Review of Platos The Allegory of the Cave :: World Literature

In Plato's "The Allegory of the Cave," Socrates tells an allegory of the hardship of understanding reality. Socrates compares a prisoner of an underground cave who is exploring a new world he never knew of to people who are trying to find a place of wisdom in reality. According to Socrates, most people tend to rely on their senses too much and believe the world as it is appeared to our sight. In order to free our souls from this mental prison, Socrates suggests that we should go through a phase that does not only prepare ourselves for the real world but also prevent us from heading to the wrong direction to seek the truth - education. In conclusion, Socrates believes those who have reached a higher level of knowledge and wisdom should bear a responsibility to lead the community and improve it because they are blessed with better education and are able to enjoy a different reward than the power to control others like most politicians do. Two thousand years after Plato has written down the allegory, it is amazing how we can still relate it to our everyday lives. As Plato wrote in "The Allegory of the Cave," education is a very important phase that leads us to wisdom and helps us to get accustomed to the real world with less difficulty. Apparently, this theory has proven to be correct for the past two thousand years. Until today, those of higher wisdoms are mostly people who have mastered a thorough and solid education; and they certainly have become the leaders of the community who share their knowledge and enlighten many people. We can also find Plato's theory on rulers of countries relevant to the world today.

Earth’s Magnetic Field Essay

Earth’s magnetic field is one of the world’s most complicated features. It started to be observed in 1845 by a scientist named Carl Friedman Gauss (Sarfati). The magnetic field is generated inside of the earth’s core and there are many scientists who still debate over how it was first created. There are also many arguments about the many changes that the field has gone through in it’s existence. These arguments are mostly either for a young-earth model or an old earth model. History of the magnetic filed Earth’s magnetic field is a field of electric current that is conducted from the earth’s solid inner core through the liquid outer core (Richard). The electrical current goes around the earth and through it at the north and south poles. The north pole was first discovered by James Ross in 1831 (nasa.gov). No one visited it again until the early 1900s. â€Å"In 1904, Roald Amundsen found the pole again and discovered that it had moved–at least 50 km since the days of Ross,† (nasa.gov). The north pole continued to move at an average of about 10 kilometers per year in the twentieth century (nasa.gov). More recently scientist Larry Newitt of the Geological Survey of Canada has said that it has been moving an average of 40 kilometers every year (nasa.gov). The past of earth’s magnetic field can be studied by past lava eruptions that have hardened. â€Å"When grains of the common magnetic mineral magnetite in volcanic lava or ash flows cool below its Curie point of 570 °C (1060 °F), the magnetic domains partly align themselves in the direction of the earth’s magnetic field at that time. Once the rock has fully cooled, the magnetite’s alignment is fixed,† (Sarfati). The Curie point of a substance is the temperature at which it loses its magnetism, so the lava must cool below this point before the magnetite can align(Sarfati). Using these records scientists have seen that the earth’s pole have switched several times in the past. What the magnetic field actually does that is beneficial to the earth is deflect cosmic rays. The magnetic currents push them toward the north and south poles. â€Å"The increase could knock out power grids, scramble the communications systems on spacecraft, temporarily widen atmospheric ozone holes, and generate more aurora activity,† (Roach). The effect that these cosmic rays would cause to humans are unknown though some think that they would cause tissue damage much like x-rays (Richard). It also reduces the emission of carbon 14 which makes the earth healthier (Humphreys). Magnetic field reversals Magnetic field reversals occur when the currents of the the outer core of the earth move the electrical current around enough that it actually flips upside down. Many scientists believe that when the poles switch places there is a period of time where the magnetic field does not exist, but the University of California professor Gary Glatzmaier says â€Å"It just gets more complicated,† (nasa.gov). He states that when the poles are reverse there will actually be multiple magnetic poles that appear all around the earth. â€Å"A south magnetic pole might emerge over Africa, for instance, or a north pole over Tahiti,†(nasa.gov). Earth’s magnetic field during a reversal (nasa.gov) Some old earth scientists believe that when poles reverse is caused by a second magnetic field coming into existence with an opposite polarity and it then overpowers the first. This idea works if you assume that the geodynamo model is true because if the current of the liquid metal causes the magnetic field then the currents are can make a new field easily (Richard). Once the first field decays the second takes over. Other old earth scientists believe that when the polarity changes it is just the electrical current being shifted enough by the liquid outer core that it reverses directions completely (nasa.gov). Both of these processes would take large amounts of time and since there is proof that there have been many reversals have occurred in the past, this is what old earth scientists can use as evidence that the earth is old (nasa.gov). Dr. Russell Humphreys accepted that reversals were real, unlike some previous creationists. He proposed that the process of convection could cause the magnetic field to reverse (Humphreys). Most young earth scientists believe that most of the reversals occurred during a global flood which occur in Genesis. Dr. John Baumgardner proposed that the Genesis Flood was caused by the plunging of tectonic plates (Sarfati). This would have made the outer parts of the liquid core to cool rapidly which would have sped up the process of convection. In this model reversals would have occurred once every week or two. The most stunning piece of evidence for this is a very thin layer of lava that was found that most have cooled within a few days weeks and the magnetite of the outside of the layer is aligned in opposite direction as the inside (Sarfati). Origins of the field Scientists that believe in the old-earth model have said that there’s is about 300,000 years in between magnetic field reversals and that each reversal takes around 10,000 years to complete (Roach). The electrical current which makes the field has been said to be generated through convection. The liquid of the outer core which conducts the electrical current is constantly moving (Richard). This movement is caused by the heating of the molten liquid by the inner core which causes it to rise and as soon as the liquid cools it will sink. This process is called convection (Richard). This idea that this process can generate an electric current is called the geodynamo model. Young earth scientists strongly disagree with this. The first point that they make is that the geodynamo model has no significant evidence even after decades of research (Humphreys). One proposed idea is that during creation God made atomic nuclei spin in the same direction (Humphreys). The spin of atomic nuclei creates a tiny magnetic field and if the spin of the atomic nulcei were aligned it would add up to a much larger field. Dr. Russell Humphreys who has a Ph.D. in physics says â€Å"as thermal collisions disoriented the nuclear spins, the laws of electricity predict a startup of an electric current within the core of the earth to sustain the field.† Genesis flood model of earth’s magnetic field decay and reversals (Humphreys) Field fluctuations As stated before, the magnetic field prevents some of the production of carbon 14. This also can be used to see the past of the field. This is a process called radiocarbon dating (Humphreys). Using this scientists have seen that the field has been increasing and decreasing in strength over time. These fluctuations are what most old earth scientists use to say that the current decrease is no more than just a fluctuation and that it is not a steady decrease (Richard). The young earth rebuttal for this again goes back to the Genesis flood. In a summary of Dr. Russell Humphrey’s paper on the magnetic field fluctuations of states that because the liquid of the outer core disrupted the electrical current during the flood there would have been what he called higher-order components (Humphreys). This means that there four poles or eight poles, etc, and these poles would die away faster than the two main poles. â€Å"The higher-order components can have either polarity, the strength of the field would fluctuate up and down, as different components died away at different rates.† If the young earth scientists proposed idea of the exponential decay of the magnetic earth of the field is correct then the earth cannot be more than 10,000 years old (Sarfati). At the rate that the field is currently decreasing, which has been calculated with the formula i = Ie-t/Ï„, the field would have been strong enough to melt the earth if it had been in existence longer than 10,000 years (sarfati). Conclusion Both of these groups of scientists have evidence that supports their main points. The earth’s magnetic field a very complicated system that has been around since the beginning of the earth. There has been much that scientists have learned from it and there are still many things that they have to learn about it.

Bollywood and Liberalization Essay

Bollywood as a term has been roughly in vogue for the last four decades and is synonymous to the Hindi film industry of Mumbai, formerly Bombay. But not until recently the term Bollywood has become a global phenomenon with the hay days of the economic liberalization or globalization in India since 1991. But before we delve deep into Bollywood, it is imperative that we should throw light on the economic phenomena of globalization and its socio-cultural impact on India. Towards a definition of globalization: According to the Oxford dictionary, globalization is the process by which businesses or other organizations develop international influence or start operating on an international scale. From the above definition of the term, it is difficult to draw its influence on a culture and its impact on a global scale. If we take the example of India, which in turn, is the world’s largest democracy and the largest potential market for its ever growing population, it should be borne in mind that Firstly, Globalization implies free trade and mobility of goods, which has flooded the Indian market with innumerable foreign products, Secondly, as the flood gates of foreign business opened to India, it exposed the indigenous business to the crude and highly demanding uneven market competition which resulted in the obliteration of a number of Indian companies. India was primarily a sellers’ market, but due to high population and a considerably huge market in comparison to the European ones with a few indigenous competitors, India turned int o a consumers’ market. According to Brian Longhearst, Globalization is a term that tries to capture the rapid social change that is occurring across a number of dimensions, including economy, politics, communications and culture†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. where socio economic life cannot be firmly located in a particular place with clear boundaries. Hindi films, by the turn of the last decade of the previous century, have been an embodiment of these socio economic shifts. These shifts are in accord with the cultural shift that has been inflicted by the globalized order of things. Spectrum of the Indian market had changed overnight due to the flooding of a host of foreign products in the indigenous markets. If we consider the classical Marxist approach of the relation between an economy and its culture, economy of a state is its base and the culture that thrives there is the superstructure built on that base. So an economic implication on a nation inevitably influences the cultural practice of the societies of that nation who are exposed to that economic base. In P. Joshi’s ‘Bollylite in America’, Bollywood has been meant for a ‘culture industry that remains constitutively international in production and global in consumption.’ Popular for its Hollywood remakes and reformulation of popular Hollywood films, other regional language films (Tamil, Telugu, Bengali, Bhojpuri, and Malayalam language) and even old films, the term Bollywood has come to represent both an acknowledgment of the debt the directors and technicians of the Hindi film industry owe to Hollywood for their creative ideas as well as a description which challenges the monopolistic hegemony of Hollywood across the globe. In this regard, Asish Rajadhyaksha presents a very interesting definition of Bollywood which enhances us to understand the industry in a better way than the usual consensus about Bollywood. According to him, Bollywoodization can be best understood as a †¦..diffused cultural conglomeration involving range of distribution and consumption activities. But this definition is prevalent only after it has incorporated the ethics and contradictory forces of globalization like privatization, and liberalization which changed the production and consumption of Mumbai films. The near universal legitimization of the term Bollywood (instead of Hindi cinema, Bombay cinema, Indian popular cinema, etc) is an index of larger social transformations taking place in India. Changes in the Film Industry from 1991 It is imperative to throw light on the media sector of India and its subsequent effect of the liberalization policies. With the arrival of the satellite and international television channels in 1991 in India, the media scenario underwent a radical change in the entertainment arena as well as the financial policies of the same. Hong-Kong based Star TV, a subsidiary of News Corporation, and CNN started broadcasting into India using the ASIAST-1 satellite. This was followed by an unprecedented and dramatic expansion of cable television. The ‘open skies policy’ under the new liberal economy suddenly exposed the Indian audience to a whole new set of cable channels from all around the world as well as from different regions of the country with their own regional languages. Hollywood films, whose views were limited to the availability of VHS cassettes and film halls, were now easily available on Star Movies and others. Therefore, the changes in the media landscape along with po licy initiatives by the state precipitated a number of changes which in turn altered the Hindi film industry in the most dramatic fashion. However, 1998 saw a landmark decision which accredited Bollywood with the status of industry which facilitated the film industry to avail financial support from the government – film industry became eligible for infrastructural and credit supports which was previously available to other industries. In addition to this, the film industry enjoyed reduction in custom duties on cinematographic film, complete exemption on export profits, and tax incentives. Changes in the Exhibition and Promotional System With the policy shifts owing to the liberalization process, single screen theatre halls were started being replaced with the multiplexes, especially in the metropolitan cities like Mumbai, Chennai, Bangalore, Delhi and Kolkata. With the sophisticated financial policies for films starting from its investment to its exhibition, the film industry became corporatized with a. development of websites for promotional activities of Bollywood films as well as the studios and the big production houses, b. aggressive marketing and promotional activities for film music, which was having a stiff competition with the newly found indie pop songs, c. incessant and aggressive campaigns of the newly released films in radio, television and other forms of media like mobile phones, d. increase in the ticket prices of the films in the multiplexes, e. the stars of the Hindi films started appearing in interviews, television shows and press meetings more than ever before, f. advertisements started endorsing the stars who became regular faces in the satellite television channels. According to Ravi Sundaram, circulation of thousands of various media objects (both old and new) in the forms of print flyers, signage, mobile phones, music cassettes and CDs, created a ‘visual frenzy’ centered around Bollywood. New Challenges for Bollywood It is true that the film industry turned into a new global Bollywood with a lot of economic and financial facilities only after the economic liberalization, but for the same open market policies cinema in India and all across the world started facing stiff challenges from other forms of media, especially television. Bollywood faced enormous pressure in every sense to maintain and attract the audiences to the film theatre from the tele-visual extravaganza. Previously the narratives were surrounded with the poverty stricken community and how a working class hero struggles to defeat the corrupt rich villains. It also accommodated the familial and community ties which proved to be more essential and core to the existence of the individual. But now Bollywood films increasingly began to depict India’s shifting relationship with the world economy through images of a hybrid relation between the national and global – there was interestingly some conscious deletion on thematic gr ounds like ‘jhoparpatti’ (slums) and struggling protagonist in poverty and community feeling more than the feeling of a responsible citizen. The new filmmaker of Bollywood started adopting thematic structures and narrative devices which are in accord with a broader audience who are exposed to international cinema, international sitcoms and a feeling of becoming a new global Indian under the happy charm of globalization – both economically and culturally. These strategies adopted by Bollywood to incorporate expanding audience tastes and desires can be best described as taking global formats equipped with updated visual styles, while localizing, adapting, appropriating, and ‘Indianizing’ theme . In this case, a term becomes central to the point of discussion – Glocalization, which is an amalgamation of globalization and localization. Structures of the newly evolved Bollywood films can be labeled as glocalization. Bollywood and the Glocal The term glocalization was first coined by Robertson in his seminal essay, ‘Glocalization: time-space and homogeneity-heterogeneity.’ In the essay, he rejects and nullifies the binaries between the global and the local, the centre and the periphery, universality and particularism as models to comprehend the phenomena of globalization. Considering these models to be inadequate, Robertson says that glocalization captures the dynamics of the local in the global and the global in the local. The theory of glocalization holds true for a phenomena like Bollywood in the era of globalization. Let us read these characteristics: a. As Robinson theorizes further, he proposes that the theory of glocalization as a way of accounting for both global and local, not as opposites but rather as ‘mutually formative, complementary competitors, feeding off each other as they struggle for influence’. Now, the polarization between the global and the local and the notion that the local undergoes a slow death under the immense pressure of the global orders does not hold true. In Bollywood films after globalization, we see a new sense of Indian nationalism has found its way – more than ground level patriotism of defeating the anti-nationalist villains, nationalism now is more of nostalgia for a motherland that the characters have left behind. Therefore, this patriotic feeling is invested in the Non Residential Indian characters in today’s films. Almost all the films produced today have their protagonists settled abroad, but are Indian to the core, or even if they are Westernized, it often becomes t he point of conflict in the film which finds its resolution in the national values and traditions of the native nation. An important term vehemently used in academics in this regard is ‘Diaspora’, which means the movement, migration, or scattering of people away from an established homeland. b. The very idea of glocalization has been attacked by many theorists for being apolitical in nature and being without any teeth or resistance to the sinister forces of globalization. The same dictum goes for Bollywood as it is an industry to cater to a wide audience ever more to generate profit. Going by this logic, there has been a deliberation by the Bollywood industry to shift its focus from one kind of target audience to the other kind – the target groups have shifted from the rural and urban lower, lower-middle and middle class to the necessarily urban upper and middleclass with special emphasis on the NRIs. But a simplistic critic of Bollywood will not be sufficient to understand the operatives and the cultural ramifications. Bollywood in the globalized context calls for an overall understanding of the global-local nexus and viewing glocalization as a mode of resistance as well as accommodation. According to many scholars, firstly, the new Bollywood has become a site of reconfiguration of locality and local subjects in the newly evolved cultural dimension under the economic liberalization. Secondly it served as an accounting for the new cultural trends and forms emerging at the intersections of the global and the local. Thirdly, it is also a mode of countering the frequently expressed fear of homogenization which becomes a part and parcel of the global flows of labor, culture or capitals. Lastly, Bollywood has become a recognition of the fact that when new ideas, objects, audio-visuals, spacial dimensions, social crisis, practices and performances are transplanted to another space, they bear the marks of history as well as undergo a process of cultural, political and ideological transcreations. In cinema, with the continuous production of global images of Indian residents, these different images, ideas and meanings attain faith and dependence on the highly varied local space s. Fashion, Location, Music, Choreography and Language – the Global Desi Bollywood Global Fashion, Local Sensibilities Not until the year of economic liberalization, India started being recognized as one of the most important fashion destinations of the world. Dresses were always being designed by the fashion designers for the Bollywood stars, but only recently have clothes become signed artifacts, and Bollywood styles and fashions become themselves separately marketable. Since liberalization, international fashion magazines like Verve, Vogue, and Elle publish Indian editions feature glossy photographs of Bollywood stars and models with various merchandising objects and designer dresses. The newly emerging fashion designers like Sabyasachi Mukherjee, Manish Malhotra, Wendell Rodricks, Ritu Kumar, Ritu Beri and many others had started participating in the most important international fashion shows at Berlin, Venice, New York and Rome became huge names in Bollywood. 1990s, especially the later part of the decade saw a shift in the way film costumes and clothes were being designed and produced. Indian v iewers were no more secluded into Doordarshan anymore, and hence the satellite television network threw a plethora of glitz, glamour and notions of beauty was undergoing a rapid change among the masses. Therefore, filmmakers started believing that emphasis on fashion is imperative in a successful marketing of Bollywood film. According Wilkinson-Weber, who has done extensive investigation into Indian fashion, notes Indian styles in film have themselves been subject to a fashion reinterpretation, contemporary designers have incorporated both their own designs, and designer label clothes from international markets into the looks they create for their actors. It is interesting to note that earlier in Hindi films of the 70s till the late 80s, there used to be a vamp, the ‘fallen’ woman, who would lead an immoral life and was supposed to be a violation of the traditional beliefs of India. These vamps personified the urban and modern tastes of society and ‘the temptations and corruptions of anti-Indianess where being Indian meant identifying with, and committing to, constructions of tradition and virtue. This is the woman who would wear revealing dresses, and almost all the designer dresses with innovative fashion statements including fashion accessories and make ups were invested on this character. But with liberalization the tradition was ‘won’ by the fashion world, we see that there is no necessity of these vamps who would exhibit the fashionable dresses. Instead of the vamps, the new Bollywood heroines became the site of the sensual body to exhibit a host of fashion materials. These materials are not only limited to Western flamboyant designs, but also includes expensive traditional wears like lehngaas and sarees. India embraced the global trends and reinvented its traditional culture with the irresistible waves of globalization and soon Bollywood became more cosmopolitan than the other regional language films. Western clothing was no more a sign of anti-Indianness and was no longer marginalized by the audience. Bollywood Space and its Hybridity Globalization, in other words, is a world economic integration, hastened by global treaties and transnational organizations such as WTO. This economic network has facilitated the functioning of a market-driven and advertiser supported consumption in an unprecedented scale. Immigration facilities, cheap air tickets and facilitation of infrastructural support for Bollywood in foreign lands allowed easy mobility in travel and tourism among the bourgeoning Indian middleclass as well as the Indian film crews. Not only the shooting became easy in foreign locations, it served a two-fold function to satisfy the desires of the two broad ranges of Bollywood audience – the first and the most lucrative film business is done in foreign lands, therefore the NRIs became the prime target for the films so that they can relate themselves with the known landscapes with Indian oneness on the screen; the second, now less important, being the Indian audience whose desire and longing for a picture p erfect and almost an ‘ideal state’ could be fulfilled on the screen with the exotic spaces of desire they can seldom visit. Moreover, the Indian government does not put any major tax on profits generated in foreign currencies which an Indian can bring home. This was a huge advantage for Bollywood for overseas business. The popular location shootings at Kashmir, Ooty and Shimla soon changed to the Swiss Alps, London and New York. In Karan Johar’s multi star-cast film, Kabhi Khushi Kabhi Ghum, one might notice that in a single song sequence Shahrukh Khan and Kajol were in Delhi, Switzerland, Cairo, and London. But shifts in cinematic locations have the tendency to create a sense of placelessness, even homelessness and alienation. While audiences recognize the allure of foreign locations, they also feel some loss and dissolution of long-held identities associated with spaces. But although there are these shifts in location, it does not delude its audience as the meanings of narratives remain irreducibly fixed to local meanings with local stories constantly revisited and even reinvented. These foreign locations, whether it is Mahesh Manjrekar’s Kaante, Karan Johar’s Kabhi Alvida Na Kehna or Kal Ho Na Ho, Rakesh Roshan’s Kaho Na Pyar Hain or Farhan Akhtar’s Dil Chahta Hain or Don, Bollywood films are always domesticated with Bollywood stars who speak in Hindi in foreign lands or for that matter we can hardly see any native of the foreign land making an entry in the actual story line. The international settings do not confer the fact that the local crisis or the local cultures will find its way in the Bollywood narratives unlike Hollywood. On the contrary, these foreign spaces will be necessarily Indianized and beautiful exotic locations become a part of the world the globalized Indians inhabit. No matter wherever the place might be, Bollywood will be always telling a story about an Indian girl and a boy and an Indian family with their entire traditional ramifications held intact. Bollywood responds to both global and local imperatives by exporting Indianness to exoticized backdrops. Music Hindi cinema is known for its music, not as an integral part of the narrative or the story line, but as a separate entity. According to noted filmmaker, Shyam Benegal: For Indian films, for their very sustenance, songs are very important. But that is because for any kind of Indian entertainment, particularly community entertainment, music and songs were essential features. But songs in an Indian film does not make it a musical. In India film, songs interrupt, sometimes they are part of a story†¦they are interludes. Hindi film songs were dominated by mushaira, ghazal, and qawali traditions with emphasis on Indian Classical Music. Songs were composed in the traditional Indian technique – based on ragas and tunes which were accorded to the Urdu lyric poems and traditional Hindi language. One thing should be noted here is that unlike the West, which thrives on a history of rich visual culture, Indian tradition thrives on an aural culture and therefore songs become an integral part of any representation. Globalized Bollywood adheres to the primacy of song and dance per se, and also to the function of the musical parts within the film as spaces of displaying sexual fantasies and a situation of eroticized communication. But the way in which the Hindi film music is composed now (based on chords rather than ragas as was the case previously) and packaged has undergone a huge change – instead of the classical base, most of the music has shifted to groovy hip-hops and incorporated various for ms of popular and rock arrangements. The reason seems to be very interesting, as Bollywood film music industry faced a big challenge in the 1990s with the advent of the newly found Indie popular music with the likes of bands like Silk Route and Euphoria, and individual stars like Lucky Ali, Kay Kay and a host of talented artists. As mentioned earlier, globalization has made Bollywood more corporatized and aggressive marketing strategies became its key areas to achieve financial success. These independent artists were appropriated by Bollywood – firstly to crush the competition and obliterate the threat of an unprecedented challenge put forward by the indie pop culture, but also to enrich film music with the inputs of these new trends and innovation of a music industry nurtured outside the film world. Language Globalized Bollywood has also witnessed a metamorphosis in the arena of spoken language. Usage of English has become more obvious than Hindi colloquial itself. Since independence the influence of Persian and Urdu was prominent in Hindi films. But globalization turned the spoken language into a hybrid one – a mix of Hindi and English. This trend was even reflected in the titles of the films which released after the 90s. This hybrid language has become the most common trend among the urban youth which has been infested to and by the plethora of glocal culture in satellite television channels which runs 24*7 in every household in India. Madhav Prasad in his essay ‘This thing called Bollywood’ finds out that the nationalist ideology of India was held together historically by a metalanguage which could properly articulate one nationalist sentiment. Prasad argues that in a globalized India, English provides the ideological coordinates of the new world of Bollywood films. According to him, English phrases and proverbs are liberally used to construct a web of discourse which the characters inhabit. Choreography An overlooked arena in Bollywood is the field of choreography. Through the ages, Bollywood choreography has gained considerable amount of sophistication and respect. This has also its influence drawn from the satellite television programs on dance competitions like Boogie Woogie and international and national music videos in channels belonging to a multinational corporation who gained their access in India only after globalization. Choreography in Hindi films, which was taken just as a time pass and was taken in the least serious way by the viewers, suddenly became a spectacle with huge investments and taking highly skilled artists and chorographers as item numbers. Another change that had taken place in globalized Bollywood films is a matter of a far more serious and economic concern – the accompanying dancers in Hindi films used to belong to the groups of junior artists, most of whom were from lower middle-class and slum areas. But suddenly this changed with Subhash Ghaiâ₠¬â„¢s Taal, which introduced the famous dancer Shyamak Davar and his group which replacing the former setting of junior artists as dancers. Accompanying dancers in contemporary Bollywood evolved from junior artists to highly skilled and upper class professional dancers, courtesy to a number of modern dancing schools. This has further evolved to foreign dance troops who come as packages with other facilities when a Bollywood film is shot abroad. Since the early 1990s, there has been an explosion in the number of foreign women dancers who are used as extras for the song and dance sequences in films (Mumbai film industry’s demand for foreign dancers has brought a large number of women from Eastern Europe and Russia). Since 1960, Hindi films’ nationalism through the role of women represented Western women as primarily ‘immoral and sexually accessible to the Indian male’ and as embodiment of unbridled sexuality. The trend is still continuing today and the value judgment of women based on their sexuality and chastity is immensely significant for the audience. Indian viewers recognize the influx of these foreign women into the song and dance sequences and equate their presence with overt sexualization of film choreography. As V.Lal puts it in his essay ‘The Impossibility of the Outsider in Modern Hindi film’, over sexualization of song and dance may create a cultural threat and anxiety, but such tensions are appeased with a logic that the ‘foreign’ backup dancers can be ‘sexy’ but the ‘Indian’ heroines and heroes have to maintain the decorum of modesty and tradition. Globalization has made song sequences a site of absolute and flawless pleasure, but seldom have we talked about the particular class of junior artists, who are perished under the new liberalization aesthetics. However, maintaining the tradition-modernity and sober-obscene construct of the Bollywood notions in accord with its audience has become a conventional practice with the Indian heroines gearing up in both Western and traditional attires and participating in the same choreography with the ‘other’ cultural representations through the white women (both blonde and brunette) who wear revealing dresses and symbolize sexual ecstasy. It is of course a niche created by the globalized Bollywood according to G. Gangoly in his essay ‘Sexuality, Sensuality, and Belonging: Representations of the Anglo-Indian and the Western Women in Hindi Cinema’. It is a curious fact that the integration of MTVization, especially the beach party reality shows like Grind and due to new trends in advertisements with star endorsements has further eased the tension of this stance of traditional sanctity in contemporary Bollywood films. Heroines are more global than ever, sexually more liberated than the previous years and the women characters are gaining more independence in terms of economic and social structure as the space of unfolding of the narrative is mostly New York, London or any other first world city. We see the evolution of super stars like Katrina Kaif, whose very presence reminds us that our women of desire in cinema is an Indian who exhibit and combine the beauties and characteristics of a white woman too. Globalization has embraced Bollywood cinema not to impose the global cultures in the Indian terrain neither to challenge the cultural archetypes, nor to question the nationalist feelings into jeopardy. On the contrary, the national image and the desire of the nation as an emerging global power under the umbrella of the United States is reconfigured and consolidated in a new way. Bollywood through its films have invested a vision of portraying itself to the world as a global superpower, not from the military point of view, but as a highly skilled and updated human resource tank whose representations are manifested through the protagonists and their friends inside, and mostly outside the country. But this is not the only agenda that Bollywood has – the cultural ramifications and re-endorsements of the familial emotions along with the Non-residential Indian community feelings are of prime importance. As Bourden points out, with the changes in media production, consumption, and ex hibition, ‘locality is produced as one’s sense of difference from the global, but the new locality is no longer a spontaneous expression of given, long-held local traditions. Glocalization has helped Bollywood not only to link the spaces far and broad stretching to different continents, but also to invent the localities which are hybrid in nature, but national in culture. An Indian audience in contemporary times aspires to be a global citizen, and Bollywood becomes a key cultural impetus through which global is constructed locally just as the local is constructed globally. 3. OBJECTIVE i. To understand the cultural ramifications of the terms ‘globalization’ and what we understand as ‘Bollywood’ in particular reference to Mumbai (previously Bombay) film industry. ii. To understand the various impacts of globalization on Hindi films not resulting in mutation of the Hindi film cultural but a new coexistence of hybridity. iii. To trace the impact of the new ‘glocal’ or hybrid culture on various aspects of Hindi popular cinema challenged by the ever changing Indian media under globalization. 4. SUMMARY With the new market liberalization policies, Indian media scenario underwent a rapid change in the way it reached to its audience. Waves of change in the Indian media industry penetrated into the Hindi film industry as well. This marked a departure of the Hindi popular cinema from the way it operated in the eighties and deliberately changed the way its ways both as an industry and as a commercial product as well. Hindi popular cinema, preferably termed as Bollywood, under the new global ethics became international in production and global in consumption, at the sometime maintaining and reiterating facets of what we may call Indian culture (mostly limited to the upper caste Hindu North Indian culture). This may be termed as ‘glocalization’ which means global ideas with local stories. The new Bollywood also came with the over-arching presence of the NRIs who gained importance in the new Bollywood of globalization. With the overseas business and opportunity of this certainl y influenced and changed the way in which Hindi popular incorporated locations, songs, choreography and a number merchandizing items starting from fashion, accessories to other commercial products. FAQs: 1. As a term, has Bollywood got anything to do with Hollywood? Bollywood as a term is a mixture of ‘Bombay’, the earlier name of Mumbai and Hollywood. Linking the mainstream Hindi film industry with the name of the world’s biggest film industry not only become a feeling of pride but also a tribute to the artists and technicians of Hollywood for the dexterity of work. 2. If globalization is an economic aspect, why does it influence the cultural aspect as is the case with Bollywood? As already mentioned, if we follow the classical Marxist approach, most of the times the shift in the economic base influences shifts in other aspects of life – i.e. a shift in the base inevitably influences a shift in the superstructure – the structure which is placed above the base. Hence, any cultural aspect is bound to be influenced if the economic base undergoes a shift. Therefore, with the change of the nature of the market, a commercial industry like Bollywood has to respond to the market ethics and hence has to change itself accordingly. 3. What is culture industry? Culture Industry as a term was coined by the Marxists Theodore Adorno and Max Horkheimer belonging to the Frankfurt School. The original essay is known as Culture Industry: Enlightenment as Mass Deception†, of the book Dialectic of Enlightenment (1944), where they proposed that the all the representations of popular culture including radio, print television and a part of cinema are produced and reproduced standardized cultural goods just like any other manufactured good coming out of the factory whose only objective is nothing philosophical and eclectic, but generating capital. 4. How is Bollywood considered to be a culture industry? A lot of scholars refer this term to Bollywood because Bollywood is a mainstream commercial industry whose objective is also profit generation, which is more than ever in the era of globalization. 5. Why does Bollywood invest so much on narratives related to NRIs? NRIs, or non-residential Indians have gained primacy in films as characters and as audience primarily to generate a market in the overseas. It has been a trend after globalization because the restrictions and taxes which were there previously in overseas business is eased to great extent and hence the profit generation of the new Bollywood films have been easier than before. 6. Why does Bollywood shifted from the pan-Indian audience to a more specific target group of the urban elites? As India is often been imagined as a developing country, there has been a trend of converting each and every class, whether rural or urban, into ideal consumers. Logic of consumption is best found in the urban areas where products, goods and services of all levels are readily available. Moreover, the logic of development in most of the cases have become the process of expansion of urban areas where the rural population is fast being converted into urban ones. Hence, Bollywood cinema is akin to this development and the new rural-converted-urban populace has started finding meaning in the new Bollywood. Therefore, with the influx of so many products and goods, targeting the urban elite will actually incorporate the fast transforming rural population into the same group. 7. In spite of having a lot of songs, why does a Hindi film never become a musical genre? If we pay attention to the cultural history of India, it will be clear that the India has rich heritage in aural culture, unlike the visual one of the West. hence the cultural rendering of a song or ,music piece in the West is entirely different from that of the Indian subjects. so, in spite of inclusion of a number of songs into films, the film is never been perceived as a musical genre. 8. If India has accepted globalization, why do the Hindi films stick to traditional elements? Globalization has hardly anything to do with modernity or tradition. Rather, if we consider glocalization as a valid point which has a deep effect on the film industry, globalization will inspire us into exploring the new markets and plethora of products has to offer and at the same time clinging on to the roots of tradition (to the extent of discovering and rediscovering them in a new way). So more the NRIs will feature with all the elements of Western culture, more facets of traditional inputs will visible in the image reproduction of Bollywood. 9. In spite of shooting at locations far off from the homeland, the characters of the Hindi films never feel alienated and homeless. Why? Because Hindi films never involve its characters, plots and other elements with the foreign ones. Although the locales are away from home, the ethics, morality and sentiments remain Indian to the core. 10. Why is it so that the Bollywood had been forced to change itself after globalization? With the advent of open market policies, Indian media saw the rise of various television channels including film channels where the audience for the first time could watch all the films just sitting back at home. Bollywood had to turn to newer ways to attract the Indian audience who are suddenly facing the pleasures of the satellite channels, not only in terms of its production quality, but also its marketing policies.

Spear of Longinus Essay

Spear of Longinus Essay Spear of Longinus Essay Directions: Rewrite the plot of â€Å"The Devil and Tom Walker†. Remember to keep the same message and general plot but make the story modern. Plot One of the Famous Pirates, Captain Kidd stole money and gold and hid before be executed. From that time on, people all over the world searched in many places for Captain Kidd's stolen money. The people who lived in Massachusetts in the seventeen hundreds believed Captain Kidd buried some of his treasure near Boston. The story said that this treasure was protected by the devil himself, who was a good friend of Captain Kidd. In 1727, a man named Tom Walker lived near this place. All he wanted was money and he could do everything for money. And his wife had same personality as Tom. Even though He knew story about devil in the forest where he used to walk, he didn’t care about it and only thing that he worried about was his wife. He saw a giant sitting on a broken tree. Tom had never seen such a man. He wore the clothes of an Indian. His skin was almost black and covered with ashes. His eyes were big and red. But Tom Walker was not afraid. The strange man laughed and pointed to the tall trees. Tom saw that one of the trees had been cut by an ax. The stranger laughed and said, "I have every right to cut these trees. This land belonged to me a long time before Englishmen came to Massachusetts. Tom Walker now knew that the giant was the Devil himself. But Tom Walker was still not afraid. He knew the stranger knows where the Pirate Kidd's treasure; therefore, he asked him about it. Giant offered Tom had to agree to give the giant what he demanded. Tom Walker loved money as much as he loved life. But he asked for time to think. Tom went home. He told his wife what had happened. She wanted Captain Kidd's treasure. She urged him to give the Devil what he wanted. Tom said no. Mrs. Walker decided to do what Tom refused to do. She was never seen again. He finally found his wife's cloth; however, only thing that he could get from the cloth was heart. Tom finally decided that he would give the giant what he wanted in exchange for Captain Kidd's treasure. One night, Tom Walker met the giant and offered his soul in exchange for Captain Kidd's treasure. Giant said that Tom would have to use the treasure to do the Devil's work. But even he could not agree to buy and sell human beings as slaves. He refused to do this. The Devil then said that his second most important work was lending money. The men who did this work for the Devil forced poor people who borrowed money to pay back much more than they had received. Spear of Longinus According to Gospel of John, a soldier pierced Jesus with his spear to check death of Jesus. The spear that pierced Jesus called Holy Lance or Spear of Longinus. The spear has been known as a sign of power and authority. As powerful leaders conquered the world or got immense power of authority of a nation with the spear, there is legendary story, ‘whoever gets this spear will have the power to conquer the world.’ First person had Holy Spear was Constantine the Great. He brought the spear everywhere like as a talisman. His achievement was incredible, re-united the Roman Empire, brought Catholic as a public religion, and defended the territory against enemies. Karel Martel, another leader who had the spear, also kept the spear in every war he fought and protected the Europe from the Islam. First Emperor who conquered West Europe, Charles the Great had this spear and won 47 wars; however, he died when he accidentally dropped it. Besides them, 42 emperors had Spear of Longin us in a thousand years. In the twentieth century, ownership of Spear of Longinus was Austria; however, Adolf Hitler took the spear by forced from them for the desire of conquest the world. When he saw the spear, his man who stood beside him said, â€Å"when we first stood side by side in front of the Spear of Destiny it appeared to me that Hitler was in so deep a condition of trance that he was suffering

Sociology of Religion

Sociology of Religion Not all religions share the same set of beliefs, but in one form or another, religion is found in all known human societies. Even the earliest societies on record show clear traces of religious symbols and ceremonies. Throughout history, religion has continued to be a central part of societies and human experience, shaping how individuals react to the environments in which they live. Since religion is such an important part of societies around the world, sociologists are very interested in studying it. Sociologists study religion as both a belief system and a social institution. As a belief system, religion shapes what people think and how they see the world. As a social institution, religion is a pattern of social action organized around the beliefs and practices that people develop to answer questions about the meaning of existence. As an institution, religion persists over time and has an organizational structure into which members are socialized. Its Not About What You Believe In studying religion from a sociological perspective, it is not important what one believes about religion. What is important is the ability to examine religion objectively in its social and cultural context. Sociologists are interested in several questions about religion: How are religious beliefs and factors related to other social factors like race, age, gender, and education?How are religious institutions organized?How does religion affect social change?What influence does religion have on other social institutions, such as political or educational institutions? Sociologists also study the religiosity of individuals, groups, and societies. Religiosity is the intensity and consistency of practice of a person’s (or group’s) faith. Sociologists measure religiosity by asking people about their religious beliefs, their membership in religious organizations, and attendance at religious services. Modern academic sociology began with the study of religion in Emile Durkheim’s 1897 The Study of Suicide in which he explored the differing suicide rates among Protestants and Catholics. Following Durkheim, Karl Marx and Max Weber also looked at religion’s role and influence in other social institutions such as economics and politics. Sociological Theories of Religion Each major sociological framework has its perspective on religion. For instance, from the functionalist perspective of sociological theory, religion is an integrative force in society because it has the power to shape collective beliefs. It provides cohesion in the social order by promoting a sense of belonging and collective consciousness. This view was supported by Emile Durkheim. The second point of view, supported by Max Weber, views religion in terms of how it supports other social institutions. Weber thought that the religious belief systems provided a cultural framework that supported the development of other social institutions, such as the economy. While Durkheim and Weber concentrated on how religion contributes to the cohesion of society, Karl Marx focused on the conflict and oppression that religion provided to societies. Marx saw religion as a tool for class oppression in which it promotes stratification because it supports a hierarchy of people on Earth and the subordination of humankind to divine authority. Lastly, symbolic interaction theory focuses on the process by which people become religious. Different religious beliefs and practices emerge in different social and historical contexts because context frames the meaning of religious belief. Symbolic interaction theory helps explain how the same religion can be interpreted differently by different groups or at different times throughout history. From this perspective, religious texts are not truths but have been interpreted by people. Thus different people or groups may interpret the same Bible in different ways. References Giddens, A. (1991). Introduction to Sociology. New York: W.W. Norton Company.Anderson, M.L. and Taylor, H.F. (2009). Sociology: The Essentials. Belmont, CA: Thomson Wadsworth.

Biography of Marian Anderson, American Singer

Biography of Marian Anderson, American Singer Marian Anderson (February 27, 1897–April 8, 1993) was an American singer known for her solo performances of lieder, opera, and American spirituals. Her vocal range was almost three octaves, from low D to high C, which allowed her to express a broad range of feelings and moods appropriate to the various songs in her repertoire. The first black artist to perform at the Metropolitan Opera, Anderson broke numerous color barriers over the course of her career. Fast Facts: Marian Anderson Known For: Anderson was an African-American singer and one of the most popular concert performers of the 20th century.Born: February 27, 1897 in Philadelphia, PennsylvaniaParents: John Berkley Anderson and Annie Delilah RuckerDied: April 8, 1993 in Portland, OregonSpouse: Orpheus Fisher (m. 1943–1986) Early Life Marian Anderson was born in Philadelphia on February 27, 1897. She demonstrated a talent for singing at a very young age. At 8 years old, she was paid 50 cents for a recital.  Marian’s mother was a member of a Methodist church, but the family was involved in music at Union Baptist Church, where her father was a member and an officer. At Union Baptist Church, young Marian sang first in the junior choir and later in the senior choir.  The congregation nicknamed her the â€Å"baby contralto,† though she sometimes sang soprano or tenor. She saved money from doing chores around the neighborhood to buy a violin and later a piano. She and her sisters taught themselves how to play. Marian’s father died in 1910, either of work injuries or a brain tumor.  The family moved in with Marian’s paternal grandparents. Marian’s mother did laundry to support the family and later worked as a cleaning woman in a department store.  After Marian graduated from grammar school, Anderson’s mother became seriously ill with the flu and Marian took some time off from school to raise money through her singing to help support the family. After high school, Marian was accepted into Yale University, but she did not have the funds to attend. In 1921, however, she received a music scholarship from the National Association of Negro Musicians.  She had been in Chicago in 1919 at the first meeting of the organization. The church members collected funds to hire Giuseppe Boghetti as a voice teacher for Anderson for a year; after that, he donated his services. Under his coaching, she performed at Witherspoon Hall in Philadelphia.  He remained her tutor and, later, her advisor, until his death. Early Music Career Anderson toured with Billy King, an African-American pianist who also served as her manager, at schools and churches. In 1924, Anderson made her first recordings with the Victor Talking Machine Company.  She gave a recital in New York’s Town Hall in 1924 to a mostly white audience and considered quitting her musical career when the reviews were poor.  But a desire to help support her mother brought her back to the stage. Boghetti urged Anderson to enter a national contest sponsored by the New York Philharmonic.  She placed first among 300 contestants, which led to a concert in 1925 at Lewisohn Stadium in New York City where she sang with the New York Philharmonic. The reviews this time were more enthusiastic. Anderson went to London in 1928. There, she made her European debut at Wigmore Hall on September 16, 1930. She also studied with teachers who helped her expand her musical capacities.  In 1930, Anderson performed in Chicago at a concert sponsored by the Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority, which had made her an honorary member.  After the concert, representatives from the Julius Rosewald Fund contacted her and offered her a scholarship to study in Germany. There, she studied with Michael Raucheisen and Kurt Johnen. Success in Europe In 1933 and 1934, Anderson toured Scandinavia, performing 30 concerts funded in part by the Rosenwald Fund.  She performed for the kings of Sweden and Denmark. She was enthusiastically received;  Jean Sibelius invited her to meet with him and dedicated â€Å"Solitude† to her. Coming off her success in Scandinavia, Anderson made her Paris debut in May 1934. She followed France with a tour in Europe, including England, Spain, Italy, Poland, the Soviet Union, and Latvia.  In 1935, she won the Prix de Chant in Paris. Return to America Sol Hurok, an American impresario, took over management of her career in 1935, and he was a more aggressive manager than her previous American manager had been.  Hurok organized a tour of the United States. Her first concert was a return to Town Hall in New York City.  She hid a broken foot and cast well, and critics raved about her performance.  Howard Taubman, a critic for The New York Times (and later a ghostwriter of her autobiography), wrote, â€Å"Let it be said from the outset, Marian Anderson has returned to her native land one of the great singers of our time.† Anderson was invited to sing at the White House by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1936- she was the first black artist to perform there- and he invited her back to the White House to sing for a visit by King George and Queen Elizabeth. 1939 Lincoln Memorial Concert 1939 was the year of a highly publicized incident with the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR).  Sol Hurok attempted to engage the DAR’s Constitution Hall for an Easter Sunday concert in Washington, D.C., with Howard University sponsorship, which would have had an integrated audience.  The DAR refused the use of the building, citing their segregation policy.  Hurok went public with the snub, and thousands of DAR members resigned from the organization, including, quite publicly, Eleanor Roosevelt. Black leaders in Washington organized to protest the DAR’s action and to find a new place to hold the concert.  The Washington School Board also refused to host a concert with Anderson, and the protest expanded to include the School Board.  Leaders of Howard University and the NAACP, with the support of Eleanor Roosevelt, arranged with the Secretary of the Interior Harold Ickes for a free outdoor concert on the National Mall.  Anderson accepted the offer. On April 9, 1939, Easter Sunday, 1939, Anderson performed on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. An interracial crowd of 75,000 heard her sing in person.  Millions of others heard her as well because the concert was broadcast on the radio.  She opened with â€Å"My Country ‘Tis of Thee.† The program also included â€Å"Ave Maria† by Schubert, â€Å"America,† â€Å"Gospel Train,† and â€Å"My Soul Is Anchored in the Lord.† Some see this incident and the concert as the opening of the civil rights movement.  Though she did not choose political activism, Anderson became a symbol of the struggle for civil rights. The War Years In 1941, Franz Rupp became Anderson’s pianist.  They toured together across the United States and South America and began recording with RCA.  Anderson had made several recordings for HMV in the late 1920s and 1930s, but this arrangement with RCA led to many more records.  As with her concerts, the recordings included German lieder and spirituals. In 1943, Anderson married Orpheus King Fisher, an architect. They had known each other in high school when she stayed at his family’s home after a benefit concert in Wilmington, Delaware; he had later married and had a son.  The couple moved to a farm in Connecticut, which they called Marianna Farms. King designed them a home with a music studio. Doctors discovered a cyst on Andersons esophagus in 1948, and she submitted to an operation to remove it. While the cyst threatened to damage her voice, the operation also endangered her voice.  For two months she was not allowed to speak and there were fears that she might have suffered permanent damage.  But she recovered and her voice was not affected by the procedure. Opera Debut Earlier in her career, Anderson had refused several invitations to perform in operas, noting that she did not have opera training.  In 1954, however, when she was invited to sing with the Metropolitan Opera in New York by Met manager Rudolf Bing, she accepted the role of Ulrica in Verdi’s A Masked Ball, debuting on January 7, 1955. This role was the first time in the Met’s history that a black singer- American or otherwise- had performed with the opera.  In her first performance, Anderson received a 10-minute ovation when she first appeared and ovations after each aria. The moment was considered momentous enough at the time to warrant a front-page New York Times story. Later Accomplishments In 1956, Anderson published her autobiography, My Lord, What a Morning. She worked with former New York Times critic Howard Taubman, who converted her tapes into the final book. Anderson continued to tour. She was part of presidential inaugurations for both Dwight Eisenhower and John F. Kennedy. In 1963, she sang from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial again as part of the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom- the occasion of the â€Å"I Have a Dream† speech by Martin Luther King, Jr. Retirement Anderson retired from concert tours in 1965.  Her farewell tour included 50 American cities.  Her final concert was on Easter Sunday at Carnegie Hall. After her retirement, she lectured and sometimes narrated recordings, including the â€Å"Lincoln Portrait† by Aaron Copeland. Andersons husband died in 1986. She lived on her Connecticut farm until 1992, when her health began to fail. She moved to Portland, Oregon, to live with her nephew James DePreist, the music director of the Oregon Symphony. Death After a series of strokes, Anderson died of heart failure in Portland in 1993, at the age of 96.  Her ashes were interred in Philadelphia in her mother’s grave at Eden Cemetery. Legacy Anderson is widely considered one of the greatest American singers of the 20th century. In 1963, she was given the Presidential Medal of Freedom; she later received the Congressional Gold Medal and the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. A documentary film about her 1939 Lincoln Memorial performance was added to the National Film Registry in 2001. Sources Anderson, Marian. My Lord, What a Morning: an Autobiography. University of Illinois Press, 2002.Keiler, Allan. Marian Anderson: a Singers Journey. University of Illinois Press, 2002.Vehanen, Kosti, and George J. Barnett. Marian Anderson, a Portrait. Greenwood Press, 1970.

Race and Ethnicity (population of the US) Essay

Race and Ethnicity (population of the US) - Essay Example The American colonies were based on social class and religion, not skin color, for their first 50 years (Adelman, 2003, p. 22). 1800 - 1810 - The second census was taken under the direction of the Secretary of State and included the states and territories northwest of the Ohio River and Mississippi Territory. The count included head of household, free white males, free white females, other free persons (except Indians) and slaves. The count was 5.3 million people and grew to 7.2 million in 1810. 1820 - The categories were expanded to include head of household, free white males and females by age group, foreigners not naturalized, free colored by age group, male and female slaves by age group, number of all other persons except Indians (not taxed). The total was 9.6 million people. 1830 - Blind persons, blind slaves and colored persons, deaf-mutes, deaf-mute slaves and colored persons, and white aliens were categorized, with a total of 12.9 million people. In 1828, Andrew Jackson had made removing all Indians east of the Mississippi central to his agenda, considering them inherently unable to be civilized (Adelman). According to Adelman, race is a concept that was invented to categorize the perceived biological, social and cultural differences between human groups (p. 20). 1840 - The census was expanded to include occupat... e, sex, color; occupation of males over 15; value of real estate, place of birth, change of status within the year, whether person could read or write if over 20, whether deaf-mute, blind, insane, an idiot, a pauper or a convict. Slave schedules were also included. Total was 32.4 million people. 1870, 1880, 1890- The census was expanded to include Chinese, mulatto and Indian, in addition to white and black. The Chinese had come to America to build the railroads in the west. The Civil War and Abraham Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation had ended slavery. The census was divided into citizens over 21 and whether their right to vote was denied. Total was 38.6 million people in 1870 and 63 million people by 1890. The industrial revolution was underway, increasing immigrant population, and a special census was taken in 1890 to count Civil War veterans and widows of veterans. 1900-1930 - The population grew from 92.2 million to 123.2 million and categories were divided into sub categories with the addition of employment status (during the Great Depression), whether occupant was a farmer or a homeowner, and citizenship was broken down into years in U.S., aliens applying for citizenship, naturalized citizens. Anyone with any black ancestry at all was counted as black (Wright, 1994). 1940-2000 - The current U.S. Federal Government's Racial and Ethnic Group Classification System is uniquely American and includes American Indian or Alaskan Native; Asian; Black or African American; Hispanic or Latino; Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander, and White (About.com: Current, 2008). The more that is done to divide the population of the United States into groups, the more confusing these categories become. The concept of biological race calls for one ethnic origin, and there is no