A World Not Neatly Divided “A World Not Neatly Divided” an essay which appeared in 2001 in the New York Times. Amartya Sen suggest that generalizations about “civilizations” tend to blur the realities of complex culture. People often generalize whenever they first meet someone or have prejudices against a certain person or group. In this case, Sen writes about how the world turns a blind eye to the reality of the societies that we live in. The argument being made is that people over generalize areas of the world. In the essay, Sen uses an example from his home country of India. He states “ For example, describing India as a ''Hindu civilization'' misses the fact that India has more Muslims than any other country except Indonesia and possibly …show more content…
Sen also states that religion isn’t the only thing that we can be identified by. I thought that was a great example of how diverse one place is, but has a reputation for not being diverse at all. I think this is the way a lot of places around the world are thought of , and in reality they are way more different than people can imagine. Sen writes “Consider Akbar and Aurangzeb, two Muslim emperors of the Mogul dynasty in India. Aurangzeb tried hard to convert Hindus into Muslims and instituted various policies in that direction, of which taxing the non-Muslims was only one example. In contrast, Akbar reveled in his multiethnic court and pluralist laws, and issued official proclamations insisting that no one ''should be interfered with on account of religion'' and that ''anyone is to be allowed to go over to a religion that pleases him.’’ This piece from Sen’s essay shows that even the rulers of the Muslim and Hindu areas realize that people cannot be judge by the religion they are and should be allowed to go upon their own business as they please to. People within certain societies are not seen as who they are but are perceived as something worse. Religious views don’t contribute negatively to any
When considering the birth of America, most people look to Christopher Columbus and the Pilgrims who landed at Plymouth Rock. In An Infinity of Nations, Michael Witgen looks to shed light on the role Native Americans played in the formation of early America. Witgen analyzes the social relationships between the European settlers and the indigenous tribes of the Anishinaabeg and the Haudenosaunee in order to tell the story of the westward expansion of early American civilization. Witgen depicts agreement and conflict between the colonizing groups while also explaining the formation of power within them – but his analysis is incomplete. The incorporation of Joan Scott’s and Michael Foucault’s definitions of gender and power relationships into
The two articles that had a profound impact to my understanding of race, class and gender in the United States was White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack by Peggy McIntosh and Imagine a Country by Holly Sklar. McIntosh explains the keys aspects of unearned advantage (a privilege that one group hold over another) as well as conferred dominance (the act of voluntarily giving another group power) and the relationship that these factors hold when determine power of a social group. Additionally, the purpose of McIntosh’s article was to demonstrate the privilege that certain individuals carry and how that translates to the social structures of our society. Furthermore, conferred dominance also contributes to the power of the dominant group
There is much debate in the United States whether or not there is polarization between our two dominate political parties. Presidential election results have shown that there is a division between the states; a battle between the Democratic blue states and the Republican red states. And what is striking is that the “colors” of these states do not change. Red stays red, and blue stays blue. Chapter 11 of Fault Lines gives differing views of polarization. James Wilson, a political science professor at Pepperdine University in California, suggests that polarization is indeed relevant in modern society and that it will eventually cause the downfall of America. On the contrast, Morris Fiorina, a political science professor at Stanford University, argues that polarization is nothing but a myth, something that Americans should not be concerned with. John Judis, a senior editor at The New Republic, gives insight on a driving force of polarization; the Tea Party Movement. Through this paper I will highlight the chief factors given by Wilson and Judis which contribute to polarization in the United States, and will consider what factors Fiorina may agree with.
Beginning with, the end of WWII, the West (mainly the U.S and Europe) has maintained global dominance. Since then international conflicts have emerged in the Middle East, and China has become an influential player both politically and economically. Those two developments among others, have raised questions about future conflicts, global politics, and what the future holds, about which scholars disagree. Samuel Huntington argues that the next factor of conflict will be a result of, “clashing Civilizations,” the West and the East*. On the other hand, Edward Said argues that such ideas are rooted in pre-conceived notions, which are a reflection of certain interest.
From past, present, to future, conflict has defined history. In a world full of battles, revolutions, and seemingly random acts of evil, it is impossible to escape the reality of it all. Many of today’s great classics have been inspired by generations of conflict. Using World War II as the background for John Knowles’ novel A Separate Peace brings up the question if it is ever possible to live in a world without fear, hate and ultimately inevitable conflict. Knowles uses contrasting characters, the innate nature of humans, and contradictory symbols in order to reflect that conflict is inevitable.
There were many reasons for the outbreak of the civil war, a war that fundamentally changed the United States and inspired some of the greatest thinkers to write some inspiring literary works. Many are fascinated by the civil war and want to make sense of what happened. It was a bloody war in which Americans were killing other Americans. The questions and answers brought about during the war would re-shape the American society and provide an answer about the much debated subject of slavery. Each side held a deeply rooted reason for going to war. There are so many factors involved in the reasons behind the war that has captured and fascinated the American’s attention for many years.
One would expect that social equality would just be the norm in society today. Unfortunately, that is not the case. Three similar stories of how inequality and the hard reality of how America’s society and workforce is ran shows a bigger picture of the problems American’s have trying to make an honest living in today’s world. When someone thinks about the American dream, is this the way they pictured it? Is this what was envisioned for American’s when thinking about what the future held? The three authors in these articles don’t believe so, and they are pretty sure American’s didn’t either. Bob Herbert in his article “Hiding from Reality” probably makes the most honest and correct statement, “We’re in denial about the extent of the rot in the system, and the effort that would be required to turn things around” (564).
As Indians living in white culture, many problems and conflicts arise. Most Indians tend to suffer microaggressions, racism and most of all, danger to their culture. Their culture gets torn from them, and slowly, as if it was dream, many Indians become absorbed into white society, all the while trying to retain their Indian lifestyle. In Indian Father’s Plea by Robert Lake and Superman and Me by Sherman Alexie, the idea that a dominant culture can pose many threats to a minority culture is shown by Wind-Wolf and Alexie.
After the British empire separated itself from India, inner-country religious problems began to arise. The Muslims and Hindus of the liberated India released their pent up anger on each other and combusted into civil war right after they won the peaceful war against Great Britain. This war distressed Gandhi, who has insight into the unity of mankind, and encouraged him to go on a hunger strike until the brutality ceased. While on his near-death bed, he is approached by a Hindu who “killed a child” because the Muslims “killed [his] son,” and in response, Gandhi said that the way out of his “Hell is to “Find a [Muslim] child, a child whose mother and father have been killed and raise him as your own,” therefore the man would be able to see the equality in all religions. Throughout his entire life, Gandhi, though a Hindu, never prosecuted anyone for their religion and was able to see through everyone’s eyes as fellow brother’s and sisters, not enemies. This ability to empathize and recognize the general unity of the human population allowed Gandhi insight into the human
It is predicted that in the 21st century there will be a jump in the number of people identifying themselves as Muslims, Buddhists and Hindus. At the same time, in recent years, there has been a decl...
1. Brinker is an antagonist to Gene. Brinker tries to get under Gene's skin about Gene's inner conflicts. Even if it is about Gene’s role in Finny's accident, joining the war effort or what Leper is up to, Brinker attempts to put Gene over the edge.
Owing to India’s diversity, these identities are determined by caste, ancestry, socioeconomic class, religion, sexual orientation and geographic location, and play an important role in determining the social position of an individual (Anne, Callahan & Kang, 2011). Within this diversity, certain identities are privileged over others, due to social hierarchies and inequalities, whose roots are more than a thousand years old. These inequalities have marginalized groups and communities which is evident from their meagre participation in politics, access to health and education services and
Achebe provides an excellent comparison of how people of different genders, religious groups, and social statuses are treated unkindly. In order to achieve a more tolerable world, one must try to put an end to all of the prejudice, and injustice. Every war is caused by groups’ lack of respect for others or feelings of supremacy. All around the world, there are conflicts between different groups and Achebe’s, Things Fall Apart, is a good representation of these conflicts. For a group or country to be successful it first must respect all fellow citizens no matter their race, gender, social status, etc. If there is constant fighting and inequality between different groups, then problems will result and a country’s success will be hindered.
Nicholas B. Dirks. (2011). Castes of Mind: Colonialism and the Making of Modern India. Princeton University Press
Our world is constantly changing and it requires a society that is well versed in understanding the problems deriving from culture differences and tolerance of one another’s beliefs and perceptions. We are dealing with systemic problems in education, economic, government, religion and culture differences.