Religious Education Coursework Assignment Essay Example for Free

Religious Education Coursework Assignment Essay COURSEWORK QUESTION: a) (i) What is Hajj? (ii) Describe and explain why a Muslim would take part in Hajj and what this involves [40] b) (i) Explain the meaning and significance of the events of Hajj for a Muslim. (ii) What difficulties might there be for a Muslim performing Hajj? (iii) How might participating in Hajj affect the life of a believer? [35] c) â€Å"A true pilgrimage is really a journey within.† Do you agree with this statement? Give reasons to support your answer and show that you have thought about different points of view. You must refer to Islam in your answer. [25] A (i)Hajj is the pilgrimage to Makkah, a Muslim-only city. Tourists aren’t welcome to Makkah; Hajj is for Muslims to get closer to God and isn’t meant to be a tourist attraction. It is the duty of every healthy and financially stable Muslim to complete Hajj once in their lifetime. It is a deeply spiritual journey for the millions of Muslims who complete Hajj every Muslim year, between 8 and 13 Dhul-Hijjah – the final month. Some Muslims may prefer to visit Makkah on a pilgrimage at another time in the year, but this is not considered as important as Hajj, and is called Umrah. Because so many Muslims want to experience Hajj for the first time, those who have done it before often do Umrah instead. Hajj is the fifth of the five pillars of Islam; the basis of the religion. It is meant for the sane and mature Muslim mind, and it is usually considered an honour to die during one’s Hajj, as it is widely believed burial in the city of Makkah will bring Muslims clo ser to their God, and is a good indication of their dedication to Islam. A (ii)Hajj is widely considered essential in order to be a devout Muslim. It is one of the five pillars of Islam which are the biggest and main requirements of the religion. It is considered that Hajj is something of a ticket to heaven in the afterlife. The pilgrimage is to show ones self to Allah, and let him be the judge of character. With a good Hajj comes a peaceful afterlife and paradise. It is not just a physical practice, for true meaning a pilgrim must enter a whole new mindset and way of living, at least for the days of Hajj. This was of living is called Ihram, and is the first obligatory rite of Hajj. All men must wear two white unhemmed sheets so that all look alike, and wealth, age and status in general is not even considered. Whilst in Ihram, Muslims should not argue, swear, kill (even insects!) or participate in a sexual relationship even accompanied by husband or wife. Ihram creates an equilibrium and purity for Hajj. It unites every pilgrim and crates a pure mental canvas solely ready to think about nothing but God. The physical part of Hajj is all about recreating significant and very old events in Islam. First the pilgrims all run or walk quickly around the Ka’bah seven times, if close enough they will touch or kiss it. They then pray close to the Ka’bah, near Maqam Ibrahim. Next the Muslims rush between Marwah and Safa, two hills; seven times. The hills are linked now by a corridor for convenience and safety. After doing this, the pilgrims must make their way to the plain of Arafat, around 20km from Makkah. The pilgrims stand under the sun from midday until sunset praying to Allah, and asking for forgiveness. After this the pilgrims go to Muzdalifah to pray, collect stones and camp overnight. In the morning the pilgrims go to Mina to throw seven stones at three walls. After stoning the walls pilgrims make a sacrifice, often through companies nowadays. The sacrificed animal is the either frozen for future use or given to the poor Muslim community to eat. Men then shave their heads, and women cut off a lock of hair, usually a small amount; a few centimetres or a quarter. Muslims are then allowed to exit Ihram, changing into their normal clothes. They camp at Mina for three nights, and then return to Makkah to walk around the Kabah once again. They then drink water from the ZamZam well and their Hajj is complete. They are then a male Hajji, or a female Hajjah. B (i)Carrying out the actions of Hajj is not meaningful without a proper understanding for the ideas behind each procedure. It is all about representing the past and having empathy for Muhammad (PBUH), Ibrahim his son Ismah’il and others. The Kabah is a cube-shaped building supposedly first constructed for God by the first man Adam. It was washed away in Noah’s time, but Ibrahim and his son Ismahil rebuilt it. It is covered in a black cloth called kiswah with verses of the Qu’ran stitched into it. The Kabah is rebuilt on the same foundations by the same method when it needs to be, and the cover is re-made every year, after it is cut up and given to some lucky pilgrims as a memento of their journey. The Ka’bah is the very first house of God and many prophets have visited it. It is for this reason that pilgrims feel such closeness and representation to God when they visit it during Hajj. Tawaf is the circling of the Ka’bah seven times. To begin, the pilgrims can kiss the Black Stone al-hajar-al-aswad or just raise their hands towards it (on the east corner of the courtyard) and recite a prayer. After this the Pilgrims rush around the Ka’bah seven times to represent the fact that their lives revolve around God. It is the first thing that the pilgrims do when they arrive in Makkah. Tawaf is the second rite of Hajj, after Ihram, mentioned earlier. The second event is called the sa’i, where pilgrims rush between the hills Marwah and Safa, to show perseverance and patience. This is what Ibrahim’s wife Hajar did as she desperately searched for aid as her and her thirsty son came close to death in the desert. This part of Hajj can be very tiring and difficult under the blazing sun, despite there being a modern corridor built especially for sa’i. Hajar’s patience was rewarded by God with a spring of water that appeared at her son Ismahil’s feet, which was named the ZamZam well; today it is in the courtyard of the great Mosque in Makkah. Sa’i is not a compulsory part of Hajj but is usually included in the pilgrimage, and has a deep meaning. The pilgrims travel to Mina, a city of tents near the plain of Arafat. In Ihram, the Muslims are united and equal; they sleep side by side often grouped only by language if anything. All of the pilgrims sleep in tents in their Ihram clothes, poor and rich sleep aside each other as the devout, proud and fellow Muslims of Hajj. The following day the pilgrims travel to Mount Arafat for the most important part of Hajj, where they stand before Allah and ask forgiveness for all of their sins. This is the third obligatory rite of Haj j. Mount Arafat is also known as the ‘Mount of Mercy’ and is supposed to be where God forgave Adam and Eve for their sins and reunited them, after previously separating them for wrongdoing. Here the Muslims stand before God, the wuquf. The pilgrims stand from midday to sunset praying, weeping and meditating, all under the searing Saudi sun. The afternoon of wuquf is purely concentrated on Allah, and some pilgrims have to rush to make the stand, as without it their Hajj is invalid. Everyone is expected to stand alone and analyse every wrong doing individually, and pray to Allah for forgiveness for their sins. In this rite, repent is essential, and if pilgrims are truly sorry for their sins, it is said they will be completely purified and forgiven by Allah, and can start again, as pure as the day they were born. It is an unforgettable experience and is savoured by every pilgrim. After wuquf, pilgrims travel to camp in Muzdalifah in time for prayers in the evening. Here they usually collect 49 pebbles for the ramy al-jamarat (stoning of the devil) the following day. In 2004 Saudi authorities got rid of the pillars and replaced them with long walls, to make the stoning the devil process easier and therefore safer. Hund reds of people have died in the large crowds all trying to get a good shot at the pillars. On the first day of the process, after a night in Muzdalifah, the first wall is stoned 7 times. The following days each of the three walls has to be stoned 7 times for two consecutive days. This means 49 pebbles are required, but if the pilgrims miss any shots they may need at least 21 extra pebbles to stone all three walls 7 times the following day. This seems like a strange ritual when no background is supporting it, but there is good meaning. Ibrahim was told by God one day he had to sacrifice his son Ismah’il. Ibrahim made his way to the place of sacrifice, abiding Allah’s instruction, after consulting his son who told him to do what he had to. On the way the devil appeared before him first to try and tempt him not to sacrifice his son, and the angel Gabriel, the messenger of God told him to â€Å"pelt him†. Ibrahim threw 7 pebbles at the devil and it disappeared. It soon reappeared along the way, this time representing the temptation of Hajar to stop her husband sacrificing her son to God, and Gabriel told Ibrahim to â€Å"pelt him† again. He did what he was told and threw 7 stones at the devil who once again disappeared. The devil appeared a third time along the road, to tempt Ismahil to avoid being sacrificed. Gabriel’s order to â€Å"pelt him† was followed by Ibrahim, and the devil then disappeared for the final time. Ibrahim’s loyalty and resistance to the devil was rewarded by God when Ibrahim was told to stop as he prepared to kill his son. He was told by God to sacrifice a ram instead, and Ibrahim’s resistance to temptation paid off. Ramy al-jamarat shows the pilgrim’ s dedication to God’s wishes, and rejection to the temptations of the devil. Most Muslims make a sacrifice after stoning the devil, to recreate Ibrahim’s experience as closely as possible. Because there are so many pilgrims who want to make a sacrifice, there are special companies, who make it on their behalf and feed the poor. What cannot be used immediately to feed the poor Muslim community is frozen and used later. After making a sacrifice, male pilgrims have their heads shaven by a person who is not in Ihram and women have usually around an inch cut off. Pilgrims usually change into their normal clothes and do a single Tawaf; this is the fourth obligatory rite of Hajj. After doing this single Tawaf the Muslims are now officially Hajjis or Hajjahs as a female. They can then return home but most choose to stay and visit other places such as Medina, where the prophet Muhammad (PBUH) was buried. B (ii)There are many factors to prevent Muslims going to Hajj. It is said Allah excuses these factors. It is intention or niyyah that counts with the pilgrimage, and when there is something to prevent Muslims from attending it, they will be excused by Allah. The most common circumstance is poverty. There are around 1.4 billion Muslims in the world, and many live in poverty. Lots of Muslims will save up most of their life to do Hajj, and by the time they have enough money to go, they are of old age and aren’t physically able. In this case the Muslim can pay another existing Hajji to attend on their behalf, or donate their savings for Hajj to charity. If they do this they will be blessed as fully as if they had completed Hajj themselves. For those who can’t afford Hajj, they can donate their available savings for Hajj to charity. They will receive the full Hajj benefits also. If a Muslim passes away on their way to carry out Hajj, they will receive the full blessing also, they have died making a commitment to their religion, this shows devotion and niyyah if anything does! Of course there are difficulties that could occur during Hajj. Because around two million pilgrims undergo Hajj every year, and are all dressed in near identical garments, it is very likely that groups will be separated for the period of Hajj. This may seem like a panicking time but Muslims in Ihram will be very sympathetic and helpful with each other in such circumstances, and probably take on new members into their travel groups. The overwhelming feeling of closeness to God on Hajj is enough to eliminate any feelings of worry for the meantime anyhow, so separation doesn’t cause much of a fright. Those unfortunate enough to die during Hajj are proud. It is a blessing to be buried in or near Makkah, close to God. Passing away making commitments to Islam is an honour, and a will is usually written before leaving for Hajj anyway. For those who fear the physical strain of Hajj, or are encouraged not to repeat the journey if they have already, Umrah is the lesser pilgrimage which can be carried out all year round. It involves the seven rotations of the Ka’bah (Tawaf), the Sa’i (Between Marwah and Safa) and a halq or taqsir; which is to cut the hair. Taqsir is shortening hair; halqis the complete head shave. B (iii)Hajj creates equilibrium, and a sympathetic atmosphere among the pilgrims who share the highs and lows of the journey. For most, the journey strengthens and confirms their commitment to Islam. After Hajj, a Muslim is more likely to be more courteous to people in general, and more at ease with life. Once a good Hajj is completed, the afterlife should be more peaceful and happy. Some Muslims like the experience of the pilgrimage so much they move to a Muslim country if they do not live in one already, as they like the convenience and feeling of togetherness and empathy. Hajj strengthens the belief of many Muslims, and if they weren’t a very good Muslim before Hajj, they might feel the need to be more committed to their faith, and practice Islam more regularly. Although for most the pilgrimage of Hajj is a blessing experience, some may have felt let down and disengaged during the journey. For those who could not get into a good Ihram, or feel true belief in God on the mount of mercy; their belief in Islam and Allah may have been hindered. C To me, this statement means that although all of the processes of a pilgrimage are physical, the true idea is the thoughts within the pilgrim’s mind and the intention, empathy and symbolism of what they are doing in the pilgrimage. The vast majority of Hajjis find the sacred journey to Makkah nourishing and feel they have found forgiveness from Allah. As they travel around the different rites of Hajj they cherish the experience and remember the meaning of each process, going back as far as the time of Adam and Eve. They enter a new realm as they stand before God on the Mount of Mercy, are unable to hold in their tears and are swept with emotion. On the other hand, Hajj is purely a physical process for some pilgrims. It isn’t supposed to be, but some can’t get into the frame of mind which is intended during the pilgrimage. The journey is supposed to be emotional, deeply thoughtful and soul cleansing. To some Muslims, their belief may be slightly hampered by the fact they struggle to get into a real Ihram. They will get their money’s worth on the trip and see people from all different cultures following the same rituals, but not feel truly engaged in the experience. Some people might argue that if you go on Hajj, and carry out the same processes as the prophets did, that is adequate in displaying your devotion to Allah and Islam. Some may say the fact that so much is physically required of them in Hajj, that alone shows they are a devout Muslim. Personally, I fully agree with the statement, because I would say that Hajj is a journey to Makkah to carry out the rites, and a true Hajj is a deep and thoughtful journey not only to Makkah, but to the bottom of a pilgrim’s heart. Although carrying out Hajj is a blessing experience cherished by Muslims, it is not truly meaningful unless they feel a certain dedication and spiritual enrichment on their journey.

Housing need and demand

Housing need and demand Q.2 In assessing current and future housing requirements how would you distinguish between the concepts of housing need and housing demand? Housing need and demand are planning issues for many countries around the world, it’s important that â€Å"adequate shelter is available and accessible to meet the needs of an ever-increasing population in many urban settlements† (David, 2002:31). The operation of the UK housing market has seen problems over recent years and is the focus of much discussion (Jones and Watkins, 2009:11). UK policies aim to address three major issues of housing shortages, housing quality and housing affordability. Housing markets can be complex, â€Å"housing markets should supply the right kind of units and the right time in the right places† (Downs, 2004:73). Failure to achieve this raises several implications that have been felt in UK. Even though housing shortage is arguably a symbol of success, growth and competiveness all vital to creating a successful economy (Tallon, 2010:216), it has obvious problems. This essay aims to explore more closely the difference between housing ne ed and demand as well as the factors they depend on for current and future housing requirements. By identifying the issues that housing need and demand depend upon, the essay will explain the effect this has particularly in the UK and some possible trends for the future. Finally the essay will critically explain several approaches to estimating housing requirements that take into account some of the issues raised. Housing need and housing demand can often be confused yet they have different meanings. Every household has a housing need irrespective of income or type of housing. Housing need is described as â€Å"the quantity of housing required to accommodation of the agreed minimum standard and above for a population given its size and household composition without taking into account the household `s ability to pay for the housing assigned to it† (Robinson, 1979:56-57). This is not be confused with housing demand which is defined as the relationship between â€Å"the price of housing and the quantity and quality of housing for which people are able and willing to pay† (Shucksmith, 2002:61). An individual or household has an unmet housing need when they fail to exercise effective demand for decent housing (Oxley, 2009:6). By satisfying housing need it enables the empowerment of people to be able to live in satisfactory housing despite their possible inability to afford it (Tighe and Mueller 2013:87). Most housing problems are essentially †problems of a lack of effective demand for decent housing† (Oxley, 2000:2), It is therefore vital that the correct housing is built to meet the needs of the population; this will increase the demand for housing and play a significant role in improving the economy. Housing need depends on various factors that will differ from country to country particularly in developing countries (Struyk, 1998:21). Firstly the population in the UK is growing; this creates greater numbers of households requiring more housing. â€Å"Household numbers for England are expected to grow by an average annual rate of 220,000 over the decade to 2021† (Wilcox and Perry, 2013:8) shown in Appendix A, as a result more housing must be built in order to accommodate this need. 122,590 new homes were started in 2013 which is a 23% increase from 2012 shown in appendix B (DCLG, 2014:4). Household numbers are rising due to population growth putting pressure on housing, infrastructure, schools and hospitals (Madden et al. 2010:3). Households are also changing, people are living longer meaning housing must cater for elderly people, building more retirement housing could consequently free up family homes for young people thus solving some housing need issues (Best and Porteus , 2012:3). Longer life expectancy means Households are staying together for longer, it’s now suggested that 60% of over 60`s own their home outright (DCLG, 2013:18). Households have different housing needs, not everyone demands a one bedroom house for example the most common household between 2011-12 was couples with no dependent children accounting for 35% of the population (DCLG, 2013:18). Household patterns are constantly changing over time, its vital therefore that the correct housing is supplied to meet current and future needs, the number of one-person households is expected to grow in the UK by 60% by 2025-30 and as a result this must be addressed (OECD, 2011:29). The standard of living is increasing in the UK; this means that people now expect more from their homes. Some countries have now â€Å"shifted from increasing the number of units to increasing the quality of units† (Noguchi and Poterba, 1994:224), certain amenities such as double glazing windows used to be a luxury now it is almost expected in most properties. â€Å"Quality and affordability are key for housing in a western society† (Pacione, 2009:215), the minimum standard of housing is rising meaning there is a requirement for ‘decent, safe and secure housing both with new builds and renovations` (GLA, 2013),†Poor housing impacts directly on residents’ health and educational attainment† emphasising the need for quality housing (Wilson, 2010:76). This not only an issue of new homes but also of existing housing both with social housing and in the private rented sector, many existing social houses were built decades ago and therefore their condit ion may be lacking in standard. Vale (2013:114) explains another pressure on housing standards, the increasing pressure to build environmentally friendly and efficient housing. One of the main elements to assessing housing needs is to examine existing stock as â€Å"existing stock usually accounts for the majority of dwelling stocks† (Xue, 2013:65), of which in wales 83% is in the private sector (welsh Government, 2008:26). Current stock must be reviewed when considering calculating housing requirements for the present and future; this is explained later in the essay. This finally leads onto the type housing needed; â€Å"the biggest problem is that as a country we are simply not building enough affordable homes† (Shelter, 2013) and therefore the public needs are not met, the type of houses build should also reflect the population’s household structure. Housing demand is affected by several separate issues to housing need, understanding these issues is important for current and future demand to be met. Firstly and most importantly the supply of housing is not addressing the UK’s demand, â€Å"there are not enough affordable houses in the economy† (HCTC, 2013:75). The Government sets targets for the number of houses which need to be built yet these are rarely met and the demand keeps increasing, â€Å"almost half of Londons largest developments are not meeting the affordable housing targets being set by local authorities† (BBC, 2013). Despite its importance, â€Å"housing is yet to have the same political profile as health and education† (Wilson, 2010:76). One of the main issues with regards to housing demand not being met is that private developers will not build housing they won’t be able to sell and therefore another reason for more affordable housing (Empty Homes, 2014). Housing supply must be c alculated for development, for example taking deaths and existing stock into consideration. House prices also affect housing demand, there are not enough houses being supplied at the right price to meet the demand therefore the price of housing rises as people who have money will pay to have a nice house resulting in â€Å"increasing numbers of people being priced out of the market† (Stephens, 2011:6). â€Å"Falling house prices due to the recession have not solved the problem of affordability as they have been accompanied by tighter lending criteria† (Wilson, 2010) especially with deposits, as a result the help to buy scheme was introduced. Housing demand depends on several other factors such as income and wealth, these terms are very different to an economist; wealth represents the accumulation of economic resources valuable to a household where income is a flow measure of capital over a period of time (Pozdena, 1988:25). Wealth and income can give access to credit loans and mortgages, â€Å"credit access and mortgage availability go a long way to promoting higher quality and affordable housing† (Nothaft and Erbas, 2002:12). Due to the credit crisis many people’s income and wealth have been affected, this has had an effect on the housing market and people’s ability to demand housing. Secondly the availability of credit and obtaining mortgages is something that has resulted in households being unable to afford housing. Lenders look at current income and financial assets because they represent measurable indicators of a borrower’s means of repaying the loan (Pozdena, 1988:26). The supply of mo ney in the economy will affect mortgage interest rates and availability. â€Å"People are getting second jobs when interest rates rise to cope with higher mortgage repayments† (Telegraph, 2013), as a result this has led to many people not being able to afford the housing supplied. There are many factors contributing to housing need and demand however â€Å"different needs may warrant different solutions† (Bramley et al, 2010:17), not everyone needs to be provided with social accommodation perhaps the issue can be solved by enhancing or adapting an existing property. As a result there are several different models that can be used to assess housing requirements. The first approach to be discussed is the household and dwelling balance sheet, this is a simple way to reveal housing shortages or surpluses (DoE, 1980:56), it simply compares the number of households to the number of dwellings. This method may show a shortage or surplus however doesn’t take into account many other factors such as home ownership, the location, nature of dwellings or condition of housing. As a result the balance sheet can prove inaccurate and â€Å"tend to double count or overestimate requirements† (Monk and Whitehead, 2010:60). The second approach is the net-stock a pproach which is characterised by Holmans (1995)(Whitehead and kleinman, 1992), it consists of measuring different types of need and forecasting household growth, estimating housing need for the present and future. The model â€Å"exemplifies the important link between household growth, need and housing investment† (Kleinman et al, 1998:78). Third is the affordability approach, the aim of this is to identify the relationship between house prices and household income to determine housing requirements (WMRA, 2014), it is calculated by taking the percentage of households unable to purchase plus household formation minus social sector relets which equals the additional housing requirements. The model however â€Å"does not purport to measure needs relating to house condition or unsuitability within the social sector† (Bramley 2010:38). The final method is the gross flows approach. Used to create current housing need, this is calculated by taking â€Å"Gross household formation by category, and adding the tenure propensity of each category to arrive at the demand for social housing from new households† (Pinto, 1995:75). This was used by the Greater London Authority for the London housing capacity study (Livingstone, 2005), it provided an ambitious growth plan where a regional housing growth target was set for 45 7,959 houses to be provided from 1997-2016 (Manzi, 2010:107).The concept is effective as it uses actual behaviour such as age and cohort effects rather than affordability norm (Boelhouwer et al., 2005:103). Quantity, quality and affordability are at the heart of housing need and demand issues in the UK and must be addressed in order to meet current and future housing requirements. This essay has defined the difference between housing demand and housing need and provided insight into the factors in which they depend on. Changes in the population and households are guaranteed to change in the future and therefore must be taken into consideration. Housing demand is mainly affected by the price of housing and the factors surrounding it such as supply and income, addressing these factors has led to not only solving current needs and demands but also the importance of planning for the future. This has been shown through the explanation of several different models displaying ways of estimating future and present housing requirements such as the net-stock approach or affordability approach. In conclusion for current housing needs and demands to be met larger amounts of housing must be provided at a price that is affordable and of a good quality, by setting and reaching targets this will hopefully meet the needs and demands of the present and the future. Appendices Appendix A (Wilcox and Perry, 2013:8) Appendix B (DCLG, 2014:4) Bibliography BBC (2013) [ONLINE] http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-24449898 (Assessed 7/3/2014). Best, R, Porteus, J. (2012) â€Å"Housing our Ageing Population: Plan for Implementation†, All part parliamentary group on housing and care for older people. Boelhouwer, P, Doling, J, Elsinga, M. (2005) â€Å"Home Ownership: Getting In, Getting From, Getting Out, Part 1†, Delft University Press. Bramley, G, Pawson, H, White, M, Watkins, D. (2010) â€Å"Estimating housing need†, Department of communities and local government. David, P, A. (2002) â€Å"Report of colloquium on contribution of the co-operative sector to housing development†, UN-HABITAT. DCLG (Department of communities and Local Government). (2013) â€Å"English Housing Survey households 2011-12†, DCLG. DCLG (Department of communities and Local Government). (2014) â€Å"House Building: December Quarter 2013, England†, DCLG. DoE (Department of Environment). (1980) â€Å"Housing requirements: a guide to information and techniques†, University of Bristol School for Advanced Urban Studies. Downs, A. (2004) â€Å"Growth Management and Affordable Housing: Do They Conflict?†, The Brookings Institution . Empty Homes (2014). [ONLINE] â€Å" http://www.emptyhomes.com/what-you-can-do-2/get-involved/what-to-do-with-your-empty-home/ (Assessed – 07/03/2014). GLA (Greater London Authority). (2010) [ONLINE] http://www.london.gov.uk/priorities/housing-land/improving-quality (Assessed 6/3/2014.) HCTC (House of Commons Treasury Committee). (2013) â€Å"Budget 2013: Ninth Report of Session 2012-13†, House of Commons. Holmans, A. (1995) â€Å"Housing demand and need in England 1991-2011†, Joseph Rowntree foundation. Jones, C, Watkins, C. (2009) â€Å"Housing markets and planning policy†, Wiley-Blackwell. Kleinman, M, Matznetter, W, Stephens, M. (1998) â€Å"European Integration and Housing Policy†, Routledge. Livingstone, K. (2005) â€Å"2004 London Housing Capacity study†, Greater London Authority. Madden, P, Goodman, J, Green, J, Jenkinson, C. (2010) â€Å"Growing Pains: Population and Sustainability in the UK†, Forum for the Future. Manzi, T, Lucas, K, Jones, T, Allen, J. (2010) â€Å"Social Sustainability in Urban Areas: Communities, Connectivity and the Urban Fabric†, Earthscan. Monk, S, Whitehead, C. (2010) â€Å"Making Housing more Affordable: The role of intermediate tenures†, Wiley-Blackwell. Noguchi, Y, Poterba, J, M. (1994) â€Å"Housing Markets in the United States and Japan†, The University of Chicago Press. Nothaft F, E, Erbas, S, N. (2002) â€Å"The Role of Affordable Mortgages in Improving Living Standards and stimulating growth†, IMF Working paper. OECD (organisation for economic co-operation and development). (2011) â€Å"Doing Better for Families†, OECD Publishing. Oxley, M. (2000) â€Å"The Future of Social Housing: Learning from Europe†, IPPR. Oxley, M. (2009) â€Å"Financing Affordable Social Housing in Europe†, UN-HABITAT. Pacione, M. (2009) â€Å"Urban Geography: A Global Perspective†, Routledge. Pinto, R. (1995) â€Å"Developments in Housing Management and Ownership†, Manchester university press. Pozdena, R, J. (1988) â€Å"The Modern Economics of Housing: A Guide to Theory and Policy for Finance and Real Estate professionals†, Greenwood Press. Robinson, R. (1997) â€Å"Housing economics and public policy†, Macmillan. Shucksmith, M. (2002) â€Å"House building in Britains Countryside†, Routledge. Shelter (2013) [ONLINE] http://england.shelter.org.uk/campaigns/why_we_campaign/Improving_social_housing/Why_we_need_more_social_housing (Assessed 6/3/2014). Stephens, M. (2011) â€Å"Tackling housing market volatility in the UK†, Joseph Roundtree Foundation Struyk, R, J. (1988) â€Å"Assessing Housing Needs and Policy Alternatives in Developing Countries†, The Urban Institute Press. Tallon, A. (2010) â€Å"Urban Regeneration in the UK†, Routledge. Telegraph (2013) [ONLINE] http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/personalfinance/interest-rates/10529164/Millions-of-homeowners-may-need-second-job-if-interest-rates-rise-BoE-warns.html (Assessed 7/3/2014). Tighe, R, J, Mueller, E, J. (2013) â€Å"The Affordable Housing Reader†, Routledge. Vale, J, L. (2013) â€Å"Purging the Poorest: Public Housing and the Design Politics of Twice-Cleared communities†, Routledge. Welsh Government (2008) â€Å"Affordable Housing in Wales: Report to Deputy Minister for Housing and Regeneration†(â€Å"Essex Report†), Cardiff, WG. WMRA (West Midlands Regional Assembly)(2014) [ONLINE] http://www.wmra.gov.uk/documents/Chapter%204.pdf (Assessed 11/3/2014). Whitehead, C, Kleinman, M. (1992) â€Å"A Review of Housing Needs Assessment†, The Housing Corporation. Wilcox, S, Perry, J. (2013) â€Å"UK Housing Review Briefing Paper†, Chartered Institute of Housing†, The University of Chicago Press. Wilson, W. (2010) â€Å"Key issues for the new parliament 2010: Housing supply and demand†, The House of Commons. Xue, J. (2013) â€Å"Economic Growth and Sustainable Housing: An Uneasy Relationship†, Routledge.

Thomas Batemans Ten Years Diggings :: Archaeology Archaeological Essays

Thomas Bateman's Ten Years' Diggings Thomas Bateman at Calver Low, Derbyshire in 1860 Having been informed, on the 30th of August, that some skeletons had been discovered the day before, by men baring the rock preparatory to quarrying it, at the verge of the cliff overlooking the limekilns at Calver Low, I immediately went to the place and found that there had been five skeletons buried in a line side by side, a few feet apart, in graves sunk down to the rock which is there about two feet below the turf. The bodies were all extended at length with the heads to the west, so as not merely to admit of the corpses facing the east, as is the Christian custom of burial yet observed, but in this case also to face the village, and the pleasant valley extending towards Baslow--either motive may have prompted the arrangement, as there is reason to believe the interments to be of the Anglo-Saxon period, although it was suggested at the time, in one of the local papers, that they were remains of some who perished during the ravages of the plague at Eyam in 1666. In returning to the narrative, it will be best to describe the several skeletons, numbering from the north, premising that the legs of all had been cut away, owing to their being so near the border of a cliff, which descends for a considerable distance almost perpendicularly, having long been quarried for lime burning. 1.-A young person with very slender bones, the femur 17 1/2 inches long, undisturbed with the exception of the skull, which had been broken and robbed of the teeth previous to our visit; a small bit of coarse red pottery was picked up amongst the earth near the bones. 2.-Removed before our arrival, but from the few bones preserved, it appears that the person was older than the first, although the femur measures 16 1/2 inches only-the skull thin, a good deal decayed and very imperfect. 3.-Removed-the skull very perfect when found, since despoiled of the whole of the facial bones. The calvarium and lower jaw have been recovered. The former presents, when viewed from above, an oval outline with a very full occipital protuberance; the latter is well formed, and the state of the teeth indicates an early adult age. Imperfection in the thigh bones prevents measurement, they do not however appear to have been very long.

The Unity of the World in Plotinian Philosophy :: Philosophy Philosophical Essays

The Unity of the World in Plotinian Philosophy ABSTRACT: Do classical, contemplative philosophies have anything to teach which is relevant to life here and now? In the case of Plotinus, yes. While Platonic metaphysics is most often summarized as dualistic, where one sensible world stands apart from and in tension with an intelligible (or mystical) world, in the case of Plotinus this interpretation is incorrect. He does distinguish between sensibles and sense-experience, on one hand, and intelligibles and intelligible experience, on the other; but the two belong together intimately: both are located in the same space, and the sensible is related to the intelligible as a shadow to its object or a reflection to what it reflects. Plotinus’ world is one. Given this picture, one rightly wonders at the status of the Plotinian exhortation for the soul to flee "alone to the Alone." Does not the journey of the soul to its source require a passing beyond of this world to some other? No, Plotinus exhortation should be understood as a reorientation, a reordering within the world here and now, not a rejection of one reality in favor of some other. This can be likened to Aesop’s fable, "The Dog and the Bone," where the dog had the choice between one real and one illusory bone, not two separate bones. Similarly, Plotinus’ world, though it can be perceived dualistically, is ontologically one; hence his metaphysics, far from otherworldly, offers a means of understanding life as it is to be lived here and now. My paper takes as the starting point for its argument the traditional interpretation (and classic criticism) of Platonic metaphysics as a two worlds view of reality: one world, that which includes this room of people, i.e., the here and now which is characterized by change, disorder, conflict, coming to be and passing out of being, corruption, etc.; and another world, located who knows where, but certainly not identical to what we see around us at present, the realm of changelessness and order, ontological perdurance, harmony, unity: Plato's "plain of Truth", the residence of the forms. In light of these two worlds, the Platonic philosopher's wisdom, whatever it may be, must be a wisdom not of this world. Indeed, did not Plato's Socrates himself say that his life— the philosophical life— was the art of practising death? Should that Socrates— or anyone who professes to be a Platonic philosopher— show up at, let us say, the World Congress of

New Physical Properties :: Science Chemistry Physics Papers

New Physical Properties Discussions about physicalism, reduction, special sciences, the layered image of reality, multiple realizability, emergence, downward causation, etc., typically make the ontological presupposition that there is no room for new properties in the physical world. The domain of physical properties would thus have been established once and for all. It is my purpose in this paper to explore the alternative hypothesis that there can be, and that in fact there are, new physical properties. In the first section, I propose a brief analysis of the notions of property, physical property, and new physical property. In the second section, I present four general situations in which it would be plausible to speak of the existence of new physical properties. All of this is used to evaluate the content and scope of the hypothesis of physical novelty. Lastly, I examine certain interesting consequences of such a physical novelty in relation to some of the above mentioned topics. I. Properties, Physical Properties, and New Physical Properties My aim here is to explore the hypothesis that there can be in the world, and that in fact there are, new physical properties. But, before doing it, we need to make clear the sense in which we are going to speak of properties, of physical properties and of the existence of new physical properties. A. Referential Expressions for Properties Strictly speaking, nominalizations and quotations are the usual procedures by means of which we get to construe referential expressions from the predicates of our languages. And it is through certain nominalizations, but not through quotations, that we get to construe from predicates something able to refer to properties. Which nominalizations would lead from predicates to referential expressions for properties? Consider a sentence like the following: 1. The sky has a salmon color. There are three possible kinds of nominalizations that we could construe involving all the elements presents in 1: 2. The sky that has a salmon color. 3. The having a salmon color the sky. 4. The salmon color of the sky. Here, the sky that has a salmon color is an object. And 2 is a referential expression for an object. Just for the same object which is referred by the subject of sentence 1. The having a salmon color the sky is an event. And 3 is a referential expression for an event. Finally, the salmon color of the sky is a property. And 4 is a referential expression for a property.

Inquiry-Based Essay Reflection Essay

Before walking in this course, I had it stuck in my head that intervening in a research paper was bad. I learned that it was ok to insert myself into the essay. I could intervene and put a couple of my own perspectives into the essay. In high school, it was prohibited to use your own perspectives and words into the essay. The only major thing I had to consider is having the content and my perspective balanced so that my paper could sound credible. Of course, there were advantages and disadvantages to writing inquiry-based research essays. I noticed several advantages when I was working on my inquiry-based research essay. First, I was given the opportunity to pick a topic. Though this made me think a lot, gathering hand-selected topics and choosing one to write about was beneficial. It made me rethink about what interested me and what bored me. For instance, in essay 3, I originally started with a topic about black holes in space. Initially, it seemed like an interesting thing to talk about. However, as I kept researching this paper, there were large amounts of physics formulas and concepts being mentioned and repeated. It kept scaring me and making me doubt writing about it. I was going nowhere with the essay. After much consideration, I disposed of the subject and started a new one. The new one was about music and its stimulation, thus giving the reader and I a common ground. Second, the grading after turning in would be fair. If everyone had to write about one topic, the grading would be based upon who wrote the better. But, with the option of choosing a topic, the grading would be more upon individuality and the concept’s presentation, making it fair for everyone. Like advantages, there are also disadvantages that I noticed when doing this type of work. First, when starting essay 3, I was uncertain about using â€Å"I†. In high school, I was taught to not use â€Å"I† at all in a paper. It was a struggle for me to use â€Å"I† because I did not know what to say. I felt as if the quotes would make my own opinions matter at all.

Culture Theory and Popular Culture Essay

The study of culture has, over the last few years, been quite dramatically transformed as questions of modernity and post-modernity have replaced the more familiar concepts of ideology and hegemony which, from the mid-1970s until the mid-1980s, anchored cultural analysis firmly within the neo-Marxist field mapped out by Althusser and Gramsci. Modernity and post-modernity have also moved far beyond the academic fields of media or cultural studies. Hardly one branch of the arts, humanities or social sciences has remained untouched by the debates which have accompanied their presence. They have also found their way into the ‘quality’ press and on to TV, and of course they have entered the art school studios informing and giving shape to the way in which art practitioners including architects, painters and film-makers define and execute their work. Good or bad, to be welcomed or reviled, these terms have corresponded to some sea-change in the way in which cultural intellectuals and practitioners experience and seek to understand the world in the late 1980s and into the 1990s. Storey claimed that â€Å"postmodernism has disturbed many of the old certainties surrounding questions of cultural value. † This work will consider the issues of postmodernism versus modernism mostly from the perspective of the critics of postmodernism with reference to ‘good’ and ‘bad’ taste. Post-modern cultural movements first emerged in the 1960s in painting, architecture, and literary criticism. Pop art challenged modernist art by experimenting with new cultural forms and contents that embraced everyday life, radical eclecticism, subcultures, mass media, and consumerism. Sociologist Daniel Bell was one of the first to take up the challenge of postmodernism. In The Cultural Contradictions of Capitalism (1976) he identified a moral crisis in Western society bound up with the decline of Puritan bourgeois culture and the ascendence of a post-modern culture that he described in terms of an aesthetic relativism and a hedonistic individualism. Yet the most formidable critic of postmodernism and defender of modernity has been German philosopher and heir to the Frankfurt School tradition of critical theory — Jurgen Habermas. There are two problems with postmodernism. The first problem comes into focus around the meaning of the term fragmentation. This is a word which, through over-usage in recent cultural debates, has become shorn of meaning. Post-modernity has been associated by Fredric Jameson (1984) with the emergence of a broken, fractured shadow of a ‘man’. The tinny shallowness of mass culture is, he argues, directly reflected in the schizophrenic subject of contemporary mass consciousness. Against Jameson, Stuart Hall (1981) has recently said that it is just this decentring of consciousness which allows him, as a black person, to emerge, divided, yes, but now fully foregrounded on the post-modern stage. ‘So one of the fascinating things about this discussion is to find myself centred at last. Now that, in the postmodern age, you all feel so dispersed I become centred. What I’ve thought of as dispersed and fragmented comes, paradoxically, to be the representative modern condition! This is coming home with a vengeance’ (34). These are, then, two perspectives on the problem of postmodern fragmentation. There is Jameson, who looks back nostalgically to the notion of unity or totality and who sees in this a kind of prerequisite for radical politics, a goal to be striven for. And there is Hall, who sees in fragmentation something more reflective of the ongoing and historical condition of subaltern groups. Jameson’s unified ‘man’ could be taken to be a preFreudian, Enlightenment subject, and thus be discredited by those who have paid attention to Lacan’s notion of the fragmented subject. But the endorsement of post-modern fragmentation is equally not without its own problems. Have ‘we’ become more fragmented than before? Can we specifically name a time and a place for the moment of fragmentation? Is fragmentation the ‘other’ of ‘humanity’? Or is the representation of fragmentation coincidental with political empowerment and liberation? Christopher Norris (1990) has argued that post-modernity (and postmodern fragmentation) stands at the end of the long line of intellectual inquiry which starts with Saussure, works its way through post-structuralism and Lacanian psychoanalysis and ends with Baudrillard. In Norris’s terms fragmentation is to be understood as marking an absolute and irreparable break with the unified subject, a break which is now writ large in culture. Present-day fragmented subjectivity is captured and expressed in post-modern cultural forms, a kind of superficial pick-and-mix of styles. According to Jameson, however, unfragmented subjectivity, by contrast, produced great works of uncluttered ‘heroic’ modernism. There is a degree of slippage in the connections being made here. The problem lies, at least partly, in the imprecise use of the word ‘fragmentation’. There is a vacillation between the ‘high’ psychoanalytical use of Lacan and a much looser notion, one which seems to sum up unsatisfactory aspects of contemporary cultural experience. Modernists, however, also felt confused and fragmented. Fragmentation, as a kind of ‘structure of feeling’, is by no means the sole property of those living under the shadow of the post-modern condition. Bewilderment, anxiety, panic: such expressions can be attributed to any historical moment as it is transposed into cultural and artistic expression over the last a hundred and fifty years. The category of fragmentation seems to have become either too technical to be of general use (i. e. in Lacan’s work) or too vague to mean anything more than torn apart. The second question which might be asked of neo-Marxist critics of postmodernity, concerns determination, and the return to a form of economic reductionism in cultural theory. Fredric Jameson argues that postmodernism is the cultural logic of capital, but his argument, as Paul Hirst writing about trends in both New Times and post-modern writing, has suggested, ‘slips from a rigid causal determinism into casual metaphor’ (45). Jameson, going back to Mandel’s Late Capitalism, has argued that the kinds of cultural phenomena which might be described as post-modern form part of the logic of advanced or late capitalism. This does away, at a sweep, with the difficult issue of explaining the precise nature of the social and ideological relationships which mediate between the economy and the sphere of culture and it simultaneously restores a rather old-fashioned notion of determination to that place it had occupied prior to Althusser’s ‘relative autonomy’ and his idea of determination ‘in the last instance’ (67). Quoting Lyotard, Harvey (1989) takes up the notion of the temporary contract as the hallmark of post-modern social relations. What he sees prevailing in production, in the guise of new forms of work, he also sees prevailing in emotional life and in culture, in the temporary contract of love and sexuality. Like Jameson he decries this state and looks forward to something more robust and more reliable, something from which a less fractured sense of self and community might emerge. He views postmodern culture disparagingly, as aesthetic rather than ethical, reflecting an avoidance of politics rather than a rising to the challenge of a politics posed by new or changing conditions of production. Despite their sweeping rejection of post-modern writing, both Jameson and Harvey take advantage of the conceptual and methodological breadth found in these theories to circumvent (or short-circuit) the key problems which have arisen in cultural studies in the attempt to specify and under-stand the social relations which connect culture to the conditions of its production. Their conceptual leap into a critique of postmodernism allows these writers to avoid confronting more directly the place of Marxism in cultural studies from the late 1980s into the 1990s, a moment at which Marxism cannot be seen in terms other than those of eclipse or decline. Postmodernism exists, therefore, as something of a convenient bete noire. It allows for the evasion of the logic of cultural studies, if we take that logic to be the problematizing of the relations between culture and the economy and between culture and politics, in an age where the field of culture appears to be increasingly expansive and where both politics and economics might even be seen, at one level, as being conducted in and through culture. Structuralism has replaced old orthodoxies with new ones. This is apparent in its rereading of texts highly placed within an already existing literary or aesthetic hierarchy. Elsewhere it constructs a new hierarchy, with Hollywood classics at the top, followed by selected advertising images, and girls’ and women’s magazines rounding it off. Other forms of representation, particularly music and dance, are missing altogether. Andreas Huyssen in his 1984 introduction to postmodernism draws attention to this ‘high’ structuralist preference for the works of high modernism, especially the writing of James Joyce or Mallarme. ‘There is no doubt that centre stage in critical theory is held by the classical modernists: Flaubert†¦in Barthes†¦Mallarme and Artaud in Derrida, Magritte†¦ in Foucault†¦Joyce and Artaud in Kristeva†¦and so on ad infinitum’ (Huyssen, 1984:39). He argues that this reproduces unhelpfully the old distinction between the high arts and the ‘low’, less serious, popular arts. He goes on to comment: ‘Pop in the broadest sense was the context in which a notion of the post-modern first took shape†¦and the most significant trends within postmodernism have challenged modernism’s relentless hostility to mass culture. High theory was simply not equipped to deal with multilayered pop. Nor did it ever show much enthusiasm about this set of forms, perhaps because pop has never signified within one discrete discourse, but instead combines images with performance, music with film or video, and pin-ups with the magazine form itself’ (Huyssen, 1984:16). In recent article, where Hebdige (1988) engages directly with the question of postmodernism, he disavows the playful elements in Subculture†¦and, more manifestly, in the new fashion and style magazines. In contrast with what he sees now as an excess of style, a celebration of artifice and a strong cultural preference for pastiche, Hebdige seeks out the reassuringly real. He suggests that the slick joky tone of postmodernism, especially that found on the pages of The Face, represents a disengagement with the real, and an evasion of social responsibility. He therefore insists on a return to the world of hunger, exploitation and oppression and with it a resurrection of unfragmented, recognizable subjectivity. He fleetingly engages with an important characteristic of the post-modern condition, that is, the death of subjectivity and the emergence, in its place, of widespread social schizophrenia. Hebdige seems to be saying that if this rupturing of identity is what postmodernism is about, then he would rather turn his back on it. The position of Clement Greenberg in his 1980 lecture entitled The Notion of the â€Å"Post-Modern† could be summarized in the following terms: modernism in painting has been, since its inception with Manet and the impressionists, a heroic struggle against the encroachment of bad taste or kitsch in the domain of art; postmodernism is only the latest name under which commercial bad taste, masquerading as sophisticated â€Å"advancedness,† challenges the integrity of art. Any deviation from modernism, then, involves a betrayal or corruption of aesthetic standards. Seen from this vantage point, the â€Å"post-modern† cannot be much more than a renewed â€Å"urge to relax,† particularly pervasive after the advent of pop art, with its deleterious effects on the art world. This type of argument (modernism’s self-conscious mission, to exorcise bad taste from the domain of high art, is today as urgent as it ever was) appears in a variety of forms and shapes in the writings of the defenders of modernist purity against the infiltrations of commercialism and fashion. This realized art, however, is not in a harmonious universal style as Mondrian was envisaging. It consists mostly in forms of art considered banal, sentimental, and in bad taste by most in the Fine Art artworld. Further, because so many people have no interest in Fine Art, it is often thought that visual art has somehow lost its relevance and potency. People ask what the point of art is, and whether it is worthwhile spending public money on art. When people think of art, they think of Fine Art, and the influence of Fine Art seems to be in decline. However, although Fine Art seems to be in decline as a cultural force, visual art has more power in culture now than it ever had. Visual art is not all Fine Art. There is a diversity of kinds of art in contemporary culture. Besides Fine Art, there is also Popular Art, Design Art, and advertising. What Fine Art does for us is just a small part of the total cultural value we get from art. As traditional culture recedes from memory, and technology changes our lifestyles, people look for new values and lifestyles. These new values and lifestyles are carried by the art broadcast over the mass media and on the products we buy. The mass-media arts define our heroes and tell us about the good. Advertisements define pleasure and lifestyle. With mass-market goods we dress our bodies and houses in art, thus using art to define who we are. These contemporary visual arts play a large part in shaping our values, fantasies, and lifestyles. However, conventional art histories tend not to treat the other powerful visual arts of our own time beyond Fine Art, namely, Popular Art, Design Art, and advertising. Advertising is not considered â€Å"art† because it is not functionless beyond being aesthetic. Also, the advertising does not typically show personal expressive creativity. So, the Design Arts are typically considered mere decoration. Popular Art is thought of as in bad taste, banal, sentimental, and so not worthy of consideration either. Since art histories are only looking at â€Å"good† art, they tend not to consider these other arts. Standing as they most often do within the Fine Art art world, art historians use the ideology and sense of artistic value of Fine Art to evaluate all art. From the perspective of the contemporary art world, Popular Art is thought of as a kind of Fine Art; that is, bad Fine Art or Fine Art in bad taste. It seems hackneyed and banal to the Fine Art art world. From their perspective, popular taste is bad taste. For example, Osvaldo Yero, an artist who emerged in the 1990s, has based his work on the technique and poetics of the plaster figures. These figures, mostly decorations, but also religious images, were perhaps considered the last gasp of bad taste. They constituted the epitome of â€Å"uncultivated† appropriation of icons from the â€Å"high† culture as well as from mass culture, done in a poor and artificial material par excellence, worked clumsily in a semi-industrial technique and polychromed with pretentious attempts at elegance. They symbolized the triumph of â€Å"vulgarity, † the failure of the â€Å"aesthetic education of the masses† proposed by socialism. By the 1920s business and advertising agencies had realized that putting style and color choices into the products they made increased consumption. Through the use of advertising and by designing stylistic variety into their products, manufacturers elevated things into the category of fashion goods that had before just been utility goods, like towels, bedding, and bathroom fixtures. Previously these items did not have any style component, but now designers added decoration to their functional design. This meant that now consumers could choose products not just for function, but also for style. People could now have pink sheets, green toilets, and blue phones. There is a tension in design style between aesthetic formalist styles like the international style, and design styles that are figurative. Those favoring figurative design tend to think of products as coming in a great variety and designed to appeal to the various tastes of consumers. Here the style of the products are not dictated by function, but by market pressures. This is a further development of design for sales. This gave rise to what is known as niche marketing, where the styling is targeted to a smaller, more specific group than mass marketing is. Thus, they shun the idea of a unified worldwide machine aesthetic. For example, a razor can be pink with flowers on it to target it to female users, and black with blue accent lines to target it to male users. The razor is the same, but the razor is packaged with different styling to sell the product to different markets. In designing for niche markets, the styling reflects the class, age group, profession, and aspirations of the target group. This goes hand in hand with advertising, and requires a great deal of research to discover what these values are and what styling motifs succeed in communicating them. The exemplary text or the single, richly coded image gives way to the textual thickness and the visual density of everyday life, as though the slow, even languid ‘look’ of the semiologist is, by the 1980s, out of tempo with the times. The field of postmodernism certainly expresses a frustration, not merely with this seemingly languid pace, but with its increasing inability to make tangible connections between the general conditions of life today and the practice of cultural analysis. Structuralism has also replaced old orthodoxies with new ones. This is apparent in its rereading of texts highly placed within an already existing literary or aesthetic hierarchy. Elsewhere it constructs a new hierarchy, with Hollywood classics at the top, followed by selected advertising images, and girls’ and women’s magazines rounding it off. Other forms of representation, particularly music and dance, are missing altogether. Huyssen argues that â€Å"Pop in the broadest sense was the context in which a notion of the post-modern first took shape, and the most significant trends within postmodernism have challenged modernism’s relentless hostility to mass culture. High theory was simply not equipped to deal with multilayered pop. † References Bell, Daniel. (1976). The Cultural Contradictions of Capitalism. New York: Basic Books. C. Norris, ‘Lost in the funhouse: Baudrillard and the politics of postmodernism’, in R. Boyne and A. Rattansi (eds) Postmodernism and Society, London, Macmillan, 1990. Hall, Stuart, Connell, Ian and Curti, Lidia (1981). ‘The â€Å"unity† of current affairs television’, in T. Bennett et al. (eds) Popular Television and Film, London: BFI. Harvey, David (1989). The Condition of Postmodernity, Oxford: Blackwell. Hebdige, Dick (1979). Subculture: The Meaning of Style, London: Routledge. Huyssen, A. (1984). ‘Mapping the postmodern’, New German Critique 33. Jameson, Fredric (1984). ‘Postmodernism, or the cultural logic of late capitalism’, New Left Review 146.