Importance of Life Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Importance of Life - Essay Example This paper will present personal thoughts about the two essays, establishing connections and oppositions, in the area of male-female communication at home. Inferences from the two stories â€Å"I want a wife† explains that wives take a very passive role at home. They offer support services to men after they leave home for work or education. The role of a wife when the husband is not at home will entail taking care of the children, supporting the dependants of the man, finance the man where necessary, as well as doing the daily chores. She is portrayed as one who should sacrifice for the man, by losing days of work, losing pay due to absenteeism as well as leaving her job after the husband gets employed. She is portrayed as the person to take care of the physical needs of the husband as well as those of the children while offering social support to the family (Tannen). A wife is presented as the one to offer support for the social life of the man, children – who she will babysit – as well as the guests of the home, who is required to serve. She is presented as the one to take care of the sexual needs of the man, whenever he feels the need, but she is presented as one that will not present her sexual needs. After all the devotion, she is supposed to accept her replacement, and at the same time absorb the burden of taking care of children after divorce (Brady). The story, â€Å"sex, lies and conversation; why is it so hard for men and women to talk to each other†...presents the woman as the talker of the family, but one who will not express herself in the pubic (Tannen). The case explains the ideal American family, where the man talks in public but not at home. The family outlook is supported by scientific findings that many marriage breakups – according to women – are caused by the lack of communication (Brady; Tannen). Women feel that men do not listen or pay attention to them, which could be explained on the basis of th e different communication cultures of men and women. Women – since their background as girls – relate in an expressive manner, while men relate in an authoritative, non-sentimental manner, which makes women feel like the men do not listen or communicate to them. Women make one another feel better, by demonstrating their shared problems, while men downplay the extent of the other’s problems, and will often not pay a lot of attention to the physical expressions of one another, like women. Through a research study on school children, it was demonstrated that women are expressive to one another – and the expressive aspect is what they expect from husbands – who are naturally passive in their communication and interactions. The problem rises from the need of intimacy among women, and the detachment of men from their feelings. The story ends in the call for an understanding of the cross-cultural nature of men and women, which will enhance their communica tion as well as the understanding of one another (Brady; Tannen). Discussion of the connections and the oppositions between the two stories â€Å"I want a wife† presents the wife as a highly passive member of the family, who will not question the instructions of the husband as well as her roles as a wife. â€Å"My wife must lose time at work and not lose the job† (Brady). The story â€Å"sex lies and conversation† is the opposite, as it portrays the wife as â€Å"

Mussolini Policies Essay Example for Free

Mussolini Policies Essay a) Relations with the Catholic Church: Even though Mussolini had seemed anti-clerical and had written â€Å"God Does Not Exist† he had began forming a good relationship with the Roman Catholic Church because of its huge power and influence. He had begun forming this good relationship by getting married in a church in 1926 and having his two children baptized. He had also closed down some wine shops and nightclubs. In 1929 the Lateran treaty was signed after a series of meetings it had recognized the pope’s sovereign rule, the church had received 750 million lire cash and 1000 million lire in government bonds for the loss of the papal states in 1860. Catholicism had also become the state religion; church marriages became legal, religious education were a must in secondary schools, catholic action would continue as long as it was independent of political parties and it was subordinate to the church’s hierarchy. This treaty had gotten the church and it’s faithful followers on Mussolini’s side. However, this treaty had angered the radical fascists who were anti-clerical since the independence of the church meant there would be no totalitarian rule. The church had also been against communism and socialism therefore when the fascist destroyed the left this had brought Mussolini closer to the church. Mussolini had also strengthened this relationship by exempting the clergy from paying taxes in the mid 1920’s in return the Pius XI forced Dom Sturzo to resign since he was a fierce opponent of fascism. However, some friction remained between the fascist government and the Catholic Church as the catholic youth movements rivaled the fascist youth and student organizations. Moreover, some of the members of the catholic student organization were becoming influential and became significant leaders in the Christian Democratic Party in Italy after 1945 such as Aldo Moro in the 1930’s, which created problems for the fascists. The pope had also disapproved of the anti-Semitic laws introduced by Mussolini. However, he had approved of the invasion of Abyssinia in 1935 since it was similar to a crusade and his intervention in the Spanish civil war in 1926 to stop the Left. Mussolini’s relationship with the church remained well since they both gained a lot from their treaty. This policy had brought back the church’s power and had made Mussolini’s aim to build a new fascist generation impossible. b) Education and youth movements: Italian fascism like all other fascists had wanted to influence the young generation. In 1926 the Opera Nazionale Balilla was established bringing together fascist youth organizations and giving government funding. It was placed under the ministry of education in 1929 and they had begun closing rival youth organizations except the catholic youth groups. In 1932 the Ballila membership became obligatory. In 1937 the ONB joined with the young fascists to create one youth organization called Gioventu Italiana del Littorio for 6-21 year olds. The Ballila was political and it was militarized but it was also filled with sports and recreational activities, which attracted children, but 40% of the population had not joined showing the failure of this policy. At first Italian schools had some freedom but Mussolini had appointed the philosopher Giovanni Gentile to become the first minister of education. In 1923 Gentile had passed the education act which had changed education by promoting grammar schools, encouraging philosophy, classical studies and had not emphasized on technical and vocational education. To ensure that the schools would not spread anti-fascist ideas, anti-fascist teachers were removed and teachers were forced to take an oath of loyalty. Mussolini had started to really control schools in the mid 1930’s, as schools were obliged to use fascist textbooks. In 1936 there was also a history textbook that had to be taught which focused on promoting a part of Italian history that would create loyalty to Mussolini. Physical education was also important to have healthy kids who could go to war and be prepared for motherhood. Therefore, Mussolini had greatly impacted education in order to create loyalty to him. c) The battle of the births In order to make Italy a great power Mussolini had launched in 1927 a battle for the births so that Italy’s population could go from 37 to 60 million. The government started encouraging marriage by forcing more taxes on bachelors, awarding prizes to women with the most children, families with 10 or more children were exempted from paying taxes, loans were given to newly married couple, family allowances were introduced in 1934 finally the criminal code in 1932 had banned contraception, abortion and sterilization. This policy had failed since birth rate continued to fall in 1922 there was 147.5 births for every 1000 women of childbearing age while in 1936 it had fallen to 102.7 births. The population had only reached 44 million in 1940. However, this was only due to the falling of death rate and emigration but the government had failed to encourage early marriage as the average age at which they got married rose from the 1930’s. d) The media and the arts Mussolini wanted to suppress opposition so he started by censoring newspapers in 1923 and the fascists government had taken owned 10% of newspapers which meant it did not take over press but controlled what they wrote as the editors that would oppose him would be fined or banned from journalism. At first the fascist government saw radio and film as being insignificant but this changed when the government broadcasts increased and the ownership of radios went up to one million. Similarly, in 1924 a government film agency called Istituto Luce was created to make documentaries. In 1937 the government founded an Italian film studio called Cinecitta. However, Mussolini began really using propaganda in the 1930’s in order to form a new type of Italian, a heroic and energetic one. In 1925 the cult of the Duce was launched as was the biography of Mussolini called Dux. In this book Mussolini was presented as an athlete, hard working and loved the people. There were also many parades to elaborate rituals in order to revive roman spirit. The use of propaganda had aided Mussolini to become more popular in the years 1929-36. However, this popularity had begun to diminish once Mussolini became more radical as he applied the anti-Semitic policy and joined WWII. Mussolini did not get involved in art as much as Hitler had but there were division within the fascists as to which type of art to support. The neo-classicists preferred architecture and art that was inspired by ancient Rome while the modernists encouraged experimental art. Therefore, this lead to the formation of two artistic prizes, the Cremona prize for traditional art and propaganda while the Bergamo prize encouraged experimentation. To try to spread access to art the fascist government organized almost 50 art exhibitions a year. e) Racial policies (Anti-Semitic laws) Early on Mussolini had not shown any signs anti-Semitism however he had been racist against Africans in Libya and Abyssinia. One of the theories is that Mussolini had wanted to weaken the Jews because in the 1930’s he wanted to start a war and was not sure whether they would be loyal or not. Another theory is that in 1938 Mussolini was getting closer to Germany but while Hitler never pushed him to adopt anti-Semitism he might have chosen to adopt it in order to get closer to Hitler. Mussolini had started this policy by writing an article on reducing the number of Jews in 1938. He had then banned marriage between Jews and non-Jews, forbidden the Jews from jobs in civil service, teaching and PNF membership. The Jewish kids were also excluded from state schools and up to 10000 non-Italian Jews were deported. This law had caused Mussolini to become unpopular even within his own party who was made up of one third of Jews. The church that had a major influence had also criticized this law therefore making Mussolini even more unpopular. By 1941 6000 Italian Jews had left Italy among them were businessmen, professionals and academics therefore when they left the economy was badly affected. And wasn’t implemented systematically f) Other areas/ points of your own: Economic policies Mussolini had wanted to improve the economy to prevent foreign input this policy was called Autarky. He had adopted the battle of the grains in 1925 to improve agriculture to increase grain production in order to show economic strength therefore leading to nationalism. This policy had succeeded as imports were reduced by 75% between 1925 and 1935 therefore increasing Mussolini’s popularity. However, to increase production of wheat he needed more land to plant and he started using the land suitable for citrus which caused a decrease in their production and poverty in the south still continued. Another policy he had adopted was the corporate state in 1926 to manage relationships between employer and employee so as to cooperate therefore leading to more production. By 1934 22 corporations were set up and had succeeded to influence the economy. However, the corporations were just advisors that were dominated by fascists therefore they did what is best for them and left the worker’s interests aside. g) Conclusion Mussolini had adopted many policies that had gained him popularity and changed the Italian society such as the relationship with the church and influencing the media and the arts. However, when he had become more radical and adopted the anti-Semitic policy and tried to control education he had began losing popularity, which had eventually lead to his fall. To what extent was Mussolini influential in international affairs in the 1930’s? After the league of nations was undermined by the Manchuria crisis therefore when Hitler had began expanding and broke the treaty of Versailles by announcing his intention to build an army of 550000 men using conscription Mussolini decided to sign the stress front on 1935 with France and Britain. This stated that the three countries would take action if Germany broke the treaty of Versailles further. However, this agreement fell apart when Britain did not consult Italy or France before singing the Anglo-German naval agreement in 1935, which allowed Germany to expand its navy beyond what the treaty Versailles had allowed. Mussolini had also invaded Abyssinian, which Britain and France disapproved of. Therefore this shows that his international affairs with other countries had failed. Moreover, when Mussolini had invaded Abyssinia in 1935 it had changed his foreign policy completely his relationship with Britain and France was destroyed while his relationship with Germany was improving. Although Mussolini though France and Britain would not react to this invasion the League of Nations imposed economic sanctions since Britain was being undermined. However, Germany continued to trade with Italy and Mussolini ignored the sanctions therefore strengthening their relationship and weakening the league. In addition, Mussolini had also intervened in the Spanish civil war as he send 70000 troops to Spain to help support general Franco. Although he had failed he had sent them in order to weaken France who had a similar government as Spain and to have a naval base in the Balearic Islands to help promote Italian power in the Mediterranean. Furthermore, Mussolini’s relationship with Germany had also been strengthened as they had signed the Rome-berlin axis. Italy had also walked out of the League of Nations as Germany had done. It is also said that Mussolini had adopted the anti-Semitic policy in order to get closer to Germany and to make Italy more radical. As Mussolini became closer to Hitler he had changed his foreign policy towards Austria as he allowed Germany to increase its influence over Austria. In 1938 after the newly appointed chancellor Seyss-Inquart had invited Hitler to send troops, Hitler had attacked Austria and Mussolini had not rejected. Moreover, when a crisis broke out because Hitler had wanted to invade Czechoslovakia after he demanded that the Czech government allow the German speaking are of Czechoslovakia to unite with Germany. Therefore, it seemed that Britain and France would side with Czechoslovakia therefore causing war. Mussolini played the role of peacemaker and set up the Munich conference in 1938. Mussolini was also encouraged by Britain and France’s appeasement of Hitler to avoid aggression to start a more violent foreign policy. Mussolini had also been aware of him being the weak partner in the Italian-German relationship therefore this encouraged him to become violent to be more influential. He started by invading Albania in 1939. He then signed the pact of steel with Germany in 1939, which forced the two countries to support each other in case of war. This was an advantage for Germany who was likely to enter a war while Italy would be helped to expand.

The survival of LEGO in changing environment

The survival of LEGO in changing environment This essay aims to provide an insight into LEGOs performance in the UK market and the strategies adopted by LEGO to be acclaimed today as UKs 3rd largest toy seller. Accordingly, a better understanding will be attained from a consumers perspective in the Toys industry. LEGO a brand which was in shambles in late 2006 stepped up to perform tremendously well during recession How did LEGO manage to reach where they are today? In the following chapters, a detailed description will be provided on how LEGO set an example for many global brands to follow in a touch economic situation. 2.0 Company Overview It all started with one mans vision. A man who believed that good play enriches a childs development Ole Kirk Christiansen, a carpenter from Billund. He shifted his production from making wooden furniture for local farmers to childrens toys, owing to the great depression in the 1930s. LEGO originated from the Danish words leg and godt, which means play well. (Tidd and Bessant, 2009). defines LEGO as The core product is a rectangular plastic brick, hollow on the inside except for one or more tubes, with rows of studs on the top emblazoned with the tiny LEGO LEGO. (Wiencekk, 1987) LEGO has a very powerful vision statement of Inventing the future of play. This vision indicates that LEGO is finding new ways of developing games and moving from being just a simple block of brick. They are aware of the changing requirements and attitudes of consumers in a globalised sense. As it claims It is not just about products, it is about realising the human possibility. (LEGO Group, 2010) Over the years, the LEGO Group has developed several products under its umbrella extending its products to the digital world as well. LEGO has always known that the Toys and Childrens entertainment industry is a difficult business to sustain oneself in as it is constantly faced with new innovations, technological advancements and market entrants. To face this constantly evolving industry, LEGO has invested much of its understanding their consumers needs and desires. They have studied playing habits, family patters and housing conditions to gain a deeper knowledge of this market. Another differentiating factor is the belief that has been passed on by generations that have embraced LEGO. The belief that LEGO will remain relevant to children of all ages and all generations. The belief to create a world where children have the freedom to build anything that can never be replaced with cyber experiences. (LEGO Group, 2009) By the late 90s, LEGOs sales began decreasing. They were challenged by low cost good enough competitors like Megablok, a Canadian Company. Other reason was their prime target audience were shifting to computer games. LEGO was also operating in a high cost economic environment Denmark- where the supply chains were expensive. Another problem LEGO faced was increasing complex product development with so many product ranges and different permutations and combinations; manufacturing economically became nearly impossible. All these reasons, led to LEGO running into a $ 240 million loss. In order to revive LEGO from this situation, the LEGO family invested $ 178 million and appointed of a new CEO, Jorgen Vig Knudstorp. Under Knudstorps leadership, LEGO saw a successful transition. In order to correct the situation, LEGO improved their supply chain, factory locations and enhanced their overall product development strategy. (Tidd and Bessant, 2009) 2.1 LEGO Financial Overview Since its foundation in 1932, The Danish Company has great achievements added to its name. However, in 2006, rumours had it that toy industry giant Mattel were going to buy LEGO since it had faced huge losses. But restructuring in management and change in strategy helped LEGO pick up their sales in spite of the recession. In August 2008, LEGOs international sales were reportedly up by 20% in comparison to the year before. In the UK alone, 2007 witnessed at 24% rise in sales as compared to 2006. (MINTEL. 2008) The latest report that appeared on November 2010 in The Times London edition states that LEGOs sales have picked up by 50 per cent this Christmas season keeping both parents and children happy.(Vine, 2010) According to the Guardian, in 2009 the total sales at the UK division based primarily in Slough, Berkshire, leapt 35% a performance that took LEGO to a record UK market share of 4.1%, up from 3.2% a year ago. (Wood, 2009) The pre-tax profits rose 68%, which is approximately up by  £171.97 million in the first half of 2010. LEGO posts strong sales (The Times, 2010) LEGOs financial performance during recession was commendable while other Toy industry competitors like Mattel, that reportedly faced a 19% fall in second-quarter sales in spite of housing big brand names like Barbie. (Wood, 2009) 3.0 Consumer Behaviour theories applied to LEGO From the above, it is clear that LEGO has had a successful track record during recession. In this section, a deeper understanding will be attained on how LEGO was immune to the recession by placing their consumers in the heart of their business and understanding their requirements. To achieve this, three theories have been shortlisted they are namely Buying Decision Making Process Attitude Formation and Change Consumer Identity and Reference Groups 3.1 Buying Decision Making Process In order to understand, how LEGO survived through the economic downturn, it is important to interpret the buying behaviour of consumers in the Toys industry. By understanding the dynamics of buying behaviour, successful insights can be drawn to help identify the gap between the consumer and company. In complex decision making process where one is faced with other competitors, there are 6 stages to the decision making process. The 6 stages are namely: 3.1.1 Problem Recognition (awareness of need) Problem Recognition is the difference between the actual state of mind and the desired state of mind (Solomon, 2009). In other words, it is the process of recognising the need or desire to own a particular product. Given below are some reasons why consumers felt the need for LEGO over other products. Need for learning though play Parents being one of the prime target audiences in this industry also play a major role in the buying behavior process. LEGO appeals to this market as it has the element of creative play and parents are assured that it is not a waste of time as compared to watching television or spending time on Facebook. Parents therefore would choose to buy LEGO as they want their children to learn while they play. Something that most other toys or video games have failed to achieve (MINTEL, 2008). Need for retro products during recession Another interesting point to note is how consumers chose retro products during times of crisis due to its established legacy. During recession, parents actually found the need to invest in products that are of high quality and are long lasting in nature as opposed to just purchasing a cheap toy. Gerrick Johnson, toy-industry analyst at BMO Capital Markets made a comment stating that In tough economic times, youll often see retro products come back. Parents spend money on stuff they know works. Rather than going to Disney World or on a trip, you get a $30 LEGO set. (Faris, 2010) Need for up-to date toys and gadgets During a time when their prime target audience were more inclined towards computer games, LEGO constantly kept innovating and updating their offerings to suit the needs of this market that is faced by such rapid growth and evolution. The company steadily launched new products which resulted in three-quarters of its yearly sales. In 2000, the British Association of Toy Retailers along with Fortune magazine voted LEGO as the toy of the century. (Oliver et al., 2007) Recognizing the need to enter the video game market, LEGO created its own software group providing children the opportunity to create their own animation for PC and gaming consoles (R. Duane Ireland, 2009). Therefore people chose LEGO as it had extended its offerings to a medium where most of its consumers lived the virtual world. 3.1.2 Information search When it comes to seeking information on which toys you would prefer your children to play with, there are several factors that play a role. From an internal search perspective, memory and nostalgia could be key determinants whereas word of mouth, friends, relatives etc. could be external search factors that dominate your purchase decision (Soloman, 2009) The market for childrens toys and games is a substantial one -A  £2.1 billion market for childrens toys and games, this is a lucrative industry with several competitors. In such a case, information search becomes even more complex (MINTEL, 2008). What adds on to the complexity is the ranging age groups and diversity in toys from simple board games to more sophisticated toys for older kids up to adulthood. LEGO belongs to the range of Activity Toys which incorporates certain level of creativity and makes playing an enriching experience. Other toys in this range are Meccano and magnetic building kits as well as arts and crafts products (MINTEL, 2008). 3.1.3. Evaluation of Alternatives At this stage, consumers evaluate the alternatives that have been shortlisted after their information search. Rankings, personal preferences, listings, word of mouth to name a few, are determinants while evaluating alternatives. Today LEGO is the fourth-largest toy manufacturer after Mattel, Bandai-Namco, Hasbro and the fifth position held by TOMY-Takara (LEGO Group, 2009). In the case of activity toys like LEGO, consumers would potentially ask these questions. Does the product benefit my child learning ability? Is the product safe and of supreme quality? Mc Donaldss once used LEGO in the USA as a part of one their sales promotion campaign. 37 billion bricks were distributed over four weeks out of which only a dozen complaints were received (Harris and McDonald, 2004). These sorts of cases help a consumer who is looking for top quality decide that he/she wants to purchase LEGO over other toys. 3.1.4 Purchase decision In order to achieve competitive advantage and take the final purchase decision, LEGO pays a lot of attention to their product, packaging, online store etc. In a Danish newspaper Jyllands- Posten, an article was published on the safety of LEGO. Each individual block has a hole to ensure that if a child swallows a brick, the child would not choke as air could still pass though (Harris and McDonald, 2004). Therefore a consumer, who has safety as criteria, would decide to buy LEGO as the makers have taken care of this aspect. 3.1.5 Purchase This decision is based upon the time lapse and product availability. In 2004, LEGO sales began dropping massively. Poor customer service and unavailability of products were additions to their dilemma. During this time, customers were faced with many other alternatives. LEGO could not afford to lose out on customers in the big-box world. LEGO then improved on their supply-chain management and aimed to align its innovation capability. It also started online sales where customised products could be designed and purchased too (Oliver et al., 2007). 3.1.6 Post-Purchase Evaluation: When LEGO was voted as Marketer of the Year in 2009, one of the comments by a user from Dallas commented I have to vote LEGO-for continuing to provide a top-quality product in line with their brand, staying relevant and using new technologies to create new customer experiences in a kids toy market thats moving away from brands with a low-tech heritage. This is a company that inspires others to a higher standard. Who can vote for a company that continues to drive quality down to get to a cheaper price? (Creamer, 2009). These testimonials prove that consumers overall have been happy after purchasing the product. 3.2 Attitude formation and change One of the aspects involved in the psychological factor of the decision making process, is attitudes. These attitudes are either formed on experience or interaction with other people. An attitude of a consumer towards a firm and its products tends to have a great influence in the firms marketing strategy (Soloman, 2009). 3.2.1 Efforts made my LEGO to track attitudes For strategic decision making that is driven by insights, it is essential to track attitudes. It could be tracking changes in different age groups, scenarios about future, identify emerging trends etc (Soloman, 2009). LEGO has realised the importance of tracking changing attitudes and the following findings can be drawn in this regard: Scenarios about future One of the most significant changes that LEGO has taken up this decade is that it has begun listening to its consumers and their changing attitudes. In todays social networking era, it is highly essential to monitor behaviour and attitudes. It was through the efforts made by LEGO on social media, that they realised their fan base was not just limited to children but adults too. Courtesy the AFOLcommunity Adult Fans of LEGO LEGO now has some specialist ambassadors who communicate with them and provide feedback. LEGO also involves these ambassadors in their product development. They began monitoring blogs and got a deeper understanding on culture, desires of both potential and existing consumers and changed their strategy accordingly. It was through this initiative that LEGO decided to make sets based on movies like Star Wars or Indiana Jones and now these deals make up more than half of their sales (Advertising Age, 2009). By doing so LEGO gets inputs from probably the most loyal customer base and thus adress unhappy customers or fill any gaps in the market place. These insights drove their strategy and helped them survive in an atmosphere where the only words heard off were lay-offs and losses. LEGO is one such example of a brand that has benefitted by working in partnership with their consumers and predicting the future (Garfield, 2007). Changes in different age groups LEGO has a very ambitious mission statement of each and every child in the world to own one cubic metre of LEGO bricks. (Harris and McDonald, 2004) Children globally are treated the same by marketers no matter which culture they belong to. However, even if they are treated the same their attitudes may differ due to their upbringing and external environment. Though most of the concept and product development occurs in the Billund headquarters, LEGO has trends watching department in their offices in Munich, Los Angeles and Tokyo. Infact, to ensure that LEGO is an international product that suits ever child needs, the creative team is composed of 120 designers 15 different nationalities (LEGO Group, 2009). 3.2.3 Star Power: Celebrities as Communications Sources The source of the message the celebrity in this case can have a huge impact on the image of a brand and its sales. Messages tend to have a greater effect when there is a relation between the celebrity and product. Human beings tend to pay more attention when they see familiar faces as opposed to ordinary faces, thereby interpreting and processing the information more effectively (Soloman, 2009). People tend to associate characteristics of a persons personality, social status, and gender, to that of the brand. When David Beckham confessed in an interview that if he wasnt a footballer his dream pastime would be building with LEGO blocks, it set the LEGO sales roaring. In just one day of business, the father of three inspired the sales of 5,922- Taj Mahal set (The Sun, 2010). Parents formulate the core buyers of this segment six in ten have bought from five or more of the listed categories of toys or games in the past 12 months (MINTEL, 2008). After all, if a star figure like Beckham has spoken, why wouldnt parents try mantling Taj Mahal together. 3. 3 Consumer Identity and Reference Groups Any individual or group that acts a point of comparison of values, opinions, attitude or behaviour towards a product is a reference group (Soloman, 2009). In case of LEGO, there are several reference groups. LEGO has a combination of logic and creativity that enhances a childs learning and ability to solve problems. Owing to this factor, LEGO has been popularly used as creative play tool in institutions and schools i.e; formal reference groups (LEGO Group, 2009). 3.3.1 Effect of Gender on Consumer Behaviour Gender is a crucial element in consumer behaviour. A boy may perceive different things from a girl. This can be proven with an example of how LEGO researched playing habits amongst boys and. The findings were that girls were more likely to build living areas while boys built cars. LEGO introduced a new version of its product for girls called Paradise which emphasized around socially oriented structures such as homes, pools etc (Soloman, 2009). 3.3.2 Baby Boomers and the role of nostalgia in buying decision making process Baby Boomers are those who are above the age of 29 and have a significant influence on demands for housing, child care etc (Soloman, 2010). LEGO has evolved from a box of bricks that baby boomers grew up to a more diverse product. However, the positive feeling attached with having played with LEGO has passed on through at least three generations. (Oliver et al., 2007) Therefore, one may ask how much role does nostalgia play in triggering what baby boomers and generation X buy as toys for their children? Retro favourites are gaining popularity owing to the fact that they have provided real quality and value over time, and one of the reasons all these new fans have emerged is through nostalgia. According to the (Telegraph, 2010), LEGO has performed well in recession as parents due to nostalgia have shifted to trusted brands. Parents dont intend to buy toys that their children would throw aside in months, instead they would rather invest in toys that children of all generations would go back to. 3.3.3 Children Pester power v/s parent power Pester Power is a term used to define a childs influence over the parent in the buying process (Turner et al, 2006). According to Turner, children can be easily influenced by advertising and marketers use this as a medium to entice children to nag and purchase the product of their desire. The key factors that influences a childs pestering behaviour is the family type, family communication pattern, the person accompanying the child to shopping, intent of going for shopping and advertising. (Venkatesh and Ghai, 2010). According to the report by Mintel, 2008, Although adults are the primary purchasers, kids are the ultimate arbiters of success and failure across much of the market nearly four in ten parents cannot say no to their kids. LEGO partnered with Kelloggs in 2007 to create LEGO brick shaped candy called Fun Snacks. This created hype amongst parents as they had spent valuable amount of their time telling their children not to swallow LEGO bricks. LEGO went on to the extent of advertising in between childrens TV shows, placing the product at the bottom of the shelf spaces in order to make it accessible for children; thereby making children nag for Fun Snacks (Franziska_NDT, 2010) 4.0 Conclusion On the whole, LEGO has adopted the right measures to immune itself to the market, no matter how the economic situation is. Given below are few recommendations and discussions with regards to LEGO. Discussion/ Recommendations: 1. With LEGO factory LEGOs online design portal- is a gateway to 300,000 designers worldwide. By doing so, LEGO can get critical reviews on their products and help improve their offerings (Tidd and Bessant, 2009). LEGO could conduct an annual conference or workshop, whereby all these designers meet up and brain storm with key designers and managers on how to improve LEGO and keep up with changing trends. 2. Christmas accounts for around half of the years sales for LEGO. Keeping this in mind, LEGO should launch their new products or special Christmas edition toys as nearly seven in ten consumers buy toys and games for Christmas. (MINTEL. 2008) And after all, who would refuse the latest Christmas edition of LEGO? 3. An emerging trend is gifting new born toys up from 13% in 2003 to 26% now. Considering this trend, LEGO could launch its own collection of teether toys meant for new born. This could range from a simple brick soft chewy toy to its very own Harry potter collection for newborns. 4. Phone applications seem to be the next big trend that is picking up. LEGO already has its own Star Wars LEGO I phone game version. LEGO must continue entering markets where gaming is a hype. 5. LEGO should push the product more using the scientific connection. According to (Turkle and Smith, 2009) playing with LEGO helps children enhance their problem solving and discovery skills. This makes a child think in a scientific, problem recognition and solving approach that most engineers, scientist and designers use. Turkle claims that the toys that children play with have a great impact on their future careers. Some children may try and create unrealistic structures, while some may follow instructions, some keep their constructed sets as awards while some just break them; different children behave differently with LEGO. However, each role play is good to identify traits about your children and which direction they are progressing towards. 6 Most of LEGO consumers are not price sensitive. They buy LEGO because of the brand and the quality. As a consumer, you can either buy the simple bricks or a special version of LEGO to add it to your collection. Therefore, LEGO can afford to release a premium end version of the toys that are suitable to kids that belong to rich households. 8. LEGO for grey market- Research has shown that playing with LEGO for an hour or two can help old people fight memory loss and problems that occur due to degeneration like dementia and Alzheimers disease. It makes your mind active, while your fingers are still moving. 9. The idea of having Brand Ambassadors who use their network pool to get insights and inputs from consumers is one of LEGOs strongest strategies. LEGO fans discuss, review and suggest new ideas for LEGO on the AFOL community which helps LEGO look into the future and improve their capabilities. LEGO has managed to create a consumer experience that combines technology, mass customization and community to enhance and build relevance for its classic toy offering. (Tidd and Bessant, 2009). Indeed, LEGO has managed to keep up its legacy and set a great example for many international and global companies.

God and the Absolute Law :: Religion Theology

God and the Absolute Law This vast universe, which we understand so little of, is governed by a set of rules and principles which were laid down since the dawn of time. The universe was created by God and it is He who laid down these rules. It is also He who created time and then created life out of nothingness. While doing so, He also instructed us how to spend our lives and told us what is right and what is wrong. In other words, He told us what to do and what not to do, and we, each and everyone of us, is bound to concur and abide by these rules. Culture and race is irrelevant ; these laws are absolute and are meant for every individual. One of the laws and/or rules tells us that the human body and the soul is not our own and we have no right to harm it in any way. We do not own them since it is not us who gave them form but it is God who gave them to us for a finite period of time. We value this human life and it is our natural instinct to save ourselves from any harm. It is every man^s constant will to survive. This is a form of an absolute law which governs our every action. It cannot be called a fabrication of mankind because ever since the dawn of time, every human being has fought for his/her own survival. It is ingrained into our nature to try to protect ourselves. So it must be absolute. Theft is another aspect of life which is governed by an absolute law. God gave us life and he provides for each and everyone of us. He bestows us with what we deserve ; nothing more, nothing less. And He told us that we have no right to steal anything from anyone else because it does not belong to us and was not meant for us. This concept, that stealing some else^s property is bad, is also included in mankind^s nature. And therefore it is an absolute law. Examples of thieves and robbers do not refute the existence of the absolute law because they are just people who do not have a strong belief in themselves. They fail to realize that they have everything they deserve and that they should be thankful for what they do have. God and the Absolute Law :: Religion Theology God and the Absolute Law This vast universe, which we understand so little of, is governed by a set of rules and principles which were laid down since the dawn of time. The universe was created by God and it is He who laid down these rules. It is also He who created time and then created life out of nothingness. While doing so, He also instructed us how to spend our lives and told us what is right and what is wrong. In other words, He told us what to do and what not to do, and we, each and everyone of us, is bound to concur and abide by these rules. Culture and race is irrelevant ; these laws are absolute and are meant for every individual. One of the laws and/or rules tells us that the human body and the soul is not our own and we have no right to harm it in any way. We do not own them since it is not us who gave them form but it is God who gave them to us for a finite period of time. We value this human life and it is our natural instinct to save ourselves from any harm. It is every man^s constant will to survive. This is a form of an absolute law which governs our every action. It cannot be called a fabrication of mankind because ever since the dawn of time, every human being has fought for his/her own survival. It is ingrained into our nature to try to protect ourselves. So it must be absolute. Theft is another aspect of life which is governed by an absolute law. God gave us life and he provides for each and everyone of us. He bestows us with what we deserve ; nothing more, nothing less. And He told us that we have no right to steal anything from anyone else because it does not belong to us and was not meant for us. This concept, that stealing some else^s property is bad, is also included in mankind^s nature. And therefore it is an absolute law. Examples of thieves and robbers do not refute the existence of the absolute law because they are just people who do not have a strong belief in themselves. They fail to realize that they have everything they deserve and that they should be thankful for what they do have.

Economic Growth Essay

There are different drivers of economic growth into country and research has to some extent also demonstrated that it can be associated with typical characteristics of the country too. Explaining economic growth through a relatively new theory of endogenous growth suggest that policy measures, if taken properly, can result into long term benefits for the country and that the country does not necessarily need to rely on the external or exogenous factors such as technological innovation. The neo-classical models of growth advocated that in order to attain a consistent long term economic growth, a consistent change into the technological advances such as new processes, new goods and new markets etc must take place. (Aghion et. al, 1998). It has always been believed that high investment and saving rates in any country tend to sustain high economic growth in that country and that coupled with relatively stable economic outlook, a higher saving rate can significantly result into greater economic growth because a larger pool of funds will be available to the firms, in the shape of household savings, that can be utilized to the best possible efficiency. It is also imperative to discuss here that the trends of saving markedly differ in developing as well as developed countries as developing countries tend to have high saving rates due to relatively smaller propensity to consume of the general masses. Since developing countries do no possess the strong manufacturing base therefore consumption tends to be relatively low as compared to the developed countries and people prefer to save rather than spend. (Aghevli, at. al, 1990) One of the most important aspects of economic growth is how the saving rates in a country shape and how they with respect to the different economic variables. However, over the period of time, research has also demonstrated that saving rates show a correlation with different economic variables in any given country. Though the same characteristics may be find over some regions however it is still believed that country’s individual characteristics such as demographics, rule of law, public finances, also show some relationship with the saving rates. It has been also successfully demonstrated that the saving rates are uneven across the countries confirming to the argument that saving rates respond to certain characteristics which may be typical of that country or region however in a study conducted by Hondroyiannis (2006) suggested that â€Å"A long-run saving function sensitive to dependency ratio, old dependency ratio, liquidity, public finances, real disposable income growth, real interest rate and inflation is found to exist†(Hondroyiannis,2006) in European countries. Thus, to some extent, it can be easily inferred that the saving rates in a particular country or a region show some related characteristics and tend to get affected by different so called country specific characteristics however the impact is in long run with little or no impact been witnessed on the short run saving rates within any country. One of the most interesting findings of the research also suggest that the government savings, in any particular country, are not particularly exogenous in nature and respond to the political as well as economic determinants of the country. (Edwards,1996). This cross country analysis conducted by Edwards strongly suggested that public savings in countries with higher degree of political instability are lower than the countries with relatively stable political situation at hand. References 1. Philippe Aghion, Peter Howitt, Maxine Brant-Collett, Cecilia Garcia-Penalosa (1998). Endogenous Growth Theory. New York: MIT Press. 694. 2. George Hondroyiannis. (2006). Private saving determinants in European countries: A panel cointegration approach . The Social Science Journal. 43 (4), 553-569 . 3. Sebastian Edwards. (1996). Why are Latin America’s Savings Rates So Low? An International Comparative Analysis. Journal of Development Economics,. 51 (1), 5-44. 4. Bijan B. Aghevli, James M. Boughton, Peter J. Montiel, Del Villanueva (1990). The Role of National Saving in the World Economy. New York: International Monetary Fund. 64.

In creation of annales school Essay

underwent a crisis. During the Third Republic, historians had established a strong presence within French universities by teaching political history of the French nation. After World War I, however, historians faced a challenge to their powerful position. In the late twenties and early thirties the government reduced the number of teaching posts made available to historians in secondary and higher education. Moreover, some French intellectuals questioned the value of professional history, accusing historians of contributing to the rise of jingoistic nationalism. In the context of these challenges to the status of history, some historians elected to alter the way they wrote political history. In the interests of â€Å"intellectual disarmament,† the Comite francais des sciences historiques and the Comite francais de la cooperation intellectuelle participated in an international effort to rewrite history textbooks. In 1929 the historians Marc Bloch and Lucien Febvre launched a new journal Annales d’histoire economique et sociale. They did so in hope of transforming the historical discipline by providing a venue for the publication of research focused on social and economic history. Throughout much of the journal’s history, editors of Annales encouraged a style of history that rose above the accumulation of fact, that mobilized historians to tackle shared problems, and that sought to build alliances among different fields in the social sciences. Historians in Europe and the United States have seen the creation of Annales as a crucial turning point in the history of the historical profession and the French social sciences. After World War II the journal, then renamed Annales: economies, societes, civilisations, served as a rallying point for young French historians interested in exploring new approaches to writing history. Taking up the intellectual program first defined by Bloch and Febvre, Annales’s post-WWII editors advocated a style of history that borrowed problems and methods from demography, economics, and geography. This paper show how Bloch and Febvre drew on the concern about intellectual over-specialization and the trend to collectivize research in order to shape research on economic history and rural society. Although Bloch proposed numerous collaborative projects, the mainstay of the journal’s success was its attention to rural history. The political import of research on rural societies and the cultural politics of intellectual cooperation thus proved to be valuable resources in the development of Annales’s intellectual program. HISTORIOGRAPHY Over the past two decades historians have been taking stock of the journal’s legacy to history and social science. A major theme in evaluations of Annales is the journal’s interdisciplinary ambition. Some historians of history depict the alliances negotiated between history and the social sciences as problematic. For example, Georg Iggers and Lawrence Stone contend that in emulating the social sciences the New History lost sight of the ways in which human beings make history. Purporting to examine society at its most profound levels, Annales historians tended to make history not a study of change but a science of static societies. Some historians are rethinking the merits of social science history. In a collection of essays on historiography Immanuel Wallerstein, once a proponent of Annales history, proclaims that the time has come to move beyond Annales and the emphasis on interdisciplinarity. Proponents of the New Cultural History have turned away from the blending of geography, economics, demography, sociology, and history that had been the hallmark of Annales history from the fifties to the early seventies. Some of them, including the Annales historian Herman Lebovics, draw on literary theory to criticize the assumptions and categories used by many social and economic historians in their analyses. The reevaluation of history’s alliances with the social sciences is fueled partly by a reaction to the scientization of the discipline and partly by philosophers of historical writing, who have drawn attention to the rhetorical and literary aspects of history. Taking a different approach to analyzing the relationship between history and social science, Terry Clark and Francois Dosse look at the function of competition in intellectual life. Clark depicts the leadership of historians over the establishment of the Sixth Section as the result of a struggle between historians and sociologists for control of institutional resources. More polemical than Clark, Dosse overtly attacks Annales historians’ tendency to raid other social sciences in their relentless pursuit of new topics and methods. Dosse suggests that interdisciplinarity was merely a form of intellectual acquisitiveness that led historians to absorb (or attempt to absorb) other intellectual fields. The result is a patchwork history that had lost coherence as a discipline. Two sources help greatly in examination of Marc Bloch’s life and work, his influence and role in establishing the Annales School. The Susan Friedman book Marc Bloch, Sociology, and Geography: Encountering Changing Disciplines, provides excellent coverage of Bloch’s life and career: some fundamental and significant standpoints and events are described and discussed thoroughly therein. In addition, Carole Fink’s book Marc Bloch: A Life in History provides intellectual and political bibliography of Annales co-founder. THE ANNALES PROGRAM From the journal’s inception through the end of the thirties, Bloch and Febvre worked to create a collective spirit among Annales’s readers and contributors. In the letter that accompanied the first issue of the journal, they proclaimed that the young periodical was born of â€Å"in effort to rapprochement of contributors,† whose ambition was to work collaboratively â€Å"constant community. † By the end of the thirties Bloch and Febvre referred to a common identity that was shared by those who rallied to the journal. In 1939, when they terminated their relationship with Armand Colin and began to publish the journal independently, they again appealed to the collective spirit of their subscribers. The reference to the solidarity of the journal’s â€Å"disciples† was the most explicit evocation of solidarity to appear during the thirties. In addition to making an explicit appeal to teamwork and collaboration, Bloch and Febvre marketed Annales to both academic and non-academic readers. In the planning phase of the journal in 1928, they informed their publisher that they anticipated selling subscriptions to university libraries in France and abroad as well as to municipal libraries. In addition professional historians in higher education, they decided to make an appeal to history teachers in French high schools as well as local savants, whose good will and research efforts had been wasted, they felt, in the activities of provincial learned societies. In their efforts to market the journal, they distributed two prospects — one for professional historians and another for the local savant. As Febvre wrote, he and Bloch intended to add, as an expression of good will, personal notes to the copies of the prospectus destined for provincial researchers. Professional sociologists and experts on society and economics comprised the last major group of potential readers and contributors that Bloch and Febvre had in mind in 1928. With the publication of Annales starting in 1929, Bloch tried to use the journal to advance his career. Early in the early thirties, he actively campaigned for a position in Paris, and he had his eye Camille Jullian’s Chair at the College de France. In 1930, Bloch penned a flattering retrospective article on Jullian’s career, and late in 1932, he praised Jullian’s preface to Guy de Tournadre’s L’histoire du comte de Forealquier, while subjecting Tournadre to excoriating criticism. Bloch also attacked the medievalist Louis Halphen in a review of Halphen’s contribution to Cambridge University Press’s multi-volume series on medieval history. During the twenties Halphen and Bloch had entertained a rivalry. Both occupied the field of medieval history and therefore vied with each other for a position in Paris. In the midst of that rivalry each historian struggled to establish his intellectual niche and institutional foothold by defining himself in opposition to the other. Although Bloch’s efforts to join the College de France failed, he won a position at the Sorbonne in 1935. Bloch, who was Halphen’s junior by six years, received a Parisian appointment only one year after Halphen assumed his Chair at the Sorbonne in 1934. Between 1932 and 1934, Bloch and Febvre actively solicited contributions from non-academic researchers by introducing another style of inquiry — the â€Å"enquete contemporaine. † The contemporary studies were not designed to be collectively executed research projects, and Bloch and Febvre offered no specific research guidance. Instead, the journal published on-going or recent work on the economy of contemporary Europe, and most contributors wrote articles on such topics as banking and finance. By designing projects that called on the contribution of such an ilk, they hoped to rally different groups — amateur, professional, and expert — around the journal. By choosing such a variety of scholars to participate in the journal, Bloch and Febvre thus defined the intellectual mission of the journal broadly. Moreover, they deliberately left such terms as â€Å"social† and â€Å"economic† loosely defined. Bloch’s correspondence with the historian of Japan Kanichi Asakawa revealed a conscious decision to leave open the journal’s definition of social history. Bloch and Febvre adopted a similarly broad view of the journal’s intellectual mission when they opened Annales up to contributions from other social scientists. With the exception of favoring empirical research over theoretical studies, they defined no intellectual orthodoxy for the journal. In Annales, cross-disciplinarity was often little more than an ensemble of articles by different social scientists on related topics. In 1935 and 1936, for example, Bloch and Febvre published a series of essays on tools and technology, which included an article by Andre Haudricourt, an agronomist who later specialized in ethno-botany and the ethno-history of technology. In his correspondence with the historian Charles Parain, Haudricourt wrote that he was astounded by the intellectual differences between historians and ethnographers despite their common interest in tools and technology. True to Haudricourt’s observation, his article on the harness and Bloch’s article on the same subject had no meaningful similarities or differences — they simply bypassed each other. Haudricourt’s essay in Annales followed the harness’s geographical diffusion. When they defined Annales’a intellectual mission, Febvre and Bloch shared a desire to avoid intellectual orthodoxy . Their goals were twofold. They wanted to encourage historians to think about specific research problems, and they also wanted to lay the groundwork for doing empirical research on economic and social history by gathering information about archives. One of the strategies they used to accomplish those goals was the organization of collective projects. Responding to the inter-war emphasis on international cooperation, Bloch and Febvre saw collective research as a way to inspire their readers to organize their work around common problems. In the first issue of Annales Bloch and Febvre announced several structured inquiries into the history rural society, of prices, and of nobility. But in spite of their agreement on the basic research program for the journal and in spite of their confidence in the utility of collective research, they eventually developed very different conceptions of what intellectual teamwork might bring to history and social science. Febvre’s conception of teamwork and its usefulness for historians and social scientists centered on the collection of information. In contrast with Febvre’s fascination with the division of labor and the creation of a research network, Bloch showed less interest in culling data from a pool of untrained research workers. Early in his career, he had expressed an interest in using research questionnaires, although he had not thought of them as useful for establishing large-scale projects in data collection. Bloch’s earliest writings on methodology drew parallels between the use of questionnaires and the scientist’s practice of reporting on research objectives and procedures. Bloch saw questionnaires as instrumental for structuring communication among fields in the social and human sciences. For example, he advocated emulating the multi-disciplinary approach of the Oslo Institute for the Comparative Study of Culture. BLOCH’S WORK AND ROLE In the journal’s first year Bloch implemented a collective project on rural history. The project on â€Å"Les plans parcellaires† was journal’s longest and most successful team project. In his introduction, Bloch called on historians and geographers to create an inventory of archival sources on rural history. According to him, valuable data on the rural economy had been preserved in rarely consulted property registers and land plats held in local archives and libraries. The â€Å"plans parcellaires† and the property registers created by European states provided visual and textual sources on the evolution of the French countryside. Scattered in archives throughout France and Europe, they provided snapshots of rural societies at different points in history. In France, they offered a way to study rural history from seventeenth to the nineteenth century. Bloch argued that the study of the â€Å"traits matiriels† of the rural countryside would help researchers understand the basic structure of rural society as a precursor to further research. Using cadastral maps, geographers and historians could study changes in land usage, systems of crop rotation, the persistence of common land or its enclosure, settlement patterns, the distribution and size of villages, and the evolution of seigniorial authority. Because of the cadasters’ potential value to geographers and historians, Bloch used Annales to create a basic inventory of their availability. He did not, however, use his team projects to generate raw data on rural history. Bloch asked readers to submit articles on the availability of four types of sources in their local archives or libraries: land maps (terriers) created prior to the Revolution, property records generated during the Revolution, the Napoleonic cadaster, and any revisions made to it during the nineteenth century. Through Annales, Bloch built a team comprised of local savants, students, and specialists on rural society and economy from France and abroad. In 1931 the friendly society of provincial archivists adopted a proposal to establish an inventory of the Napoleonic cadaster as well as any maps that provided information on the type of crops grown in the different regions of France. The Director of French Archives endorsed the proposal in a circular distributed to archivists throughout France. As the project unfolded, Bloch not only recommended that historians analyze visual historical sources on the French countryside (i. e. , cadastral atlases and terriers), but he also advocated studying the contemporary landscape. In instructions and articles for the study of the â€Å"plans parcellaires,† he recommended using aerial photography and archaeology in order to identify the trace of past in the present configuration of the countryside. Bloch’s work on rural history has helped to define the nation myth of French diversity and rootedness in a rural past. One of the themes that emerges from Bloch’s book on French rural history, Les caracteres originaux de 1’histoire rurale francaise, was indeed the diversity of France and the deep continuities between past and present that defined French rural history. Surveying the French countryside from the hamlets of Brittany to the villages of Provence, Bloch identified dramatic contrasts in the physical, economic, and social configuration of French rural life. Examining the rural economy, he identified a variety of agrarian regimes. Open fields, enclosures, agricultural tools as well as biennial and triennial systems of crop rotation all combined and overlapped in divergent ways throughout France. In place of any form of national ethnic unity or homogeneity, he identified three distinct types of agrarian civilization. As Meillet and Demangeon had done in the late twenties, Bloch also indulged a patriotic claim that French scholars might lead their European colleagues in orchestrating research on rural civilization. Unlike Febvre, whose work with the Commission des recherches collectives eventually led him to undertake a national inventory of France’s rural civilization, Bloch remained committed to implementing projects at the international level, planning collective studies that built on his work in rural history. In a 1933 proposal published in the Bulletin of the International Committee of the Historical Sciences, he outlined a project on the transformation of seigniorial institutions throughout Europe. Bloch proposed to create a common questionnaire in order to establish a basic starting point. With France clearly in mind, he focused on studying the erosion of large seigniorial demesnes and the rise of the small landholder, who paid a form of rent usually in crops but sometimes in obligatory labor. As he had stated in Les caracteres originaux, the emergence of the small landholder was one of the defining characteristics of French rural history. Although France was his starting point for defining research projects on rural history, he intended his project to generate comparative and cross-disciplinary research on European agrarian history. Yet in his work on rural history Bloch transformed France into a microcosm of Europe. He used France to illuminate research problems that he considered pertinent to Europe as a whole, and he claimed that rural France was in fact an ideal laboratory for the study of European agricultural civilization as a whole. The diversity of France and the multiple agrarian civilizations that Bloch found there made it a universal theater of research. In 1934 Bloch repeated his call for collective research on rural civilization to an audience of French scholars. In a proposal to the College de France, written for his campaign for a chair in the comparative history of European civilization, he outlined plans for an international investigation of European rural history. He proposed to pursue research on agrarian regimes as well as on evolving notions of personal liberty and servitude. Bloch again called for the use of a unified research questionnaire in order to solicit contributions from those outside of the University’s upper echelons. The standardized questionnaires allowed for more effective coordination in the scale and scope of research, and the coordination of comparative research would establish France’s intellectual leadership in an area and research method that had thus far been neglected beyond France’s borders. Bloch argued that his project would guide experts, scholars, local savants, and students in a vast collaborative project that would cross national frontiers as well as the intellectual and social boundaries created by university hierarchies. Between 1928 and 1930, Bloch had elaborated his approach to comparative history. From the outset Bloch eschewed the modern nation-state as his research terrain. To accept modern boundaries and national divisions within the formulation of a research project was to impose anachronistic categories on historically situated societies, groups, institutions, and economies. For Bloch effective comparison required researchers to recognize the fluidity of geographical frontiers. Bloch’s approach to comparative history drew heavily on Antoine Meillet’s work in comparative and historical linguistics, which had sought to redefine the study of European civilization through international study of dialects and language families. As much as Bloch admired the tools that Meillet had brought to the history of civilizations, he also saw historical linguistics as only one tool among others. Bloch contended that the cultural frontiers identified by historical and geographic linguistics did not necessarily correspond to the frontiers that could be identified by historians or human geographers. Bloch trusted the detection of multiplicity and the complex connections among linguistic, institutional, social, economic facts that made explaining change such a difficult undertaking. Above all he feared intellectual laziness, which tempted scholars to rely on categories or abstract concepts that too easily substituted for criticism, reflection, and intellectual flexibility. In interwar Europe, ethnicity was one of the abstractions that informed research on rural civilization, and many of Bloch’s commentaries on rural civilization contained sharp criticism of it. In a 1928 article on comparative history, he had criticized the effort by Friedrich Meitzen, the German specialist of agrarian civilization, to establish an ethnic map of Europe. In a 1934 review of German research on toponymy and ancient history, Bloch criticized scholars who attempted to write the history of race and ethnicity. In 1932 Bloch returned to the rural habitat in a review of the latest round of work that had emerged from the 1931 International Conference of Geographers. In a tangent on Slavic scholarship on the rural history of Eastern Europe, Bloch objected to the intrusion of nationalism into scholarship on European settlement patterns. The bulk of his article, though, dealt with the conceptual problems of writing on the rural habitat. Bloch developed Lefevre’s earlier recommendation that such terms as habitat, village, and hamlet be more clearly defined. Between its first meeting in 1925 and its final report in 1931, the International Committee on the Rural Habitat had elected to use a numerical formula to define the terms village and hamlet: X number of houses within a given area equaled a village, whereas fewer than X made up a hamlet. Emphasizing the importance of examining social groups in addition to habitat and landscape, Bloch sought to make the analysis of rural life intellectually subtle and less vulnerable to serving nationalist agenda. To the arbitrary numerical definition of the village that was offered by geographers, Bloch added a social definition the rural village. Arguing that geographers had overlooked the social nature of the village community, he contended that family or kinship groups often define villages and hamlets. He held that historians and social scientists in fact understood very little about the history of the family. During the late thirties he began to sharpen his criticisms of what he saw as the increasingly romantic nationalist strain in research on rural civilization. At the 1937 Congres international de folklore, Bloch overtly attacked Demangeon’s work on the rural habitat. According to Bloch, Demangeon had simplified the complexity of rural society by glorifying peasant civilization. In a paper for the 1939 International Conference of Sociologists, he proposed another research project in which he gave the guidelines for a study of village communities. Bloch’s 1939 proposal was not the first time that he had dealt with the social structures of rural civilization. Even in Lea caracteres originaux, he had taken care to differentiate among the social groups working the land, discussing the emergence of the small landholder and agricultural day laborers. Bloch’s plans for a study of the village community built on his interest in extending the analysis of rural civilization to include the structures of social life in addition to his earlier projects on cadastral records and the physical features of the rural habitat. 9S Bloch’s recommendations came with what he saw as the urgent need to arrest the intrusion of nationalism into the social sciences, and he attacked any effort to use research on rural life and the peasantry to indulge romantic and ethnic definitions of the nation. That concern about the nationalist overtones of research on rural society emerged in his articles on rural history. In an article for the catalog of the 1939 exhibition on the French agronomist Olivier de Serres, Bloch redoubled his attacks on the mythologization of peasant France. In his paper he scrutinized the writings of nineteenth century French historians, pointing out their simplification of French history in using such abstractions as the Gallic or Frankish races. Bloch had clearly wearied of the ways in which discussions of European settlement patterns and rural civilization served as a blank screen for the projection of politically motivated descriptions of national unity, colonization, conquest, or invented antagonisms among races or ethnic groups. CONCLUSION Historians of Annales have often focused on the resistance among most historians to Bloch and Febvre’s efforts to reform the historical profession. Their studies have neglected the strategies that Bloch and Febvre used to recruit participants for journal and for their efforts to negotiate alliances with other fields in the social sciences. More often than not, Febvre’s and Bloch’s attempt to bring the fields of sociology, geography, linguistics, folklore, and history together around such topics as work, prices, or rural history revealed significant differences of method. Thus, the journal’s cross-disciplinary alliances yielded limited success in structuring genuinely cross-disciplinary collaboration. In order to direct historians away from the writing of political history, Bloch and Febvre adopted collective research as a strategy for rallying historians to the journal and to define research problems. For Febvre collaborative research furnished researchers who generate raw data which can then be used by expert researchers. Through his involvement with the Commission des recherches collectives, he negotiated an alliance with folklorists to organize amateur researchers for the purposes of gathering data on traditional ways of life, village communities, and peasant customs. In Bloch’s work team research functioned as a form of pedagogy through which he instructed his colleagues in the provinces and the students on techniques and sources that were critical to writing the history of rural civilization. Through Annales Bloch worked to alter the intellectual terrain of history. However, the historian remained the guardian of the nation’s symbols and heritage, just as it had been earlier in the Third Republic. Rather than focus on political history, Bloch defined France through the diversity of its rural civilization. At the end of the thirties, Bloch became increasingly cognizant of the political implications of research on rural France. In his reviews and through their leadership of research projects both Bloch helped to position the discipline of history as the critic of fields that contributed to the study of rural France. During the forties the study of rural France became increasingly politicized by the Vichy government. Works Cited Besnard, Philippe, ed. The Sociological Domain: The Durkheiminas and the Founding of French Sociology. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1983. Burke, Peter. The French Historical Revolution: The Annales School, 1929-1989. Cambridge: Polity, 1990. Clark, Terry Nichols. Prophets and Patrons: The French University and the Emergence of the Social Sciences. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1973. Dosse, Francois. The New History in France: The Triumph of Annales. Translated by Peter V. Conroy. Chicago: University Illinois Press, 1994. Fink, Carole. Marc Bloch: A Life in History. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1989. Friedman, Susan W. Marc Bloch, Sociology, and Geography: Encountering Changing Disciplines. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1996. Iggers, Georg. New Directions in European Historiography. Middletown, CT: Wesleyan University Press, 1975. Hunt, Lynn. â€Å"French History in the Last Twenty Years: The Rise and Fall of the Annales Paradigm,† Journal of Contemporary History 21 (1986): 209-24. Kain, Roger J. P. and Elizabeth Baigent. The Cadastral Map in the Service of the State: A History of Property Mapping. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1992. Keylor, William. Academy and Community: The Foundation of the French Historical Profession. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1975. Lebovics, Herman. True France: The Wars over Cultural Identity, 1900-1945. Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1992. Stoianovich, Traian. French Historical Method: The Annales Paradigm. Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1976. Stone, Lawrence. The Past and the Present Revisited, 2nd ed. New York: Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1987. Weber, Eugen. The Hollow Years: France in the 1930s. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 1994. Wallerstein, Immanuel. Unthinking Social Science: The Limits of Nineteenth-Century Paradigms. New York: Polity Press, 1991. Wallerstein, Immanuel. â€Å"Annales as Resistance,† Review 1 (1978): 5-7.