Reflexivity in Ethnographic Research and Writing :: Ethnography Anthropology Essays

Reflexivity in Ethnographic Research and Writing The role of reflexivity in ethnographic research and writing has certain advantages and limits, as it gives the discipline of anthropology another form of interpreting ethnographies. Reflexivity, in terms of work of anthropology, is to insist that anthropologists systematically and rigorously reveal their methodology and themselves as the instrument of data generation. It is the self-consciousness or the work's ability to see itself as a work. There are various styles of reflexivity in ethnographic writing and Dorinne Kondo, Renato Rosaldo, and George Marcus are three anthropologists that influenced the role of reflexivity through their ethnographies. George Marcus describes reflexivity as the â€Å"self-critique, the personal quest, playing on the subjective, the experiential, and the idea of empathy† (Marcus 193). In Ethnography through thick and thin, Marcus writes that the emergence of the different styles of reflexivity in ethnographic writing has come to stand for the influence of postmodernism. In brief, according to the Encyclopedia of Cultural Anthropology (1996), post-modernism is defined as an eclectic movement, originating in aesthetics- architecture and philosophy. Postmodernism espouses a systematic skepticism of grounded theoretical perspective. It concentrates on the tensions of difference and similarity erupting from the globalization processes: circulation via people, cross-cultural interaction, interaction of local and global knowledge. Postmodernism manifests historical perspective of modernism and modernity. Reflexivity emphasizes the point of theoretical and practical questioning, changing the ethnographers view of themselves and their work. There is an increased awareness of the collection of data and the limitation of methodological systems. This idea becomes inherent in the postmodernists study of the culture of the anthropologist/ethnographer. In much of his essay, Marcus shows that reflexivity is an immense area of comment and interest by questioning: Is reflexivity a license or a method? Furthermore, he writes that reflexivity opens up â€Å"the possibility for the so-called polyphonic text or the completely collaborative project, but more often than not, it merely reinforces the perspective and voice of the lone, introspective fieldworker without challenging the paradigm of ethnographic research at all (Marcus 193). Marcus categorizes reflexivity into three parts: feminist, sociological, and anthropological. Although all are important in understanding Marcus’ work, I will discuss the anthropological reflexivity. Marcus believes that the most interesting form of self-critical reflexivity in anthropology is one that â€Å"emphasizes the intertextual or diverse fields of representation that any contemporary project of ethnography enters and crosses in order to establish its own subject and to define its own voice† (Marcus 196).

Price Control

Price Controls Econ 360-002 Sonia Parsa [email  protected] edu G00509808 Word Count: 1540 Abstract This paper examines how, in the United States, the government imposes several forms of taxes and price controls and how all individuals are required to pay direct and indirect taxes. It looks at how the approach of taxation and how the constraints of taxation on goods and price controls affect the U. S. economy. Introduction Regulations have played a huge role in the political and economic world for centuries. There are various different types of regulation. One regulation that the government imposes under its tax policy is price control, which is not considered to be voluntary. Price control can play two different roles, a price ceiling or a price floor. A price ceiling is the maximum price that can be charged in the market for a certain good, causing shortages, and a price floor is the minimum price that can be charged in the market, which then causes surpluses. Measures are usually taken by a government under its regulatory policy to control wages and prices in an attempt to check cost-push inflation and wage-push inflation[1]. However, these policies never help the economy. Instead, it worsens the situation. Governments also impose price controls as an indirect mechanism for taxation. The most well-known price controls enforced by the United States government today are: the policy of minimum wage, rent control, and oil price control. Having enforced price controls generate opportunities for economy failure, i. e. shortages and surpluses, as well as opportunities within the black market, and international arbitrage. The Economic Philosophy When a price control is forced by the government, it’s usually imposed to help or protect particular parts of the population which would be treated inequitably by the unfettered price system. But one must wonder which part of the population, the consumers or the producers? Is it not true that the consumers always feel as if the prices of a good are much higher than their actual value, while producers always feel as if the prices are too low? Price controls are usually justified as a way to help consumers, but whether they actually do is open to debate. Imposed price controls by the government are not only an absolute disaster, but have resulted in dislocating many economies in the past. The key is to recognize that when governments impose price controls; it does not only affect their nation, but also affects parallel imports with their trade partners because of a price â€Å"discrimination,† in regards to tariffs. The Economic Logic The effect of taxation and price controls on the economy vary from the decrease of the supply of goods to an increase in costs and can be demonstrated by a supply-demand analysis (Figure 1). In a free market, the equilibrium selling prices are shown by an upward sloping supply curve (S) with respect to price. The maximum buying prices on the part of the consumer is then shown by a downward sloping demand curve (D) with respect to price. After a quantity of a good is acquired by a consumer, the less important the desire is than before. Therefore, the supplier has to lower the price for each unit as it is sold. Where the supply and demand curve intersects at the margin is called the equilibrium price. In a maximum price control, a deadweight loss occurs in the triangle of a, b, c. pic] For example, when there is a tax imposed on a good like tobacco, there is an increase in the price of the product. This is called minimum price control and the price is not legally allowed to fall below the minimum. This shifts the supply curve of the product to the left. In other words, there are fewer goods available at the same prices than there were before. There is then a decline in the quantity demanded and a new equilibrium between demand and supply is reached. On the other hand when price controls are imposed there is an artificial decline in the prices. At the lower prices, a higher quantity is demanded but the production is insufficient to fulfill that demand and causes a shortage. We can also use the supply-demand analysis to dissect the labor market when a wage-control is placed by the government (shown in Figure 2). By establishing a minimum-wage law, it mandates a price floor above the equilibrium wage; therefore, the rate of unemployment among unskilled workers increases. When wages increase, a greater number of workers are willing to work while only a small number of jobs will be available at the higher wage. Companies can be more selective in whom they choose to employ causing the least skilled and inexperience to be excluded. [pic] Figure 2 assumes that workers are willing to work for more hours if paid a higher wage. We graph this relationship with the wage on the vertical axis and the quantity of workers on the horizontal axis. Combining the demand and supply curves for labor allows us to examine the effect of the minimum wage. We will start by assuming that the supply and demand curves for labor will not change as a result of raising the minimum wage. This assumption has been questioned. If no minimum wage is in place, workers and employers will continue to adjust the quantity of labor supplied according to price until the quantity of labor demanded is equal to the quantity of labor supplied, reaching equilibrium price, where the supply and demand curves intersect. Evidence- Minimum Wage Basic theory says that raising the minimum wage, which is a type of price-control, helps workers whose wages are raised, and hurts people who are not hired because companies cut back on employment. The very first federal minimum wage laws were imposed under the National Recovery Administration. The National Industrial Recovery Act, which became law on June 16, 1933, established industrial minimum wages for 515 classes of labor. Over 90 percent of the minimum wages were set at between 30 and 40 cents per hour. [2] C. F. Roos, who was the director of research at the NRA at that time, estimated that â€Å"by reason of the minimum wage provisions of the codes, about 500,000 Negro workers were on relief in 1934. † Roos added that â€Å"a minimum wage definitely causes the displacement of the young, inexperienced worker and the old worker. [3] By imposing minimum wage rate, free contract in the labor market is shattered. A firm is no longer allowed to pay below the minimum and the laborer cannot accept anything below the minimum that has been set as well. The free-market allows inexperienced workers to obtain entry-level positions, which gives them on the job training, by working for less. With the imposed wage-control, if the monetary compensation falls below minimum, th e trade-off becomes illegal which is a direct violation of a workers liberty to free contract. Thomas Rustici, in his book about minimum wage, makes an excellent point when he states: â€Å"In virtually every case it was found that the net employment effects and labor-force participation rates were negatively related to changes in the minimum wage. In the face of 50 years of evidence, the question is no longer if the minimum wage law creates unemployment, but how much current or future increases in the minimum wage will adversely affect the labor market? †[4] For years we have witnessed the effects of what minimum wages execute, yet we continue to conduct the same mistakes. Conclusion Obligatory price controls by the government are not only an absolute disaster, but have resulted in dislocating many economies all over the world for thousands of years[5]. As economic history has shown us, price controls being effective in a free competitive market are very rare. We either experience shortages or surpluses as a result. Who wins and who loses with an imposed price control? Setting a price control in one country affects other countries around it as well due to parallel imports and personal trafficking. Prices are not just numbers to a free competitive market; they are the expression of the value the supplier sets, no matter how subjective it may be. To regulate or to impose a price control, like any form of regulation, is unconstitutional. In some cases, it either violates the 5th amendment and/or 14th amendment. Price controls, wage controls, and money controls are really people controls. Regimentation at its worst- that is what a socialist dictatorship is all about. I believe that the free market has its own way of equalizing the economy and when the government interferes and sets price ceiling or price floor, it causes a chaos within our economy. Regardless if it results in a dead weight loss or a shortage, the consequences can sometimes be more destructive in the long run. Even if a government believes that price controls are set and affect only their country, it does not; it affects every nation that does any trade with them, exports or imports. The appeal of price controls is understandable. Even though they fail to protect many consumers and hurt others, controls hold out the promise of protecting groups that are particularly hard-pressed to meet price increases. However, when the government has proposed a control, there is a lag in time, causing an economy to become more impaired. References Barfield, C. E. and Groombridge, M. A. â€Å"The Economic Case for Copyright and Owner Control over Parallel Imports. † Journal of World Intellectual Property, Vol. 1 (1998), pp. 903-939 Benjamin M. Anderson, Economics and the Public Welfare: A Financial and Economic History of the United States, 1914-1946 (Indianapolis: Liberty Press, 1979), p. 36. Cambridge Pharma Consultancy. Pricing and Reimbursement Review 2003. Cambridge, UK: IMS Health-Management Consulting, 2004. â€Å"Gas Fever: Happiness Is a Full Tank. † Times Magazine 18 Feb. 1974. 19 June 2009 . Grossman, Gene M. , and Edwin L-C Lai. â€Å"Parallel imports and price controls. † RAND Journal of Econ omics 2nd ser. 39 (2008): 378-402. Princeton. Web. 8 Dec. 2009. . Richard M. Alson, J. R. Kearl, and Michael B. Vaughan, â€Å"Is There a Consensus Among Economists in the 1990’s? † American Economic Review 82, no. 2 (1992): 203–209. Rustici, Thomas. â€Å"Public Choice View of Minimum Wage†. Cato Journal, 5. 1) Spring/Summer 1985: 114. ISSN: 0273-3072 Steenhuysen, Julie. â€Å"Drug price controls may shorten lives: report | Reuters. † Business & Financial News, Breaking US & International News | Reuters. com. 16 Dec. 2008. Web. 8 Dec. 2009. . The Power of Oil: The Arab Oil Weapon and the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Canada, Japan, and the United States Roy Licklider International Studies Quarterly, Vol. 32, No. 2 (Jun. , 1988), pp. 214 ———————– [1] Grossman, Gene M. , and Edwin L-C Lai. â€Å"Parallel imports and price controls. † RAND Journal of Economics 2nd ser. 39 (2008): 378-4 02. Princeton. Web. 8 Dec. 009. . [2] Leverett Lyon, et al. The National Recovery Administration: An Analysis and Appraisal (New York: Da Capo Press, 1972). pp. 318-19. [3] Benjamin M. Anderson, Economics and the Public Welfare: A Financial and Economic History of the United States, 1914-1946 (Indianapolis: Liberty Press, 1979), p. 336. [4] Rustici, Thomas. â€Å"Public Choice View of Minimum Wage†. Cato Journal, 5. (1) Spring/Summer 1985: 105. ISSN: 0273-3072 [5] Barfield, C. E. and Groombridge, M. A. â€Å"The Economic Case for Copyright and Owner Control over Parallel Imports. † Journal of World Intellectual Property, Vol. 1 (1998), pp. 903-939

Arranged Marriage The Union Between Two People For...

Sheikhadde 1 FaizaSheikhadde Ms. Petrelli Eng3U1 20th October 2014 Arranged marriage Marriage is known as the union between two people for better and worse where they both love and respect each other. So what should be the right definition for arranged marriage? Simply arranged marriage is defined as, a traditional marriage that is arranged by the families of the bride and groom where both of them give their consent to be married. This type of marriage is quite common in Muslim communities, royal families (Diplomatic Marriages) and some countries like India, Pakistan, Japan, Korea, China and Israel (By New World Encyclopedia). Arranged marriages are preferred in many cultures because they are an important tradition and custom that carried over the years. Arranged marriages are considered to be more successful than love marriages. There are many reasons that make the arranged marriage a suitable choice comparing to the non-arranged one. Arranged marriages have a lower divorce rate, due to the fact that arranged marriages are not based on love. As a result decisions are rationally made by both the husband and wife, which will definitely create a stable and comfortable relationship. In an arranged marriage, both the husband and wife are socially compatible so they will perfectly match each other; moreover, having many things in common is vital for the success of any relationship. This type of marriage will result in a strong relationship with the family, and whichShow MoreRelatedIs Love Important When Looking For A Partner? Essay1540 Words   |  7 PagesIs Love Important When Looking for a Partner? The tale of Romeo and Juliet conveyed a love that was so strong and emotionally powerful between two young lovers that it has caused generations among generations to read about it. Flash forward to modern day, some people believe that we have walked past our future spouses without even knowing it. 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