How far do these sources support the view that Irish Nationalism remained a 'curious blend of conservative Catholicism and political radicalism' (Source 2, lines 41-42) between c1820 and 1921?

How far do these sources support the view that Irish Nationalism remained a 'curious blend of conservative Catholicism and political radicalism' (Source 2, lines 41-42) between c1820 and 1921? Although there is no real definition for nationalism, I believe that it is the desire of a nation to be a single state which can be dividing or uniting. The key elements of nationalism are language, race, geography and culture. It was a common idea of the 19th Century as we can see from the example of Germany, which was a 40 state country before 1871. Source 2, by the historian K.T Hoppen, describes Irish nationalism as a 'Many branched tree' which I think is the perfect description at this time because there are so many parts to it, it is hard to keep track of everything. The source defines Irish Nationalism as a single entity with 2 main parts which basically means that Irish Nationalism is the body with 2 arms. One of the arms is the O'Connellites, who were democratic and who used parliamentary methods to try to achieve their goals. The other arm is the Young Irelanders and the United Irishmen who were republican and they were prepared to use violence to get what they wanted. Hoppen uses the word 'oscillate' in line 29 to emphasise the fact that throughout the Irish Nationalism campaign, the power is always moving back and forth between the O'Connellites and the YI and UI and there

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  • Level: University Degree
  • Subject: Social studies
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Using the theory of Relative Deprivation, critically discuss the causes of an urban riot.

Using the theory of Relative Deprivation, critically discuss the causes of an urban riot. The theory of relative deprivation has been widely used as the mechanism for explaining the involvement of people in social phenomena such as urban riots. Relative deprivation happens when need achievement falls short of a reasonable standard (Deutsch et al, 2006:850). In other words, through depriving people of their rights a buildup of frustration and tension occurs which entices the onset of aggressive behavior (Walker and Smith, 2002:1). The theory is therefore useful in determining why people riot as a result of social deprivation. The whole concept of Relative deprivation (RD) was originally envisaged to explain a whole series of relationships between various individuals' feelings of satisfaction and their corresponding positions within the armed forces (Walker and Smith, 2002:2). However, in recent times the theory has developed and advanced in such a way that it is now applicable to a wide variation of scenarios. According to Diana Kendall, people who are satisfied with their present conditions are less likely to seek social change (Kendall, 2008:555). Social change generally arises as a response to the perception that people are being denied what they deserve (Kendall, 2008:555). There are many different sources of relative deprivation however; there is not much known

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  • Level: University Degree
  • Subject: Social studies
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What did nationalism mean to the revolutionaries in Italian and German lands in 1848

What did nationalism mean to the revolutionaries in Italian and German lands in 1848? To see what nationalism meant to the European revolutionaries of 1848, the concept itself must first be defined and analysed in its historical context. It can be argued that the idea of 'nationalism' (at least in a European concept) originated with the fall of Constantinople in 1453, creating "a consciousness of their [Europe's] common interest against the enemy"1. However there was much confusion as to what identified a nation per se. Some saw it as the recognition of a common enemy (such as Islam), thus including Russia in the 'nation of Europe'. Others, like Lorenzo Valla in the mid 15th century, saw the classification of a nation based through common language and culture; whilst some based their ideas of nationalism on a common religion. It soon becomes clear that irrespective of any historian's and philosopher's preferences, the notion of a 'common' factor amongst the population creates the concept of a national identity. In terms of European nationalism in the mid 19th century, the Italian and German states certainly held some of the pre-requisites for a national identity, including a common tongue2 (though certainly less so in Italy than Germany, where by 1861 only 3 per cent of the population could understand Italian3), and a developed "sense of a common destiny appropriate to a

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  • Level: University Degree
  • Subject: Social studies
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Black Nationalism.

Julie Tepper 12-16-03 Final Essay Black Nationalism, also known as black separatism, is the belief that black people share a common culture and world view, have a common destiny, and have had a common experience: slavery, oppression, colonialism, and exploitation. Racial solidarity is the most basic form of Black Nationalism. No movement, program, or ideology; it is simply a feeling that black people, because of their common descent, color, and condition, should act in unison. The highest expression and form of Black Nationalism is Pan-Africanism. Pan-Africanism is the belief that African peoples share a community of interests. Whether they are in Jamaica, the United States, Sweden, or Spain, blacks must unite in a common struggle for liberation. In a smaller sense, Pan-Africanism refers to the unity of African nations on the continent for joint progress. The government's abandonment of black rights during and after Reconstruction made it evident to nationalists that their people needed not only self-reliance, but power. The world probably views Black Nationalism as an anti-white, separatist ideology that grew out of the black-power movement of the 1960s and puts forward a withdrawal by blacks from the language, culture, values, and economy of white America. Actually, prominent black-nationalist figures had emerged by the middle of the nineteenth century and a

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  • Level: University Degree
  • Subject: Social studies
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Why Should We Value Democracy?

WHY SHOULD WE VALUE DEMOCRACY? The democratic political tradition can be traced back to ancient Greece, although the cause of democracy was not taken up by political thinkers until the 19th century. Before the 19th century democracy was generally dismissed as rule by the ignorant and unenlightened masses, however today in the modern world we all seem to be democratic; every political ideology out there seems to have democratic values and credentials.i This essay will first take a definition of democracy into consideration and then look at the values of democracy from a number of political theorists, including Plato, Dworkin and Rousseau. Then a conclusion will be a drawn into why we should value democracy. Democracy is usually taken from the Greek as "demos" "kratos", demos meaning people and kratos meaning rule thereby literally rule by the people. There are many different types of democracy; Classical democracy, Developmental democracy, protective democracy and deliberative democracy. Classical democracy is simply a system based on the citizens having direct and continuous participation within the government. Developmental democracy concerns broadening population participation and in doing so will advance flourishing individual thinkers and freedom. Protective democracy is an indirect form of democratic rule designed to provide individuals with a form of defence

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  • Level: University Degree
  • Subject: Social studies
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Should states seek to promote equality of opportunity?

Word Count: 1438 Should states seek to promote equality of opportunity? Arguments about equality and justice are manifold and important, especially in a world in which the richest 10% consume 59% (World Bank Development Indicators 2008) and 1 billion people entered the 21st century unable to read or write. In this essay however, I will be focusing specifically on equality of opportunity within a state, and more on the theoretical arguments rather than the practical. I will argue that states should indeed seek to promote equality of opportunity, in terms of a base line of opportunity below which no person should fall, but that absolute equality of opportunity is unenforceable, unjust and inherently impossible. I will also briefly look at the concept of equality of outcome, and its relationship to equality of opportunity, arguing that it is an unlikely end result that cannot be forced upon the members of a state, and that it is in fact directly relational to equality of opportunity. The concept of equality of opportunity can be reduced to the basic idea that one's social standing is not preordained or predetermined as in a caste society, but achieved through some form of competition in which every member of society has an equal right to compete, on equal terms. (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy 2002) This concept would seem to be admirable and sensible, however the

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  • Level: University Degree
  • Subject: Social studies
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The historical development of Imperialism.

Imperialism in its modern sense is associated Primarily with England (and to a lesser extent France, Russia, Belgium, The Netherlands and the old Colonial Powers Spain and Portugal) from 1870 onwards, there is though a confusion as to the definition of Imperialism. (Williams, 1988, p159) Szymanski defined Imperialism as the "domination of one country by another in order to economically exploit the dominated" (Szymanski, 1981, p5). The concept of Imperialism then has two components; firstly military, economic and ideological domination and secondly exploitation of the dominated country through trade and investment, exploitation meaning the appropriation of one countries wealth by enterprises based in another (taken from (Szymanski, 1981, p6). Imperialism does not necessarily mean that the dominating country has incorporated the weaker into its empire, Britain for example was effectively a colonial power over Chile although it never officially annexed it. Some Marxists such as Lenin consider Imperialism to be simply a very advanced stage of capitalism, the expansion of the Imperial power in order to acquire new markets to buy and sell goods. Lenin dubbed Imperialism "the world capitalist system". Lenin theorises that "imperialism existed before the latest stage of capitalism and even before capitalism" but still that Imperialism is basically and advanced stage of capitalism.

  • Word count: 1109
  • Level: University Degree
  • Subject: Social studies
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Realism is the best way to show the fundamental aspects of reality.

On a simple level, realism is the best way to show the fundamental aspects of reality. We meet, we love, we eat, we talk, we have pictures on our walls, and sometimes our shoelaces are untied. Do we really need drama to show us these things? Would not a mirror turned on the world produce the same effect? Hundreds of writers have argued over the years that modern drama must be realistic drama. August Strindberg, considered one of the greatest of the realistic school, wrote both a renowned play in this style, Miss Julie, as well as a manifesto on realism in its preface. At the same time, however, other authors discovered the problems with that method of drama and have sought to show the audience the deepest human truths in worlds that bear no resemblance to reality. Federico Garcia Lorca explored this technique in his play Blood Wedding. The above mentioned plays taken together work to show the benefits of both kinds of realism. A major problem one face's when dealing with realism is that, although the word is always being bandied about, very few pieces of drama are truly "realistic". For one to be able to make the statement "Realism is not the best way to show what life is really like", there must exist somewhere plays that portray, at least aesthetically, our idea of life. Some playwrights have attempted to take the phrase "slice of life" as literally as possible.

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  • Level: University Degree
  • Subject: Social studies
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Critically assess the claim that Terrorism is first and foremost a tactic, adopted for socio-political ends

Critically assess the claim that 'Terrorism is first and foremost a tactic, adopted for socio-political ends' (Goodin). A common theme amongst the many varying definitions of terrorism involves the use of violence and force to achieve or further the political aims and recognition of an organisation. 'The central theme of every terrorism activity is the use of violence as a means of coercing individuals or the society' (Yokota et. al. 2008). Terrorist activity can be defined to include a number of different criteria, including fear and aggression towards non-combatants, resulting in the widespread inability to come to a universal characterization (Hoffman 2006). This creates the need to explore the motivations of potential terrorists and the environment or situation that they are in that might have forced them to utilise such methods in order to establish whether terrorism is primarily a socio-political means to an end, an ideology or a military strategy. It is difficult to produce a working definition of terrorism that can be applied to all situations because any act of acute violence can potentially be considered an act of terror (Hoffman 1992). The situations that these activities occur within may give a considerable insight into the reasons for certain implementation of extreme methods and whether they should be classed as acts of terrorism and by whom, even in the event

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  • Level: University Degree
  • Subject: Social studies
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How is the idea of Jewish national identity portrayed in Meir Shalev's "The Blue Mountain"?

How is the idea of Jewish national identity portrayed in Meir Shalev's "The Blue Mountain"? In order to answer this question effectively, it is first necessary to define what I mean by the term "Jewish national identity". This implies the bond between the Jewish people based on religion and race that has always existed but which in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries became focused on territorial acquisition. The Blue Mountain is a fictional depiction of the lives of second aliyah immigrants to Palestine. This was the wave of immigration from Russia that took place between 1904-14. The novel is based on a group of founding fathers of a village in the Valley of Jezreel. This central point of focus is important because it shows the birth of a community and thus is comparable to the birth of the state of Israel. Although the scope of the novel is very small, it seems to be a metaphor for Jewish nationhood and identity in general. The themes that are deployed are heavily connected to this central idea of the nation. Nature, community and the importance of manual work are recurring ideas. Shalev paints a very sarcastic picture of nation building through the satirical exploits of his characters. It seems he is trying to depict a more human side to the founders and to show that they are not perfect, angelic figures. However, despite their idiosyncrasies they are a people

  • Word count: 5430
  • Level: University Degree
  • Subject: Social studies
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