Honors Review - Vol. III by Augsburg College Honors

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An interdisciplinary journal of undergraduate scholarhsip

The Honors Review

Volume III 2010

An interdisciplinary journal of undergraduate scholarship

Editor-in-Chief Taylor Norman

Associate Editors Ashley Abbate Shannon Backes Caroline Bredal Angelica Erickson Johanna Frykmark Lauren Grafelman Annika Gunderson Katia Iverson Erin Johnson

Brittany Kruger Jade Larson Kathryn Lawson Katrina Neff David Nyquist Diedre Smith Alexis Stadstad Kaaren Warnes

Faculty Advisor Colin Irvine Associate Professor of English Augsburg College

Referees Doug Green English Augsburg College

Susana Sandmann Kathryn Swanson Languages and Cross- English Cultural Studies Augsburg College Augsburg College

Glenn Pettengill Finance Grand Valley State University

John Schmidt English Augsburg College

Special Thank You Robert Groven Director Augsburg College Honors Program

Cary Waterman English Augsburg College

CONTENTS Introduction

Editorial Policy and Practices

Articles Selected by a nationally competitive blind review, conducted by peer and expert editors

The Grand Illusion: The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and Samuel Clemensâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; Masterful Ruse Molly Dunne, Augsburg College

Is Charismatic Leadership More Influential In Societal or Organizational Settings Anna Kessler, University of Texas at Austin

Self-Made Sorcerer: The Modernization of Merlyn in Jack Whyte's The Camulod Chronicles Meghan Hekker, Westminster College

Women and Men's Hair in Film Noir Rebecca Reilly, Augsburg College

The Rhetoric of Public Support and the Foundations of Education in Montana Micah Everson, University of Montana

The Power of Narratives: Purple Hibiscus and Nigerian Culture Danielle Cifonie, North Central College

103

Humanitarian Intervention: Exploring the number of civilian casualties in conflict zones where peaceenforcement missions and peace keeping mission have been utilized Konye Obaji Ori, University of Indianapolis

135

Editorial Notes and Comments Blind-review articles authored by Associate Editors of the Honors Review

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Examining Online Communities through Wicca Katie Lawson, Augsburg College Bolivia: Subaltern Politics in the Age of the New Latin American Left Participation & Representation Annika Gunderson, Augsburg College Fine Line Between Right and Requirement Erin Johnson, Augsburg College

191 205

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This, the third volume of the Honors Review, represents a change. I am both proud and pleased to announce this edition of the Review is the first to include submissions at the national level, the first to be published in its entirety online, and the first to fully function as a yearlong course. There are a number of things are important to note about our journal, especially the fact that we are an entirely student-run publication. Of course, we are deeply indebted to our faculty advisor Colin Irvine, and the Director of the Augsburg Honors Program, Robert Groven. Without their guidance we would not have been able to maintain the high level professionalism we have strived for. Our Editorial Team has worked tirelessly to read, select, and edit the essays that you find in this volume. Additionally, our journal is a unique hybrid of humanities and law. Much like a law journal, we feature staff writers while the rest of our policies and practices fall in the category of humanities. The aforementioned reasoning behind this is that the Honors Review is also a class taken by undergraduate Honors students at Augsburg College. In hopes of teaching these students about the both sides of the editorial process, namely writer and critic, each was asked to develop and submit a research paper of their own. While working with the national submissions, and at the same time writing, it was our hope that students would be given a broad view of research and be able to discern for themselves what quality research means. In this capacity, each student involved in this process would learn from one another through interdisciplinary dialogue with other undergraduates from around the country. That dialogue was facilitated through the use of individual password-protected forums on our website. This

again, is another element that makes our journal unique among its contemporaries. We at the Honors Review are committed to student-driven scholarship and learning at each stage of the editorial process. That being said, I would now like to take the opportunity to speak briefly and directly to the impressive undergraduate scholarship you have before you. There is a distinct sense of timeliness that can be found within this volume. Each of the essays included speaks on some level to the moment we, as a collective learning community, find ourselves in. Subsequently, they also speak to one another. I think you will find yourself pleasantly surprised with the quality and insightfulness of each piece of the collective whole; something that I think truly illustrates the capabilities of undergraduate researchers. Enjoy, Taylor Norman Editor-in-Chief

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Editorial Policy and Practices Articles These are essays that have been submitted by students from around the nation. Once received by the Honors Review, the essays are then read and scored by the Editorial Team based on several criteria. Such criteria include, but are not limited to: Significance of theme, research design, insightfulness, and voice. From there, the Editorial Team narrows the total number of essays to their top selections that are then read by volunteer faculty referees. Edits are provided back to the author through our forums and the essay is edited for publication. Editorial Notes and Comments These are essays that have been written by Associate Editors of the Honors Review. They are scored on the same criteria as the Articles, but are selected only from within the Editorial Team.

The Grand Illusion: The Adventures

of Huckleberry Finn and Samuel Clemensâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; Masterful Ruse

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Among the many, great works of American literature, it is indisputably The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn that most widely and firmly secures its place within the American canon. Fathers buy the adventure novel for their sons, schoolteachers read it to their students, undergraduates write term papers about it, and adults continually return to it, if only for the nostalgia of their youth. Since its naissance, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn has enjoyed the inimitable praise of scholars, critics, and casual readers alike. The preeminent literary scholar Harold Bloom has even noted that Huck Finn contains “the most beautiful prose paragraph[s] yet written by any American” (Bloom 4). The story of Huck and Jim’s quest for freedom amid the turbulent pre-Civil War South speaks to the essential themes and intrinsic motifs of the American Metanarrative. Huck, the great American hero, escapes the confines of civilization, takes to the river, and strikes out on an epic journey to preserve the American spirit of individualism, the desire for freedom, and the triumphant power of man to overcome even the most trying of obstacles. And yet, for the astute reader, a number of problems appear within this “greatest of children’s books” (Harper & Brother’s 8), namely the anticlimactic and entirely unsatisfactory dénouement, that seem to challenge the very meaning of Mark Twain’s ever-cherished novel. In reality, Mark Twain—or more accurately Samuel Clemens—provides his reader with an onslaught of clues to indicate that his great adventure story and his epic hero are not at all what they appear to be. From the themes and false-symbols that permeate the novel, to the final, problematic conclusion, Clemens seems to be constantly hinting at a far more perverse, challenging reading of Huck Finn than his audience has permitted. While Samuel Clemens, in the tradition of many great 19th century writers, tells a story that sheds a not-so-flattering light on the American people, Mark Twain, with the help of his adoring readers and a

The Grand Illusion, Molly Dunne

! myriad of foolish critics, has cast a shadow on that illumined anti-moral. It seems that in the case of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, we have allowed the American Myth to pervade and distort yet another illustrious work of literature. And yet, one must inquire, how has this fantastic misreading so unflinchingly endured more than a century’s criticism? Perhaps it was the questionable words of our esteemed, and equally canonized American author, Ernest Hemingway, which closed the book, so to speak, on Huck Finn: All modern American literature comes from one book by Mark Twain called Huckleberry Finn. If you read it you must stop where the Nigger Jim is stolen from the boys. That is the real end. The rest is just cheating. But it's the best book we've had. All American writing comes from that. There was nothing before. There has been nothing as good since. (Hemingway 23) Hemingway may be right about one thing: The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn may well be “the best book we’ve had.” But it certainly does not receive that merit for the reasons that Hemingway thought it ought to. In The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Samuel Clemens has woven a tale from which the decidedly difficult moral has continually eluded the American public; by way of the illusory nature of the work as a whole, from Clemens’ charismatic alter ego, to the symbols and motifs that pervade the novel, to the final, unequivocally misunderstood conclusion, Clemens continues to enjoy a sardonic laugh at our naïveté: finally, the joke is on us. *** The image of Mark Twain, the white-suited humorist, is equally as resilient a point of cultural reference in American society as the stories he told of mischievous

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young boys. As Hemingway noted, and as many great scholars would agree, all of our modern American literature comes from his Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Yet, it seems to be the creation of the implied author of Huck Finn, Mark Twain himself, which represents the greatest fictional achievement. Arguably the first American literary celebrity, Mark Twain enjoyed the type of notoriety previously unheard of in his time—a notoriety that the mocking, misanthropic Samuel Clemens certainly would not have enjoyed of his own accord. Just as Clemens created the unforgettable characters of Huck Finn and Tom Sawyer, the creation of Twain represents perhaps the most enduring literary character in the history of American fiction, one who’s fictionality is still lost on many to this day. To any who are familiar with the man behind the Mark Twain myth, it comes as no surprise that the very crafting of the nom de plume has had an immeasurable impact on the misunderstood reception of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. A brochure advertising a complete collection of Mark Twain’s books, published by Harper & Brothers in 1912, shortly after Clemens’ death, tellingly entitled “Your Mark Twain,” opens with the following endearment: “Of course, Mark Twain is a familiar and lovable personality to you” (Harper & Brothers 2). The brochure goes on, in the spirit of American advertising, to ask: Let us suppose that your hopes for your library are modest—that it will contain, say, only three standard sets. Which sets should you have? Shakespeare, of course; Dickens or Scott or Thackeray, we presume. Then, as an American, with an American family, can you omit the greatest writer that this continent has yet developed? (Harper & Brothers 4) Similar to Hemingway’s declaration, Twain’s place as one of the continent’s greatest writers should by no means be dismissed, however, it is fascinating to note the implication

The Grand Illusion, Molly Dunne

! that he is among not only the greatest of writers, but the most American of writers. Again, Twain and his stories do, indeed, represent literature, and specifically American literature at its finest, but it is safe to assume that the complex reasons for Twain’s American-ness were entirely lost on the publishers and readers of this pamphlet. In reality, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn tells the most American of stories, and should for that reason, indeed, be a part of every American’s library—but it does not tell the story that Americans yearn to be told. Samuel Clemens was a man who often asserted his own cynical view of humanity, telling a reporter in a 1907 interview for New York American, “I tell you, human nature hasn’t changed in the past five thousand years. Mankind hasn’t changed a whole lot, and the millennium of universal peace isn’t very much nearer than a year or so ago” (Scharnhorst 583). On the contrary, Mark Twain was the charismatic sweetheart of the literary world who wrote the “crystal clean tale” of Huck Finn (Scharnhorst 126). Adding infinitely to my claim that the very spirit of Clemens’ work was misconstrued through the character of Mark Twain, the following page of “Your Mark Twain” provides the perceptive reader with a contention so untrue, it is laughable: No one ever had to blush over any line that Mark Twain wrote. In all the volumes that came from his pen there is not an impure thought. You might disagree with some of his conclusions, you might disagree with some of his philosophy, but feel ashamed—never. (Harper & Brothers 5) This assertion, from the publishers of his collected works, further nurtures the great American Myth that has saturated Clemens’ fiction and which Twain himself has perpetuated. While Twain may not have written an impure thought, Clemens most certainly did—ironically, unbeknownst to Twain. In fact, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn should

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do nothing to make us feel proud to be Americans, or to be human beings, for that matter. The story of Huck Finn’s journey down the Mississippi is not one of an adventurous young boy seeking freedom and “light[ing] out for the territory” (Twain 388), nor is it the story of a patriotic fight against the powers of racism, but is, truly, Clemens’ misanthropic story of the failure of humanity to overcome its own hypocrisy. And yet, this story that Clemens told was continually overshadowed by the vivacity and humor of its author, the one who was told, “The gaiety of the nations, Mr. Twain, will be eclipsed when your humor ceases” (Scharnhorst 132). The fact is, Clemens’ writing should make us feel ashamed, but the ruse that is Twain’s humorous story confuses that message. *** That a great work of fiction can best be understood through the careful study of its symbols, motifs, and language is an inarguable contention within the literary world. That these elements within a story-world, when prodded and poked enough, will always give way to another level of narrative insight, however, is up for debate. In the case of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, as a perfect example of this challenge, the seemingly obvious symbols and motifs serve only to further elude the reader as to the precautioned, dangerous moral of the story. Clemens appears to be begging for a misreading of his tale, confusing triedand-true literary symbols and implementing motifs that extend far beyond the pages of his masterpiece, to only further his readers’ naive misinterpretations. The first, and perhaps most problematic example of this misconstrued symbolism in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is Twain’s often-confused depiction of the Mississippi River and Huck and Jim’s raft. The use of the river as a symbol in Huck Finn proves especially challenging

The Grand Illusion, Molly Dunne

! because of the common, almost didactic notion of what a river represents in American literature. According to the deplorable, yet undeniably popular reading of Twain’s work by Spark Notes: For Huck and Jim, the Mississippi River is the ultimate symbol of freedom. Alone on their raft, they do not have to answer to anyone. The river carries them toward freedom: for Jim, toward the free states; for Huck, away from his abusive father and the restrictive “sivilizing” of St. Petersburg. (SparkNotes.com) This idea of the river and what it symbolizes in literature is a familiar interpretation, which, upon a first reading, appears to correspond with Twain’s imagery of the river. However, as Neil Schmitz so aptly notes in his article “Huckspeech,” though the river and the raft symbolize, for Huck, these very romantic ideas of freedom, “what the raft symbolizes for Huck is not the meaning of the raft in Huckleberry Finn” (Schmitz 57). The river/raft in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, finally, does not represent freedom from the bondage of civilization. On the contrary, Twain invokes this idea of the idyllic retreat of the river through Huck’s consciousness, yet writes against it. While there are many passages that seem to describe the river and the raft in this commonly-understood light (“You feel mighty free and easy and comfortable on a raft” [Twain 155]), it is the passages that warn of the river’s dangers, and of its similarities to civilization that contradict this familiar reading. Notably, the incident in Chapter 12 when Huck and Jim come upon the shipwrecked steamboat and the two apparently murderous robbers it houses, represents the corruption of the river by civilization, and seems entirely divergent to the idealistic image of the river that many have suggested. In this same way, the invasion of the raft by the duke and the dauphin represents the inability to escape civilization and the failed symbol of the river.

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Similarly, the importance of the river being the Mississippi River, as opposed to an unnamed or fictional river, speaks not only to the essential realist nature of the novel, but also to the American idea of the unconquered frontier, with the Mississippi River as the physical and psychological gateway to the mythical West. This theme is best exemplified with Huck’s hopeful searching for the “big clear river” that will indicate the emptying of the muddy Ohio River into the grand Mississippi (Twain 114). Along with this deliberate challenge to the triedand-true symbol of the river/raft, Clemens hints at his genuine, clandestine goal in The Adventures of Huck Finn, by implementing illusion as a motif woven throughout the story. According to Michael J. Hoffman, in his article “Huck’s Ironic Circle,” “the most important task of realism was to destroy illusion” (Hoffman 31). While it was, indeed, indisputably the aim of realism to counter the idealized illusions of romanticism, it is, interestingly, only through the implementation of illusion as a dominant motif in his work that Clemens could awaken his readers to the hypocrisy of their own delusions. Perhaps he was too successful in his deception, because this crucial theme is still largely ignored in popular readings of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Nonetheless, the seemingly incessant instances of illusion, from Huck’s humorous, frequent impersonations of other characters, to the ironic deception on the part of the duke and the dauphin and their over-the-top farcical play “The Royal Nonesuch,” should suggest the illusory nature of the novel, but instead, continue to be regarded as simply demonstrating Twain’s lovable sense of humor. As Hoffman re-asserts, “It [The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn] is not a novel about a boy’s moral awakening, not a polemic against slavery, not a book about good instincts being stronger than an evil society” (Hoffman 31). Somehow, nonetheless, this is the lesson

The Grand Illusion, Molly Dunne

! that we continue to extract from Twain’s work, because we are made to ignore the revelatory clues. The dialectic of the uneducated, “tell-it-like-I-seesit” Huck Finn as narrator, and the humorous Mark Twain as author, creates a novel with deceptively complex narrative levels. Through this dialectic, the reader can laugh at the jokes that Huck Finn tells, and more so at the jokes that Huck misses, but she often overlooks the irony that seems to be lost even on Twain. Similarly, while the illusion motif functions on an obvious level, with the previously noted examples, it also functions on a subtler level. “For Twain and most of the Realists,” Hoffman points out, “society is defined by precisely its emphasis on style and role-playing” (Hoffman 34). This is ironic, then, because within the novel we read Huck’s consistent lying and impersonation as being incongruous with societal standards, when in reality, these performances represent only the illusion of unorthodoxy. Thus, it is through this multi-layered use of irony, illusion, and misconstrued symbols that Twain has managed to hide his true message: we are all a bunch of hypocrites, and we don’t even know it. *** Finally, perhaps the most misunderstood aspect of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, the seemingly disjointed, anticlimactic conclusion further perpetuates the gross misreading of Twain’s masterpiece. Leo Marx, in one of his many insightful approaches to the work, states, “the ending of Huckleberry Finn makes so many readers uneasy because they rightly sense that it jeopardizes the significance of the entire novel” (Marx 8). On this same topic, Harold Bloom notes, “That something is seriously wrong with the conclusion is palpable, but what is wrong may only be that in this book no conclusion is possible anyway”

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(Bloom 6). On the other end of the spectrum, such unsurpassed critics as T.S. Eliot and Lionel Trilling have praised the novel in its entirety, arguing that the ending is indisputably fitting and ought to be reminiscent of the beginning (Marx 8). To these often studied, deeply demanding questions of Twain’s conclusion, I say this: If the conclusion presents a challenge, and I believe it most certainly does, it is intentionally so. Finally, the conclusion of Huck Finn, and by conclusion I refer to the last nearly one-fifth of the novel, reminds the reader that this is not, in fact, a story of success, freedom, or American ingenuity, but is, rather, the self-defeated story of American hypocrisy and the failure of humanity to see its own reality. As Marx alleges in his attempt to situate Twain’s problematic conclusion, “The ending, one might contend, is simply a burlesque upon Tom’s taste for literary romance” (Marx 10). And a burlesque it does seem to be; the exaggeration of the parody is certainly comical in its outrageousness and reads almost as a caricature of any actual events. After all, the effort on the part of the two young boys to romanticize their rescue of Jim seems over-the-top even to the casual reader. In chapter 36, with Huck explaining Tom’s genius, we see the absurdity of the boys’ plan: So he told Jim how we'd have to smuggle in the rope-ladder pie and other large things by Nat, the nigger that fed him, and he must be on the lookout, and not be surprised, and not let Nat see him open them; and we would put small things in uncle's coat-pockets and he must steal them out; and we would tie things to aunt's apron-strings or put them in her apron-pocket, if we got a chance; and told him what they would be and what they was for. And told him how to keep a journal on the shirt with his blood, and all that. (Twain 330) The problem, however, escalates from here, when we see that the boys’ plan is not only ridiculous, it is too ridicu-

The Grand Illusion, Molly Dunne

! lous, and too cruel to be humorous. Under Tom’s influence, Huck concedes to a plan that not only humiliates Jim, but puts his friend in sincere danger. Huck’s original fleeing of Tom’s influence, in the third chapter, symbolizes his denial of the romantic notions Tom professes; yet, in these final chapters, we see a return to the romanticized ideals, particularly in the final line of the book, when Huck decides that he has “got to light out for the Territory ahead of the rest” (Twain 388). It appears that all Huck appeared to have “learned” about morality, friendship, and reality while he was on the raft with Jim disappears with his return to “civilization”. The final, troubling announcement that Jim has, indeed, been a free man the whole time, only further perpetuates this problem. If, in fact, Jim had no need to escape his enslavement, and Papa Finn was already dead, what was the meaning of the journey? This is precisely the question that most readers find so troubling in Twain’s dissatisfying conclusion—the question that jeopardizes the entire story. The whole journey, with all of its humor and adventure, can’t possibly be meaningless, can it? Perhaps not meaningless, but defeated, certainly. Not only do the characters, with the exception of Jim, fail to overcome their own, individual moral crises, but they also fail, as a society, to even acknowledge their prejudice, their lack of progress, or their hypocrisy. It is, thus, Huck’s final words that ring true, not for their spirit of freedom, but for their confession of defeat. As Marx notes, “it means that the raft is to be abandoned” (Marx 19), and Huck must set out for the territory, knowing that he will be followed by the corruption he has failed to combat in New Orleans. *** Mark Twain’s classic Adventures of Huckleberry Finn has endured more than a century’s criticism, and still

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maintained its status as one of the most venerable works of American literature. Interestingly, it is the fantastic misreading of this beloved story and its adored author that have outshone the accurate, if not more misanthropic, true reading. The crafting of Samuel Clemens’ enigmatic alter-ego, Mark Twain, along with the slew of false-symbols, ironic motifs, and the final, widely-misunderstood conclusion have all combined to create a story from which a moral is difficult to decipher. Perhaps it is for this very reason that The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn has held so steadfastly its position of honor within the American canon. Perhaps it is the allure of Twain’s misunderstood hero, or the decidedly sunnier moral that we have continually tried to distill, or simply the realist spirit of the work that has captured our imagination for all these years. Perhaps our misreading of Twain’s masterpiece says more about this “civilization” in which we live than even Twain’s words ever could; if this cheerful spin on Huck Finn continues to outshine the sardonic, albeit more truthful, reading that I have suggested, perhaps we can infer only that America truly is a nation of optimists, or at least that optimism triumphs over pessimism—apparently even if that impedes honesty. Regardless of the reason, one thing is certain: Huck Finn is a text that has been largely misinterpreted. In 21st century America, the question remains, what does this celebrated misreading say about us, as Americans? Would Twain’s story have been as well-regarded if we had seen it for what it truly is: a cynical, satirical portrait of America and its people? Is the continual denial of this exigent moral a testament to the very hypocrisy Twain condemned? The truth is, the academic world may never know the answers to any of these complex questions, and how future generations will interpret the text remains to be seen; but no matter the result, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn remains, despite being misunderstood, a true American treasure.

The Grand Illusion, Molly Dunne

! Works Cited Bloom, Harold. "Introduction." Mark Twain's Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Ed. Harold Bloom. New York: Chelsea House, 1986. 1-6. Harper & Brothers. Your Mark Twain. Brochure. New York: Author, 1912. Samuel Clemens as Mark Twain. University of Virginia. 19 Apr. 2009 <http://etext.virginia.edu/railton/sc_as_mt/yourmt.h tml>. Hemingway, Ernest. Green Hills of Africa. New York, NY: Scribner, 1998. Hoffman, Michael J. "Huck's Ironic Circle." Mark Twain's Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Ed. Harold Bloom. New York: Chelsea House, 1986. 31-44. Martin, Melissa, and Stephanie Martin. "SparkNotes: The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn." SparkNotes. 19 Apr. 2009 <http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/huckfinn/>. Marx, Leo. "Mr. Eliot, Mr. Trilling, and Huckleberry Finn." Mark Twain's Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Ed. Harold Bloom. New York: Chelsea House, 1986. 7-20. Scharnhorst, Gary. Mark Twain The Complete Interviews. New York: University Alabama P, 2006. Schmitz, Neil. “Huckspeech.” Mark Twain's Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Ed. Harold Bloom. New York: Chelsea House, 1986. 45-68. Twain, Mark. Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. New York: Harper & Brothers, 1912

Is Charismatic Leadership More Influential In Societal or Organizational Settings +((1%2)--#)/*%3(45)/-46$%"7%8)91-%16%+'-64(%

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Introduction It is important to contrast charismatic leadership in the political-societal context with that in organizational settings to gain knowledge about the relative strengths and weaknesses of each of them. After all, Sarah Anderson and John Cavanagh argued in 2000 that “of the world’s 100 largest economic entities, 51 are now corporations and 49 are countries” (2002); a statement which triggered various heated debates. Regardless of the feasibility and validity of this comparison, it can be stated that the influence of today’s large corporations is continually growing, also substantially affecting international politics and society as a whole. Hence, taking the increasing interconnectivity of nations and corporations into account, it is important to examine the similarities and differences of visionary leadership in both contexts in order to draw conclusions about their most successful application, which will eventually be useful in increasing their effectiveness from which everyone could benefit. The proposed evaluation model seeks to compare the impact of both charismatic leaders and their related leadership contexts on their followers’ everyday life. On the basis of former leadership research both in political as well as organizational settings, the dimensions “Goals and Motivations,” “Scope of Decision Making,” “Visibility” and “Approachability” were identified. Political-societal leaders are expected to have broader and more ambitious long-term goals and a wider scope of decision-making, including larger task variety, responsibility and accountability, than organizational leaders. Furthermore, due to higher media coverage and other related factors, their decisions and actions are said to be more visible for their followers, which however impairs their approachability. That is, the

Charismatic Leadership, Anna Kessler

distance between the leader and his subordinates is increased significantly. 2.

What Is Charismatic Leadership? In order to understand the true meaning, underlying assumptions and impact of charismatic leadership, it is helpful to first examine the definition and origin of the word charisma: it comes from the Greek word charisma, meaning “gift,” “divine favor” or “grace” and refers to the “ability to inspire enthusiasm, interest, or affection in others by means of personal charm or influence” (Encarta, 2009) and to personal characteristics such as extroversion, communicability and persuasiveness. The German sociologist Max Weber (1864-1920) however, was the first to use it in the context of leadership. In his work “Essays in Sociology” from 1946, he suggested that “charisma” can be a source of power, leading to either traditional, legal, or rational authority. Furthermore, he distinguished between two forms of charisma, being “pure charisma,” which is solely influenced by the leader’s personal traits, underlying values and resulting behavior, and “routinized charisma,” which is developed by occupying a formal position in a social network. Hence, it can be stated that Max Weber laid the foundations for the development of a new genre of leadership studies: the charismatic leadership theory, which is a widely used research area in modern society. Charismatic leadership has many synonyms in the modern organizational and behavioral literature, which can be used interchangeably, such as “transformational,” “visionary,” “inspirational,” “symbolic” and “exceptional leadership.” It goes beyond the scope of this paper to discuss all theories related to charismatic leadership, which have emerged since Max Weber first introduced the definition of “charismatic authority” in 1946. Nevertheless, a brief overview of the most influential research studies and

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theories on this topic is given, commencing with Robert J. House’s “Theory of Charismatic Leadership,” dating back to 1977 and James M. Burns’ transformational leadership theory from 1978. Whereas the earlier leadership theories focus more on “leader behavior in terms of leaderfollower exchange relationships” (Shamir et al. 1993 referring to Hollander 1964, Graen and Cashman 1975) and reinforcement behavior. House and Burns were among the first researchers whose focus was on symbolic leader behavior, including the articulation and implementation of an inspiring vision, the intellectual stimulation of followers and the expectations of transformational leaders on their followers. In this context, leaders stimulate mutual dependence, commitment, respect and a high sense of justice or morality instead of focusing only on the task environment. Moreover, these theories claimed that transformational leaders could convert individual needs, preferences and aspirations from self-directed to collective interest, thus promoting everyone’s welfare. Based on their research, Bernard M. Bass developed his theory of pseudotransformational leadership (1985), shifting the focus from the behavioral dimensions of charismatic leaders to their effect on followers. He argued that, as opposed to House and Burns, transformational leadership is not necessarily connected to moral and just behavior but can also have a destructive impact on followers, if misused. However, Bass also hypothesized that the effective use of charismatic leadership can lead to performance enhancement among followers. The increase in performance can be related to higher levels of personal commitment, satisfaction and follower motivation among followers as the leader provides references to history and ideologies, fosters a strong sense of cohesion and willingness for self-sacrifices to the collective benefit, and raises self-confidence and self-esteem (Shamir et al., 1993 and Konger & Canungo, 2000).

Charismatic Leadership, Anna Kessler

The aforementioned theories on charismatic or transformational leadership have been applied both to organizational and political-societal settings. Whereas Shamir, House, and Arthur (1993) for example focused on transformational leadership influences at the group and organizational level and Waldman and Yammarino (1999) at the top level of corporations (chief executive officers, CEOs), a research study on the performance of US presidents by House, Spangler and Woycke (1991) examined charismatic leadership at the national level in a politicalsocietal context. 3.

Problem Definition and Research Assumptions Charismatic leadership was examined in the political-societal context as well as in organizational settings, from which researchers were also able to deduce several environmental requisites for its development. Unfortunately, what is still missing is an investigation, which creates a link between these two areas of interest in order to identify in which context this particular leadership style appears to be more influential. Only a direct comparison between charismatic leadership in society and organizations can reveal the relative strengths and, even more important, the relative weaknesses of each of them. This knowledge then hopefully serves as good starting-point for further analysis, which could potentially even lead to an increase in the effectiveness of charismatic leadership in both settings, from which everyone could benefit. After all, it is charismatic leadership which seeks to understand those who lead influential organizations or even entire nations and has a profound effect on their followers (House, 1991). Charismatic leaders differ from other leaders by their ability to formulate and articulate an inspirational vision and by behaviors and actions that foster an impression that they and their mission are extraordinary.

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Konger and Canungo, 2000, p.748 Hence, this paper creates not only the first linkage between these two areas but can also be regarded as an attempt to stimulate further thought on the comparison of leadership styles in the organizational and political-societal context. However, prior to opposing both concepts, the set of assumptions, which underlie the following analysis have to be clarified. Due to the limited scope of this research paper, the developed theory will only hold if three central conditions are fulfilled: First of all, of all existing leadership styles, charismatic leadership must be the most suitable one for the organizational and accordingly social context under investigation. Secondly, “pseudo-transformational leadership” as defined by Bass (1985) is excluded, meaning that the leader does not abuse the power he holds but only uses it to the benefit of his followers and society as a whole. Thirdly, the charismatic leader to whom the model refers already holds a position at the top level (CEO in organizational - and President in political-societal context). 4.

The Evaluation Model The specified assumptions about the nature of the leader and conditions of the leadership context under investigation, allow the proposition of a theory which is aimed at determining whether charismatic leaders in societal settings or organizational settings can be regarded as more influential. In this context, the classification as “influential” relies on 1) the number of people affected and 2) the scope of this effect, referring, for example, to the leaders’ impact on their followers’ everyday life. Naturally, the first element is more apparent in its nature and can thus be determined more easily than the second factor. However, one has to consider that the decisions and actions of a politicalsocietal leader undoubtedly affect more people, namely entire nations, than those of organizational leaders. Hence,

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examining this dimension of the impact of charismatic leadership would render the analysis obsolete. Taking this as well the greater interest in the behavioral-psychological effect into account, only the second aspect will be included in the final evaluation scale, signalizing its higher importance in the evaluation of charismatic leadership. The actual evaluation model which identifies the main differences of charismatic leadership in both settings consists of four dimensions, being 1) Goals and Motivations 2) Scope of Decision Making, 3) Visibility and 4) Approachability. However, to fully understand this model and the drawn hypotheses, it is essential to comprehend how each of the four dimensions is defined.

Figure 1 - Evaluation-Model: Charismatic Leadership in Different Context Definitions: 1) Goals and Motivations This element refers to the leaderâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s drive to change his followers, the environment, organizations and

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society to the better. He does this by articulating and implementing an inspiring vision, which is contingent on his inner value system, idealism and high sense of justice (House, 1997 and Burns, 1978). 2) Scope of Decision Making The dimension “Scope of Decision making” embraces the broadness, variety, and urgency of the charismatic leader’s decisions and tasks. 3) Visibility This refers to the frequent demonstration of leadership skills, thus influencing how many of the leader’s followers are aware of his personality and actions. Furthermore, the fact whether or not they are able to describe these deeds in more detail also plays an important role in that matter. 4) Approachability The dimension “Approachability” measures if the leader can be approached easily, for example, for seeking guidance in personal matters or for discussing. Thus, it relates to the relationship distance of leader and followers. 4.1

Goals and Motivations The first dimension, being “Goals and Motivations” was inspired by a series of research studies: Robert J. House, William D. Spangler and James Woycke (1991) collectively examined charismatic leadership and its impact on performance and public views, based on a sample of 39 US presidents. The underlying assumption of this historical research study was that personal characteristics and charisma of a world-class leader do make a substantial difference with respect to their achievements in politics and society as a whole, whereby their definition of charismatic leadership incorporated two central aspects: “actual behavior and personal example of the leader” on the one hand,

Charismatic Leadership, Anna Kessler

and “attributions of behavior made to the leader by subordinates” on the other hand (House et al., 1991, p. 366). On the basis of McClelland’s dimensions of leadership needs (1976) along with the theory that the “effective leader is more likely to have a high need for power, high activity inhibition, and a lower need for affiliation than the ineffective leader” (House et al., 1991 referring to Weber, 1978), the investigation aimed at providing empirical evidence. It was found that there was sufficient reason to infer that this relationship holds while also proving a significant positive relationship between charisma and performance. Hence, it was demonstrated that effective charismatic leaders had a strong drive to exhibit forceful actions (high need for power), used their societal status, power and resources to achieve institutional or social rather than personal goals (high activity inhibition) and did not feel the necessity to establish or maintain close, personal relationships (low on affiliation). The latter can be explained by the fact that the effective transformational leader seeks to act in the best interest of society at all times, driven by a strong inner sense of justice rather than by their dependence on others (Kuhnert and Lewis, 1987). It follows that the underlying needs and values of visionary leaders have already been researched several times. Hence, it is necessary to include this element in the model in order to examine whether the goals and motivations of political-societal and organizational leaders differ. 4.2

Scope of Decision Making As mentioned above, in their research on US presidents, House et al. (1991) examined charismatic leadership and its impact on performance and public views. Waldman and Yammarino (1999) also investigated the impact of charismatic leadership but in an organizational context: they looked at the effect on performance across various hi-

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erarchical levels, beginning at the strategic level and hence the top of the organization. They identified the articulation of a strategic vision and the recruitment of subordinates who conform to the values included in this vision, as the key tasks of chief executives. It follows that another key element in the comparison of political-societal and organizational charismatic leadership is the scope of their decision-making, including the broadness, variety and urgency of their tasks. 4.3

Visibility While translating the aforementioned theories into measurable hypotheses, House et al. (1991) introduced three other factors that had an impact on charisma and thus political-societal performance, being institutional age, foreign and domestic crises, and presidential motives. They argued that longer term in office offered a greater number of opportunities for demonstrating effective leadership due to the steady increasing flow of information, triggered by mass media, and an amplified likelihood to experience foreign and domestic crises which demand the transformational leader to act vigorously and forcefully, driven by his inner motives and the desire for long-term reputation. Therefore, long terms in office as well as highly uncertain environments substantially increase the leader’s visibility or follower’s awareness as they provide the chance or even the need for strong leadership skills and guidance. 4.4

Approachability The element “affiliation” in McClelland’s leadership needs, describing the need for close, personal relationships, already implies the importance of such a dimension in the evaluation model. Whereas Shamir (1995) argued that charismatic leadership was restricted to a leaderfollower relationship of close proximity, Hollander (1978)

Charismatic Leadership, Anna Kessler

and Katz & Kahn (1978) hypothesized that it was more likely to occur in large distance relationships (as referred to in Waldman and Yammarino, 1999). Waldman and Yammarino (1999) however, reasoned that both theories are correct. Thus, they gave further situational specifications and prerequisites for the occurrence of transformational leadership, both in close and large distance relationships between leader and follower. They argued that a close relationship with frequent interaction between the CEO and his followers would increase subordinatesâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; commitment, loyalty to the organization and foster a sense of cohesion with its members, which would eventually enhance organizational performance. Moreover, they acknowledged that even a distant relationship without frequent interaction between both parties could foster heightened integrity and collective effort provided that the CEOâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s personality conforms to the characteristic attributes of a visionary leader and that the subordinates perceive the environment as highly volatile. Namely, in this context of extreme uncertainty, it is very likely that followers seek the leaderâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s guidance. Hence, the relationship distance between leaders and followers plays a significant role in the comparison of charismatic leadership in the political-societal and organizational context and is thus also included in the evaluation model. 5. 5.1

The Comparison: Charismatic Leadership in Societal and Organizational Settings

Key Similarities Naturally, the attributes of the charismatic leader in both settings must match the developed definition of a visionary leader. Hence, he must be very committed to change his environment and followers to the better, while being solely driven by an internal set of values (Kuhnert and Lewis, 1987) including a high sense of morality and

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justice (House, 1977 and Burns, 1978) rather than the dependence on the social relationship with his followers (House et al., 1991 referring to Weber, 1978). Furthermore, leaders in both contexts have a large influence on their followers and the performance of these. Whereas Shamir et al. (1993) mention that effective charismatic leadership increases integrity as well as motivation and satisfaction levels of the subordinates which then impact their performance, Konger and Canungo (2000) argue that it also shapes their identities in terms of increased willingness to engage in self-sacrificing, and higher commitment and selfconfidence. It is also assumed that transformational leaders are self-critical and able to fully evaluate a given situation or context to then choose the leadership style, which is most effective under the given environmental circumstances. Secondly, it is useful to state that despite the commonly held belief as not to say hope based on the ubiquitous positive connotations with transformational leadership, this type of leadership style is not universally applicable but is only effective in particular situational and environmental circumstances. According to House et al. (1993), charismatic leadership is likely to develop and be effective when the organizational task conforms to the prevailing social norms and values to which the followers are exposed, offering more potential for identification, commitment and moral involvement. Additionally, highly uncertain situations in which objectives cannot easily be articulated and measured and which, thus, require strong intrinsic motivation rather than the use of external incentives, are favorable conditions for transformational leadership. Naturally, the chance of followers to be captured by a visionary leader is higher in a dynamic environment of task uncertainty in which they seek guidance than in a stable context with clearly defined goals. The state of affairs, which is described first can be referred to as â&#x20AC;&#x153;weak psychological

Charismatic Leadership, Anna Kessler

situationâ&#x20AC;? (Mischel, 1973 cited in House et al., 1993). Additionally, in his work Changing toward Participative Management Approaches: A Model and Methods (1976), Marshall Sashkin argued that transformational leadership is the most appropriate method when dealing with a dynamic, rapidly changing environment, in which high levels of trust and commitment as well as the development of a shared vision and collective values are of utmost importance. Lastly, leaders in both contexts cannot keep their position infinitely but are restricted in their tenure of office. 5.2

Key Differences More important however, are the key differences between charismatic leadership in both contexts. Beginning with elaborating on the dimension of â&#x20AC;&#x153;Goals and Motivation,â&#x20AC;? it can be assumed that political-societal charismatic leaders can be characterized as having broader and more ambitious long-term goals than organizational visionary leaders. This hypothesis is based on the assumption that the goals of political leaders to lead an entire nation and to change society instead of a limited field (organization) can not only be viewed as more ambitious, but usually also develop at a very early stage of their life, mostly their childhood. Thus, this highly idealistic dream is deeply rooted in their character, helping them to accept and overcome any setbacks. It should be considered that political leaders must slowly work their way up within a certain party, requiring substantial stamina and long-term willingness to achieve their goal since they are not satisfied of making decisions of limited scope only. They must go through long and tiring election campaigns in which they must win not only the support of their immediate followers or the board of directors in organizations, but that of an entire nation. !

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The scope of decision making can be analyzed upon several dimensions, such as the degree of responsibility, accountability, influence on followersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; identities and task specification, whereby it is vital to note that these elements do not have to be fulfilled simultaneously nor are they necessarily dependent on each other. Instead, they simply provide a starting-point for analyzing this attribute. In this context however, the scope of decision-making can be regarded as larger for political leaders than for those of organizations. After all, the decisions of the latter affect only selected stakeholder groups directly whereas decisions of :$;"6<)-4-%?>! ()*+,-./01)/+-+*./!/,.2,34!5.6,!.!/.3;,3!4*)1,!)?!2,*+0 4+)8!9.@+8;!-5.8!)3;.8+<.-+)8./!/,.2,34A!+91/=+8;! 9)3,!-.4@!6.3+.7+/+-=A!3,41)84+7+/+-=!.82!.**):8-0 .7+/+-=>! the first concern a whole population and mostly even the relations to other nations. Thus, the responsibility held in the political-societal context is substantially higher than in organizational settings as much more is at stake. Secondly, whereas organizational leaders are predominantly accountable to their board of directors and through those to their immediate stakeholders, societal leaders must be concerned with unifying or at least managing a wide variety of opposed interests. Thirdly, political leaders cannot only affect but also influence a significantly larger number of people,

Charismatic Leadership, Anna Kessler

shaping their identity as well as their values and beliefs. In this context, it is also more likely that the so-called “snowball effect” occurs. This phenomenon relates to people’s tendency to follow the crowd and to orientate themselves according to what the other followers think and do. This is based on the general assumptions that the majority cannot be too far off the right track and that people usually favor to be part of the group rather than to live in isolation. Last but not least, it is easier to define and specify the tasks of a chief executive leader than those of a president due to the broader range of tasks and constantly changing circumstances to which these are adapted. This comes along with more flexibility in everyday tasks, but less on representative matters since the followers have very clear expectations about how the president must behave in a certain situation. When it comes to the aspect of visibility, it is evident that there is a higher degree of media coverage with respect to the political-societal leader. Especially in exceptional situations, he can put himself in a good light and achieve a larger impact than the CEO, by using his charisma and demonstrating his leadership skills when handling the crisis. Thus, it is also more likely that a larger number of individuals know or have at least heard of a nation’s president, especially as he is the only one, rather than one out of many CEOs. Nevertheless, one must also consider the downsides of increased media coverage, which implicates augmented expectations of followers for specific, representative actions and hereby higher pressure on the leader “to do the right thing” in a given situation. These annotations however, focus more on the first, thus the more apparent dimension of “influence on followers” as discussed earlier. Hence, it is essential to note that even though more people are probably aware of his personality and tasks in a rather broad sense, fewer people will be able

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to give very specific and clear indications of his everyday actions and tasks since their own ordinary life is affected on a limited basis only. On contrast, organizational members are confronted with the chief executive officer, or rather, their “boss” on more frequent basis, especially through internal communication, firm updates, networking events or large employee assemblies. In this aspect, their personal everyday or rather working life is said to be more dependent on their leader’s actions, which is why this element is closely connected to the last aspect, being the approachability of the leader. As defined earlier, approachability measures if the leader can be approached easily, for example, for seeking guidance in personal matters or for discussing. Thus, it re:$;"6<)-4-%@>! ()*+,-./01)/+-+*./!/,.2,34!.82!-5,+3!.*-+)84!.3,!9)3,! 6+4+7/,!?)3!.!/.3;,3!8:97,3!)?!1,)1/,!-5.8!)3;.8+<.0 -+)8./!/,.2,34>! fers to the power distance between leader and followers as examined by Waldman and Yammarino (1999) who argue that charismatic leadership can be effective both in close and long distance relationships. However, they restricted successful charismatic leadership in long-distance relationships to rapidly changing and uncertain environments in which followers seek the leader’s guidance and support. :$;"6<)-4-%A>! ()*+,-./01)/+-+*./!/,.2,34!.3,!/,44!,.4+/=!.113).*50 .7/,!7=!-5,+3!?)//)B,34!-5.8!)3;.8+<.-+)8./!6+4+)8.3=! /,.2,34>!C,8*,A!-5,!1)B,3!2+4-.8*,!7,-B,,8!-5,!4)0 *+,-./!/,.2,3!.82!5+4!?)//)B,34!+4!4:74-.8-+.//=!/.3;,3>! Naturally, it is easier to gain access to the leader and potential assistance on specific tasks in a relatively close rela-

Charismatic Leadership, Anna Kessler

tionship, meaning fewer levels of separation between the leader and his followers, as one can find it between the chief executive officer and his organizational members. Hence, the organizational leader can be viewed as more approachable and might be able to affect his followersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; identity and every day life in a more direct, trustful and specific way whereas the political leader rather influences his devoteesâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; life in a broad sense. Considering the low approachability of the latter due to the relatively large distance to his followers and their life, he is more likely to influence them on general matters and to become a vague hero-figure. After all, whether or not it is feasible in its own, an employee is more likely to set a meeting with his boss than any arbitrary citizen is able to schedule one with his nationâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s president.

5. Research Methodology After evaluating the relative similarities and differences between both environmental contexts and examining their presumed connectivity, the research hypotheses can be summarized in the following way:

In order to draw valid as well as relevant comparisons and conclusions from the presented hypotheses, one would have to assure that exactly the same research treatment is applied to both the political-societal context and to the organizational setting. Although personal interviews would be the

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preferred method in both contexts, this qualitative method can be regarded as unfeasible due to the immense time constraints of top leaders. A second potential course of action could entail the distribution of surveys among CEOs and presidents, which should include questions on the leader’s childhood, development of dreams, past, present and future plans and aspirations as well as on their personal and working life. To avoid low response rates, one would have to assure that this highly personal and sensitive information is treated with utmost caution and confidentiality. Certainly, this approach is highly desirable; however its feasibility can be regarded as low since it is not very likely that a sufficient number of organizational leaders and especially presidents would participate, for example due to personal time constraints and lack of immediate benefits. Hence, one should base the analysis on historical data, speeches, potential bibliographies and extraordinary events during their tenure in office. Scandals or other crises and how they had been dealt with would naturally have to be taken into consideration as well. Although this third proposition can be regarded as least desirable, it is still the most realistic approach to researching the differences of charismatic leadership in both contexts. Lastly, an adequate sample size could involve 30 presidents from Western countries, 80-100 CEOs and, of course, to measure the impact of their leadership, a large number of followers in each research context: surveys amongst their closest and more distant followers should also be distributed in order to learn how they perceive their leader’s long-term goals & motivations and their scope of decision making. Research on the dimensions “Visibility” and “Approachability,” thus Hypothesis 3 and Hypothesis 4 respectively, should focus exclusively on the followers’ perceptions. Here, one should examine how many people know the leader under investigation and can elaborate on his personality and actions. Furthermore, the level of detail given

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when asked to describe and define his responsibilities is of utmost importance and will be considered in the final analysis. Lastly, one should aim to identify how and to what degree followers feel affected and inspired by their leader. Results from the examination of all dimensions should subsequently be categorized and coded so that one could develop a scale and assign points to each leader, which should then, after being weighted according to their relative importance, give more insight on the rightness of the developed hypotheses. 6. Conclusion In this paper, charismatic leadership was examined in the political-societal context as well as in organizational settings: the attributes of charismatic leaders and their influence on followers as well as situational factors which have an effect on leadership were discussed. Subsequently, the analysis focused on identifying the key similarities and key differences of charismatic leadership in both contexts. The latter were identified as variances in goals and motivations, scope of decision making, visibility and approachability, which then translate into a distinct influence on their follower’s everyday life. It was argued that political leaders can be characterized through broader and more ambitious long-term goals and dissatisfaction with decisions that are restricted in their scope. Furthermore, their followers are more likely to be aware of their personality and actions due to their increased visibility, find it however more difficult to define them in much detail, based on their large scope of decision making. Taking into account that it is very difficult, if not impossible, to consult them for personal purposes or to seek direct guidance on highly specific matters, labeled as “low approachability,” the impact on their followers’ life and value system can be regarded as high, but certainly in a very broad sense. Consequently, these leaders

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serve as relatively abstract role models, influencing their followersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; broad identities and general beliefs rather than actions on specific, everyday tasks. The latter however, can be said to apply to the influence of organizational leaders whose focus lies mostly on shaping the identity of their immediate followers, in a more direct, specific and personal way (higher approachability). Thus, their awareness is restricted to a rather limited number of people who are however more likely to be able to explain their tasks and actions in detail due to a narrower scope of decision making. Furthermore, some suggestions were given on how these hypotheses could be researched and verified. To conclude, charismatic leaders in both settings impact their followersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; identities and ordinary life in a very distinct way, making it not viable to determine which one is more influential. However, the outcomes of this analysis can be used to build upon the relative strengths of each: Political leaders shape their devoteeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s life, identities and value system in very broad, wide-ranging terms, whereas organizational leaders can be approached for personal assistance and guidance on very specific matters. Moreover, the hope of this research paper is to stimulate further thought on the comparison of societal and organizational settings to understand the context-specific implications of leadership style and to give recommendations for their most successful application.

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Bibliography Bass, B.M. (1985). Leadership and Performance Beyond Expectations. New York: New York Press Burns, J.M. (1978). Leadership. New York: Harper & Row Conger, J.A. & Kanungo, R.N. (2000). Charismatic Leadership and Follower Effects. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 21(7), 747-767. Corporate Accountability Project (2002). The Worldâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s 100 Largest Economic Entities. Retrieved April 29, 2009 from http://www.corporations.org/system/top100.html House, R.J. (1971). A Path-Goal Theory of Leadership Effectiveness. Administrative Science Quarterly, 16, 321-338. House, R. J., Spangler, W.D. & Woycke, J. (1991).Personality and Charisma in the U.S. Presidency: A Psychological Theory of Leader Effectiveness. Administrative Science Quaterly,36 (3), 364-396. House, R.J., Shamir, R.J. & Arthur, M.B. (1993). The Motivational Effects of Charismatic Leadership: A Self-Concept Based Theory. Organization Science, 4(4), 577-594. Kuhnert, K.W. & Lewis, P. (1987). Transactional and Transformational Leadership: A Construtive/Developmental Analysis. The Academy of Management Review, 12(4), 648-657 McClelland, D.C. & Burnham, D.H. (1976). Power is the Great Motivator. Harvard Business Review, 54, 100-110 & 159-166. MSN Encarta (2009). MSN Encarta, Online Enzyclopedia. Retrieved April 17, 2009 from Microsoft Corpration: http://encarta.msn.com/

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Sashkin, M. (1976). Changing toward Participative Management Approaches: A Model and Methods. The Academy of Management Review, 1(3), 75-86. Sashkin, M. (1988). Charismatic Leadership: The Elusive Factor in Organizational Effectiveness. San Francisco Shamir, R. J. (1993).The Motivational Effects of Charismatic Leadership: A Self-Concept Based Theory. Organization Science , 4(4), 577-594. Waldman, D.A. & Yammarino, F.J. (1999). CEO Charismatic Leadership: Levels-of-Management and Levels-of-Analysis Effects. The Academy of Management Review, 24(2), 266-285. WEBER, M. (1946). Essays in Sociology. New York: Oxford Press

Self-Made Sorcerer: The Modernization of Merlyn in Jack Whyte's The Camulod Chronicles !),<1(%:)BB)/*%C)-6D4(-6)/%0"##),)%

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When Geoffrey of Monmouth put his pen to paper to record the King Arthur legend as a part of his The History of the of Kings of Britain, he brought to life for the first time since the old Welsh Legends the character of Merlin. But Merlin’s development did not stop there. In version after version of the Arthurian legend he continued to appear, taking on many roles, from tutor to madman, but always maintaining an essential Merlin character of magic, wisdom, and power. Merlin is always an authoritative figure, gaining his influential position through his extraordinary abilities. He cannot exist as an “average Joe” character without losing his fundamental nature. In modern Arthurian literature, Merlin remains a popular figure. One modern author who uses Merlin as a significant character in his retelling of the Arthurian story is Jack Whyte in his The Camulod Chronicles. Whyte’s goal in this series is to place the Arthurian story in a historical, “if it really happened, this is how it would have been” context that fits with modern concepts of history rather than complying with the medieval view of history as a malleable and inventible way to explain God’s plan. He thus develops Camulod (Camelot) as a community built by two retired Roman generals who remain in Britain at the end of the Roman occupation. Merlyn1 is the grandson of one of these generals, and so grows up raised partly by the Celtic peoples of his mother and partly by the Roman-Britain peoples of his father. It is no surprise that Whyte’s Merlyn differs from the Merlin of medieval texts, because Whyte intends to suggest to his audience the possibility of truth in his Arthurian tale, which means not placing as much weight on Merlyn as magical since that is not accepted as feasible today as it was by medieval audiences. Whyte realizes that the medieval Merlin !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !

"#$%&'(")*"+,$"*-$&&)(."/0"1234"5,'+$6*"#$%&)("3,2%23+$%7"2(8"0%/9"+,)*" -/)(+"/(":#$%&'(;"%$0$%*"+/"5,'+$6*"3,2%23+$%"<,)&$":#$%&)(;"%$0$%*"+/" #$%&)("3,2%23+$%*"<,/"2%$"(/+"5,'+$6*"

Self-Made Sorcerer, Meghan Hekker

is generally not portrayed as a human man—he is magic and powerful, a sorcerer, a divine being, but he does not have serious faults or emotions such as depression, joy, or anger that allow a modern day audience to connect with him. However, Whyte’s Merlyn does maintain some of the classical features of the medieval Merlin, such as wisdom, a role as tutor and guide, and the appearance, at least, of magic and mystery. Thus, in order to relate more to today’s readers, Whyte creates a modernized and humanistic Merlyn, a dynamic character who develops into his position of power rather than being born into it but still maintains his significance as an above-the-ordinary figure. In medieval Arthurian texts, Merlin is born a powerful, magic figure, and this is accepted in medieval culture. One of the best examples of this is in Robert de Boron’s Prose Merlin, because it is the first time Merlin appears “as a fully developed figure in vernacular literature” (Rosenberg 305). De Boron is the first Arthurian author to offer the story of Merlin from childhood to adulthood. However, there is little difference between de Boron’s Merlin as a child and his Merlin as an adult. He is born in a sort of Immaculate Conception, his virtuous mother impregnated in her sleep by a demon and thus possessing no knowledge of how Merlin was conceived. This birth initiates Merlin’s individuation, “joining the human and the supernatural and obliterating the distinction between good and evil in the union of his virtuous human mother and his demonic incubus father” (Spivack 13). Merlin is, from the beginning, a figure of magic and power, a combination of good and evil and old and young that makes him completely unique. His combination of old and young becomes apparent when he speaks at the age eighteen months, not in baby sentences like “Mamma, get juice,” but in an adult vernacular. He looks at his mother and says, “‘Dear mother, do not be afraid; you will never die on my account’” (de Boron 309). Not only is this sentence grammatically mature, but it ex-

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presses wisdom, a calm confidence in his ability to protect his mother, and knowledge of the future that characterizes an adult mind in the not yet two-year-old body of baby Merlin. This adult baby Merlin is continued when he, in the process of saving his mother, says, “‘I know everyone’s secrets, and if I wanted to reveal them, I could make all confess’” (de Boron 311). Not only does this once again reflect Merlin’s mature mind and knowledge of the future, but also his awareness of and willingness to use his power. From the before the age of two, Merlin is able to control and advise adults just as effectively as he can when he’s full grown. The fact that Merlin is born powerful eliminates the need to develop him as a character throughout de Boron’s story. He remains static, which makes him unusual in comparison to most of the other Arthurian characters, who are more dynamic. This is especially clear when contrasting Merlin’s “youth” with the development of Uther. As Nancy Brown observes in her introduction to de Boron’s work, “While Merlin’s personality and powers were revealed, Uther matures in the book from joyful youth to a grave and pious king, his character shaped by Merlin’s lessons” (102). Yet, Merlin remains the wiser and stronger figure, more powerful than the king—his strength lies in the nature of his magic, which is so ingrained in his essence that he is born with it, rather than gaining it from lessons he learns. While Merlin’s magic and supremacy from birth seems farfetched today, it fit snugly with the medieval audience. Those “in medieval Europe who used, feared, promoted, or condemned magic….not only assumed it worked but could give (or assumed authorities could give for them) reasonably specific explanations of how it worked” (Kieckhefer 814). Magic, from dark sorcery to Christian miracles, was believed in by those in medieval times. Merlin being born with powers was merely a sign of his superiority to the

Self-Made Sorcerer, Meghan Hekker

common man, a superiority necessary to fulfill Merlin’s above-the-ordinary characterization. Jack Whyte, however, writes for a modern audience that does not believe as readily in magic as a medieval audience. Today’s culture and technology makes modern readers less likely to “mistake novelty and strangeness for magic” (Lewis, 417). Consequently, they do not relate as strongly to a Merlin such as de Boron’s, both because they do not believe magic is feasible and because they do not believe in a child being born with all the reason and power of an adult. Modern readers can admire Merlin, “but we can’t identify with him. The stories about him are wonderful and awe inspiring but we can’t live with them” (Strachan 95). Readers can, however, relate to the idea of the self-made man so prominent in today’s culture. Accordingly, Whyte develops his Merlyn over the course of four books, starting him off as an ordinary child who learns and grows through his experiences into the out-of-the-ordinary figure that is Merlyn. Whyte’s Merlyn is not born in mysterious circumstances, and he does not start automatically as an adult sort of figure. This is apparent from the prologue of The Eagles’ Brood, the first book narrated by Merlyn in Whyte’s series. The reader is introduced to Merlyn in his old age: I am Merlyn and men feared to lie to me, believing me magical. I did not care to disillusion them, since it suited me in later life to be both magical and feared…I taught myself well to be uncaring of what men thought of me. I taught myself well, I say, but it was far from easy. I was not always lonely, nor feared and shunned by men. As a boy, my name was Cay, short for Caius Merlyn Britannicus, and I had a sunny childhood. (5) Thus the reader is assured from the beginning that Merlyn does not have actual magical powers, but merely the facade of them. It also sets up Merlyn as a character with very

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human emotions—he maintains the pretense of magic for the power it gives him but he is affected by the way it causes people to react towards him. He does not like being shunned and lonely. Furthermore, this passage assures the reader that Merlyn’s story will be a humanistic one of change and development—his childhood is “sunny,” not full of magic and adult-like behavior as it is for Merlin in de Boron’s work. Whyte’s Merlyn has to build up his magician-image and learn to deal with the consequences through personal experience and hard work. The true powers that set Merlyn apart are nothing more than intelligence, logic, and curiosity, all of which combine to develop him into the self-made, relatable, yet still extraordinary figure of legend. One way Whyte humanizes Merlyn is by having him train as a soldier. This effectively fits into Whyte’s goal of a realistic, historically possible Merlyn because powerful men of Roman and Anglo-Saxon Britain were those who knew how to fight and defend themselves and their land. After all, each of the historical figures who are rumored to have possibly been Arthur (Ambrosius Aurelianus, Vortigern, and Riothamus) gain their brief power and fame through their fighting forces (Wood 428-41) and Anglo-Saxon kings who “held a position of pre-eminence among his fellows” did so by “military prowess” (Blair 241). Furthermore, cavalry forces developed from the Romans, such as those Merlyn helps to improve by accidentally discovering the purpose of stirrups, would have had the ability to “hammer the Saxons” (Newark 47). Besides making Merlyn a realistic figure who fits accurately within today’s concept of history, however, Whyte’s characterization of him as a soldier develops Merlyn in a way relatable to the reader. War is still a prominent aspect of today’s culture, and modern readers, used to war movies where individual soldiers humanistically triumph through the courage, discipline, and wisdom they acquire during battle, can un-

Self-Made Sorcerer, Meghan Hekker

derstand a Merlyn who gains prowess and power through the same sort of experience. However, Whyte’s characterization of Merlyn as a soldier is also significant for the connection with Christianity it establishes. In Robert de Boron’s Merlin, Merlin’s connection to Christianity is an important aspect of his character. His “knowledge of the future came to him from God” (309) and he offers to teach Blaise “‘how to receive the love of Jesus Christ’” (315). Thus Merlin is a strange mix of the magic he receives from his demon father and the magic and Christian faith he receives from God. While this combination may seem bizarre to modern readers, it was completely feasible to the medieval audience, where “the principal reason for the triumph of faerie lies in the fact that it offered a highly flexible narrative environment where an idealism much at variance with the orthodoxy of the age could be given free development” (McAlindon 122). Merlin’s trickster powers, which are part of the “faerie” realm, may seem demonic or threatening but are made acceptable to a medieval reader by combining them with a blessing from God. Thus medieval audiences could experience the thrill of a possibly dangerous side to Merlin while knowing that he will continue on the righteous path because in reality he gains his power from God. In contrast, Whyte’s Merlyn’s Christian connection, as is revealed through in his actions as a soldier, is not as dramatic or significant as that of de Boron’s Merlin. He believes in “simple Godliness” (The Eagles’ Brood 236), and shows mercy when possible. He says, “‘We cannot claim to be Christians if we condone senseless and unnecessary slaughter’” (The Eagles’ Brood 190). Thus Merlyn believes in basic Christian morals, similar to many soldiers who fight today, but he is not acting directly from God and does not offer to teach others the practice of Christianity. He is not divine, as de Boron implies his Merlin is, but his Christianity highlights his empathy and willingness to grant

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mercy to fellow humans and helps his development as a unique and powerful figure. This makes him a more understandable character—many people today can relate to characters who uphold some of the basic principles of Christianity, even if they are not religious. Not as many can relate, on a realistic level, to characters who claim to be messengers from God. Another way Whyte develops Merlyn as a character is through Merlyn’s first performance of “magic.” In both de Boron and Whyte, Merlyn’s first magical deed involves them acting to save someone, and in both cases it creates an image of power. De Boron’s Merlin acts to save his mother by speaking at her trial. He explains the circumstances of his birth and convinces the judge that he is both honest and magically knowledgeable of the past by getting the judge’s mother to confess that the judge’s father was actually his mother’s priest. The judge concludes the case by saying, “‘This child has saved his mother from the stake. Let all who ever see him know that they have never seen and will never see a man more wise than he’” (315). This demonstrates Merlin’s powers at an extremely young age, showing that he is born already able to reason and with the gift of knowledge of the past. It also points out that Merlin is considered a wise man by this time, even though he is not yet two, which again highlights his reaching of full potential at birth, rather than developing into a self-made man like Whyte’s Merlyn. For his first magic trick, Merlyn spirits away a brutalized girl, called Cassandra, through simple deception, which shows development in his cleverness and his compassion. Concerned for Cassandra’s safety, Merlyn switches her early on in the day with a boy similar to her size. He then has her transported out of Camulod, distracts the guards so the boy can slip out of the infirmary, and tells one of the guards that he had dreamed of a man in a black cloak carrying the girl out of the main gates. When the

Self-Made Sorcerer, Meghan Hekker

guard investigates Cassandra is gone and no one but Merlyn and a few friends know how (The Eagles’ Brood 1246). This event is “the first tale of Merlyn’s strange and magical powers” (127), but the reader has the quiet pleasure of knowing the reality behind the myth. They realize that Merlyn’s magic is not the God/demon-given powers from birth of de Boron’s Merlin, but instead consists of “smoke and mirrors” put together with humanistic traits of intelligence, ingenuity, and an honest desire to aide another person. Each of these are characteristics that the reader has watched Merlyn develop up to this point, and can relate to. Thus Whyte suggests that even though “in realistic historical fiction Merlin cannot be a genuine magician…there is no reason why people around him should not think of him as one” (Dean 242). Merlyn maintain his myth and the authority that comes with it without possessing magical abilities. Merlyn’s myth and power continue to develop when he is the first to have knowledge of Arthur’s birth and its significance. In de Boron’s Merlin, Merlin has an active role in the conception of Arthur, placing Uther under a glamour so that he can sleep with Ygerne without anyone knowing it’s him. Merlin then says, “‘Now I can tell you that you have fathered an heir. He will be the gift you have promised me, for you are not to keep him yourself, and you will grant me all your authority over him’” (338). Merlin has specific pre-knowledge of Arthur’s birth that, combined with previous exhibitions of his magic, allows him to gain control over baby Arthur so that he can shape his destiny. His advantage is not only that he is aware of Arthur’s potential, but that he is directly responsible for Arthur’s birth. Once again, this makes Merlin less relatable to modern readers because it exhibits Merlin’s supernatural abilities, which have not altered since his birth. In contrast, Whyte’s Merlyn gains power through knowledge of Arthur simply by understanding the facts,

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possessing intuition, and continuing a dream. Merlyn, unlike de Boron’s Merlin, has nothing to do with engineering Arthur’s birth—he has no involvement in the set up story of Uther and Igraine. However, he is the first one to learn of Arthur’s birth and the significance of his heritage. Merlyn, upon learning that the baby is the bastard son of Uther and Igraine, deduces by simple logic the incredible birthright of Arthur. Not only does he have claims to Camulod, but to the Pendragon nation, Cornwall, and a kingship in Eire (The Eagles’ Brood 622). While Merlyn has no part in orchestrating this heritage, he does, partly by intuition, realize the significance of it. The moment Merlyn lays eyes on the baby Arthur he grows as a character by realizing the fulfillment of a quest he was not certain he would be able to complete during his lifetime. Merlyn was charged with finding the right man to weld the incredible sword, Excalibur, and as he laid eyes on Arthur he “knew him and I shivered with foreknowledge” (The Eagles’ Brood 622). Thus Merlyn’s intuition forms a relationship between Merlyn and Arthur that is more compatible with modern-day reader’s beliefs than the not-as-realistic power of placing a glamour on Uther like Merlin does in de Boron. In finding Arthur, Merlyn also realizes the possible fulfillment of the dream of a High King of Britain that was established by his grandfather and great uncle. Merlyn’s intuitively recognizes Arthur as “a Leader, perhaps, to weld together the strongest elements of the people of this land of Britain” (The Eagles’ Brood 622). In this manner, Merlyn gains knowledge of the purpose of Arthur and how he must teach and guide the baby into a King. He now develops into a mentor, just as modern day readers become mentors for their own children. Because Merlyn gains power over Arthur through knowledge and intuition and has a clear cause that he hopes to pursue, rather than gaining power through magic and having a pre-ordained fate chosen for Arthur, he is more relatable to modern readers. He appeals to them

Self-Made Sorcerer, Meghan Hekker

because of his role-model character, becoming a mentor for the reader at the same time he becomes a mentor for Arthur. There is no individual characteristic of Merlyn that a modern person cannot posses. Instead he gains his influential position through entirely human, attainable traits such as wisdom and determination in pursuit of a dream—all ideals modern readers can aspire to in their own quests to gain self-improvement and power in their lives. Developing into a mentor, however, does not mean Merlyn is finished learning and changing as a man. Instead, Whyte continues the advancement of Merlyn into a figure of power by forcing him to confront death and insanity in an event that is not present in de Boron’s Merlin but in old Welsh tales and in Geoffrey of Monmouth’s Vita Merlini. This incident is Merlyn’s period of madness. The Merlins that go mad in old Welsh tales and in the Vita Merlini are extremely different from Merlins such as de Boron’s. They are figures who are stripped of their power by an insanity caused by extreme grief at the loss of loved ones. In their introduction to a version of “Lailoken,” a Welsh tradition related to Merlin, Aubrey Galyon and Zacharias P. Thomas connect the story of Mad Merlin to the medieval mindset: Madness or frenzy is a frequent theme in medieval literature…A character’s madness usually takes one of three forms: battle frenzy, prophetic frenzy, or insanity occasioned by extreme sorrow or divine anger. These traditional sources of madness were deeply influenced by the Christian tradition of the ascetic or hermit life, in which a saint-to-be took up residence alone in the desert or wilderness so that his physical hardships would purify his soul. (3) Periods of insanity leading to further Christianization of characters were thus accepted by medieval audiences, much like the comparisons between Christ and Merlin in de Boron’s work.

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However, the fact that these times of madness lead the Merlin figures to be more Christian reveals something not present in de Boron—dynamic Merlins that develop and change within the stories. This is more relatable to modern audiences, even if the strong Christian character isn’t. These mad Merlins are also relevant to modern times and readers because they suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder, a common infliction upon soldiers coming home from wars today. As R.J. Stewart points out, “There are a number of veterans of the Vietnam war in the USA who live to this day in the wilds, as Sylvan men, exactly as described by Geoffrey [of Monmouth] when telling of Merlin…war has rendered them unable to be at rest in human society” (250). Readers can understand this Merlin more because he is affected by grief and terror—he has human emotions that they can sympathize with while de Boron’s Merlin generally acts in response to knowledge of the past or future rather than from emotion. Significantly, however, these mad Merlins are characters who were like de Boron’s Merlin before they went insane. They already have a reputation of mystery and sorcery, which the madness partly strips away, displaying vulnerable characters rather than the previous figures of power. In contrast, the madness of Whyte’s Merlyn spurs him in a direction other than hermitage and a quest for salvation. When Merlyn’s wife, Tressa, dies in an accident while they are out on a quest to find an enemy called Ironhair, Merlyn goes mad. “Madness,” he says, “can take many forms. Mine took the form of Peter Ironhair, and because of it, a year was to elapse before I would truly mourn my Tressa” (The Sorcerer: Metamorphosis 390). This suggests that Merlyn is affected by the same type of posttraumatic stress disorder as the Merlins of the Welsh tales and Monmouth, unable to mourn his loved one or have any real emotion except anger and a desire for revenge for a long time. It establishes extreme grief as the cause of his

Self-Made Sorcerer, Meghan Hekker

madness. However, it also emphasizes Merlyn’s humanistic nature because it reveals “mankind’s limitations” (Weller 13)—Merlyn is not perfect and has to battle emotional obstacles and his own faults in order to triumph as an individual. He struggles to overcome his desire for revenge, which is very different from the reactions of the previous Merlins to their grief. It does not, by any means, cause him to develop into a more Christian character, as was so important for the medieval readership, nor does it strip away his power. Instead, it is responsible for cementing his image as a powerful magical figure, progressing him from “simple Merlyn…[to] Merlyn the predator, the avenger and the sorcerer” (Whyte, The Sorcerer: Metamorphosis 391). It is clear that Jack Whyte makes an effort to provide logical, realistic explanations, such as his madness, for Merlyn’s supposed magical powers in order to keep him a modernized and relatable character. However, his Merlyn does maintain the power of prophecy that is a prominent part of Merlin’s character in medieval tales. As previously discussed, Robert de Boron’s Merlin has knowledge of the past, present, and the future, and is able to gain power by predicting, for example, the death of a baron. Furthermore, Geoffrey of Monmouth’s Merlin has an entire work called The Prophecies of Merlin, in which he makes predictions often using animals as symbols, such as “A raven shall attend with the kites, and devour the carcasses of the slain.” (Monmouth 49). Merlin’s prophetic abilities are part of the power he receives from his heritage and provide another connection between Merlin and Christianity for the medieval audience. Christ was a prophet, and Merlin having the same ability presents him as a Christ figure and grants him authority without him having to work for it. Interestingly, Whyte’s Merlyn’s prophetic ability is one of the few cases in the book where he is born with a power rather than having to develop it. This power comes in the form of prophetic dreams. Merlyn tells his brother, “I

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have dreams, Ambrose, and all too frequently they do come true and they are seldom pleasant. I have had them all my life, despite the fact that I abhor and would happily abjure them” (The Saxon Shore 195). His dreams also often come with animals symbolizing people or challenges, like those of the Merlin in Monmouth’s work. These dreams allow Whyte to establish a connection to the popular mythical Merlin of the medieval works while adding a pinch of mystery to his own Merlyn. Traditionally, Merlin is a character with unexplainable traits, and while Whyte effectively provides logical reasons for most of them, he keeps Merlyn’s gift of prophecy because a Merlyn without any sort of extraordinary ability, no matter how small, loses his essence as a Merlin character. However, Whyte keeps Merlyn’s modernized nature with the fact that Merlyn gains no power from his dreams; there are very few cases where he even realizes the meaning of the dreams before the prophesized events occur. Thus, for Merlyn, having a dream about something that will happen, but not being able to control that event, is not so different from having a good intuition—a tangibly human trait rather than a religious marvel. Modern audiences who don’t believe as strongly in extraordinary powers like knowledge of the future relate more easily to unexplainable phenomena that add mystery and a hint of the super-natural without being the reason for Merlyn’s success. Perhaps the most significant aspect of Whyte’s Merlyn’s development and modernization, however, is one that is not present at all in the medieval texts. The Merlin of de Boron’s and Monmouth’s works and of the Welsh tales is a solitary figure whose strength lies within himself. Even though he has family in his mother, a friend in Blaise, and even sort of father/son relationships with Uther and Arthur, Merlin has no true support system because he does not need one—he is born an adult with extraordinary powers that make him more capable to look after himself than many

Self-Made Sorcerer, Meghan Hekker

adults are. This Merlin never has to rely on anyone for help, but is always in the role of mentor and figure of power—he does not even need his own mother, rather he is needed by her and is able to save her when he is only eighteen months old. In contrast, Whyte’s Merlyn develops through his relationships with his friends, family, and loved ones. His curiosity is encouraged at a young age by his Uncle Varrus, who “would talk to me, and with me, which is not at all the same thing, for hours on end” (The Eagles’ Brood 16), his brother Ambrose works to develop Merlyn’s persona of sorcerer because he sees the value in the power that position allows, and Merlyn succeeds in raising Arthur only because of the help of Tressa and other friends such as the physician Lucanus and the Irishman Donuil (The Saxon Shore 710). Through each phase of Merlyn’s development he is aided by a close-knit support system that, while consisting of friends in addition to relatives, makes up his family. This makes Merlyn more relatable to modern readers because it reveals that he has to draw on others for strength, support, and ideas—he is not a herculean figure above the need for human contact like de Boron’s Merlin. Whyte’s Merlyn learns the skills he needs to become a self-made man, to develop into the extraordinary figure of power that he becomes, because he is not afraid to accept the help and love of others. Some Arthurian traditionalists might argue that Whyte’s reconfiguration of Merlyn deviates too far from the medieval figure, that his attempt to make the legend into a more realistically feasible story destroys the essence of magic and mystery essential to the original tales. However, if an audience is unable to relate personally to the main characters within a story they are likely to lose interest in it altogether, and modern readers have difficulty connecting to the medieval Merlin because they learn nothing of his human emotions. Whyte’s Merlyn is more realistic and comprehendible for modern readers because they ac-

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company him through four books of character growth and development that set up Merlyn as a dynamic figure full of emotions that readers easily relate to. Medieval Merlin is born as Merlin, and gains all of his authority through his powers. Whyte’s Merlyn is born an average boy who has to work up to the position of a King’s teacher and powerful sorcerer through a struggle that mirrors modern day reader’s struggles for success in their own lives. In a culture inundated with self-help books and stories of regular people achieving greatness, Whyte’s Merlyn becomes another example of the type of man readers can strive to emulate. This modernized and historically feasible Merlyn then helps give the whole Arthurian story a more realistic nature, updating the legend and ensuring its continued popularity for a new generation. Through Jack Whyte’s Merlyn, modern readers can experience the same connection with Arthurian legends that audiences did in the twelfth century, and that in itself is a kind of magic.

Self-Made Sorcerer, Meghan Hekker

Works Cited Blair, Peter Hunter. “The Nature of Early Anglo-Saxon Society.” Roman Britain and Early England: 55 B.C.A.D. 871. New York: The Norton Library, 1963. 238-272. Brown, Nancy Marie. “Robert de Boron and His Continuators.” The Romance of Merlin: An Anthology. Ed. Peter Goodrich. New York: Garland Publishing, Inc., 1990. 101-127. De Boron, Robert. Merlin. Merlin and the Grail: Joseph of Arimathea, Merlin, Perceval, The Trilogy of Prose Romances Attributed to Robert de Boron. Trans. Nigel Bryant. Cambridge: D.S. Brewer, 2001. 45114. --------------------------------. “The Prose Merlin and The Suite du Merlin.” Ed. Samuel N. Rosenberg. The Romance of Arthur: An Anthology of Medieval Texts in Translation. New expanded ed. Ed. James J. Wilhelm. New York: Garland Publishing, Inc., 1994. 306-348. Dean, Christopher. A Study of Merlin in English Literature from the Middle Ages to the Present Day: The Devil’s Son. Lewiston, NY: The Edward Mellen Press, 1992. Galyon, Aubrey and Zacharias P. Thundy. “Lailoken.” The Romance of Merlin: An Anthology. Ed. Peter Goodrich. New York: Garland Publishing, Inc., 1990. 311. Kieckhefer, Richard. “The Specific Rationality of Medieval Magic.” The American Historical Review 99.3 (1994): 813-836. JSTOR. Westminster College, Salt Lake City, Utah. 1 December 2008. <http://www.jstor.org>. Lewis, Gilbert. “The Look of Magic.” Man, New Series 21.3 (1986): 414-437. JSTOR. Westminster Col-

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lege, Salt Lake City, Utah. 1 December 2008. <http://www.jstor.org>. McAlindon, T. “Magic, Fate, and Providence in Medieval Narrative and Sir Gawain and the Green Knight.” The Review of English Studies 16.62 (1965): 121139. JSTOR. Westminster College, Salt Lake City, Utah. 15 October 2008. <http://www.jstor.org>. Monmouth, Geoffrey. The Prophecies of Merlin. Merlin Through the Ages: A Chronological Anthology and Source Book. Ed. and trans. R.J. Stewart and John Matthews. United Kingdom: Blandford, 1995. Newark, Tim. “The Battle for Britain.” Celtic Warriors: 400BC—AD 1600. NewYork: Blanford Press, 1986. 36-59. Rosenberg, Samuel N. Introduction. “The Prose Merlin and The Suite du Merlin.” Ed. by Rosenberg. The Romance of Arthur: An Anthology of Medieval Texts in Translation. New expanded ed. Ed. James J. Wilhelm. New York: Garland Publishing, Inc., 1994. 305-363. Spivack, Charlotte. Merlin: A Thousand Heroes With One Face. Lewiston, NY: The Edward Mellen Press, 1994. Stewart, R. J. Merlin: The Mystic Life. Arkana: Penguin, 1994. Strachan, Gordon. “The Other Merlin: Merlin of the Woods.” The Return of Merlin: Star Lore and the Patterns of History. Edinburgh: Floris Books, 2006. 91-119. Weller, Allen S. “Humanism and Humanitarianism before the Renaissance.” Journal of Aesthetic Education 17.4 Special Issue: Distinguished Humanities Lectures (1983): 13-40. JSTOR. Westminster College, Salt Lake City, Utah. 16 December 2008. <http://www.jstor.org>.

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Whyte, Jack. The Eagles’ Brood. New York: Tom Doherty Associates, LLC, 1994. ---------------. The Saxon Shore. New York: Tom Doherty Associates, LLC, 1998. ---------------. The Sorcerer: Metamorphosis. New York: Tom Doherty Associates, LLC, 1999. Wood, Ian. “The Final Phase.” A Companion to Roman Britain. Ed. Malcolm Todd. Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishing Ltd, 2004. 428-442.

Women and Menâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Hair in Film Noir E).)FF1%E)4##$*%+',-.'/,%0"##),)% % % % % % % % %

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He grabs the back of her head by her hair roots, and presses his fingers into her shoulder as the two twist into a long embrace. The audience sees this slightly blurry scene of an arched back and the backs of two kissing heads, imagining the action of lips just barely hidden by hair, imagining the greedy, wanton motives behind this union. It’s a scene from American films noir, The Big Heat and Out of the Past. Taking a second look at scenes of selfconscious interaction in popular fiction films can clarify the class and gender boundaries of their time. Film noir, first discovered by French critics, is a style found in American B-movies of the 1940s, ‘50s, and ‘60s. It’s a classification later given to American photos, paperback novels, tabloid sensations and melodramatic pamphlets steeped in nihilism and consumer normality, tinged with a drop of the abnormal. The films were often cheap and shown to the small audiences who stayed up late, past the A-picture in the theater or the primetime news and dramas on TV, and noir settings and symbols seeped into audiences’ sleep. The novels, tabloids and magazines were often printed on left-over paper pulp that was low-cost and temporal. Though pages faded and plots repeated, the characters’ roles and schemes persisted, influenced other genres, and continue to influence storytelling today. Materials like pulp, string, polish and hair, ordinary and always available, relate to durable noir themes when they’re transformed into significant pieces that stand out from the grim banality of urban realist settings. Here, the dynamics of manipulation in a few of these dramas will be explored through material clues of class and gender norms. Relationship dynamics in films, particularly in those of manipulation in film noir, are codified in hundreds of ways, so objects, shadows, and songs stand in for what characters lack and long for. In post-war and post-Depression settings, people long for security. Whether they seek it in class, wealth, closure, or revenge,

Hair in Film Noir, Rebecca Reilly

noir characters chase more than the American Dream of social and financial security for the family—rather, the sort of wealth that gives both security and room enough for passion; the sort of revenge that earns respect and fear. These themes elevate run-of-the-mill ‘pulp’ melodramas to the level of fantasies waiting for everyone on big screens. Together the themes are a desirable platform upon which grim naturalism and uncanny romances can play. They lift film noir plots halfway out of the shadow of doomed relationships and intrigues, and lift working class audiences out of fatalism and into higher American Dreams. Hair is one coded object that is taken for granted and yet tells many stories. In film noir, it tells tales of classiness, allure, age, and the ubiquity of mundane social norms in hairstyling: self-manipulation for selfpresentation. Hair is both a body part and a tangible key to intangible social strata, separating misers from gentlemen, and wannabe’s from ladies. Above all, hair is normal in film noir. An exception is the films' lack of truly noir women’s hair-- black women characters has large hats or bandannas covering their hair and hiding the issue of the popular stigma against normal, natural black hair. Its absence from movies was no mistake or simple matter of convenience during the time of segregation, when black Americans commonly straightened their hair at home with sodium hydroxide. A closer examination of cultural exclusion of black hair is found in Regina Kimbel's documentary, My Nappy Roots: A Journey through Black Hair'itage. Expectations for self-presentation depend on race, gender, and, in discriminating, hair-splitting ways, and socioeconomic status. Consider the perfect hair (white) actors have in dark mystery movies of the past. The women’s hair styles of the ‘30s, ‘40s and ‘50s seen in ads and movies as well as in documentary photographs, like those in the federal gov-

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ernment’s vaults taken by Marion Post Wolcott and Esther Bubley, are particularly fascinating for their unnatural shapes and surprising ubiquity. Almost every woman in Bubley’s photographs for the Office of War Information has hair up in a partly sleek, partly teased style with many feminine touches like curls and tight bangs. Whether they took cues from the movies or vice versa, American women most often permed and pulled hair into these hairdo’s themselves, while actors had it professionally styled. Hair can cheaply be self-styled to look classy, while clothes, shoes, cars and even perfumes usually give away their ordinary origins, despite alterations. Hair is the fashion medium of wannabe's. Not much has been written about hair in this context. Understanding the construct of films’ body image is important, though, as Laura Mulvey wrote in the journal Screen: The conventions of mainstream film focus attention on the human form. Scale, space, stories are all anthropomorphic. Here, curiosity and the wish to look intermingle with a fascination with likeness and recognition: the human face, the human body, the relationship between the human form and its surroundings… (840) Women’s hair will be examined first because, as Mulvey went on in her essay, “Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema:” “In their traditional exhibitionist role women are simultaneously looked at and displayed, with their appearance coded for strong visual and erotic impact so that they can be said to connote to-be-looked-at-ness.” (841) Molly Haskell also attempted to analyze visual pleasure in her essay, “Female Stars of the 1940’s,” by describing which actresses were sexy, unsexy, or campy in which movies, but unfortunately not illustrating what specifically adds to or detracts from characters’ sexiness or seriousness. Hairstyle is a big part of these attributes.

Hair in Film Noir, Rebecca Reilly

Film noir uses the constructs of classiness and cheapness for the tension of longing between them. Hair has this tension too: a woman who spends hours straightening, tightening, pinning and spraying so she at least has upwardly mobile hair can still lack confidence, poise and energy; she can still convey cheapness by settling for less than what she wants and laughing away longing. This is one of hair’s mysteries: the same swept-up locks in swooping, curvy shapes can look impressive and glamorous, or limp, absurd, and belittling, depending on the context. Hair can expand the size of the head, with the aloofness and inner confidence that movie actors have in themselves, or make the face look small and weighted, like the forlorn faces of women waiting for buses in Bubley’s photograph series. The government paid Bubley to travel and create a portrait of working America; her black and gray photos of street signs, boarding houses, bus stations and bars wait in the national archives for those willing to meet and study the face of “the greatest generation.” “Office of War Information photographer Esther Bubley had recorded actual noir women,” writes Paula Rabinowitz in Black & White & Noir. (191) Rabinowitz also draws on photographers Dorothea Lange and Walker Evans, as well, for glimpses into noir homes as she deconstructs filmic objects like Barbara Stanwyck’s anklet in Double Indemnity. Academic research like hers decodes meaning in faces, poses and possessions, but doesn’t touch on noir hair, which also deserves deconstructing. Take, for example, the looseness of hairdo's indicative of class in The Big Heat (1953), which is very interesting for its treatment of women characters and class. The three main women’s class standing could be measured by their hairstyles, just as their roles are indicated by the ways they die. In the eyes of tough cop protagonist Dave Bannion, Bertha, the widow of Police Sergeant Duncan, is the

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woman with the highest status and decorum. She appears in the first scene with hair in rollers, a sign of preparation for her scheme of profit from her husband's death, and ever after her hair is acutely coiled and styled atop her head. Bannion’s wife, Katie, is classy, even saintly, though of modest means; she appears with hair pulled back, curled just a bit around her face and neck and crimped just above her ears. Debby Marsh, girlfriend of gangster Vince Stone, wears her hair down with a visible part in her loose, oiled, wavy locks. The audience sees this looseness the way Bannion sees her: as something trashy. Attitude also animates hair when it’s fraying, wet and down. It makes the difference between frumpy, heavy locks that seem carelessly let down and full, evocative tresses reminiscent of those revealed before a women goes to bed. Hair that is up in nearly every scene, providing a bit of class stability, usually goes down in at least one scene to illustrate the tension between vulnerability and allure. Feminine allure is the first strength of the femme fatale, and when it is twisted up with sympathy, male characters act out their gender role: having the strength to help women in distress. When Walter Neff first meets Phyllis Dietrichson (Stanwyck) in Double Indemnity(1944), she shows her vulnerability and her smile. Phyllis' husband isn’t home, she’s just stepped out of the shower at the top of the stairs, a symbol of domesticity—and she's only covered by a towel. Her hair isn’t wrapped up in a towel, but hangs at her shoulders, wet and tangled, in this scene that has more romantic chemistry than any other in the film. When Jeff Bailey romances Kathy Moffat in Out of the Past(1947), he commits to running away with her in their scene on the beach at night. A rare view of Kathy is seen as she wins over Jeff, smiling, her eyes sparkling, the wind blowing and lifting her hair that is down and still wavy from the day’s hairdo. The ocean swells behind her in a head-and-shoulder shot of her alone, connecting her hair

Hair in Film Noir, Rebecca Reilly

to the wide, wet tides. She acts inviting yet vulnerable because she knows, at this point in the film, that Jeff can take custody of her and bring her back to the US if he wants to. When Skip McCoy finds a woman searching his place in Pickup on South Street(1953), it is hardly the typical scene of a femme fatale and a sucker. However, it has film noir’s emphasis on hair and wetness relating to allure and vulnerability. The woman, Candy, has already seen Skip on the subway and conveyed a little looseness with her comparatively loose poof of curls and her loose jaw chewing gum. When Skip knocks her out, she lies helpless on the floor of his shack, and her allure, cheapened as it is by high shots of her low position, is emphasized when Skip pours beer on her face—he makes her wet. When she gets up, Candy’s unfurling curls are in her wet, hurt face, and she pulls her hands through her hair. These are hints of frustration and allure, which Skip responds to by massaging her face, leaning in close enough to kiss: a sexually charged and even violent scene. The details of hair and wardrobe both class characters and age them. The tension between smooth and textured hair relates to the tension between youth and age. Kathy Moffat’s hair signals how her experiences age her during Out of the Past. She enters the film acting guarded and suspicious, her hair drawn up on top of her head or under a hat—styles that both conceal and reveal, as symbols should. Her hair is loose on the beach with Jeff, but later she returns to her gangster boyfriend and from then on, is seen with less makeup, and all her hair pulled back from her face. The distinct aging effect of tight, thick braids against the back of her head is noticeable later, when Jeff spies on her making a call. At this point, Kathy is weathered by fear, limited financial options, and the orders of her boyfriend, which viewers can guess before she turns around and notices Jeff with a look of surprise and desperation.

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A clear example of shiny and textured hair relating to youth and age is found in Mildred Pierce(1945). Mildred and her daughter, Veda, have the same dark hair, and their characters’ ages are not far off. The film's famous shot is of Veda at Mildred’s elbow as Mildred calls the police to report a murder. Here, the mother is shown with rolls of hair atop her head, frizzed as usual, and the daughter’s hair sleekly pulled into low cylinders of curls, a bright flower at her ear. Veda is obviously growing and blossoming in this story, while Mildred only grows older and bitter. The audience had already seen Mildred with a dark cloud about her head in an earlier scene where she sits at a booth wearing a black gauzy hat. Veda already had her debut, in another scene, dancing on a club stage with fake, sequined flowers springing out of her hair. The audience is prepared this way for Veda to grow and change her life, as she promises to in her scene at Mildred’s elbow, as Mildred calls the police on her. They are prepared for Mildred to age and die, as she would if the police believed her, instead of Veda, to be a murderess—all because of what is around these characters' heads, rather than the contrasting conditions of their hearts. Vera, the femme fatale in Detour (1945), first appears as a mystery of textures, “a woman who looks like she's been on the highway for several days. Her face is shiny and her hair is like a bird's nest,” according to Glenn Erickson in his analysis, “Fate Seeks the Loser: Edgar G. Ulmer’s Detour.” (28) He notes, “This particular kind of realism was unknown in American pictures...” Bird’s nest hair is a universal and everyday reality, but in the movies such textured hair alludes to a rough past that brought the dangerous woman figure to the point of abuse: “With one sharp turn of the head she transforms from a cameo-like unknown female, into Al's worst nightmare. Immediately accusing and threatening, she takes control of both Al and the movie." (Erickson, 28)

Hair in Film Noir, Rebecca Reilly

Sometimes hair doesn’t stand in for class contrasts, but rather for the normality and the status quo kept among the working, aspiring class. A blatant example is the shocking first scene of The Naked Kiss (1964). It is the hand of the director, Samuel Fuller, which reaches into the frame and pulls off the wig of a bald prostitute, Kelly. Viewers imagine that it was her pimp’s hand violating her image when he then beats her pimp down with her shoe. Kelly covers her bald head again and tries to change her life in a new town, where a prominent heir falls in love with her. However, when she walks in on this gentleman molesting a young girl, he explains that they belong together because neither of them is sexually normal. For this, Kelly beats him to death with a phone receiver. Viewers knew from the start she wasn’t normal from the symbol of baldness, just as the men of the town knew her past and saw through her innocent guise. Hair, the cords of dead tissue that hang around our heads, also signifies the femme fatale archetype that surfaces in characters young and old, working and wealthy. In Encyclopedia of Film Noir, Brian McDonnel pins down the archetype's characteristics in film criticism: Janey Place (1998) in her essay (originally written in 1975) 'Women In Film Noir' (in the book of the same name) writes of the iconography and visual motifs associated with the so-called spider woman: her long hair, overt makeup, flashy jewelry, cigarettes, phallic gun, and long legs. (76) The spider woman lures family and lovers into her trap, spinning webs of lies like she spins her long hair into shapes that glisten. She wraps her accomplice up in sticky dreams of greed before hurting him. Viewers are supposed to pick up on this warning against chasing after wealth too quickly. Viewers are also supposed to pick up on actors’ hairstyles. This is a clue to how hair reinforced social

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norms. Men’s hair deserves consideration, too, though few male actors had ‘looked-at-ness,’ like Rudolph Valentino in earlier silent movies. In “Valentino and Female Spectatorship,” Miriam Hansen responds to Laura Mulvey’s assertion about anthropocentric film conventions: These conventions, drawing on psychic mechanisms of voyeurism, fetishism and narcissism, depend upon and reproduce the conventional polarity of the male as the agent of ‘the look’ and the image of woman as object of both spectacle and narrative. (636) She describes the problem of female spectatorship of mainstream movies as having to identify with male protagonists and the male gaze. She claims that when that gaze is turned on other males, the construct of image as identity is not as noticeable. The following consideration of men's hair in film noir challenges this view of the male image as unnoticeable and unremarkable. Rather, male characters' conformity in hairstyle and dress is remarkable. In American films of the ‘40s and ‘50s, women get to change the color and arrangement of their hair, but never drastically, and all men have one of the same three cuts, just as they seem to all wear the same suit or tuxedo from film to film. They either have Skip McCoy’s close postprison grow-back, Barton Keyes’ (Double Indemnity) wavy hair pulled back from the forehead in a classy comb-over, or a scalp full of close curls like Joel Cairo’s (The Maltese Falcon), which hint at their ethnicity. Women characters have to change their dress and hair each day to maintain realism with women viewers, while men characters are rather indistinguishable from each other, keeping the interest of male and female viewers with their gait, speech, and actions. Emphasizing their features or allowing some facial hair could add to the pull of their characteristics, but even a little facial hair detracts from the filmic man’s class. There was an expectation in the world that film noir reflected:

Hair in Film Noir, Rebecca Reilly

something had to be wrong with a man if he didn’t take a blade to his face soon enough. Brian Taves confirmed this theory of reflection in his essay, “The B-Film: Hollywood's Other Half.” Indeed, while A[-film]'s concentrate on the lives of the wealthy, lower-budget films provide a contrast. With their less ornate costumes and sets, and secondary stars, B's center more on day-to-day living, and their themes arguably constitute a better cultural and political reflection of the time. (335) Noir’s cultural and political reflection of the ‘40s and ‘50s was mostly shadowed. The most individualized thing about male characters’ appearance is the shadows under their hats, shaping their facial features. The shadow of the psyche, all that is repressed below society’s expectations, is another theme of the genre peering out like shadowed eyes under those fedoras. Not only do the themes speak to the body of American society, they also cause slight reactions in viewers’ bodies. In Linda Williams’ “Film Bodies: Gender, Genre, and Excess,” she describes how certain genres stay popular because of the audience’s body sensations while watching them. Melodrama, the realm of noir, is one such genre because it makes viewers gasp and weep—while horror makes them shudder and porn arouses. Mildred Pierce is listed as a women’s ‘weepy’ melodrama, a tragedy of a mother loving a child too much. Movies like it involve audiences' bodies by sweeping them up in the dark thrill of seduction and crime, then evoking their sympathy with the melodrama behind the crimes. “Their very existence,” she writes about such genres, “hinges upon rapidly changing notions of gender—of what it means to be a man or a woman… Genres thrive, after all, on the persistence of the problems they address; but genres thrive also in their ability to recast the nature of these problems.” (737) Films noir address problems of expectations with surprising plot

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twists: loose women like Constance and Lucy (The Big Heat) aren't expected to be smart, the young and talented, like Veda aren't expected to be murderous, and trophy girlfriends like Debby aren't expected to be self-sacrificing. Expectations indeed were recast by the bold roles women began to play in 1950's films, which paved the way for later, bolder roles in “body genres” that pushed the envelope further and further. In film noir, the use of hair, like the cast, budget, gender roles, and production code, is rather limited— perhaps the limitations of the genre make it great. The greatness shining through the murkiest pulp stories was that of awareness: a greater awareness of the large and alienating dramas that have always been playing out within civil society, but never before spilled out for millions of people seeking collective fantasy on a glowing screen. Noir brings awareness, in no delicate terms, of the profound impact that class and gender have on personal lifestyles and dramas. Noir heavily contributed to modern culture, which has embraced awareness of humans’ shadow side, including the art of innuendo. Noir films pushed the boundaries of the Hays Code of on-screen decency and packed meaning into materials: now a man and a woman’s cigarette smoke stands in for sex, dark glasses stand in for the guarded upper class, and hair stands in for the control of one’s body to please others. When Kelly donned a wig in The Naked Kiss it was blond, shoulder-length and wavy; she chose the expected hairstyle of the Good Girl, a construct of the male gaze, to whitewash her reputation and start over. Hair, a part of the self-conscious presentation of individuality, can either obediently be styled or go wild, and it deserves attention as a subtle expression of the concept of individuality. The concept is potent in noir characters who dream of being somebody, like Vera, or just getting away from the masses—the people in the grocery store—like Phyllis. When critical faculties are lowered to take in enter-

Hair in Film Noir, Rebecca Reilly

tainment, and disbelief is suspended for the length of a movie, people are particularly receptive to messages about class and gender that arenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t addressed with the same awareness in documentary genres. That's why the use of materials, like hair, in every genre of entertainment should not go unanalyzed.

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Works Cited Erickson, Glenn. “Fate Seeks the Loser: Edgar G. Ulmer’s Detour.” Film Noir Reader 4. Ed. Silver, Alain; Ursini, James. Milwaukee, WI: Limelight Editions, 2004. p. 28. Hansen, Miriam. “Valentino and Female Spectatorship.” Film Theory and Criticism, 6th ed. Ed. Braudy, Leo; Cohen, Marshall. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2004. p. 636 Haskell, Molly. “Female Stars of the 1940’s.” Film Theory and Criticism, 6th ed. Ed. Braudy, Leo; Cohen, Marshall. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2004. p.621-633 McDonnel, Brian. “Film Noir Style.” Encyclopedia Film Noir. Ed. Mayer, Geoff; McDonnel, Brian. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 2007. p. 76 Mulvey, Laura. “Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema.” Film Theory and Criticism, 6th ed. Ed. Braudy, Leo; Cohen, Marshall. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2004. p.840-841 Rabinowitz, Paula. Black & White & Noir. Columbia Unversity Press. New York, 2002. p. 191 Taves, Brian. “The B-Film: Hollywood's Other Half.” History of the American Cinema Vol. 5: Grand Design: Hollywood as a Modern Business Enterprise, 19301939. Ed. Balio, Tino. New York: Macmillan Publishing, 1993. p. 335 Williams, Linda. “Film Bodies, Gender, Genre, and Excess.” Film Theory and Criticism, 6th ed. Ed. Braudy, Leo; Cohen, Marshall. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2004. p. 737

The Rhetoric of Public Support and the Foundations of Education in Montana

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“There is probably no subject of more importance to mankind than education.” The Montana Post, November 26, 1864 In 2005, the Supreme Court of Montana presented its final and unanimous opinion in the case of Columbia Falls Elem. School Dist. No. 6 v. State. It confirmed the earlier ruling of a District Court judge, who had agreed with the plaintiffs that the State of Montana had “acted unconstitutionally in administering and funding Montana’s constitutionally-mandated public school system.”2 The plaintiffs – a coalition of school districts, state educational associations, and parents of schoolchildren – based their case on Article 10 of Montana’s 1972 Constitution, which established that “the legislature shall provide a basic system of free quality public elementary and secondary schools…. It shall fund and distribute in an equitable manner to the school districts the state's share of the cost of the basic elementary and secondary school system.”3 Nearly a year after the initial ruling in District Court, this definitive answer by the Supreme Court to the State’s appeal forced the Montana legislature to reconsider its past efforts at funding education and to come up with a new plan that would satisfy the requirements of the Constitution. As the Billings Gazette observed, “The Court… essentially told the Legislature to define the components of a basic system of quality education, and then link these components to an educationally relevant school funding formula.”4 A public coalition thus forced the state to acknowl!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 2

Columbia Falls Elem. Sch. Dist. 6 v. State, 326 Mont. 304, 109 P.3d 257 (2005). 3 Constitution of Montana, Article X, Section 1(3). 4 Allison Farrell, “High court: Ed system 'deficient,'” Billings Gazette, March 23, 2005.

The Rhetoric of Public Support, Micah Everson

edge problems in its educational system and to work towards fixing them. This public interest in education in Montana is not a recent phenomenon. Sixty years before the Columbia Falls case, the journalist and historian Joseph Kinsey Howard said, “We must recognize the fact that education in Montana must have wider public support than in most other states or, we will have no education.” He pointed out that Montana had few private schools “to help carry the load” and that the state’s sparse population resulted in higher costs for education.5 Howard’s observation was as true in 2005 as in 1945, and it applies just as well to Montana's territorial period, from 1864 to 1889. By 1889, when Montana gained statehood, there was already an established and quickly growing system of public schools. Historians have emphasized the role of government legislation in the establishment and development of these early schools, but public involvement was vital to Montana's schools from the beginning.6 Of course, the government's role was itself an extension of the public, through the election and appointment of Federal and territorial officials. Still, direct public support was necessary to sustain and grow the public school system in Montana's territorial years. This support was encouraged by editors, educators, politicians, and others whose words survive in the written record of newspapers, legislative journals, and official school reports. These writers and speakers used rhetoric !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 5

Joseph Kinsey Howard, “On Montana Education,” An address to the Missoula County Educational Council, November 14, 1945. 6 e.g. John Francis Sasek, “The Development of Public Secondary Education in Montana Prior to 1920” (M.A. thesis, Montana State University, 1938), 42: “It is sufficient to notice in the brief treatment of common school legislation during the territorial period that the growth and development of the territorial schools was primarily dependent upon laws enacted during these early years of our history.”

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that strongly promoted the general value of education and especially the necessity of a public school system to the formation of prosperous, respectable, and permanent communities in Montana. St. Ignatius The first tentative step towards public education in Montana came with the Treaty of Hell Gate in 1855, at a time when western Montana was still a part of Washington Territory. This agreement between Native American tribes and the U.S. Government included the following clause: The United States further agree to establish at suitable points within said reservation, within one year after the ratification hereof, an agricultural and industrial school, erecting the necessary buildings, keeping the same in repair, and providing it with furniture, books and stationery, to be located at the agency, and to be free to the children of the said tribes, and to employ a suitable instructor or instructors.7 The federal government arranged that this school would be taught by the Jesuits of the St. Ignatius Mission and supported by government funding. Father Hoecken, who established the first school at St. Ignatius the next year, was present at the signing of the treaty.8 Clearly, the school at St. Ignatius did not constitute a “public school” according to later standards. Run by religious leaders, the school's curriculum included Catholic doctrine alongside vocational lessons and more traditional !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 7

“Treaty between the United States and the Flathead, Kootenay, and Upper Pend d’Oreilles Indians,” The Statutes at Large, Treaties, and Proclamations of the United States of America, vol. XII (Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1863), 977, Article 5. 8 L.B. Palladino, Indian and White in the Northwest (Lancaster, PA: Wickersham Publishing Company, 1922) 96.

The Rhetoric of Public Support, Micah Everson

subjects like grammar and music. Nonetheless, the school was created by the public, via a government treaty, and its maintenance ultimately proved to be dependent on direct public support. The Hell Gate Treaty was not an issue of national referendum, directly approved by the American voters, but it still had to be created, negotiated and signed by territorial officials and approved by the Senate and the President. Thus American voters were tied to the treaty through their elected leaders. President Franklin Pierce had appointed Isaac Stevens, the Governor and Superintendent of Indian Affairs in Washington Territory, who oversaw the treaty negotiations.9 The U.S. Senate then ratified the treaty and President James Buchanan signed it into effect. Through this approval by their elected representatives, the American people had laid the legal foundation for a school in St. Ignatius and guaranteed it their continued financial support. Despite the treaty, the federal government was inconsistent in providing funding for the school, and at times, more direct means of public support were required, without which the school simply could not have survived. The first attempt to start the school in 1856 by Father Hoecken was short-lived, due to personnel limitations and a complete lack of the promised government funding. 10 No further attempts to open the school were possible until 1864, when some Sisters of Providence traveled from Montreal to teach at St. Ignatius.11 Government funding seems to have helped at this time, but the sources are not entirely clear.12 Regard!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 9

Edmond S. Meany, Governors of Washington: Territorial and State (Seattle: University of Washington Department of Printing, 1915) 5-6. 10 Palladino, 97; Rev. William L. Davis, A History of St. Ignatius Mission (Spokane, WA: C.W. Hill Printing Co., 1954), 31, 33, 37. 11 Palladino, 138. 12 Davis writes, at first, only that â&#x20AC;&#x153;By 1863â&#x20AC;Śconditions at the mission were more likely to favor success of a school for the

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less, consistent federal funding did not begin until 1874.13 It increased in 1878 and 1890 before being reduced in 1896 and then entirely cut off in 1901.14 To focus on the territorial period, the significance is that while no federal government funding was forthcoming throughout that period between 1864 and 1874, the Mission yet maintained a successful boarding school for girls and a somewhat less successful day school for boys. To do so, however, the Sisters had to resort to asking for charity, and ultimately, it was the regional, public support of Montanans that kept the school alive. In the words of one historian, “The begging party went from one mining camp to another, throughout the whole Territory, the good-hearted pioneers responding generously to the appeal. This soliciting went on for several years…. Had it not been for this, the school would have had to be closed.”15 Thus the St. Ignatius School was first publicly established and later publicly maintained through national government policy and also through local generosity. The school at St. Ignatius certainly differed from later public schools in Montana: it had a direct mandate from the federal government, was taught by Catholic religious leaders, and was run specifically for the instruction of Native American children. Still, motivation for public support of the school surely paralleled that of the public schools to come. Like later public schools, the school at St. Ignatius was a symbol of the presumed permanence and potential prosperity of a new community, and its supporters demon!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! children…” (37), and later explains that “they received in the beginning not a penny from the federal government” (39). Palladino writes first that the Mission supported the new school “entirely at its own expense” (97), but later that “a subsidy of $1,800 toward the education of Indian children had been received from the Government in 1863-4…” (158). 13 Palladino, 158. 14 Davis, 57. 15 Palladino, 146.

The Rhetoric of Public Support, Micah Everson

strated an interest in strengthening and maintaining that community. A School System for Montana The federal government did not always fulfill the obligations of the Hell Gate Treaty in regard to the St. Ignatius School; it also provided little financial or even legal support to the earliest public schools in the Montana territory. As at St. Ignatius, these schools ultimately relied on the direct public support of Montana's new communities. The one provision that the federal government did make for education in Montana appeared in the Organic Act, the 1864 law that officially created the Territory of Montana.16 Amidst many pages of explanations of the various territorial offices and their responsibilities, the Act gave the issue of education only a single paragraph, stating that two sections in each township would be set aside for the use of the schools.17 There was no additional instruction or guidance for the establishment of the territory’s school system, and the land endowment itself proved to be of little benefit to Montana’s schools throughout the territorial period. Given that news did not travel quickly across the continent in 1864, it was some time before Montana's settlers were even aware of the Organic Act’s provisions. Although Congress had passed the act on May 26, The Montana Post, Montana’s first newspaper, did not begin publication and distribution until August 27, and it was on September 3, over three months after the Act’s passage through Congress, that Montanans finally were able to read, in the Post’s second issue, an early draft of Montana’s founding !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 16

“An Act to provide a temporary Government for the Territory of Montana,” The Statutes at Large, Treaties, and Proclamations of the United States of America, vol. XIII (Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1866) 85-92. 17 “An Act to provide a temporary Government,” 91, sec. 14.

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document, including the section on school lands.18 Regardless of the delay, at this time no organized public school system yet existed that might have been able to benefit from the land endowment.19 The Organic Act was of some limited help in the push for Montana’s first school law.20 In his December 19, 1864 address to the first territorial legislature, Governor Sidney Edgerton spoke highly of the Organic Act’s provisions as he encouraged the legislature to establish a public school system: “With proper care these lands will furnish a rich endowment for our common schools, placing them on a sure and permanent basis.”21 Still, he admitted that “these lands are not now available, and it may be years before we can realize any considerable advantage from them.”22 If anything, Edgerton understated the dilemma, as the setaside lands proved useless to school funding throughout the territorial period, prompting one historian to write, in regards to the Organic Act, “Thus the schools received no more benefit from the law which was inoperative than if it never existed.”23 He cites complications with the territory’s inability to sell the school lands for gain, the fact that the !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 18

The Montana Post, September 3, 1864, Virginia City. This was the early House of Representatives draft of the Act, not the final text approved by both houses. The telling distinction is in Section 5, in the wording concerning those eligible to vote in the first election of the territorial legislature. 19 Schools had been in session as early as 1861 at Fort Owen, and at Bannack, Nevada City, and Virginia City starting in 1863, but these were independent, privately-funded ventures (Sasek, 16-20). 20 i.e. Council Bill No. 38, “An Act establishing a Common School System for the Territory of Montana,” was signed into law on February 7, 1865. 21 Montana Legislative Assembly, House Journal, 1st sess., 1864-1865, 22. 22 House Journal, 1st sess., 22. 23 Emmet J. Riley, Development of the Montana State Educational Organization 1864-1930 (Washington, D.C.: The Catholic University of America, 1931), 41.

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schools did not benefit from the mineral wealth of the land, and the territorial legislature’s unanswered appeals to Congress for a more effective system of funding.24 The funding for Montana’s territorial schools thus relied on the people of the territory itself. As late as 1886, twenty-four years after Edgerton’s address, “practically the entire support of the schools of the territory was derived through direct taxation, each county supporting its own schools.”25 Fortunately for the schools, the people of Montana accepted this responsibility. “It remained the difficult task of generally enthusiastic people, scattered in few and sparsely-settled communities, to keep the spark of public education alive in the territory. The general attitude of the people was to willingly pay the taxes that were levied.”26 Still, in those few instances in which additional taxes necessary to the schools were voted down, some schools had to close.27 Despite these struggles, Montana’s school system grew impressively over the territorial period. New public schools were established and older private schools were integrated into the system, relying at times partially on public funding and partially on tuition.28 In 1868, three years after the school system was established, there were fifteen schools in the territory. Four years later that number had more than tripled to fifty-one. Public schools numbered over one hundred at the start of the 1880s, and in 1889, the year Montana became a state, there were a reported 419 schools.29 This drastic growth certainly was due in large part to the rapidly increasing population of Montana, but it !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 24

Riley, 41-43. Riley, 43. 26 Sasek, 32 (emphasis added). 27 Riley, 44. 28 Sasek, 45. 29 Harriet Miller, Early Schools in Montana (Helena: Department of Public Instruction, 1964), 9. 25

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also would not have been possible, especially given the funding problems, without the support of Montanans. The Rhetoric of Support Now that the importance of public support to Montana's territorial schools is clear, the exact motivation for this support remains to be discussed. One way to determine this motivation is to read the words of those who spoke and wrote in support of education in the public sphere during the territorial period. Such words were not necessarily expressions of the public at large, but they were addressed to the public by political and educational leaders. The rhetoric of these leaders would probably have reflected some public sentiment but also would have helped to shape it. Examining the claims about education that were presented to the public during the territorial period should reveal some key ideas that motivated public support for schools. Naturally, this is a subjective analysis and has some limitations. It does not aim to detail every possible argument in favor of public education or gauge each argument's relative importance. Rather, it seeks, given the sources available, to identify some major themes that were present in exhortations and discussion of public support in territorial Montana. One theme that consistently appears throughout many sources was the idea that public schools were essential to the work of building strong and lasting communities in Montana. The Montana Post is one of the best sources of rhetoric concerning education. In its first year of publication, many of the weekly issues included an editorial or short article commenting on some aspect of the importance of education and the need for a public school system in Montana. This inclusion is not particularly surprising given that Professor Thomas Dimsdale, who opened the first school in Virginia City in 1863, was the Postâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s editor starting with its fourth issue (September 17, 1864) and had ac-

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tually been writing articles for the paper since the first issue.30 It is difficult to say whether every article on education was penned by Dimsdale, because the articles were not signed and because he was not even credited as the editor until July 1865.31 Also, some articles contained direct praise for Dimsdale and his school, an awkward bit of vanity, if indeed they were all written by Dimsdale himself. Nonetheless, the pages of the Post were rich in eloquent support of education, and they comprise the majority of the sources examined herein. It is also good to note, lest one think that the Post might have been an isolated, opinionated voice ignored by the people of Montana, that it had 9,000 subscribers in its first two years.32 Moreover, once additional papers began printing to compete with the Post, it still flourished, outselling the Montana Democrat (its rival paper in Virginia City), the Montana Radiator, and the Rocky Mountain Gazette combined (the latter two were both printed in Helena).33 With such a strong subscription base, the Post’s editorials surely had at least some influence on public opinion. The first point that had to be established in arguing for public education was that education was indeed a pub!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 30

Robert J. Goligoski, “Thomas J. Dimsdale: Montana’s First Newspaper Editor” (M.A. thesis, Montana State University, 1965), 7. 31 Goligoski, 18. 32 That is, 1864-1866. This can't be compared with an exactly contemporary population figure for the whole territory. The first census data available for Montana's population is from 1870, when 20,595 residents were reported. Assuming little or no decline in population between 1864 and 1870, it can be assumed that The Montana Post reached roughly half of Montana's residents. (U.S. Census Bureau, “Resident Population and Apportionment of the U.S. House of Representatives,” <http://www.census.gov/dmd/www/resapport/states/montana.pdf>, acccessed 30 March 2010.) 33 Goligoski, 19.

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lic. The Post made this argument quite clearly in its first edition with Dimsdale as editor: “Now, our notion is, that teaching is nowhere a private affair; it is a burden that should be equally on all our shoulders.”34 In the address to Montana’s territorial legislature quoted earlier, Sidney Edgerton explained his similar belief: “Children are in one sense, the property of the public, and it is one of the highest and most solemn duties of the State to furnish ample provision for their education.”35 The Post and Edgerton both argued that the public and the State had a fundamental obligation to support education, based on the very nature of teaching and of children. Appeals to the audience’s ego and to the spirit of patriotism were also used to encourage support: “Anything so truly American as an education for the young, irrespective of party, creed, or profession, should command the support of all good men…[my emphasis].”36 Governor James Tufts, in an address to the fifth territorial legislature, requesting revision of the school law, said that “constant improvement in the Common School system is the surest evidence a people can afford of their progress in the refinements and elegancies of life [my emphasis].”37 Another Post editorial stated, There can be no surer test of the character and standing of a citizen than is afforded by the energetic and practical support, which he gives to all measures having for their object the enlightenment of the people; while on the other hand, no more certain index of instability and worthlessness can be found, !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 34

“Education,” Montana Post, September 17, 1864. House Journal, 1st sess., 22. 36 “School,” Montana Post, August 27, 1864. 37 Montana Legislative Assembly, House Journal, 5th sess., 1868-1869, 19. 35

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than apathy and indifference to matters of such vital importance [my emphasis].38 Supporters of education, then, were refined and elegant, possessed character and standing, and were good patriots, too. Though not explicit in these excerpts, themes of community are certainly present. The emphasis on good citizenship, in particular, is indicative of the value placed on an individual's role in the national and local community. A related argument maintained that schools produced educated citizens, educated citizens became educated voters, and ideally, educated voters made good decisions at the polling booth and actively participated in democracy, holding the government accountable to the people. The Montana Post’s first issue stated that “[the nation’s] institutions can flourish only among an enlightened people.”39 The September 10 issue elaborates: “Knowledge is power; and… power lodged in its only appropriate place [is in] the hands of the people. To maintain it there and to provide for its enlightened exercise is as once our duty and our reward.”40 Edgerton promotes this idea as well, warning prophetically of anarchy if education is not provided for: In a free government like ours, where public measures are submitted to the judgment of the people, it is of the highest importance that the people should be so educated as to understand the bearing of public measures. A self-ruling people must be an educated people, or prejudice and passion will assume the power, and anarchy will soon usurp the authority of the government.41 !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 38 39 40 41

“Education,” Montana Post, September 10, 1864. Montana Post, August 27, 1864. Montana Post, September 10, 1864. House Journal, 1st sess., 22.

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Not every argument was expressed in idealistic terms; the practical aspects of education were also emphasized in a number of arguments, which all ultimately maintained that schools were a great benefit to the community. Keeping children out of trouble was frequently used to justify support of schools. The patriotism argument is associated with taking care of children in one example: “Above all things, every lover of his country and of children should use his influence to keep the rising generation out of the streets, which is a bad school and send them where there is a good one.” This same article suggests that children be sent to Professor Dimsdale’s school, “a place where their moral and intellectual progress will be cared for….”42 A few months later, the Post writes, “Those who are allowed to find an education in the streets – what are they? They are thoroughly instructed in the service of sin, and sooner or later receive its reward.”43 Yet another editorial that year reiterates the idea, this time prompted by actual observation: We are sorry to say, that we have noticed of late, quite a number of boys on our streets, seemingly belonging to no place, doing nothing in day time, and frequenting some of the Hurdy-Gurdy dance houses at night. They drink, they smoke, and they swear; have money and spend it freely, but it remains a mystery to us where they get it. Now we would suggest to those that have charge of these youngsters, to look after them - give them some employment - send them to school, or devise some plan to turn them from the path of vice, and avoid the !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 42 43

“Education,” Montana Post, September 17, 1864. “Education,” Montana Post, November 26, 1864.

The Rhetoric of Public Support, Micah Everson

miserable end that inevitably follows an illspent youth [my emphasis].44 Governor Edgerton also brought up this theme in his address, adding a cost-benefit argument: “It has been well said by a distinguished jurist that it is cheaper to educate the boy than to punish the man, and if the education of the boy is neglected, the punishment of the man may become a necessity, for crime and ignorance go hand in hand.”45 Clearly, this was felt to be an issue of some importance, to warrant so many reminders. It is notable that there was a two-fold purpose here. First, getting children out of the streets served to clean up the atmosphere of a town. Young boys smoking, drinking, and swearing in the streets did not make for attractive sights to any potential visitors. There was also mention of concern for the children’s future, with the implication that spending too much time out on the streets led to a life of crime and vice. This idea is important because the children’s future was synonymous with the future of each community, for the wealth and potential of Montana would be their inheritance. What supporters of education hoped for was that “the riches our children will inherit will fall into hands fitted to receive them, and to apply them intelligently for their own good and the welfare of the lands of their birth.”46 Schools were the path to such an ideal future. Encouragement for public schools was also influenced by the belief that schools would help to attract more settlers, specifically wise, upstanding settlers of good character – much like the descriptions of education advocates above – who would add still more to the potential of Montana’s future. This theme was a constant throughout the rhetoric, but it is also clear that it was more than rhetoric. !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 44 45 46

“Juvenile Jailbirds,” Montana Post, December 3, 1864. House Journal, 1st sess., 22. Montana Post, September 9, 1865.

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Advertisers, as well as politicians and editors, acknowledged the importance of schools to new settlers by placing education prominently in literature advertising land and homes in Montana. “Nothing will tempt a wise man to permanent residence more than good education for his children,” read the third issue of the Post.47 A.M.S. Carpenter, the Superintendent of Public Instruction under Thomas Francis Meagher, elaborated on this conviction in his 1867 Report: Let it be known that we have now, in our infancy, provided amply for the education of the young in our Territory, and hundreds of families will annually swell the list of those who come to Montana for a permanent home; and very many of these men who are now among us for a temporary sojourn, only to acquire a fortune from our golden mountain, will bring hither their wives and little ones, now remaining at home under the old roof-tree, and will people our beautiful valleys and build up our towns and villages. What every lover of Montana wants today is, that a class of emigrants who desire above all things that their children shall be educated, may be induced to settle among us. Those men who never inquire, may be induced, "Can my children have there the advantage of good schools?" when determining where they shall find a home, are not the men who build up great States. It is the part of wise men, looking only to personal interests even, that we now take such action as shall insure a rapid and healthy growth for our territory; and no one thing, not even !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 47

“Education,” Montana Post, September 10, 1864.

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a positive assurance, that our mountains were solid gold, can so effectually secure this much to be desired end as the establishing of a thorough, far reaching and complete system of free schools [my emphasis].48 Governor Tufts expressed like sentiments in his 1868 address to the legislature: “No stronger inducement to the early settlement of our Territory can be offered to people of culture and enterprise, than a thorough and well-arranged system of common schools.”49 The Weekly Missoulian occasionally ran a column called “Our Bitter Root Letter” from a “regular correspondent” in that valley. In the first issue, this correspondent was encouraging readers to take advantage of bargainpriced farmland in the Bitter Root Valley. In doing so, he deliberately mentioned, “We have an excellent school in this District, our Directors having been fortunate in securing a good teacher…and quite an interest has been awakened in educational matters.”50 Montana education later met a national audience in advertising for homestead land by the Northern Pacific and other railroads. Surviving advertisements are from the early twentieth century, after Montana had already become a state, but they show that what started as a rather hypothetical and informal advertising campaign in the territorial period, had endured and gained significance, especially with the coming of the railroads and the opening of homestead lands by the government. One pamphlet, put out by the !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 48

A.M.S. Carpenter, “Report of the Superintendent of Public Instruction, November 1867,” (Virginia City: Department of Public Instruction, 1867), quoted in Riley 13-14. 49 House Journal, 5th sess., 1868-1869, 19. 50 “Our Bitter Root Letter,” Weekly Missoulian, February 28, 1873, Missoula, MT.

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Chicago, Milwaukee, and St. Paul Railway, praised the schools of Fergus County in central Montana, where hundreds of thousands of acres would soon be opened to homesteaders: In the matter of education, Fergus County ranks with much older settled sections in the Central States. For every community containing ten or more children there is a school. Lewistown and Moore have high schools, and graded schools are maintained in most of the other towns. Adequate salaries paid to teachers ensures [sic] the employment of good talent, and homesteaders are assured of proper educational opportunities for their children.51 In a pamphlet advertising land on the Flathead Indian Reservation, Professor M.J. Elrod told his readers, “Prospective settlers will be pleased to know that there are already in or near the reservation good private and public schools, where the best educational advantages may be had.”52 Montana Homesteads in Three Years, a pamphlet for the Great Northern Railway also made mention of the extensive educational opportunities in Montana.53 Sig Mickelson analyzed the advertisements of the Northern Pacific Railway in his book The Northern Pacific Railroad and the Selling of the West. He writes, “The urge to own land probably ranked ahead of all other factors !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 51

The Chicago Milwaukee and St. Paul Railway, Government Land Opening: 300,000 Acres in Fergus County, Montana (Chicago: Hillison & Etten Co., 1915), 11. 52 Professor M.J. Elrod, Uncle Sam Will Give You a Home – in the Flathead Indian Reservation. (No publisher or publication date is indicated, but based on the content, it would have been printed in 1909 or soon afterwards.) 53 E.C. Leedy, Montana Homesteads in Three Years (St. Paul, MN: Great Northern Railway, 1913), 1.

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[causing migration], but land ownership was not enough. It was necessary that the land should be inexpensive and soil good, that there should be educational opportunities for the children and religious opportunities for the whole family.”54 He goes on in further consideration of factors motivating migration to the West by statistical analysis of Northern Pacific advertisements, grouping educational and religious opportunities together as one category second only to economic factors in attracting settlers.55 “There were no articles found that devoted themselves entirely to pointing up this factor, but reference to religious and educational facilities were made in many of the advertising circulars, advertisements, and newspaper stories....”56 In fact, the value of churches and schools was so recognized by the Northern Pacific that it donated land to communities in the Northwest specifically for the buildings of these institutions.57 Although Carpenter and Tufts may have exaggerated slightly the draw that Montana’s public schools would have on settlers – “no one thing, not even a positive assurance, that our mountains were solid gold, can so effectually secure this much” and “no stronger inducement… can be offered” –, it is still clear that schools were an important element in attracting more settlers westward, thereby contributing to the continuing growth and prosperity of communities in Montana. Conclusions Democracy, prosperity, lasting and growing communities, and morally and intellectually sound citizens. These were the potential products of Montana’s territorial !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! D%! !(+;!E+*@,/4)8A!"#$!%&'(#$')!*+,-.-,!/+-0'&+1!+)1!(#$!2$003 -)4!&.!(#$!5$6(!F(+):G!H.//4A!(IJ!K5,!L,8-,3!?)3!M,4-,38!(-:2+,4A! N:;:4-.8.!L)//,;,A!"OOPQA!OD>! 55 Mickelson, 109. 56 Mickelson, 108. 57 Mickelson, 108.

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schools – all in all, a very bright future and sound reasons for supporting education in the territory. The future would, in fact, bring many changes to Montana’s school system. As a state, Montana was required by the federal government and by its own Constitution to maintain a system of free public schools, thus ensuring the future of education in Montana, after a territorial period in which that future was not always guaranteed. Public support would continue to be instrumental to the success of Montana’s schools, as Joseph Kinsey Howard reminded us, and Montana’s constitutional guarantee of education would prove to be a useful tool in the public’s attempts to ensure that schools received adequate funding to provide a quality education, as the Columbia Falls case demonstrated. The object of this paper has not been to claim that public support of education was a constant, powerful force in territorial Montana. There were certainly periods of both strong and poor public support, just as there were moments when legislative support was very effective and moments when it was completely lacking.58 Rather, the intent has been to show that Montana’s early schools in general relied on public support for their establishment and maintenance, and that direct support was especially vital to their continued survival at times when the provisions of the federal government failed to provide sufficient support. The reasoning behind this support can be determined to a great extent by examining the sources that promoted and encouraged education, and the predominant motivating theme was that schools were an vital part in the development of Montana’s new communities.

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 58

For a study of these changing trends during the territorial period, see Dale Raymond Tash, The Development of the Montana Common School System: 1864-1884 (Ed.D. diss., Montana State University, 1968).

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Bibliography Billings Gazette, March 2005. Carpenter, A.M.S. "Report of the Superintendent of Public Instruction, November 1867." Virginia City, Montana Territory: Department of Public Instruction, 1867. Quoted in Riley, Emmet J. Development of the Montana State Educational Organization 18641930. Washington, D.C.: The Catholic University of America, 1931. 12-14. The Chicago Milwaukee and St. Paul Railway. Govâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t Land Opening. Chicago: Hillison & Etten Co., April 1915. Davis, Rev. William L., S.J., S.T.L, Ph.D. A History of St. Ignatius Mission. Spokane, WA: C.W. Hill Printing Co., 1954. Elrod, M.J. Uncle Sam Will Give You a Home - in the Flathead Indian Reservation. (No publisher or publication date is indicated, but based on the content, it would have been printed in 1909 or soon afterwards.) Goligoski, Robert J. "Thomas J. Dimsdale: Montana's First Newspaper Editor." M.A. thesis, Montana State University, 1965. Howard, Joseph Kinsey. "On Montana Education." An address to the Missoula County Educational Council, November 14, 1945. Leedy, E.C. Montana Homesteads in Three Years. St. Paul, MN: Great Northern Railway, 1913. Meany, Edmond S. Governors of Washington: Territorial and State. Seattle: University of Washington Department of Printing, 1915. Mickelson, Sig. The Northern Pacific Railroad and the Selling of the West. Sioux Falls, SD: The Center for Western Studies, Augustana College, 1993. Miller, Harriet. Early Schools in Montana. Helena, MT: Department of Public Instruction, 1964.

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Montana Legislative Assembly. Council Journal. 1st. sess., 1864-1865. Montana Legislative Assembly. House Journal. 1st sess., 1864-1865. Montana Legislative Assembly. House Journal. 5th sess., 1868-1869. The Montana Post. Virginia City, 1864-1865. Montana Supreme Court Decision. Columbia Falls Elem. School Dist. No. 6 v. State. 326 Mont. 304, 109 P.3d 257. March 22, 2005. Palladino, L.B., S.J. Indian and White in the Northwest: A History of Catholicity in Montana, 1831-1891, 2nd ed. Lancaster, PA: Wickersham Publishing Company, 1922. Riley, Emmet J. Development of the Montana State Educational Organization 1864-1930. Washington, D.C.: The Catholic University of America, 1931. Sasek, John Francis. "The Development of Public Secondary Education in Montana Prior to 1920." M.A. thesis, Montana State University, 1938. The Statutes at Large, Treaties, and Proclamations of the United States of America. Vol. XII. Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1863. -----. Vol. XIII. Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1866. Weekly Missoulian, February 1873.

The Power of Narratives: Purple Hibiscus and Nigerian Culture

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Narrative Theory In order to understand a narrative such as Purple Hibiscus to its full capacity, the relationship it has to the culture it comes from must be recognized. Culture, although not easily characterized, should basically be thought of in line with Dreama Moon’s (2002, p. 16) definition for the purpose of analyzing this association. It is a “contested zone in which different groups struggle to define issues in their own interests” without necessarily having equal opportunities or perspectives. Furthermore, Moon infers that culture is a historically changing and evolving system whereby diverse values and norms are seen under similar worldview tendencies and groups understand and interpret symbols and interactions similarly. It is also influenced by whoever has the power, this typically being the person or group with the most access to communication. The above definition is important in regards to the manners in which people within a culture interact and are connected to one another. Shared worldview tendencies, values, and norms typically generate people noticing, interpreting, and evaluating many aspects of their culture in a common way; therefore individuals are allowed to naturally live within their society’s set of “unspoken rules.” Accordingly, one must consider the question of who has the most access to communication; because based on systematic norms and values, this communicative power is more easily available to certain people or groups, compared to the general public. Through this interpretation, it becomes obvious that communication is very important within a culture. This is because communication, or “the symbolic process by which we create meaning with others” (Moon, 2002, p. 16), is a key part of defining, understanding, and living in any culture. Furthermore, it is ever-changing, therefore promoting culture to be just as fluid and constantly shifting as well. It is consequentially imperative to consider the many forms of communication that are seen everyday

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within a culture. These include daily conversations between members of a culture, but also extend to contain all forms of expression including music, film, art, law, and, as specifically focused on in this paper, narratives. Also, note that various forms of communication can be more or less recognized (or significant) in a culture depending on their context, who acts out the communication, and what the communicative styles are revealing. Moon borrows a useful concept from Carey that builds upon the definition of culture, stating that â&#x20AC;&#x153;communication is a symbolic process whereby reality is produced, maintained, repaired, and transformedâ&#x20AC;? (Carey, 1989, p. 23). This is a significant definition that has within it many implications regarding how communication affects a culture. For example, if reality itself has the capability of being produced through communication, various cultures can therefore embrace completely distinct norms, values, and worldview tendencies; yet members of these different cultures are still able to successfully function and understand how to behave and react to situations and others within each culture. The ability to use communication in order to maintain, repair, and transform reality again reveals that culture and the acceptable symbols, thoughts, and behaviors, are not stagnant and, although not in an immediate manner, do have the capability to change meanings. It is important to understand that there is no way for a narrator to fully detach themselves from their dominant culture, including their values, norms, and worldview tendencies. As narrators, we evaluate specific events in terms of communal norms, expectations, and potentialities; communal ideas of what is rational and moral; communal senses of the appropriate and the estheticâ&#x20AC;ŚWe come to understand, reaffirm, and revise a philosophy of life (Ochs and Capps, 1996, p. 30).

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This philosophy of life can be compared to the heart of the narrator’s culture, and is, therefore, manifested within the narrator’s story, regardless of what that story is about. Narratives have the capacity to reflect the culture from which they are derived, as well as repair and transform that culture. The ability to reflect culture is possible because of the perspective and point of view an author brings to her narration, through both the opinions that are asserted and ways in which the narrator analyzes the surrounding world. Fisher (1987) states that “narration is the foundational, conceptual configuration of ideas for our species…narration is the context for interpreting and assessing all communication” (p. 193). This reveals that narrative provides the groundwork for every other piece of communication found within a culture, giving the narrated stories a great amount of importance to the culture itself. This theory provides the link to how narratives are able to reflect culture so accurately. The narrative, as a text, can be used as the tool of communication through which culture is discussed and understood. As Ochs and Capps (1996) state, “through narrative we come to know what it means to be a human being” (p. 31). In Purple Hibiscus specifically, the reader learns more than just what it looks like to live within the culture, but also how a person of that culture thinks and the perspective she has on her surroundings. Narratives are also important to a culture because of the messages they communicate to their reader. According to Hall (2005), “a narrative in its most basic sense refers to a recounting of a sequence of events that is told from a particular point of view” (p. 73). Much more can be revealed through a narrative, however. Hall exposes this, stating that narratives function to teach “the way the world works, our place in the world, how to act in the world, and how to evaluate what goes on in the world” (p. 74-5). Each of these roles also can fit into and be used to explain Carey’s theory about the relationship between communication and

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culture. A narrative can produce new norms and values in a culture by distinctly establishing some set of standards not present in the past. It can maintain values and norms that are already accepted within a culture by holding them as a standard and keeping the characters and situations within it from straying, as well as showing disdain or discomfort in those situations where the culture is not being regarded “correctly.” Finally, narratives have the capability to transform a culture through their inclusion of something unacceptable written in a positive way, or by bringing light to a subject that not many people know about. Narratives furthermore reveal to their culture’s members the ways in which they should behave and understand the world (Hall, 2005, p. 77). Looking more closely at this concept, narrative “interfaces self and society, constituting a crucial resource for socializing emotions, attitudes, and identities, developing interpersonal relationships, and constituting membership in a community” (Ochs and Capps, 1996, p. 19). So, through understanding narratives, people are socialized within their own specific culture. Going back to Carey’s (1998) theory, this is a common example of maintenance of culture occurring through the communication of a narrative. Ochs and Capps (1996) argue that “narrative activity attempts to resolve the discrepancy between what is expected and what has transpired” (p. 27). Once more, Moon’s theory of culture as a contested zone fits within this context. Simply because a narrator takes an opinion regarding a value or worldview tendency does not mean that it is necessarily true for every person within a shared culture, for that opinion could be changing or interpersonally contested. Narratives endeavor to analyze, though subtly at times, the overwhelming views of a culture in the past, and furthermore where these views have the potential of moving in the future. “It is the landscape of consciousness that socializes narrators and audiences into local understandings

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of events…pieced together over time, narrative plots attempt to illustrate a life” (Ochs and Capps, 1996, p. 26). This attempt is what allows a narrative to indefinitely reflect culture. It is important to note that narratives are very commonly used as tools to maintain and repair culture. Consider, for example, that typically narrators employ the language and rhetoric used in their culture within their narration. This again exemplifies the perspective an author has within their writing. “Narrative point of view is realized through a community’s linguistic repertoire, including its set of languages, dialects, and registers” (Ochs and Capps, 1996, p. 27-8). Simply by being exposed to the way an author employs language and goes about telling a story will perpetuate the audience’s maintenance of culture regarding what is considered an appropriate way to speak and regard one’s world. The audience has a large role in the maintenance and repair of culture through narratives. “Common experience tells us that we do arrive at conclusions based on ‘dwelling in’ dramatic and literary works. We come to new beliefs, reaffirmations of old ones, reorient our values, and may even be led to action” (Fisher, 1987, p. 158). These are all effects narratives can have on an audience’s perception of their own culture and examples of maintaining, repairing and, at times, transforming culture. Fisher goes on to demonstrate this theory, stating, Rhetorical interpretation of a work arises whenever the work is considered relative to an audience’s response. Responses are the ways in which people are led to feel or to think or to act in reference to a symbolic experience (p. 161). The fact that individuals are led to feel, think, or act in a certain way reveals the capability of the narrative to maintain the norms and values established within a culture. Following suit, it is therefore crucial to understand how narra-

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tives have the ability to create such a transformative impact. “Rhetoric generates truth and values and serves as an instrument with which to test public truths” (Bitzer, 1978, p. 68). This exemplifies that the culture revealed in narratives can be accepted or denied based on the reader’s interpretation of it. “People are reflective and from such reflection they make the stories of their lives and have the basis for judging narratives for and about them” (Fisher, 1987, p. 75). Culture has the opportunity to be maintained, repaired, and transformed through narratives consequentially because the audience develops an opinion and applies it to their own lives. When this is done, a reflexive relationship is formed between communication and culture, which ultimately alludes back to Moon’s definition of culture as a “contested zone.” Because of the author’s perspective as story-teller and the incapacity to remove oneself from a culture’s tendencies, reality is made, portrayed, and preserved until it is altered once more: “As narratives reach out to tap a preexisting identity, they construct a fluid, evolving identity-in-the-making” (Ochs and Capps 1996, pg. 20). Such is culture, ever-changing under the guidance of communication. Nigeria Now that it is understood how communication affects culture, it is necessary to focus on the specific culture from which the novel, Purple Hibiscus, is derived. As a narrative, Purple Hibiscus critiques and attempts to transform the hierarchical tendencies of modern Nigeria. The most populated country in Africa; Nigeria is a very eclectic region that has been home to over 250 different ethnic groups, all of which have inhabited the land for hundreds of years. Each group maintains many unique traditions, rituals, and languages, providing Nigeria with richly diverse perspectives. Around the year 1900, however, the British

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took over and colonized much of the country, unfortunately revoking and changing many traditions of the Nigerian people. This includes the Igbo people who reside in Southern Nigeria. British rule for 60 years, as well as an introduction to Christianity, has led the worldview tendency of hierarchy within the family, and particularly between genders, to be favored. Igbo culture has a background of egalitarian tendencies, but the colonial presence of Britain produced an overarching national system that perpetuated even stronger hierarchies, particularly in the aforementioned area of gender. It is important to understand these trends - what exists now and what has been replaced - as well as how they affect Nigeria’s culture and the interactions people have with one another. Despite the above, Nigeria has not always been so hierarchical. Igbo, one of Nigeria’s more predominant ethnic groups, “has fostered a highly competitive society with a political culture that is conciliar and democratic” (Uchendu, 2007, p. 199). A democracy is set up, in theory, to give equal opportunity and voice to every person under its command, therefore perpetuating egalitarian tendencies. A tendency towards equality regarding men and women’s roles was also seen until colonialism in this country, and it was at that time when women suffered the greatest loss of power (Smith, 2005, p. 339). This loss of power for females in turn granted men more authority, thus moving towards a more hierarchical way of thinking and ultimately giving men dominance over women. This was drastically different than what these people had experienced prior to colonialism. For example, in the Igbo tradition, a dual-sex political system was used and there were also other outlets for women in the church, education system, and economically (p. 340). Furthermore, work was always extremely valued in Nigeria and the country’s constitution once recognized “equal pay for equal work,” disregarding whether a male or female completed the labor (Smith, 2005, p. 341).

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Also, prior to colonialism, gender roles specifically looked very different, and sex and gender were not even considered to coincide. “Gender was socially constructed as fluid and flexible, allowing women to have male gender roles and vice versa…examples include female husbands and female kings” (p. 341). Because sex and gender roles were considered separately, and were forgiving of one another, equality among men and women was prevalent and widely accepted in Nigeria prior to the British taking over. Worldview tendencies, values, and norms were forced to change in Nigeria as Nigerians began attempting to incorporate aspects of British culture into their own. Many changes occurred in the country during colonialism, especially when Christianity was introduced. Worldview tendencies of many ethnic groups, as well as values and norms, were challenged and were forced to change under British power. As Heaton and Hirschl (1999) point out, there continues to be a problem in Nigeria because now it seems to “reflect the commercial and military interests of colonial powers to the neglect of pre-existing tribal and regional experiences of the African people” (p. 35). This presents a problem because as ethnic groups were pushed to lose their personal identities, they struggled with the new ideas and values to which they were forced to adhere, and this caused much controversy between groups. There are now overarching attitudes held by a large part of Nigeria, with little to no differences among particular ethnic groups as was in the past. Only since colonization have these broad values been present within this culture. Changes have occurred, for example, within the indigenous Igbo culture as a whole, and although it still holds some historical traditions, its people now also lean towards a more hierarchical standing. Specifically, there is a status system in place where the “special, low- status group,” (Uchende, 2007, p. 193) referred to as Ohu, are slaves to Diala, or “free born, full citizens,” (p. 200) of the Igbo cul-

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ture. A person’s status is determined by seven factors, including “kinship, political, associational, wealth and poverty, ritual, and residence statuses” (p. 200). This status system alone reveals there are rankings in place, determining who has the authority over others within interactions. Additionally, Uchende (2007) says, “The Igbo recognize and make further social distinctions among members of each status category depending on their political, economic, and religious achievements” (p. 200) again revealing that although status has the potential to be based on achievements a person has made, categorizing to determine ranking within society still exists. Furthermore, the ways in which Nigerians use language is even taken into consideration in order to determine a person’s status. The linguistic dominance of, and the dependence of Nigeria on, English continues as the language is generally viewed as a prestige code which not only guarantees upward social mobility, but is also seen as fulfilling fundamental instrumental, regulative, communicative, occupational, and creative functions (Bamiro, 2006, p. 24). Those who speak English are regarded as more “cultured” and intelligent while those who speak traditional languages are perceived as having less status and dominance within society. Even this distinction reveals certain preferred esteem towards a group, and therefore insinuates a hierarchy is present. People who know English probably know the language well because they are educated, and in turn are expected to be intelligent. They are favored over those who cannot speak English well – those who are assumed to have achieved a low level of schooling. This illustrates that it is not just speaking English that equates to higher status, but also simply having the means to be formally educated. It is important to note that this again ties back to the presence of colonialism within Nigeria. People who live there

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have come to know that English, or the language of colonialism, is the supposedly right language to speak, and therefore consider it “dignified.” Also, it is common knowledge that those who attend school, more than likely one established or run the way the British instructed them to be, are more highly valued. Again this is an example of values and norms that have been changed over time because of colonialism. Interestingly, when Igbo speakers were surveyed in 2004, 85 percent of them were in favor of using only English in many of their daily transactions (Bamiro, 2006, p. 25). Determining a person’s status and using language to establish hierarchy stems, again, from colonialism’s influence on the culture. When the distinction is made that speaking English should be used over speaking a native language, there is a reason behind this preference, and in this case that reason is to sound more dignified and, thus, to have higher status in society. The tendency towards hierarchy in Nigeria is additionally obvious when it comes to the roles of men and women within the home, school, and society in general. Inside a home, a man is expected to be the head of the household and command the main role in making decisions. “Women may even be seen as property which can therefore be acquired, changed, or given to someone else” (Kwashi, 2002, p. 20). This demonstrates that women and men are seen in society on completely different levels, with men having the power over women and the ability to do with women what they desire. Furthermore, when children are involved, they, like the wife, are seen as property of the man, not property of the parents as a couple. This means that should a divorce happen, which is also acceptable for a Nigerian man to decide at his will, the children remain with their father (p. 20). Therefore the amount of power given to men allows them to treat women inhumanely, placing

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men higher in society than women, and therefore again establishing hierarchy. In true definition of hierarchy (in regards to Nigeria’s worldview tendency), most people do not question whether the differences between opportunities and status between men and women are right or wrong: they simply accept that these imbalances exist. This is portrayed in the answers given by a focus group of university students in Nigeria conducted by Kwashi (2002), “Female participants…agreed with their male counterparts that male dominance in public life and leadership was the ‘divine’ or ‘natural’ order of things” (p. 414). In their minds, it is typical for a woman to be less valued and to be given less power within society than a man. This notion furthermore transcends to life in the home, where a woman’s ability to communicate is seriously restricted because of the status a man has over his wife. Direct communication from a woman to her husband is only allowed if permitted by the husband and then only in a private place (Kwashi, 2002, p. 20). Taking away a woman’s voice again places her below the husband and ultimately puts her agency of communication under his jurisdiction, only allowed when he says that it is acceptable. Another example of when a woman’s voice is overshadowed includes the decision of whether she will have children. Although Hollander (1996) found that both the man and woman in a relationship equally share this decision, he says “early in marriage, a woman is expected to justify her acceptance into her husband’s family and may therefore subordinate her own preferences to those of her spouse” (p. 83). This shows that even though the woman may have different opinions than her husband, it is an unstated fact that the woman in a relationship must support her husband’s inclinations and therefore assume them as her own, putting more weight with what he believes and therefore establishing that he is of a higher status than she.

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Within Nigeriaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s societal system there is a dichotomy between how men and women are treated regarding both education and the workplace, revealing one again that hierarchy does in fact exist. To illustrate, female children are less likely to receive an expensive education when compared to their male counterparts, and woman who are married are not expected to get any more education. Men, however, are given every possible opportunity at education (Kwashi, 2002, p. 20). This puts men in a place to have power over women not only because of their sex, but also because they will assumedly be more intellectually advanced, another sign of status within Nigerian culture. In addition to having less opportunities regarding education, there have been many instances where women are mistreated when in pursuit of their degree. Nwadigwe (2007) conducted research focused on female students who are pressured to engage in sexual relations with male professors in order to get better grades. He found that â&#x20AC;&#x153;there is a relatively high prevalence of sexual harassment in Nigerian universities and this affects female students adverselyâ&#x20AC;? (p. 1). Again, the dominance men have over women intellectually and within society is shown in this example: women are expected to fulfill favors in order to earn their grade and are therefore not expected to use education and intelligence to achieve that grade, as their male peers are. Finally, within the workplace women are regarded as less desired as well. Evidence for widespread feminization of income or consumption poverty appears strong, with women working longer hours than men do to achieve the same level of living, as well as facing discrimination in employment (Mberu, 2007, p. 516). A woman cannot escape the fact that she is considered less valuable than a man wherever she goes within her culture, including at home and in the workplace. This emphasizes the hierarchical tendency of Nigeria, with women having

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less power and opportunities, both in communication and achievement. Purple Hibiscus Nigeria’s culture along with its worldview tendencies, values, and norms is revealed in the narratives produced within it. Family, politics, religion, and the change that occurs within all three are topics explored by Nigerian author Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie in her book entitled Purple Hibiscus. Published in October 2003, this book has caused quite a stir in Nigeria, throughout Africa, and around the globe because of the issues Adichie tackles. Purple Hibiscus is even said to be currently one of the “most popular works of fiction from Africa…shortlisted for the Orange Fiction Prize, awarded the Commonwealth Writers’ Prize for the Best First Book in Africa, and won the Hurston/Wright Legacy Award 2004 in the Best Debut Fiction Category” (“Nigeria; Artist of the Year,” 2008, p. 1). Adichie’s work is still being recognized, as she recently was awarded the 2008 MacArthur Foundation ‘genius grant.’ She is regarded in Nigerian newspapers as one of “Nigeria’s brightest young writers” (Odeh, 2008, para. 1) whose “wonderful writings have helped advance, for so many of us [Nigerians], the healing and reclamation process” and provides “a good role model” (Nzegwu, 2007, para. 5). The above background is quite a feat for a Nigerian woman to accomplish by age 30, and probably not one Adichie would have predicted 10 years prior to her success. As the bright, studious child of academics, she was expected to work toward a ‘useful’ career, and at the University of Nigeria, where both of her parents worked, she followed their advice and became a medical student (“Teller of Tales,” 2007, p. BW11). Adichie dropped out after a year and a half, though, when she moved to the United States to live with her sister and

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study communication. She found her niche in writing, not because she ever consciously decided to pursue it as a career, but because writing made her feel “incredibly fulfilled” (Artist of the Year, 2008, p. 1). As one of Adichie’s works, Purple Hibiscus is particularly communicative of Nigeria’s culture because it is realistic fiction written for young readers and set in the actual cities and towns of Nigeria. The novel explores the life of a 15-year-old Nigerian and her family, and the ways in which a young woman eventually finds her voice. As critic Dennis Matanda (2006) stated, it is “simple and revealinglike you are reading someone’s diary” (p. 1). It is precisely this style of writing and perspective that initially makes Purple Hibiscus stand out: the narrator is a young female. According to Hewett (2004), “Adichie’s most powerful revision [of the traditional Nigerian novel] occurs in an act of displacement. She recenters the story by giving it to a different narrator: to the daughter rather than the father” (p. 2). This is important because it highlights that Nigerian culture, along with the literature that is being produced, is progressively being transformed because it allows a young woman to tell her story and still be deemed acceptable. The novel is broken up into four different sections in this order: “Breaking Gods” which takes place on Palm Sunday, “Speaking with our Spirits” set before Palm Sunday, “The Pieces of Gods,” which describes the events immediately following Palm Sunday, and “A Different Silence,” taking place in the present. Placing the sections in this order takes the reader on a journey separated from time, as clues to the overall story are revealed before fully understanding them in context. The narrator and primary character in Purple Hibiscus is Kambili. She is introduced as a shy girl of few words, and continues to be this way until visiting her Aunt Ifeoma. Even during her visit, she has difficulty speaking her mind, saying “I wanted to say I was sorry that I did not smile or laugh, but my words would not

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come, and for a while even my ears could hear nothing” (Adichie, 2004, p. 139). Her peers did not understand Kambili and she “remained a backyard snob to most of my class girls until the end of the term” (p. 52). Throughout the book, though, Kambili begins to speak out more and conclusively better understands herself and the world around her after living with her aunt and cousins. Jaja, Kambili’s 17-year-old brother, is another major character in the novel and is Kimbali’s personal hero. The two have a very close bond, to the point where Kambili feels she can be herself around Jaja in ways that she cannot around anyone else. This is revealed when Kambili says, “It was only when I was alone with Jaja that the bubbles in my throat let my words come out” (Adichie, 2004, p. 154). Kambili’s family, which includes Jaja, Papa, and Mama, is very wealthy. Papa, or Eugene, is a very well-known man within their town: an owner of a large factory and a newspaper, the Standard, which stands up for the people of Nigeria against the government. He is very involved in their church and is an extremely devout evangelistic Catholic. Eugene takes his faith to an extreme, though, and has excessive control over his family, to the point of forming his family members’ daily schedules and physically abusing them if he feels they have sinned. “Papa liked order. It showed even in the schedules themselves, the way his meticulously drawn lines, in black ink, cut across each day, separating study from siesta, siesta from family time…prayer from sleep. He revised them often” (Adichie, 2004, p. 25). The irony of Papa/Eugene is that he is fighting against a regime causing injustice to his people, yet he uses the same type of power and control over his family, and even abuses them on a daily basis. His abuse is brutal and not something unexpected for even minor mistakes in his strict household.

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He unbuckled his belt…a heavy belt made of layers of brown leather…It landed on Jaja first, across his shoulder. Then Mama raised her hands as it landed on her upper arm…I put the bowl down just as the belt landed on my back…as he swung his belt at Mama, Jaja, and me, muttering that the devil would not win. We did not move more than two steps away from the leather belt that swished through the air (Adichie, 2004, p. 102). He always seemed to hate that he “had to” punish his family, saying things like, “‘Why do you walk into sin? Why do you like sin?’” followed by, “Did the belt hurt you? Did it break your skin?” (p. 102) This reveals that Kambili’s father felt he was not wrong for abusing his family so badly, that his abuse was something that must be done in order to maintain his status as both a good father and head of the household. The other important characters involved in this story are Aunt Ifeoma and her three children. As a family, they have very different relationships than Kambili’s family. Aunt Ifeoma is a professor at a university in Nsukka and encourages singing, open conversation, and even laughter in her household. Kambili comments that she “was bewildered that Aunty Ifeoma and her family prayed for, of all things, laughter” (Adichie, 2004, pg. 127). Ifeoma also endorses very loving relationships among her family and friends. The juxtaposition between Eugene and Ifeoma’s house rules are seen when Jaja and Kambili are told to give up their schedules for the week. “If you do not tell Eugene, eh, then how will he know that you did not follow the schedule, gbo? You are on holiday here and it is my house, so you will follow my rules” (p. 124). While Kambili is staying at her aunt’s house, there are many times when she points out the differences in wealth compared to what she is used to back home, including the fact that portion sizes are less, she has to do chores, and the lights are frequently

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turned off. Kambili realizes that just because her aunt and cousins live less comfortably, they are no less happy and may even enjoy life more because they must truly appreciate what they have. Each section of Adichie’s novel contains at least one major event that is particularly important. In the first, “Breaking God’s,” the reader sees a few interactions that provide a basis for understanding Kambili’s background. For example, her families’ wealth and her father’s importance in society are constantly displayed. “He (Father Benedict) used Papa to illustrate the gospel…he talked about things everybody already knew, about Papa making the biggest donations…Amnesty World gave him a human rights award” (Adichie, 2004, p. 4-5). This section partially reveals Eugene’s familial abuse, as he throws a missal across the room, nearly missing his son and breaking some of his wife’s most prized possessions. The next section, “Speaking with our Spirits,” is actually Kambili’s voice describing what happened in time before the first section. As discussed a bit earlier, she and Jaja were able to stay with their Aunt Ifeoma and cousins in a town called Nsukka. There were many aspects of living in her household that were very different than home for the two of them. For example, construction of communication was different in Ifeoma’s house, as Igbo, the traditional language in Nigeria, was used along with English. It was new for Kambili and Jaja to hear this because their father had always told them that speaking Igbo, as well as any other traditional practices, were for heathens. “He hardly ever spoke Igbo…We had to sound civilized in public, he told us; we had to speak English” (Adichie, 2004, p. 13). However, at Ifeoma’s dinner table, “Words spurted from everyone…my cousins seemed to simply speak and speak and speak. ‘Mom, biko, give me the neck’… ‘Didn’t you talk me out of the neck the last time, gbo?’” (p. 120) Igbo

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was used in a friendly, casual context without second thought. There were definite differences in class between what home and Aunt Ifeoma’s offered Jaja and Kambili. At Ifeoma’s house they were expected to help with chores such as peeling yams. Kambili had never learned how partake in chores within her wealthy household. Her cousin muttered, “Maybe I should enter it in your schedule, how to peel a yam” (Adichie, 2004, p. 134), commenting on the fact that it was strange that Kambili would have never previously done this. Even the dinner table revealed she and Jaja were from a wealthy home, as this was the typical scene before dinner in their own home: “Sisi (their housekeeper) had set eight places at the dining table, with wide plates the color of caramel and matching napkins ironed into crisp triangles” (p. 92). At Aunt Ifeoma’s, however, “the plates, too, were mismatched…they used plastic ones while the rest of us had plain glass plates, bereft of dainty flowers or silver lines” (p. 120). Aunt Ifeoma encourages her children to speak their mind, ask questions, and laugh as much as possible. “Laughter always rang out in Aunty Ifeoma’s house, and no matter where the laughter comes from, it bounced around all the walls, all the rooms” (Adichie, 2004, p. 140). She wants Jaja and Kambili to participate as well, and also pushes them to stand up for what they believe in, saying, “‘Being defiant can be a good thing sometimes’” (p. 144). Because of this, Jaja and Kambili begin to find their voices, which is a very important aspect of the story and a major turning point for both of their characters. During Kambili and Jaja’s stay, it also becomes apparent that Ifeoma and her children have a love for Ifeoma’s father while Eugene regards Papa-Nnukwu as a heathen because the old man refuses to give up his own tradition and practice Catholic ways. During the visit, PapaNnukwu falls very ill and comes to live at Aunt Ifeoma’s

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household until he passes away. Once Eugene finds out that a “heathen” was living there while his children were, he gets very angry and comes to get them up immediately. Once home, the abuse continues and actually gets worse as a result of the visit, and both Jaja and Kambili get scathing water poured on their feet as a consequence of “seeing sin and walking right into it” (Adichie, 2004, p. 194). It is right around this time that Eugene begins going further than he ever has before, and he ends up injuring Kambili and her Mama on two separate occasions. Both times he hurts them so badly that they must be taken to the hospital. Mama goes to Aunt Ifeoma very upset. “I had never seen Mama like that, never seen that look in her eyes, never heard her say so much in such a short time” (Adichie, 2004, p. 251). She was looking for help on the matter. Ifeoma suggests that Mama, Kambili, and Jaja stay at her house for awhile, and that Mama should consider leaving Papa. Mama ends up calling Eugene, however, and returning home that same evening. The third section, “The Pieces of Gods,” is a shorter part of the text, but reveals that Aunt Ifeoma and her family are going to apply for a visa to the United States because Ifeoma lost her job as a professor at the university. Upon hearing this news, Jaja and Kambili are heartbroken and go back to Nsukka to visit before Ifeoma and her children leave. When Ifeoma receives the visa, “finality hung in the air, heavy and hollow” (Adichie, 2004, p. 279). As this section is near its end and it is the family’s last day in Nigeria, Kambili and Jaja receive a call from their Mama stating that Papa has died. When Kambili and Jaja return home, they make the shocking discovery that Mama is the one who killed Papa. “I started putting the poison in his tea before I came to Nsukka” (Adichie, 2004, p. 290). When the policeman came, however, “Jaja did not wait for their questions; he told them he had used rat poison, that he put it in

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Papa’s tea” (p. 291). This lie saved Mama from going to prison, but put Jaja there for over three years. The last section, “A Different Silence” is the shortest section of the book and describes the present state of Kambili’s family. She and Mama visit Jaja often and bring him things from home. Kambili hears from Aunt Ifeoma and her cousins from America through letters, and she, Mama, and Jaja plan to visit. They work together and use their wealth and connections Papa had made throughout their community to get Jaja out of jail earlier than expected. For the first time we see Kambili and her mother laughing together (Adichie, 2004, p. 307). The reader can conclude that Kambili has found her voice and has helped her Mama to do so as well. The overwhelming themes are obvious throughout and within the conclusion of the book. Kambili is originally from an abusive home situation under the power of her father. She and her brother are introduced to a very different household culture when visiting her Aunt Ifeoma and cousins; however, Kambili learns about herself and finds her voice while living there. Through his death, her father is the character removed from the story. This is a story of Kambili’s coming of age and release from the strict rules she has endured to this point. The next section will analyze how this book maintains and transforms the culture of modern Nigeria. Purple Hibiscus and Nigerian Culture This paper explains how narratives affect culture through the focus on Purple Hibiscus, a novel derived from and based in Nigeria. It analyzes how Purple Hibiscus, as a narrative, goes about repairing modern Nigerian culture, as well as the language that the novel uses to communicate specific messages to the people of this culture. Within the framework of Nigerian culture, it is quite ambitious for Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie to use a young

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woman as her narrator because of the hierarchy seen within society and the belief that men have power over, and the responsibility for, women. It is out of the ordinary for a woman to even be asked her opinion in this specific culture, and Adichie challenges this dynamic through her use of Kambili as the primary source through which the story is told and situations are perceived. This simple choice allows for the repair of the culture’s negative or conflicted view over the fact that young women do not and should not have these opinions because that is not their role or place in the world. Hearing from a young woman’s perspective also allows the reader to reconsider what they have always thought to be “true” or “accepted” within this culture, repairing their thoughts regarding expectations of narrators in general, even if only slightly. Kambili is not a character who has a strong voice from the start, and she is actually introduced as someone who has a hard time coming up with the right words to say, or sometimes even any words at all. Her Aunt Ifeoma at one point justifies why Kambili is not answering someone’s question by saying, “She is shy” (Adichie, 2004, p. 139). This shows that other characters in the book are aware of, and identify Kambili with, the fact that she is a person of few words; but they do not question the reasoning behind it. The juxtaposition of Kambili’s personality with her role as the primary narrator for this novel solidifies the understanding that culture is indeed being repaired through allowing a woman to tell her story, even if she is not “qualified” by this culture’s standards. This opens up the idea that it can be “allowed” to give women the chance to speak and give their opinion, even those who do not necessarily know what they have to say. The position of woman as story-teller thus slightly repairs and begins to change people’s minds in a culture that absolutely does not allow this at the moment.

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The use of language is another noteworthy way this narrative attempts to repair culture. In Aunt Ifeoma’s home, Igbo, or the traditional language of the area, is used and even encouraged, whereas in Eugene’s home it is never used and not even tolerated. Kambili points out that her father does not like when she uses the Igbo language because they “had to sound civilized in public…had to speak English” (Adichie, 2004, p. 13). This has a lot to do with the Nigerian value introduced earlier regarding how the English language denotes one’s status: using English means one is educated and dignified; using Igbo indicates that a person is of less status and therefore deserves less respect and power. Understanding the uses of the two different languages within Nigerian culture allows the reader to ultimately recognize that the ways in which one uses language, and furthermore the language in which one speaks, is deeply valued within this specific culture. Adichie comments on these values and uses Aunt Ifeoma to repair the negative view of the Igbo language within the culture: she is a professor at a university, welleducated and intelligent. However, Ifeoma uses Igbo in her home and encourages her children to do the same, even in formal settings such as at the dinner table and amongst guests. This repairs the negative connotation of using Igbo in everyday language in the Nigerian culture because it allows the reader to see the juxtaposition of a language: Kambili and her family have come to believe that Igbo is not used by the well educated, yet Ifeoma is very educated and still proudly encourages the use of Igbo within her family. The repair is made through understanding that a person can use her traditional language in Nigeria and not necessarily be of a lesser class or weak educational standing. The novel especially reveals Nigeria’s hierarchical leaning in its description of Kambili’s father, Eugene, and the brutally-abusive relationship he has with his family. The norm of a man as the head of the household and com-

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pletely in charge of his wife and children is portrayed here. His abuse is accepted by the society he is living in, as Nigerian culture largely believes that men have the right to do what is necessary in order to maintain their status and demonstrate their power and control. Eugene even goes as far as planning out his family’s schedules to the minute, revealing the control he maintains over them. Furthermore, there are many scenes where he is seen violently abusing Kambili, Jaja, and their mother, even sending both Kambili and her mother to the hospital on separate occasions. These scenes demonstrate that brutal physical abuse is something Eugene feels he must do in order to maintain power and order, and that this is not a personal choice. The abuse is primarily understood as being widespread within and outside of the family, but it is accepted because, for this culture, it is simply the natural order of a man holding control over his household. Again, the focus upon abuse is significant because it exposes the abuse that occurs as a result of the tendency of hierarchy among gender in Nigerian society. The narrative attempts to repair this hierarchical tendency of culture through the unexpected occurrence of Eugene’s death by poison (instigated by his wife). This fatality attempts to demonstrate to its readers that the cultural practice of hierarchy, especially regarding gender and power within families, is a negative value and should be deconstructed within society. The character in the book who perpetuates hierarchy the most (Eugene) is completely removed, notably without much mourning from even his immediate family. Furthermore, the cause of Eugene’s death and actual murderer are finally hidden to the general public. These tactics are used to illustrate that terrible consequences result for those who continue following the negative value of hierarchical tendencies. Also, it is not until after Eugene’s death, and the subsequent removal of hierarchy within Kambili’s family, that Kambili and her

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mother are seen laughing together for the first time. It is then revealed that life for Kambili is better without the extreme control of her father, demonstrating that hierarchical structures can be transformed for the reader; consequently the worldview tendency of Nigerian able to be repaired. Despite the narrativeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s abilities to illuminate important historical realities of Nigeria, Purple Hibiscus remains contradictory: it attempts to repair the hierarchical culture Nigeria has taken on since its colonization while at the same time idolizing a different Western culture, the United States, which inhibits the same hierarchical tendencies in many ways. Narratives typically use some form of reward and punishment in order to comment on the positive and negative norms of the culture, at least from the perspective of the narrator. Punishment was seen in Eugeneâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s death, for example. In the conclusion of the novel, Aunt Ifeoma decides to move to the United States in order to make more money and escape the hardships of Nigeria. This can be considered a reward because throughout the novel it is revealed that Ifeoma is the character who lives a happy and fulfilling life (through laughter and freedom of communication), without complete constriction due to hierarchy. The reward of moving to the United States reveals the idealization of United States culture. It is necessary to consider, though, that this is yet another Western nation that tends to favor hierarchy and, although it looks a bit different from this leaning in Nigeria, inequalities in the United States still are prominent. This is problematic because American culture inhibits many of the very same qualities Adichie is looking to repair in Nigerian culture, yet the United States is glorified. Due to this glorification, the reader may receive a false conception of what life in America is really like, establishing unrealistic expectations of the lifestyle Aunt Ifeoma will encounter once she reaches the United States.

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In the future, more research should focus on the other tendencies that are seen within Nigerian culture in order to analytically apply them to Purple Hibiscus, as well as continued examination on the book’s effect on maintaining, transforming, and repairing aspects of this culture. Specifically, it would be interesting to look at the relationship between Kambili and her brother, Jaja, while analyzing the Nigerian culture’s effects on their relationship, especially as the two are exposed to different values at both Ifeoma’s and their father’s home. Furthermore, it would be beneficial to analyze whether colonization shifted any other worldview tendencies of Nigeria and, if so, how the culture – and specifically Adichie – confronts them. Finally, a provoking aspect of the novel that could be investigated in more detail is whether the theme of idolizing United States culture is woven throughout Nigeria, and if so, how it can be reconciled with the culture seen in Nigeria as a result of colonization.

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Heaton, T. & Hirschl, T.A. (1999). The Trajectory of Family Change in Nigeria. Journal of Comparative Family Studies ,30, 35-55, Retrieved October 27, 2008, from Academic Search Premier database. Hewett, H. (2004, July). Finding her voice. Women's Review of Books, 21, Retrieved September 29, 2008, from Academic Search Premier database. Hollander, D. (1996, June). In Nigeria, family size governs which spouse's fertility desires prevail. International Family Planning Perspectives, 22, 82-83. Retrieved October 27, 2008, from Academic Search Premier database. Kwashi, G. L. (2002, January). Cultural/Religious factors in our understanding of family. Transformation, 19, 19-23. Retrieved October 28, 2008, from Academic Search Premier database. Matanda, D. (2006, November 4). Uganda; Purple hibiscus. Africa News. Retrieved September 29, 2008, from LexisNexis database. Mberu, B. U. (2007, May). Household structure and living conditions in Nigeria. Journal of Marriage & Family, 69, 513-527. Retrieved October 27, 2008, from SocINDEX database. Moon, D.G. (2002). Thinking about â&#x20AC;&#x153;cultureâ&#x20AC;? in intercultural communication, in Martin, J.N.,Nakayama, T.K., & Flores, L.A. (Eds). Readings in intercultural communication: Experiences and contexts (2nd ed.). Boston, MA: McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., pp.13 -19

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Nzegwu, F. (2007, September 26). Reflections on the recently concluded Christpoher Okigbo conference at Harvard University, USA. Nigeriaworld. Retrieved October 12, 2008, from http://nigeriaworld.com/articles/2007/sep/266.html Ochs, E. and Capps, L. (1996, January). Narrating the self. Annual Review of Anthropology, 25, 19-43. Retrieved October 12, 2008, from JSTOR database. Odeh, N. (2008, June 14). In a class of her own. TheNEWS. Retrieved September 30, 2008, from http://thenewsng.com/article/258 Smith, B. G. (2005). Nigeria. In Oxford Encyclopedia of Women in World History (Vol. 3, pp. 339-341). New York: Oxford University Press USA.

Humanitarian Intervention: Exploring the number of civilian casualties in conflict zones where peace-enforcement missions and peace keeping mission have been utilized 2"($)%I.1J4%I/4*%3(45)/-46$%"7%K(L41(1;"#4-%

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“You know, in the museum in Rwanda which commemorates the millions who lost their lives as the world looked the other way, there is a picture of a young boy called David - a ten year old who was tortured to death. His last words were "don't worry the United Nations will come for us". But we never did. That child believed the best of us only to discover that the pieties repeated so often meant in reality nothing at all.” (Gordon Brown, 2008) In July 1995, with a UN peacekeeping mission present, a massacre took place just outside the ‘safe area’ of Srebrenica, a city in Bosnia Herzegovina. During the civil war in former Yugoslavia, thirty thousand Muslim refugees had found protection in Srebrenica until the army of General Ratko Mladic deported them and subsequently killed eight thousand men. The United Nations had sent a peacekeeping mission to Srebrenica to ‘ensure full respect for these safe areas.’ Apparently, the UN could not live up to that promise. In 1994, a different, yet comparable debacle occurred in Rwanda. While millions were slaughtered in the African country, the United Nations stood by and watched. Peacekeepers that had been deployed to the area were withdrawn, while Rwandan civilians were left at the mercy of uncontrolled criminals (Blocq, 2006: pp. 201). The UN peacekeepers – the Blue Berets—form one of the largest, best equipped, and international forces in the world. Yet the organization’s history is strewn with examples of its inability to keep the peace in places such as Srebrenica in Bosnia, Rwanda, and Darfur. Currently there are UN peacekeeping operations running in 16 different locations throughout five continents from Haiti to Timor, and 120 countries contribute 100,000 troops who are paid out of the UN’s annual budget of $7.1 billion. But the UN forces lack the authority to impose themselves on the fighters.

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Their rules of engagement do not permit it because they are forbidden to use their weapons unless they are fired upon (Aljazeera News, 2009). This study explores whether there is a need to readdress the mandate of the United Nations Peacekeeping Mission in regard to protecting civilian populations in conflict zones. This question is important because over the past decade, conflicts have erupted across the globe, war crimes and crimes against humanity have been easily committed by warlords and rebels and the United Nations Security Council is yet to determine the best way to reduce civilian casualties in conflict zones around the world. The UN peacekeeping mission is mandated to protect civilians, however, their rules of engagement limit them to do so effectively. This paper tries to answer this research question through a structured-focused comparison of the humanitarian casualty records in conflict zones where military force has been utilized against warlords and rebels in a bid to protect civilians, and where military force has not been utilized. I use a structured-focused approach (George 1979) within an outline of a â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;use of forceâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; theory. This methodology provides structure through clear definitions of key terms, provides focus by selecting a set of hypotheses to consider, and provides comparison through a set of case studies (analysis of written records), with an aim of discovering a pattern. Although important, this paper does not focus on the different political, economic, or ethnic motivations and implications behind the decision to use or not to use military force. The main goal of this study is to observe or measure the difference in the number of humanitarian casualties in comparable conflict situations where military force has been utilized and where military force has not been utilized

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in a bid to protect civilian populations under threats of attack and death. Approach to Studying the Use of Force in Humanitarian Intervention The right of humanitarian intervention has been one of the most controversial foreign policy issues of the last decade, both when intervention has happened, as in Srebrenica and Liberia, and when it has failed to happen, as in Rwanda and DR Congo. Thus, the need to empower and utilize military force in order to protect civilians in conflict zones remains debatable. According to de Waal (2007: 1039-1054) the very act of raising the prospect of external military intervention for human protection purposes changes and distorts the political process and can in fact make a resolution more difficult. Kuperman (2008: 49-80) argues that military intervention to protect civilians unintentionally fosters rebellion by lowering its expected cost and increasing its likelihood of success. In practice, intervention does sometimes help rebels attain their political goals, but usually it is too late or inadequate to avert retaliation against civilians. Thus, the emerging norm of military intervention resembles an imperfect insurance policy against genocidal violence. According to Woodhouse , â&#x20AC;&#x153;there is no such thing as a military quick fixâ&#x20AC;? (2002: 14). In some cases like Somalia, military intervention did not work, and in other cases, the winning side went ahead to commit genocide against the defeated side. These arguments against the use of military force to curb humanitarian crisis do not consider the ratio of the degree of humanitarian casualties when mere diplomatic and

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political dialogues have been utilized, to the degree of humanitarian casualties when military force has been utilized. According to Christopher Clapham, the war in Rwanda was ended not by the three and a half years of international mediation, but by the military victory of the Rwandaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Patriotic Front (Woodhouse, 2002: 11). Until the military intervention by the Rwanda Patriotic Front, over 800,000 civilians had been killed. Clapham agrees that the pursuit of mediation settlement can have the unintentional effect of prolonging the conflict with civilian population suffering most, while military actions have the effect of shortening the conflict by persuading those losing ground to accept a settlement. Citing Stedman and Licklider, David Shearer observes that in civil wars, in general, most settlements followed a military victory rather than political negotiations or mediated interventions (Woodhouse 2002: 9). The Sierra Leone war of 1991 to 2001, for example, shows the difference in the number of civilian casualties before and after military intervention. According to Armed conflict reports, the overall war suffered a death range of 20,000 to over 50,000. In addition, 30,000 civilians, including children, were amputated by the rebels and an estimated 215, 000 to 257,000 women were victims of sexual violence during the civil war. However, when the military peacekeeping force of the Economic Community of West African States known as ECOMOG came to the rescue of Sierra Leone civilians, Armed Conflicts Report claim that only about 6,300 civilians were killed from 1998 to 2000 (Armed Conflicts Report, 2002). Such comparative observation of civilian casualties in conflict zones during peacekeeping missions (missions without a mandate to use military force) and peace enforcing missions (missions with a mandate to use military force), have lacked in previous researches. In 2001, Am-

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bassador Lakhdar Brahimi submitted a review of peacekeeping operations to the Secretary General of the United Nations, in which the Ambassador stated that â&#x20AC;&#x153;peacekeepers, troops or police who witness violence against civilians should be presumed to be authorized to stop itâ&#x20AC;? (Brahimi 2000: 62). Brahimi recommended forceful action of UN peacekeepers in case of threats to local civilians, irrespective of host nation consent. The aim of an intervening army is simply to stop the killing. Peacekeepers mandated to use military force prevent, contain, moderate, and terminate hostilities, frequently in protracted social conflicts within states. Deescalation of violence is vital. Conflict resolution theory suggests causes of violent conflict and a contingency model for de-escalation, within which military peacekeepers separate belligerents to stop the violence and work closely with civilians to reduce its causes. Military doctrine suggests that liaison, negotiation, and force deployment help to control violence (Walzer, 2002: The argument about humanitarian intervention). Plan of Study The humanitarian casualty report is one source of information that has not been considered to the degree it should be considered, in regards to the argument of whether or not military force should be utilized in humanitarian intervention. Even though the humanitarian casualty records contain estimated numbers, they can help us to evaluate which mission (peacekeeping or peace-enforcing) has been more effective in reducing civilian casualties. Before stating my plan of study I will define two key terms, relevant to this study; peacekeeping and peaceenforcement.

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Peacekeeping: This term as defined by the United Nations is a way to help countries torn by conflict to create conditions for sustainable peace. Peacekeepers monitor and observe peace processes in post-conflict areas and assist excombatants in implementing the peace agreements they may have signed. Such assistance comes in many forms, including confidence-building measures, power-sharing arrangements, electoral support, strengthening the rule of law, and economic and social development. UN peacekeepers can include soldiers, civilian police officers, and other civilian personnel. Peace-enforcement: This term entails the use of armed force to separate combatants and to create a cease-fire that does not exist. Force may also be used to create other peaceful ends such as safe havens for victims of the hostilities. The United Nations also uses this term to refer to forceful actions to keep a cease-fire from being violated or to reinstate a failed cease-fire. My plan of study is to compare the statistical records of civilian deaths in conflict zones where peacekeeping missions have been utilized and where peace-enforcement missions have been utilized. My study is on conflict zones such as Srebrenica in Bosnia, Sudan, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Somalia and the Democratic Republic of Congo. These samples are selected for my study because they have similar elements: warlords or rebel groups fighting for political or ideological supremacy with civilian populations as primary targets. Civilian Death Records in the conflict zones selected for this study

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Srebrenica in Bosnia: When the United Nations Protection Force, UNPROFOR, was deployed to Srebrenica in 1993, the Security Council gave the peacekeepers limited firepower and a weak mandate which made it difficult for them to protect the civilian population against atrocities. In the summer of 1995, lightly-armed peacekeepers stood by powerless; as thousands of men in Srebrenica were murdered in what they had been told was a safe haven. Before the use of military force against Serbia, over 200,000 Muslim civilians had been systematically murdered. More than 20,000 were missing and feared dead and 2,000,000 became refugees (United Human Rights: Bosnia genocide). After the bombing it was reported that about 445 civilians were killed directly from the NATO bombings (Dankovic, 1999). However, it was Operation Deliberate Force (The Air campaign initiated by NATO/UNPROFOR) utilized against Bosnian-Serbs throughout the country in August and September 1995 which produced the results that allowed agreements to be reached (Berdal, 2002. pp. 64). Rwanda: As of July, 1994, over 800,000 civilians had been killed in Rwandan conflict (Historical chronology: Rwanda). The peace-enforcing mission of the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF) came to the rescue of civilians in Rwanda. The RPF soldiers saved tens of thousands of people from annihilation and relentlessly pursued those whom they thought guilty of genocide (Human Rights Watch, 1999). Before the RPF intervention, the civilian death estimated was between 500,000 and 1,000,000 in 1994. However, tens of thousands of civilians were reported to have been killed during the RPF forceful intervention (Armed conflict reports: Rwanda).

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Sierra Leone: Between 1998 and 1999, more than 6,300 people, mostly civilians, were killed during the Sierra Leoneâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s civil war. An estimate of the total civilian deaths ranges from 80,000 to 100,000 from 1991 to 2002. In addition, 30,000 civilians, including children, have had limbs hacked off by the warring rebels. An estimated 215, 000 to 257,000 women were victims of sexual violence during the civil war (Armed Conflict report: Sierra Leone, 2000). Liberia: From 1989 to 1996 the total number of civilian deaths in Liberia was about 200,000. Between 1999 and 2003, the total number of deaths was estimated at 150,000 and over a hundred thousand people were displaced (Liberia: First and Second Civil War, 2000). Somalia: Independent media reports estimate that close to 400,000 Somali lives have been lost due to armed conflict between 1998 and 2007. According to Armed Conflict reports, in 2007 alone more than 6,500 civilians were estimated to have been killed in the conflict in Mogadishu with more than 8,500 wounded. These counts do not include military deaths which would likely increase the total number of casualties significantly. However, the fighting in Somalia has been recurring. The second UN peacekeeping Mission to Somalia (UNOSOM II) was deployed in May 1993 to assist the Somalia people in rebuilding their shattered economy and social and political life (Berdal, 2002. pp.56). However, the political situation in Somalia remains in a state of unrest, and the after-

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effects of the 1989â&#x20AC;&#x201C;1992 civil war has turned the country into a lawless, violent, and undemocratic state with an alarming humanitarian crisis.

Congo: An estimated 350,000 people have been killed as a direct consequence of violence. In total, an estimated 5.4 million people have died as a result of the conflict, the vast majority from malnutrition and disease. The International Rescue Committee in conjunction with Australiaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Burnet Institute released a study in January 2008 showing over 45,000 non-combatant (civilian) deaths per month. The conflict has internally displaced an additional 3.4 million people (Armed Conflict Report: DR Congo, 2008). Sudan: So far, over 2.5 million civilians have been displaced and the death toll is variously estimated from 200,000 to 400,000 killed. These figures have remained stagnant since initial UN reports of the conflict hinted at genocide in 2004. Between 1998 and 2007, about 72,000 civilians were killed in the Sudan conflict directly from the fighting and subsequently from famine. The conflict in Sudan has caused the death of an estimated 2 million people, directly or indirectly, since 1983. Sudan currently has the largest internally displaced population in the world, estimated at 4 million people (The Genocide in Darfur, 2008).

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Table 1.

Data compiled from Armed Conflict Reports, Modern Conflict Data, and Britannica Year Book: Death Tolls

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Independent Samples T-Test: (Peacekeeping = 1, peace-enforcement = 0) Group Statistics Mission Civilian Deaths

Mean

Std. Deviation

10 437150.0000

46119.0000

Std. Error Mean

9.31409E5

2.94537E5

76592.11728

34253.03616

Independent Samples Test

Levene's Test for Equality of Variances

t-test for Equality of Means

Sig.

Civilian Equal Deaths variances 2.788 .119 .920 assumed Equal variances not assumed

95% Confidence InterSig. (2Mean Std. Error val of the Difference tailed) Difference Difference Lower Upper

.374 3.91031E5 4.25111E5

1.30943E6 5.27365E5

1.319 9.241

.219 3.91031E5 2.96522E5

1.05915E6 2.77089E5

* Curve Estimation. The result of this difference of means test is suggestive rather than statistically significant.

Humanitarian Intervention, Konye Obaji Ori

Curve Fit: Model Description Model Name Dependent 1 Variable Equation 1 Independent Variable Constant Variable Whose Values Label Observations in Plots

147

MOD_1 CivilianDeaths Linear Mission Included Unspecified

Case Processing Summary N Total Cases 15 a Excluded Cases 0 Forecasted Cases 0 Newly Created Cases 0

Variable Processing Summary Variables Dependent Independent Civilian Deaths Mission Number of Positive Values 15 10 Number of Zeros 0 5 Number of Negative Values 0 0 Number of Missing User-Missing 0 0 Values System0 0 Missing

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Model Summary and Parameter Estimates Dependent Variable: Civilian Deaths Model Summary Parameter Estimates R Equation Square F df1 df2 Sig. Constant b1 Linear .061 .846 1 13 .374 46119.000 391031.000 The independent variable is Mission. Results and Discussion Duration Peacekeeping PeaceDeath enforcement Ratio Cumulative 1992 4,371,500 461,190 9:1 Civilian to Deaths 2009 Over all, the result of the independent samples T-Test is suggestive rather than statistically significant, but it has shown through a comparison of recorded data that the civilian casualties in conflict zones where peace-enforcement missions have been utilized are comparatively lower than civilian casualties in conflict zones where peacekeeping missions have been utilized, within a conflict time frame. However, it is mandatory to clarify that the death tolls are roughly estimated. Also, the number of civilians who die subsequently from the negative effects of the conflicts (hunger, diseases, displacements, etc) has not been accurately controlled for in this study.

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Based on the Curve Fit data, the graph of civilian deaths plotted against the two types of peace missions utilized (peacekeeping coded as ‘1’ and peace-enforcement coded as ‘0’), show an inclining death rate as mission moves from peace-enforcement (0) to peacekeeping (1). What this study intends to do next is assess what factors have accounted for this observation that peace-enforcement missions result in fewer civilian deaths than peacekeeping missions. This will be done by reviewing previous studies on the causes of civilian deaths. Root Causes of Civilian Deaths in Conflict Zones According to Swedish peace and conflict researcher Hultman (2006), in civil war, rebel groups often target civilians despite the fact that their actual target is the government. “Rebels are almost always considerably weaker than the government and are often lacking the

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means for defeating government forces by military action. Therefore, they seek alternative means to pressure the government into making concessions. Violence towards civilians is one such strategy,” explains Hultman. In her dissertation, Targeting the Unarmed: Strategic Rebel Violence in Civil War, Hultman shows that rebel groups primarily target civilians when they believe it will help them debilitate the government. “A strong parallel can be drawn between these types of attacks and terrorist attacks. Groups that rebel against a democratic state are more inclined to attack civilians,” she states (Hultman, 2006). She also describes violence towards civilians as an intentional group strategy rather than individual action taken by undisciplined rebels. By attacking the populations that the government is dependent on, rebels cause the government indirect harm (Hultman, 2006). In her research paper, Hultman proposes that when fighting is low, governments try to avoid killing civilians unless the threat is large enough. Rebels, on the other hand, kill civilians to signal resolve in order to gain concessions. However, as the intensity level increases, control becomes more important, so both parties target civilians to establish territorial control and undermine the support of the opponent. Using new data on killings of civilians, Hultman examines all conflict actors in an internal armed conflict from 1992 to 2004. The findings suggest that rebels use violence for communicative purposes in less intense conflicts, characterized by more violence when rebels are relatively strong and early in the conflict. In more intense conflicts, on the other hand, violence is used to secure control and compensate for lack in military capacity – then the weaker groups kill more civilians, and they are likely to kill more civilians the longer the conflict. Governments kill more civilians when the rebel opposition is strong; surprisingly they kill fewer civilians the longer

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the conflict and democracy is not found to have any affect on government behavior (Hultman, 2006). Civilian fatalities in wartime have climbed from five percent at the turn of the century to more than ninety percent in the wars of the 1990s. New weapons and patterns of conflict that include deliberate attacks against civilians are increasingly turning children into primary targets of war. Even humanitarian activities that were once safe from attack are now treated as legitimate military objectives. Relief convoys, health clinics and feeding centers have all become targets (UNICEF Report, 2008). Responsibility to Protect: While peace enforcement has largely been avoided in the past, the level of violence with which peacekeeping operations in many areas, including the 1994 events in Rwanda where several Belgian soldiers (UNAMIR) were forced to watch the ongoing massacres and were ultimately killed without being allowed to engage, has shocked the international community and led to crisis where willingness to enter peacekeeping operations without the ability to use force is juxtaposed with an unwillingness of nations to enter their forces in potentially dangerous conflicts which would not otherwise involve them (Peace Enforcement, 2000). In its efforts to help prevent civilian casualties in conflict zones worldwide, the International Crisis Group has consistently drawn upon the doctrine of the Responsibility to Protect (R2P). This phrase is used primarily as an objective to provide a legal and ethical basis for humanitarian interventionâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;the intervention by external actors (preferably the international community through the United Nations) in a state that is unwilling or unable to prevent or stop genocide, massive killings, and other massive human rights violations. This has been done through peacekeeping

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missions and peace-enforcing missions. Former United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan urged Heads of State and governments to embrace the â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Responsibility to Protect' as a basis for collective action against genocide, ethnic cleansing, and crimes against humanity (International Crisis Group, 2001). Stopping Rebelâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Atrocities: As Hultamâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s research has shown, civilians are the main targets of rebels and warlords. Thus the number of civilian deaths in conflict zones is to some degree dependent on whether or not peace missions are deployed and whether or not the peace missions deployed are mandated to utilize military force in curbing rebel groups from attacking civilian populations both in safe-zones and non safe-zones. The mandates given to peacekeeping missions are often between traditional methods of creating demilitarized safezones and resolving disputes peacefully, such as ensuring cease-fire and peace agreements through negotiation and mediation, and delivering humanitarian aid under Chapter VI of the United Nations Charter (United Nations Peacekeeping). Peacekeeping missions which often comprise of soldiers are sometimes armed, but do not have to engage in combat. Restricted by their rules of engagement, they have often allowed rebels and warlords the opportunity to attack civilian populations and commit crimes against humanity (Shawcross, 2000). It is impracticable to keep peace that has not been attained. In the seven conflict zones observed in this study, an estimated 4.3 million civilians have been killed between 1992 and 2009 under peacekeeping missions. Peace-enforcement missions are mandated to use military force to combat rebels and warlords, forcing them to retreat, surrender, or agree to peace treaties as mandated in

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their rules of engagement. The peace-enforcement doctrine emphasizes that force can be applied impartially if the focus of military action is firmly geared towards ensuring compliance with a given mandate (Berdal, 2002. pp. 62). In the seven conflict zones observed in this study, an estimated 461,190 civilians have been killed between 1992 and 2009 under peace-enforcing missions. The initiation of numerous UN peace operations by the Security Council since the end of the Cold War has been bolstered by strongly worded and finely crafted resolutions. However, the emphasis placed in such resolutions on restoring peace and security by all necessary means loses its resonance when UN troops are constrained by their national law from employing sufficient force to achieve mission objectives (Stephen, 2002, pp. 157). The case of Somalia illustrates how the adoption, interpretation, and evolution of the peace-enforcement mandate, including the question of how the use of force critically depends on the interplay of personalities, competing motivations, and constraints (Berdal, 2002. pp. 62). After the humiliations of Somalia and Bosnia, the Security Council of the United Nations was reluctant to get too deeply involved in Rwanda. At the time of the first reports of genocide in May 1994, there was already a small UN peacekeeping force in Rwanda. However, it was illequipped to deal with the scale of the bloodshed, and most countries immediately withdrew their contingents. Eventually the Security Council approved a force of 5,500, but most of the troops were not forthcoming. The UN has since admitted that it failed to prevent the genocide, and ignored warnings of what was to come (UN Peacekeeping Record: BBC News, 2000). The UN's peacekeepers in Sierra Leone were illequipped and poorly trained. The rebels managed to steal UN weapons, tanks, and uniforms; and kidnap hundreds of UN peacekeepers. When the Nigerian-led force, Ecomog,

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withdrew because of domestic pressures, the peacekeeping operation descended into chaos. The UN force was mainly drawn from sub-Saharan Africa, the Middle East, and South Asiaâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;countries that had little experience of working together and whose soldiers were badly organized (UN Peacekeeping Record: BBC News, 2000). Conclusions and Limitations: At the most general level, this study through a structured focus comparison of the humanitarian casualty account of conflict zones suggests that the number of civilian deaths in conflict zones also depends on whether or not the deployed missions are mandated to utilize military force against rebels and warlords who are often responsible for civilian deaths and humanitarian crisis. The result of this study strongly supported earlier research showing that warring factions can be made to retreat from civilian safe-zones or surrender and agree to peace talks when military force is utilized (Clapham, 1998). It was Operation Deliberate Force (the air campaign initiated by NATO/UNPROFOR) utilized against Bosnian-Serbs throughout the country in August and September 1995, and it alone which produced the results that allowed agreement to be reached (Berdal, 2002. pp. 64). Although there are several issues to consider when deliberating over military force and humanitarian intervention, according to this study, the necessary first step by the UN Security Council in future peace missions deployments should be to reflect on the fact that civilian casualties under previous peacekeeping missions is higher than civilian casualties under previous peace-enforcing missions. With the number of civilians (non-combatants) deliberately killed during conflicts, there is a need to readdress the mandates of the UN peacekeeping missions, deployed with a responsibility to protect. UN peacekeepers may be man-

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dated to use collective action (including necessary military force) against genocide, ethnic cleansing, and crimes against humanity. The soldiers that constitute the peace missions should be able to defend themselves and the civilians they are there to protect. They should be able to respond to efforts by rebels and warlords to undermine peace agreements, or attack civilians. After reviewing the failures and successes of previous peace-enforcement missions and peacekeeping missions, perhaps a simultaneous deployment of both missions during humanitarian intervention may be more effective in reducing humanitarian crisis as the UN assumes the responsibility to protect non-combatant populations. Conversely, it is important to acknowledge that some of the key criticisms of this study relate to the fact that the cases observed are hand-picked, and possible antecedent variables that affect the dependent variable civilian deaths, are overlooked. Choosing to randomly select the cases and exploring the nature, location, and the socio-political complications of the conflicts in relation to the civilian casualty record would be one way of addressing this criticism. Finally, the weight of this study is limited to conflicts within a state; such as ethnic, religious, racial, conflicts or conflicts.

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References Aljazeera News. (2009). War and Peacekeepers. Monday, March 09, 2009. Retrieved on March 4, 2009, from http://english.aljazeera.net/programmes/general/200 9/03/200939123045906575.html Armed Conflicts Report. (2002). Sierra Leone. Rwanda, Liberia, Sudan, Somali, Dr Congo. Updated. September, 2002. Retrieved March 8, 2009, from http://www.ploughshares.ca/libraries/ACRText/ACRSierraLeone.html) Berdal Mats: 2002: Lessons not learned. The use of force in peace operations in the 1990â&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Peace enforcement. Blocq, Daniel S. (2006). The fog of UN Peacekeeping: Ethical Issues regarding the use of Force to protect Civilians in UN Operations. Journal of Military Ethics, 5 (3), 201-213. Retrieved March 14, 2009, from http://www.informaworld.com/10.1080/150275706 00911928 Brahimi, Lakhdar. (2000). Fact Sheet: The Brahimi Report on UN Peacekeeping Reform. U.S. Department of State, office of the Spokesman, August 23, 2000. Retrieved March 6, 2009, from http://www.globalpolicy.org/security/peacekpg/refo rm/2001/brahimireport.pdf Britannica year book. Death Tolls. Twentieth Century Atlas. Retrieved on February 20, 2009, from http://users.erols.com/mwhite28/warstat3.htm#Libe ria

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Clapham, Christopher. 1998. â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Rwanda: The Perils of Peacekeeping.â&#x20AC;&#x2122; Journal of Peace Research. Vol 25, No. 2. March 1998, pp. 103-210. Dankovic, Sladjana. 1999. Civilian casualties of NATO Bomb: At the Independent Commission of Inquiry. July 31, 1999. Retrieved on April 17, 2009, from http://www.iacenter.org/warcrime/sladjana.htm De Waal, Alex. (2007). Darfur and the Failure of the Re sponsibility to Protect. International Affairs, Vol. 83, Issue 6, pp. 1039-1054, November 2007. Retrieved March 8, 2009 from, http://ssrn.com/abstract=1065835 or DOI: 10.1111/j.1468-2346.2007.00672.x Dziedzic, J. (1999). Protection for Humanitarian relief operations. Institute for National Strategic Studies. Number 168, December 1999. Retrieved March 11, 2009, from http://www.ndu.edu/inss/strforum/sf168/forum168. html Global Security. (2000-2009). Military. Retrieved on March 12th 2009, from http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/library/repor t/call/call_93-8_chap3.htm) Global Security. (2000-2009). Military. Liberia: First Civil War. Retrieved on March 27th, 2009, from http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/war/li beria-1989.htm

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Global Security. (2000-2009). Military. Peace enforcement. Retrieved on April 11th, 2009, from http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/library/repor t/call/call_93-8_chap3.htm ! Gordon Brown. 2008. UK Coalition against Malaria: Speech to Labor Party Conference. 24 September, 2008. Retrieved on February 26, 2009 from http://www.coalitionagainstmalaria.org.uk/news/00 091.html Hultman, Lisa. 2006-03-22 "Civilians as Military Targets: Violent Bargaining Strategies by Governments and Rebels" Paper presented at the annual meeting of the International Studies Association, Town & Country Resort and Convention Center, San Diego, California, USA Online. 2009-02-05 from http://www.allacademic.com/meta/p98820_index.ht ml International Crisis Group. 2001. Working to Prevent conflicts world wide. Retrieved on April 20, 2009, from, http://www.crisisgroup.org/home/index.cfm?id=452 1 Kuperman, Alan. (2008). The Moral Hazard of Humanitarian Intervention: Lessons from the Balkans. International Studies Quarterly; March 2008, Vol. 52 Issue 1, p49-80, 32p, 2 charts, 1 diagram. Retrieved March 5, 2009, from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true &db=a9h&AN=31641696&site=ehost-live Modern Conflict Database. Alternative Estimates for Death Tolls. Retrieved on March 21, 2009 from

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http://www.peri.umass.edu/fileadmin/pdf/dpe/mode rn_conflicts/death_tolls.pdf Shawcross, William. 2000. Paving the Road to Hell: The Failure of the UN Peacekeeping. Deliver Us From Evil: Peacekeepers, Warlords, and a World of Endless Conflict. Simon and Schuster. Retrieved on March 25th, 2009, from http://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/55875/maxboot/paving-the-road-to-hell-the-failure-of-u-npeacekeeping?page=2 Stephens, Dale. 2002. The lawful Use of Force by Peacekeeping forces: The tactical Imperative. Frank Cass and company limited. R8+-,2!C:9.8! ! S+;5-4J!T)48+.!;,8)*+2,J!S,-3+,6,2!)8!N13+/!$82A! ! $##O!?3)9! ! 5--1JUUBBB>:8+-,25:9.83+;5-4>)3;UV,8)*+2,U7 ! )48+.;,8)*+2,>5-9 UN Peacekeeping Record: BBC News, 2000. Wednesday, 23 August, 2000. Retrieved on March 29, 2009, from http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/892592.s tm Unicef Report. 2009. Impact of Armed Conflict on Children. Retrieved on April 13, 2009, from http://www.unicef.org/graca/patterns.htm Walzer, Michael. 2002. The Argument about Humanitarian Intervention. Institute for Advanced Study. Princeton, NJ 08540. Retrieve on March 23, 2009, from http://them.polylog.org/5/awm-en.htm Woodhouse, Tom. (2002). Conflict resolution and Peacekeeping: Critiques and responses. Retrieved March 11, 2009 from

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http://books.google.com/books?id=OgspVUnr7I0C &pg=PA8&lpg=PA8&dq=Conflict+resolution+and +Peacekeeping:+Tom+Woodhouse.&source=bl&ot s=_9Bn2260G4&sig=kVrwc9lXntxR1Z9kHldOUi9 TV-E&hl=en&ei=xYW9Sdi7AietwfygfX2Cw&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=3 &ct=result

Editorial Notes and Comments

Bolivia: Subaltern Politics in the Age of the New Latin American Left Participation & Representation +((4B1%M'(L)/-"(*%+',-.'/,%0"##),)% % % % % %

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Introduction The majority of Bolivian women have been serving and creating as organizers dating before the mark of colonialism, in the home working to sustain the physical and emotional needs of the family in ways strong enough to amplify the Bolivian GDP59 [if only their informal labor wouldn’t be left monetarily unpaid]60; in the marketplace taking on a second, third or even fourth job in order to earn enough to provide for their [and their family’s, moreso] basic needs; and in their communities, persisting for respect in the formal labor realm so that they, as women, are legally recognized to receive at least the minimum wage, so that they, as women, can be acknowledged as legitimate landowners, and so that they, as women, can have the right to form unions in order to establish a public space where the personal can be confronted as the political. Bolivian women have been gathering in action for as long as their validity as humans has been questioned. How is this known? Through the voices of Bolivian women’s organizations, testimonios [testimonials] deliver the message of many: the many who struggle against hierarchy and the status quo in order to organize, the many who seek to form a more representative, inclusive and deliberative State, and the many who, even centuries after the Spanish conquest, continue experiencing both external and internal colonization. A collective Bolivian action, encompassing both distinct and mutual identities, is manifested through these testimonios that serve to amplify the voices of the people. Using the land as a metaphor, the plights of many Bolivian women are explored. [Note that the use of land here is not meant to be equated with indigeneity or the feminine.] Hay un jardín que está bien seco. Desde la tierra crecen raíces pequeños. !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! =>

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La tierra está seca porque muchos de mundos extranjeros la han pisado, con indiferencia por sus recursos, con intolerancia por su gente. Este jardín aún continúa mantenerse, aunque esté débil. Pronto, las raíces pequeñas se forman ser un sistema de apoyo, una colectiva de acción, organizando como la tela enredada de una manta. Encima los poderosos rondan como árboles distinguidos. Sus ramas afiladas amenazan y sus hojas permeables agobian el aire que sostiene a los nativos del subsuelo, sin dejar que caiga ni una gotita de hidración. El jardín está bien seco, pero todavía sale la cosecha, una cosecha madura y fértil que se revela en las redes de la gente. La gente – los nativos – persisten continuamente, uniéndose juntos y representándose por la unidad del grupo. El individuo no se pierde en esta identidad colectiva, sino que se transforma para ser aún más claro. Hay fuerza en esta identidad. [Gunderson, 2009] There is a garden that is quite dry. From the earth grow small roots. The land is exhausted because many foreign worlds have stepped upon it, with indifference for its resources, with intolerance for its people. The garden still continues to maintain itself, although it is weak. Soon the small roots form themselves to be a system of support, a collective of action, organizing like the intertwined threads of a blanket. Above, the powerful hover, as if they were distinguished trees. Their sharp branches threaten and their permeable leaves suffocate the air that sustains the natives of the subsoil, without allowing even one drop of hydrating water fall.

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The garden is rather dry, but still the harvest is reaped, a ripe and fertile harvest that reveals itself through the networks of the people. The people – the natives – continually persist, uniting themselves together and representing themselves through the unity of the group. The individual does not lose oneself in this collective identity, but rather transforms the self to be even clearer. There is a force in this identity. (Gunderson 2009) This story depicts a scene of dry land, land that has had its depths punctured and clawed through for centuries. Despite its lack of moisture, this land holds a secret. It remains incredibly fertile and abundant in resources. This plentitude runs from a deep historical solidarity with the people. Those of the land – the indigenous, the people – embody the historical significance of this secret. [The emphasis of the people – in Spanish, la gente – signifies el pueblo, the village, which is used in Testimonial Literature, testimonio, to represent those who are indigenous to the land, those who gather communally at the grassroots level. The multi-dimensional meaning of la gente is an important theme throughout this writing.] The meaning here is rooted in a collective identity based in organization and action, one that is reinforced by the reflection of each member’s inherent background, each authentic identity. The connection of the land to the people’s way of relating to self, relating to others, and relating to society at large - has strong implications for the concept and action of revolution. It is through this land, on the local street level, where the subaltern are most politically active and therefore most politically personified. This claim is supported by subaltern participation in the informal market and furthermore subaltern collectivity in women’s organizations such as Mujeres creando, Coordinadora de la mujer, Articulación de mujeres por la equidad y la igualdad [AMUPEI], Foro

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político de mujeres, and Asociación de concejalas de Bolivia [ACOBOL]61. By recognizing both informal and formal forms of political participation, and by addressing four issues – land, political discourse, violence, and individual political rights capacitation – directly related to subaltern political participation, Bolivia’s government will embody Latin America’s new Left that better includes, represents, and, ultimately, respects subaltern [women’s] political participation. This will explore the realms and contexts in which the subaltern are socially and politically personified, critiquing them principally from feminist theory and testimonials [specific Bolivian women’s collective discourses] centered upon decolonization and solidarity – a solidarity that recognizes and empowers [rather than assimilates] individual identities. Two central themes will be focused upon: In the Bolivian context, can current party politics of the new Left holistically represent the subaltern? What do subaltern community members call for as prerequisites to Bolivian democratization and progressivity? These issues will be addressed through the utilization of current newspaper/journal articles and book excerpts, interpreting and evaluating them from a testimonial-feminist lens. Words serving as a vessel, the idea and implications of Bolivia’s identity politics – specifically regarding subaltern women and indigeneity – will reign as the theme which currently poses great influence upon the multi-dimensional meanings and potential behind Latin America’s new Left. Literature Review: Theories on Political Development & the Subaltern !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! D!

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The prevalence of ideas centering upon citizenship and the nation-state cannot be surpassed when addressing subalternality and the transformations of party politics. Questioning the nation-state – what it has historically represented and what it currently stands for – allows a populous basis to be formed by the subaltern that serves to extend and redefine democratic principles. Many authors have recognized a general trend across Latin America’s new Left: alongside previous demands for equal inclusion and ethnic rights, action by the subaltern has been increasingly aimed towards the recognition of group interests and ethnic self-determination. A wider debate is growing that questions what exactly citizenship entails. Scholars such as Deborah Yashar (2005), Benjamin Kohl and Linda Farthing (2006), Richard Stahler-Sholk (2008), and Sonia Alvarez (1998) - utilize multicultural and normative frameworks to analyze such movements, while others like Chandra Talpade Mohanty (2003), Jim Schultz and Melissa Crane Draper (2008) - utilize feminist frameworks to examine the current setting of Bolivian politics. Despite the works by acclaimed academic scholars, it is imperative that the majority of theory used in this essay comes from the region of study – both Bolivia and Latin America at large; therefore it is important that the empirical “data” is derived from the testimonios of those who are directly involved, specifically Bolivian subaltern collectives/organizations. [But would the individuals of these establishments necessarily identify themselves as “subaltern?”] It is necessary that these voices are honored as an alternative form of evidence that attests to the historical and current grounds of Bolivian politics. Chandra Talpade Mohanty, although not writing from a direct Bolivian point of view, provides alternative perceptions of categories such as “Third World women,” “women of color,” and “globalization.” Her transnational feminist perspective questions who the producers of

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knowledge about colonized peoples are and the location from which they come, ultimately confronting history, consciousness, and agency. Mohanty (2003, 46) marks the discussion of subaltern women and the politics of feminism together through the idea of “imagined communities62,” a concept critical to regard when addressing the cooperation between subaltern women and their involvement/representation in Bolivian politics. The word “imagined” suggests potential alliances and collaborations across divisive borders, while “community” implies a deep commitment to the idea of nation. Although hierarchical differences between women in Bolivian society exist [based upon indigenous ethnicity, social class, region, etc.], Mohanty claims that women with these divergent histories and present realities can be woven together by the political threads of opposition in reaction to forms of domination, such as those imposed by overwhelmingly patriarchal societies and transnational/neoliberal politics. Essentially a vital historical link between colonialism and imperialism is drawn, which serves as a fundamental starting point for contributors to communal and political action. The “unity of action” therefore grounds the subalterns’ engagement with feminist politics (Mohanty 2003, 50). Mohanty, Shultz, and Crane Draper all write of the opportunity for solidarity amongst subaltern women. The term “solidarity” is controversial, though, because in many cases it implies the assimilation of identities and, more specifically, the oppression of one’s own self-identification. Yet, alternatively, these three authors advocate solidarity as a powerful response to the alienating forces of globalization. The expression of solidarity across subaltern communities, then, has the ability to promote humanistic realms for dialogue and sharing that embrace and respectfully challenge each individual’s identity, while at the same time !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! DP

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actively confronting the existence of postcolonialism that lies within those identities. This manner of relations forges potential for a critical inclusion of the subaltern into both local and national politics. Within their theoretical stances, each of the aforementioned authors recognizes the role that identity politics play in subaltern organizing. Yashar (2005, 5) states that institutions matter, and, furthermore, that they have a particular significance in the era of the nation-state, claiming that “it is the state that fundamentally defines the public terms of national political identity formation, expression, and mobilization.” As long as states are universally predominant political units and as long as they amplify/hinder political citizenship and define national projects, states ultimately institutionalize and privilege specific national political identities (Yashar 2005, 6). The Bolivian state in the past two decades, then, when speaking of the subaltern, has been one of masculine descent – an arena that has been continuously revived by both the formal and informal organization of the subaltern but yet still does not wholly acknowledge the power and influence of those individuals in its daily political realm. This is a key point that the majority of these authors emphasize. However, despite this scholarly focus upon the indigenous, not one of the multicultural/normative framework authors intentionally distinguishes women from Bolivia’s vast ethnic identities in a manner that calls detailed attention to the substantial roles that women have had, and continue having, in the realms of communal organizing which has there in turn led women to be leaders on both local and national scenes. The aforementioned authors, specifically StahlerSholk (2008, 49), do however recognize other important characteristics of Bolivia’s social movements, such as the ways in which politics are no longer limited to the presidential and congressional halls but have expanded to the villages, neighborhoods, popular councils, and the streets

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and rural highways. Bolivia’s politics, thus, have developed into an environment of national popular protest, mobilizing massive political power on a national scale and doing so from below, at the grassroots level (Stahler-Sholk 2008, 49). Cross-regionally, the subaltern have sparked a version of participatory governance that now serves to radically alter decision-making processes and the ways in which the Bolivian people are served. The calls of these voices arise from personal experience, the personal that is innately interpersonal at the same time, all of which come alive through testimonio. Embedded in Bolivia’s passages to revolution are a series of schools of thought that contribute to the theoretical outlining of Bolivia’s historical processes leading up to the new Left: Marxist, Neoliberalist, Feminist, and Postcolonialist. From the 1950s until the mid-1980s, an explicitly class-based labor movement, centered primarily upon unions, drove the traditional opposition to Bolivian government (Kohl and Farthing 2006, 153). Unfortunately, this labor movement was unable to create effective coalitions across the diverse range of Bolivian society due to the rigidity of its internal structure and the Marxist orthodoxy of its almost entirely male leadership. Historically led by the miners, “long considered the vanguard of the working class by the Bolivian Left,” this male-dominated conglomerate lacked the flexibility required to enhance new leadership and to ultimately work across the increasingly heterogeneous, informal and female workforce (Kohl and Farthing 2008, 153). The “working class” pedagogy of Marxism essentially failed to fully incorporate subaltern formal labor workers, and furthermore it surpassed subaltern individuals who did not identify with class-based ideologies and who were not recognized by the formal labor realm. As Bolivia transitioned in the 1990s, this formal labor realm ushered in an era of economic liberalization that led

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to increased societal opposition which manifested itself principally through large-scale protests. Between the end of 1999 and October 2003, Bolivia experienced a series of economic and political crises as a neoliberal hegemony unfolded that focused upon transnational corporative interests and privatization. The generation of jobs was strictly limited, and therefore economic growth was miniscule; a harsh coca eradication program dismantled the regional economy of one of Bolivia’s largest cities, Cochabamba; Bolivia’s principal labor market, Argentina, was in economic collapse and hence erased workers’ remittances; government revenue diminished due to the privatization of Bolivia’s state oil company (Kohl and Farthing 2006, 149). As growing unrest accompanied each crisis, social and political activity burgeoned across not only the working class but also across the subaltern organizations, sharing a common rejection of neoliberal policies. Encompassing a broad spectrum of political perspectives, organizational platforms and strategies, and ability to transcend differences in order to form national coalitions, Bolivia has thus had a remarkable capacity to draw on 500 years of post-colonial struggle. Kohl and Farthing (2006, 150), however, argue that Bolivia’s continual [social and political] focus around a lone strong male leader has led to increased competition, intergroup conflict, and fragmented opposition amongst subaltern groups which has essentially hindered subaltern individuals from attaining decisive political control of and respected influence upon the country. This argument forms an important element of feminist critique which, in this essay, focuses much upon the intersection of identities, the multi-dimensional meaning behind words such as “subaltern” [and the privilege of those who place such labels upon people], and the roles of gender and patriarchy. Interdisciplinary with these themes is the school of postcolonial thought that explores colonial

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legacies such as societal [including political] structures and, within that, the oppression of the subaltern. Through the legacy of colonialism, many Bolivian societal structures have been shaped to subordinate women, specifically the subaltern, through production and reproduction relations, the sexual division of labor and organizing, profits and exploitation, and ideological institutions and frameworks, for example (Mohanty 2003, 30-31). These systems result in a colonization of the dynamics of daily existence and the complexities of social and political interests that women of different social standings, cultures, and moreover identities, represent and mobilize. Therefore a postcolonial effect of internal colonization has infiltrated the present conditions of Bolivia both structurally and ideologically, in local and national government, and throughout grassroots collectives. Amidst this postcolonialism, however, exists a unique realm of womenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s collectives that propose alternative forms of understanding development, social and economic dynamics, and individual-communal rights. Their voices will be heard in this essay through the written representation of their organizations, which serve as versions of testimonio. Finding roots in feminism and postcolonialism, testimonio can be viewed within the context of Bolivian subaltern organization and resistance: actively creative voices that spark social and political consciousness of cross-contextual conditions pertaining specifically to those on the margins of society â&#x20AC;&#x201C; the subaltern. In this sense, testimonio ultimately promotes an understanding of the personal as the political. Latin American revolution must not ignore the role of testimonio. Testimonio is essentially the transcribed oral word of the subaltern â&#x20AC;&#x201C; those whose voices go overwhelmingly unacknowledged. A contested form of literature, it describes individual and communal experiences, and, in the process, speaks out against social, political and economical injustices, - in order to portray a sense of urgency and to

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serve as a call to action to the readers, both locally and globally. Subaltern, in this case, is used in reference to people, communities, and regions that have lived through conquests and continue healing from the legacy of those conquests and colonialism (Beverley 2004, xii). In this writing, subaltern refers principally to indigenous peoples, primarily yet not uniquely indigenous women. The term is not intentionally utilized to constrict the ascribed personsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; profound identities or to diminish their special importance as human beings, but rather to call attention to the history and present of a people that have been largely shaped by the blood from which they were born. Furthermore, the usage of subaltern in this context does not promote a victimization of indigenous women, that which would therefore constitute as a form of oppression. Ultimately this essay recognizes that there is much privilege in the ability to place a label upon an individual and groups of people, and it therefore attempts to be as conscious as possible of that fact. Analyzing the subaltern in such a regard, the relationship between the subaltern and testimonio is clearly revealed. In its essence, testimonio has much to do with the rise of subaltern politics and hence the ascent of the Latin American Left. Bolivian womenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s organizations63 thus use testimonio in an attempt to portray the people, la gente, in their collective and yet individually authentic identities as those who transform the nation to be one with and of the people. However, it should be acknowledged that these specific groups cannot and do not represent all subaltern individuals and their unique voices, especially because, in all likelihood, not all women participating in the aforementioned collectives identify as indigenous. Finally it is critical to realize that, despite much subaltern organization, there con!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! DQ

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tinues to be great exclusion amongst women, – both subaltern and non-subaltern. Serving as social and political sources of criticism, these distinct testimonies implement, promote, and challenge culturally/regionally contextual definitions of terms such as democracy, freedom, and equality. This is principally done through the women’s practice of socially- and politically-direct language that is representative of diverse realities, their confrontation of land discrimination and violence against women, and their calls to increase women’s knowledge of personal political rights and practices. As these voices are heard, the creation of a new Latin American Left manifests itself as a revamped form of progressiveness. Local-level governance provides an environment for the subaltern to organize collectively. Shultz, Crane Draper, and Van Cott emphasize the importance and affectivity of building locally. According to Van Cott (2008, 3), “promising local experiments in institutional design have the potential to inspire and provide useful models for democratic reforms with geographically broader impact.” Local government reform is crucial for Bolivia’s Left because it is more readily accessible to subaltern community members who neither have the connections nor the privilege to be directly heeded to on a national level. Amongst Latin America’s local spheres, United Nations International Research and Training Institute for Advancement of Women [UN-INSTRAW] in 2007 reported the existence of a worrisome paradox: the municipality is the space where women participate most in economic, social, and cultural life, but it is also the realm where few hold political positions (Lucas). Developing collaborations amongst women and between women and men must therefore occur on a grassroots base in order to promote a greater number of subaltern community members into leadership roles, both formal and informal. This is crucial in order to further a Bolivian Left that is deliberative, participatory, and inclu-

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sive; for in the context of weak and emerging democratic institutions [such as those recovering from neoliberal politics], local leaders can compensate for institutional weaknesses by activating feelings of personal loyalty and trust. Van Cott (2008, 7) argues that indigenous people’s parties, such as Evo Morales and MAS, are “organic” – electoral vehicles that local societal organizations created in order to further their interests from within the political system. The cultural institutions and social-movement organizations in which indigenous parties are rooted provide institutional cohesion during the reform process, embody normative content that inspires constituents to participate in time-consuming activities and patiently await substantive results, and infuse public institutions with meaningful cultural symbols that convey legitimacy and authority on government while fledgling institutions earn public trust. (Van Cott 2008, 7) Collective Testimonies Mujeres creando identifies as an autonomous social movement, separate from NGO-sponsored feminist entities, unions, and political parties – all of which Mujeres creando claims are derived from the patriarchate. The group’s practice is based in the usage of the streets as a place to raise the voice of a “poetic way” against this patriarchate (Gaitero 2006). Mujeres creando practices collective graffiti that displays statements such as “Mujer, ni sumisa, ni bonita, libre, linda y loca” [Woman, neither submissive, nor cute, free, pretty and crazy]; “Desobediencia. Por tu culpa voy a ser feliz” [Disobediance. By your fault I will be happy]; “Nuestro feminismo ni recicla ni rellena, remueve, mueve y conmueve” [Our feminism neither recycles nor refills, removes, moves and disturbs]. Demonstrative art

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speaks political volumes as it is conducted by the group through the production of small plays, such as Mujeres creando’s “Obelisco,” one of many that serve to expose the alternative realities of themes such as prostitution: those who feed off the body market and those who are obligated to enter it. Based in civil disobedience, Mujeres creando believes in motivating all women to understand the power of creativity – principally dealing with art, activism, and clandestine practices and strategies. Representatives seek a unity amongst manual, intellectual, and creative work, which spans from the miner in the north to the southern indigenous woman working as a “peddling vendor” – a forger of the underground market that exhibits an artisanal sabotage serving as an international procession of brands without patents (Gaitero 2006). The development of open space for these diverse citizens to unite is ultimately formed to be that of rebellion specifically for women where, according to Mujeres creando, dialogue and exchange is prioritized and furthermore where each woman constructs her individual language and speaks for herself. Although Mujeres creando emphasizes the empowerment of women, the movement still invites men to participate as well as young boys; for in order to be effective on the large societal level, all actors of society must have the opportunity for inclusion. Mujeres creando’s identification as a social movement calls attention to the historical Bolivian affiliation of social movements and the derivation of political parties. As Mujeres creando denounces political parties, it prevents an evolution that essentially breaks historical connection with the arguable assimilation of entering into the formal political realm. This defiance is seen even as Mujeres creando feels societal pressure to unite with MAS. Maria Galindo, participant in the movement, reiterates the importance of maintaining the movement outside of the Morales party in order to generate discussions and collective references of dignity for women

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that are not hindered by the intrinsic patriarchate upon which political parties are based (Gaitero 2006). Autonomy, such as that which Mujeres creando illustrates, challenges the idea of what “legitimate politics” really are and furthermore what they can be. The practice of autonomy therefore forces national and international systems to extend political dialogues and forums outside of pre-established political domains and to implement them at the grassroots level – onto the streets. Galindo, however, is critical even of the language used by state politics, arguing that many political groups speak amongst themselves in a language which many community members do not understand and moreover with which they cannot relate. Therefore when speaking about the arrival of politics to the street, Mujeres creando calls for state and civilian interactions to be direct, tangible, and relatable to all who constitute the diverse forms of society. What must be questioned from this is the involvement that Mujeres creando has with other groups that are led by subaltern community members. The connecting points amongst these collectives headed by women are vital in order to see the ways in which women are interacting with one another on a [both formal and informal] political scale that ultimately forms Bolivia’s local, national, and international agendas and furthermore creates this action according to the voices of the subaltern. Therefore it is important to recognize what constitutes the dialogues led by the subaltern, for the base of this content will reveal what the subaltern perceive as prerequisites to Bolivia’s democratic reform and furthermore what needs to change if the country’s Left will truly be one of the people. Mujeres creando addresses one of its main societal concerns to be the Bolivian microcredit system that is promoted by transnational influences such as foreign NonGovernmental Organizations [NGOs] (Gaitero 2006). The movement labels microcredit practice as a debt trap for women, especially indigenous women – the subaltern –

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who head the usury of high interest rates. According to Mujeres creando, the costs of microcredit interest are elevated three to four percent monthly and thirty-six to fortyeight percent annually. As a practice that is supposed to integrate women into a country’s competitive economic market, microcredit in Bolivia is adding to the pre-existing economic burden that the roughly female half of Bolivia greatly bears. Another focal point of Mujeres creando is placed upon the “gender equality” package that was created by international organisms and is continued by the current MAS government. The aforementioned plan essentially evades the analysis of violence as a part of power and domination relations that directly and indirectly affect women. Mujeres creando calls for a detailed analysis of violence as part of a cultural apparatus, which in Bolivia is claimed by Galindo to exist within a series of indigenous cultural orders. These orders, Galindo states, are the mandates of impermeable subjugation to the question of violence against women (Gaitero 2006). As a solution, state-judicial-police intervention is used without governmentally regarding any relation between systemic brutality, such as police violence, and violence against women. Mujeres creando calls for violence against women to be in the national gender agenda, and moreover for public debates surrounding the word “violence” that call attention to the forms which violence can take. There is urgency for violence to be recognized as a reality pending not only on the streets but in politics, economics, and religion, to name a few. A proposed starting point for this process is the dissection of the technocratic term “gender violence” into three words that directly depict an ongoing reality in Bolivia: violence against women. By using blanket terms such as “gender violence,” the word “women” is masked - women being the subjects of whom the majority of violence is against. In order to more effectively address societies’ vast contexts, words that

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shield authentic human experiences must be taken out of political addresses. Mujeres creando advances a reconstruction and conscious usage of language in order to break the verbal structures that block necessary conversations from being had and critical changes from being formed in both public and private realms of society. The movement poses a response to this in the form of a direct action that is collective, public, affects the will of women, intervenes in the private world and converts it into a political scene, and ultimately unites cooperative relations. Mujeres creando forms a movement which it calls “subversive.” The women arguably constitute, then, a subversive sect of Bolivia’s Latin American Left. Acting outside of but still intrinsically within Bolivia’s new Left, Mujeres creando challenges supposed progressive politics to confront their patriarchal make-up and schism from the bureaucracy that hinders genuine and inclusive dialogues. In the dialogue initiated and disseminated by Mujeres creando, the new Latin American Left of Bolivia should be a creative force that uses art, imagination, and gender-and-historically conscious vocabulary to bring an active light to Bolivia’s contextual realities which therefore socially and politically personify the subaltern. Bolivia’s AMUPEI, part of the country’s Foro Político de Mujeres, also serves as a realm where the subaltern are at the public’s forefront. Similar to Mujeres creando, a key factor of AMUPEI’s organizational strategies is to maintain its social and political autonomy. AMUPEI’s female urban-rural movement seeks political, economic, social, and cultural empowerment for women through the exercise of economic, social and cultural rights, and the transformation of Bolivia’s patriarchal culture (AMUPEI 2009). Its principles are based upon: autonomy from political parties, financial institutions, and the Church; gender and social equity and equality; solidarity amongst women; respect and

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tolerance towards diversity and plurality [ethnic-cultural, of expression, sexual orientation, and religion]; transparency and responsibility in actions; democracy based in horizontal participation. Since early 2009, AMUPEI has focused its attention upon Bolivia’s Plan Nacional de Desarrollo Bolivia Digna, Soberana, Productiva y Democrática Para Vivir Bien64, thats principle objective is to dismount colonialism and neoliberalism from Bolivia’s environment (AMUPEI 2009). Outlining and critiquing the plan’s foci, the women of AMUPEI detail what must be transformed in the Bolivian government and society in order for the country’s Left to personify truly progressive politics. The Plan Nacional [National Plan] implies, under its section of Social Development and Communal Well Being, a plurinational, diversified, and integral democratization that is conceived through encounters between people and their communities and respects diversity and the unique culturally identified asymmetries of power (AMUPEI 2009). The issue with this, though, is that depending on regional contexts, culturally identified characteristics of power – especially in Bolivia’s rural areas – are based upon bilateral ideas of gender in society where there is just male and female, and along with those categories come a set of culturally-identified roles that make women’s open participation in publically political positions undermined and even dangerous. One further aspect of the plan’s developmental standards that AMUPEI calls attention to is that of international relations being based in strategic alliances amongst States that share fair trade in the benefit of the villages, the people. AMUPEI is critical about this governmental idea of democratization via its “communal conception.” There is a contradiction between collective rights and individual !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! DX

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rights, and this is critical to regard – especially when talking about gender. AMUPEI argues that the transversality of gender in four of the plan’s strategies does not ensure its implementation into institutions if the plan does not define with clarity the possibilities for economic resource support. Unfortunately, both Bolivia’s Vice Minister and Generational Vice Minister of Gender have been weak at coordinating intersectional actions to ensure the implementation of more specific gender policies/practices across a wider national realm of Bolivia’s political and social institutions (AMUPEI 2009). According to AMUPEI, in order to do this, affirmative actions must be created specifically for the greatly excluded of Bolivia: young girls and boys, indigenous women, people with different capacities, and working adolescents. Focus must be upon social politics, such as social protection networks that are oriented to better distribute resources, favoring especially the most impoverished amongst women in order to address the feminization of poverty. AMUPEI claims that in order for these policies to effectively impact women’s quality of life, control and vigilance must be upon Bolivia’s Prefect Ministers and municipal governments to ultimately impact public policies. Finally, AMUPEI finds an inconsistence amongst conceptual approaches of the plan’s development standards. For example, some sectoral policies of the plan, especially those that detail macroeconomic stability as a condition for Bolivia’s developmental sustainability, were also integral to the International Monetary Fund’s [IMF] recommendations for the country’s development principally during the decades of economic collapse proceeding Morales’ inauguration as President. This is highly controversial for AMUPEI, especially because the IMF has been one of the leading symbols in Bolivia representing neoliberal politics and subaltern subjugation and exploitation. Conversely, AMUPEI proposes the instilment of a national image that works to construct for the long term, finding in-

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tersecting grounds in innovation, social equity, cultural and gender equality, and environmental preservation through Bolivia’s guarding of national resources. Essentially AMUPEI’s stance, although autonomous such as that of Mujeres creando, fails to remove women from the position of victims and furthermore neglects to regard gender as a fluid reality that goes beyond the constructs of woman and man. By continuing to conceptualize women as victims, supposed gender innovations will remain based in colonial thought structures which will ultimately hinder the release of the subaltern into a realm of empowerment and holistic realization and regard on both private and public levels. Mujeres creando emphasizes a critical reevaluation and revamping of language in social and especially political spheres. If AMUPEI can better articulate their ideas of gender outside of the patriarchal binary of simply woman and man, they can then form policies that recognize the differences between subaltern community members and Bolivia’s population as a whole. This opens the opportunity for a conscious embracing of innate differences that still entails an equity which actively regards and flexibly works with the diverse implications that those differences can create. The idea of “gender equality” cannot be allowed to overshadow historical and present realities that are inherent to body and world structures. These realities must be openly recognized and worked with so as not to promote neither complacency nor ignorance. Bolivia’s Coordinadora de la mujer serves as a non-profit network of private national institutions that work from a gendered perspective in distinct locally departmental and national scopes (Coordinadora 2009). Its purpose is to increment women’s participation as valid representatives in positions of social and political power. Coordinadora’s vision promotes a democratic development that requires deconstruction of power structures and relations, and a redistribution of cultural and political materials. This consid-

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ers the subjectivity of individual and collective identities which also respects diversity. In Coordinadora’s democratization, the subaltern are political actors with the capacity of formal questioning, dialogue, and proposition, and where women have real access to spaces of power. To embark on this process of democratizing Bolivia, Coordinadora calls for dialogue and encounters amongst diverse women’s organizations that are based in strategic alliances and foment pragmatic agreements with the intention of contributing to a movement of plural and diverse subaltern communities. In February 2009, the network received propositions from twenty-six different Bolivian regions that emphasized policies related to the diffusion, visibilization, and promotion of women’s rights, which called for the strengthening of women’s organizations and new creative, artistic, and cultural initiatives (Coordinadora 2009). Utilizing women’s organizations such as Coordinadora as spaces for the subaltern to collect and amplify their testimonies, Coordinadora became aware of the need for a broad capacity-training of these collectives. Bertha Acarapi, City Council President in El Alto, reinforces “In the terrain of local politics, lack of experience and ignorance – which is not only a problem among women – helps fuel the sexist and machista bias against women in politics” (Claure 2007). Sociologist Elsa Suárez claims that many women involved in local politics have a background in labor activism. Their action and management styles do not flow well with how processes are carried out at the local government level. “Once these women integrate into town council, they often keep silent and rarely run for reelection, which has to do with the aforementioned argument and furthermore family, political violence, and machismo that is seen in municipal governments which therefore forces many women to resign” (Claure 2007). This brings cultural questions into play.

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Sociologist Jesús Flores reported in October 200365 that many women in El Alto organized, took to the streets, and became community leaders during the tumultuous days of Bolivian privatization (Claure 2007). But after the major protests came to a close, women generally returned to their homes, leaving the public political scene. A great deal of women’s participation in collective actions is therefore limited by the domestic life of their families. This description varies from the relatively prosperous areas of eastern Bolivia such [i.e. Santa Cruz, Pando, Beni] where Pinto claims “women are more empowered” (Claure 2007). But what constitutes empowerment? Is Pinto referring to empowerment legitimized by the State or moreover an empowerment felt individually based upon one’s own perspective? Flores reports that politically active women in El Alto can mainly be found in the street markets – “the only public spaces dominated by women.” This resonates with the description Mujeres creando provides of the “peddling vendor” woman, articulated as a prowess of a powerful underground informal market that keeps the Bolivian economy abreast through her clandestine connections and personal sacrifices (Gaitero 2006). [However, this description arguably romanticizes the roles of the subaltern in Bolivia’s informal economy by not addressing some of the vast reasons for women’s participation in these labor markets and furthermore by not taking into account their different labor conditions.] If this officially unrecognized power is driven by innumerable women at the street level, then, for the Bolivian Left to continue pursuing progressive politics, it is crucial for the subaltern to be reached on the streets – for politics to be created and personified on a personal realm at !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! D=

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a level where they can be accessed by a diverse range of subaltern individuals. The aforementioned [February 2009] calls to Coordinadora from the cross-regional women’s collectives emphasize achievements that must be attained throughout this process. The subaltern cannot be fully embraced in politics without first placing national attention and action upon prominent themes affecting the Bolivian subaltern both historically and presently. Coordinadora, in coalition with the above female voices, asserts that the Bolivian society formally and socially take action upon the following principle subjects: violence against women; women’s land rights; the diffusion and socialization of women as domestic workers; the promotion of rural women’s rights; the empowering of lesbian, bisexual, and transsexual defense and promotion; the advancement of cycles of reflection, investigation, training, critical demand and positioning of subaltern collectives; the active reinforcement of a gender perspective in the workplace (Coordinadora 2009). At hand are objectives from various subaltern Bolivian spheres that have convened to organize their political truths in order to then inspire new political methodologies across Bolivia.

Conclusion According to the collective testimonies represented by women’s organizations [specifically Mujeres creando, AMUPEI, Coordinadora de la mujer, ACOBOL, and Foro político], Bolivia’s Left must contribute to the repoliticization of a gender focus from public and private spaces [familiar, economic, political, social, cultural] through the bolstering of political capacities from the generation of alliances with new social actors [off all genders and non-genders] who establish a new political agenda that stems from the foci of identities, distribution, and recogni-

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tion. These tasks must not solely be carried out in the formal political realm, but moreover where the great subaltern majority actively exists – in the marketplace, in local neighborhoods, in the home … in the personal realms where the political holds a continual presence. These spaces, according to Mujeres creando, AMUPEI, Coordinadora, ACOBOL, and Foro político, are Bolivia’s informal social and political contexts where the subaltern are most personified. As Bolivian sociologist Oscar Vega writes, “It [Bolivian political life] is no longer a matter of supporting and defending the [MAS] vision of change, but democratically constructing the change through participation, debate, and consultation” (Dangl 2009). Democracy once again, then, is constituted [in the context of Bolivia] by this writing’s subaltern voices as a direct confrontation of land rights, the words/vocabulary that constitute social and political dialogues/policies, violence, and the knowledge regarding political/individual rights… all issues that historically affect the subaltern’s access to and influence upon Bolivian politics, and today, the new Bolivian Left.

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Bibliography Alvarez, Sonia E.; Dagnino, Evelina; Escobar, Arturo. ( 1998). “Cultures of Politics; Politics of Cultures: Re-visioning Latin American Social Movements.” AMUPEI. (2009). “Plan Nacional de Desarrollo.” http://www.amupei.bo/pdf/plan_nacional.pdf Barrios de Chungara, Domitila and Viezzer, Moema. (1978). Beverley, John. (2004). “Testimonio: On the Politics of Truth.” Chávez, Franz. a. (2009). “BOLIVIA: A Race with a Foregone Conclusion.” Inter Press Service News Agency. 1-2. b. (2009). “BOLIVIA: Politics, a Risky Business for Women.” Inter Press Service News Agency. c. (2009) “BOLIVIA: Too Many Obligations, Too Few Rights for Aymara Women.” Inter Press Service News Agency. Claure, Bernarda. (2007) “BOLIVIA: Women in Local Politics Face Special Challenges.” Inter Press Service News Agency. “Coordinadora.” (2009). Coordinadodora de la Mujer. http://www.coordinadoramujer.org/coordinadora.ph p Dangl, Benjamin. (2009). “Bolivia’s Next Steps.” The Nation. http://www.thenation.com/doc/20091221/dangl

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Farthing, Linda. (2009). “Thinking Left in Bolivia.” The Nation. http://www.thenation.com/doc/20090817/farthing Gaitero, A. (2006). “El paraíso, aquí y ahora.” Diario de León. Revista: Mujeres Creando. Kohl, Benjamin & Farthing, Linda. (2006). “Neoliberal Hegemony & Popular Resistance: Impasse in Bolivia.” Lee Van Cott, Donna. a. (2008). “Radical Democracy in the Andes.” Lucas, Kintto. (2007). “LATIN AMERICA: Political Parity for Women Still a Long Way Off.”Inter Press Service News Agency. Mohanty, Chandra Talpade. (2003). “Feminism Without Borders: Decolonizing Theory, Practicing Solidarity.” Monasterios, Karin P. (2007). “Bolivian Women’s Organizations in the MAS Era.” NACLA Report on the Americas. Rochlin, James. (2007). “Latin America’s Left Turn and the New Strategic Landscape: the case of Bolivia.” Third World Quarterly. Vol. 28, No. 7. 1327-1342. Schultz, Jim & Crane Draper, Melissa. (2008). “Dignity and Defiance: Stories from Bolivia’s Challenge to Globalization.”

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Shih, Tien-Ann. (2009). “Bolivia: Tracing the Roots of a Social Movement State.” University of Chicago Review Essays. 734-739. Stahler-Sholk, Richard; Vanden, Harry E.; Kuecker, David Glen. (2008). “Latin American Social Movements in the Twenty-First Century: Resistance, Power, and Democracy.” UNICEF. (2003). “The Situation of Women in Bolivia.” http://www.unicef.org/bolivia/children_1538.htm Yashar, Deborah. (2005). “Contesting Citizenship in Latin America.”

Examining Online Communities through Wicca 216</$(%N1O-"(*%+',-.'/,%0"##),)%

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In the last few decades the world has witnessed a technological boom, during which long-distance communication has become virtually effortless. Recent technological developments have allowed electronic devices that were once elements of science fiction to become commonplace in every home; among these is the Internet. Although this invention is a great benefit in regards to convenience, there are those who have become so consumed by it that they have created entirely new identities on the electronic plain; it is now possible for entire lives to be lived in front of a screen. Groups of people are also able to form communities online for a variety of reasons, one of the most common being shared religious beliefs. Wicca (or Witchcraft) is one particular religion that has benefitted from the membersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; ability to utilize the communications of the Internet for networking with other Wiccans, sharing religious information and experience, and even conducting online rituals. However, this spread of Wiccan resources on the Internet has fueled the debate among people of many faiths over whether or not religious ceremonies and gatherings online qualify as a substitute for assembling in person. Herein resides the controversy which I will address by taking a closer look at the Wiccan community on the Internet and exploring the differing viewpoints of this topic. Can these electronically mediated communications truly compare with face-to-face interactions? There are many who would assert that online connections do not provide an adequate substitute for relationships formed in person; however, after exploring the issue further, I find this stance to be too limiting as it excludes a variety of circumstances, which we will examine later on. Therefore, in the end I am compelled to argue that although face-to-face contact may be preferable when possible, social networking sites are a perfectly acceptable way for Wiccans, and those of other faiths, to connect with others.

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In order to discuss the online interactions of Wiccan practitioners we must, first of all, gain a general understanding of Wicca itself. The religion known as “Wicca” (or Witchcraft), relatively new in the public spectrum has been growing steadily in popularity since the early 1900’s (Clifton 7); in a few short decades it has gone from near obscurity to becoming mainstream enough to be recognized by the United States army in 2001 (“Wicca/Witchcraft, Jenson). Wicca is often categorized as a Neo-Paganist tradition, a term heard with increasing frequency but with which not many people are familiar. As defined in the preface to the book Wicca’s Charm by Catherine Edwards Sanders, Neo-Paganism is an over-arching term referring to beliefs and practices that have recently revived a naturefocused, polytheistic worship of ancient gods and goddesses, which includes the Wiccan tradition (xiii). Although many people believe this religion to be akin to the New Age spiritual practices, most Wiccan practitioners argue that witchcraft (or simply The Craft) is the revival of a centuries-old tradition dating back to pre-Christian Europe (Buckland 1-7). A definition of the word “witch” is crucial to an understanding of Wicca because many practitioners of Wicca prefer to be referred to as witches. Others have rejected the word due to its stereotypical negative connotations. A witch was once considered to be someone who was involved in a satanic covenant bestowing him or her with magical powers that could potentially harm others (Gibson 13). However, the authors of Cults and New Religions argue for a modern definition. They assert that a witch is anyone who identifies with an eclectic religious tradition whose beliefs include such precepts as, “belief in the sacredness of nature, belief in the immanence of divinity, and belief in the ability to interact with the processes and energies by which the universe is established,” (Cowan and Bromley 194-194). Other beliefs and practices that set

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Wiccans apart from other Neo-Paganist practitioners include: the Wiccan Rede, the coven, esbats, and sabbats (Beehner). The Wiccan Rede (or Reid) is at the core of Wiccan beliefs and states, “An it harm none, do what ye will”. In other words, one can do anything that he or she feels is right as long as it does not hurt anyone (Zimmerman 14). One basic structure in the Wiccan tradition is that of the coven. The coven is a basic gathering structure in the Wiccan tradition. In his book entitled Witchcraft: Exploring the World of Wicca, president and found of the Apologetics Information Ministry Craig S. Hawkins defines coven as “the basic social unit of witches who regularly meet in groups,” (69). “Coven” is a variation of the word “convent” which stems from the Latin word conventus meaning “assembly” or “gathering”. Covens can have any number of members, but most average around thirteen. Leadership also varies from coven to coven, though in most one or two people may be appointed as high priest or priestess for the purpose of leading the group in ritual ceremonies. Initiation into the coven is decided by each group independently and thus can range from a strict initiation process to an open circle in which all are welcome (70). Whether in covens or as individuals, Wiccans celebrate a number of festivals throughout the year. Sabbats are festivals of the Wiccan calendar that take place in eight equal intervals throughout the year. Each festival represents a certain aspect of the natural season with which it coincides, and for each unique rituals are observed. Esbats are ritual days that occur thirteen times every year in recognition of the full moon. Many Wiccans also celebrate the new moon throughout the year (Buckland 89.) Having now established a basic working knowledge of the Wiccan religion, we will now take a look at the Internet’s development over time, and how this evolution has impacted communication, later focusing specifically on online Wiccan communities.

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The Internet is â&#x20AC;&#x153;the electronic network of networks that links people and information through computers and other digital devices allowing person-to-person communicationâ&#x20AC;? (DiMaggio 307). The precursors of this invention were developed in the 1960â&#x20AC;&#x2122;s, and around 1975 the U.S. military used the Internet for communication. The Internet became available to the public in 1982 and, as it became more commercialized, its popularity grew steadily up through the 1990s. In 1995 the number of Americans who used the Internet was about 25 million, 3% of the population. As the versatility of the Internet grew to include more methods of mass communication including email, chat rooms, and social networking websites, the number of Americans using the Internet doubled in five years. In 2000, nearly 55 million Americans were logging on every single day (The Pew Forum for Religion & Public Life). Email refers to an electronic mail system, which allows people to send messages in a digitalized letter format by typing the message and sending to the email address of the recipient. Chat rooms are digital gathering points that allow users to adopt a screen name (the identity under which their messages will be sent) and communicate instantaneously with other people in the same chat room by typing and receiving messages continually. Social networking sites refer to websites that focus on building online communities of people who share interests or activities or who are interested in connecting with others. These sites allow users to create online profiles through which they may share information, pictures, blog entries, music clips, etc. (DiMaggio 308-309). The widespread access to the Internet has led to a new dimension in human interaction. Many sociologists have noted and studied the implications this development has had on how groups and communities form over the Internet and how these relationships differ from those in the same proximity to others. We will now the debate sparked by these advancements in communication and how it has

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played out in online religious communities, specifically exploring these issues in terms of the Wiccan religion. There are a multitude of reasons for which online communication is preferred by Wiccan practitioners. Due to avid stereotyping and misunderstanding based on cultural myths that Wicca or Witchcraft has encountered in society, many Wiccan practitioners (or witches) prefer a certain amount of privacy and even secrecy with regards to their religious views (Jensen, Gibson 142). Although some truly prefer this solitude, this presents a great deal of trouble for those who wish to connect with other Wiccans. Because of this desire to locate fellow Wiccans, the art of networking is included in most Wiccan instructive books (McSherry 38). Networking provides advice on how to locate other Wiccans as well as stay connected to the Wiccan community as a whole. Before the Internet, this was done through newsletters or other group mailing systems, but today thousands of Witches, Wiccans, and other Neopagans are connecting online through social networking sites such as Youtube, Facebook, or Twitter. There are also a plethora of sites designed specifically for the aforementioned religious groups including: The Witch’s Voice and The White Goddess: Pagan Portal, (Sanders 40, McSherry 4). As it struggles to be recognized on the public stage, Wicca’s increase in popularity has been aided greatly by the convenience of the Internet, forming a “relationship with technological innovation” as these online Wiccan communities grow (Bittarello 215). The tension lies in the skepticism of relationships formed on the Internet and whether or not these communities can provide the same legitimacy as face-to-face relationships. Can online Wiccan communities and relationships truly create the same solidarity as those formed within the same physical proximity as other people? In answer to this question, there are roughly three primary responses. The first viewpoint states

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that online communities are in no way an acceptable substitute for face-to-face contact with other people. Those who take this stance support the idea that because relationships formed over the Internet are created in a virtual environment, the relationships themselves are also virtual, and therefore not as substantial as those formed within the same physical proximity as another person. Many who share this viewpoint also believe that online socializing is unhealthy because it promotes obsessive behavior and takes place in an environment where information is easily manipulated and therefore unreliable. There have been several studies and surveys conducted particularly in the early stages of the internet’s development that studied potentially unhealthy effects of online socialization. In 1995 such surveys indicated that individuals who spent excessive amounts of time socializing online (more than four hours a day) seemed to exhibit a decline in other outside forms of socialization, spending less time going out with friends or other social activities. Some attribute this to the idea that social networking sites “…induce anomie and erode social capital by enabling users to retreat into an artificial world,” (DiMaggio 314-315). Another reason many people consider online socializing detrimental is the possibility that it reinforces socioeconomic gaps. Those who have examined the issue attribute this gap to the fact that only individuals who can afford it have access to the Internet therefore creating what has been referred to as the “digital divide”. This is supported by reports from the National Telecommunications and Information Administration in 1995, 1998, 1999, and 2000, which showed that trends in Internet access favored the upper class, particularly wealthy educated whites (DiMaggio 311). With regards to Wiccan communities online specifically, there are also religious standpoints that come into play. First is that of the Wiccan community itself. Al-

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though largely in favor of using social networking sites to communicate with other individuals that share their beliefs, there are some Wiccans who feel that using the Internet to further one’s path is contradictory to Wicca’s fundamental belief in the sacredness of nature. Because the Internet is a manmade technological device, using it in place of face-toface gatherings undermines one’s ability to commune with nature (Nightmare 54). From a biblical perspective, many Christians look at the Wiccan world, particularly the information found on the Internet with a skeptical eye. A large portion of Christians assert that the Bible clearly forbids any occult practices, most clearly summarized in Deuteronomy 18:10 which states, “Let no one be found among you who sacrifices his son or daughter in the fire, who practices divination or sorcery, interprets omens, engages in witchcraft, or casts spells…” Based on this passage as well as on Leviticus 19:26, 2 Kings 17:10, Acts 13:6, and several others that condemn occultism, many Christians fear that the spread of this information via the Internet is dangerous (Hawkins 96-97). Many Christian parents worry about what kind of religious information their children have access to on the Internet, especially in social networking environments where there is no way to determine the reliability or trustworthiness of the other people involved. Therefore, they believe that access to religious communities online should be limited or monitored (Russo 172-173). This viewpoint ignores the fact that the Internet can be a useful resource, especially for those with limited mobility. And although there are still individuals who do not have access to the Internet, most public libraries and schools across the country now include free internet access which is available to the public. The second stance on this issue states that online socialization is always completely and utterly acceptable in place of gathering face-to-face. Individuals who support this standpoint maintain that relationships formed over so-

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cial networking sites are just as substantial as those formed in person and that Internet communication is crucial, especially for individuals with limited mobility. In support of this viewpoint, many sociologists, including Manuel Castells, believe (in contrast to those of the previous viewpoint) that the Internet does not hinder social capital, but rather represents a natural reorganization of society. Castells believes we are in the â&#x20AC;&#x153;information ageâ&#x20AC;?, moving toward a new social structure based on networking and Internet communities simply provide the basis for this expansion, This will speed communication and expand the access of information, therefore ultimately augment socialization with others (DiMaggio 309). This is supported by studies conducted in 1998 which indicated that individuals who frequently engaged in online social interaction through chat rooms, email, or social networking sites, seemed not only more likely to engage in face-to-face social interaction but also more likely to read and play sports, (The Pew Center for People and the Press). A secular standpoint states the exact opposite of the previous view. Rather than strengthening a social divide, those who support online community socialization claim that the beauty of the Internet is that it creates arenas for more voices to be heard, making it a testament to free speech and diversity of opinion. Internet communities also allow those who are immobile or who have limited mobility, whether chronic or temporary, to connect with other people and virtually participate in group activities that they would otherwise be unable to attend (DiMaggio 313). To examine a religious perspective, we once again go to ideas about the Wiccan community as an example of Internet communities at work. Wiccans in favor of Internet communites combat the idea of the Internet as controversial to nature by stating that it is simply another realm of energy. Therefore, since energy is a natural occurrence, using the internet is just another plain on which to connect with

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others. Wiccans or witches who embrace the net say that it has helped the growth of the Wiccan community immensely and is every bit as good as communicating in person. One Wiccan woman from Tennessee summarizes this viewpoint in saying, “’Computers do not seem odd or unnatural to me…Being in a chatroom is the next best thing to having the person with you live—you can still read their auras, moods, and energy state through the network, just like you would if they were sitting next to you,” (Nightmare 55). Additionally, many other religious groups also post their resources online. Most churches at least have a website, if not a forum or chatroom, and there are now some churches that are completely on the web, holding online services and classes. Even the Vatican updates its Internet usage by experimenting with sites like Youtube and Facebook (Diamont). The trouble with unconditionally accepting Internet communication as a substitute for face-to-face interaction is that this viewpoint does not directly address the issue of safety, reliability, or regulation of information on the Internet. It also does not account for the idea of social responsibility because unlike in face-to-face contact, online communication allows the person to simply log off when they do not want to deal with others in their online community. After examining the evidence and cases for the previously explored stances, my own view takes the middle ground of these two sides. Although it would appear that excessive online socialization can have negative repercussions, when used as a complement to face-to-face communication, it is apparent based on the Pew Center studies that online socialization can actually enhance one’s community experience. However, there is still the issue of danger on the Internet. In response to the reliability of Internet communications, individuals in favor of the view that I take, would largely state that dangerous, untrustworthy situations are just as likely to happen in person. However, one learns

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to take measures to avoid such situations (Lipshultz 145, Cucereanu 35). In regards to social responsibility, it is clear that face-to-face communication does not allow the luxury of complete disassociation with the click of a button. From this, there is obviously something to be said about the level of connection that goes along with being physically part of a community. Of course, there is always the issue of individuals who are isolated, whether by mobility or geography, from others who share their views and with whom they wish to connect. Therefore I would argue that although face-to-face contact is preferable when possible, social networking sites are a perfectly acceptable way for any group, including Wiccans, to connect with others to discuss and perform religious beliefs or practices. When analyzing these approaches, one can see that there are many interesting observations to be made. Religiously, there is a conflict between many Christians and Wiccans who are both struggling to support their views in todayâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s electronic plain, the Internet. Many Christians consider Witchcraft to be evil, misguided, and a negative influence on young children who have access to its online resources. On the other hand, Wiccans who are isolated wish to share their beliefs with others and connect with those who share these beliefs, taking the second stance. Still, within the Wiccan religious circle there is another debate over whether or not the Internet is against the fundamental beliefs of The Craft. From a secular perspective, the legitimacy of relationships is what comes into play. The first viewpoint focuses on the idea that online relationships are virtual; therefore, this view makes the assumption that there is something about physical proximity to another person which cannot be duplicated in a cyber world. However, the second viewpoint states the exact opposite of this one in claiming that relationships and communities formed via the Internet have the exact same legitimacy as those in person, assuming that it is not physical proximity which is most

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important and that relationships can be formed perfectly well without it. However, this ignores the fact that being online allows individuals to terminate these relationships instantaneously. Therefore, we must recognize the middle ground where I believe that although face-to-face contact is ideal in forming communities, the Internet can provide a perfectly acceptable way for Wiccans (and other groups) to connect when circumstances prevent physical proximity. Regulating Internet communication and examining the legitimacy of the relationships formed there is a difficult line to walk, and clearly requires more exploration. There are both secular and religious debates that inform the three main approaches to the question of whether or not Internet communities provide relationships that are equal in legitimacy to those formed in person. This has been continuous struggle for the Wiccan community, as well as other religious practitioners who want to share their beliefs and connect with others. After touching on the primary three approaches to this debate, it appears obvious that extreme first and second viewpoints (aside from conflicting with a few of my personal values) ignore key conditions of Internet use such as its availability to those with limited mobility as well as the potential dangers of false information. Therefore, it is clear that although face to face contact is preferable when possible, social networking sites are a perfectly acceptable way for Wiccans (and other groups) to connect with others.

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Bibliography Beehner, Lionel. "Enduring Revolutions Are Not the Work of Mere Tweets." USA Today 22 Apr. 2009. Bittarello, Maria B. "Shifting Realitites? Changing Concepts of Religion and the Body in Popular Culture and Neopaganism." Journal of Contemporary Religion 23.2 (2008): 215-32. Buckland, Raymond. Buckland's Complete Book of Witchcraft. St. Paul, MN: Llewellyn Publications, 2002. Clifton, Chas S. Her Hidden Children The Rise of Wicca And Paganism in America. New York: AltaMira, 2006. Cowan, Douglas E., and David G. Bromley. Cults and New Religions A Brief History (Blackwell Brief Histories of Religion). Grand Rapids: Blackwell Limited, 2007. Cucereanu, Drago!. Aspects of Regulating Freedom of Expression on the Internet. Portland: Antwerpen, 2008. Diamont, Jeff. “Age-old Vatican Experiments with New Technologies”. Religion News Service. 2009. DiMaggio, Paul, Eszter Hargittai, W. Russel Neuman, and John P. Robinson. "Social Implications of the Internet." Annual Review of Sociology. Vol 27 Issue 307. 2001. Gibson, Marion H. Witchcraft Myths in American Culture. New York: Routledge, 2007. Hawkins, Craig S. Witchcraft Exploring the World of Wicca. Grand Rapids, Mich: Baker Books, 1996. Jensen, Gary. "'Out of the Broom Closet': The Social Ecology of American Wicca." Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion. Vol 47 Issue 4. 2008. Lipschultz, Jeremy H. Broadcast and Internet Indecency Defining Free Speech (Lea's Communication). Mahwah: Lawrence Erlbaum, 2007.

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Nightmare, M. Macha. Witchcraft and the Web. Ontario, Canada: ECW Press, 2001. McSherry, Lisa. The Virtual Pagan Exploring Wicca and Paganism Through the Internet. New York: Weiser Books, 2002. Russo, Steve. Protecting Your Teen from Todays Witchcraft A Parents Guide to Confronting Wicca and the Occult. New York: Bethany House, 2005. Sanders, Catherine Edwards. Wicca’s Charm. Colorado Springs, CO: Waterbrook Press, 2005. The Pew Center for People and the Press. 2009. 13 Nov 2009. <http://people-press.org/>. The Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life. 2009. 27 Oct. 2009. <http://pewforum.org/worldaffairs/countries/?CountryID=222>. The White Goddess - Pagan Portal. 10 May 2008. 15 Oct. 2009. <http://www.thewhitegoddess.co.uk/>. "Wicca/Witchcraft." Religious Tolerance .Org. Ontario Consultants on Religious Tolerance, 26 Jan. 2006. Web. 15 Oct. 2009. < http://www.religioustolerance.org/witchcra.htm> The Witch’s Voice. 2009. 13 Nov 2009. <www.witchvox.com>. Zimmermann, Denise and Katherine Gleason. Complete Idiot's Guide to Wicca and Witchcraft. Indianapolis, IN: Alpha, 2003.

Fine Line Between Right and Requirement G/4(%P"<(-"(*%+',-.'/,%0"##),)%

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About 150 years after the induction of the Bill of Rights to the United States Constitution there was, and still continues to be today, a concern for how our public schools should approach the First Amendment—more specifically, the Establishment and Free Exercise clause of the First Amendment—which states, “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof” (Urofsky 53). With almost fiftymillion children attending elementary and public schools in the United States, and each student having his or her own right to religious practice, it is prudent for our society to engage actively the political and social debate concerning whether or not it is appropriate for students to participate in their religious practice—whether it be prayer, dress, attendance, etc.—during public school hours and on public school campuses (Public Elementary/Secondary School Universe Survey). Due to the recent influx of Muslims to the United States, many people want districts to set policies concerning whether or not the school should provide accommodations for religious practices, and if so, what steps should be taken. While some districts have no problem accommodating students’ religious needs, others argue that accommodating one religion would require equal accommodations for all religions, which has potential to become overwhelming. The following analysis examines the different approaches arguing for and against the school’s obligation to accommodate the students’ right to practice prayer in public school; I propose that the most practical policy is for public schools to create simple, quiet spaces and excused time for students to practice their faith on school campuses. The Contention over Prayer in Public Schools Across the United States, schools are in conflict over whether or not it is constitutional to provide accommodations for Muslim students’ prayer. A recent contro-

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versy in San Diego, California, “highlights [the] dilemma over school officials’ need to maintain a separation of church and state and their desire to accommodate Muslim students who are required, [by their religion], to pray during school hours (Ashford 40). School officials are challenged to appease both halves of the First Amendment—the Establishment and Freedom of Religion. As Duncan C. Murchison, Dean of Faculty and Executive Vice President of Columbia Theological Seminary, states, the contention arises mostly from the concern that “[a]ny school prayer tends to establish the form of religion the prayer expresses and simultaneously restricts the free exercise of religion by any family who may conscientiously seek the nurture a different understanding of religion” (Murchison 49). The United States has always taken pride in its claim that it is governed by a secular political system—the government prefers no religion to another, which is dictated in the Constitution and interpreted by the court systems (Urofsky 54). As well as denying a particular national religion, the US government also upholds each individual’s right to practice the religious traditions of his or her own faith. Although the Establishment and Free Exercise clause is intended to ensure the religious independence of United States’ citizens, conflict arises when the government mandates attendance in an educational institution until a certain age. This is known as the compulsory school attendance law ("State Compulsory School Attendance Laws"). In most states the compulsory school attendance law requires students to attend school from age seven to sixteen, and even up to age eighteen in some states ("State Compulsory School Attendance Laws"). The question of how our public schools should strike a balance between respecting the students’ practice of prayer without establishing affiliation with a certain religious faith quickly becomes a concern for school administrations and parents of students attending public schools.

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Lisa Soronen, an attorney with the National School Boards Association, offers her perspective concerning the accommodations made for Muslim schools. Although the United States claims to be a secular nation, the historical context in which our country is developed is greatly founded upon a Christian system. Soronen claims, “most Americans don’t think about the fact that schools naturally accommodate Christians” (Dotinga 1). For example, “there’s no school on Sunday, and we get days off for most of the major Christian holidays” (Dotinga 1). From this perspective, it could be argued that our public schools violate the Establishment clause of the First Amendment. Although Soronen’s claim does not offer a conclusion to the issue, school administrations must consider her point when deciding which approach they will take in order to accommodate and satisfy the requests of not only Muslim students and families, but also students of other religious faiths. When deciding whether or not to accommodate Muslim students’ religious requests, we must take into account that most school calendars accommodate Christians. Constitutional Interpretation of Religion In order to make sense of the complex issue of prayer in public schools, it is helpful to separate the intersection of the secular and religious concerns. Briefly introduced above, the First Amendment was added to the United States Constitution in 1791 and limits the federal government from proclaiming a national religion as well as grants the citizens of the United States the ability to practice any religion peacefully. Rather, the government has neither the power to establish any religion as the national practice of our country, nor the power to restrict citizens from participating in certain religious practices. Regardless of the constitutional amendment, however, according to Melvin I. Urofsky, director and professor at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, up until 1962, religious “ritual marked the beginning of each

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school day across America,” which included “the pledge of allegiance, a short prayer, singing of ‘America’ or ‘The Start Spangled Banner,’ and possibly some readings from the Bible” (63). Americans recognized and justified opening school everyday with these traditions as a “part of America’s historical heritage” (Urofsky 65). However, despite America’s Christian “historical heritage,” in 1962 the issue of religion in schools came to courts in Engel v. Vitale, which argued that no matter how religiously neutral, state-mandated prayer was inconsistent with the Establishment Clause (Urofsky 66). Following the Engel v. Vitale case was a great swing to the opposite end of the spectrum and encouraged a complete secular exclusion from any sort of religious activity in public schools. As a result of the government’s attempt to protect students from being involuntary subjected to a certain religion, it has also restricted them from their right of religious freedom. The Importance of Religious Prayer Moving from the secular dynamics of the issue, I will dissect the religious meaning and purpose of prayer. First, I will briefly compare and contrast the Christian and Muslim prayer, since these are the two religions that have the greatest contention with the secular restrictions placed on public schools. In both religions, participants believe prayer to be communication with a higher being, God or Allah. The two religions diverge, however, when one examines the direct practice of prayer, which is approached differently. For example, Christians believe prayer to be the link to personal contact with God; it can take several different forms, such as intercessory, conversation, communion, blessing, grace, or a combination of the four (“Intercessory Prayer”). An example of a blessing prayer comes from Psalm 5:1-3: “1O LORD, hear me as I pray; pay attention to my groaning. 2Listen to my cry for help, my King and my God, for I pray to no one but you. 3Listen to my voice in the morning, LORD. Each morning I bring my requests to

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you and wait expectantly.” To most Christians, prayer can be extremely personal and does not have any requirements or limitations imposed on it. Muslim prayer, on the other hand, has certain requirements that are explained in the Qur’an, the holy book of the Islam faith. Prayer in the Islam religion is referred to as Salat and is the second of the five pillars, pillars being the duties incumbent on every Muslim (Alavi 7). Unlike Christians who do not have certain times allotted for prayer, Muslims devote five different times throughout their day to participate in recitation of prayer: in the morning before dawn, three times during the day (depending on the location of the sun), and the final time about an hour and a half after sunset. They consider these times a “part of [the] fundamental faith” (Alavi 13 and Dotinga 1). According to Karmia Diane Alavi, author of “Pillars of Religion and Faith,” “[i]t is prayer that continuously marks the passing of time” for Muslims (Alavi 11). The command of prayer for Muslims is distinguished in several passages of the Qur’an, but one of the best known is Recite what is sent of the Book by inspiration to thee, and establish regular prayer: for prayer restrains from shameful and unjust deeds: and remembrance of Allah is the great [thing in life] without doubt. And Allah knows the [deeds] that ye do. (Qur’an 17:78) According to Ibrahim M. Abu-Rabi, contributing author to The Oxford Encyclopedia of the Modern Islamic World, “The Qur’an tells us that the believers can succeed in this life and the hereafter only if they humble themselves in their prayer” (Abu-Rabi 470). Thus, substantiated by the former passage as well as other Qur’an passages, prayer throughout the day is a key component of their faith and is a devotional practice required by their religion.

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Finally, another large distinction between Muslim and Christian prayer is the physical acts accompanying Muslim prayer. Prior to every prayer session, Muslims must first perform ablution, which is an act of cleansing “that consists of cleaning the hands, mouth, nose, arms, face, head, ears, and feet” (Alavi 12). A second important act of Muslim prayer is referred to as raka’at, a cycle that “consists of standing straight, bending at the waist with hands on the knees, standing straight again, lowering oneself into prostration rising to a kneeling position, and then prostrating a second time” (Alavi 13). These acts accompanying Muslim prayer differ greatly from the lay Christian’s practice of prayer, which necessitates a humble heart (2 Chronicles 7:14), wholeheartedness (Jeremiah 29:13), faith (Mark 11:24), righteousness (James 5:16), and obedience (1 John 3:22). Although these characteristics of Christian prayer are also crucial components of Muslim prayer, Muslim prayer requires the physical acts as well. Solutions to the Disagreement In an attempt to appease the majority of the American public, school officials are taking several different approaches concerning whether or not they will accommodate Muslim prayer in public schools and to what extent. Although there are many varying solutions to the looming problem, which fall along the entirety of the spectrum— from the secular left to over accommodation—I provide an introductory level analysis of three possible solutions: 1) complete separation of public schools and religion, 2) overaccommodations, and 3) reasonable-accommodations. Separationist Approach The first solution I examine is the approach formulated by the group believing that all public schools should be completely secular. I refer to this group as the separationists. From this perspective, adhering to Establishment clause is the extremely important. Murchison asserts, “as the religious diversity our country has developed over the

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course of this century [20th century], the courts have rightly sensed that any conceivable school prayer amounts to the endorsement of a particular religious point of view” (49). Thus, the state must adhere to the rights promised to American citizens by not establishing a national religion, which would include religion seeping into the public school systems. Although Ellie Ashford argues overall for reasonable accommodations as a solution, she agrees with the separationists concerning a fine line between accommodating and over accommodating students’ requests for religious practices in schools, even if it is just providing a quiet place to pray. In the case of a recent controversy over a prayer room in a San Diego public elementary school, which is an example of possibly “going too far,” the officials faced much opposition from community members and parents who were concerned with several issues, including prayer rooms, option of separate male and female classrooms, and schedule changes (Ashford). According to Barry Lynn, executive director of American United for Separation of church and State, “coordinating normal school activity like recess with prayer time is unnecessary and probably unconstitutional” (Ashford 42). Separationists are concerned with schools limiting the education of students by not meeting the minimum number of hours as well as other requirements (Lemagie). The separationists argue that schools accommodating Muslim students’ requests for such amenities as prayer rooms, without the equal allowance for other religious faiths, would be promoting Islam. Thus, from the perspective of the separationists, accommodating for one religion—in this case Islam—is a slippery slope. Richard Thompson, President and Chief Counsel of the Thomas More Law Center, contends that if schools will accommodate Muslim prayer, “[they] must accommodate Christians, Jews, and all religions,” which may become an impossible

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undertaking (Ashford 41). Secularists argue that the simplest answer is to stand by the Establishment clause and continue with the wall of separation, as stated in Supreme Court ruling of Engel v. Vitale (Campebell 444). Although I agree that accommodating religious practice in public schools is a slippery slope, excluding all religion from school is a violation of the Free Exercise clause. Over-Accommodations Approach On the other side of the spectrum as the separationsits are those who side more strongly with the Free Exercise clause, which holds that religion is a human fundamental right. This group will be referred to as the overaccommodators. They take the religious accommodations too far; for example, teachers participating in Muslim prayer with students. Most often, situations where overaccommodation are present are in chartered schools, which are public schools free from the rules, regulations, and statutes of traditional public schools and usually have a focus of some sort (Libman). However, chartered schools are still public schools since they are federally funded. Thus, they are not able to establish a particular religious affiliation (Libman). An example of a charter school that has recently been scrutinized for over accommodations for Muslim students is Tarek ibn Ziyad Academy. Tarek ibn Ziyad Academy is located in Inver Grove Heights, Minnesota, and is known for its focus on newly immigrated east African students. For Tarek ibn Ziyad Academy, overaccommodation seems practical. Because the majority of the students attending the school are practicing Muslims, the cafeteria serves Halal food, the students are required to attend Arabic as a required course, and there is a scheduled break halfway through the day to observe Muslim prayer (Kersten A9). Although a chartered school is used as an example, it must be noted that chartered schools are not the only schools found over accommodating for religious prac-

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tices. Briefly mentioned earlier, the elementary school in San Diego, which provided “a special afternoon recess during which students who wanted to pray could do so while other students took part in other activities,” contends, “our duty is not to strip a child of their rights to religious devotion” (Ashford 41). This seems justifiable when 72 percent of the Muslim population asserts that their religion is extremely important in their everyday lives and 71 percent participate in prayer daily (US Landscape Survey). Overall, the over-accommodators have gone too far in an attempt to provide religious freedom to their students. As a result, many people assert that these schools have established a particular religion and have limited the religious freedom of the non-Muslim students. Opposite of the separationists, the over-accomodators are violating the Establishment clause. I believe that schools must establish a balance between the both the Establishment and the Free Exercise clause. Reasonable Accommodation Approach The final solution to the issue of prayer in public schools involves reasonable accommodation. Unlike the two former solutions, reasonable-accommodators integrate the solutions of the two: their solution is to strike a balance between the Establishment and Free Exercise Clause. Reasonable-accommodators account for the religious diversity of our country; rather than completely excluding religion from the school, they argue that “[w]hen school boards face this issue, they should ‘handle it with tact and diplomacy… See what people’s needs are and see what’s acceptable” (Ashford 42). Unlike the over-accommodators, the reasonable-accommodators believe it is important to assure that the minimal necessities should be considered. Concerning prayer, then, reasonable-accommodators assert, “as long as the prayer is not school sanctioned and is not disruptive, it should not be a problem” (Ashford 42).

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According to Soronen, “in general, schools are not in violation of the first Amendments’ clause banning the establishment of religion when they give students a neutral place to pray as long as the prayers are not school sanctioned or led by a school employee” (Ashford 40). Soronen’s statement also extends to Christian prayer as well us other religious practices. Mr. North, a constitutional law attorney, states that it is his position “to make sure that religious requests are treated in a neutral way” (Dotinga 1). Stemming from the statements of Soronen and North, reasonable-accommodators believe that public school policies should include the allowance of religious practices while also stressing that these practices cannot be disruptive to other students, sanctioned by the school, or led by employed faculty or volunteers. As mentioned above, Martin Crim, an attorney who has helped with Muslim prayer issues in northern Virginia schools, regards the solution to the contention over prayer to be much simpler than many believe. According to Crim, “When school boards face this issue, they should ‘handle it with tact and diplomacy’” (Ashford 42). In agreement with Crim, reasonable-accommodators believe minor accommodations, such as an empty classroom for prayer, is not violating the Establishment clause as well as assuring the Free Exercise clause. Schools must be careful, though, to only offer the minimal amount of accommodations. According to Lynn, “to coordinate a normal school activity like recess with prayer time is unnecessary and probably unconstitutional” (Ashford 42). General and Religious Analysis The three solutions above—complete separation of church and state, over accommodating students’ religious needs, and reasonably accommodating their religious needs—are argumentatively founded upon the supporters interpretation of the First Amendment of the United States Constitution. As mentioned in the Constitutional Interpre-

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tation of Religion section, the Establishment and Free Exercise Clause states, “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof” (Urofsky 53). Whether the emphasis is placed on the former or the latter part of the clause determines the position a group takes on the issue of whether or not public schools should accommodate certain religious practices. Similar to the separationists, the reasonableaccommodators abide by the Establishment Clause— separation of church and state is the right of US citizens and no one should be unwillingly subjected to a religion with which they do not agree with. However, unlike the separationists, the reasonable-accommodators also argue that religion should not be excluded from public schools entirely. Rather, a school’s “duty is not to strip a child of their rights to religious devotion” (Ashford 41). As a result, the reasonable-accommodators contend that as long as the religious activity is not sanctioned by the school, minimal accommodations support the Establishment portion of the First Amendment without completely disregarding the assurance of Free Exercise. How can schools accommodate for all of the varying religions of the US while still keeping up with the quick paced change of demographics? I argue that in order to maintain respect and dignity for others’ religions, we must make reasonable accommodations to allow them to practice their faith to their appropriate standards. Unlike the overaccommodators who seem to disregard the Establishment clause, reasonable accommodations do not subject students to secondhand faith—unwillingly exposed to a religion (Dotinga 1). Similar to any other the public space, where freedom of religion is a guarantee, the American public is constantly being exposed to other religions, such as dress, church donation boxes, newspaper ads, etc. (Dotinga 1).

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Although separationists contend that “allowing Muslims to pray at school ‘flies in the face of 50 years of Supreme Court jurisprudence on the Establishment Clause,’” they are, in turn, violating the Free Exercise Clause (Ashford 41). Dissimilar to Christianity, which does not necessitate prayer at certain times of the day, Muslims are instructed by the Qur’an to pray five times a day and at designate times. Therefore, when schools deny Muslims the right to pray during school, they are violating the United States Constitution. The appropriate solution is to find the balance between the juxtaposition of the Establishment and Free Exercise Clause. In order to maintain impartiality between the two—allowing students the freedom of religion in a state funded institution without the institution asserting a particular religion—is to provide accommodations, but not to over accommodate. Because over accommodations evoke scrutiny from society and it is considered a violation of the Establishment Clause, reasonable accommodations that are not school sanctioned is the most evenhanded solution. Free exercise of religion is a right ensured by the First Amendment of the United States Constitution. Thus, Muslim students who need to pray during scheduled school hours should not be denied their right to practice their religion. However, the prayer should not be disruptive to any other students’ education, such as changes to the schedule in response to Muslim prayer. From my perspective, school officials should approach religious requests with dignity to determine what the appropriate accommodations are to such appeals. In order to uphold our nation’s proclamation of inclusion and equality for all—including religious freedom—we must not disclaim students’ rights to religious practices in public schools, as long as they are not disruptive to other students and the school.

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Bibliography Abu-Rabi, Ibrahim M. “Salat.” The Oxford Encyclopedia of the Modern Islamic World. Ed. Juan Eduardo Campa. New York: Oxford University Press, 1995. 469-473. Alavi, Karima Diane. "Pillars of Religion and Faith." Voices of Islam. vol 1. Westport, CT: Praeger Publishers, 2007. Alley, Robert S. The Supreme Court on Church and State. New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 1988 Americans United. 2009. Americans United, Web. 28 Oct 2009. <http://www.au.org/about/>. Ashford, Elli. "Schools Grapple with Legality of Prayer Rooms for Muslim Students." Education Digest. 73.3 (2007): 40-42. Bukhari, Zahid H., Sulayman S. Nyang, Mumtaz Ahmad, and John L. Esposito. Muslims' Place in the American Public Square. Walnut Creek, CA: AltaMira Press, 2004. Campbell, Karl E. "Senator Sam Ervin and School Prayer: Faith, Politics, and the Constitutions." Journal of Church and State. 45.3 (2003): 443-456. Alavi, Karima Diane. “Pillars of Religion and Faith.” Cornell, Vincent J. Voices of Islam. Ed. Vincent J. Cornell. Westport, Westport, CT: Praeger Publishers, 2007. Dorell, Oren. "Some Say Schools Giving Muslims Sepecial Treatment." USA Today 26 Jul. 2007. Web. 28 Oct. 2009. <http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2007-0725-muslim-special-treatment-fromschools_N.htm>. Dotinga, Randy. "Public Schools Grapple with Muslim Prayer." Christian Science Monitor 12 Jul. 2007: 1. "Engel v. Vitale." Oyez, U.S. Supreme Court Media. 30 Oct 2009. _The Oyez Project, Web. 16 Nov 2009.

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<http://www.oyez.org/cases/19601969/1961/1961_468/>. Fahlbusch, Erwin, Jan Milic Lochman, John Mbiti, Jaroslav Pelikan, and Lukas Vischer. "Prayer." The Encyclopedia of Christianity. 4. Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing company, 2005. "Intercessory Prayer - The Model of Christ." All About Prayer. 2009. AllAboutGod.com, Web. 28 Oct 2009. <http://www.allaboutprayer.org/intercessoryprayer.htm>. "Islam." ReligionFacts: Just the Facts on Religion. 18 Jan. 2008. Web. 28 Oct 2009. <http://www.religionfacts.com/islam/index.htm>. IslamiTexts. 2008. IslamiTexts, Web. 28 Oct 2009. <http://www.islamitexts.org/>. Kersten, Katherine. "Charter Schools Shouldn't Promote Islam." Wall Street Journal 14 Jun. 2008, Eastern: A9. Lemagie, Sarah. "2 Changes Ordered at Charter School." Star Tribune 20 May 2008, Minneapolis: B1. MacFarquhar, Neil. "Many Muslims Turn to Home Schooling." New York Times 26 Mar 2008, New York: A14. School Report Card: Tarek ibn Ziyad Academy. 2008. Minnesota Department of Education. 11 Nov. 2009. <http://education.state.mn.us/ReportCard2005/dem ographics.do?SCHOOL_NUM=010&DISTRICT_NUM=4 099&DISTRICT_TYPE=07> Murchison, D. Cameron, Jr. "Protagonist Corner: The Place of Corner." Journal of Preachers. 19.3 (1996): 4951. Radcliffe, Jennifer, Gary Sharrer, and Austin Bureau. "School Prayer Gets a Boost / House Approves Bill that Would Let Students Express Faith on Campus." Houston Chronicle 01 May 2007: 5.

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"State Compulsory School Attendance Laws." Infoplease. 2007. Pearson Education, Web. 16 Nov 2009. <http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0112617.html>. United States. Public Elementary/Secondary School Universe Survey. Washington D.C.: , 2008. Web. 14 Nov 2009. <http://nces.ed.gov/programs/digest/d08/tables/dt08 _095.asp>. Urofsky, Melvin I. Religious Freedom. Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO, Inc., 2002. US Landscape Survey. 2009. The Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life, Washington D.C. 13 Nov. 2009. <http://religions.pewforum.org/portraits>. http://www.religioustolerance.org/ps_pray.htm