Rethinking the Human, Rethinking the Essay Film : The Ecocritical Work of The Pearl Button

Author(s):  
Belinda Smaill

In the essayistic mode, the performance of selfhood frequently questions the logic of subjectivity and its relation with the world. Taking up this core property of the essay film, this chapter explores its potential to further ecocritical approaches in film studies. It asks how grappling with non-human themes and aesthetics might further complicate and rethink not just the sovereign subject in documentary, but the status of the human more fundamentally. These questions are taken up through a close reading of Patricio Guzmán’s The Pearl Button (El botón de nácar, Chile, 2015), a film that examines post-dictatorship Chile by criss-crossing multiple spheres of interest, including the events of the military dictatorship, cultures and the impact of colonialism, astronomy, Chilean natural geography, with water as structuring concern across all.

Author(s):  
Xueli Wei ◽  
Lijing Li ◽  
Fan Zhang

Pumping elephantThe COVID-19 pandemic has adversely affected the lives of people around the world in millions of ways . Due to this severe epidemic, all countries in the world have been affected by all aspects, mainly economic. It is widely discussed that the COVID-19 outbreak has affected the world economy. When considering this dimension, this study aims to examine the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the world economy, socio-economics, and sustainability. In addition, the research focuses on multiple aspects of social well-being during the pandemic, such as employment, poverty, the status of women, food security, and global trade. To this end, the study used time series and cross-sectional analysis of the data. The second-hand data used in this study comes from the websites of major international organizations. From the analysis of secondary data, the conclusion of this article is that the impact of the pandemic is huge. The main finding of the thesis is that the social economy is affected by the pandemic, causing huge losses in terms of economic well-being and social capital.


2021 ◽  
Vol 1 (10) ◽  
pp. 149-166
Author(s):  
Dmitry V. Gordienko ◽  

The paper examines the interests of Russia, the United States and China in the regions of the world and identifies the priorities of Russia's activities in Europe, Central Asia and the Caucasus, the Asia-Pacific region, the Arctic, Africa, the Middle East and Latin America, their comparative assessment with the interests of the United States and China. An approach to assessing the impact of possible consequences of the activities of the United States and China on the realization of Russia's interests is proposed. This makes it possible to identify the priorities of the policy of the Russian Federation in various regions of the world. The results of the analysis can be used to substantiate recommendations to the military-political leadership of our country. It is concluded that the discrepancy between the interests of the United States and China is important for the implementation of the current economic and military policy of the Russian Federation.


2019 ◽  
pp. 177-185
Author(s):  
Nadežda Stojković

In the huge and most diverse discussion on the influence of the English language as a second, international, or bridge language, there are distinctive voices drawing attention to the fact that this language as nowadays so widely used in innumerable contexts, is no longer ‘owned’ by the community of speakers to whom it is mother language, those primarily of the countries from where English language originates. Moreover, the number of people speaking, or rather using English language today either as their second or foreign language, by far outnumbers people to whom it is native. Situation being such, it is further claimed the concept of ‘standard English’ reflects inherent inequality stance, for if it belongs to everyone speaking it, then insisting on the supremacy on only one of its variants means placing all those speakers of it in a subdued position, and this possibly being yet another facet of English an agent of neocolonialism and globalization (Pennycook 1998, Phillipson 1992). The spread of the English language has been much investigated as oppressive to the formation and expression of personal and collective identities, degrading national languages and through globalization diminishing the impact of local cultures (Bhaba 1990), that it challenges cultures and discourses, being the impetus for continuous re-codification and re-colonisation (Foucault 1980). However, equally significant in relevance and number, the opposing views claim English today offers an expanded community of users enabling new ways of expressing, changing, negotiating voices that offer chances for cultural renewal and exchange around the world, that the awareness of this brings “decolonizing of the colonizers mind” (Penycook 2013). Taking the flip side of the situation, English language natives are noted to be in a paradoxical situation of being expatriates from their own language, themselves “co-victims” (Bratlinger 1990). This insurgent knowledge of the status of English language today is certainly to instigate further investigation, ‘writing back’ of what ontology this language now embodies.


Super Bomb ◽  
2020 ◽  
pp. 71-86
Author(s):  
Ken Young ◽  
Warner R. Schilling

This chapter examines the controversy's real or assumed moral and political aspects. Moral repugnance inflected the scientific judgments of Oppenheimer's General Advisory Committee, triggering discussion of the relative moral significance of thermonuclear bombing, the use of the atomic bomb, and the mass urban bombing campaigns of 1942–1945. More immediate concerns centered on the impact a decision to develop thermonuclear weapons might have on the pattern of international relations. Given a paucity of intelligence, the effects on the Soviet Union's own weapons program, and thereby on the United States' vulnerability, could only be guessed at. The chapter thus considers if the development of the Super would restore the status quo ante-1949 or lead to a thermonuclear arms race and ultimate stalemate—or even the end of the world.


Author(s):  
Kelvin Joseph Bwalya ◽  
Tanya Du Plessis ◽  
Chris Rensleigh

With widespread adoption of ICT usage in public service delivery platforms (e-Government) throughout the world, African countries have vowed not to be left behind in this marathon. Robust e-Government adoption depends on the strategy employed to implement it. This paper presents the different initiatives that have been employed to promote e-Government development and development in Botswana, Mozambique and Malawi thereby showing the impact of such initiatives on overall e-Government agenda. Using extensive document and literature reviews, this paper further intends to investigate the status of e-Government implementation in these three countries and understand the multi-dimensional factors that dictate adoption and use of e-Government services. The paper has found that deliberate fiscal ICT policies, trust of e-applications, availability of ICT infrastructures such as appropriate mobile phone and base stations technology, usability of ICT platforms, and relevant ICT skills of ordinary citizens have a lasting positive impact on people’s intention to engage in e-Government.


2021 ◽  
Vol 4 (121) ◽  
pp. 185-193
Author(s):  
Ivan V. Leonov ◽  
◽  
Yanina V. Grusman ◽  
Igor V. Kirillov ◽  
◽  
...  

The article continues the discussion of the topic related to strategies for working with historical and cultural heritage monuments that contain traces of the impact of wars and armed conflicts. Based on the exposition and funds of the CNM, the analysis of specific monuments, the form and semantic aura of which bear the «scars» of history, is carried out. Among the monuments, which are given special attention in the article, there are St. Andrew's flag from the battleship «Tsesarevich», items from the cruiser «Varyag», a fragment of the foremast from the battleship «Prince Potemkin-Tavrichesky», a shot-through helmet of a marine infantry soldier found at the Sinyavino heights, a damaged propeller blade of the DB-3F bomber, etc. The article considers the status of «scarred» artifacts as «places of memory» that ensure the preservation and transmission of ideas about the military past and are an integral part of military culture. The article describes the main strategies for working with monuments whose «patina of time» contains traces of military influences. As an example of a complex artifact with a deep semantic load, symbolizing the unity of different periods of national history, demonstrating the historical and cultural continuity of its epochs (including through the synthesis of different-time military-historical materials with a high sacred component), the image of the Saviour Not Made with Hands – the main icon of the Main Temple of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation is considered.


2020 ◽  
Vol 19 (2) ◽  
pp. 55-58
Author(s):  
Javier Bajer

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to challenge the constructs regularly used by organisations around the world for the development of leadership. Design/methodology/approach This is an opinion piece based on direct observation of hundreds of organisations over the years. Findings The regular approaches used for the development of leadership skills in organisations have consistently failed to deliver against its promise. Moreover, it is often the case that organisations pursue new “solutions” to bridge the leadership gap, often to discover that their new approach not only failed to develop the skills needed but also had the side effect of distracting vast amounts of attention. This paper describes what, if not the various taxonomies that describe, “good leadership” looks like really and how it delivers sustainable and effective leadership transformation. Originality/value This piece challenges the status quo, offering a more powerful way of connecting people with the purpose of their work, increasing the impact that individual leadership could have in the creation of value for all stakeholders, including themselves.


2020 ◽  
Vol 1 (4) ◽  
pp. 135-160
Author(s):  
D. V. GORDIENKO ◽  

The purpose of this article is to assess the impact of the military component of the Russian Federation policy in the strategic triangle Russia – China – USA on its current Russian policy in the post-Soviet space, in Asia- Pacific and Euro-Atlantic regions, the Arctic, the middle East and in other regions of the world. An approach to the comparative assessment of this influence is proposed, which allows us to identify the priorities of Russia's policy in this area.


Author(s):  
Nick Admussen

Chapter four is a close reading of Liu Zaifu, a poet, scholar and essayist who wrote prose poetry throughout the 1980s. In the early 1980s, Liu Zaifu continued prose poetry's tradition of finding a place for the subjective and the aesthetic in the world of socialist prose. The first part of the chapter engages with his aesthetic and social philosophy, and uses that engagement to translate and read his best-known work, “Reading the Sea.” The second half of the chapter traces the impact of Liu's 1989 exile on his work. Liu’s post-exile works, published in Hong Kong, reveal the connection between prose poetry and the Chinese mainland context: once he leaves, Liu stops writing prose poetry in favor of literary essays. His work and his career therefore provide a crucial commentary on the line between orthodox and unorthodox prose poetry, and between prose poetry and other prose.


2021 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 4-20
Author(s):  
D. V. GORDIENKO ◽  

The aim of the work is to assess the impact of the African component of the policy of the states of the strategic triangle Russia-China-USA on the implementation of their current economic and military policy. The assessment of the impact of this component on the national security of these countries is considered. An approach to the comparison of such influence is proposed, which makes it possible to identify the priorities of Russia's policy in Africa and other regions of the world. The article can be used to justify recommendations to the military and political leadership of our country.


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