...category of cultural identity in Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s The Thing Around Your Neck Dr Elizabeth Jackson University of the West Indies St Augustine, Trinidad and Tobago Having begun my academic career, not so long ago, as a postcolonial scholar, I have become increasingly critical of postcolonial theory on the grounds that for an increasing number of literary texts by so-called postcolonial writers, postcolonial theoretical approaches may have outlived their usefulness. One example is the Nigerian-born writer Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s collection of short stories The Thing Around Your Neck, published in 2009. My paper will examine the ways in which these stories explore the limits of diaspora as a category of cultural identity and move toward a more flexible conceptualization of the impact of globalization on people’s sense of themselves and their place in the world. Although the main characters in these stories are of Nigerian origin, few of them fit easily into the limiting categories of ‘Nigerian’ or ‘Nigerian diaspora’. This is not only because their geographical placement is often in flux, but also because their sense of identity is not based on nationality, national origin, or even a sense of belonging to a Nigerian diaspora. On the contrary, they can arguably be described as ‘cosmopolitan’ – not in the old elitist sense of the term, but in the sense of transcending the limitations of nationality or national origin as a category of cultural identity. Indeed...
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...which indicated that the ratio of consumers using online services has raised from 8 per cent in 2010 to 30 per cent now while call volumes are in a declining trend. Application of concepts There are some concepts related to socio-cultural environment and corporate social responsibility (CSR) in this action taken by Telstra. As the company stated, jobs cut is necessary and it is an aggressive push to costs cut, which caused by changes in customer preferences (Battersby 2012). Richard (n.d) outlined that a successful business must be aware of changes in cultures in societies in order to stay competitive advantage and stay in minds of customer preferences. Further, the growth of Internet use has become as abundant evidence leads to emerging of global culture; therefore global strategy should be revised as social cultural environment changed (Morrison 2008). According to Dani Rodrik (cited in Tan n.d), professor of international political economy at Harvard's Kennedy School of Government, the global integration of goods and services has not only reduced the barriers of trade, but also created conflict between nation's norms, institutions and collective preferences. CSR is demonstrated in offshore jobs may be difficult for the company because of cultural differences, as reported by Battersby (2012). Moreover, the Community and Public...
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...Romaine Smith Susan Doody ENG 111 02/14/13 Outline The positive impact music has on one’s identity In his musical lyrics, Bob Marley, a singer, songwriter and musician, motivates people across the world with his positive and encouraging music. In his biggest hi “One Love, One Heart, Let’s Get Together and Feel Alright,” created an atmosphere of love and exhilaration 2among people of different backgrounds and culture. After his death, Marley was venerated by people all over the world for his outstanding work and role model to the society. An icon had died. The positive influence of a song can reflect one’s character in different ways. One’s culture, attitude and appearance create an identity that can leave a positive impact on society. The cultural identity is those attributes, behavior patterns, lifestyles, and social structures that distinguish a person from another. Culture is learned and passed through generations and includes the believes and value system of a society. If we can examine the role of culture in a group formation, for example. If participants are told they share musical taste with an individual, they are more likely to appraise them positively and want to become their friend….. All these components of culture have an effect on one’s character. Music can have both positive and negative influences on one’s attitude. For example, a child that tends to listen more positive and...
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...Identity based views of the corporation Insights from corporate identity, organisational identity, social identity, visual identity, corporate brand identity and corporate image Abstract Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to consider advances in corporate identity scholarship on the occasion of the tenth anniversary of the first special edition of corporate identity to appear in the European Journal of Marketing in 1997. Design/methodology/approach – The paper takes the form of a literature review. Findings – The notion of, what can be termed, “identity-based views of the corporation” is introduced. Each of the ten identity based perspectives that inform the above are underpinned by a critically important question which is believed to be of considerable saliency to marketing scholars and policy advisors alike. As a precursor to an exposition of these ten perspectives, the paper discusses five principal schools of thought relating to identity and identification ((the quindrivium) which can be characterised as: corporate identity (the identity of the organisation); communicated corporate identification (identification from the organisation); stakeholder corporate identification (an individual, or stakeholder group’s, identification with the organisation); stakeholder cultural identification (an individual, or stakeholder group’s, identification to a corporate culture); and envisioned identities and identifications (this is a broad category and relates to how an organisation, or group...
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...this goal. Unfortunately, the iCall did not bring the success that Taiwan Taxi hoped it would which left management questioning why the system worked so well in one country and not the other. The answer to this lies in the cultural differences and a lack of understanding of the Taiwan labor force that is currently working in the taxi industry. In order to successfully implement the iCall in Taiwan, management needs to tie value to the system in order to gain support from its employees and the public. This can be done internally through the use of incentive programs, as well as externally though marketing and advertising efforts focused on safety and efficiency. Problem Statement and Project Goals Management’s failure to understand cultural differences and their impact on the implementation of a GPS system in Taiwan has led to Taiwan Taxi’s failure in obtaining its 20,000 member goal. Analysis Management Taiwan Taxi based their implementation of the iCall after the success of a similar GPS system in Singapore. The company reasoned that since Singapore and Taiwan were similar in size and density that Taiwan would have equal success in the implementation of new technology in their taxi cabs. Management however, failed to realize that the severe cultural differences would play a significant role in the success of the iCall. Many subscribers felt that the iCall system added no value to their services. One user explained, “You know what; the GPS is actually useless. You...
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...Ondaatje’s novel as a “mystery of identity” (449). Similarly, Aritha van Herk identifies “fear, unpredictability, secrecy, [and] loss” (44) as the central features of the novel and its female protagonist. Anil’s Ghost, van Herk argues, presents its readers with a “motiveless world” of terror in which “no identity is reliable, no theory waterproof” (45). Ondaatje’s novel tells the story of Anil Tessera, a Sri Lankan expatriate and forensic anthropologist working for a UN-affiliated human rights organization. Haunted by a strong sense of personal and cultural dislocation, Anil takes up an assignment in Sri Lanka, where she teams up with a local archeologist, Sarath Diyasena, to uncover evidence of the Sri Lankan government’s violations of human rights during the country’s period of acute civil war. Yet, by the end of the novel, Anil has lost the evidence that could have indicted the government and is forced to leave the country, carrying with her a feeling of guilt for her unwitting complicity in Sarath’s death. On one hand, Anil certainly embodies an ethical (albeit rather schematic) critique of the failure of global justice. On the other, her character stages diaspora, in Vijay Mishra terms, as the “normative” and “ exemplary … condition of late modernity” (“Diasporic” 441) — a condition usually associated with the figure of the nomad rather than the diasporic subject — and thus raises questions about the novel’s regulatory politics of diasporic identity. In contrast, Anita Rau Badani’s...
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...existence. There are more or less 7 billion people living in this world and very few of them could mark their name by doing some exceptional things in their lives. Some are famous and loved by most of the people while there are some people who are notorious and people dislike them. But majority of the people in this world are simply good for nothing. They come and they die and nobody even notice their presence and their absence as well. (Olson, 2002) If we have to categorize the expression of identity we may find that basically there are two different classes of identity these are social identity and personal identity. Social identity is a collective identity. Social Identity refers to the procedure by which people use to be characterized themselves in terms as well as groups which they share in the company of other inhabitants in the society. (Deaux, 2001) Social identity theory is a prominent theory, which may highlights the way of social identification of the people. The theory of social identity is a theory, which is intended to...
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...RUNNING HEADING: CULTURAL DIFFERENCES University of Phoneix September 23, 2013 Dr. Victoria Anyikwa Culture refers to a set of shared values, beliefs, and norms held by individuals of a group. Culture includes customs, material artifacts, and language that is transmitted from generation to generation. In the United States alone, there are several cultural differences. People do not dress the same, have the same religion, people have different perceptions of the world around them, have different languages, and also have different ways of expressing their personality. Differences between individuals within a culture are much greater than differences within groups. A person's belief, personality, sexual preferences, social standing, education, among other factors affect human behavior and culture. Recognizing and understanding differences in cultural patterns provides a framework for interpreting goals and behaviors of others. The purpose of this paper is to analyze religion and sexual identify/ orientation and point out their significance in understanding cultural differences. Religion Religions throughout the world are distinct in differences and relationship, with some having faith in saints, some in sacrifices and some in multiple gods. Religion is observed throughout the world in unlike traditions in few factors or other and can affect an individual’s behavior in his or her own tradition. According to Santrock (2010), people in numerous traditions will carry...
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...Question 1 Economic factors include economic growth, interest rates, exchange rates and the inflation rate. These factors have major impacts on how businesses operate and make decisions.. There are economic differences that influence the relationship between the partners at Shui Fabrics. Chiu Wai operated Shanghai Fabrics LTC located in China, before it became a joint venture with Rocky River Industries in the United States. When the companies became a venture, Chiu Wai became the Deputy General Manager for Shui Fabrics in China and venturing company Rocky River Industries located in US. Ray Betzell who is the General Manager for Shui Fabrics came to China from Rocky River Industries. Many companies who do business in others countries and cultures fail miserably. Managers must do their homework and learn the business ethic and culture lifestyles before even considering venturing into markets in different counties. To me it seems like neither of the managers did their homework and are having problems maintaining the economic factors that influence their company Political officials are going to be a big part of the team because they have strong influence on economic life in China. Ray must reach out to them and understand their goals. Success will depend on the personal involvement of top executives. The partners differ dramatically in terms of what constitutes an acceptable financial return. Chiu Wai is happy with achieving a 5% to 6% profit and believes he is viewed as a local...
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...Azerbaijan, officially the Republic of Azerbaijan is the largest country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia. Located at the crossroads of Western Asia and Eastern Europe, it is bounded by the Caspian Sea to the east, Russia to the north, Georgia to the northwest, Armenia to the west, and Iran to the south. The exclave of Nakhchivan is bounded by Armenia to the north and east, Iran to the south and west, while having a short borderline with Turkey to the northwest. Azerbaijan has an ancient and historic cultural heritage. The country was among the birthplaces of mankind and is located at the heart of ancient civilizations. Furthermore the country is known to be among the most progressive and secular Islamic societies. Aside from having been the first Muslim country to have operas, theater plays, and a democratic republic, Azerbaijan today is among the Muslim countries where support for secularism and tolerance is the highest. The Azerbaijan Democratic Republic, the first democratic and secular republic in the Muslim world, was established in 1918, but was incorporated into the Soviet Union in 1920. Azerbaijan regained independence in 1991. The Constitution of Azerbaijan does not declare an official religion but the majority of people adhere to the Shia branch of Islam, although Muslim identity tends to be based more on culture and ethnicity rather than religion and Azerbaijan remains as one of the most liberal majority-Muslim nations. The pre-Turkic Azerbaijani population spoke...
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...Separated by nearly half the circumference of the globe and long divided by the political dichotomy of the Cold War, Azerbaijan and the United States in many ways seem an odd pair. Yet in the international order that has taken shape since the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991, these two countries have gradually realized that they share a similar global outlook and that many of their differences are complementary. Indeed, they are undoubtedly natural allies. Small, but resource-rich, Azerbaijan has for centuries served as a bridge between Europe and Asia, a link between East and West, and a convergence point of diverse forms of Christianity (Orthodox/Apostolic/Heretical) and diverse forms of Islam (Shiah/Sunnah). At the beginning of the 21st century the country is at the epicenter of global energy issues (and thus geopolitics) and is poised to serve as a hub of international trade and services between Europe, Russia, China, and the Middle East. Still, Azerbaijan is a country in transition. Like the rest of the independent states that formed in the wake of the Soviet empire’s demise, Azerbaijan is establishing and coming to terms with its political identity and role in the post-Cold War international framework. While the country’s abundance of natural resources and strategic location are great assets, they are also a liability, and Azerbaijan faces threats from regional powers on its road to becoming a modern, independent and democratic state. The United States is an important...
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...National Interests”. THE NEXT PATTERN OF CONFLICT WORLD POLITICS IS entering a new phase, and intellectuals have not hesitated to proliferate visions of what it will be -- the end of history, the return of traditional rivalries between nation states, and the decline of the nation state from the conflicting pulls of tribalism and globalism, among others. Each of these visions catches aspects of the emerging reality. Yet they all miss a crucial, indeed a central, aspect of what global politics is likely to be in the coming years. It is my hypothesis that the fundamental source of conflict in this new world will not be primarily ideological or primarily economic. The great divisions among humankind and the dominating source of conflict will be cultural. Nation states will remain the most powerful actors in world affairs, but the principal conflicts of global politics will occur between nations and groups of different civilizations. The clash of civilizations will be the battle lines of the future. Conflict between civilizations will be the latest phase of the evolution of conflict in the modern world. For a century and a half after the emergence of the modern international system of the Peace of Westphalia, the conflicts of the Western world were largely among princes -- emperors, absolute monarchs and constitutional monarchs attempting to expand their bureaucracies, their armies, their mercantilist economic strength and, most important, the territory they ruled. In the process they...
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...Clash Of civilisation The Clash of Civilizations (COC) is a hypothesis that people's cultural and religious identities will be the primary source of conflict in the post-Cold War world. It was proposed by political scientist Samuel P. Huntington in a 1992 lecture at the American Enterprise Institute, which was then developed in a 1993 Foreign Affairs article titled "The Clash of Civilizations? in response to his former student Francis Fukuyama's 1992 book, The End of History and the Last Man. Huntington later expanded his thesis in a 1996 book. Huntington began his thinking by surveying the diverse theories about the nature of global politics in the post-Cold War period. Some theorists and writers argued that human rights, liberal democracy, and capitalist free market economy had become the only remaining ideological alternative for nations in the post-Cold War world. Specifically, Francis Fukuyama argued that the world had reached the 'end of history' in a Hegelian sense. Huntington believed that while the age of ideology had ended, the world had only reverted to a normal state of affairs characterized by cultural conflict. In his thesis, he argued that the primary axis of conflict in the future will be along cultural and religious lines. As an extension, he posits that the concept of different civilizations, as the highest rank of cultural identity, will become increasingly useful in analyzing the potential for conflict. In the 1993 Foreign Affairs article, Huntington writes: ...
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...the reason why countries look for allies in different nations with the same beliefs. Religion is the biggest factor that will cause division and it is already proven between Christianity and Islam. From the ancient times until this very day religion and our beliefs is the cause of war, because we fight for what we believe. Rise of civilization against the other started in the ancient times. And until today, the conflict continues. It will never be solved because we have differences and those differences are what make us unique as a person and as a nation. You may hate someone because of the type of civilization, and you may also like someone because of it. Civilization is the identity of a nation. The Next Pattern of Conflict The source of conflict is not merely ideological or economical, cultural tradition is the greatest reason for division in our world. The western countries had conflicts between princes, their armies, even constitutional is because of their economic stand and the land that they ruled. During the ancient times, the Americans fought for their land because of the British Empire that wants to colonize their land. The Founding Fathers stood against them and later on made a move to make a constitution for their protection. The western civil war is not because of their religion but because of the borders that they can conquer, they want to own more territories for power. The conflict was set because of the difference in our culture, style, and way of living...
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...------------------------------------------------- List based on Fearon's analysis[edit] In the Fearon list, cultural fractionalization is approximated by a measure of similarity between languages, varying from 1 = same language to 0 = languages that are completely unrelated.[3] This index of cultural diversity is biased towards linguistic variations as opposed to racial and other variations. Ethnic and Cultural diversity (2003)[3] | Ethnic Diversity Rank | Country | Ethnic Fractionalization Index | Cultural Diversity Index | 1 | Papua New Guinea | 1.000000 | - | 2 | Tanzania | 0.953000 | 0.564000 | 3 | Democratic Republic of Congo | 0.933000 | 0.628000 | 4 | Uganda | 0.930000 | 0.647000 | 5 | Liberia | 0.899000 | 0.644000 | 6 | Cameroon | 0.887000 | 0.733000 | 7 | Togo | 0.883000 | 0.602000 | 8 | South Africa | 0.880000 | 0.530000 | 9 | Congo | 0.878000 | 0.562000 | 10 | Madagascar | 0.861000 | 0.192000 | 11 | Gabon | 0.857000 | 0.382000 | 12 | Kenya | 0.852000 | 0.601000 | 13 | Ghana | 0.846000 | 0.388000 | 14 | Malawi | 0.829000 | 0.294000 | 15 | Guinea-Bissau | 0.818000 | 0.568000 | 16 | Somalia | 0.812000 | 0.290000 | 17 | India | 0.811000 | 0.667000 | 18 | Nigeria | 0.805000 | 0.660000 | 19 | Yugoslavia (1943-1992) | 0.801000 | 0.385000 | 20 | Central African Republic | 0.791000 | 0.511000 | 21 | Ivory Coast | 0.784000 | 0.557000 | 22 | Lebanon | 0.780000 | 0.195000 | 23 | Chad | 0.772000 | 0.727000...
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