Showing papers on "Westernization published in 1995"

Balkan Tragedy: Chaos and Dissolution after the Cold War

Abstract: Yugoslavia was well positioned at the end of the cold war to make a successful transition to a market economy and westernization. Yet two years later, the country had ceased to exist, and devastating local wars were being waged to create new states. Between the fall of the Berlin Wall in November 1989 and the start of the war in Bosnia-Herzegovina in March 1992, the country moved toward disintegration at astonishing speed. The collapse of Yugoslavia into nationalist regimes led not only to horrendous cruelty and destruction, but also to a crisis of Western security regimes. Coming at the height of euphoria over the end of the cold war and the promise of a "new world order," the conflict presented Western governments and the international community with an unwelcome and unexpected set of tasks. Their initial assessment that the conflict was of little strategic significance or national interest could not be sustained in light of its consequences. By 1994 the conflict had emerged as the most challenging threat to existing norms and institutions that Western leaders faced. And by the end of 1994, more than three years after the international community explicitly intervened to mediate the conflict, there had been no progress on any of the issues raised by the country's dissolution. In this book, Susan Woodward explains what happened to Yugoslavia and what can be learned from the response of outsiders to its crisis. She argues that focusing on ancient ethnic hatreds and military aggression was a way to avoid the problem and misunderstood nationalism in post-communist states. The real origin of the Yugoslav conflict, Woodward explains, is the disintegration of governmental authority and the breakdown of a political and civil order, a process that occurred over a prolonged period. The Yugoslav conflict is inseparable from international change and interdependence, and it is not confined to the Balkans but is part of a more widespread phenomenon of political disintegration. Woodward's analysis is based on her first-hand experience before the country's collapse and then during the later stages of the Bosnian war as a member of the UN operation sent to monitor cease-fires and provide humanitarian assistance. She argues that Western action not only failed to prevent the spread of violence or to negotiate peace, but actually exacerbated the conflict. Woodward attempts to explain why these challenges will not cease or the Yugoslav conflicts end until the actual causes of the conflict, the goals of combatants, and the fundamental issues they pose for international order are better understood and addressed.

Linguistic Ecology: Language Change and Linguistic Imperialism in the Pacific Region

Abstract: In this book, the author examines the transformation of the Pacific language region under the impact of colonization, westernization and modernization. By focusing on the linguistic and socio-historical changes of the past 200 years, it aims to bring a new dimension to the study of Pacific linguistics, which up until now has been dominated by questions of historical reconstruction and language typology. In contrast to the traditional portrayal of linguistic change as a natural process, the author focuses on the cultural and historical forces which drive language change. Using the metaphor of language ecology to explain and describe the complex interplay between languages, speakers and social practice, the author looks at how language ecologies have functioned in the past to sustain language diversity, and, at what happens when those ecologies are disrupted. Whilst most of the examples used in the book are taken from the Pacific and Australian region, the insights derived from this area are shown to have global applications. The text should be useful for linguists and all those interested in the large scale loss of human language.

Poland's first post-communist generation

Abstract: The post-communist condition education the economy routes into the workforce unemployment lifestyles, youth cultures and consumerism young people and their families politics westernization?

The Westernization of Asian Print Advertising

Abstract: This study examines the extent to which Western cultural influence is visible in the print advertising of four Asian countries: Hong Kong, Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan. To measure the level of Westernization of print advertising, two indicators were used: The presence of Western models and/or celebrities and the inclusion of Western language or words. It was found that English was the dominant Western language contained in the sampled ads and Western females were the most frequently portrayed Western models. Judicious use of Western words and of Western models is called for in order to minimize possible cultural backlash against overt foreign influences.

The Dilemma of the Modern in Japanese Fiction

Abstract: A look at modernity in Japanese literary culture as a continuing historical dynamic rather than as merely the product of the intense Westernization of the 19th and early-20th centuries.

The Jews of the Balkans: The Judeo-Spanish Community, 15th to 20th Centuries

Abstract: Community and society economy and culture Eastern Sephardi Jewry in the era of westernization paths of politicization the end of the Judeo-Spanish Balkans - the holocaust and migrations.

The Amelioration of the Slaves in the British Empire, 1790-1833

Abstract: The last stages of slavery in the British Empire revolved around the Amelioration Policy, a program aimed at improving the quality of life for the individual slave and transforming the institution into a more benign social entity. Rather than preserving the institution of slavery, the Amelioration Policy accelerated its decline. The implication of the legal and economic aspects of the policy led to demographic changes in Mauritius and was a major motivating factor in the Great Trek of 1834. From this study, historians will be able to learn about the problems of translating eighteenth-century humanitarian concepts into practical policy. This book illustrates a long neglected aspect of European imperial activity: the diffusion of Western culture among Third World peoples. The Amelioration Policy established the methods by which Westernization took place in the European colonial empires.

Networks and Synchronisms in Southeast Asian History

Abstract: It is truly not easy to write a "well integrated" history of Southeast Asia. If today, anybody feels such a necessity, the procedure is far from obvious, and thus the utility of using a special issue such as the present one to take stock of the situation is quite evident. The main difficulty is in fact to transcend the heaviness of regional, colonial and then nationalistic histories which have strongly partitioned off the historical space. A first comparison can be made here when looking at all the historical studies made in Europe, whose space was equally partitioned off, and where one can feel, for the same reasons of political circumstances, that there is also a need for a "global" vision. However "real" the difficulties encountered by the Europeans in trying to trace the lineaments of a common historical speech, it seems obvious that they are minor compared to the difficulties faced by their Southeast Asian colleagues. This can be explained on the grounds of the following three points: (1) The first is that twice in history, during "Antiquity" and again in the "Middle Ages", Europe experienced real attempts at political integration. What we are talking about here is of course the Roman Empire which succeeded in integrating the Mediterranean periphery (mare nostrum) and the Holy Roman Empire, historically and symbolically related to the preceding, which succeeded in federating several territories of Europe (especially Middle Europe and Spain) throughout many centuries. During this second period, the strength of "Christianity", which could give rise to diverse collective and international enterprises (such as the Crusades), as well as the usage of Latin, the most important means of communication for men from one end of Europe to the other, also helped to create, in the long run, the idea of a common destiny. There has never been such a political unity in Southeast Asia, which on the whole was only hit by two big disturbances, both of short duration; the Sino-Mongol attacks at the end of the thirteenth century and the 1942-45 Japanese occupation. (2) The second point we can call the "graphic breaking off". One has to make an exception of the countries which make up the Theravada world, Burma, Thailand, Laos and Cambodia, which managed to keep their own scripts and therefore have more direct access to their literature and history. But elsewhere, if giving up Chinese ideogrammes (in Vietnam) and the Arabic and Javanese script (in Malaysia and Indonesia) has strongly facilitated "westernization" and thus has given a real access to "modernity", it has on the other led in a few generations to an alienation with considerable effects of which people speak too little. The emergence of "orientalism" and the coming of printing which could have given rise to a more "scientific" collation and a better dissemination of the texts did not make up for the loss, either for the death of the Scriptoria whose manuscripts were the means of transmission, or for the total disorganization of the traditional, local and collective libraries (taman bacaan). Indeed some efforts were made during the colonial era (see for example the efforts of Balai Pustaka in the Dutch Indies), and in particular after independence, to produce Romanized transcriptions of the ancient texts and to have them published. But today in the 1900s, there is still no complete and handy edition of either the Serat Centini, or the Bustan us-Salatin, which are according to specialists, not only two literary masterpieces, but also two of the main sources of Archipelago history. (3) The third reason is no doubt the most serious one. In Europe, the educational systems are organized in such a way that any young student must have a basic knowledge of the neighbouring countries. This is certainly not made without prejudices, or regardless of other requirements (on Asia for example), but any young European has at least once during his studies read a translation of a play by Shakespeare or a novel by V. …

The impact of Western forms of social control on China

Abstract: This paper examines the impact of Western forms of social control on China. It first documents Western influences on Chinese law-making, policing, corrections, legal education, and control techniques under Qing, the KMT, and the CCP. It then analyzes the imperatives on and motivations from the Chinese to borrow Western control ideas and practices through modernization, denial of ethnocentrism, and participation in the world community. The channels through which Western forms of social control break into China are identified as third-party countries, communications, exchanges, and carry-in by imperialists and investors. In the end, Westernization, socialism, and Chinese characteristics are brought together to reflect upon possible changes in Chinese social control between de-politicization and politicization of offenses, pervasive surveillance of thoughts and acts and exclusive control of deviant and criminal behavior, informal and formal justice, crime control and due process, and rehabilitation and just deserts. The central points are: (1) Western impact on Chinese social control is a part of Western dominance in the global political economy; (2) Western influence helps China develop a legal and social control system which lends protection to individual rights but undermines various community-or virtue-based control measures which have proved effective and humane in maintaining harmony and order; and (3) As it continues modernization through foreign investments, trades, technological exchanges, and international participation, China will have to import more Western social control ideas and means to deal with its social reality increasingly similar to that of the West.

Japan's money politics

Abstract: The standards of what is considered moral or immoral behaviour in politics are heavily influenced by the cultural context and social traditions. Not only does each democracy have its own idea of right and proper conduct for politicians, it also has a view of how relations between elected representatives and officials should be managed. These points are clearly illustrated by looking at recent moves towards reform in the political life of Japan. Despite ‘Westernization’ over many decades, Japanese traditions of gift giving are embedded in political life and political and industrial groupings have highly developed mechanisms of influencing the administration.

Bibliography of Works Consulted

Abstract: This book asks if the nobility could lead the Westernization of Russia in early modern times. Its yardstick is Humanism and the Latin Classics, which dominated education in Europe, but with which Russia's government only flirted, and most in society rejected.

Protective Factors for Drug Abuse

Abstract: Popular literature often describes the two faces of Japan. One face presents the country’s ability to constantly adapt to and modify what comes from outside, such as technology, fashion, and language. This trait is acknowledged by the Japanese, who know their ancestors produced the Japanese language from a combination of indigenous phonetics and Chinese characters. The other face of Japan, however, shows its ability to adhere to traditional and even ancient values and customs in the face of global Westernization. These seemingly contradictory traits can confound non-Japanese observers.