic or ethno-linguistic group. Language is the collection of the vocabulary available in a culture. Language is termed as a dialect when there is a regional distinction of a language from the mother language. It may become evident in accent, grammar system and semantics. We have cited some examples such as the Ilocanos, Ifugaos and some foreign to us, the Aztecs. Last main branch on the concept map is the concept of heritage. All indigenous groups are struggling to preserve their heritage and culture which is why tribal laws prevail over any other constitutional or civil law in the country. They are very resistive to alien influence which makes them prone to social and racial discrimination promoted and propagated by some stupid multimedia. Their heritage is very reflective of their economic direction. They rely on a self-sufficient subsistence economy. They have no imperialist ideologies. They only tend to survive their tribe and cultivate their own environment. Agriculture and fishing are the main sources of living especially in tropical countries. They are the stewards of many ecosystems in the land, rivers and seas. Many IPs in the country have built nipa huts as their shelter. They have built houses such as the bahay kubo because most of the time, when a relative dies, they burn their houses due to their belief that spirits cause illnesses and should leave the homes of the inflicted. For the Ivatans of the Batanes Group of Islands, Spanish influence is already observed in their stone houses which are their defense to the perennial tropical storms that tend to devastate their crops and homes.

The Power Of Voice English Literature Essay

The Power Of Voice English Literature Essay The book Their Eyes Were Watching God follows the story of Janie Crawford. It is a story not only of the main characters search for individuality, but her search for a voice of her own, and an escape from patriarchal figures of her time. Because she lives in male dominated society, her voice is often shunned and not accepted, yet she finds way of somehow evade the thinking of such a society and somehow make her voice be heard. Voice is a tool, rhetorical and literary, and is in itself very powerful. It was the time to hear things and talk. These sitters had been tongueless, earless, eyeless conveniences all day long. Mules and other brutes had occupied their skinsà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦..They became lords of sounds and lesser things. They passed nations through their mouths. They sat in judgment. (Neale Hurston 29-30) Hurston employs the folkloric symbol of the mule to reveal the ways in which the African-American people can be dehumanized and silenced by society. People are compared to animals, mules, which are considered the brutes of all animals. The workers, had always been tongue less, never had a chance to speak their own mind, and therefore they had no voice and wont if they continue to be treated the way they are. Hurston, as an informing narrative consciousness, uses interiority in Their Eyes to characterize those who are silent and lack their own voices, as well as to add dimension to those with voices. (Racine 283) Racine expresses how Hurston decided to write about how some people did possess a voice, while others were deprived from it, and were not allowed to express who they truly were. This is proven, as in the story, Janies grandmother was born during slavery, black people or African Americans, did not possess any voice at all, her grandmother always wanted to make a great speech, but no one would listen, and even though she made Janie marry too young, she had always wanted Janie to be able to speak and have people listen. Yet it is not so easy, as when the town of Eatonville asks Janie to make a speech, Joe, her husband says that because she is a woman she doesnt know anything about making speeches and doesnt allow her to speak silencing her voice. By doing so, all her admirations and hopes are crumbled down by the stubbornness of one man. The years took all the fight out of Janies face. For a while she thought it was gone from her soul. No matter what Jody did, she said nothing. She had learned how to talk some and leave some. She was a rut in the road. Plenty of life beneath the surface but it was kept beaten down by the wheels. (Neale Hurston 108). This is another example of voice, as Janie is unable to communicate and feels isolated, she sees herself as the rut in the road.. All the life she had aspired for had been taken from her and hidden, she could not see it, nor experience it. Her marriage worsens and worsens, and she speaks less and less every time. Another phrase that represents the ideals of having a voice is shown on chapter 8 of the book, She thought back and forth about what had happened in the making of a voice out of a man. (Neale Hurston 119). Joe thinks he has become a big voice, and therefore he thinks that makes him important, but he concentrates so much on that voice that he forgets others have voices as well, and therefore he loses everything he has, including his heart and humanity. Joe was a man, a man in which Janie had found a husband, but his voice became crumbled and blasphemy, and the voice that had one characterized him was the one that took from him all that was good. We have all felt repressed at some stage during our lives, as if we are not able to speak or to be listened, but in the end, we find who we are and the voice we have and share with others. We all find that one moment in which we achieve victory over oppression and in the book Janie finally finds it at the end, with her voice being free and able to represent who she is. Our voice makes us and what we do with it will impact what we might become in the future. Works Cited Page Neale Hurston, Zora.  Their Eyes Were Watching God. J.B. Lippincott, 1937. Print. Racine, Maria J. . African American Review. Trans. Array1994. 283. Print.

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1.1 Background history Composite material is a multiphase materials which can be obtained through the artificial combination of two or more different materials to attain the properties that the individual components by themselves cannot attain. Composite materials can modify for many properties by appropriately choosing their components, proportions, distributions, morphologies and degrees of crystallinity, crystallographic textures, structure and the composition of the interface between components. Due to this properties the composite materials can be designed to satisfy the needs of technologies relating to the aerospace, automobile, electronics, construction, energy, biomedical and other industries. Therefore, composite materials has been used most as a commercial engineering materials [1]. There are some type of composites that can be classified according to the matrix material such as a polymer matrix composite (PMC), a metal matrix composite (MMC), and a ceramic matrix composite (CMC). Besides that, the composite also can be categorized according to the shape of the filler or the reinforcement for example a composite that has a particles as a filler is called a particulate composite and a composite with fibers is called fibrous composite [1]. Metal matrix composite (MMC) is a composite that contains continuous metallic matrix and a few percent of the material by volume represent the reinforcement [2]. The MMC offers some unique mechanical properties such as low density, high strength, and high stiffness, high wear resistance and other attractive properties. It also can offers the properties that are exceptional compared with those of any unreinforced alloys [2]. The metal matrix composites also can be classified in diffe... ...Al2O3 particles uniformly in aluminum matrix and for its ability to fabricate the material into almost any shape [3]. 1.3 Objectives 1.3.1 To fabricate alumina particle reinforced aluminum metal matrix composite by using powder metallurgy technique. 1.3.2 To investigate the effect of different weight percentage of alumina particle on physical and mechanical properties of aluminum metal matrix composite. 1.4 Scope of study The aim of this project is to investigate the effect of different reinforcement weight percentage (0wt%, 5wt%, 10wt%, 20wt% and 30wt%) of alumina particle on aluminum metal matrix composite. The composite will fabricate by using powder metallurgy technique which include mixing, compaction and sintering process. The testing involves in this project is microstructural analysis, density, porosity, hardness and coefficient thermal expansion (CTE).

Is psychology a science?

Psychology being categorised under the name science, can often lead to disputes within the field of sciences. Psychology is the observation of behaviour and thought process of the human mind, within itself it is a vital source of knowledge, such as how biology, chemistry and physics provides a source of knowledge that is vital to humans and the environment. Science can be seen as the study of natural behaviours and physical aspects of the world, this definition within itself accompanies itself with the idea that psychology is a science, as behaviours are studied within the field of psychology.Eysenck and Keane (2000) believed that to make something a science it must have the following features, controlled observation, in which a specific manipulation is observed to see the effects. Secondly objectivity, as when data has been collected objectively it reduces the possibility of bias, thirdly testing theoretical predictions, because if a theory is not tested there is no evidence to prov ide if it is right or wrong.Fourthly is falsifiability, which means the scientific theory has the potential to be proved wrong by evidence, fifthly is the unifying theory which is every subject within the sciences has a unifying approach all theories are based off. Finally there is the fact of is any research conducted replicable, as it is hard to rely on studies that could provide inconsistent findings. Although providing clear guidelines on what makes a science, there are still some aspects which make the divide not as clear as believed.For example psychology uses the scientific method in some of the studies conducted, which is used throughout science for all research, so this aspect can be seen to make psychology a science. Too many the field of psychology is classed as a science; the science of the mind, as it looks at the most complex thing on Earth, the human mind, all theories on behaviours and thoughts stem from psychology (BBC, 2013).In many areas psychology and the three s ciences (physics, biology and chemistry) have similarities, for example, the sciences can be seen as reductionist as they try to take a complex behaviour or physical problem and break it down in to a simpler form. Many theories within psychology on similar problems can also be seen as reductionist as it aims to take complex behaviours and thoughts and break it down in to easier components to study.An example of this can be shown by Freud (1909), Freud believes behaviour stems from the unconscious mind, making it a reductionist as it does not take biology or other factors in to account. Reductionism can be seen to be an advantage when it comes to conducting a study as it means testable predictions can be created, and then can be carried out in a controlled experiment. Although by making a reductionist theory can also cause disadvantages such as falsifiability. Popper (1963) believed falsifiability was key to science, as science does not seek to prove its own theory right, but tries t o confirm it as wrong.This means that if a theory is un-falsifiable then it is not scientific, psychology in many sectors is falsifiable through problems such as reductionism, but there are also theories that are un-falsifiable as they are untestable such as many of Freuds (1909) theories display, for example the Oedipus complex can neither be proven nor disproven. As well as having issues with falsifiability psychology also lacks the objectivity needed for science to make it truly scientific, as without objectivity the research is prone to becoming bias.Even in experiments such as Skinners (1956) rat experiment can be shown to be subjective, because although the rat is pressing the lever and the lever presses are recorded automatically, it is still down to the opinion of the researcher on when he believes the rat has learnt by pressing the lever they get a treat. This can be counteracted on the bases that psychology has the unique position of studying the human mind which in itself is difficult to operationalize, as not all parts of the behaviour and thoughts can be measured scientifically, which unlike atomic mass or miles per hour in science can be.Science within itself can also come across problematic issues over control and objectivity. An example of this is the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle â€Å"The more precisely the position is determined, the less precisely the momentum is known in this instant, and vice versa. † (Heisenberg, 1972) which means if something is precisely measured, and a hypothesis is believed to be true, it can often distant the researcher from the actual result. An issue with measuring investigations using the scientific method in general is it can restrict and affect answers within itself.An example is it can be argued that laboratory experiments are very artificial, so do not provide a clear picture of what would happen in real life terms. As well as sharing similarities with science on the basis they both have issues with control and objectivity, they both also share the same goals. They have three aims, the prediction, understanding and control over a study. Scientists and psychologists both put a theory forward, these theories in both cases lead to a creation of a hypotheses, this is the prediction.The next step is the understanding which is when you receive results from a prediction it should give the researcher and anyone reading the report a greater understanding of that subject. Control is the final step, the knowledge gained from the proven hypothesis provides knowledge which can be used to alter certain factors in the world. The three aims of science are according to Allport (1947), psychology follows these same three aims throughout studies, reporting and publishing work just as biology, chemistry and physics do.Throughout psychology the scientific method is used, but not in all areas although science has default problems itself with the scientific method. So it cannot always be said subjec ts within science always stick within the scientific boundaries themselves. Another point within psychology is psychology is a ‘new’ science, biology, chemistry and physics have been in service for a good period longer, so it may be in time more likely to be classed as a science.Nevertheless Miller (1983) would argue psychology is just a pseudoscience, an approach that claims to be scientific but does not have the key principles of science, he claims this can be dangerous as psychology is claiming to be a science, it provides the false ideal that their findings is ‘fact’. Although in comparison it could be argued that there is no ultimate knowledge of human’s behaviours and thoughts, so there must be a science to take over this role of discovering behaviours and thoughts.Science may study the physical aspects of the brain e. g. hormones that can be proven through empirical evidence, but it does not study the unknown areas such as behaviours, this is where psychology can provide answers. For example Piaget’s (1966) stages of development theory, that people develop starting at the pre-concrete stage and move throughout these stages until they reach the formal stage, science does not provide an answer for how humans develop in this sense.In conclusion psychology may seem like a vague  subject with no clear goals or guidelines, but it does have aims, its aim is to study the mind, the way people behave and think. Science still has unexplainable occurrences, that have no empirical evidence so in turn cannot be falsified, which in itself should make it not scientific. Psychology can provide answers for what science cannot explain, such as how memories are stored, psychology provides a theory for this whereas science does not. In conclusion psychology can be seen as a science to explain human behaviour that other sciences cannot.

Orlando essays

Orlando essays Orlando, the bravest knight in Christian army, is in love with the beautiful Angelica the princess of Catai. The duke saves the girl and quarrels with his cousin Rinaldo because of her love. However, Angelica runs away from him wandering in the forest. From that moment on a lot of misadventures happen to her. She meets a lot of men who fall in love with her, but she can't feel any passion for them. The obsession for Angelica drives Orlando to neglect his duties, he withdraws when the Saracens lay the siege to Paris and he starts to wandering and following the clues, traces that she has left behind. He follows her but as soon he arrives in any of the places, he finds that she has already left. So the quest becomes more and more obsessive and desperate. Even if his lady is far from him he is able in any moment to perceive her being in danger, and he hears screaming and crying. Though the Duke Orlando is never able to reach her. The battles and quarrels, he fights with whoever he find on his way, becomes idle and vain efforts. After a long wandering Angelica finds a Muslim soldier, Medoro, who is dying. The lady eases his wounds saving the young man and at last she falls in love with this humble warrior. Now, they are in love and happy, Medoro writes about their mutual passion on trees and rocks. Angelica doesn't think of Orlando anymore. As soon as Orlando arrives in the place where the two loved each other, finding out that Medoro and Angelica have left together to start a new life, he goes totally mad. He destroys whatever or whoever he finds on his way. Astolfo, a true fellow of the duke, is the one who saves him. In fact the knight goes onto the moon in order to find the wisdom that Orlando has lost because of the mad and desperate love. It is a Mediaeval belief that when something gets lost on the earth, it goes on the moon and that's why Astolfo has to reach the moon to bring back to Orland o his wisdom. ...