Developments in the 19th Century that Drove the Shifts in Imperial Research Paper

Developments in the 19th Century that Drove the Shifts in Imperial Policies and Practices of European Empires during New Imperia - Research Paper Example Amongst others, these shifts included the moving away from the economic doctrine of mercantilism that focused on the expansion of trade and markets through strategic control of ports towards the establishment of large scale, formal empires by way of aggressive internal penetration of territory and the exercising of control over the geography and population in those territories. We need only a glimpse at a few statistics to see that these shifts had remarkable consequences. According to Daniel R. Headrick- professor of social sciences at Roosevelt University and author of The Tools of Empire- â€Å"in the year 1800 Europeans occupied or controlled thirty-five percent of the land surface of the world; by 1878 this figure had risen to sixty-seven percent, and by 1914 over eighty-four percent of the world’s land area was European-dominated. ‘The British Empire alone,† Headrick continues, â€Å"already formidable in 1800†¦ increased it’s land area sevenfol d and its population twentyfold in the following hundred years†.1 However, these shifts were not simply coincidental. In fact, the changes in the imperial policies of the Europeans during the era of â€Å"New Imperialism† were driven by two major nineteenth century developments: the second industrial revolution, and the emergence of a pack of European nation states. Main Body Imperialism, as defined by the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, is â€Å"the policy, practice, or advocacy of extending the power and dominion of a nation†¦ over the political or economic life of other areas†2 To put this in simple terms, imperialism is the acquisition and buildup of territory and capital. However, the Merriam-Webster definition does not quite pin the proverbial tail on the donkey, for it lacks one key component of imperialism: what is the justification for this said extension of power? According to Edward Said- former professor of English and comparative literature at Colum bia University and author of Culture and Imperialism- the acts â€Å"of accumulation and acquisition†¦ are supported and perhaps even impelled by impressive ideological formations that include notions that certain territories and people require and beseech domination, as well as forms of knowledge associated with domination†.3 Thus, the working definition for Imperialism from here on out is the combination of two previous definitions, which goes as follows: the policy, practice, or advocacy of extending the power and dominion of a nation†¦ over the political or economic life others, which is supported and perhaps even impelled by impressive ideological formations that include notions that certain territories and people require and beseech domination, as well as forms of knowledge associated with domination.   New imperialism cannot be said to be only the policies of the elite because it was greatly supported by the lower classes in Europe. The main aspect of the c ulture of imperialism was the feeling of superiority amongst white Europeans. Many people had such perceptions because of being bound by Christianity and they believed that there was nothing wrong in forcibly Christianizing the conquered societies, which they believed was the main motive of imperial missions. Some viewed imperialistic aspirations from a secular perspective, while some followed Darwinian concepts in upholding their

Question 1. Impact of Language and cultural Diversity on Ammerica's Essay

Question 1. Impact of Language and cultural Diversity on Ammerica's Pluralistic Society - Essay Example By definition, a society is composed of a group of people who shares the same beliefs, values, interests, and activities. It can be an ethnic group, a community, or a country. In relation to this, there are also different types of society that exists and co-exists. One of these societies is the pluralistic type of society where power is distributed within the sub-groups in the society. Aside from distribution of power, a pluralistic society is also diverse such as the American society (Carroll and Buchholtz 6-8). In relation to this, the diverse languages present in the American pluralistic society had greatly affected the education system of America. The differences of language brought by studying within a majority culture bring difficulties to students that enter the American educational system. There have been an increasing number of students who speak other languages other than English which causes these students to be inarticulate in the English language. Also, due to the increa se of multilingual or non-English speaking students, the educational system must provide instructions in line with the mother language of the students. In this manner, the educational system must be reevaluated in order to provide the necessary instructions for all students. Also, the cultural diversity affects the American educational system because most of the time, the minority groups are continued to be taught with the curriculum that is not based on their culture. This is because the instruction materials, as well as the teachers, continue to teach through the usual American educational system. As a result, the student will eventually be affected in terms of his or her cultural behavior (Hardman, Drew, and Egan; Naylor 99). In relation to the business industry or the corporate world of America, the presence of language and cultural diversity also means that the workforce will be made up of different types of people. These differences encompass the different beliefs, cultural or ientation, gender, race, and ethnicity. Due to this, corporate America had used the term workplace diversity in order to cite such differences. Workplace diversity also plays a vital role in the manner of managing and handling employees from top to bottom. Also, workplace diversity, if managed properly, is an advantageous way of opening a company or an industry to a more diverse clientele. In order to gain optimum advantage of workplace diversity, managers have been trained with different diversity programs. Some of the few advantages of workplace diversity include acquisition of resources, advantage in the branch of marketing, and the ability to complement bilingual skill with the orthodox skills (Pride, Hughes, and Kapoor 252-254). There were also changes in America’s mass media during the time when the American society became more and more pluralistic. Many of the media outlets conceded that it was important to act upon the continuing pluralistic society of the United Stat es fairly. In this manner, changes were done in the attitude of the media in stereotyping. In the early 1980, many of the minority groups in America were represented falsely in movies, television, and even in novels and books. However, as the increase of language and cultural diversity occurred in the United States, many media outlets had employed and changed the perspectives on minority