BFS Class of 2023

Class of 2023 Senior Scholars

Anthony Rogers Post-Roman Britain and the Formation of the English as a Hybrid Ethnicity For a long time, early medieval England has been a fascinating period of history to me. It was a time where there was a stunning mixture of cultural, artistic, and linguistic mixture and innovation on an island that was seen as far-flung during this time period. The primary historical sources are few and vague, so increasingly, historians realize that they must rely on archaeology to tell the story of the fifth and sixth centuries in Britain. In my essay I explore the written and archaeological sources for the Anglo-Saxon migrations, in order to gain a basic understanding of how the fields of archaeology and history function

Extended Essay Subject: History Title: Post-Roman Britain and the Formation of the English as a Hybrid Ethnicity Research Question: How has modern archaeology and the reassessment of written sources disproven common and entrenched misconceptions about the fall of the Roman Empire in Britain and the subsequent cultural changes?

Personal Code: kmh995 Word Count: 3891

Table of Contents Introduction

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I. Roman Britain (43-410 CE) A. The Britons Before Rome B. The Roman Invasion of Britain (43-c.100 CE) C. Roman Military Presence D. Economic Integration of Britain into the Roman Empire E. Roman Culture in Britain F. Briton Adoption of Roman Culture.

G. Roman Disintegration

3 4 4 5 5 5 6 7

II. Germanic Migration to Britain A. The Term “Anglo-Saxon” is Modern in Origin B. “Anglo-Saxon” is an Outdated Term Because of Its Racist Connotations

7 8 9

III. Late Antique Written Sources - an Incomplete Record A. Bede’s Ecclesiastical History of the English People and Saint Gildas’ On the Ruin of Britain.

B. Aneirin’s Y Gododdin C. Problematic Nineteenth Century Analysis

9 10 11 12

IV. Recent Archeological Findings Dispute Outdated Theories A. Genetic Study Proves Varied Origins of the Early English B. Continuity in Settlement Patterns Show Gradual Changes C. Material Culture D. Linguistics

12 13 14 16 16

Bibliography

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Introduction One image of the fall of the Roman Empire is of near-naked barbarians overrunning the frontiers, slaughtering toga-wearing Romans and burning their forums, theaters and pillared temples to the ground. In the case of Britannia,1 this amounts to bands of “Anglo-Saxon” warriors jumping off beached ships, and rapidly pushing across the island in an act of intentional conquest. The “primitive” Britons, having recently been abandoned by a distinctive “Roman race”2 and too stupid to continue any of their civilized practices, can do nothing to stop the hordes of invaders from overtaking their homeland and enslaving their people. These conceptions are based on a late nineteenth century colonialist misreading of the scant written historical sources of Late Antiquity3. A closer examination of these primary sources, coupled with recent linguistic and archaeological evaluations, gives a much fuller and more complex picture of post-Roman Britain: the emergence of the English as a hybrid culture, an amalgamation of North Sea Germanic peoples and the partially Romanized Britons.

In the first century CE, the Roman Empire took control of the southern parts of Britain, subjugating the tribal kingdoms of Britons to Roman administration. Over the next centuries, Britannia underwent a process of cultural transformation, adopting the language, laws, culture, art, and political institutions of the Roman Empire, in a syncretic relationship with Celtic traditions. Over time, the Britons came to think of themselves as Romans.

Despite the fifth century disintegration of Roman military and international political

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This paper will refer to the island as Britain, and the Roman province as Britannia, corresponding to Britain south of the Forth-Clyde line. England (literally Angle-land) is the term for the part of Britain settled by Germanic peoples.

2 Bede, Ecclesiastical History of the English People, 64 3 Late Antiquity refers to the period between the Roman adoption of Christianity c.300 CE and the rise of Islam c.600 CE.

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structures, inhabitants of Britannia still continued to think of themselves as Romans well into the Middle Ages.

At the same time as this disintegration, Germanic groups from the continental North Sea area began to appear in Britain. The popular, and incorrect, view of these groups, commonly referred to as “Anglo-Saxons,” violently taking over the country in a single invasion event is not well supported by the study of this period. This paper will analyze how modern archaeology and the reassessment of written sources have disproven common and entrenched misconceptions about the fall of the Roman Empire in Britain and the subsequent cultural changes, giving a nuanced view of a time when many ancient cultures melded to form the cultures of Britain in the Middle Ages.

I. Roman Britain (43-410 CE) In the first century CE, the expanding Roman Empire set its sights on the shores of Britain. Known to the Mediterranean world since at least the third century BCE, Britain was a distant and remote island, lying in the mists at the edge of the world. The inhabitants of the island called it Prydein, which became the Latin Britannia.4

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David Miles, The Tribes of Britain, 7

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A. The Britons Before Rome The Britanni, or Britons, spoke a Celtic language, Common Brythonic.5 They had inhabited Britain since at least the Iron Age.6 A wide variety of small tribal kingdoms were dispersed throughout the island, with constantly shifting alliances and disputes - there was no conception of a central government or pan-Celtic identity.7

B. The Roman Invasion of Britain (43-c.100 CE) The Roman invasion brought a strong relationship with the Mediterranean world.

Starting in 43 CE, in an invasion sent by the emperor Claudius, many Briton tribal kingdoms were conquered by the Roman armies in an eighty-year campaign.8 Practically all of southern Britain was brought into the Roman dominion, and the northern frontier was eventually marked by Hadrian’s Wall. This conquest brought profound change to the southern part of the island. The Romans brought their urban culture, and founded a number of permanent military camps.

While many Britons continued to live in their pre-conquest settlement patterns of hillforts and roundhouses, others were brought into the cities or used as slaves or peasants in villas9 of wealthy Romans, who colonized this new frontier province.10 Britain was now placed under a series of governor-generals to whom the Briton kings were subservient.

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Influenced by Latin and spatially separated by Old English-speaking polities, the Welsh, Cornish, Cumbrian, and Breton languages derived from this common language some time during the early Middle Ages. The Pictish language is also derived from Common Brythonic, but without the Latin influences that the other languages have. The Irish, Scottish Gaelic, and Manx languages are Gaelic languages, from a different Celtic branch. See Ward-Perkins.

6 Miles, 105 7 Ibid., 108 8 Ibid., 127 9 A villa is an aristocratic country house, around which agricultural production is centered.

10 Miles, 145

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C. Roman Military Presence Britannia was under constant military threat: from rebellions by slaves and Briton tribes, and from raids by the Gael and Briton groups who lived in Ireland and north of Hadrian’s Wall. These threats to Rome’s rule required a strong garrison. As a result, more legions were stationed in Britannia than in any other province, located in forts and camps along the key routes.11 The military presence required infrastructure, including the construction of roads and ports.

D. Economic Integration of Britain into the Roman Empire Through these roads and ports, key Roman goods and technologies, such as glassware, olive oil, wine, the pottery wheel, advanced stonework, engineering, and city planning all became available to the Britons. The Roman elite were able to import their luxuries; despite Britannia being the most distant province, they were still able to get commodities from around the world.12 Britannia was exploited for exported resources.

Apart from these exports, the economy of the island was centered around grain-production.13 The economy of Britannia was drawn into an economic sphere centered around the Mediterranean for over four centuries.14

E. Roman Culture in Britain Over the centuries, the Britons adopted Roman culture. When Roman armies moved, they brought along their attendants and dependents, and many of their more permanent 11

Miles, 132 Ibid., 150 13 Ibid., 149 14 Susan Oosthuizen, The Emergence of the English, 37 12

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military camps turned into full-fledged cities.15 Such cities as London and Colchester have survived to the modern day. Britons and people from around the Roman Empire, including places as far away as North Africa and the Levant, moved into these cities, bringing a level of international connectivity which was previously unknown.16 Through this contact with the rest of the Roman Empire, the Britons adopted many aspects of Roman culture, including their methods of administration and became adherents of the Roman Christian church.17

F. Briton Adoption of Roman Culture.

Modern scholars call the Late Antique inhabitants of Britannia “Romano-Britons” to reflect the degree to which Britons became entwined with Roman culture. Even after the official Roman armies had been withdrawn from Britain and the Western Roman Empire had collapsed, the three million18 inhabitants of Britain continued to think of themselves as Romans well into the Middle Ages.19 Under the influence of the Romans, the Britons adopted aspects of Roman culture.

The Latin language was the language of government, and the lingua franca between different ethnic groups and with other parts of the Empire. By 400 CE, Britannia was a Brythonic- and Latin-speaking bilingual society, with urban centers and the south-east speaking Latin as a first language.20

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Miles, 120 Oosthuizen, 4 17 Bede, 60 18 Miles, 154 19 Bryan Ward-Perkins, Why Did the Anglo-Saxons not Become More British? 527 20 Oosthuizen, 43 16

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An example of this assimilated society comes from Saint Patrick’s account of his early life in the late fourth century, the Confessio. Having been born to a wealthy Romano-Briton family, both he and his father had Latin names, Patricius and Calpurnius.

His father was a cleric of the Christian church, was the owner of a villa estate, and had a Roman title decurio, a member of the city council. His account of his home and family life shows that people lived essentially Roman lifestyles even in the far west on the coast of the Irish Sea during the late fourth century.21

G. Roman Disintegration During the fifth century CE, the administration of the Western Roman Empire collapsed after a long decline. A widely held notion is that the Roman-era cities in Britain were abandoned during the fall of the Western Roman Empire.22 Archaeological evidence tells a different story. The population of cities certainly declined in the late Roman period, as it did across the Roman Empire. However, this was not an abrupt change as the result of a single catastrophic event, such as a barbarian invasion. Rather, it was a process of migration from urban to rural communities that took over a century, a sort of reversal of the phenomenon that took place in the first century of Roman rule. The centers of power shifted from imperial administrators in the cities to the villas, the bases of the rural aristocracy.

21 22

Saint Patrick, Confessio and Epistula Paul Cooper, Roman Britain - The Work of Giants Crumbed, Fall of Civilizations

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II. Germanic Migration to Britain At the same time as this disintegration, Germanic groups from the continental North Sea area, known by the anachronistic term “Anglo-Saxons,” began to appear in Britain. The people who settled in south-east Britain were members of various ethnic groups from the modern-day Netherlands, Lower Saxony, and Denmark, with such names as Angles, Saxons, Jutes, and Frisians. Together in Britannia, they came to be known as the English, derived from “Angle.”23 During the early Middle Ages, the south-east of Britain came to speak Old English, a Germanic contact language related to the languages just across the North Sea, heavily influenced by the vernacular Latin of the Romano-Britons.

The English constituted a new ethnicity, formed from a few closely-related groups from Northern Europe and the Romanized Britons of south-east Britain. By the seventh century, this new ethnicity came to be recognized as a distinct group from the Romano-Britons. This new people and their ideas came during a period of large-scale migrations, not just in Britain, but across all of the Eurasian continent.24

A. The Term “Anglo-Saxon” is Modern in Origin The term “Anglo-Saxon'' arose in the modern period, not among the inhabitants of England in the early medieval period. No one then would have ever heard of an “Anglo-Saxon.”25 Instead, the people of that time and place identified themselves with one of

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Torben Gebhardt, From Bretwalda to Basileus: Imperial Concepts in Late Anglo-Saxon England?, 162 Riding at the crest of waves caused by major political disruptions such as the fall of the Western Roman Empire, large groups migrated hundreds of miles, bringing their cultures with them and changing the face of the places they settled. The English ethnogenesis is only a part of a much larger movement of peoples across Eurasia. During the same period, the Franks moved into Gaul and the Visigoths to Hispania, as well as the Slavic and Turkic migrations, and the formation of the Arab Empire and the rise of Islam.

25 Mary Rambaran-Olm and Erik Wade, ‘The Many Myths of the Term 'Anglo-Saxon’ 24

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the many kingdoms that then existed in England, such as Wessex (West Saxons) or East Anglia (East Angles). If these people wanted to refer to a larger ethnic group that they were part of, they called themselves Ænglisc (English; Angle-ish) or Angelcynn (Angle-kin), not “Anglo-Saxon.” Instead of Anglo-Saxon, the term insular Germanic peoples or English will be used here.26

B. “Anglo-Saxon” is an Outdated Term Because of Its Racist Connotations The modern usage of “Anglo-Saxon” was used to promote a conception of an “Anglo-Saxon race” consisting of the ruling white populations of the British Empire and the United States. The “Anglo-Saxon race” was a supposedly superior race to the peoples that the British and Anglo-Americans had colonized.27 The propagandists of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries linked the colonial activity of that time to a supposed “Anglo-Saxon” colonization of the Late Antique Britons. These thinkers used their interpretation of this historical event to justify their colonialism, and their colonialist viewpoint influenced their reading of the ancient sources.28

III. Late Antique Written Sources - an Incomplete Record Scholars from the nineteenth century, who have shaped the historical narrative regarding post-Roman Britain and the insular Germanic peoples, relied heavily on only a 26

In the later part of this period, after England had become a single, unified kingdom, the king Æthelstan used the Latin title Anglorum Saxonum Rex, or “King of the Angles and Saxons”. Soon after, the English kings dropped the “Saxon” from this title in order to promote ethnic unity among their subjects, as well as to differentiate themselves from the continental Saxons, whose Ottonian dynasty were the rulers of Germany. See Gebhardt, 162 27 Rambaran-Olm and Wade 28 Sims-Williams, The settlement of England in Bede and the "Chronicle”

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few ancient writings.29 None provide evidence of anything that could be called an “Anglo-Saxon Invasion.” Apart from a selection of Latin announcement and decree inscriptions, Late Antique writings are rare. The few histories of the time were made on the continent and mention Britain in passing. There are only a few long-form sources actually written on the island during this time. More recent evaluations of these sources, complimented by archaeological evidence, has created a more complete picture.

A. Bede’s Ecclesiastical History of the English People and Saint Gildas’ On the Ruin of Britain.

The most “venerable”30 of all the early medieval British historians is Bede and his Ecclesiastical History of the English People, which was written in the early eighth century, more than two centuries after the end of Roman Britain. He researched and compiled the foremost history of Britain and the English people until the early eighth century. In the case of the “Anglo-Saxon settlement” he had to rely on earlier sources, all ultimately tracing back to Saint Gildas, a Romano-Briton monk of the early sixth century.

Saint Gildas wrote a sermon, On the Ruin of Britain, to the Romano-Briton kings of his time. He criticizes these kings by claiming that they had sinned in not following the Roman church, and that this is the reason for their current struggles.31 Gildas provides the first mention of Saxons in Britain. In warfare against the Scots and Picts, a Romano-Briton king hires a group of Saxons as mercenaries. The Saxons eventually make a treaty with the Picts and turn on their employers. Bede interprets this event as the beginning of the

29

Ward-Perkins, 515 “Bede (673-735), condemned as ‘venerable’ to generations of British schoolchildren…” Miles, 162 31 Gildas, On the Ruin of Britain, 2 30

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“Anglo-Saxon settlement,” which he defines as a singular violent event.32 This episode is not conclusive evidence for this theory; there are many other examples of mercenary groups turning against their employers in late Roman history.33 Following a paraphrasing of Gildas’ account, Bede recounts apocalyptic scenes of priests being killed at their altars and other supposed instances of wholesale, nearly genocidal slaughter which are not present in Gildas. According to Bede, the Britons are forced to hide in the wilderness, for forty-four years until a certain Ambrosius Aurelianus, “a man of good character and the sole survivor of the Roman race from the catastrophe”34 rallies the Britons and beats the Angles at Mons Badonicus,35 which temporarily sends the Angles fleeing to their new south-east English homes. Gildas’ account of this battle pits the Britons against the Scots and Picts, not the Saxons. Bede also says “Angles” where Gildas says “Saxons.”

For most of the time people have studied these historical events, Bede has been the principal source of information. His account gives an idea of what the English of the eighth century believed. Bede names certain known groups from the European continent, and links them to corresponding areas of settlement in Britain. These linkages have not been supported by archaeological evidence.36 In other words, “The phrase ‘economical with the truth’ could have been invented to describe Bede’s work.”37

32

Bede, 65; Sims-Williams Oosthuizen, 21 34 Bede, 64 35 The location of Mons Badonicus is unknown.

36 Gretzinger et al. The Anglo-Saxon migration and the formation of the early English gene pool.

37 Miles, 163 33

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B. Aneirin’s Y Gododdin Aneirin was a Briton bard who wrote Y Gododdin, an epic poem about the seventh century Battle of Catraeth, which he supposedly witnessed.38 The poem draws a clear distinction between Romano-Britons and Germanic groups. The battle was fought between the Briton kingdom of Gododdin and the Angle kingdoms of Bernicia and Deira, from the north-east coast of England. This battle was a key moment in the expansion of the English into northern England and southern Scotland, which was, at this point, inhabited by Britons. This poem shows that by the early seventh century, a number of kingdoms had formed in Britain, organized along ethnic lines, as ‘Angles’ or ‘Britons,’ and that these kingdoms were fighting over territory.

C. Problematic Nineteenth Century Analysis Late nineteenth and early twentieth century historians relied too heavily on these scant writings. They formulated a model of weak Romano-British populations being killed or forced from their land by small, powerful groups of “Anglo-Saxons” who had come to an underexploited and underpopulated land that was covered with wild forests.39 This model has its roots in the narratives used to justify British and Anglo-American colonialism at the time - that the Europeans were bringing “civilization” and “industry” to colonized peoples.

The nineteenth and early twentieth century British historians were saying that their supposed ancient ancestors had done the same thing.40

38

Aneirin, Y Gododdin Oosthuizen, 30 40 Sims-Williams 39

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Modern researchers now have access to many different commentaries on these sources, as well as large amounts of archaeological evidence gathered with scientific techniques. Many more modes of research are available to them, which results in a more nuanced understanding.

IV. Recent Archeological Findings Dispute Outdated Theories Through modern scientific research of the ancient peoples of Britain, the spaces they inhabited and the objects they used, we find a picture of Late Antiquity which is more nuanced than the sermons and epic poetry of the period.

A. Genetic Study Proves Varied Origins of the Early English It is clear that in the early medieval period large numbers of people who had been living in the coastal areas of continental northern Europe crossed the North Sea over several generations and settled in the south-eastern parts of Britain, bringing their language and objects along with them to form a hybrid culture with the Romano-Britons.

Scientists have conducted a thorough study of the genetics of 460 individuals from the British Isles and northern Europe from the early Middle Ages in order “to address questions concerning the extent of continental migration to England, and its effect on the local insular gene pool.”41 The study compared the genes of people sampled from a wide variety of ancient and medieval cemeteries in Ireland, Britain, the Netherlands, Germany, and Denmark. People from early English cemeteries were found to have genetic markers in

41

Gretzinger et al.

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common with both the Britons and the Germanic peoples of northern Europe. While people from these cemeteries had ancestry from a variety of sources, all of their grave-goods belong to the same material culture.

This shows that the insular Germanic peoples did not exclusively have ancestry from northern Europe, but were a mixture of newcomers and people who had already lived in Britain. All individuals, regardless of genetics, were buried with grave goods belonging to the same material culture - one derived from northern Europe which had been supplemented by Romano-British designs. This newly-formed English culture was an amalgamation of peoples from all around the North Sea, not just derived from one group which destroyed the other groups.42

B. Continuity in Settlement Patterns Show Gradual Changes It is widely believed that with the disintegration of Roman rule after 400 CE, towns, villas, and military establishments were abandoned.43 It is true that the towns of Britain experienced a phenomenon of depopulation in the fourth and fifth centuries, where urban dwellers moved into the countryside. Yet these cities were continually inhabited, and they continued to be nodes of international trade, with evidence of coins and commodities being shipped to Britain from Gaul and Hispania, the eastern Roman Empire, and from as far away as the Middle East.44 These cities lost their importance as civilian administration centers, though their inhabitants managed to keep up some of their economic functions. People essentially lived rural lifestyles on the sites of these cities, but there was at least enough population in these 42

Gretzinger et al.

J. Gerrard, The Ruin of Britain: An Archaeological Perspective, 165 44 Oosthuizen, 32 43

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places that the urban renewal of the eighth century revived cities on the same sites as those in the Roman period.45 Many local territorial units based around these cities continued to be used.

For example, the English kingdom of Kent was based on the territorium ruled from Canterbury, which was the civitas46 of the Cantii, the Briton tribe who lived in the region.

Canterbury is Cantii combined with the Old English burh.47 There is also the kingdom of Lindsey, based around Lindum (Lincoln). Even when new kingdoms were established by Germanic-speakers, they found it politically useful to keep the Roman administrative regions, which were based on the territories of the Briton kingdoms.

Next, it has long been assumed that with the official decree of withdrawing the Roman legions from Britain in 410 CE, that there was a collapse of military administration and that the military establishments were abandoned.48 However, by this time, the structure of the Roman military had changed, and the legion was no longer the sole military organization. Local leaders and kings are known to have had their own fighting forces. This is evidenced by Roman-era fortresses, including those of Hadrian’s Wall, continuing to be inhabited and used well into the eighth century.49 Perhaps the highest level of geographical continuity is in the villas. With the Late Antique decline of the city, the villa became the most important civilian administrative center. The villa was an aristocratic residence, as well as a center for agricultural and industrial production and storage. The retainers of the aristocrats lived in communities 45

Oosthuizen, 35 Territorium is the Latin name for a local administrative unit, and a civitas is a town 47 See also Edinburgh - Edin, the name of a Romano-Briton kingdom, with burh. Compare to other Germanic languages, i.e. Hamburg and Helsingborg.

48 Oosthuizen, 36 49 Ibid.

46

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surrounding the villa. The villas continued to be used as the main focal points of economic and political organization in the post-Roman world.50 The pre-existing grouping of Iron Age farms seem to have been added on to, or formed the basis of, the territories of the Roman villas. Rural boundaries used to distinguish property in lowland Britain had a striking level of continuity throughout the Neolithic, Bronze, Iron, Roman, and early Middle Ages, and they were only significantly altered after the Norman conquest of the eleventh century.51 After the administrative collapse, these villa sites were often supplemented by wooden-aisled halls, and became the sites of early insular Germanic cemeteries. All of this supports the argument that there was a large degree of continuity between Romano-British and insular Germanic communities, which supports the theory of gradual cultural transformation.

C. Material Culture During the early Middle Ages, styles of art and design from Romano-Briton and North Sea Germanic cultures were combined into a new distinctive style that was used by both Romano-Britons and insular Germanic people, as well as traveling back to the continent. Craftsmen from both cultures must have observed the styles of the other and collaborated to create new objects that represented both traditions. Britain was thoroughly introduced to Roman objects and architecture, which, over the centuries, combined with the local Celtic material culture to form a distinctive Romano-Briton culture.52 With the disintegration of Roman rule in Britain, the people of the island were drawn into a more geographically natural economic sphere, with the North Sea as its focal point. It is no 50

Oosthuizen. 32 Ibid., 33 52 Ibid.

51

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wonder then, that as Britain was released from distant Mediterranean influence, that the material culture of the North Sea Germanic peoples was introduced to the island.53 As goods were imported to Britain from the North Sea, the forms, craftsmanship, and artistic styles were absorbed into the styles already used by the local craftsmen.

D. Linguistics Perhaps the most convincing argument for a model of “Anglo-Saxon” invaders taking over, killing and driving out the Britons is from the perspective of linguistics. At first glance, the fact that there are almost no Brythonic-derived words in the Old English language might indicate apartheid or genocide, of intentional language supression and mutual hostility.

This has been the prevailing theory for a long time,54 but scholars have recently proposed alternative theories. Recent research suggests that the Romano-Britons were a largely bilingual population, with Latin and Brythonic being used alongside one another.55 In south-east England, Roman colonization efforts were the most effective. Latin was spoken here as the first language, with Brythonic being secondary. This is mainly shown from epigraphic stone inscriptions which continued into the seventh century.56 South-east Britain, being closest to the continent, was the most Romanized area. That is where the first Germanic groups arrived is not a coincidence. It is logical that newcomers, both Roman and Germanic, would settle in the closest area. Thus, the newly-arrived Germanic language speakers would have contact with a population that mostly spoke Latin, instead of Brythonic. At this time, Latin was the most common intermediary language: if two groups 53

Oosthuizen. 30 Wade-Perkins, 518 55 Oosthuizen, 72 56 Ibid., 44 54

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spoke mutually unintelligible languages, such as Old English and Brythonic, they would have used Latin to communicate. It is a well-attested theory that most people during this time were at least bilingual in Latin and their local language. As such, Old English is heavily influenced by Latin, especially in its syntax.57 This majority Latin-speaking area would come to speak Old English as its dominant language in the succeeding centuries, while keeping Latin as a well-known secondary language. This explains the apparent low level of contact between Old English and Brythonic. This, contrary to the most basic look at language, shows a high degree of cultural contact and assimilation.

Conclusion The written sources of Late Antique Britain have often been misinterpreted, manipulated and misconstrued, leading to a popular understanding of the subject which is overly, and incorrectly, simplistic and based on assumptions that have been disproved by more recent archaeology and reevaluation of historical sources. Turn of the twentieth century scholars, relying only on their translations of the early medieval Latin texts, came to a conclusion about this period of history that mirrored their colonialist ideas of “progress,” and “civilization.”58 They looked to the “Anglo-Saxons” as semi-mythical founders of their race, and, unfortunately for the understanding of many people, this idea has stuck; these supposed “Anglo-Saxon” colonists subjugated a population of Britons who were starving, hidden in the woods, and in desperate need of “civilization.”59 It is generally held that, by 400 CE, the population of Roman Britain exceeded three million people. How

57

Klemola, English as a Contact Language in the British Isles, 75 Sims-Williams 59 Bede, 64 58

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then, could boatloads of Germanic peoples have subjugated and assimilated all of these people? The simple explanation of military takeover by bands of Germanic warriors does not suffice, and it does not align with the archaeological evidence. Through advanced study of the period, it has been found that this monumental social transformation is infinitely more complex than what can be gleaned from the angry sermons of sixth century monks.

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Bibliography Bede. Ecclesiastical History of the English People. Translated by Leo Sherley-Price and D. H. Farmer, edited by R. E. Latham and Betty Radice, Penguin Publishing Group, 1990.

Chaney, William A. “Paganism to Christianity in Anglo-Saxon England.” The Harvard Theological Review, vol. 53, no. 3, 1960, pp. 197-217. JSTOR, https://www.jstor.org/stable/1508400#metadata_info_tab_contents. Accessed 12 April 2022.

Cooper, Paul. Roman Britain - The Work of Giants Crumbed, Fall of Civilizations. Jan 2019. Spotify, https://open.spotify.com/episode/0czJt3RPyIAYCAgJbVwb3W?si=a1418e2dcd7b411a. Podcast.

Gebhardt, Torben R. “From Bretwalda to Basileus: Imperial Concepts in Late Anglo-Saxon England?”

Transcultural Approaches to the Concept of Imperial Rule in the Middle Ages, Peter Lang AG, 2017, pp.

158-184. JSTOR, https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctv6zdbwx.9#metadata_info_tab_contents.

Accessed 24 April 2022.

Gerrard, J. The Ruin of Roman Britain: An Archaeological Perspective. Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 2013.

Gildas. The Ruin of Britain. Edited by J. A. Giles, Ontario, In parenthesis Publications, 2000.

Gretzinger, Joscha, et al. “The Anglo-Saxon migration and the formation of the early English gene pool.” Nature, vol. 610, 2022, pp. 112-119. Nature, https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-022-05247-2#article-info.

Hanson, R. P. C. “English Translation of the 'Confession' and the 'Letter to Corotius' of Saint Patrick.”

Nottingham Medieval Review, vol. 15, 1971, pp. 3-26.

Homans, George C. “The Anglo-Saxon Invasions Reconsidered.” Proceedings of the Massachusetts Historical Society, vol. 71, Oct., 1953 - May, 1957, pp. 37-49. JSTOR, https://www.jstor.org/stable/25080474#metadata_info_tab_contents. Accessed 14 April 2022.

Klemola, Juhani. “English as a Contact Language in the British Isles.” Edited by Daniel Schreier and Marianne Hundt. English as a Contact Language, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 2015, pp.

75-79.

Miles, David. The Tribes of Britain. Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 2005.

Oosthuizen, Susan. The Emergence of the English. Leeds, Arc Humanities Press, 2019.

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Price, Thomas. “Book of Aneirin.” National Library of Wales, https://www.library.wales/discover-learn/digital-exhibitions/manuscripts/the-middle-ages/bookof-aneirin#?c=&m=&s=&cv=&xywh=-102%2C-373%2C4728%2C3665. Accessed 28 November 2022.

Rambaran, Mary, and Erik Wade. “The Many Myths of the Term 'Anglo-Saxon.'” Smithsonian Magazine, 14 July 2021, https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/many-myths-term-anglo-saxon-180978169/. Accessed 8 September 2022.

Sims-Williams, Patrick. “The settlement of England in Bede and the "Chronicle."” Anglo-Saxon England, vol. 12, 1983, pp. 1-41. JSTOR, https://www.jstor.org/stable/44510771#metadata_info_tab_contents. Accessed 24 April 2022.

Ward-Perkins, Bryan. “Why Did the Anglo-Saxons Not Become More British?” The English Historical Review, vol. 115, no. 462, 2000, pp. 513-533. JSTOR, https://www.jstor.org/stable/579665#metadata_info_tab_contents. Accessed 24 April 2022.

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To What Extent Has the Achievement Gap Been Impacted by Our Social and Political Climate?

The Education Crisis: History’s Call for Help Subject: History Word Count: 3,861 Personal Code: kmh999

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Table of Contents 1.

Section I: Introduction……………………………………………………………………………………… pg 3

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Section II: Lyndon B. Johnson……………………………………………………………………………… pg 5

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Section III: Ronald Reagan………………………………………………………………………………… pg 6

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Section IV: George W. Bush………………………………………………………………………………… pg 8

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Section V: Segregation……………………………………………………………………………………… pg 9

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Section VI: Post-War Education…………………………………………………………………………….. pg 11

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Section VII: Conclusion……………………………………………………………………………………. pg 12

8.

Works Cited………………………………………………………………………………………………….pg 14

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Introduction Although many believe that the achievement gap is a norm that every student in the United States must become a part of, the achievement gap has been dramatically affected by United States presidents, their policies on educational reform, and the social climate. The achievement gap; is described as consistent discrepancies in academic performance (often measured by standardized testing) among small groups of students in the United States based on socioeconomic status, race and ethnicity, and gender. While the importance of focusing on the Achievement Gap grows, it becomes more imperative that we focus on the history of the achievement gap and how the United States has reached this state of crisis. In order to focus on the history of the achievement gap, one must research an additional factor that has historically had a direct impact on the achievement gap: population. Between 1790 and 1860, the population of the US grew by about a third every decade, which, in turn, put increased pressure on the schooling system to build more schooling and hire more teachers. This growth led to 1870, when 20 percent of the United States population was illiterate.1 This brought about a call to action that presidential candidates would later answer.

Throughout the history of United States presidential terms, education reform has fluctuated in its priority.2 For instance, Lyndon B Johnson, who served from 1963 to 1969, was known for his Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 and The Civil Rights Act of 1964, where he noted that: “no person in the United States shall, on the grounds of race, color, or national origin, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any program or activity receiving federal assistance” (McAndrews, 1991: 167)3 As noted, Lyndon B Johnson’s education reform set expectations for 1

https://nces.ed.gov/naal/lit_history.asp#top Snyder, Tom. “National Assessment of Adult Literacy (NAAL).” National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) Home Page, a Part of the U.S. Department of Education, https://nces.ed.gov/naal/lit_history.asp#top.

3 https://www.proquest.com/docview/1541205975/B1DD7A49A6549A9PQ/1 2

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what was to follow. During the 1980 presidential election, when Ronald Reagan was awarded his first four-year term as President of the United States, his educational reform plan, or lack thereof, became prevalent. In an attempt to revive the US from its economic recession, Reagan cut funding to many social programs, resulting in a decline in Scholastic Aptitude Tests, leading to a rise in military enrollment.

Throughout Reagan’s presidential run: twenty-three million adults and thirteen percent of 17- year- olds were considered functionally illiterate.4 This statistic was drastically contrasted with George W. Bush’s education reform act throughout his presidency, beginning in 2001. Surprising the Republican Party, Bush announced his priority for social policy: elementary and secondary education. He then introduced the No Child Left Behind Act which solidified mandatory annual testing, accountability checks on schools, higher teacher quality, and mandated the reporting of high school graduation rates. Bush planned to dedicate federal funds that would later be able to supply low-income families with education, an issue that had been debated historically.

Regarding social climate, segregation was a social reform that highly impacted the achievement gap. For example, following Brown v. Board of Education in 1954 5 it took over a decade to begin demolishing the separate but equal school systems. When the US finally saw a rise in access to education, the unionization of teachers began to rise as teachers’ colleges became four years long. Similarly, following World War II6, the priority of education rose as many began to realize that the American Dream was only obtainable through education. The curriculum in schools was broadened to include: English, Science, Humanities, and language-based classes. The severity of the achievement gap throughout history has often been exaggerated and been brought about through a lack of resources and a lack of attention to the issue, which has been caused by both; the social climate and the president’s education plans that were not prioritized and were viewed as less prominent issues which resulted in an ongoing education crisis. The impact of education policies and the social status of the US prompts the question: How has our social and political climate impacted the Achievement Gap in the United States? With clear analysis of the political and social climate, it

4

Chidester, Jeffrey L., and Stephen Knott. “Ronald Reagan, Education Policy Of.” The Reagan Years, Facts On File, 2005. History Research Center, online.infobase.com/Auth/Index?aid=&itemid=&articleId=203747. Accessed 24 July 2022.

5

US Supreme Court. Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, 347 U.S. 483 (1954). 17 May 1954. Justia Law, https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/347/483/#tab-opinion-1940809. Accessed 25 July 2022.

6

Lynch, Matthew. “Uncovering the Devastating Impact of World War II on American Education.” The Edvocate, 2 Sept. 2016, https://www.theedadvocate.org/uncovering-devastating-impact-world-war-ii-american-education/.

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is evident that the achievement gap has been increasingly negatively impacted by both; actions of presidential candidates and historical events.

Lyndon B. Johnson When Lyndon B. Johnson was elected President of The United States in 1963 7 following the assassination of John F Kennedy8, his main agenda became apparent. Calling it "the most significant step of this century to provide widespread help to all of America's schoolchildren," 9 Johnson dedicated resources of the federal government toward reaching his goal of educational equality 10 through the richer and poorer school districts. His major triumph in terms of his education plan was his implementation of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 11 two years into his presidency. The act was a part of Johnson's more extensive program of Great Society reforms 12, which consisted of education reform, attack on disease, control and prevention of crime, fight to abolish poverty, Medicare, and development of depressed regions.

This act was the first implemented by Congress to use federal government resources to provide aid to elementary and secondary education. Title I of the act created a program for those in low-income families to receive access to schooling and resources to better their education. Title II promoted school libraries and access to textbooks in both public and private institutions. Title III required educational programming, including times when school was not in session. Additionally, Title III verified that supplementary educational services would be able to receive a portion of the funding. In order to fund educational research and training, Title IV gave 100 million dollars over the course of a five-year period. Title V of the act increased grants under Public Law 874 that were given to state departments. Finally, Title IV created definitions and limitations in reference to the law. 13 The act, in total, supplied 1.3 billion dollars in federal government aid to school districts with a large number of low-income families and their children. This money, provided to both 7

Freidel, Frank, and Hugh Sidey. “Lyndon B. Johnson.” The White House, The United States Government, 18 Jan. 2021, https://www.whitehouse.gov/about-the-white-house/presidents/lyndon-b-johnson/.

8 Wallenfeldt, Jeff. "assassination of John F. Kennedy". Encyclopedia Britannica, 15 Nov. 2021, https://www.britannica.com/event/assassination-of-John-F-Kennedy. Accessed 24 July 2022.

9 Manna, Paul. "The Era of Education: The Presidents and the Schools 1965-2001." Presidential Studies Quarterly 37.2 (2007): 372-3. ProQuest. Web. 23 June 2022. https://www.proquest.com/docview/215687156?accountid=35121 10 History.com Editors. “Great Society.” History.com, A&E Television Networks, 17 Nov. 2017, https://www.history.com/topics/1960s/great-society.

11 Clark, Perry. “Education in the 20th Century.” Education in U.S. History, Facts On File, 2018. History Research Center, online.infobase.com/Auth/Index?aid=&itemid=&articleId=358183. Accessed 24 July 2022.

12

History.com Editors. “Great Society.” History.com, A&E Television Networks, 17 Nov. 2017, https://www.history.com/topics/1960s/great-society.

13

Paul, Catherine A, et al. “Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965.” Social Welfare History Project, 5 Jan. 2022, https://socialwelfare.library.vcu.edu/programs/education/elementary-and-secondary-education-act-of-1965/.

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public and private institutions, prohibited the aid from being given to church-related institutions. Instead, those who attend church-based programs would receive 'on loan' textbooks and other schooling necessities that would be the property of the public schools. These federal funds would also be supplied to education centers, services, and research. Though the intent of the ESEA was to promote equality in education systems, the application and implementation of the act differed significantly. Many suggested that Johnson's attempt to promote equality within the schooling system and low-income families through federal funding to improve the achievement gap in the United States was questionable.14 Many believed there was no thought behind the passing of Johnson's Elementary and Secondary Education Act, due to the popularized idea that this funding would pressure local officials and institutions to change their practices and improve their treatment of low-income students. Though many argued that the implementation of the ESEA was poor and would not succeed, the statistics told a different story. As Bornet explains, throughout The Presidency of Lyndon B. Johnson 15

, those in their late twenties reported having a high school diploma rose from 60 to 75 percent in the late

1960s and rose for many African Americans, citing an increase from 40 to 60 percent. Additionally, the book cites that college attendance in those aged 18 to 24 from 22 to 32 percent.16 Though many argue that the ESEA did not accomplish what it intended, many oppose that the act was not meant to alter systematic practices but to boost access to education for those all over the country. During Lyndon B. Johnson's presidency, his attempt to prioritize education nationwide and access to supplementary education succeeded as educational enrolment rose and individuals' ability to receive sufficient education emerged.

Ronald Reagan When Ronald Reagan was elected and awarded the title of the 40th president of the United States for the Republican party in 1981, it quickly became apparent that schooling, education, and the vast achievement gap in the US were low on his list of concerns. Reagan cut federal funding to social programs that proved integral to youth development and the United States education system. Nevertheless, Reagan’s first secretary of education, Terrel H. Bell reinstituted Reagan’s priorities and made education a national priority, establishing

14

Kantor, H 1991, 69 Kantor, H. (1991). “Education, Social Reform, and the State: ESEA and Federal Education Policy in the 1960's,” American Journal of Education 100, 47–83.

15 Bornet, Vaughn Davis. The Presidency of Lyndon B. Johnson. University Press of Kansas, 1988.

16 Bornet, V. (1983). The Presidency of Lyndon B. Johnson. University Press of Kansas.

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a commission known as the: National Commission on Excellence in Education in order to survey and suggest improvements. In 1983, the group issued their report: A Nation at Risk, which highlighted a decline in scholastic achievement. Through the implementation of 19 academic tests administered in the 1970s, youths in America trailed students from other industrialized countries and placed last in seven instances. Additionally, among minority youth, functional illiteracy was at an all-time high of 40%. 17 The report attributed these failings to a decline in homework assigned to high school students. In turn, the commission noted that 23% of colleges and universities noticed a decline in the ability to be selective in the administration process. A large portion of the failures reported were the low salaries that were being paid to teachers- an average of 17,000 following 12 years of teaching. In a desperate attempt to solve these widespread educational issues, the commission called for a new set of requirements for those completing their high school career, proposing curriculums based on the: “Five New Basics”. 18 These required: four years of English, three years of Mathematics, three years of science, three years of Social Studies, and half a year of computer sciences.

Additionally, the commission required longer school days and more academic-devoted timing throughout the day, adding that teachers’ salaries needed to be raised. This also included the requirement of background and teacher qualification checks for public schools. The commission finalized that: “At the heart of such a society is the commitment to a set of values and to a system of education that affords all members the opportunity to stretch their minds to full capacity, from early childhood through adulthood, learning more as the world itself changes.” (A Nation at Risk)19. As his presidential term continued, many became aware of Reagan’s views on education policy. Believing in local control of education and leaving choices up to parents, Ronald Reagan was committed to abolishing the Department of Education (DOE). Since the creation of the DOE, Reagan had been public concerning his dislike for the department and consistently reaffirmed that there was no need for the creation in the first place. In his perspective, the DOE represented the federal government’s involvement in matters that overreached their authority. Although Reagan felt strongly about dismantling the Department of Education, the proposal never received serious consideration as Reagan never prioritized it. Additionally, 17

The National Commission on Excellence in Education, A Nation at Risk: The Imperative for Educational Reform, A Report to the Nation and the Secretary of Education United States Department of Education, April 1983 18 The National Commission on Excellence in Education, A Nation at Risk: The Imperative for Educational Reform, A Report to the Nation and the Secretary of Education United States Department of Education, April 1983 19 The National Commission on Excellence in Education, A Nation at Risk: The Imperative for Educational Reform, A Report to the Nation and the Secretary of Education United States Department of Education, April 1983

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Reagan was a persistent advocate for “school choice,”20 which gave parents tax credits or vouchers to select the schools that their children were to attend. In 1985, Secretary Bennett revealed the TEACH proposal, designed to give a voucher to students eligible for federal assistance to pay for the costs of attending private schooling. These vouchers, which averaged around 600 dollars per student, would have been available to almost 5 million students, but the proposal was denied. Despite President Ronald Reagan’s term, many educational and systematic issues still persist due to Reagan’s inability to prioritize the pressing matter.

George W. Bush In 2001, George W. Bush was elected the 43rd president of the United States as a member of the Republican Party. When his presidency began, his education policy and plan for education reform became clear. Surprisingly to members of the Republican party, Bush rejected the idea that education is not a federal government’s responsibility. The necessity for education improvement began as statistics showed a drop in urban school scores and saw the achievement gap between white children and Hispanic and black children.

Shockingly, less than half of the states fully measured their students’ progress. Many doubted Bush’s ability to pass an education bill. However, much to everyone’s dismay, in 2001, Bush passed a reauthorization of Lyndon B Johnson’s ESEA of 1965, titling it: No Child Left Behind. 21 The reauthorization increased the federal government’s involvement in education by emphasizing the accountability schools must take regarding student achievement and academic performance.The act required that schools were to test their students every year in English, Language Arts and Mathematics in grades three through eight. Additionally, the act required that school districts and independent schools report these test scores, including low-income students.22 Bush surprised many members of the Republican Party as his prioritization that children around the United States would receive equal education and opportunities did not align with republican views.

Although Bush’s thoughts concerning standardized testing and implementation surprised members of his political party, they were not new. These views began with the publication of A Nation at Risk in 1983, where poor student achievement was shown across the United States. Although the reauthorization of the ESEA 20

Chidester, Jeffrey L., and Stephen Knott. “Ronald Reagan, Education Policy Of.” The Reagan Years, Facts On File, 2005. History Research Center, online.infobase.com/Auth/Index?aid=&itemid=&articleId=203747. Accessed 24 July 2022.

21 Nolen, Jeannette L. and Duignan, Brian. "No Child Left Behind". Encyclopedia Britannica, 3 Jun. 2021, https://www.britannica.com/topic/No-Child-Left-Behind-Act. Accessed 24 July 2022.

22 Bornfreund, Laura, et al. “Federal Education Legislation.” New America, https://www.newamerica.org/education-policy/topics/federal-education-legislation-budget/federal-education-legislation/.

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seemed to be simple, the process of gaining the ability to create the NCLB was far from it. Conservative Republicans argued that although the federal government’s aid had reached 185 billion dollars over the past years, the scores of low-income students remained the same. They advocated for school districts to be given the funding and make the decisions to implement it where they saw fit. The slow process to pass the reauthorization began in 1999 and was paused as the senate process was slower than anticipated. The Senate held the bill and reinstallment back by two years which brought the reauthorization and signing of the bill not until 2002. NCLB highlighted five main aspects that the reauthorization believed would aid in the restoration of education in the US. Annual testing for grades three to eight was mandated, and performance standards were set to ensure that students were all receiving and succeeding in the core curriculum. Additionally, report cards were mandated, teacher qualifications were enforced, and graduation rates had to be reported at the end of each school year. Failure to comply with these standards would result in a school needing to offer complete restaffing and coordinating a new student curriculum. Surprisingly, after the Bush administration implemented the reauthorization and passing of the No Child Left Behind Act in 2008, graduation rates began to plummet, dropping from 91.8% for white students and 83.7% for African- American students to a 73.9% average in 2008.23 As the act continued to be implemented, it became evident that the more the Bush administration enforced the NCLB act, the graduation rates fluctuated as the requirements to become a high school graduate became more serious. Overall, the successful implementation of the ESEA’s reauthorization, also known as the NCLB act, surprised members of the republican party that Bush belonged to. However, George W. Bush showed dedication to his education policy of comprehensive reform of public K-12 education.

Segregation Although the political climate had a substantial impact on the achievement gap in the US, social climate and history have greatly influenced the United States' education system. For example, segregation greatly affected children, educators, and others who are a part of the education system. The most noteworthy supreme court case that considerably altered the experience of those who attended institutions around the US 23

Patrick J. McGuinn, No Child Left Behind and the Transformation of Federal Education Policy, 1965–2005 (Lawrence: University Press of Kansas, 2006)

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was Brown v. Board of Education in 1954. 24 The ruling declared "separate but equal" schools unconstitutional and allowed for the beginning of educational integration around the US. Nevertheless, despite the Supreme Court ruling, educational integration proved to be much more complex than many believed. As history had shown, it was incredibly difficult for educational injustices to be removed from the school system, which later proved to be a much larger problem. Desegregation began as it took over a decade to abolish the laws established in seventeen southern states which required elementary schools to be segregated by race. Additionally, higher education was affected by desegregation. For example, in 1962, James H. Meredith, an African American student, wished to register as a transfer student at the University of Mississippi. Although the state government tried desperately to hinder his enrollment, the federal government demanded that he be admitted into the school. He was later enrolled into classes at the university but not without tremendous pushback, resulting in riots that killed two, injured one hundred and seventy- five people, and two hundred and twelve arrests. James then graduated the following summer with his bachelor's degree.

25

In many northern industrial states, schools were not segregated by district but due to the racial composition

of residential neighborhoods. In James Coleman's report, "Equality of Educational Opportunity, "Coleman found that African- American children performed academically best in integrated schools. This study, therefore, supported reformers in eliminating informal segregation. Additionally, desegregation affected teachers and schooling for those who wished to become educators. The majority of the elementary, middle and high school teaching positions required a four-year degree, and by 1960, two-year teacher's colleges came to an abrupt halt. In the late 1940s and early 1950s, cities like Buffalo, Detroit, and Minneapolis saw a rise in teacher's unions as many educators demanded pay increases or work reductions in direct response to many citizens' refusal to fund local education. The National Education Association (NEA) had once served as a national network for administrators to compare teaching strategies. However, as leadership changed, its diverse membership resulted in smaller responses to school funding problems that popped up around the country in the 1950s. In contrast, the American Federation of Teachers (AFT), made up solely of teachers, was a much better-suited place that promoted teacher activism against the administration. Membership of 24

"Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka (1)." Oyez, www.oyez.org/cases/1940-1955/347us483. Accessed 25 Jul. 2022.

Beasley, Heather A. Education in Postwar America, Facts On File, 2016. History Research Center, online.infobase.com/Auth/Index?aid=&itemid=&articleId=397035. Accessed 24 July 2022.

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AFT grew from 1960 to 1970; in just ten years, it grew from 60,000 to 200,000. The unionization of teachers brought both positive and negative impacts. Teachers could bargain and argue for opinions based on wage and pay raises. As positive as this seemed, it also became difficult for administrators to fire incompetent teachers, which resulted in the decline of proper educators to be in the system. Project Head Start of 1965, which initially began as a part of Lyndon B Johnson's war on poverty. It later transformed the public education system regarding access to education and increased academic success in elementary school and beyond. At the start of 1950, an average of 59 out of 100 seventeen year-old students graduated from high school. This number then rose to 77 out of 100 26, primarily due to the increase in desegregation, suggesting that unequal school quality could have played a more prominent role in graduation rates than many initially believed. Typical high school curriculums included science courses such as biology, chemistry, and physics, math: geometry, algebra. Additionally, by the late 1950s, electronic classes became more common in computer science classes. Overall, access to education increased extensively following the increase of desegregation around the country. Students were able to gain access to schooling no matter their race and were after many advocated for the increase in desegregation mandates by the federal government.

Post-War Education Following the end of World War II, the United States dealt with the idea of rebuilding a country they knew would never be the same. As they began to rebuild, many noticed that the education system was an aspect of the country that suffered the most in quality and accessibility. Many believed that World War II was a wake-up call that the US needed as, after the war ended, education became a top priority. During the early part of the 20th century, primary schooling was provided for children up until the age of twelve, where education was only made available to those who could afford it. After the war ended, United States citizens became aware of the realistic ways that education was important in their everyday lives. Therefore, views surrounding education shifted to many advocating for the accessibility of college and secondary education.27 Consumer Culture of the 1950s centered around the idea of an American dream of a family with a stable

26

Beasley, Heather A. Education in Postwar America, Facts On File, 2016. History Research Center, online.infobase.com/Auth/Index?aid=&itemid=&articleId=397035. Accessed 24 July 2022.

27 Escovar, Matthew, and Megan D. Wessel. “Education, Post–World War II.” Postwar United States, Third Edition, Facts On File, 2017. History Research Center, online.infobase.com/Auth/Index?aid=&itemid=&articleId=201679. Accessed 24 July 2022.

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income and a well-rounded life 28 aided in the fight where many individuals realized that the American dream was solely attainable through education. Additionally, the United States believed they were threatened in their intelligence level following the Soviet Union’s launch of Sputnik: the world’s first orbiting satellite. This sent the US into a panic as many believed that the Soviet’s education had to have been superior, which then resulted in President Dwight D. Eisenhower signing the National Defense Education Act in September of 1958.

This act located funding for improvements to be made in educating Science, Math, and Foreign Languages.

The grants totaled around one billion dollars. As these funds were dispersed throughout states, citizens saw the education system begin to change for the better. Although the National Defense Education Act started the shift in the education system following World War II, the most notable change came in 1944 when the Servicemen’s Readjustment Act was established. The GI Bill, as it was referred to, dispersed funds for veterans to attend college. In 1930, less than 10% of all high school students had participated in further education, which changed dramatically by 1965, when more than half of all high school graduates did so. Additionally, in 1945, over 900,000 students were enrolled in two- and four-year universities and colleges; compared to just two years after, more than two million students were enrolled in such schools. The rise in student enrollment lasted through the 1950s and 60s when many colleges and universities had to deal with accommodation of the largest enrollment they had ever seen. Overall, through post-World War II, citizens saw the government prioritize access to education for those in lower-income families who had not been able to access the education system in the years prior. Although the changes were positive for the country, the idea that it took the historical event of a world war for a call to action baffled citizens, as many had been fighting for this human right long before.

Conclusion The education crisis evolved into the crisis that so many people face today. This epidemic is often seen as a direct result of the president’s lack of an education plan or, in some cases, a consequence of many social climates. Although the history of the achievement gap in the United States has been grossly neglected, we can see that it is, in fact, possible for the education system to flourish and for the crisis to decline in its

28

Adams, James Truslow. The Epic of America. Little Brown, 1931.

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importance. Throughout the presidential terms of Lyndon B. Johnson, Ronald Reagan, and George W. Bush, the adaptation and recognition that many of these presidents exemplified aided in the achievement gap’s fluctuation throughout history. Additionally, the desegregation of the United States greatly affected students around the country through access and prioritization of education based on race. Moreover, following World War II, the US saw a significant change in the precedence that education received once its importance was further understood. Finally, the achievement gap’s shift was primarily due to the varying social and political climate. Throughout history, it became prevalent that in order to prioritize the closing of the achievement gap, those who are in positions of power must work to correct past mistakes, and a call to action must be made to those who choose to ignore the great injustices that the education system runs on.

Works Cited Snyder, Tom. “National Assessment of Adult Literacy (NAAL).” National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) Home Page, a Part of the U.S. Department of Education, https://nces.ed.gov/naal/lit_history.asp#top.

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Chidester, Jeffrey L., and Stephen Knott. “Ronald Reagan, Education Policy Of.” The Reagan Years, Facts On File, 2005. History Research Center, online.infobase.com/Auth/Index?aid=&itemid=&articleId=203747. Accessed 24 July 2022.

Lynch, Matthew. “Uncovering the Devastating Impact of World War II on American Education.”

The Edvocate, 2 Sept. 2016, https://www.theedadvocate.org/uncovering-devastating-impact-world-war-ii-american-education/.

Freidel, Frank, and Hugh Sidey. “Lyndon B. Johnson.” The White House, The United States Government, 18 Jan. 2021, https://www.whitehouse.gov/about-the-white-house/presidents/lyndon-b-johnson/.

Wallenfeldt, Jeff. "assassination of John F. Kennedy". Encyclopedia Britannica, 15 Nov. 2021, https://www.britannica.com/event/assassination-of-John-F-Kennedy. Accessed 24 July 2022.

Manna, Paul. "The Era of Education: The Presidents and the Schools 1965-2001." Presidential Studies Quarterly 37.2 (2007): 372-3. ProQuest. Web. 23 June 2022. https://www.proquest.com/docview/215687156?accountid=35121 History.com Editors. “Great Society.” History.com, A&E Television Networks, 17 Nov. 2017, https://www.history.com/topics/1960s/great-society.

Paul, Catherine A, et al. “Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965.” Social Welfare History Project, 5 Jan. 2022, https://socialwelfare.library.vcu.edu/programs/education/elementary-and-secondary-education-act-of-1965/ .

Kantor, H 1991, 69 Kantor, H. (1991). “Education, Social Reform, and the State: ESEA and Federal Education Policy in the 1960's,” American Journal of Education 100, 47–83.

Bornet, Vaughn Davis. The Presidency of Lyndon B. Johnson. University Press of Kansas, 1988.

The National Commission on Excellence in Education, A Nation at Risk: The Imperative for Educational Reform, A Report to the Nation and the Secretary of Education United States Department of Education, April 1983 Chidester, Jeffrey L., and Stephen Knott. “Ronald Reagan, Education Policy Of.” The Reagan Years, Facts On File, 2005. History Research Center, online.infobase.com/Auth/Index?aid=&itemid=&articleId=203747. Accessed 24 July 2022.

Nolen, Jeannette L. and Duignan, Brian. "No Child Left Behind". Encyclopedia Britannica, 3 Jun. 2021, https://www.britannica.com/topic/No-Child-Left-Behind-Act. Accessed 24 July 2022.

Bornfreund, Laura, et al. “Federal Education Legislation.” New America, https://www.newamerica.org/education-policy/topics/federal-education-legislation-budget/federal-educatio n-legislation/.

Patrick J. McGuinn, No Child Left Behind and the Transformation of Federal Education Policy, 1965–2005 (Lawrence: University Press of Kansas, 2006) "Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka (1)." Oyez, www.oyez.org/cases/1940-1955/347us483.

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Beasley, Heather A. Education in Postwar America, Facts On File, 2016. History Research Center, online.infobase.com/Auth/Index?aid=&itemid=&articleId=397035.

Escovar, Matthew, and Megan D. Wessel. “Education, Post–World War II.” Postwar United States, Third Edition, Facts On File, 2017. History Research Center, online.infobase.com/Auth/Index?aid=&itemid=&articleId=201679.

Adams, James Truslow. The Epic of America. Little Brown, 1931.

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Jane Tillem Title: A Political or a Militaristic Reason?: Nuclear Threats During the Cuban Missile Crisis Description: My extended essay explores what factors influenced the Cuban Missile Crisis, discussing political and militaristic reasons. I examined the backgrounds and perspectives of historical figures such as Nikita Khrushchev, John F. Kennedy, and Anatoly Dobrynin. I analyzed other countries' involvement in the crisis based on their nuclear capabilities- Romania, Turkey, Germany, Cuba, Italy, and America. I selected this topic for my extended essay because after learning more about World War II and the Cold War in my history class the previous year, I became more interested in the subject and wanted to become more knowledgeable.

Extended Essay Title: A Political or a Militaristic Reason?: Nuclear Threats During the Cuban Missile Crisis Research Question: “To What Extent Did the Threat of Nuclear Power Play Into Preventing War During the Cuban Missile Crisis?”

Personal Code: 002909-0040 Subject: History Word Count: 3,978

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Table of Contents

TITLE

1

Table of Contents

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Introduction

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1st Argument: Nuclear Threat Did Not Play a Role

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1.1: Political Reasoning with Anatolyn Dobryin and Khrushchev

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1.2 Romania's political involvement

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1.3 Cuba

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2nd Argument: Nuclear power played a role

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2.1: Berlin

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2.2: Turkey and Italy

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2.3: Soviet Union and America's Navy

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Works Cited:

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Introduction After World War II, the tension between the United States and the Soviet Union was at an all time high; they were the two strongest nations in power. World War II was one of the main factors that led to the Cold War forming in 1947. In 1960, Kennedy ran for president alongside with Richard Nixion; they promised that they would stop the spread of communism from the Soviet Union1. The United States and Soviet Union had completely different ideologies and the only time they were ever allies was to defeat Germany during World War II. Kennedy also stated he was concerned that United States had far less missiles than the Soviet Union and called it a “missile gap” 2. In 1959, Castro seized power of Cuba and became allies with the Soviet Union.

The Soviet Union desperately needed this alliance as they had few allies after World War II; the Warsaw Pact was one of the only things that kept them connected to the other countries. America was afraid of the Soviet Union using Cuba as a mechanism to spread communism to the United States.

The Cuban Missile Crisis was a 13 day period in October 1962 where the United States thought the Soviet Union was going to use nuclear weapons through Cuba to destroy America.

My research question because of this is “To What Extent Did the Threat of Nuclear Power Play Into Preventing War During the Cuban Missile Crisis?”. My question is worthy of study and it is significant to the world as this is one of the few times tensions had ever been this high and nuclear power was threatened to be used. In my essay, I will be explaining both sides of this argument, nuclear power played no role and it did play a role, and deciding which one played a larger role in the Cuban Missile Crisis. I chose this topic because last year my history class spent some time focusing on World War II, but did not get to dive deeply into the after effects- such as 1 2

Hill, 556 Hill, 556

3

the Cold War. I specifically chose the Cuban Missile Crisis because this was one of the few times nuclear weapons were ever threatened to be involved in war. The only time nuclear weapons were ever actually used was in the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagaski in 19453. With this said though, there other times nuclear was threatened such as during the Korean War. Former president Truman stated he would take any steps necessary to resolve this conflict and when someone asked if it included the atomic bomb and Truman said “every weapon we have”4.

1. 1st Argument: Nuclear Threat Did Not Play a Role 1.1: Political Reasoning with Anatolyn Dobryin and Khrushchev Did nuclear weapons not play a role in preventing the Cuban Missile Crisis? Was it all political? After Kennedy received a notice on October 16th, 1962 that missiles were spotted in Cuba he formed the ExComm otherwise known as The Executive Committee of the National Security Council. One person on the team, Secretary McNamara, claimed that nuclear weapons were useless and the only time they weren’t is to stop another country from using them5. On this same day Kennedy and his executives were extremely concerned as they just talked with a Soviet Union ambassador Anatoly Dobyrin on behalf of Khrushchev, the leader of the Soviet Union, about creating a treaty that would ban nuclear weapons from testing outside and would only allow it underground6. Dobyrin stated that Khrushchev told Kennedy that the missiles placed in Cuba wouldn’t be any offensive weapons and wouldn't do anything to affect their relationship7.

We know now looking from the future this is false, but Khrushchev’s statement was frightening to the ExComm when they saw these missiles on Cuba. They were questioning if everything Dobryin was saying was true or false; they were wondering if they could even trust them. The 3

UN, Nuclear Weapons Truman Library and Museum, The President's News Conference 5 Trachtenberg, 139 6 Kennedy, 24 7 Kennedy, 26 4

4

question is though why did Khrushchev lie and place these missiles in the first place. Getchell says its “a combination of personal, ideological, reputational, and strategic factors motivated the Soviet premier.”8. Another historian, William J. Medland, states a couple other reasons why the missiles could have been placed, but claims the most plausible reason was to repair Khrushchev’s missile gap9. So it wasn’t the threat of nuclear power but the danger of not having a superior position. But with this said, there were other political factors that led the Soviet Union wanting a better deal such as on their position in Berlin. Another example is the missiles in Turkey and Italy that the Soviet Union wanted out but only the U.S had the power to do so. They wanted to extend their commuinst influence and urging the world to stop spotlighting the Soviets own problems10. The missiles placed by the Soviet Union were done to get a better deal with the United States on other problems going on in their country.

The Cuban Missile Crisis was prevented was by negotiating- just like McNamara stated.

The United States had stronger nuclear power than the Soviet Union and this was widely known; McNamra stated that instead of threatening the Soviet Union with military action they should use negotiations11.They were concerned that if they used a blockade, which they ended up doing, “it would not solve or end the Cuban Missile Crisis… eventually we would have to use military force,”12. Even though the ExComm did use military troops they also used political methods to end the Cuban Missile Crisis like McNamra stated. Before the negotiation between Khrushchev and Kennedy the ExComm were debating between an air strike or a blockade; the word blockade is technically illegal as it is known as an act of warfare so they called it a quarantine as they wanted NATO’s support13. The quarantine method is when the ExComm military stopped the 8

Getchell, 123 Medland, 434 10 Medland, 434 11 Gibson, 398 12 Gibson, 399 13 Garthoff, 49 9

5

Soviet ships from entering via ships so they could not receive their supplies; this was done so Kennedy did not have to use confrontation. Majority of the ExComm wanted to do an airstrike instead of using the quarantine method which might of started groupthink; a danger Ivring Janis says they escaped from14. Groupthink is when the majority of people have the same idea so everyone else agrees to it because they think it is the correct choice. McNamara originally said no to the blockade twice15. Some critics claim it was a political problem and said ”Kennedy rejected a political solution to a political problem and instead instituted a military response”16.

Kennedy gave into confrontation at the end because he was worried about losing Americas name and prestige; also he was worried this would lead to America having less commitment17.The participants say this is what lessed the tensions of the Cold War and finally made the nuclear test ban treaty enacted in 196318.

After they finally realized the quarantine method, would not work then they started to negotiate. The first letter sent was sent out by Kennedy to urging Khrushchev to “change the course of the events”19. Khrushchev ignored the letter until 2 days later. On October 27th, 1962 another letter was sent out from Moscow with different terms; these terms stated that the United States needed to remove the Jupiter missiles and in exchange the Soviet Union would remove the missiles they found offensive on Cuba; additionally, this letter from Khrushchev claims that the reason that they even have the missiles in Cuba was to spread communism and their beliefs20.

When Khrushchev gave this offer to Kennedy he did not trust Khrushchev so it was not accepted.

Kennedy also did not want it widely known that he had taken the Juipter missiles out of Turkey 14

Gibson, 365 Gibson, 371 16 Medland, 437 17 Medland, 436 18 Medland, 435 19 JFK Presidential LIbrary and Museum, 10 20 JFK Presidential Library and Museum, 12 15

6

as this put him in a better political position. One last letter was sent by Kennedy with his final offer saying the United States will not invade Cuba and will secretly take out their missiles from Turkey if the Soviet Union withdraws their missiles under UN supervision21. Khrushchev finally accepted the offer over a radio broadcast for the whole country to hear. On October 28th, 1962 the Cuban Missile Crisis was over and nuclear war was avoided. Medland stated Kennedy hoped for a negotiated settlement and thought blockade would not even do anything originally22. One historian, Raymond L. Garthoff, states that “Some critics of the outcome of the crisis resolution that the United States could have and should have ‘done better’, driven a harder bargain23. This evidence shows that the reason the Soviet Union did this was to get a better political position in Turkey and to spread communism; a nuclear war was not wanted by the Soviet Union.

1.2 Romania's political involvement Another reason nuclear power might not have prevented war and was more political was idea that Romina helped out Kennedy. During the crisis, Romania sided with the United States not because they felt threatened but instead because the didn’t want to be tied to Soviet Union in the Warsaw pact24. During the meetings in 1961, countries discussed new military strategies and a new economic plan that would help with international relations between other communist countries25. In the beginning of World War II in 1939, another pact was made between the Soviet Union and Romania that they would take over Bessarabia and Northern Bukovina. This was signed in 1944 and 1947 and were two regions in Romania26. Moldova used to be part of Romania until it was taken over for a year by the Soviet Union as they wanted denationalize it; 21

JFK Presidential Library and Museum, 12 Gibson, 373 23 Garthoff, 161 24 Wisconsin Press, 333 25 Wisconsin Press, 333 26 Macmillan, 95 22

7

Moldivan nationalists were deported by the Soviet Union27. Romania obtained Moldova back after a year, but even after the end of World War II there were still Soviet Troops in Romanian territory as they wanted it back again. This was another reason Romiana wanted to detach from Moscow because then they would not economically not rely on them, which was the only reason they were still even with the Soviet Union28. Also, the Soviet Union started to trade with Cuba and use them instead as a economic benefit which made Romiana want to leave from the Soviet Union even more. The prime minister of Romania, Gheorghe Gheroghiu-Dej, wanted America's assistance in 1957 to help them leave. America's response was that they wanted to see it was clear Romiana cut away from the Soviet Union. After this, then they would trade with Romania as they wanted to make sure they were not economically dependent on the Soviet Union. During the Cuban Missile Crisis this was the perfect opportunity for Romiana and sent a letter to Kennedy to show they were detaching from the Soviet Union29. Romiana was not alarmed by the threat of nuclear power because they were close with the Soviet Union but, they wanted the war to end so they could finally trade. Romiana finally had a plausible and good reason to show they were done with the Soviet Union. The United States did not want anything to do with the Soviet Union while the Cuban Missile Crisis was going on because they did not know who they could and couldn’t trust.

This shows that Romania wanted to leave not because of nuclear threats but because of economic reasons; they wanted to be able to stand alone without the Soviet Union. America was thriving in the 60s economically, and this finally gave Romania a chance to be apart of that. So why would Romania stay with the Soviet Union when they were the only ones trading with Cuba? It held no benefit for them. The Romanian leaders made it very clear that they promoting 27

Macmillan, 95 Macmillan, 96 29 Macmillan, 99 28

8

the western trade and going to switch over; they wanted national autonomy inside of the Soviet Union and could not leave it30.

1.3 Cuba Medland states that the Kennedy Administration failed to understand the real three motives of why the Soviet Union placed missiles in Cuba: protecting Castro’s communism, reducing strategic imbalance, and strengthening their position in the Caribbean and Latin America31. Medland goes to say that the difference between the participants and revisionists is that the revisionists opinion was that the missiles did not alter the power balance. According to the Oxford English Dictionary a revisionist is “A person who questions or revises a previously accepted version of historical phenomena or events.” This means they thought there was no threat of a nuclear war starting because the missiles that the Soviet Union had didn’t give them the ability to strike first or let them have a better retaliation strike32. The revisionists are claiming these nuclear missiles were not threatening and the Soviet Union was doing this to protect Castro as he also believed in Communism and wanted to spread it throughout the world. Cuba and the Soviet Union originally first became allies when they signed a 100 million dollar sugar deal in 1960 and made a trade agreement33. At this same time Cuba also traded with the United States but Cuba only agreed to keep trading with the United States if they would process the Soviet Union's oil. The United States became irritated at this so they froze Cubas assets in the United States and reduced the amount they could trade34. This affected the United States and Cuba's relationship. This could be an additional reason for why the Soviet Union partnered with Cuba as

30

Macmillian, 97 Medland, 436 32 Medland, 436 33 Fagen, 70 31

34

CFR.org Editors 9

they needed more people to trade with, but the main reason was to spread communism and did not want Marxism-Leninism to fail35.

Besides Cuba’s relationship being negatively altered with America after the sugar deal there were other reasons for the conflict between the two countries. Cuba wanted to get back at America after Bay of Pigs Invasion in 1961. Kennedy did not want another political and military flop so he wanted to prevent the Cuban Missile Crisis becoming another war. In 1960, Eisenhower was president; he told the CIA to secretly train Cuban exiles so they could later invade Castro and stop communism from spreading. They never went into Cuba during Eisenhower's presidency, but 6 months after Kennedy became president he took this idea and agreed to it36. April 17th, 1961 was day of the Bay of Pigs invasion. This invasion failed miserably and was called a “political flop”. It was horrible for Kennedy's popularity and put the United States in a negative light37. Cuba held distrust for America after this.

2. 2nd Argument: Nuclear power played a role 2.1: Berlin The other argument is that the threat of nuclear power did play a role in preventing the Cuban Missile Crisis. There are many reasons for this, one being the city of Berlin. After the Grand Alliance defeated the Axis Powers and won World War II, Germany’s land was split up between the United Kingdom, France, the United States, and the Soviet Union. Germany was divided into the East and West; the west being the United Kingdom, the United States, and France and the east being solely the Soviet Union. West and East Germany had different beliefs and ways of working the country. The east was under a communist influence and the west was capitalist. Germany became divided, but a majority of the people agreed that they liked living in 35

Getchell, 129 Hill, 563 37 Hill, 563 36

10

west Germany better as it was free of communism. Additionally, if you lived in west Germany you could leave and go to another country while in the East this was not allowed38. Even though the city of Berlin was technically on the east side of Germany when the Berlin wall was made, otherwise known as the Iron Curtain, it divided Berlin in half in between West and East Germany. This built tension between the Soviet Union and the United States. Khrushchev told Kennedy that all of his troops needed to be gone by the the end of 1961; Kennedy refused causing greater tension39. Kennedy used nuclear deterrence as a tactic. Nuclear deterrence means to use the same or more force than the other party to prevent conflict and get rid of them.

Kennedy did this by putting even more military troops in Berlin40. Getchell even states “Kennedy was convinced that Khrushchev sought to use the improved Soviet strategic situation to force a Western withdrawal from Berlin”41. The Soviet Union threatened the United States and thought America would just accept their missiles on Cuba42. The Soviet Union knew their missiles were not as strong and had fewer so they just wanted to use Berlin as a bargaining plea. This was because it was known that Kennedy was afraid and did not want to go to nuclear war. There was a report that came from East German intelligence saying that if access routes were not opened again in West Berlin than NATO would use a tactical nuclear weapons (TNW)43. This plan never went through, but the United States was fearful they were not bluffing especially after the Soviet Union actually placed their missiles down in Cuba that this for the second time. Even though these threats made by the Soviet Union were backless, the United States did not know at the time so had to fully consider them.

38

Getchell, 126 Getchell, 126 40 Getchell, 126 41 Getchell, 127 42 Getchell,132 43 Schulte, 35 39

11

2.2: Turkey and Italy Another threat of nuclear power was the Jupiter missiles placed in Turkey and Italy by the United States. These missiles surrounded the Soviet Union and became in use again starting April 196244. Since 1959, the Soviet Union had been threatened by these missiles and Khrushchev states that since America threatened their country with nuclear weapons them putting missiles in Cuba would “be doing nothing more than giving them a little of their own medicine”45. Additionally, the Soviet Union knew they were less technologically advanced and had less missiles so it was thought that by putting missiles in Cuba it would make them equal on a nuclear level46. The Soviet Union thought the Jupiter missiles were much more powerful than they actually were: they were practically useless as they were made many years prior. When the United States did not want to take their missiles out it showed as a motive of why the Soviet employed missiles in Cuba. Both countries wanted to scare each other, but if they both lit off missiles it could turn into a nuclear war. The missiles in Cuba could kill 80 million Americans in minutes47. The United States used the fact that the Soviet Union thought Juipter missiles were powerful to their advantage by tricking the Soviet Union into making a deal that worked out in their favor48. Nuclear power played into the role that Kennedy had to be strategic in choosing when and when to not be aggressive- one wrong move and missiles could have been set off49.

Originally Kennedy did not want to discuss getting rid of the missiles in Turkey and refused the idea because it gave him the leg up America needed50. Nuclear power affected Kennedys thinking because when the missiles were placed and directed at American cities Kennedy 44

Getchell, 125 Getchell, 125 46 Getchell, 125 47 Kennedy, 36 48 Trachentberg, 144 49 Trachtenberg, 139 50 Trachentberg, 144 45

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thought to make the ExComm group. The people in this group were the highest up and most qualified as this situation was extremely dangerous to the United States. In addition, on October 17th when it was found out the missiles placed in Cuba were operational even though the Soviet Union stated they wouldn’t be McNamara said an invasion inevitable because of this51. By the Soviet Union creating a web of lies it made it hard for the United States to actually believe what they were saying, which is another reason why in the last negotiation the United States made sure the United Nations was there to watch the Soviet Union take the missiles out of Cuba.

2.3: Soviet Union and America's Navy Another way nuclear power was a big threat was due to the Soviet Union submarines; the Soviet Union used multiple forms of transportation to get goods to Cuba, one being submarines.

The United States changed the depth line of the Soviet ships from the original length52. At this time America was unaware of this but there was 4 submarines that they did not know were under the depth line. The United States also was in the dark about the power of this of these ships; with a click of a button they could set off the missiles as they had nuclear power on board. On the ships, there was a first and second in command. On one of the ships, Vasily Arkhipov was a second in command general; they had the power with two other generals to click the button to launch the missiles if there seemed a nuclear threat, but it had to fit the three conditions though53.

These conditions were that the commanding officers needed to be sure they were under nuclear attack, a radio connection with the Soviet Navy could not be found, and the first and second in command were in favor of launching the weapon54. If only two of these conditions were not met, they could not launch the missiles as this was a huge decision and could start a nuclear war 51

Trachentberg, 144 Schtlue, 37 53 Saradzhyan, 102 54 Saradyzhan, 102 52

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leaving the Soviet Union could be at fault for starting it. One of the Soviet Naval ships was extremely close to pressing this button due to a false nuclear threat but Vasily Arkhipov vetoed the idea to press the button even though the first general in command supported the idea. If it was not for Arkhipov there is a good chance a nuclear war could have erupted. This happened on October 26, 1962 when their naval connection stopped working and they heard on the Miami radio station that the troops were being mobilized in Florida55. In America, misle crew ships were on maxinum alert and troops were moved to Florida; the Navy had 180 ships in the Caribean and had a bomber plane in effect56.The U.S Navy tried to make the Soviet submarine come above ocean waters to communicate with them via singalling charges, but the first in command, Valentin Savitsky, thought these were bombs not signalling charges. Because of this Savitsky wanted to push the button as he thought all three criteria was meet57. This is another example of why groupthink is not a good idea and it was smart for Arkhipov to voice that he thought the button should not be pressed.

Conclusion After looking at both sides to see if the Cuban Missile Crisis was or was not prevented because of nuclear power I have come to the conclusion it was not due to nuclear threat. It is clear that nuclear power did have an influence in Kennedy becoming more alert and responsive about the crisis but it was through political reasoning that the conflict was halted. After United States had embarrassed themselves during the Bay of Pigs they did not want to go to war.

Looking at this situation from the Soviet Union’s perspective, they did not have nearly enough nuclear power to win a war if it had started; they only used nuclear power as a way to get a better deal on situations that they did not have a good standing point in such as in Berlin and Turkey.

55

Saradzhyan, 102 Kenndy, 52 57 Saradyzhan, 102 56

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Also, if you look at it from the United States perspective they had to be careful not want to give into appeasement and one of the reasons Kennedy finally sent a final negotiation was because secretary McNamara. She had a major influence and knew from the start this could only get solved by a negotiation. The United States wanted to keep their reputation and Kennedy still needed America to like him and support his decisions.

Reflecting on my essay I think I could of used more historians perspectives and compared them to each other more. With this said though I was able to answer my research question to a good extent showing all the possible reasons for each side. This was a major strength of my thesis as I looked it everything completely unbiased; I also defended both sides even though at the end I came to the conclusion that it was more a political reason. A new question that arose from doing this research was if the United States and Soviet Union ever traded again and if so for what duration of time.

Works Cited: 1. Archives, National. “The President's News ConferenceN.” The President's News Conference | Harry S. Truman, https://www.trumanlibrary.gov/library/public-papers/295/presidents-news-conference.

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2. CFR.org Editors. (2017, June 20). U.S.-Cuba Relations. Council on Foreign Relations.

Retrieved August 12, 2022, from https://www.cfr.org/timeline/us-cuba-relations 3. Dictionary, Oxford. “Revisionist .” Oxford English Dictionary, https://www.oed.com/view/Entry/164896?redirectedFrom=revisionist#eid. Accessed 21 18. Nov. 2022. Garthoff, Raymond. Reflections on the Cuban Missile Crisis. Brookings Institution Press, 2011.

4. Fagen, Richard R. “Cuba and the Soviet Union.” The Wilson Quarterly (1976-), vol. 2, no. 1, 1978, pp. 69–78. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/40255843. Accessed 10 Aug. 2022.

5. Getchell, M. (2018). The Cuban Missile Crisis and the Cold War: A Short History with Documents (Passages: Key Moments in History). Hackett Publishing Company, Inc. 6. Gibson, David R. “Avoiding Catastrophe: The Interactional Production of Possibility during the Cuban Missile Crisis.” American Journal of Sociology, vol. 117, no. 2, 2011, pp. 361–419. JSTOR, https://doi.org/10.1086/661761. Accessed 10 Aug. 2022.

7. Hill, M. (2013). United States History and Geography, Student Edition (UNITED STATES HISTORY (HS)) (1st ed.). McGraw Hill.

8. John F. Kennedy Presidential Library & Museum. (n.d.). October 24, 1962 - Cuban Missile Crisis - John F. Kennedy Presidential Library & Museum. JOHN F. KENNEDY PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM. Retrieved August 9, 2022, from https://microsites.jfklibrary.org/cmc/oct24/ 9. Kennedy, Robert F., 1925-1968. Thirteen Days : a Memoir of the Cuban Missile Crisis.

New York :W.W. Norton, 1969.

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10. Medland, William J. “The Cuban Missile Crisis: Evolving Historical Perspectives.” The History Teacher, vol. 23, no. 4, 1990, pp. 433–47. JSTOR, https://doi.org/10.2307/494397. Accessed 10 Aug. 2022.

11. Nuclear weapons – UNODA (2019) United Nations. United Nations. Available at: https://www.un.org/disarmament/wmd/nuclear/#:~:text=The%20dangers%20from%20su ch%20weapons,nuclear%20tests%20conducted%20to%20date. (Accessed: October 27, 2022).

12. Saradzhyan, Karen, and Simon Saradzhyan. "Was the Cuban Missile Crisis the most dangerous episode of the Cold War?." 21st Century 1 (20) (2017): 97-105.

13. Schulte, Paul. “TACTICAL NUCLEAR WEAPONS IN NATO AND BEYOND: A HISTORICAL AND THEMATIC EXAMINATION.” Tactical Nuclear Weapons and NATO, edited by Tom Nichols et al., Strategic Studies Institute, US Army War College, 2012, pp. 13–74. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/resrep12088.6. Accessed 10 Aug. 2022.

14. Smith, D. (2015). Causes and Effects of 20th Century Wars: IB History Course Book: Oxford IB Diploma Program (1st ed.). Oxford University Press.

15. The Soviet Union in Eastern Europe, 1945–89. United Kingdom, Palgrave Macmillan UK, 2016.

16. Trachtenberg, Marc. “The Influence of Nuclear Weapons in the Cuban Missile Crisis.”

International Security, vol. 10, no. 1, 1985, pp. 137–63. JSTOR, https://doi.org/10.2307/2538793. Accessed 10 Aug. 2022.

17. “Warsaw Collective Security Pact.” International Organization, vol. 15, no. 2, 1961, pp.

333–333. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/2705145. Accessed 27 Oct. 2022

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Beza Hough A study on the nutritional and physical necessities of soccer players My extended essay was created with the question: to what extent do field positions, center defense and wing midfield, affect the optimal diets of male professional soccer players? I chose this research question for my essay because of my past in soccer and my interest in sports-related nutrition and medicine.

Knowing the significance of nutrition in energy and abilities, I formulated this research question to understand the role of diet plans within professional soccer teams and whether they are necessary. Within this essay, there is data from numerous tests on physical and nutritional aspects of soccer players' lives, which I compared to create an optimal diet plan for center defenders and wing midfielders; positions I chose due to their significant differences. The result of this study was that there was not a significant enough difference between the physical and nutritional necessities of midfielders and defenders to alter the optimal diets.

To what extent do the field positions center defense and wing midfield of male professional soccer players affect their optimal diet?

A study on the nutritional and physical necessities of soccer players

Subject: Sports, Exercise and Health Science Word Count: 3325 Personal Code: jxk983

Table of Contents

Introduction

3

Positional Differences

3-4

Nutritional Intakes

4-5

Recommended Nutritional Intake

5-6

Calories Burned

6-7

Fatigue

7-8

Day Before Match Nutrition

8-10

Glycaemic Index

9

Hydration

9

Muscle Protein Breakdown

9-10

Post Matchday Nutrition

10-11

My Recommended Meal Plan

11-12

Bibliography

13-12

Throughout 14 years of playing soccer, I’ve developed a passion for exercise science. Digging deeper into that interest, I stumbled upon nutrition and its effects on athletic performance. With a desire to shadow and work amongst athletic trainers of professional teams in the future, I have become curious about not only preventatives to injuries but also nutritional meal planning for athletes. It is known that college athletes are often given meal plans by trainers to optimize their performances, however, does that differ per athlete? As a winger in soccer, I know that I run far more than a defender. My skillsets and necessities for playing are much different than those of a defender, so does that account for a different meal plan? If one has to build a higher endurance, or sprint more, it can be inferred that their nutritional needs might differ from someone who must be extra strong and doesn't need to run a lot. Therefore, with these inquiries in mind, I ask to what extent do the field positions center defense and wing midfield of male professional soccer players affect their optimal diets?

Center defenders are charged with the main defensive role; preventing the opposing team from scoring. Thus, they are tasked with marking as well as attacking opposing players, intercepting passes, and organizing the midfield (defensively) when needed. As these players spend the majority of their time completing these tasks, they spend little time completing long-distance runs. In fact, out of all positions, they cover the least distance with an average of 808.4 km/hr each game, 65.6 km/hr of that being sprints.1 Instead, CDs show higher rates of time with ball possession, short passes, and crosses.2 Along with skill needs, data on the average body composition of CD shows that these players weigh more than others with 73±5.2kg, and 10.3±1.4 percent of that being body fat.

Wing Midfielders, on the other hand, are attacking midfielders who, evidently, operate on the wings of the field. Their roles are to create goal-scoring opportunities from the sides, as well as score.

Despite, these players being attackers, they are also tasked with supporting the midfield and must sprint up and down the field as plays change. Therefore, wingers cover one of the largest distances of the 1

Riccardo and Hosseini, Differences by Field Positions Between Young and Senior Amateur Players Using GPS Technologies 2 Altmann, Match-related physical performance in professional soccer: Position or player specific?

positions with 977.5 km/hr and the most accelerations with 85 km/hr of that being sprints.3 As they are constantly running and aiding their team, a higher endurance is needed along with speed, giving them one of the highest intermittent endurance capacities.4 Furthermore, the average weight of these players is one of the lowest with 70.5±6.2 and body fat levels of 10.08±0.8%.5 Evidently, wingers are lighter and “fit” than other players possibly due to the immense amount of running they undergo per game.

In order to determine whether these differing physical necessities alter the two positions' optimal diets, it is accommodating to consider the patterns of nutritional intake seen in past experiments. For example, in the report Is there a Relationship between the playing position of soccer players and their food and macronutrient intake?, CD were found to have a lower CHO intake but higher lipid intake than other positions. This was discovered through an experiment with a testing group of 87 young male soccer players evaluated over 50 games. After obtaining data, scientists learned that CDs consumed 2771±582 kcals of energy per day. They also learned CDs consumed 120±21g of protein, 313±65g of carbohydrates, and 124±34g of lipids. Therefore, the majority of CDs energy derives from carbohydrates with lipids at a close second.6 This study also measured the contribution of each food group to the energy intake of these players. CDs percentages were as follows: 25% cereals, derivatives, and potatoes, 13% dairy, 15% meat, 11% oil, 7% confectionery, 4% caloric sweeteners, 4% fruits, 4% pre-cooked foods, 2% beverages, 3% seafood, 3% eggs, 3% legumes, 2% vegetables, 2% butter, and 2% miscellaneous. Hence, the previous data of carbohydrates being the primary source of energy for CD aligns with their high consumption rate of starches.7

3

Riccardo and Hosseini, Differences by Field Positions Between Young and Senior Amateur Players Using GPS Technologies 4 Hughes, Moneyball and Soccer - an analysis of the key performance indicators of elite male soccer players by position.

5 Gutierrez, Is there a relationship between the playing position of soccer players and their food and macronutrient intake?

6 Gutierrez, Is there a relationship between the playing position of soccer players and their food and macronutrient intake?

7 Gutierrez, Is there a relationship between the playing position of soccer players and their food and macronutrient intake?

In comparison, this experiment found WMs to use 2881±385 kcals of energy per day. With only a 110kcal difference from CDs, this is not an extreme deviation, however, the difference is coherent as WMs are tasked with more running. In addition, WMs consumed 118±22g of protein, 352±54g of carbohydrates, and 121±21g of lipids. WMs protein intakes, thus, amounted to 2g less than CDs, a possibly insignificant difference. Their lipid intake was also similar to CDs with a 3g difference.

However, their carbohydrate intake was a hefty 40g more than CDs. In reference to their exact consumptions, 31% of WMs energy intake was cereals, derivatives, and potatoes, 14% dairy, 10% meat, 11% oil, 7% confectionary, 4% caloric sweaters, 4% fruits, 3% pre-cooked foods, 3% beverages, 2% fish, 3% eggs, 2% legumes, 2% vegetables, 1% butter, 2% miscellaneous and 1% nuts. There are few significant differences between these percentages and those of CDs, with the exception of cereals, derivatives, and potatoes. This orients with the previous data as WMs consumed more carbs than CDs, which are necessary for the intense running they perform.8 After reading this data I was relatively surprised by its contents. I was shocked to see the lower consumption rate of protein by WMs since they are constantly running. Meaning, they must require lean muscle and more energy as they are burning more calories. A research paper on the differences between the protein intake of endurance athletes compared to non-exercising individuals concludes that the former should be consuming 1.2-1.4g of protein per pound of their body weight.9 When calculating this, I concurred that the 70.5±6.2kg wingers should technically be consuming 91.65g of protein per day. Thus, although I was surprised that wingers consume less protein than CD, they are consuming more than the “recommended” amount based on their weight and daily energy exertion.

Virginia Tech exercise science professor Jay Williams claims that a soccer player should be consuming around 23.5 calories per pound of body weight every day to replace energy burned.10 8

Gutierrez, Is there a relationship between the playing position of soccer players and their food and macronutrient intake?

9 Kato, Suzuki, Bannai, Protein Requirements Are Elevated in Endurance Athletes after Exercise as Determined by the Indicator Amino Acid Oxidation Method 10

Kerns, Caloric Intake for Soccer Players

Therefore, a 70.5±6.2kg WM should have a caloric intake of at least 3644.65 calories per day, and a 73±5.2 CD should be consuming at least 3784.44. Jay Williams also states that 60-70% of those calories should be provided by carbohydrates, translating to around 4g of carbohydrates per pound of body weight.

Thus, a 70.5±6.2 kg WM should be consuming around 649.2g of carbohydrates per day and a 73±5.2kg CD should be consuming 665.6g. Both players should be increasing their carbohydrate intakes as their recorded intakes are significantly lower. Regarding calories from fat, Williams concludes that at least 20% of one's daily calories should be from healthy fats. Thus, these wingers should be consuming around 81g of lipids and the CD should be consuming 84g which is relatively less than recorded. However, these are estimates for Williams’ recommended caloric intakes disregarding the specific physical activity of WMs and CDs.11 According to the report March-Relates physical performance in professional soccer: Position or player specific, Scientists discovered that during a match CDs travel 10.21±0.64km, with 1.04±0.41km of that being under high intensity, and 0.19±0.08km of that being sprints. On the other hand, WMs travel 11.07±0.73km in total, 1.51±0.83km under high intensity, and 0.42±0.14km sprinting.12 Unfortunately, the speed of these players was not recorded, so I will calculate how many calories they burn based on this data and the average speed of a professional soccer player. Using a calories burned calculator,13 the 70.5±6.2kg WM is burning 133 calories through sprinting and 871 calories through other activity, thus, a total of 1,004 calories in a match. A 73±5.2 CD is burning 97 calories through sprinting and 808 calories with other activity, thus, a total of 905 calories. Therefore, WMs are burning 99 more calories per game than CDs. Wingers are burning those 99 more calories because their position requires more sprinting and long-distance running. As a winger myself, who has also played in other positions like center defense when needed, I have personally experienced that increase in running. However, I also know from experience that CDs are usually stronger than WMs in order to fight off attackers from the other team and 11 12 13

Kerns, Caloric Intake for Soccer Players Altmann, Match-related physical performance in professional soccer: Position or player specific? https://www.calculator.net/calories-burned-calculator.html

defend their goal. Thus, these differences in physical needs and calorie burning call for a slightly different diet to allow the different players to become as strong in their position as possible. Evidently, soccer players should not be in a caloric deficit during the season, thus, the previously calculated 3644.65 calories for WMs and 3784.44 calories for CDs is sufficient, as after a match WMs will have around 2,640.65 calories left and the CDs will have 2879.44. These numbers are understandable as CDs are burning fewer calories and end their day with more leftover, hence, their heavier weight. A necessity due to their need for strength.

Research from Energy Requirements and Nutritional Strategies for Male Soccer Players: A Review and Suggestions for Practice, allows for the understanding of the effects and causes of fatigue in soccer. Clearly, fatigue should be avoided as much as possible in order to obtain full playing potential.

Therefore, adequate food before a match is incredibly important. Two of the principal nutritional explanations for fatigue are depletions of muscle glycogen and hypoglycemia.14 According to this investigation, players who begin a match with low muscle glycogen availability nearly deplete their stores around halftime and fully deplete them by game time.15 This depletion results in fatigue which can be identified by an increase in a player's time spent in low-intensity movement. Furthermore, players who begin the match with low muscle glycogen availability, spent 50% of their total distance in low-intensity movement while those who began with a normal glycogen availability only spent 27%. Thus, there is a significant need for optimal glycogen storage before kickoff. 16 Secondly, hypoglycemia is caused by a decrease in blood glucose concentration; the result of insufficient carbohydrate availability. Once liver glycogen is depleted, one's body is unable to produce enough glucose for circulation. Since the brain essentially uses glucose from blood as its energy source,

Hulton, Energy Requirements and Nutritional Strategies for Male Soccer Players: A Review and Suggestions for Practice 15 Hulton, Energy Requirements and Nutritional Strategies for Male Soccer Players: A Review and Suggestions for Practice 14

16

Hulton, Energy Requirements and Nutritional Strategies for Male Soccer Players: A Review and Suggestions for Practice

this depletion-hypoglycemia-is a contributing factor to fatigue.17 In regards to soccer, studies by Kevin Currell proved that those who had not consumed carbohydrates had an inferior ability to dribble a ball than those who had.18 Higher levels of blood glucose thus results in superior performance, therefore, a significant amount of CHO should be consumed before a match.

Evidently, training days require less energy exertion and fewer calories and CHO. Players normally consume around 2200-3000 calories during training days, and 3100-3900 calories during match days.19 Returning to the causes of fatigue, CHO intake is important on training days and days prior to matches.20 An investigation within the English Premier League found that CHO intake increases by 2.2g on match days.21 Despite this small difference, it displays that CHO intake is especially necessary prior to matches to prevent fatigue.

One day prior to matchday, “the primary nutritional focus…is to ensure that both muscle and liver glycogen stores are optimally elevated in preparation for matchday endeavors.”22 Thus, an increase in CHO intake is beneficial, more specifically an increase of 6-8 grams per kilogram of body weight.

Knowing an extreme activity like soccer results in a decreased ability to replenish muscle glycogen stores, referring to the previously mentioned 50% reduction in muscle glycogen after a match, it is significant that a sufficient CHO intake is prevalent on the day prior to a match. In order to reach a CHO intake of at least 6 grams per kilogram of body weight, consuming CHO is essential at all opportunities. This might call for a 4 or 5-meal plan: breakfast, lunch, mid-afternoon snack, dinner, and post-dinner snack. With this, one can consume 2g/kg of CHO at lunch and dinner, 1g/kg at breakfast, ad the remaining 1g/kg 17

Hulton, Energy Requirements and Nutritional Strategies for Male Soccer Players: A Review and Suggestions for Practice 18 Currell, Carbohydrate ingestion improves performance of a new reliable test of soccer performance 19 Hulton, Energy Requirements and Nutritional Strategies for Male Soccer Players: A Review and Suggestions for Practice 20 Hulton, Energy Requirements and Nutritional Strategies for Male Soccer Players: A Review and Suggestions for Practice 21 Anderson, Energy Intake and Expenditure of Professional Soccer Players of the English Premier League: Evidence of Carbohydrate Periodization 22 Hulton, Energy Requirements and Nutritional Strategies for Male Soccer Players: A Review and Suggestions for Practice

through snacks. Furthermore, since glycogen is stored in water, the consumption of fluid with each meal is significant.

However, it is important to note where one’s CHO is from due to the glycaemic index. High glycaemic index foods are digested considerably quicker than low glycaemic index food. Although there is little data on whether consuming high or low glycaemic index foods is better for one's glycogen loading prior to a match, it is advantageous to consider if one is eating high glycaemic index food, for then they should eat more in order to reach the 6g/kg of CHO goal.23 However, in regards to matchday meals, low glycaemic index CHO meals have been found to be better than high glycemic index meals due to high glycemic index meals having a possible consequence of hypoglycemia after 3-4 hours.24 Thus, if one wishes to eat high glycemic index foods, they should do so four hours, or more, before their match. In addition, scientists have observed that low glycaemic index foods results in greater endurance than high glycemic index foods due to a “potential glycogen sparing mechanism attributable to a more stable insulin and glucose profile.”25 Overall, in regards to pre-match meals, the question of consuming high or low-glycemic foods is unnecessary, but on matchdays consuming low glycaemic index foods is recommended.

Commonly known, hydration is important to consider along with CHO intake as it is too a factor of fatigue and is necessary for glycogen storage. Therefore, beginning a match in a euhydrated state is optimal to achieve prime performance. The Medicine & Science in Sports and Exercise Journal claims that slowly consuming between 5-7 mL/kg at least 4 hours before a match is prime to avoid dehydration.26 As with all extreme exercises, a consequence of soccer is muscle protein breakdown. Although this process is imperative and not necessarily bad, it is important to consume the proper amount of calories and protein to repair the muscles. Consuming protein an hour prior to training or a match results 23

Kaviani, The Effects of Low- and High-Glycemic Index Sport Nutrition Bars on Metabolism and Performance in Recreational Soccer Players 24 Russell, Carbohydrate Ingestion Before and During Soccer Match Play and Blood Glucose and Lactate Concentrations 25 Hearris, Hammond, Fell, Morton, Regulation of Muscle Glycogen Metabolism during Exercise: Implications for Endurance Performance and Training Adaptations 26 American College Of Sports Medicine, Exercise and Fluid Replacement

in an increase in net protein balance, while none results in a decrease.27 As soccer players are not focused on bulking, a perfect net protein balance is optimal for performance. Thus, a large increase or decrease in net protein balance is not entirely helpful. Instead, it is advised that a pre-match meal with some protein three hours before game time is consumed, as well as a possible whey protein beverage an hour before.

However, that beverage should not contain carbohydrates as carbohydrate-filled beverages increase the risk of hypoglycemia.28 Overall, sufficient intake of CHO and fluids are principal to maintaining adequate hydration, muscle glycogen, and blood glucose concentration. In fact, one study proves that consuming CHO during soccer training and matches increases glucose availability and rates of CHO oxidation.29 However, as soccer consists of few break times, this is not the most convenient suggestion, but it highlights the importance of CHO and fluid consumption once again. Furthermore, the intensity of soccer matches causes players to lose up to three liters of sweat.30 Thus, drinking sufficient fluids to prevent the loss of over 2-3% of pre-match euhydrated body mass is significant.31 Lastly, post-match nutritional intake is not to be ignored as the depletion of muscle and liver glycogen during matches must be replenished along with recovering muscle protein. There is a small time frame for this recovery, two hours after a match, as glycogen depletion results in the activation of glycogen synthase, insulin sensitivity, and mishaps in the muscle cell membrane to glucose delivery.32 All these are not detrimental but significant in slowing glycogen resynthesis. In fact, not consuming a sufficient amount of CHO after a match slows glycogen resynthesis by 50%.33 Instead, it is recommended

Clarke, Strategies for Hydration and Energy Provision during Soccer-Specific Exercise Clarke, Strategies for Hydration and Energy Provision during Soccer-Specific Exercise 29 Clarke, Fluid provision and metabolic responses to soccer-specific exercise 30 ​Ekblom, Applied Physiology of Soccer 31 Clarke, Strategies for Hydration and Energy Provision during Soccer-Specific Exercise 27

28

32

Hulton, Energy Requirements and Nutritional Strategies for Male Soccer Players: A Review and Suggestions for Practice 33 Hulton, Energy Requirements and Nutritional Strategies for Male Soccer Players: A Review and Suggestions for Practice

to consume 1-1.2 g/kg of CHO after a match, and for optimal results, 0.4 g/kg of protein.34 Adding protein aids in muscle glycogen replenishment, and it is a significant factor in nutritional recovery in regards to the muscle protein breakdown that occurs during a match. Between 20 and 40g of protein after a match is recommended, with 40g being optimal as studies by MacNaughton found it results in a greater myofibrillar protein synthesis response.35 Solid or whole food-rich protein is preferred over alternatives, however, players usually prefer protein shakes for convenience as appetite is often suppressed after extreme exercise.36 Lastly, another significant factor of recovery is rehydration. Players often become hyperthermic after a match due to sweat and calorie loss, thus, fluid and electrolyte replenishment is important.37 Players will often consume their electrolytes (sodium) through post-match foods, therefore, water is adequate. However, if sodium is not being consumed, the process of returning to a euhydrated state will be delayed, so sports drinks with sufficient electrolytes are strongly recommended. All in all, in order to reach rehydration rapidly, consuming 150% or 1.5 L/1 kg of weight loss is recommended.38 Accounting for this information and the performance differences between CDs and WMs, I will now formulate the optimal meal plan for the two positions on the day before a match, as it seems to be the most important day for the health and performance of soccer players.

In regards to CD's pre-match food consumption, they should be intaking around 3684.44 calories.

To account for the recommended 6-8g of carbohydrates per kg of body weight for pre-match meals, they should be consuming 529.2g of carbohydrates. In addition, they should be consuming 1.6g/kg of their body weight of protein which amounts to 120.6g. Not to be forgotten, plenty of fluids must be consumed to aid in glycogen storage. To accomplish these macros, I recommend a nut butter and fruit on toast which has around 939 calories, 35 g of protein, and 134g of carbs. For lunch, a heavy protein smoothie bowl

34

Hulton, Energy Requirements and Nutritional Strategies for Male Soccer Players: A Review and Suggestions for Practice 35 Oliveira, Nutrition and Supplementation in Soccer 36 Oliveira, Nutrition and Supplementation in Soccer 37 McDermott, National Athletic Trainers' Association Position Statement: Fluid Replacement for the Physically Active 38 McDermott, National Athletic Trainers' Association Position Statement: Fluid Replacement for the Physically Active

with around 1064 calories, 40g of protein, and 147g of carbs will suffice. Then, some snack bites with 360 calories, 9g of protein, and 35g of carbs will be helpful in reaching goals. For dinner, I recommend a healthy pizza with 1036 calories, 38g of protein, and 172g of carbs. Lastly, a green smoothie with 317 calories, 6g of protein, and 79g of carbs to end the day. This allows for a 3716 calorie pre-match day with 128g of protein, and 567g of carbs. Evidently, this plan is not perfect in matching the macros, yet it is adequate enough to allow CDs to prepare for a game.

On the other hand, wingers should consume around 3784 calories on pre-match days, with 515 grams of carbohydrates, and 117.76 grams of protein. This is a higher calorie intake than CDs, however, there are lower recommendations for carbs and protein. Thus, for breakfast, I recommend a protein oatmeal with around 835 calories, 25g of protein, and 122g of carbs. For lunch, a sausage and rice dish with 1130 calories, 33g of protein, and 173g of carbs. For a snack, some sunflower seeds will help meet goals, with 421 calories, 10g of protein, and 30g of carbs. Then for dinner, a falafel salad with potatoes with 1038 calories, 28g of protein, and 126g of carbs. Lastly, for dessert, some chocolate peanut butter ice cream with 360 calories, 9g of protein, and 61g of carbs. This provides for a 3784 calorie, 105g protein, and 512g carbohydrate day, allowing the winger to build up energy for the excess of running that will occur the next day.

Based on these meal plans, and the data previously analyzed, the recommended nutritional intakes of center defenders and wingers do not differ incredibly. Yes, their positions require different physical needs, but in the game of soccer, there are a lot of overlaps in the necessities. Consequentially, I believe the diets of center defenders and wingers do not need to be incredibly specific to the position. Instead, nutritional intake primarily depends on body composition.

Bibliography: Riccardo, Izzo, and Varde'I Ciro Hosseini. “Differences by Field Positions between Young and Senior Amateur Soccer Players Using GPS Technologies.” Ovidius University Annals, Series Physical Education and Sport/Science, Movement and Health, vol. 17, no. 2, 15 June 2017, p. 344. Gale Academic OneFile Select, https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A512868482/EAIM?u=nysl_me_brookfs&sid=bookmark-EAIM&xid=ce9 27d1f. Accessed 16 Oct. 2022.

Altmann, Stefan et al. “Match-related physical performance in professional soccer: Position or player specific?.” PloS one vol. 16,9 e0256695. 10 Sep. 2021, doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0256695 Hughes, Mike, et al. "Moneyball and Soccer: An Analysis of the Key Performance Indicators of Elite Male Soccer Players By Position." Journal of Human Sport and Exercise 7.2 Especial (2012).

Iglesias-Gutiérrez, Eduardo et al. “Is there a relationship between the playing position of soccer players and their food and macronutrient intake?.” Applied physiology, nutrition, and metabolism = Physiologie appliquee, nutrition et metabolisme vol. 37,2 (2012): 225-32. doi:10.1139/h11-152 Kato, Hiroyuki et al. “Protein Requirements Are Elevated in Endurance Athletes after Exercise as Determined by the Indicator Amino Acid Oxidation Method.” PloS one vol. 11,6 e0157406. 20 Jun. 2016, doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0157406 “Caloric Intake for Soccer Players | Livestrong.” LIVESTRONG.COM, Leaf Group, https://www.livestrong.com/article/446441-caloric-intake-for-soccer-players/.

Altmann, Stefan et al. “Match-related physical performance in professional soccer: Position or player specific?.” PloS one vol. 16,9 e0256695. 10 Sep. 2021, doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0256695 Hulton, Andrew T et al. “Energy Requirements and Nutritional Strategies for Male Soccer Players: A Review and Suggestions for Practice.” Nutrients vol. 14,3 657. 4 Feb. 2022, doi:10.3390/nu14030657 Currell, Kevin et al. “Carbohydrate ingestion improves performance of a new reliable test of soccer performance.” International journal of sport nutrition and exercise metabolism vol. 19,1 (2009): 34-46. doi:10.1123/ijsnem.19.1.34 Anderson, Liam et al. “Energy Intake and Expenditure of Professional Soccer Players of the English Premier League: Evidence of Carbohydrate Periodization.” International journal of sport nutrition and exercise metabolism vol. 27,3 (2017): 228-238. doi:10.1123/ijsnem.2016-0259 Kaviani, Mojtaba et al. “The Effects of Low- and High-Glycemic Index Sport Nutrition Bars on Metabolism and Performance in Recreational Soccer Players.” Nutrients vol. 12,4 982. 2 Apr. 2020, doi:10.3390/nu12040982

Russell, Mark et al. “Carbohydrate ingestion before and during soccer match play and blood glucose and lactate concentrations.” Journal of athletic training vol. 49,4 (2014): 447-53. doi:10.4085/1062-6050-49.3.12 Hearris, Mark A et al. “Regulation of Muscle Glycogen Metabolism during Exercise: Implications for Endurance Performance and Training Adaptations.” Nutrients vol. 10,3 298. 2 Mar. 2018, doi:10.3390/nu10030298 American College of Sports Medicine et al. “American College of Sports Medicine position stand.

Exercise and fluid replacement.” Medicine and science in sports and exercise vol. 39,2 (2007): 377-90. doi:10.1249/mss.0b013e31802ca597 Clarke, N D et al. “Strategies for hydration and energy provision during soccer-specific exercise.”

International journal of sport nutrition and exercise metabolism vol. 15,6 (2005): 625-40. doi:10.1123/ijsnem.15.6.625 Clarke, N D et al. “Fluid provision and metabolic responses to soccer-specific exercise.” European journal of applied physiology vol. 104,6 (2008): 1069-77. doi:10.1007/s00421-008-0864-x Ekblom, B. “Applied physiology of soccer.” Sports medicine (Auckland, N.Z.) vol. 3,1 (1986): 50-60. doi:10.2165/00007256-198603010-00005 Oliveira, César Chaves et al. “Nutrition and Supplementation in Soccer.” Sports (Basel, Switzerland) vol.

5,2 28. 12 May. 2017, doi:10.3390/sports5020028 McDermott, Brendon P et al. “National Athletic Trainers' Association Position Statement: Fluid Replacement for the Physically Active.” Journal of athletic training vol. 52,9 (2017): 877-895. doi:10.4085/1062-6050-52.9.02

1

Extended Essay - History Fidel Castro and his Cuban Revolution - a study of why the United States felt the need to intervene in Cuba in 1961.

What key aspects of the Cuban Revolution led the U.S. to intervene and proceed with the Bay of Pigs Invasion?

Word Count: 3824 words

Candidate Number: 002909-0044

2 Table of Contents

Background

2

Introduction

4

The Agrarian Reform and Expropriation

5

Castro’s Hostility Towards the United States

8

The Possible Detrimental Influence of the Cuban Revolution

10

Castro and Cuba’s Connection To Communism

11

Third World Nationalism and “Neutralism”

12

Cuban-Soviet Relations

14

Conclusion

15

3 Background For six decades, Cuba’s political leaders were compliant with U.S. power. They kept close bonds of diplomatic and military collaboration with Washington. Most Cuban leaders permitted the U.S. ambassadors to exercise proconsular influence over several Cuban policy matters. Cuba accepted and even sometimes invited U.S. interventions that could stabilize Cuba’s peevish political system. The U.S. provided investors, lenient regulations and tax laws, guarantees against nationalization of property, and a stable cheap labor force. Fulgencio Batista and his government are a great example of how Cuba and the United States collaborated before Castro. During Batista's rule from 1952 to 1958, he served as one of the most reliable Cold War allies in Latin America to the United States. According to Batista, he supported the U.S. positions in international forums and wanted to take down Cuba’s Communist Party. He also supported the rejection of diplomatic relations with Eastern bloc nations.1 During Batista's time in office, his generous tax exemptions and lightened controls on capital remittances stimulated an approximately 50 percent increase in U.S. investments in Cuba. Therefore, Cuba received many rewards like $40 million in U.S. Export-Import Bank Loans, extensive U.S. military training programs for the repressive Cuban national security forces, which kept the disliked Batista regime in power, and $16 million in U.S. armaments.2 Thus, it was apparent to many young Cubans that their country struggled for genuine national independence and intensely relied on the United States.

In addition to this, after World War II, from 1941 to 1991, the United States and its allies, and the Soviet Union and its satellite states began a long struggle for supremacy known as the 1

THOMAS, HUGH. “Cuba: The United States and Batista, 1952-58.” World Affairs, vol. 149, no. 4, 1987, pp.

169–75. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/20672109. Accessed 21 Nov. 2022.

2 Benjamin, Jules R.. "6. Shunning Dictatorship: The United States and Batista". The United States and the Origins of the Cuban Revolution: An Empire of Liberty in an Age of National Liberation, Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1990, pp. 141-166. https://doi.org/10.1515/9780691214962-009

4 Cold War. Although soldiers of the Soviet Union and of the United States were not directly in battle during the Cold War, the two superpowers continually “antagonized each other through political maneuvering, military coalitions, espionage, propaganda, arms buildups, economic aid, and proxy wars between other nations.”3 This left the U.S. very vulnerable and paranoid.

Introduction In 1952, Batista seized power in Cuba for a second time. Castro and his followers were prepared to unseat the dictator. Castro was equipped because he was supported by people like the South American revolutionary Che Guevara, who shared similar ideologies. As Castro commenced his revolution, he and his ideas gained much Cuban support. Towards 1956, Castro achieved a following not only due to his charm and nationalist rhetoric but also because of the increasingly rampant corruption, brutality, and ineptitude within the Batista government. This forced the U.S. to reconsider and slowly started to halt their support for Batista. The U.S. felt they needed to find an alternative to Castro and Batista. They needed someone new to puppet around. However, they were unable to complete this task.4 Then on January 1, 1969, Batista and many of his followers fled Cuba and went to the Dominican Republic. Once the Batista Regime was over, thousands of Cubans celebrated the end, and Castro and his supporters immediately began to establish their power and share their ideas. They lost no time, as they wanted to see change immediately for their country. Meanwhile, Judge Manuel Urrutia was named as provisional president. Nevertheless, Castro and his band of guerilla fighters entered Havana on January 7.5 Soon, Castro’s dream of revolution started to become a reality.

3

“The Cold War.” The Cold War | JFK Library, https://www.jfklibrary.org/learn/about-jfk/jfk-in-history/the-cold-war.

4 “Cuban Dictator Flees.” The Guardian, Guardian News and Media, 2 Jan. 1959, https://www.theguardian.com/world/1959/jan/02/cuba 5 Benjamin, Jules R. The United States and the Origins of the Cuban Revolution: An Empire of Liberty in an Age of National Liberation. Princeton University Press, 2021.

5 Once Castro had evidently gained power, it was revealed that the U.S. was “directed to give Castro every chance to establish a reasonable relationship with [them].”6 Though they viewed Castro with deep skepticism, his popularity worldwide gave them no alternative but to give him a chance. Nevertheless, in the end, the U.S. believed that Castro had “failed this test,”7 leading them to take action against him. Therefore, less than three months into his presidency, Kennedy sponsored an invasion of Cuba with a CIA- trained proxy army of Cuban exiles, which is now referred to as the Bay of Pigs. Kennedy wanted to make it clear that as the President he was determined to protect U.S. security interests. Previous to this though, it had been a while since Dwight D. Eisenhower had also planned to take down Castro. In the end, the Bay of Pigs is known for its failed attempt to overthrow Fidel Castro's communist government. Though the U.S. failed to intervene initially, this still leads to the question: “What were the key aspects of the Cuban Revolution that led the U.S. to intervene and overthrow Fidel Castro in 1961? This question must be addressed to understand the threat and the reasons behind U.S. action fully.

Thus, to answer this, several archives, documents, and writings were investigated to understand Fidel Castro and his revolution. To this day, there is much debate on why the United States was eager to eliminate Castro’s government. Yes, there were several economic reasons, however, it goes beyond that. Though this paper does touch on economic reasons there are other more important factors which are discussed. Each aspect is evaluated individually. They are presented as: the agrarian reform law (which is an aspect that tends to over dominate over other important factors), Castro’s hostility towards the U.S., the possible detrimental influence of the Cuban

6

“551. Letter From President Eisenhower to Prime Minister Macmillan1.” U.S. Department of State, U.S. Department of State, https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1958-60v06/d551 7 “551. Letter From President Eisenhower to Prime Minister Macmillan1.” U.S. Department of State, U.S. Department of State, https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1958-60v06/d551

6 Revolution, Cuban connection to Communism, Third World Nationalism and “Neutralism,”and lastly, Cuban-Soviet Relations.

The Agrarian Reform and Expropriation Although this paper focuses on factors beyond economic reasons when considering the U.S. attitudes towards the regime, it is important to discuss them here because they dominate the debates around this issue. Many assume that it is only because of economic reasons that the U.S. intervened but it is important to keep in mind that there are other and more important reasons which will be later discussed. Nevertheless, when Castro first introduced his agrarian reform law, the U.S. government reacted in anger and distress. Castro had proudly announced that this law was the centerpiece of his revolution. The reform law authorized the state to expropriate all properties larger than 1,000 acres, except estates dedicated to sugar, cattle, and rice production; those were extended to 3,333 acres.8 Expropriated landowners were told they would be compensated with twenty-year bonds, giving them 4.5 percent interest, with payments based on the declared value of the land for tax purposes. According to Castro, the agrarian reform program was a foundation for a radical revolutionary transformation of Cuba.9 Moreover, it was designed to abolish large-scale private land holdings, which also included massive properties owned by the U.S. The U.S. properties were up to 480,000 acres in size, and Castro was planning to replace them with peasant cooperatives and, eventually, state farms.10 The National Institute of Agrarian Reform was created and immediately started to mobilize Cuba’s peasantry in support of the government. Surprisingly, within two months, INRA was able to nationalize 400 of the largest 8

O’Connor, James. “Agrarian Reforms in Cuba, 1959-1963.” Science & Society, vol. 32, no. 2, 1968, pp. 169–217.

JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/40401340. Accessed 28 Nov. 2022.

9 Carter, William E. “Agrarian Reform in Latin America.” Proceedings of the Academy of Political Science, vol. 30, no. 4, 1972, pp. 1–14. JSTOR, https://doi.org/10.2307/1173169. Accessed 28 Nov. 2022.

10 Carter, William E. “Agrarian Reform in Latin America.” Proceedings of the Academy of Political Science, vol. 30, no. 4, 1972, pp. 1–14. JSTOR, https://doi.org/10.2307/1173169. Accessed 28 Nov. 2022.

7 U.S. and Cuban-owned ranches which was a total of 2.5 million acres of land.11 The compensation formula of twenty-year bonds based on tax valuations failed to meet the traditional U.S. standard of compensation for expropriated property. Castro was dismissing past expectations and deals which was nerve-racking and new for the U.S. government. Furthermore, once this law was enacted, many scared U.S. investors attacked the U.S. administration with requests for support.12 According to the U.S. government, “businessmen were constantly coming to [them] and saying that something must be done to counteract the Cuban situation.”13 Nevertheless, although the U.S. sympathized with U.S. investors in Cuba, there is not much more evidence that the U.S. initiated intervention “primarily out of concern for U.S. private capital in Cuba.”14 The U.S. denounced the agrarian reform law as inconvenient but did not lobby for Castro's overthrow. It was not the actual law that truly disturbed the U.S. but rather how other Latin American countries would react to it. The U.S. was mainly stressed about the broader regional implications of Castro’s property seizures. Assistant Secretary of State Roy Richard Rubottom stated, “the U.S. had investments totalling in $9 billion in Latin America and every country in the hemisphere is watching to see what the U.S. reaction to Cuba’s expropriation will be.”15 In other words, the U.S. was worried that if other Latin American countries saw Cuba getting away with taking U.S. property, they would do the same. This was because the U.S. government viewed not only Cuba but also many other Latin American countries as “vital importance to the United States.”16 They were a dependable source of strategic minerals and other industrial raw materials essential to U.S. defense production; they could not afford other 11

Szulc, Fidel, 543 Diplomatic Papers, 516 13 Diplomatic Papers, 429 14 Grow, 39 15 “313. Memorandum of a Conversation, Washington, June 1, 19591.” U.S. Department of State, U.S. Department of State, https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1958-60v06/d313 16 Grow, 40 12

8 Latin American countries to be encouraged to expropriate foreign-owned fields and mineral deposits. According to the U.S. government, this could be “disastrous and doleful.” 17 Finally, during the Castro revolution, he attempted to secure alternative sources of economic assistance that would allow him to nationalize U.S. capital in Cuba without fear of U.S. economic retaliation.18 While Castro was visiting Venezuela, he told the President, Romulo Betancourt, that he wanted to play “a game with the gringos” 19 and needed a $300 million loan from Venezuela. He would use the loan to free his government from dependence on the U.S. sugar-market quota, loans from U.S. banks and, international credit agencies.

In the end, the issues surrounding the agrarian reform and expropriation of U.S. property were a principal influence on the U.S. government’s decision to intervene. The fact that Castro refused to compromise or negotiate and instead seized U.S. property without "proper" compensation was seen in Washington as a strong indication that Cuba's new leader would be a challenge for them and was not going to play by the “old hegemonic rules.”20 In Rubottom's words, there was sufficient evidence that "Castro was not going to be a man with whom the United States could work [with]."21

Castro’s Hostility Towards the United States The first and most simple reason why the United States felt threatened by Cuba and their new revolutionary leader was because Castro was known for publicly hating the U.S. Castro and most of his generation had a deep resentment for the United States and its domination. His hatred

17

LEHMAN, KENNETH. “Revolutions and Attributions: Making Sense of Eisenhower Administration Policies in Bolivia and Guatemala.” Diplomatic History, vol. 21, no. 2, 1997, pp. 185–213. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/24913280. Accessed 28 Nov. 2022.

18 Grow, 32 19 Miller, 83 20 Grow, 41 21 Morris, 84

9 towards the U.S. dated back to his student days at the University of Havana, where he was actively part of several anti-imperialist organizations. He also urged student militancy on behalf of Cuba’s “true independence, economic liberation and genuine emancipation.”22 Furthermore, in 1948, Castro and several other supporters went to Bogota, Colombia to take part in an anti-imperialist organization of Latin American students who were going to stop the congress of hemispheric foreign ministers. Their plan was to disrupt the important convention which was happening in the Colombian capital to create the Organization of American States. Castro stated that the conference had been “called by the United States to consolidate its system of domination here in Latin America.” 23 During the following guerrilla war Castro waged against the Batista dictatorship, he “characterized his insurrection as a struggle for national liberation.”24 The military campaign against Bastista’s U.S. trained and supplied forces actually increased Castro’s hatred towards the U.S. In 1958, he told a compatriot that “his true destiny was to wage a much longer and bigger war” against the U.S. and to “make them pay dearly for what they are doing.”25 After Batista fled, Castro resentment was publicly displayed. He would tell cheering crowds in Santiago that “this time it will not be like 1898 when the Americans came and made themselves master of this country.”26 He also proceeded to tell Havana two weeks later that “for the first time” Cuba had political leaders who “were not taking orders from abroad” and who “cannot be intimidated or bribed.” 27 In most of his speeches in January, Castro made it clear that he would not receive orders from the U.S. and angrily told journalists that “if the Americans don’t like what is going on in Cuba, they can land the Marines and then there will be 200,000 gringos 22

Grow, 31 Szulc, 145-146 24 Grow, 31 25 Franqui, Carlos. Diary of the Cuban Revolution. The Viking Press, 1980.

26 “Castro Speech DataBase - Latin American Network Information Center, LANIC.” LANIC, http://lanic.utexas.edu/project/castro/db/1959/19590103.html 27 “Castro Speech DataBase - Latin American Network Information Center, LANIC.” LANIC, http://lanic.utexas.edu/project/castro/db/1959/19590117-1.html 23

10 dead.” 28 This was the first aspect of Castro and his revolution that the U.S. was skeptical about, however still after these opinions from Castro they still tried to give him a chance. However, they would not forget this open hatred and these threats as they were seen as a dangerous challenge to the United States that they had to keep in mind.

The Possible Detrimental Influence of the Cuban Revolution This idea of the U.S. fearing how Castro’s Revolution might influence other countries is, in fact, a primary aspect of intervention in itself. Castro’s revolutionary desires did not confine themselves just to Cuba. He felt that his ultimate “destiny was to liberate all of Latin America from the chains of domination that the United States had forged in collaboration with Latin America’s reactionary elites.”29 Already in 1955, Castro told his other revolutionary colleagues that “the struggle in Cuba was part of the continental struggle.”30 Once coming into power, he told a supporter that he wanted to free all of Latin America from U.S. economic domination. His inspiration was Simon Bolivar, who had freed Latin America from Spanish political control more than a century earlier.31 Castro saw himself as a liberator and the potential spiritual leader of a new "Latin American revolutionary block.” 32 According to Castro, “the main enemy was U.S. economic imperialism [..] thus in other countries as in Cuba, the first step in driving out U.S. influence was the overthrow of the national governments themselves."33 Castro was determined to pursue his vision of hemisphere liberation. In 1959, his revolutionaries tried to start an uprising and protest in neighboring countries. In April of that same year, Cuba sponsored an

28

Grow, 32 Grow, 33 30 Grow, 33 31 “Simón Bolívar.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., https://www.britannica.com/biography/Simon-Boliva.

32 Thomas, 304 33 Thomas, 307-208 29

11 armed expedition against the Panamanian government. Later in June, Cuba also invaded the Dominican Republic. And in August though it was a small invasion, Cuba still tried to land in Haiti.34 At a meeting of State Department officials and U.S. ambassadors it was said that the anti-American campaign fanned by Castro in other countries was seen as “problems of special concern to the U.S.” 35 Rubottom personally cautioned Castro that “We do not want to be a country isolated from our Latin American friends, nor do we want to see twenty Latin American countries united in a bloc against the United States. This would be a tragic thing.”36

Castro and Cuba’s Connection To Communism Another aspect that worried the U.S. was Castro’s relationship to communism. When Castro first came into power, during several speeches he made it clear that he was not communist. In April of 1959, Castro visited Washington D.C. and told the crowd there that, “we [Cuba] are not communist!”37 However, this was not fully convincing to the U.S. as there were many signs that Castro was going to align with communism. In 1959, Castro younger brother, Raul and guerilla comrade Ernesto Che Guevera were serving as his closest advisers. Raul Castro had close connections to Cuba’s communist party, the Prtido Socialista Popular, and was “a great admirer of the Soviet Union.”38 He shared the same opinions that the struggle for power was to make a revolution on behalf of the people and this struggle was not only for Cuba but for Latin America and against imperialism. 39 Moreover, Guevara was a “convinced Marxist” who 34

DUNCAN, W. RAYMOND. “CASTRO’S NEW APPROACH TOWARD LATIN AMERICA.” World Affairs, vol. 133, no. 4, 1971, pp. 275–82. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/20671230. Accessed 29 Nov. 2022.

35 Grow, 34 36 “301. Memorandum of a Conversation, Buenos Aires, May 2, 19591.” U.S. Department of State, U.S. Department of State, https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1958-60v06/d301.

37 “The Cuba Libre Story.” Watch The Cuba Libre Story | Netflix Official Site, 22 Apr. 2022, https://www.netflix.com/watch/80117389?trackId=155573558. Accessed 23 Jan. 2023.

38 Grow, 34 39 “Central Intelligence Agency - CIA.” THE SINO-SOVIET STRUGGLE IN CUBA AND THE LATIN AMERICAN COMMUNIST MOVEMENT , CIA IRSS D D I IS TA F F STUDY REFERENCE TITLE: ESAU XXlll-63 , https://www.cia.gov/readingroom/docs/esau-22.pdf.

12 was on a personal mission to engage in “combat for the liberation of America from the United States imperialism” as well.40 Raul and Che were independent Marxist revolutionaries. However, Castro continued to assure that he was not under communist influence or Soviet direction. But by mid 1959, Castro was conducting “discrete negotiations” with Partido Socialist Popular leaders which were aimed at using the party with the radical wing in order to create a new mass based revolutionary organization that he could use to institutionalize the revolution.41 To the U.S., there was early indication that the revolution was headed in a radical direction came in May with the naming of an ardent Communist, Anotnio Nunez Jaminez, to direct the government's new agrarian reform agency. Additionally, Castro kept going against what he initially stated because in June and July, five moderate cabinet ministers were replaced with radicals and Osvaldo Dorticos, who was a secret PSP member since 1953. 42 Then Raul had taken official command of Cuba’s armed forces and intelligence services. Che Guevera became president of Cuba's national bank. Communists started to secure influential positions in several government areas. In the end, Vice President Nixon made a verdict that either Castro was “incredibly naive about communist” rather than “under communist discipline.”43 He and the U.S. already somewhat knew how this was going to play out.

Third World Nationalism and “Neutralism” Another big key aspect that likely aggravated the United States greatly was Castro's choice to withdraw from the U.S. sphere of influence and the Western block in favor of neutral

40

“Che Guevara's Anti-Imperialist Theory of Class.” New Socialist, 21 Oct. 2022, https://newsocialist.org.uk/fifty-fifth-anniversary-death-che-reading-young-guevaras-us-working-class-friend-or-ene my/.

41 Lévesque, 54 42 Lévesque, 53 43 “The Cuba Libre Story.” Watch The Cuba Libre Story | Netflix Official Site, 22 Apr. 2022

13 nonalignment in the Cold War. Castro wondered why should Latin America be with either side in the Cold War. He wanted hemispheric solidarity. The U.S. could not afford to lose a Latin American ally to neutral nonalignment.44 Therefore when Washington heard about this they were appalled. They believed it would be perceived by other countries as a decline in U.S. power and would severely damage the credibility of U.S. international leadership. In a time like this, the Cold War, it was important for the U.S. to appear strong. According to a secret National Security Council policy statement approved by the U.S. government in 1959, Latin America played “a key role in the security of the United States. In the face of the anticipated prolonged threat from Community expansionism, the United States must rely heavily on the moral and political support of Latin America for U.S. policies designed to counter this threat.” 45 Evidently, the U.S. really believed they needed Cuba and other Latin American countries to stick by their side. The report continues, “A defection by any significant number of Latin American countries to the ranks of neutralism would seriously impair the ability of the United States to exercise effective leadership.”46 Therefore when Castro declared that he would not side with the United States in the Cold War U.S. officials were tense. Philip Bonsal, a U.S. ambassador in Cuba, attempted to remind the Cuban government that in such a vital time of the Cold War, the U.S. was very sensitive to the new idea of Cuban “neutrality.”

In the fall of 1959, in a speech before the U.N. General Assembly, Cuban foreign minister Raul Roa declared that for the first time Cuba was “truly free, independent and sovereign” and that its foreign policy had “freed itself of all bondage, oppression and

44

Miller, 156 “National Security Council Report 1.” U.S. Department of State, U.S. Department of State, https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1958-60v05/d11.

46 “National Security Council Report 1.” U.S. Department of State, U.S. Department of State, https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1958-60v05/d11.

45

14 servitude.”47 According to him Cuba will never be a “docile pawn on the chessboard of power politics.”48 Then after that, Cuba successfully created “a close working relationship with the neutralist Asian-African bloc at the United Nations,” voting “with increasing frequency in opposition against the United States.”49 Furthermore, Castro was forging collaborations with Egypt’s Nasser and Indonesia’s Sukarno, which were two main neutralist leaders whom Washington D.C. regarded as “particularly annoying Third World troublemakers. The U.S. believed that Castro’s anti-American ultranationalism and neutralism were sources of “deep satisfaction to the leaders of international communism” and gave “fertile ground for future [communist] bloc exploitation.” The U.S. still gave Castro the benefit of the doubt as the President was not convinced that Third World nationalism and neutralism were inevitably susceptible to communist subversion.50 Though they had a feeling, the U.S. intelligence community could not yet produce proof that Cuba’s revolution was falling under communist domination control.

Cuban-Soviet Relations The last reason and probably most significant reason why the U.S. wanted to intervene was because although Castro had said that he wanted to remain neutral during the Cold War, he decided to forge connections with the U.S.' greatest enemy, the Soviet.

At first, Castro did not like the Soviets as he told his brother Raul during the revolution that “[he] hate[s] Soviet Imperialism as much as Yankee imperialism! [He’s] not breaking his 47

Cova, Antonio de la. “Excerpts From Statements Made by Roa and Stevenson to U.N. Political Committee.”

Excerpts from Statements Made by ROA and Stevenson to U.N. Political Committee, https://www.latinamericanstudies.org/bay-of-pigs/NYT-4-18-61g.htm.

48 Cova, Antonio de la. “Excerpts From Statements Made by Roa and Stevenson to U.N. Political Committee.”

Excerpts from Statements Made by ROA and Stevenson to U.N. Political Committee, https://www.latinamericanstudies.org/bay-of-pigs/NYT-4-18-61g.htm.

49 Grow, 43 50 Brands, 305

15 neck fighting one dictatorship to fall into another.” 51 However, in 1959, as Castro’s early plans to construct a protective alliance of neighboring revolutionary states in Latin America proved unattainable in the short term, Castro, according to his first finance minister, Rufo LopezFresquet, became “interested in an alliance with Russia to counter intervention by the United States.” In April, Raul Castro asked the Soviets to supply a few military advisers from a group of Spanish communists trained in the Soviet military academy, “to help the Cuban army and for the organization of intelligence work. 52 The Soviets approved this request quickly. Then, later on, the Cuban government requested to purchase weapons from Poland, and again they approved.53 Around October, the first Soviet KGB agent, Aleksandr Alekseev, arrived in Cuba and was granted an audience with Castro, who enthusiastically suggested an increase in Cuban-Soviet trade relations and invited a touring Soviet cultural and technological exhibition to visit Cuba.54 Moreover, Castro stated that Cuba’s dependent economy was vulnerable to U.S. based, perhaps, on exchange of Soviet oil for Cuban sugar- which would reduce the revolution’s vulnerability to U.S. aggression. And if done with care, Castro indicated, an eventual Cuban alliance with the Soviet Union could probably be sold to the Cuban people. After denying that Castro was a communist and claiming to be neutral during the war, this new foundation and relationship was a prominent motivator for the U.S. to intervene.

Conclusion Overall, there are apparent and more definitive motives beyond economic reasons for the U.S. to intervene in Cuba. There were a series of reasons sturdy enough for the Secretary of State

51

Quirk, 162 Grow, 36 53 GovInfo, 13 Jan. 2023, https://www.govinfo.gov/.

54 “The Cuba Libre Story.” Watch The Cuba Libre Story | Netflix Official Site, 22 Apr. 2022 52

16 to recommend intervention to the President. In the end, though Eisenhower was the one who had dealt with Castro and the Cuban Revolution, he was unable to go through with interventionism as Kennedy became President. However, when Kenendy took over, he publicly stated that the United States would not intervene in Cuba, yet he still proceeded to give the green light behind the scenes. In justifying the need for U.S. action, the U.S. criticized Castro's drastic new economic policies as they would harm the U.S. business interest. But the principle justification for the U.S. intervention was Castro’s deliberate fomenting of anti-American and Neutralism in Cuba and other Latin American countries and the new relationship between the Soviets and him.

Even though the United States did fail in the first attempt to intervene, the Bay of Pigs, the reasons discussed in the paper are why the U.S. government supported the overthrow of Castro even later on.

Work Cited 301. Memorandum of a Conversation, Buenos Aires, May 2, 19591.” U.S. Department of State, U.S. Department of State, https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1958-60v06/d301.

“313. Memorandum of a Conversation, Washington, June 1, 19591.” U.S. Department of State, U.S. Department of State, https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1958-60v06/d313 “551. Letter From President Eisenhower to Prime Minister Macmillan1.” U.S. Department of State, U.S. Department of State, https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1958-60v06/d551 Benjamin, Jules R.. "6. Shunning Dictatorship: The United States and Batista". The United States and the Origins of the Cuban Revolution: An Empire of Liberty in an Age of National Liberation, Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1990, pp. 141-166. https://doi.org/10.1515/9780691214962-009

17 Benjamin, Jules R. The United States and the Origins of the Cuban Revolution: An Empire of Liberty in an Age of National Liberation. Princeton University Press, 2021 Brands, Henry William. The Specter of Neutralism: The United States and the Emergence of the Third World, 1947-1960. Columbia University Press, 1989.

Carter, William E. “Agrarian Reform in Latin America.” Proceedings of the Academy of Political Science, vol. 30, no. 4, 1972, pp. 1–14. JSTOR, https://doi.org/10.2307/1173169.

Accessed 28 Nov. 2022.

“Castro Speech DataBase - Latin American Network Information Center, LANIC.” LANIC, http://lanic.utexas.edu/project/castro/db/1959/19590103.html “Central Intelligence Agency - CIA.” THE SINO-SOVIET STRUGGLE IN CUBA AND THE LATIN AMERICAN COMMUNIST MOVEMENT , CIA IRSS D D I IS TA F F STUDY REFERENCE TITLE: ESAU XXlll-63 , https://www.cia.gov/readingroom/docs/esau-22.pdf.

Cova, Antonio de la. “Excerpts From Statements Made by Roa and Stevenson to U.N. Political Committee. https://www.latinamericanstudies.org/bay-of-pigs/NYT-4-18-61g.htm.

“Che Guevara's Anti-Imperialist Theory of Class.” New Socialist, 21 Oct. 2022, “Cuban Dictator Flees.” The Guardian, Guardian News and Media, 2 Jan. 1959, DUNCAN, W. RAYMOND. “CASTRO’S NEW APPROACH TOWARD LATIN AMERICA.” World Affairs, vol. 133, no. 4, 1971, pp. 275–82. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/20671230. Accessed 29 Nov. 2022.

Empire of Liberty in an Age of National Liberation. Princeton University Press, 2021 Ewell, Judith. “Aragorn Storm Miller. Precarious Paths to Freedom: The United States, Venezuela, and the Latin American Cold War.” The American Historical Review, vol.

122, no. 4, 2017, pp. 1277–1278., https://doi.org/10.1093/ahr/122.4.1277.

Foreign Relations of the United States - Diplomatic Papers 1945 - V.5 - The American Republics. 1969.

Franqui, Carlos. Diary of the Cuban Revolution. The Viking Press, 1980.

18

GovInfo, 13 Jan. 2023, https://www.govinfo.gov/.

Grow, Micheal. U.S. Presidents and Latin American Interventions. Univ Pr of Kansas, 2012.

LEHMAN, KENNETH. “Revolutions and Attributions: Making Sense of Eisenhower Administration Policies in Bolivia and Guatemala.” Diplomatic History, vol. 21, no. 2, 1997, pp. 185–213. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/24913280. Accessed 28 Nov. 2022.

Lévesque Jacques. The USSR and the Cuban Revolution: Soviet Ideological and Strategical Perspectives, 1959-77. Praeger, 1978.

Morley, Morris H. Imperial State and Revolution: The United States and Cuba 1952-1986. Cambridge Univ. Press, 1989.

“National Security Council Report 1.” U.S. Department of State, U.S. Department of State, https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1958-60v05/d11.

O’Connor, James. “Agrarian Reforms in Cuba, 1959-1963.” Science & Society, vol. 32, no. 2, 1968, pp. 169–217. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/40401340. Accessed 28 Nov. 2022.

Quirk, Robert E. Fidel Castro. Norton, 1993.

Shen-Miller, Seraphine, and David S. Shen-Miller. “Working with Your Major Professor and Dissertation Committee.” Your Graduate Training in Psychology: Effective Strategies for Success, 2012, pp. 243–258., https://doi.org/10.4135/9781452240527.n21.

“Simón Bolívar.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., https://www.britannica.com/biography/Simon-Bolivar.

Szulc, Tad. Fidel: A Critical Portrait. Morrow, 1986.

“The Cold War.” The Cold War | JFK Library, https://www.jfklibrary.org/learn/about-jfk/jfk-in-history/the-cold-war.

19 “The Cuba Libre Story.” Watch The Cuba Libre Story | Netflix Official Site, 22 Apr. 2022, https://www.netflix.com/watch/80117389?trackId=155573558. Accessed 23 Jan. 2023.

THOMAS, HUGH. “Cuba: The United States and Batista, 1952-58.” World Affairs, vol.

149, no. 4, 1987, pp. 169–75. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/20672109. Accessed 21 Nov. 2022.

Thomas, Hugh. The Revolution on Balance / by Hugh Thomas. The Cuban-American National Foundation, 1983.

Boys Don’t Cry: Race, Sex, and Class in Late 20th Century, Male, Coming of Age Films Research Question: How did the two films, Good Will Hunting and Boyz in The

Hood, change the male, coming-of-age film genre; and in what ways did they influence broader conversations about race, feminism, class, and gender in late 20th-century America and today?

1

This extended essay examines two iconic, late-20th century male, coming-of-age films: Boyz n the Hood1 and Good Will Hunting.2 These award-winning films were groundbreaking when they were released and appear to center heterosexual masculinity. This essay argues, however, that these films did more than they get credit for, adding nuance to the genre by including more complex male figures and subverting dominant conceptions of masculinity. This essay analyzes these films in relation to the genre and to each other in order to explore how the films influenced subsequent coming-of-age films, along with the ways in which they shaped broader social conversations about sex, race, and class in late 20th-century America and today.

My extended essay starts by analyzing the coming-of-age film genre, beginning with Rebel Without a Cause.3 It then examines how Boys in the Hood and Good Will Hunting changed the genre. To do so, the essay analyzes each film’s narrative arc and archetypal figures, such as the hero, the mentor, and the female love interest. This essay then shows how the characters in these films upended standard characterizations of these archetypes. The essay concludes by discussing how the films differ from each other in ways that are related to the fact that one film has a virtually all-black cast and the other a nearly all-white cast.

Part I: What is a Coming of Age film?

The coming-of-age genre is almost as old as creative expression itself since the genre in literature goes back at least as far as William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet.4 The defining characteristics of the genre are the broadly universal themes such as family strife, first love, loss, and budding sexuality, that take place in a character's life as they grow from adolescence to adulthood.5 Coming-of-age films serve as a visual representation of these themes and are less about physical development than about the mental, moral, and emotional evolution of the character from the start to the end of the film.6 In many coming-of-age films, characters are influenced by key figures in their lives who help them grow as people and develop new, more mature perspectives on life. By evoking familiar emotions in audiences, the coming-of-age genre in film has impacted audiences over generations by allowing them to relate to and empathize with the central characters through the process of their development. Watching characters go through experiences that members of the audience are going through enables coming-of-age 1

Boyz n The Hood. John Singleton, et al., Columbia Pictures. 1991.

Good Will Hunting. Gus Van Sant. Miramax, 1997.

3 Rebel Without a Cause. Nicholas Ray. Warner Bros. 1955.

4 Shakespeare, William. Romeo and Juliet. Oxford :published for the Malone Society by Oxford University Press, 2000.

5 “Coming-of-Age Movies: What Is the Coming-of-Age Genre? - 2022.” MasterClass, https://www.masterclass.com/articles/coming-of-age-movies.

Kathryn ButtKathryn is an MA graduate in Film and Television from The University of Bristol. After moving from the depths of the countryside. “What Makes a Coming-of-Age Film? (Genre Series).”

Raindance, 13 July 2021, https://raindance.org/coming-of-age-genre/.

6 Menendez-Otero, Carlos. “Cowboys and Kings: The Coming of Age Film in 1990s Irish Cinema.”

CINEJ Cinema Journal, vol. 5, no. 1, 2016, pp. 5–33. 2015. https://doi.org/10.5195/cinej.2015.123.

2

2

films to spark conversations on topics that can normally be difficult to discuss, process, or comprehend but when shown in movie form, are more easily absorbed and understood. For example, even if a coming-of-age film is set in a different country, the audience can usually still find a way to relate to the characters’ experiences.

Coming-of-age films tend to be populated by archetypes, which are universal figures who are meant to help the viewers relate to the characters. Thus, archetypes in film and literature tend to be recognizable across time and space.7 Some examples of archetypal characters include the hero, villain, supportive friend, love interest, etc. These characters create a sense of familiarity, making the film accessible, while allowing the audience to recognize themselves in certain characters.8 Luke Skywalker, in the Star Wars9 film series, is an example of an archetypal hero protagonist. Luke embarks on the hero’s journey and evolves from his old way of life to a new, more mature way of being, overcoming obstacles, and experiencing emotional and psychological breakthroughs that transform him into the hero he becomes.

A few examples of movies that helped shape the genre are the iconic films, Rebel Without a Cause and The Outsiders.10 Both films incorporate the bad boy archetype and the relatable themes of being misunderstood and isolated before finding community. The Outsiders explores the themes of estrangement, finding identity through friendships, and loss. The film, Dead Poets Society,11adresses themes of coming into one's own, struggling, and making use of an opportunity when it presents itself. Initially, most coming-of-age films involved boys becoming men, but over time, increasing numbers of films centered female protagonists, which offered female viewers characters who shared their experiences. The recent film Lady Bird,12 for example, incorporates themes of identity, personal growth, and appreciation of home. The film Thirteen13 examines the themes of influence on others, guilt and betrayal, sex, love, falling away from childhood friends and family, and living with one’s choices. In Girl Interrupted,14 the themes of mental health, mental illness, and social non-conformity are central to the plot.

7

Britannica, The Editors of Encyclopaedia. "archetype". Encyclopedia Britannica, 27 Sep. 2022. https://www.britannica.com/topic/archetype. Accessed 27 November 2022.

8 Matt. “What Is an Archetype? Definition & Examples.” Filmmaking Lifestyle. Filmmaking Lifestyle, 4 Oct, 2022. https://filmlifestyle.com/what-is-an-archetype/#:~:text=Iconic%20Archetypes%20In%20Film&text=Arch etypes%20are%20recurring%20themes%20and,audiences%20connect%20with%20the%20story.

9 Star Wars. George Lucas. Twentieth Century Fox. 1977.

10 The Outsiders. Francis Ford Coppola.Warner Bros. 1983.

11 Dead Poets Society. Peter Weir. Buena Vista Pictures Distribution. 1989.

12 Lady Bird. Greta Gerwig. A24. 2017.

13 Thirteen. Catherine Hardwicke. Fox Searchlight Pictures. 2003.

14 Girl, Interrupted. James Mangold. Columbia Pictures. 1999.

3

Over time, the coming-of-age genre has become more progressive and realistic. Consider Dazed and Confused15 and Bring It On.16 The jokes in these films would not be used in movies today because of their offensive language, racism, and misogyny. In addition, the sexulization of women in early, but particularly late 20th century, coming-of-age films, such as Risky Business,17 Porky’s,18 and Sixteen Candles,19 has now been replaced with more complex representations of women, highlighting their intellect and wit. Skylar in Good Will Hunting, for example, is clever, independent, and spontaneous, while Jess in Bend It Like Beckham20 is athletic, opinionated, and driven.

For much of the 20th century, the coming-of-age genre was dominated by films with primarily white casts and sometimes a token person of color. But films like Boyz in the Hood, which premiered in 1994, changed the game for many black actors and opened the door for other coming-of-age films that centered the experiences of black and other characters of color.

Moonlight,21 for example, not only had an entirely black cast but also revolutionized the genre by addressing black homosexuality, which had not been shown in such detail in the genre before.

Similarly, Slumdog Millionaire,22 had a virtually all-South Asian cast and took place in India.

Part II: Boyz and Good Will Hunting: A New Take on an Old Genre Despite the fact that one has an all-black and the other an all-white cast, there are clear parallels between Boyz in the Hood and Good Will Hunting that identify them as coming-of-age films. Both feature all the archetypes of traditional coming-of-age films: supportive friend, mentor, female love interest, and nemesis. This part introduces these films and their archetypal characters.

In Good Will Hunting, the protagonist is Will Hunting, a blue-collar custodian with an uncannily high IQ, who works at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Gerald Lambeau, a professor at MIT, discovers Will after seeing him solve a difficult math problem on a hallway chalkboard. Later in the film, Will goes to a bar with his friends: Chukie, Morgan, and Billy. Chukie approaches two girls in the hopes of impressing them but is, instead, harassed by Harvard students who try to belittle Chukie, assuming that he is less intelligent than he is. Will intervenes in the argument and outsmarts the Harvard student and, in so doing, impresses Skylar, who is one of the two girls. Will later gets into a street fight with a gang of boys. He assaults a police officer who is trying to break up the fight and is arrested. Professor Lambeau makes an Dazed and Confused. Richard Linklater, and Harry Garfield. Gramercy Pictures 1993.

Bring It On. Peyton Reed. Beacon Pictures. 2000.

17 Risky Business. Paul Brickman.Burbank, CA, Warner Home Video.1983.

18 Porky’s. Bob Clark.Astral Films 20th Century Fox. 1981.

19 Sixteen Candles. Hughes, John. Universal Pictures. 1984.

20 Bend It Like Beckham. Chadha, Gurinder., et al. Panorama Entertainment, 2002.

21 Moonlight. Barry Jenkins. A24. 2016.

22 Slumdog Millionaire. Danny Boyle, and Tandan Loveleen . Fox Searchlight Pictures, 2008.

15 16

4

agreement with the judge overseeing Will’s case that Will can avoid prison if he agrees to go to therapy and study math under professor Lambeau’s guidance. After failing to follow through with several therapists, Professor Lambeau asks Sean Maguire, with whom he has a turbulent relationship, to mentor Will. Sean and Will are from the same neighborhood, and both grew up in harsh, abusive households. After a few rough therapy sessions, Will and Sean begin to bond.

Will, who had begun dating Skylar, breaks up with her after she moves to California to attend medical school at Stanford University. Will loves her but ends the relationship because of his fear of abandonment. Sean helps Will understand that he is a victim of child abuse and tells him, “it is not your fault,” causing Will to cry in Sean’s arms. The film ends with Will driving cross country to California from Boston to pursue Skylar.

The film, Boyz in The Hood begins with ten-year-old Tre Styles, who lives with his single mother, Reva, in California. Reva sends Tre to live with his father in Crenshaw after Tre gets in trouble at school. Once Tre arrives in Crenshaw, he is united with friends from his childhood: Doughboy; Chris, his half-brother; and Ricky. The movie then jumps forward seven years. Tre is now a handsome, mature, intelligent young man. During a car street racing event, Ricky is provoked by a gang member. After leaving the race, Ricky and Tre are pulled over by the police.

One of the officers threatens Tre, pointing a gun at him while speaking of his deep-rooted hatred of black people. After the encounter, Tre, who is visibly upset, goes to his girlfriend Bradi’s house. He cries and she comforts him. After leaving a store one afternoon, Tre and Ricky happen upon the gang that had threatened Ricky at the street race days earlier. Tre and Ricky decide to split up so they are harder for the gang members to find. After they split up, the car with the gang members drives up close to Ricky and fatally shoots him. Tre and Doughboy find Ricky and carry his corpse back home. The boys are distraught and angry by the senseless killing. To make matters worse, Ricky’s mother learns that Ricky’s SAT score would have gotten him into his dream college, the University of Southern California, with his football scholarship. Tre and Doughboy vow vengeance on the rival gang. Tre goes home, full of rage, and finds his father's gun. His father tries, unsuccessfully to persuade Tre not to retaliate. As Tre and his friends drive around the city looking for the gang, Tre has second thoughts and asks to be let out of the car.

Heeding his father’s advice, Tre goes home. Doughboy ends up finding the gang that shot his half-brother at a fast food restaurant and shoots all of them to death. The following morning, Tre visits Doughboy, who is not angry over Tre’s leaving and understands why he left. Doughboy is resigned to his fate, knowing that he will face retribution for killing the gang members.

Doughboy remarks on how in America, "either they don't know, don't show, or don't care about what's going on in the hood." Doughboy says he has no brothers left, but Tre says he still has one, referring to himself. Ricky is buried the next day, Doughboy is killed two weeks later, and Tre goes to college with Brandi in Atlanta.

Part III: The Characteristics That Make These Films Unique in The Genre

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Good Will Hunting and Boyz in the Hood share many similarities in that both films defy the genre in the way that they depict their protagonists and their lives. The friendships in these films raise topics that men, let alone male friend groups, usually don’t discuss, including fears, emotions, weaknesses, and heartbreak. These two films share similar plots in terms of how both Tre and Will are guided by older male mentor figures (Tre’s father and Will’s therapist) to make decisions that end up altering their lives at pivotal moments for the better. Both Tre and Will allow themselves to be vulnerable and eventually take a stand, overcoming a deep fear or deep-rooted trauma. Both characters are emotionally complex and self-reflective. Each film allows the protagonists to cry and rely on female characters, exposing themselves in ways that were not often seen with male characters.

In both Good Will Hunting and Boyz in the Hood, the mentor characters help advise and support the male protagonist by questioning their moral choices and teaching them difficult but valuable life lessons, while not forcing them to follow their advice. What makes the mentors authentic is that they have more experience and wisdom than the naive but cocky protagonists.

Both mentors offer the protagonists a chance to change and grow, altering their life trajectory and putting them on the path to success. The two protagonists have come into contact with their mentor character because another character beforehand thought of them as the last resort when the protagonist had nearly veered off the edge. For example, Professor Lambeau doesn’t want to bring Will to Sean, and Reva doesn’t want to bring Tre, to his father, but they end up doing so as a last resort. Both mentors have had many years of introspection and self-awareness, and have contended with their own demons, which has given them insight and increased sensitivity. In other words, both mentor characters exhibit a deeper masculinity that allows them to teach both main characters to be open and vulnerable rather than just closed and tough. Thus, they make men out of the boys by conferring not just knowledge but resilience, understanding empathy, acceptance, knowledge and vulnerability.

Though the mentor characters are similar in many ways, they also have differences.

Will’s mentor and therapist, Sean, is white. Tre’s mentor, and father, Jason, is black. These differences impact how they experience the world and the way they counsel the boys. Jason is very strict compared to Sean, who may have been more lenient becasue he was not an immediate family member and therefore tried to respect Will’s boundaries while working to keep the relationship professional. Moreover, Jason may be harsher than Sean because he is a black man in America and thus needs to have a no-nonsense perspective in order to survive, especially in a neighborhood like Crenshaw California, which was notoriously dangerous. Thus race plays a role in each mentor’s approach to mentoring.

The two films are also distinguishable from others in the genre by the role of women.

Both female lead characters are not reduced to mere sex objects but are instead central figures who help drive the plot by forcing the protagonists to face their emotions and question their choices, thereby helping to break down their barriers. In the 1980s, the female characters in coming-of-age films were often not fully formed. Instead, they tended to be mere bumps in the 6

male main character’s road to enlightenment. In both films, in contrast the women are ambitious with high educational expectations. In Good Will Hunting, Skylar, Will’s love interest, is at Harvard training to be a physician. And even though she loves Will, she refuses to put her life on hold for him after he refuses to move with her to California so that she can attend Stanford medical school. Brandi, Tre’s girlfriend, refuses to have sex with him in the beginning becasue she values her education, and catholic ideals. She views sex as something that should occur after marriage.

Unlike Good Will Hunting, which has only one female character, Boyz in The Hood has several. In addition to Brandi, the film features Reva Styles, Tre’s mother, who is a divorcée and the person who has been the primary parent for most of Tre’s life. Tre’s mother is able to put Tre’s father in his place, which is surprising considering how tough Tre’s father is portrayed in the film. The character, Shalika, who is a friend of the boys' talks back to them when misogynist comments are made, and she is respected for doing so. These women and Skylar help shape who Tre and Will become, and, in so doing, they break the normal mold of female characters in coming-of-age films. They make the male characters feel uncomfortable by questioning their actions and forcing them to become more self-aware, while chipping away at the macho facade the boys have created in keeping with the class and racial stereotypes that they had bought into.

Most notably, these female characters force the male characters to be vulnerable and emotionally open. To be more specific, both male characters physically break down or cry in front of the female characters, which was normally not shown on screen at the time.

The pair of films exhibit the best friend archetype. The best friend is supportive of the protagonist and although he is not really going anywhere in life, he nevertheless wants the protagonist to succeed. For example, in Good Will Hunting, Chukie believes that Will is wasting his potential by staying in a minimum-wage, construction job. To make this point, he tells Will that the best part of his day is when he drives up to Will’s house and knocks on the door hoping Will won’t answer, meaning that Will has gone on to better things. In Boys in the Hood, Doughboy tells Tre that he doesn't blame him for not going with him to avenge Rick’s death because killing the gang members would ultimately come back to haunt him by preventing him from going to college and possibly getting him killed. Both best friend characters have that “ride-or-die” brotherhood mentality and look out for the protagonist more than themselves. The best friend characters, though confident, know that they are living a deep-end life and want the protagonist to strive for a better life. Each best friend expresses his feelings about the protagonists moving forward to the next phase of their lives through a heartfelt, poetic monologue that ends with the best friend accepting that for the protagonist to reach his full potential, he has to leave them behind. The best friends vividly illustrate the contrasting theme of coming-of-age films that part of adulthood is leaving behind out-moded values and practices that were once important and moving on to new, more productive ones. The best friends, though very similar, are also different. This can be tied to race. Doughboy experiences the grueling cruelty of growing up as a black in America and the almost inescapable risk of experiencing violence.

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Chuckie, in contrast, is white. Although he is a blue-collar construction worker who struggles due to the limitation of his working-class status, he also enjoys some privileges of whiteness, like being able to get a good union job.

Part IV: The Similarities and Differences Between the Protagonists When looking at the two male protagonists in Good Will Hunting and Boyz in the Hood, there are many similarities between the boys. Similarities between the two protagonists are that both boys were born in poor, neighborhoods. Both protagonists stand out from their group of friends because of their intelligence and greater likelihood of attaining a better life than the rest of their friend group. Both boys put on a bad boy facade but are deeply anxious because of pent-up trauma that has been concealed to maintain their manhood.

Though these similarities are significant between the two men, there are some substantial differences that are defined by their race. Tre is black, and Will is white, which makes it, so the boys experience the world differently. Tre wants to pursue higher education after high school, while Will doesn't feel the need to and feels comfortable in his blue-collar lifestyle. White men can often achieve a comfortable life with a blue-collar job, while black men have to deal with the compounded oppression of race and class. Will, who has multiple run-ins with the police, continually finesses the system with cunning, wit, and intelligence and either gets a lower bail or doesn't serve time at all. In contrast, Tre has multiple run-ins with the police for doing next to nothing. He eventually grows fearful and angry at the unjust legal system. This difference in legal privilege ties to race in that if Will was a black man, he would be deemed a criminal or thug and would serve much higher sentences while Tre is doing harmless acts that cause him to be harassed by police. Will bounced around the foster system after being removed from the abusive households, while Tre only moved from his mother’s house to his father's house because his father's neighborhood was slightly nicer, and he needed his father's influence. So Tre more or less had a stable home environment, while Will had nothing of the sort. Will made it out of the cruel foster system and ended up maintaining a job, but for many black children, the foster system is a death sentence that leads them straight into the criminal justice system. While Will was abused as an orphan in the foster system, Tre experienced racism and violence in his neighborhood. Furthermore, though both men exemplify major similarities and differences, the major component that ties them together is their influence in bringing out another side of men in the film industry in terms of showing emotional vulnerability in front of a camera or debunking the stereotypical simplicity of the male protagonist in coming of age films.

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Bibliography Boyz In The Hood. John Singleton, et al., Columbia Pictures. 1991.

Good Will Hunting. Gus Van Sant. Miramax, 1997.

Rebel Without a Cause. Nicholas Ray. Warner Bros. 1955.

Shakespeare, William. Romeo and Juliet. Oxford :published for the Malone Society by Oxford University Press, 2000.

“Coming-of-Age Movies: What Is the Coming-of-Age Genre? - 2022.” MasterClass, https://www.masterclass.com/articles/coming-of-age-movies.

Kathryn ButtKathryn is an MA graduate in Film and Television from The University of Bristol. After moving from the depths of the countryside. “What Makes a Coming-of-Age Film? (Genre Series).”

Raindance, 13 July 2021, https://raindance.org/coming-of-age-genre/.

Menendez-Otero, Carlos. “Cowboys and Kings: The Coming of Age Film in 1990s Irish Cinema.”

CINEJ Cinema Journal, vol. 5, no. 1, 2016, pp. 5–33. 2015. https://doi.org/10.5195/cinej.2015.123.

Britannica, The Editors of Encyclopaedia. "archetype". Encyclopedia Britannica, 27 Sep. 2022. https://www.britannica.com/topic/archetype. Accessed 27 November 2022.

Matt. “What Is an Archetype? Definition & Examples.” Filmmaking Lifestyle. Filmmaking Lifestyle, 4 Oct, 2022. https://filmlifestyle.com/what-is-an-archetype/#:~:text=Iconic%20Archetypes%20In%20Film&text=Arch etypes%20are%20recurring%20themes%20and,audiences%20connect%20with%20the%20story.

Star Wars. George Lucas. Twentieth Century Fox. 1977.

The Outsiders. Francis Ford Coppola. Warner Bros. 1983.

Dead Poets Society. Peter Weir. Buena Vista Pictures Distribution. 1989.

Lady Bird. Greta Gerwig. A24. 2017.

Thirteen. Catherine Hardwicke. Fox Searchlight Pictures. 2003.

Girl Interrupted. James Mangold. Columbia Pictures. 1999.

Dazed and Confused. Richard Linklater, and Harry Garfield. Gramercy Pictures 1993.

Bring It On. Peyton Reed. Beacon Pictures. 2000.

Risky Business. Paul Brickman.Burbank, CA, Warner Home Video.1983.

Porky’s. Bob Clark.Astral Films 20th Century Fox. 1981.

Sixteen Candles. Hughes, John. Universal Pictures. 1984.

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Bend It Like Beckham. Chadha, Gurinder., et al. Panorama Entertainment, 2002.

Moonlight. Barry Jenkins. A24. 2016.

Slumdog Millionaire. Danny Boyle, and Tandan Loveleen. Fox Searchlight Pictures, 2008.

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Anaïs Irizarry

Prescribed Title: Does it matter if our acquisition of knowledge happens in “bubbles” where some information and voices are excluded? Discuss with reference to two areas of knowledge.

Word Count: 1,579 Author/Writer of Document: Anaïs Cerina Irizarry Austin Date of Essay: 03-11-2023

In this essay, I evaluate whether or not it matters if our acquisition of knowledge happens in bubbles where some information and voices are excluded through the Art and History areas of knowledge. I use examples of 13th and 14th Century art, public school education models, and the teaching of art history that omits pretexts of colonization. Through these examples, I state that it matters if our acquisition of knowledge happens in bubbles as when some information is given and understood for some and left out for others, a failure to be understanding, respectful, and considerate of those who live around us is promoted. Perpetuation of this failure in our behavior as humans leads to a continually dysfunctional society for us, humans, collectively. This is important as to discriminate against certain individuals for the sake of being unwilling to understand them, for they are odd, new, and/or different to you solely creates animosity for yourself and those you interact with. To live in animosity is degrading, and hence not conducive for living well. While living well, it is easier to attain our aspirations for our lives. If all people in the world lived well, harmoniously, it would be much easier for all of us collectively to attain all aspirations each of us have. Having collective harmony is most conducive for attaining our aspirations and having self fulfillment. Self fulfillment encourages happiness. Harmony encourages happiness, and living well more than any animosity given with the intent of personal gain.

I chose The Arts as my first area of knowledge, which I am pondering in reference to the event of learning about qualities of art and the origin of its creation. If this learning or knowledge is created in “bubbles”, or self-isolating groups of individuals, awareness and recognition of other’s achievements in acquiring and producing this knowledge occurred before the bubble had is difficult for the isolated group to do.

Superiority is given to art that has been exalted as the original, no matter if it is truly original or not. An example of this are present in the first drawing that is classically understood to have the quality of linear perspective, or depth perception, within it. This drawing is the “elevation of Santo Spirito” made by Brunelleschi during the Italian Renaissance. The drawing was made between the years 1434 and 1483. In art history classes, the art is often lauded as being the first drawing to employ depth perception through linear perspective (Joseph Dauben, 2015). Another example of a drawing where linear perspective is shown is “a Nenbutsu gathering with Monk Ippen” (“A Nenbutsu Gathering at Ichiya, Kyoto, from the Illustrated Biography of the Monk Ippen and His Disciple Ta'a (Yugyō Shōnin engi-e) | Japan | Nanbokuchō period (1336–92).”).

The drawing was done by one of Monk Ippen’s disciples, Yugyō Shōnin engi-e, between the years 1336 and 1392. This drawing employs depth perception through linear perspective, and was made before Brunelleschi’s drawing was. Due to the historical glorification of art from the Italian Renaissance Era, the Italian art is given more reverence and respect, and hence lauded as the original drawing with depth perception through linear perspective. This ignores art that came before it, art from non-european countries, that employed the same techniques. Yugyō Shōnin engi-e’s drawing was made an entire century earlier than the drawing by Brunelleschi, and exemplified similar depth perception through linear perspective. With intentions of honoring the original, the art made earlier should be honored and respected with the credit it deserves. To ignore the fact that work from a non-european nation had exemplified qualities in artwork before European art had is to entertain the misattribution of credit. When a consumer understands a singular attribute of art (in this case, being European) to be the best, it

makes the consumer wrongfully perpetuates a notion of superiority of European art over art from any other region of the world. With the cases of the Italian and Japanese art that I have presented before, false credit being encouraged for the Italian art encourages the consumer of both pieces to think of the Japanese art as inferior to the Italian art.

Some may argue that knowledge created in bubbles does not discredit and fail to honor the creation of the same knowledge before it. Rather, the knowledge created in bubbles is solely honoring the most reputable iteration of the knowledge given. For example, in the examples previously offered for this area of knowledge, the Italian art is more detailed. Therefore, it has more effort and time put into it than the Japanese art has, and should be celebrated as the first and best to present linear perspective over other works of art.

To argue that the Italian art is superior for the sake of being more detailed is a false and eurocentric attribution. Aside from what is most detailed, the Japanese art did present clear linear perspective before the Italian art did. The Japanese art deserves praise before the Italian art as in this case, it was the first.

I chose History as the second area of knowledge I would evaluate in this essay, and discuss in reference to how we learn and understand, or acquire knowledge, about identities and cultures that are unfamiliar to us. I state that when Historical Knowledge is understood in bubbles, the validity and importance of certain identities and people are cast aside, creating a more dysfunctional and intolerable world around us that engages in disservice over care. An example of this is with the ban made by the Florida Department of Education in 2021 to prohibit the teaching of any “‘social emotional

learning’” and “multicultural” subjects, especially LGBTQ+ rights and Critical Race Theory (Andrew Atterbury, 2022). This example shows that when people are withheld education around the validity of others’ identities different from their own, the ability for these people to be considerate and accommodating of others is limited (Andrew Atterbury, 2022). Inherent animosity towards people who do not conform to norms present in our society encourages the idea that these people invalid and deserving of ridicule. All humans share the earth together, and by this standard our existence is inherently valid. We would function more easily, collectively, if we respect one another.

To refuse to teach about the rights of LGBTQ+ people and the discriminatory structure of race our world inherently discriminates against LGBTQ+ people and people of color.

With the Benin Bronzes being shown in the British Museum, the museum has not returned the Bronzes to their origin city in Nigeria, despite the Kingdom of Benin requesting this (David Smith, 2022). When one learns history, the institution teaching them can inherently implicate subjective biases as they do so. When visitors to the British Museum see the Bronzes, they are viewing the art through the institution that invaded the Kingdom of Benin in order to access the Bronzes. The British Museum is not willing to return the Bronzes to Nigeria permanently. The Bronzes are pieces that were created by people of the Kingdom of Benin over centuries to document the events in their community (David Smith, 2022). If the British had not taken the Bronzes from Nigeria, the people of the Kingdom of Benin would still have this documentation of their history in their possession, and hence have the connection to their heritage that was taken when the British stole from the Kingdom in 1897. As viewers of the Bronzes see them in the British Museum, they are learning about them in an institution that pillaged

their place of origin in order to get these artifacts. Learning about the art in this context implies condoning the British’s desecration and pillage of the people of Benin’s heritage in 1897, and hence does not honor the validity and importance of the Bronzes to the people of Benin at all. This shows that context and implications in the way that an institution communicates a given piece of history can drastically affect the amount of care and due respect one has for those that the history belongs to.

Some may argue that people are not inherently prone to be given influence from the institution that they learn about History in, and hence not prone to adopt a disposition of animosity towards other people’s identities because people are not prone to influence to such a degree. Institutions can have a strong effect on human behavior as the human brain naturally calls upon many aspects of its surroundings rather than solely on pure personal disposition (Richard Hoefer, 2022; Christoph Engel and Elke U. Weber).

In this essay, I have found that, when our acquisition of knowledge is done in “bubbles”, or isolated groups, there is a propensity for the members of the group to falsely attribute superiority narrowly to whatever they see fit, and to discriminate against any people with identities that are different or foreign to them. Through the examples of comparison between the linear perspective of Italian and Japanese art, and of the institutional influence of biases discriminatory against LGBTQ+ people and people of color with encouragement of century-old despoiling of the Kingdom of Benin’s history by the British, humans attribute false superiority and prefer to discriminate what deserves respect based on person preference when knowledge is acquired in bubbles. The way that discriminatory actions lead to creating disrespectful, exploitative behavior between

people gives us insight into how dysfunction and animosity stems from discrimination based on the bias(es) of a given bubble, or any given individual.

Works Cited: Atterbury, Andrew. “Mystery solved? Florida reveals why it rejected math books over critical race theory.” Politico, 6 May 2022, http://www.politico.com/news/2022/05/05/fldoe-releases-math-textbook-reviews-0 0030503. Accessed 11 December 2022.

Dauben, Joseph. “Early applications of linear perspective – Smarthistory.” Smarthistory, 09 August 2015, https://smarthistory.org/early-applications-of-linear-perspective/.

Accessed 11 December 2022.

Engel, Christoph, and Elke U. Weber. “The impact of institutions on the decision how to decide.” Journal of Institutional Economics, vol. 3, no. 3, 2007, pp. 323-349.

Cambridge University Press, https://doi.org/10.1017/S1744137407000744.

Accessed 11 March 2023.

Hoefer, Richard, editor. “Institutionalism as a Theory for Understanding Policy Creation: an Underused Resource.” Journal of Policy Practice and Research, 2022.

Springer Link, https://doi.org/10.1007/s42972-022-00059-0. Accessed 11 March 2023.

Marshall, Alex. “This Art Was Looted 123 Years Ago. Will It Ever Be Returned?

(Published 2020).” The New York Times, 29 October 2021, https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/23/arts/design/benin-bronzes.html. Accessed 11 December 2022.

“A Nenbutsu Gathering at Ichiya, Kyoto, from the Illustrated Biography of the Monk Ippen and His Disciple Ta'a (Yugyō Shōnin engi-e) | Japan | Nanbokuchō period (1336–92).” The Metropolitan Museum of Art, The Metropolitan Museum of Art,

https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/45633. Accessed 11 December 2022.

Smith, David. “'It's about ethics': Nigeria urges British Museum to follow US and repatriate bronzes.” The Guardian, 11 October 2022, https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/oct/11/nigeria-benin-repatriate-bronzessmithsonian. Accessed 11 December 2022.

Works Consulted: “Institutional Bias.” The SAGE Handbook of Prejudice, Stereotyping and Discrimination, edited by Miles Hewstone, et al., 4th ed., SAGE Publications, 2010, pp. 426-440.

ResearchGate, https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Pj-Henry/publication/263314599_Henry_P_J _2010_Institutional_bias_In_J_F_Dovidio_M_Hewstone_P_Glick_V_M_Esses_E ds_Handbook_of_prejudice_stereotyping_and_discrimination_426-440_London_ Sage/links/0f31753a88b8e3cf1f000000/H. Accessed 11 March 2023.

Peters, B. Guy. Institutional Theory: Problems and Prospects. Institute for Humane Studies, 2000. CORE, https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/212120051.pdf. Accessed 11 March 2023.

Aaron Salett

Process Portfolio My Process Portfolio is a cumulative reflection of the work I have done in IB Visual Arts over the past two years. It spans from my first ever canvas painting through 15 works, displaying growth in technique and development of ideas and themes. Much of this portfolio surrounds my personal interest in the landscape, natural world, and the sublime.

Furthermore, there is also a body of research within this portfolio as I was inspired by artists and artist movements from a range of contexts. This portfolio is important to me because it reflects my love for painting, and how freedom of gesture and scale has allowed me to find my own artistic license and come into my own as an artist.

Introduction: Power of the natural world: My work strives to demonstrate the strength of the natural world. I believe that there is no subject more worthwhile than nature. It is nature as the sublime that allows humans to recognize their insignificant place in the universe. In this way we are at its mercy even in our own minds. I want my work be large and gestural in order to stand up to such a mighty subject as nature. Living in the city my whole life has given me a kind of longing for nature and constant return to it in my mind. In this way it is both an incredibly outward as well as personal subject to me.

Human insignificance: One significant feature of my work is that it lacks a human subject matter. Even when I include human impact and industry, it is feels contained if not consumed by the nature surrounding it. I don't believe human impact has to be invisible to show its insignificance, however most of my work is devoid of any trace of humans.

The fleeting moment: The idea of a perfect fleeting moment is applicable to all my work as it holds feelings of unity and serenity without feeling overworked.

Impressionism has inspired me to work spontaneously and visible. Using light and brushwork to convey the idea of a space. This allows me to go to a space of intuition when I paint and work in tandem with the paint and my own imperfect movements.

Fantasy and expansion: I want my work to be transporting and take the viewer to a place that feels just for them. I want my world building to be mystifying and leave the viewer unsure of the line between fantasy and reality. I want there to a narrative the viewer can immerse themselves in within the picture plane.

“Windshield” Idea Development Initial Idea On an early autumn drive with my father I was struck by the way the landscape melded the human urbanism and the deciduous trees on the brink of change. Staring at the road reflecting the falling sun, it felt as though we were being cradled by nature. I wanted to paint this image of the human experience within the natural world in such a way that the two often juxtaposing components melded together.

My own photograph, October, 2021, Untitled Landscape study

My initial inspiration arose from a picture I took when I was driving with my dad to visit colleges. It had just rained and the sun had come out creating immense reflective light. I wanted to find a way to capture the feeling of hope and warm both that I associate with this moment but also that I feel truly is captured by this picture. I wanted to be able to put the viewer into this piece of narrative. Nature played a role as well, as the beauty of the natural world is something that I wanted to effectively capture. The most interesting aspect of the subject matter is the windshield and all of the reflected light. I think this creates a feeling of tranquility and hope. This specific image connects me both to a specific moment and also acknowledges the motion of the world. I have done a lot of work that captures nature and specifically human interaction and connection with it.

“Windshield” Process While I have done a few small paintings, I had never done a large scale canvas painting prior to this. I chose to make this work relatively large scale because I wanted to both challenge myself as well as create a world for the viewer to immerse themselves in. This painting represents a lot of growth for me in terms of learned technique. Aside from the scale, I chose to use acrylic paint, because it is very painterly and would allow me to create to soft opacity I wanted. I didn't do any sketches of this painting prior to painting it, I did a light wash of yellow for the important areas of the picture. I kept the painting loose, focusing more on blocking in the colors and the perspective than creating fine and detailed lines. I used lots of colors even when blending, in order to create the depth I wanted. I experimented with the color wheel and contrasting colors to achieve depth and realism in the color palette.

My own work, Windshield, November 2021, Oil on canvas- 1st wash

My own work, Windshield, November 2021, Oil on canvas- 2nd layer

My own work, Windshield, November 2021, Oil on canvas- Nearly finished

“Windshield”Reflection I am very happy with this painting. In the end it became more about creating a dreamlike moment for the viewer than a perfect replication of the picture I took. It feels more interpretive of narrative than simply reflective of reality. I like the way that the composition turned out. I was able to create the depth that I wanted. I think it is interesting to look at and draws the viewer's eye around the canvas. Some aspects of the painting that I struggled with were creating the necessary distinction between the interior of the car and the road directly above it. I had to experiment with the darks and lights in order to reach the desired distinction. Another challenge was getting and maintaining consistency with the sky. Because acrylic is so quick drying I painted many layers as I made revisions to the clouds and refined the color. In the end I mixed a large quantity of the desired color and went over what I had previously done, adding slight variation to the area surrounding the clouds. Overall this painting provided many opportunities to expand my skill and knowledge of painting.

My own work, Windshield, November 2021, Oil on canvas

“Untitled 1” Idea Development Intention I was inspired to do another painting of the view from my car window with a very different feeling to it. I took this photo at night in the city, which contrasts Windshield which takes place on nature-surrounded highway during the day with a clear view of the sky.

This photo is vague in subject matter and evokes a sense of introspective journey. I wished to create a feeling of clarity and unity through utilizing brushwork and palette. Furthermore, I aimed to create a feeling of the security and warmth of childhood inspired by long car rides home. As a child I always knew I was home by the distinct feeling of turning onto my block. I wanted this work to have a similar feeling of nostalgia through employment of unifying gesture and mark making coming together like a memory.

My own photograph, November, 2021, Car view study

I thought a lot about palette and utilizing brushwork. I wanted my brushwork to be visible and to lean into the idea of impressionism such that all of the canvas maintains the same level of focus. In order to make it

“Untitled 1” Process

dynamic, I used painterly, gestural brushwork that makes the contrast interesting by leaving few harsh lines.

(In progress) My own work, My own work, Untitled 1, Untitled 1, Acrylic on canvas, Acrylic on canvas, 45.72 cm × 45.72 cm × 35.56cm, 35.56 cm,

For palette, I utilized a wider range of tones than the reference photo and created more light and overall visibility.

I wanted to focus on contrasting areas of lights and darks and create lots of perspectives as the picture plane recedes into the blue tones background. I wanted the eye of the viewer to be draw in a circle as the edges of the picture plane recede into a kind of tunnel vision.

Reflection: I learned a lot from this work particularly in regards to the way in which I depict the subject as my own experience and emotional responses to it than a representation focused on realism. Much of my work conveys my subjective experience of the landscape and in this way it is more personal to the viewer. Much of the time the reference (if I have one) is mostly used in the early stages of compositional conceptualization. However, after this stage the work comes from my mind. I want it to be this way as I try to create a record of the way I experience the word as it exists inside of me and not from copying an image without intention beyond replication.

“Faces” Series: Idea Development These works are about narrative and looking inward. Some themes that inspired me are isolation and confrontation. I had been working on small scale line drawings of faces in my notebook and I felt that there was something of an idea there that I wanted to develop. I was drawing close to twenty face sketches a day until it became muscle memory. By making them large scale I felt as though I was expanding a part of my narrative.

I was most inspired by Jackson Pollock for his large scale gesteral drip paintings.

Although the subject matter is very different from mine I felt a pull towards creating My own work, Face sketch, something that was a full body action. Being up on a chair creating lines was not about January 2022, ink on paper precision but about allowing myself to create instantaneously something that existed in my mind. It is extremely intuitive and begins the second the brush touches the paper. The faces are confrontational and even uncomfortable to look at. Part of the experience is the action of being viewed as opposed to viewing something. I use pictorial space to draw to viewer to the eyes of the faces. All of the eyes exist on a high level and they all feel like the most constant and important part of the work. I want the faces to feel familiar and blur the line between what is and isn't recognizable. I did a lot of experimentation with different mediums. Initially I focused on using sharpie on regular paper, then on a thin, canvas-like fabric to create three of the larger faces. Then I worked with thicker mixed media paper and Jackson Pollock, 1950, Autumn Rhythm, ink. Then I experimented with with Vellum and ink pens as well as ink. I found that watered Enamel paint on canvas 266.7 cm × 525.8 cm down ink with a paintbrush creates in my opinion more interesting faces.

“Faces” Series Process These are some of many attempts at my experimentation with large-scale drip faces. These works were a step away from the landscapes that I had been focusing on. I wanted to create intense, gestural faces that feel as though they are watching, even judging you. This turns the dynamic between the viewer and the work. I had never worked at such a large scale and that was exciting. The brushstrokes are calligraphic and a totally different technique as well - and they reminded me of artists I had studied as well - connecting to Pollock’s large scale, but also fluidity (kind of action painting in a way). The experience of creating them was action -based as it required big full-body gestures on such a large medium. Part of the art was watching them come together in large fluid strokes.

In terms of technique, I think my work is the most interesting at the large scale when it becomes more gestural and distorted. I like being able to make lines with full body motion only to step back and recognize what I have created. While I liked working with Vellum, the pens on Vellum at the small scale didn't work for me. I am not trying to create line drawings of faces. My goal is to create something that shocks the viewer and is interesting. I don't feel that a small line drawing was doing this. The scale is really important because I want the viewer to be entirely consumed by the work and feel isolated and judged by the harshness of the stoic faces. Part of how I am presenting to the viewer that this is not just a line drawing is by not creating an outline of the face. The faces feel as though they are coming out of space because they are used in this way.

My own work, February 2022, Face sketches, whiteboard marker on whiteboard

Jackson Pollock, c. 1950, Untitled, Ink on paper 44.5 x 56.6 cm

“Faces” Series Reflection So far what has been working well is the large scale of the faces. I liked the Vellum as a medium and I may want to experiment more with layer faces with Vellum, however this would be a variation. When using sharpie, it was difficult to get the contrast that I Wanted because they kept running out. I knew that I wanted this contrast and so I experimented with different mediums until I settled on ink, or acrylic and water for now.

These works are very different from my others, however they are similar in the My own work, February 2022, Untitled, way they focus on inner narrative, forcing the viewer to look into a part of my Ink on paper 98 x 245 cm. narrative. I want the viewer to experience profound discomfort and confrontation that forces them to look within and see themselves as the art and the faces as the viewer. The primary difference between them is that the windshield paintings are about where I have been and what I have seen and these faces capture parts of my thoughts and subconscious. However they are both aspects of my inner thoughts and identity and allow the viewer to understand a part of myself that cannot be conveyed by words.

My own work, March 2022, The Spectator, Ink on paper 110 x 255 cm.

“Untitled 2” Idea Development My initial inspiration for Untitled 2 was to create a landscape that held power within serenity. I wanted to capture the moment when the turbulence of the storm fades with the emergence of the sun, leaving a luminant haze. Using acrylic paint, I worked to create lots of contrast between the sea and the sky and the warm area of light at the horizon that contrasts the cool tones in the water and clouds.

However, the movement of the paint itself also inspired me. What I thought was going to be a standard landscape, changed drastically when I noticed the drips of the paint as I was laying of the first wash. I enjoyed the affect and wanted to allow to paint to do what it wanted. So I allowed this to be maintained throughout the painting.

This painting captures the moment when I was able to merge two techniques into a singular work. I was able to bring the gesture, drips, and scale of my abstraction to a landscape, combining my prior landscape work with the drips from the faces I was working on (see “Untitled Series”). I think it demonstrates my style as an artist the most across the body of my work. It was the first painting I did where I felt completely free and able to utilize the medium to its fullest. This allowed me to create a different kind of space from works such as “Windshield”.

Untitled 2, March 2022, Oil on canvas 91.44x121.92cm -1st wash

“Untitled 2” Process I chose to create lots of distinction between the sky and the sea with a merging area of light at the horizon. I was able to create lots of overlapping luminosity with the acrylic because it allows for many layers. I wanted to contract the vertical drips with brushwork that went side to side on the sea and showed movement in the foreground while the background stays somewhat permanent.

I decided to break the drips at the horizon to create another dimension to the painting. This also allowed me to utilize another technique with the water from the sky.

I was inspired by J.M.W Turner for the sea, in works such as Fishermen at Sea depicting an intense seascape breached by light and full of contrast.

My own work, Untitled 2, March 2022, Oil on canvas 91.44x121.92cm

Shows drips continuing across the canvas before repainting of the sea

Joseph Mallord William Turner c. 1796, Fishermen at Sea, oil paint on canvas, 91.4 x 122.2 cm

Luminous horizon

“Untitled 3” Idea Development Initial inspiration I was inspired by J.M.W Turner and the way that he used light to create luminosity and expansion particularly in his work Landscape/ Castle from the Meadows in its simplicity yet effectiveness. I wanted to utilize my practiced technique using light washes and drips to create a similar effect.

Intent In this work I wanted to explore the idea of a place as it exists in my subconscious and put that into my art. This reflects the theme of the fleeting and delicate beauty of nature. When I was very young I went into therapy after the death of my mother and there I often was asked to explore the place I would venture in my mind when the physical world became too much. I had never attempted to express this place until I was inspired by this work of Turner’s.

Joseph Mallord William Turner c. 1845, Landscape / Castle from the Meadows, oil paint on canvas, 92 x 122.5 cm.

“Untitled 3” Process At this point in my work I had reached a point where I could further dive into my intuition because I had gained technical skill with the paint. I was able to anticipate what the paint would do and work in tandem with it; allowing me to complete this work very swiftly and directly.

I worked very quickly on this project, allowing the work to feel very light and full of movement. In this work the drips became less outright and more melded into the composition. This swift execution allows the piece to feel very effortless and open and in my opinion, adds to the effect of light.

It reminds me of a field after it rains as the light and the water work together to create a hazy vision of the landscape. The use of gesture was also complemented by the pace of the execution. The viewer is able to see a bit of how i utilized the paint through the raw brushwork and drips.

My own work, May 2022 Untitled 7, Oil on canvas, 76.2x76.2 cm

Close-up of drips in the foreground→

Medium Exploration: “Untitled 7” and “Untitled 8” Exploration of the Landscape through different mediums has been a significant component of my progress and technique building. Stepping away from Acrylic and Oil paint and working with blending techniques of chalk pastels and line making with ink allows me to gain a better understanding of what makes the landscape so fascinating. Even in using different mediums, I am able to apply a similar vision to different works.

Pastels: I used pastels to create a landscape with a very simple composition, yet interesting palette. I wanted to experiment with the depth of the sky and the relationship between the foreground and background.

Watercolors: I experimented with watercolor, using different methods of laying on the paint. I even ended up finger painting a bit to get a worked in texture. I was then able to see a vision coming through the paint and I went in with ink on a bamboo pen as well as thin brush in order to create a cityscape. I enjoy the effect of this defined mark making contrasting the almost abstract watercolor background.

My own work, April 2022, Untitled, Ink and watercolor on paper (In progress)

My own work, April 2022, Untitled, Chalk pastels on paper

“Untitled 4” Idea Development Turner and the sublime One of the themes conveyed most by Turner and that which I am most interested in in his quest for the sublime. He used extreme contrast, swirling brushwork and dramatic palette to create a feeling of power and importance with the subject matter.

As the viewer, one is awestruck by the the intensity of the swell of the sea or fierceness of the sun in the sky.

Personal connection Nature is powerful, but for me it is the most powerful when it exists inside my subconscious. I constantly return to it amidst my days in the city and it is one of the things that I go back to in my busy life. I wanted to express this internal space in such a way that the viewer could feel that it was their own. My art is very personal and this way as I am sharing a part of myself that is the most inward.

Joseph Mallord William Turner c. 1840, The Slave Ship, oil paint on canvas, 90.8 cm × 122.6 cm

“Untitled 4” Intent I wanted to create something profound in this work. I wanted to express something passionate inside my subconscious surrounding nature and power and my own world perception. In doing this I knew that one aspect the journey would be determined by the paint. As when I create something so intense I feel there is no need to try and control the medium through which I am expressing it.

Process

(In Progress) My own work, May 2022, Untitled 8, oil on canvas, 91.44x121.92cm

Similarly to Untitled 3, Untitled 4, was also completed swiftly and loosely with large gestures active brushwork that recedes into the background. I decided on a large scale to complement the intense palette I knew I wanted to utilize. I allowed the lightest part of the work to be coming though the center of the canvas in order to create a feeling of receding into the background of a opening sky after rain. I wanted lots of contrast in this work and more opposing colors and tones with a central vanishing point of light at the horizon. The drips travel from the sky to the ground in a unifying way that My own work, May 2022, Untitled 8, oil on contrasts the large gestural brushwork of the sky. canvas, 91.44x121.92cm

“Untitled 10” Idea Development Joan Mitchell Joan Mitchell inspired me to create an entirely abstract work. Much of Mitchell’s paintings appear to be abstract yet the title reveals that they in fact pertain to a subject matter. For example Straw. Mitchell used lively palettes and aggressive mark making to create works with profound feeling of excitement.

Even when they relate to only a mundane subject matter.

Mitchell’s mark making feels almost rhythmic as the brushwork strikingly leaves behind the canvas. I wanted to create a similarly powerful work that showcased the paint itself as the subject. To me the paint is not only a vessel to convey something, but its own power that should be focused on alone. While I feel this with most of my work, I was wondering how this would shift when there was really no subject present.

Joan Mitchell, 1957, Ladybug, Oil on canvas, 197.9x274cm

Joan Mitchell, 1976, Straw, Oil on canvas, 280x200cm

“Untitled 10” Process I decided to execute this painting on wood panel and at a smaller scale than I normally work. I felt the need to break out of the box in more ways than one with a entirely abstract work and this aided both my mindset and execution in doing so.

Working on wood allowed the paint to go on smoother and contain itself more on the canvas. In this was I felt more in control and able to create a really interesting sense of space and texture. I also felt that with the raw wood as a background the colors were a bit warmer when the paint was thin and that inspired me to add reds to the palette.

I was meticulously focused on light in this piece, more so than my other work. It felt strange to decide where to create light without a landscape formula or a reference. However, as the work progressed it became intuitive and I was able to make direct decisions in the moment on the composition of the work.

My own work, Untitled 10, December 2022, Oil on wood, 22.86x 30.48 cm

“Untitled 12” Idea Development Impressionism has been an vague inspiration since my first painting and has become a stronger influence as I have studied the cultural contexts and timeline of the movement. Impressionism works to create an “impression” of a setting in which every detail maintains the same focus and there is no single vanishing point. This makes the picture plane particularly immersive as the entirety of the work draws the viewer in. Much of Impressionism works to capture a particular fleeting moment in the world. Because of this it is not about detail so much as capturing the entirety of an image in unity.

Claude Monet c. 1881, The Wheat Field, oil paint on canvas,

Claude Monet c. 1872, Sunrise, oil paint on canvas,

Cultivating the atmospheric landscape in the midst of an urban environment allows me to step in my subconscious and intuition more so than when I have a clear reference. I am able to paint from a personal place that exists in my mind and use the paint itself as a guide to help me tell a story. My main intention is to capture a feeling that I associate with the natural world. Sometimes this feeling is about awe and sometimes fear, however it always maintains an intensity and intimacy pertaining to my subconscious that I work to express on the canvas.

“Untitled 12” Process and Reflection I chose to use wood panel for this work because I enjoyed it so much in “Untitled 10”. I think the picture plane blended better than ever because of this. I chose a smaller panel as well because I wanted this work to feel a bit more personal and believed that scale would aide this. Serenity is important to this work and I was able to achieve this through a well balanced palette with lots of lights and dark. Unity is also achieved in both palette and composition. The atmosphere is extremely helped by the texture of the board that allowed me to create fluffy looking clouds and hazy sunlight.

I wanted to create an atmospheric landscape that created a feeling of calm and serenity. To do this I utilized lighting to create depth and a sense of both drama and tranquility. I also utilized texture in my brushwork and application of the paint. I allowed the clouds to recede into the background effectively, leaving no harsh lines. Compositionally, I was able to frame the atmosphere with a wide angle to create a feeling of expansiveness and grandeur. I think I was successful in my techniques and was able to enhance the emotional impact of my artwork because of this.

My own work, January 2023, Untitled 11, oil on canvas, 45.72x35.56cm

“Untitled Series 2” Idea Development

My own work, February 2023, Untitled Photography series

While I had taken pictures for reference purposes I had never focused individually on photography until this work. In this series I explored finding natural texture and gesture in the word. On the beach there is an array of juxtaposing textures and colors while still a simple composition. I wanted to utilize the texture of the sand, movement of the waves, and smoothness of the sky to demonstrate the awe of the natural world. Finding the horizon line was important so I took these photos on a day trip to the beach where I knew I would have a clear sky and lots of space to work with. The smooth sky contrasted the rocky, sandy texture which reminded me of my brushwork and it was interesting to see where much of my work was derived from. In this way it was full circle from where I started two years ago.

“Untitled Series 2” Process

My own work, February 2023, Untitled Photography series

In this photography series I worked to capture the emotional and psychological aspects of nature. For me, the sublime was a key element of doing this. By manipulating the light and focusing on natural flow and angularity I was able to convey my own experience on the landscape. In this way I hope to also create an emotional response from the viewer, and evoke a sense of the awe and beholdence to nature that is so significant to my work. I feel that I was successfully able to apply these themes of nature and the sublime to photography and focusing on another medium allowed me to take a step back and consider what I truly consider important to be represented in my work and how I aim to do so in the future.

My own work, February 2023, Untitled Photography series

Bibliography Mitchell, Joan, 1957, Ladybug Mitchell, Joan, 1976, Straw Monet, Claude, 1881, Sunrise, Monet, Claude, 1872, The Wheat Field Pollock, Jackson, 1950, Autumn Rhythm Pollock, Jackson, 1950, Untitled Turner, Joseph Mallord William, c. 1840, The Slave Ship Turner, Joseph Mallord William, 1796, Fishermen at Sea “Claude Monet, Impact on Impressionism " Telfair Museums.” Telfair Museums, 21 Aug. 2018, https://www.telfair.org/article/claude-monet-impact-on-impressionism/.

“J.M.W. Turner: Quest for the Sublime.” Frist Art Museum, 18 Feb. 2021, https://fristartmuseum.org/exhibition/j-m-w-turner-quest-for-the-sublime/.

“Fishermen at Sea.” Fishermen at Sea | Art UK, https://artuk.org/discover/artworks/fishermen-at-sea-117749.

Greenberger, Alex. “Joan Mitchell's Resplendent Paintings: How the Abstract Expressionist Resolved the Unresolvable.” ARTnews.com, ARTnews.com, 21 Sept. 2021, https://www.artnews.com/feature/who-is-joan-mitchell-why-is-she-important-1234602689/.

Albala, Mitchell. “Cultivating an Abstract Aesthetic in Landscape Painting.” Mitchell Albala: Landscape Painting, Plein Air Painting, Art Workshops, Author, Mitchell Albala: Landscape Painting, Plein Air Painting, Art Workshops, Author, 28 Feb. 2023, https://mitchalbala.com/cultivating-abstract-aesthetic-in-landscape-painting/.

Ava Carter

In what ways were the experiences of Black musicians in the North different from Black musicians in the South?

The black experience in America is often characterized by a violent struggle for human rights and not the ways that black Americans used art as a means to express themselves. The Jazz Age along with the Harlem Renaissance were time periods that are often neglected in educational spaces, for me this was the case. Furthermore, my family has a particular connection with jazz, and music.

Conducting this research has allowed me to connect with a version of my past that embraces art, joy in connection with struggle that offers an encompassed view of black life between 1916 and 1930.

Personal code: kmh971-0005

In what ways were the experiences of Black musicians in the North different from Black musicians in the South?

Word Count: 2073

This investigation will address the question: To what extent were the experiences of Black musicians different in the North and South during the New Negro Renaissance? The experiences were dependent on their perceptions of their audiences.

The Marketing of Duke Ellington: Setting the Strategy for an African American Maestro by Harvey G. Cohen, published in 2004 is relevant to the investigation because it highlights the decision making of managers during the New Negro Renaissance. The Negro Star article Loveless Love Blues published March 11, 1921 by an unnamed author is relevant to the investigation because it provides public opinion of black musicians from black people during the period.

A value of the origin of The Marketing of Duke Ellington is that it is peer reviewed from a scholarly journal and serves as a reputable source. A value of the purpose is to inform the public about Duke Ellington’s marketing. A value of the content is that it explores the relationship between Duke Ellington and his manager Irving Mills and gives insight into the working relationship. The value of the content is that the author provides specific and varied examples of racial discrimination in the music industry and how the musicians avoided this. The limitation of the origin is that it is not primary. The author is not from the time, and he is not able to provide personal accounts. A limitation of the content is the heavy focus on telling Ellington’s story, and not a broader spectrum of artists. a successful person in the industry. A limitation of the purpose is the intent to praise the industry given their racist origins.

The Negro Star article is, a family-run newspaper in Kansas during the 1920s.

The value of the origin is that it comes from African Americans in 1921. The value of the purpose is that the newspaper was made to bring attention to black artists and culture. The value of the content is that it talks about specific artists and companies.Furthermore, the article features opinions from the writers that are relevant to the time. These opinions about the music can reflect public opinion because of its relevance. A limitation of the origin is that it is run by a family that could have niche opinions about the music that was not widely held. Furthermore, the author of the article is unnamed, and the origins are unclear.A limitation of the purpose is that the newspaper was most likely contracted by the parties mentioned in the article, so the reason for writing the article may have been influenced by the company. A limitation of the content is that the analysis of the song may not have been peer-reviewed.

Word Count: 1172 To what extent were the experiences of Black musicians different in the North and South during the New Negro Renaissance?

The New Negro Renaissance, from 1917 to 19301 defines the novel emergence of racial pride, artistic expression, and respect for black people in America. The Great Migration split the “Renaissance” regionally; one side of the renaissance occurred in the North, the other in the South.2 The music careers of black musicians during the New Negro Renaissance varied based oh how their audiences perceived them.

Duke Ellington was regarded as the “race man.” During the time, he was the model for success for Black musicians. The marketing strategies that allowed him to be so popular would accurately depict what northern musicians needed to do to be successful. Ma Rainey, Bessie Smith, and Mamie Smith had notable connections with their agencies. The ways in which companies treated their artists are imperative to the experience of a musician. Looking at their careers and their relationships with the companies holds information that can be applied to various musicians at the time.

Southern musicians were more connected to a historically based black culture, while musicians in the North focused on a new image. Ma Rainey, a black blues singer based in Georgia, connected her lyrics to the experiences of Southern black people.3 Rainey was known for her lyrics, pianist Champion Jack Dupree articulated, “she got right into your heart"4 because she was “a person of the folk,”5 a person connected to the culture of the South. Another aspect of her appeal was her racial pride, an attribute of many Southern musicians. Historian Steven C. Tracey explains that audiences“Found [...]acceptance of their black heritage” 6because of Rainey’s unapologetic portrayal of her life in her music.7 Similarly, Dona Streaty suggests that Bessie Smith embraced her race in the industry as well.8 She “attracted[...] fans who

1

Anderson, Maureen. “The White Reception of Jazz in America.” African American Review, vol. 38, no. 1, 2004, pp. 135–45. JSTOR, https://doi.org/10.2307/1512237. Accessed 27 May 2022.

Gardner, Bettye J., and Niani Kilkenny. “In Vogue: Josephine Baker and Black Culture and Identity in the Jazz Age.” The Journal of African American History, vol. 93, no. 1, 2008, pp. 88–93, http://www.jstor.org/stable/20064259. Accessed 2 May 2022.

2

3

Tracy, Steven C. “A Reconsideration: Hearing Ma Rainey.” MELUS, vol. 14, no. 1, 1987, pp. 85–90.

JSTOR, https://doi.org/10.2307/467475. Accessed 25 May 2022.

4 Tracy,85 5 Tracy,86 6 Tracy, 85 7 Tracy, 86 8 Streaty, Donna. “EMPRESS OF THE BLUES: BESSIE SMITH.” Negro History Bulletin, vol. 44, no. 1, 1981, pp. 22–22. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/44176459. Accessed 26 May 2022.

found it difficult to identify with stars like Josephine Baker.” 9 However, this connection to fans was partly to do with Paramount records. All African American jazz and blues musicians “needed an agency behind them, armed with numerous people.”10 Smith, only after signing with a Northern based company was able to establish her career, even after being known as a singer in the South. Streaty articulates, “After singing the blues all across the South for several years, the break Smith needed finally came” 11 In contrast, Northern musicians, like Duke Ellington, separated themselves from their race. Historian Harvey G. Cohen states, “Mills positioned Ellington to appeal to all races.” 12Although helpful to Ellington’s career, this move also benefited Mills as it was “lucrative” more than relatable to the experiences of black people.13 The audience was attracted to their novelty as stated by Ellington’s drummer, Sonny Greer, “ they had never seen nobody like us.”14 Duke Ellington as a “New Negro” “served as a form of activism” in its own right. Mills’ marketing strategies made Ellington a household name and a tool in defeating stereotypes that attributed black people as uncivilized and “aggressive.”15 Ellington was marketed as someone unique, not as a black musician, but as a “great composer,”16untouchable, and undesignated to a race. Rainey, Smith, and Mills relied on people’s perceptions of race to connect to their audiences, but their strategies were dependent on their environments.

Although the Southern musicians, like Bessie Smith and Ma Rainey were more traditional, black people supported all musicians who shared the same racial identity.

Mamie Smith, a blues singer in the South’s first recorded song, was most popular among black people. 17Her record company, Paramount Records sold, “7,500 copies in one week” to majority black consumers.18 The unnamed author of the black newspaper, Negro Star wrote the article Loveless Love Blues to extends the praise to black

9

Streaty, 22 Harvey G. Cohen. “The Marketing of Duke Ellington: Setting the Strategy for an African American Maestro.” The Journal of African American History, vol. 89, no. 4, 2004, pp. 291–315. JSTOR, https://doi.org/10.2307/4134056. Accessed 25 May 2022.

11 Streaty, Donna. “EMPRESS OF THE BLUES: BESSIE SMITH.” Negro History Bulletin, vol. 44, no. 1, 1981, pp. 22–22. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/44176459. Accessed 26 May 2022.

12 Cohen,292 13 Cohen, 292 14 Cohen. 295 15 Cohen, 292 16 Cohen, 292 17 Filzen, 110 18 Filzen, 110 10

performers and their companies. 19 According to the author, the company should be regarded with “pride by members of the race”20 to encourage the readers to deliver the same“praise.”21 The Houston Press, from July 3, 1922 cites a thorough list of “Blues Records,” the store to buy them from and an opportunity to “hear the records” that a customer is interested in buying.22 The appreciation of the music created a demand that ensured the careers of the musicians.

Representation and exposure to blues and jazz were essential to the emergence of African American musicians. Ma Rainey started singing the blues “from the first time she heard them.”23 The black generation was labeled as “New Negros”24 because there was a new focus on “artistic expression” and the “future of the black community.”25 The emergence of black community spaces throughout the country created more black artists. This is even articulated by the the “ origins of jazz” 26 which are traced to New Orleans’ Congo Square formerly known as “Place des Negrés.”27 Behind the scenes, however, companies like Paramount Records exploited black solidarity, as well as the performers. Filzen states that “Because so many of Paramount's musicians were black, they frequently were paid even less than white "'Loveless Love Blues'." Negro Star, vol. 13, no. 51, 11 Mar. 1921, p. [4]. NewsBank: Black Life in America, infoweb.newsbank.com/apps/news/document-view?p=AAHX&docref=image/v2%3A12ACD48D AF81B0D9%40AAHX-12C177D211776B98%402422760-12C177D22981C738%403-12C177D2A5 4AB8F0%40%2522Loveless%2BLove%2BBlues%2522. Accessed 5 May 2022.

20 "'Loveless Love Blues'." Negro Star, vol. 13, no. 51, 11 Mar. 1921, p. [4]. NewsBank: Black Life in America, infoweb.newsbank.com/apps/news/document-view?p=AAHX&docref=image/v2%3A12ACD48D AF81B0D9%40AAHX-12C177D211776B98%402422760-12C177D22981C738%403-12C177D2A5 4AB8F0%40%2522Loveless%2BLove%2BBlues%2522. Accessed 5 May 2022.

21 "'Loveless Love Blues'." Negro Star, vol. 13, no. 51, 11 Mar. 1921, p. [4]. NewsBank: Black Life in America, infoweb.newsbank.com/apps/news/document-view?p=AAHX&docref=image/v2%3A12ACD48D AF81B0D9%40AAHX-12C177D211776B98%402422760-12C177D22981C738%403-12C177D2A5 4AB8F0%40%2522Loveless%2BLove%2BBlues%2522. Accessed 5 May 2022.

22 Houston Post, Three Star ed., 3 July 1922, p. 16. NewsBank: Black Life in America, infoweb.newsbank.com/apps/news/document-view?p=AAHX&docref=image/v2%3A10EEA3FE 61C5B8B0%40AAHX-171F707741069034%402423239-171D042A23C0AC24%4015-171D042A23 C0AC24%40. Accessed 5 May 2022.

19

23

Tracy, 85 Gardener and Kilkenny 25 Gardener and Kilkenny 26 Johnson, Jerah. “New Orleans’s Congo Square: An Urban Setting for Early Afro-American Culture Formation.” Louisiana History: The Journal of the Louisiana Historical Association, vol. 32, no. 2, 1991, pp. 117–57. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/4232877. Accessed 27 May 2022.

27 Johnson, 119 24

performers.” 28 The record company also “took advantage of the new musical trend and untapped market”29 It was known by industry members that African Americans in the 1920s connected with black musicians regardless of relatability.

Although jazz was a “craze” 30for white people, it did not negate their ideas of black people. Media and public opinion deemed blues and jazz “primitive.”31Historian Maureen Anderson highlights how white Americans were, “forced to realize that a new form of music,[...]was here to stay”32 and that “race music”33 would infiltrate their daily lives.34 During the period, Jim Crow and de facto segregation were evidence of white discomfort with the now “emancipated”35 African American population.36 Despite their racism, it did not stop White Americans from connecting to the lyrics and “eventually stealing from the black race.”37 White people, uncomfortable with black art, sought to understand it. 38As Perkins iterates white critics projected their “aggression” toward black people as “hostile, animalistic rapists.”39 White people grouped “race music” with negative stereotypes of African people. They attributed jazz and blues African tribal music and concluded that both were “savage.”40 In the Literary Digest Article, The Appeal of Primitive Jazz from 1917, the writer states that “witch doctors” in the Congo, would play jazz at “jungle parties.”41 Contrasting this statement is from the September 19, 1926 edition of the New York Times titled, American Jazz Is Not African.42 The author of the article cites black man from Sierra Leone, Nicholas Gearoge Julius Ballanta who analyzes the differences between jazz and African music. The author writes the article to debunk stereotypes about African music and people.43 Although white people in 28

Filzen, 114 Filzen, 110 30 Streaty, 108 31 Filzen,110 32 Anderson,135 33 Filzen, 106 34 Anderson,135 35 Anderson, 135 29

Perkins, Margo V. “THE ACHIEVEMENT AND FAILURE OF ‘NIGGER HEAVEN’: CARL VAN VECHTEN AND THE HARLEM RENAISSANCE.” CLA Journal, vol. 42, no. 1, 1998, pp.

1–23, http://www.jstor.org/stable/44323176. Accessed 2 May 2022.

36

37

Anderson, 144 Anderson, 135 39 Anderson, 136 40 Anderson, 136 41 Anderson, 136 42 New York TImes 38

"AMERICAN JAZZ IS NOT AFRICAN: DERIVED FROM IT AND RHYTHM IS SIMILAR, BUT OURS IS MUCH SIMPLER, SAYS WELL-VERSED AUTHORITY-ON NEGRO MUSIC." New York Times (1923-) Sep 19 1926: 1. ProQuest. 3 May 2022 .

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America were ignorant to the true racial importance of jazz, depicted by their stereotypes, it did not overshadow the impact.

The experiences of black musicians were dependent on how successfully they marketed their race to their region and culture. Black musicians found the most ease promoting themselves with support from outside the South, a task that was far more difficult for Southern musicians. Smith’s southern roots connected her with her audience's “styles of living.” What differentiated the experiences of Black musicians in the North and South during the New Negro Renaissance were their connections to their audiences.

This investigation mimicked the experiences of historians in a variety of ways.

Historians spend time analyzing the language and decrypting the usefulness of sources as well as creating a paper that correctly reflects the evidence found.

In order to tell the most accurate version of history, historians must acknowledge the different perspectives for the time. I emulated this in my search for varied sources. This investigation includes both primary and secondary sources.

Finding these sources came with the difficulty of balance. I needed to have a mix to accurately depict the subject at hand.

Another challenge of historians comes with the influx of too much information.

With each source, I needed to determine whether the knowledge they provided would fit concisely into the investigation and if it was relevant to the research question. I found this difficult given the amount of information on the topic. Furthermore, historians must be able to decode any difficult language. Given the period I researched, there were multiple instances with primary sources where the language used was outdated. For example, the Negro Star article had with phrases and words which were incomprehensible at first glance. A method I used to understand the sources was to find the context within other places of the article. Other challenges faced with the sources had to do with their quality. Primary sources tend to wear with age. I filled in the role of historians because I learned to put pieces together with the help of other sources. The font in the article was almost illegible at times. The New York Times article“Jazz is Not African,” had smudged writing in small fonts. Similarly to the quality challenge of historians I relied on context to interpret the words missing.

It is up to the historian to relay correct information. In the investigation, there were areas where I could not include information that relied on my own interpretation, like using context to interpret sources. This was difficult because I

knew that some important information had to be left out. There are times where historians must change their theses. Historians cannot edit and change the information from the sources, so when they are introduced to new information, they may need to change their thesis. At the beginning of the research process I had an original research question and thesis, but in the wake of new evidence, I had to change it.

This investigation allowed me to work like a historian in analyzing sources, finding relevant information, and creating a research question and thesis statement that matched the nature of my research.

Works Cited Perkins, Margo V. “THE ACHIEVEMENT AND FAILURE OF ‘NIGGER HEAVEN’: CARL VAN VECHTEN AND THE HARLEM RENAISSANCE.” CLA Journal, vol. 42, no. 1, 1998, pp. 1–23, http://www.jstor.org/stable/44323176. Accessed 2 May 2022.

Gardner, Bettye J., and Niani Kilkenny. “In Vogue: Josephine Baker and Black Culture and Identity in the Jazz Age.” The Journal of African American History, vol. 93, no. 1, 2008, pp. 88–93, http://www.jstor.org/stable/20064259. Accessed 2 May 2022.

Sarah Filzen. “The Rise and Fall of Paramount Records.” The Wisconsin Magazine of History, vol. 82, no. 2, 1998, pp. 104–27, http://www.jstor.org/stable/4636792. Accessed 2 May 2022.

Harvey G. Cohen. “The Marketing of Duke Ellington: Setting the Strategy for an African American Maestro.” The Journal of African American History, vol. 89, no. 4, 2004, pp. 291–315, https://doi.org/10.2307/4134056. Accessed 2 May 2022.

"AMERICAN JAZZ IS NOT AFRICAN: DERIVED FROM IT AND RHYTHM IS SIMILAR, BUT OURS IS MUCH SIMPLER, SAYS WELL-VERSED AUTHORITY-ON NEGRO MUSIC." New York Times (1923-) Sep 19 1926: 1. ProQuest. 3 May 2022 .

Anderson, Maureen. “The White Reception of Jazz in America.” African American Review, vol.

38, no. 1, 2004, pp. 135–45, https://doi.org/10.2307/1512237. Accessed 5 May 2022.

Austin, Lovie, and Alberta Hunter. “‘Down Hearted Blues.’” African-American History, Facts On File, online.infobase.com/Auth/Index?aid=16988&itemid=WE01&primarySourceId=2998.

Accessed 5 May 2022.

Houston Post, Three Star ed., 3 July 1922, p. 16. NewsBank: Black Life in America, infoweb.newsbank.com/apps/news/document-view?p=AAHX&docref=image/v2%3A10EEA3FE 61C5B8B0%40AAHX-171F707741069034%402423239-171D042A23C0AC24%4015-171D042A23 C0AC24%40. Accessed 5 May 2022. "'Loveless Love Blues'." Negro Star, vol. 13, no. 51, 11 Mar. 1921, p. [4]. NewsBank: Black Life in America, infoweb.newsbank.com/apps/news/document-view?p=AAHX&docref=image/v2%3A12ACD48D AF81B0D9%40AAHX-12C177D211776B98%402422760-12C177D22981C738%403-12C177D2A5 4AB8F0%40%2522Loveless%2BLove%2BBlues%2522. Accessed 5 May 2022.

Johnson, Jerah. “New Orleans’s Congo Square: An Urban Setting for Early Afro-American Culture Formation.” Louisiana History: The Journal of the Louisiana Historical Association, vol. 32, no. 2, 1991, pp. 117–57. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/4232877. Accessed 27 May 2022.

Streaty, Donna. “EMPRESS OF THE BLUES: BESSIE SMITH.” Negro History Bulletin, vol. 44, no. 1, 1981, pp. 22–22. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/44176459.

Accessed 26 May 2022.

Tracy, Steven C. “A Reconsideration: Hearing Ma Rainey.” MELUS, vol. 14, no.

1, 1987, pp. 85–90. JSTOR, https://doi.org/10.2307/467475. Accessed 25 May 2022.

Ben Lieberman Title: How a Ronin Paved the Road For a World Power This was my extended essay and was a project that was long in the making. The essay examines the effect that Sakamoto Ryoma had on the rise of Japan and in doing so influenced the entire world. It is important to me because it was such an interesting topic and was a learning experience and made me hone my knowledge in that time period in that area.

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Extended Essay Subject: History Title: How a Ronin Paved the Road For a World Power Research Question: To What Extent Did Sakamoto Ryoma Influence The Rise Of Imperial Japan?

Personal code: kmh988 Word Count: 3967

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Table of Contents ● Introduction: page 3 ● Early History: page 3 ● The 1800s: page 4 ● Sakamoto Introduction: page 5 ● Tensions Rising: page 7 ● 8-Points For a New Government: page 10 ● Death: page 12 ● Open Warfare: page 12 ● Conclusion: page 14 ● Bibliography: page 16

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Introduction

Many stories are both true and wildly unknown, and many connections aren’t seen because of a lack of scope. For me, this is why history is so important and interesting. For example, the idea that a small isolated island nation like Japan could change rapidly, then go on to terrorize the rest of East Asia, and then become a major economic power in the modern world, is hard to fully understand how impressive it was. However, Japan was able to flip their country from its feudal era into an industrial era within a lifetime, with a small push from the western powers, lots of blood, and a handful of men who knew change was coming, whether they wanted it or not, and all tried their hand at changing Japan into a strong imperial nation. One of those men was a man named Sakamoto Ryoma. But to what extent did Sakamoto Ryoma influence the rise of Imperial Japan? It can be argued quite favorably that he played a vital part in modernizing the country and bringing about a new and modern Japan, not behind the shogun, but an Imperial Japan.

Early History

When the Tokugawa took power, they closed off Japan to most of the world.1 As a result of this policy, Japan remained globally isolated, remaining in a strictly hierarchical society.

Japanese society stagnated under the influence of the rigid social structure and the country settled into its new peace. Within this system, merchants were viewed as the lowest job that man could have, followed by farmers and artists, then samurai, and at the top was the noble with the emperor and shogun at the peak. But under this new regime, there was little social mobility.

While during the Sengoku period, it was easy for farmers to take up arms and receive money for 1

Eman M. Elshaikh “READ: Tokugawa Shogunate” (Khan Academy)

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their services and glory for their kills, this ended when the fighting stopped. The changes to the social order stopped and the age of the bottom toppling over the top ended. So, the desire to push what was possible is no longer there. Because there was little to no fighting, weapons technology ground to a halt, and advancements were redirected to art and culture with no outside ideas.

Necessity is the mother of innovation, but Japan lacked that sense of needing more.

The 1800s

In the year 1842, the British finally defeated the Chinese in the first opium war. Under the Treaties of Nanjing and Wangxia,2 the English and US were allowed to receive uneven trade in their favor, essentially dumping opium onto the Chinese, or levying benefits like immunity to Chinese law and custom. But this also included non-competitive prices for their goods, essentially robbing the Chinese. This shocked the Asian countries which had been isolated centuries before under the belief that they were far superior. This began the European colonization of the east Asia continent.

In 1853, Commodore Perry sailed into Edo bay, known as the black ships in Japan.3 Knowing his might greatly stripped what the Japanese could muster, the Commodore coined a new term, “gunboat diplomacy.” Perry used the threat of gunships to have the shogun sign the treaty of Kanagawa on March 31st, 1854. This was a 12-article agreement that gave essential freedom for Americans to go and do as they pleased in Japan,4 something that hadn’t been 2

United States Department of State “The Opening to China Part I: the First Opium War, the United States, and the Treaty of Wangxia, 1839–1844” (Milestones: 1830â 1860 - Office of the Historian) 3 United States Department of State “The United States and the Opening to Japan, 1853” (Milestones: 1830â 1860 - Office of the Historian, n.d.)

4 Yale Law School (Avalon Project - Japanese-American Diplomacy - Treaty of Kanagawa; March, 31, 1854)

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allowed. The shogunate was trapped between a rock and a hard place as he now had to weigh the paths, anger the people he was ruling, or anger the foreigners who could wipe his forces off the map. This was just the beginning of Japan being pushed around. The treaty protected American interests and people from the rules and protections that the Japanese had established to protect themselves from foreign influence. This strong-arming was later compounded with a further treaty, the treaty of Harris,51 opening trade between the west and the Japanese in 1858. While theoretically possible to be worse, the situation was far from enviable. The Japanese, a proud and strong people with a warrior culture, were furious at the unbalanced nature of the “agreements.”

Many felt that the westerners needed out as soon as possible and would fight for that if needed.

But with a gunship pointed at an important city, and that could decimate the entire Japanese fleet, the Shogunate had to bow to the west. However, building a force to bounce the foreigners from Japan could lead to retaliation or the weakening of local lords, which they would not stand for.

This lack of clear direction of where to go led to the rise of a movement against the Shogunate.

People began rallying behind the Emperor as their figurehead, rather than the man who they believed betrayed the people by complying with the foreigners.

Sakamoto Introduction

One of the important people who helped in the transformation of the country was a ronin named Ryoma Sakamoto. As a young man, he studied swordsmanship, known as kendo, and moved to Edo. But in 1853, he was called to service, along with other samurai and ronin, to keep an eye on the “black ships” arriving in the bay of Edo. After the news of the Americans strong-arming the Shogunate, Sakamoto firmly took the side of being against the shogunate. He 5

Library of Congress (Today in History July 29th)) made in 1867

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was not alone in these feelings. Many of the other daimyo and samurai, who had great pride, hated what was going on. This only boiled anti-Tokugawa sentiments. But knowledge of the west had been fairly limited to “Dutch” schools which a friend of Sakamoto attended. He pressed Sakamoto on the need for a strengthened economy and trade to come close to the power that the western powers held. Eventually a slogan, “Sonnō jōi (尊王攘夷, Revere the Emperor, expel the barbarians)” took root.6 This resistance and rebellion against the Bakufu would even come to assassinations, where shinobi or ronin would be tasked with killing public people, or those close to the shogun. This even included the death of the Tosa daimyo, Yoshida Toyo, where Sakamoto was from.

With the mindset that it was simply weakness that was killing Japan, Sakamoto sought a kill of his own. The man picked was named Katsu Kaishu. Katsu was a shogunate official who supported the opening of Japan and knew that Japan was behind. He urged modernization, including translators, opening Japan’s ports, and strengthening Japan’s defense before focusing on offense. Katsu was one of the few Japanese men who went to a Dutch school and even traveled to San Francisco,7 which helped shape his views on foreigners and he brought this viewpoint back with him to Japan. When Sakamoto and a friend are said to have gone to kill Katsu, the shogunate official decided to speak with his would-be assassins. This was the most impactful choice not to kill someone because it paved the road for Sakamoto to lead Japan into an imperial age. At the end of the night, Katsu persuaded Sakamoto and his friend to work for him, helping the ronin to see how behind Japan was and how they needed to modernize. Their goals must change from simply ousting the foreigners, to becoming stronger to keep the 6

Dennis RM Campbell. Meiji Restoration. Khan Academy, Jansen, Marius. Sakamoto Ryoma and the Meiji Restoration. (First Printing, Columbia UP, 1995) page 154-157

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outsiders at bay. There had to be more strength in Japan than the shogun was showing.

Sakamoto’s shift aligned him into a position where he would hold the hopes of building up a new military force to throw the westerners out. Thanks to Katsu, Sakamoto built a naval academy to develop the navy of Japan.8 However, Katsu would be outed from the Bakufu, citing his suspicious company. However, through Katsu, Sakamoto came into contact with people representing the Satsuma han, who had much to offer Sakamoto. This cooperation would lay the groundwork for the movement against the Bakufu.

Tensions Rising

In 1864, the Shogunate, in an attempt to show strength and inadvertently comply with the western powers, marched on the Chōshū region, now the Yamaguchi prefecture. The Chōshū would not allow the outsiders to do as they pleased and attacked them, and in doing so, openly defied the shogun’s rule. The western powers bombarded the Chōshū region as shogun forces marched on them. Even though they were beaten back, the call that Shogun sent out remained unanswered for some Daimyo, highlighting the weakening power of the Shogun. But even with the Chōshū back in their place, it would not stop the anti-Tokugawa feelings, setting the stage for Sakamoto. This only strengthened the Chōshū and other anti-Tokugawa groups against the Tokugawa. But the Bakufu had a problem further south. Tensions grew between them and the Satsuma, who rivaled them in power and could both realistically replace the Tokugawa as the new Shogun. The two han had traded blows, the Satsuma helping to hold back the Chōshū and the Chōshū attacking a Satsuma ship. But Sakamoto would soon make moves to fix that, threatening the Bakufu.

8

(SAKAMOTO Ryoma | Portraits of Modern Japanese Historical Figures | National Diet Library, Japan, n.d.)

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Seeing where the winds were moving and no longer having the protection of Katsu’s political standing,9 Sakamoto moved to relative safety within the Satsuma han. While there, he continued his work against the Bakufu as tensions were brewing. Katsu strengthened connections, this time with forces that were less favorable to the shogunate. Sakamoto, however, had an unusual edge in these talks as he was a ronin. This meant that he had no reputation to lose or image to disgrace because he was not the oldest son of the Sakamoto family. This freedom would make him able to talk up to men like Katsu, but also talk on the same level as merchants and commoners. These new allies included one of the Shogunate’s main threats, the powerful Satsuma. Similar to what was done to Sakamoto, Katsu used his tongue rather than the blade to win over Saigō Takamori. This practice of skillful diplomacy would become Sakamoto’s legacy, using not senseless violence but powerful words to make a road to an imperial nation. Together, they continued to build a modernized force and gain allies within the relatively safe and spy-free Satsuma han.

Another powerful ally that Sakamoto helped gather was the Chōshū. Throughout the 1860s, the Chōshū would not sit still as foreigners ran over the country. They openly defied the Tokugawa, attacked the foreigners, and even marched on Kyoto in an attempt to reach the emperor, but were thrown back partially because of the Satsuma, led by Saigō. However, they had good relations with the Tosa han. When the shogunate forces marched on them, the Chōshū fell, but would not be the last time the region rebelled.

Using his known enjoyment of ships to establish a shipping company, Sakamoto began engaging in trade with foreigners. He bought weapons from many sellers, particularly Tomas

9

Jansen, Marius. Sakamoto Ryoma and the Meiji Restoration. (First Printing, Columbia UP, 1995) page 179, 186

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Glover. Tomas was a Scottish businessman with whom Sakamoto made many deals. The plan emerged as a great success with cooperation between the Satsuma and Chōshū. Guided by Sakamoto, the purchase of thousands of rifles and even a steamship went through,10 though the steamship went in the Chōshū name. But it wasn’t just giving things to the Chōshū. Trade was opened up between the two hans so Saigō had lines of supply for a campaign.

In 1866, Sakamoto officially established an alliance between the Satsuma and the Chōshū clans, known as the Satchō Alliance. This was no small feat as the two hans had openly slighted and attacked each other. Sakamoto used his diplomacy to tie the Satsuma and Chōshū together in a 6-point agreement11 so that the Bakufu could not pressure the Chōshū entirely out of the court of the shogun and off the map. This would change the winds of the Bakufu’s fate as the two strongest factions had allied and the Chōshū would be less afraid of a two-front war.

Furthermore, it meant that Bakufu had a serious threat looming if the Satchō Alliance were to march on him.

Despite this, the Shogunate felt it necessary to show that it still had its claws. In what would later turn out to be a mistake, they launched a second expedition against the Chōshū. The first sign of the impending failure was the difficulty drumming up support. Many only moved to show that they were not openly averse to Tokugawa rule. But worst of all, the Satsuma, who had helped them previously, chose to honor their new agreement and did not move against the Chōshū. As a result, the Shogunate forces were put to flight and the Chōshū won a brilliant victory and thoroughly embarrassed the Tokugawa. The loss was made worse further with the news that the shogun had died. The new shogun immediately set about to calm his realm, reinstating and dispatching Katsu to speak with the Chōshū. But the bad news did not end for the 10

Baber, William W An Industrialization Deal in 1868 Japan: Glover the Scotsman in Nagasaki (Kyoto University) page 220 11 Jansen, Marius. Sakamoto Ryoma and the Meiji Restoration. (First Printing, Columbia UP, 1995) page 220

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Shogun. Not only was he losing support from those around him, western businessmen and traders, especially Tomas Glover, but also saw better opportunities within the Satsuma-Chōshū alliance than with the Shogunate. This led to the English taking a preferential side among the Satsuma and Chōshū.

However, where some see a less optimal deal, others see an angle to work it. The French chose to side with the Tokugawa. This meant opening trade between Edo and the French. Part of the deal included the training and modernizing of the Tokugawa army with french arms and tactics. With western powers started influencing both sides to improve their respective armies with their modernizing techniques, the prospects of civil war became a grim reality. With a new shogun, fear grew that he would come down on them with a heavy fist. But this time, slighted by the open defiance of shogun rule and needing to flex strength to keep the rest in line, the defeat could be permanent. If the Shogun could modernize his entire army and march on the southern hans, there was the risk of losing centuries of the Satsuma’s claim to the land and their dreams would come to a whimpering close.

In his home region of Tosa, Sakamoto was called back as a hero even though he had fled the han. He was given a full pardon and placed in charge of the Tosa navy, known as the Kaientai. This was a relatively modern fleet that Sakamoto had complete control over. Under this post, Sakamoto continued to fund and aid the Satsuma and Chōshū and assist the Tosa.

8-Points For a New Government

As the country looked more and more like civil war was on the horizon, many looked for ways to avoid open warfare. The new shogun brought Katsu back into the court to try and calm

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the Satsuma and Chōshū leaders. But the idea of war would continue to lurk on the horizon.

Knowing that governmental changes had to be made, Sakamoto embarked on one of his most famous ventures. With his dealings and residence in Nagasaki, Sakamoto had met with and learned from many westerners. He was impressed by ideas of how the western world worked and it led him and a friend, Gotō Shōjirō, to write a famous eight-point program for the new Government of Japan. These would be the culmination of Sakamoto’s experiences and the shortcomings of the current Japanese government. This new program promoted ideas such as 1. The shogunate should return the government to the Imperial Court (Taisei Hokan) and conduct politics centering on the Imperial Court.

2. Two legislative bodies should be formed and made to make political decisions 3. Those who are in the government should be picked for their skill rather than for family 4. Foreign affairs should be polled through the general populous 5. A new and updated law system should be made 6. The navy must be strengthened 7. Protection of the capital by Imperial soldiers 8. Aligning the currency to an average across the hans and matching it with foreign countries12 These points were very influential when Japan entered its industrial revolution and many ended up in the reformist new government order. The age of blades and shogunate rule was over and the modern era had begun. Word spread of this new idea and Sakamoto’s plan to present it to the Bakufu and have the Tokugawa voluntarily step down to prevent open hostilities. However, in Tosa, people started to rally behind the idea of a mobilization led by the Satsuma and Chōshū.

12

Library of Congress Translated by Isabela Geller (“Eight-Point Program for a New Government.”)

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In the end, the Tosa signed onto an alliance with the Satsuma, strengthening the Satchō Alliance into a greater and more dangerous threat.

In 1867, the Shogun’s support continued to fall apart with a gathering of the lords had come to little more than a gathering and the Satchō Alliance looked like it was ready to move.

The pressure continued to mount as it appeared that the French were no longer as heavily behind the Shogunate, while the English could turn on the Satsuma.13 Gotō hurried to Kyoto to present the request for resignation with Sakakmoto himself to meet Gotō there. Eventually, the newly appointed Shogun agreed to reign, knowing that the backup plan for the Satchō Alliance would be a full-scale armed uprising. However, this left an odd void where the Shogunate no longer had the reins, but the Emperor had yet to make a move or even officially take power once again.

Within this void, political moves were made, especially by Sakamoto, who worked to establish what a renewed Japan could look like. This included reworking some of his 8 points, and looking at who could fill the new slots in government. Because Sakamoto believed in merit-based positions, this meant that he traveled out to reach some of these people, and took into consideration many of those who were not part of the Tosa han but he believed they would be best suited.

Death

Despite the work he did, Sakamoto would not live to see his dream of modern Japan. On the night of December 10th, 1867, assassins came for the man when he was in Kyoto. One of the assassins knocked on the door before killing Sakamoto’s bodyguard. The assassins then went

13

Jansen, Marius. Sakamoto Ryoma and the Meiji Restoration. (First Printing, Columbia UP, 1995) page 318-319

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upstairs to kill him, and the lights went out in the scuffle. However, the result was that Sakamoto Ryoma lay dead on his floor. His friend, Nakaoka Shintaro, who was also present, was grievously wounded and never lived long enough to say who exactly had killed Sakamoto. In the end, it was never found who or what group killed the man who had such a hand in making modern Japan, though one of the heads of the Shinsengumi was executed for being the one who was behind the assassination.14

Open warfare

Though he was dead, this would not end the ripples of Sakamoto’s influence. In January 1868, the alliance between the Satsuma, Chōshū, and Tosa came to fruition when they marched north to seek out the “guarded” emperor. These rebels, now restorationists, took their forces north toward Kyoto, where the Emperor was held. The ex-shogun, Yoshinobu deployed a force to take a letter to the Emperor, warning against the Satsuma rebels. However, the Satsuma-Chōshū forces, led by the enlightened Saigō, were already there and were not letting the Shogunate army get past. On January 27th, 1868 the opposing forces met just outside of Kyoto.

This resulted in the Battle of Toba-Fushimi, where the Aizu, who had been assigned to protect Kyoto, faced off against the Satsuma. While the Shogunate forces outnumber the restorationists, the rebel forces use their more modern weaponry from the west to shred the shogunate forces.15 This show of strength simply flexed the might of what a modern Japan could do, yet the Shogun was acting as a roadblock to progress.

14 15

Dougill J. Kyoto: a cultural history. (Oxford University Press) 2006, page 171 Extra Credits ”End of the Samurai - The Boshin War - Extra History - #3” 2020

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When Saigō besieged and took the city of Edo, after Katsu Kaishu surrendered it, the Emperor-supporting faction claimed victory in the mainland. This ushered in the Meiji period and the Emperor’s government officially took control of the country. The 15-year-old Emperor began to make sweeping reforms, many of which were along the lines of what Sakamoto had proposed, starting with taking power back into his hands.

The military was formed into a modern force that stood behind the emperor rather than the various daimyo and the navy followed Sakamoto’s model, strengthening itself to catch up to the rest of the world and eventually surpass many other navies. But the army wasn’t the only area that was affected.

Different classes were allowed jobs beyond their Edo period limitations, allowing citizens to achieve greater social mobility.16 The industrial revolution meant that more people migrated into the cities to find work, allowing for greater infrastructure, modeled after what was seen in Europe. The industrialization of Japan paved the way for a modern nation, one which stands among the most powerful nations in the World.

Conclusion

When the dust settled and Imperial Japan formed, one hero stood out from the restoration heroes.

Sakamoto Ryoma, the younger son in his family, the idealist, student of Katsu Kaishu, and father of the Imperial navy, killed before his time, helped move the pieces into place for an Imperial Japan to form.

Through his political movements to assemble a fleet of modern ships, running weapons to two of the most powerful hans, opening and taking advantage of trade with the foreigners, forging an alliance strong enough to topple the Tokugawa shogunate, and assembling an 8-point program to shape the new Japanese government, Sakamoto played a critical role in modernizing Japan. Without him, Japan could 16

McClain, James. Japan: A Modern History. 1st ed., (W. W. Norton and Company), 2002, page 159

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have formed very differently than the nation that we know today. The Satchō Alliance, a critical pushing force against the Bakufu, if never formed or never properly armed, could have easily fallen to the wayside as Saigō’s later rebellion did. This would delay the rise of Imperial Japan if it happened at all.

When Sakamoto and Gotō convinced the shogun to resign his power, it was their 8-points for a new government that helped make resignation a more legitimate option, rather than replacing one shogun for another. This would defeat the whole purpose of the rebellion and open the country up to open warfare and mass civil war. But worst of all would be if Sakamoto was unable to settle tensions and the Satsuma and Chōshū started fighting. It would have opened a gap that the Bakufu could take advantage of and crush the rebellion, either building the tension even further into a bigger conflict or suppressing any sense of anti-Tokugawa feelings within Japan, extending the shogunate’s longevity and potentially dooming Japan.

Another way Sakamoto’s influence can be seen is in the alternative history of if he wasn’t assassinated. If Sakamoto stayed alive, it is possible that he could have been an influential voice in what the new Emperor’s government would look like. Being inspired by what was happening in the west, the singular power in the Imperial court could have been spread out leading to a potentially less concentrated mass of powerful figureheads in the Imperial Diet that occurred. With Sakamoto at the head of the navy or able to trade with foreign powers, the entire expansion of Imperial Japan could have been different for better or worse. Because he was so interested in trade and making money, it is possible that the islands that were forcibly taken by the Japanese, between 1895-1945, could have been purchased from the western powers, many of whom were leaving the area after world war one. This would free up the army and improve global approval, allowing them to take China and Korea relatively uncontested by the western powers. This would change the entire 20th century and how we know the world today.

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With these possible and very different futures on the tables, Sakamoto’s involvement was immeasurable in its influence and value. He directly changed the course of the country from a floundering nation to sailing into the modern era. In these ways, Sakamoto directly influenced and played a critical role in the rise of Imperial Japan.

17

Bibliography ● Eman M. Elshaikh. “READ: Tokugawa Shogunate (Article).” Khan Academy, www.khanacademy.org/humanities/whp-1750/xcabef9ed3fc7da7b:unit-1-the-world-in-17 50/xcabef9ed3fc7da7b:1–3-expanding-to-a-global-scale/a/read-tokugawa-shogunate-beta . Accessed 28 Apr. 2022. ● Milestones: 1830â 1860 - Office of the Historian. (2015). American Office of The Historian, United States Department of State. https://history.state.gov/milestones/1830-1860/china-1 ● SAKAMOTO Ryoma | Portraits of Modern Japanese Historical Figures | National Diet Library, Japan. (n.d.). Portraits of Modern Japanese Historical Figures. https://www.ndl.go.jp/portrait/e/datas/89/ ● Milestones: 1830â 1860 - Office of the Historian. history.state.gov/milestones/1830-1860/opening-to-japan#:%7E:text=On%20July%208% 2C%201853%2C%20American,Japan%20and%20the%20western%20world. Accessed 1 Oct. 2022. ● Avalon Project - Japanese-American Diplomacy - Treaty of Kanagawa; March, 31, 1854. avalon.law.yale.edu/19th_century/japan002.asp. Accessed 1 Oct. 2022. ● “Today in History - July 29.” The Library of Congress, www.loc.gov/item/today-in-history/july-29. Accessed 1 Oct. 2022. ● Dennis RM Campbell. “Meiji Restoration.” Khan Academy, www.khanacademy.org/humanities/whp-1750/xcabef9ed3fc7da7b:unit-3-industrialization /xcabef9ed3fc7da7b:3-2-global-industrialization/a/japan-s-industrial-revolution.

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● Jansen, Marius. Sakamoto Ryoma and the Meiji Restoration. First Printing, Columbia UP, 1995. (Jansen) ● “End of the Samurai - The Boshin War - Extra History - #3.” YouTube, uploaded by Extra History, 28 Nov. 2020, www.youtube.com/watch?v=499MEYhur7E ● “The Treaty of Kanagawa.” National Archives, 7 Mar. 2017, www.archives.gov/exhibits/featured-documents/treaty-of-kanagawa#:%7E:text=On%20 March%2031%2C%201854%2C%20the,forbidding%20commerce%20with%20foreign% 20nations. ● Baber, William W. An Industrialization Deal in 1868 Japan: Glover the Scotsman in Nagasaki. Landmark Negotiations from Around the World: Lessons for Modern Diplomacy 2019: 219-229 https://web.archive.org/web/20220615201414id_/https://repository.kulib.kyoto-u.ac.jp/ds pace/bitstream/2433/245552/1/9781780688510_219.pdf ● “Eight-Point Program for a New Government.” Translated by Isabela Geller. The Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/2021667415 Accessed 3 Oct. 2022. ● Dougill J. "Kyoto: a cultural history". Oxford University Press, 2006 ● McClain, James. Japan: A Modern History. 1st ed., W. W. Norton and Company, 2002.

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1

Calder Biehle IS AMERICA A CHRISTIAN NATION?: THE SEPARATION OF CHURCH AND STATE, THE SUPREME COURT, AND PLANNED PARENTHOOD V CASEY of 1992.

This essay covers the importance of the establishment clause in terms of America's foundation.

I discuss the relevance of the abortion act and the ways in which

To what extent do the United States Supreme Court decisions regarding abortion rights contradict the principles of the separation of church and state?

If you are interested in the history of abortion rights, this is the paper for you. I discuss how the United States Supreme Court decisions regarding abortion rights have contradicted the separation of church and state principles. I examine this issue through the case of Planned Parenthood v Casey of 1992, following the ways the Supreme Court has made efforts to remove the right to abortion even before the recent overturn in 2022. In many ways, the Supreme Court operates as though they obtain a form of absolute power, in which the corruption of religious doctrine has influenced and dominated our world.

2

March 10th, 2022 IBIS candidate number: kmh969 Word Count: 3998

IS AMERICA A CHRISTIAN NATION?: THE SEPARATION OF CHURCH AND STATE, THE SUPREME COURT, AND PLANNED PARENTHOOD V CASEY of 1992.

Research Question: To what extent do the United States Supreme Court decisions regarding abortion rights contradict the principles of the separation of church and state?

3

TABLE OF CONTENTS

I

INTRODUCTION

3

II

HISTORICAL BACKGROUND

4

III

THE SEPARATION OF CHURCH AND STATE AS A NATIONAL IDENTITY

9

IV

THE SEEMING REINTEGRATION OF CHURCH AND STATE AND DISTORTION

OF CONSTITUTIONAL PRINCIPALS- PLANNED PARENTHOOD V. CASEY

12

V

CONCLUSION

20

VI

BIBLIOGRAPHY

22

4

I

INTRODUCTION

“One nation under God.”1 The formation of the American Nation involved the pervasive influence of the Church of England, with which a majority had an association.2 There was an overlap of religious doctrine integrated into societal standards and thus governmental authority, but the founding fathers understood the inevitable dangers behind endorsing a national religion in politics. Nonetheless, tensions between religion and politics have always persisted. While laws have been expanded upon to reflect, represent and embrace America's diverse constituents, the country has also conformed to a “one step forward, two steps back” sensibility.

The landmark case of Roe v Wade in 1973 marked a revolutionary achievement for sexual freedom, ensuring that women would have the right to an abortion, and therefore the right to their own liberty and choice.3 Later, Planned Parenthood v Casey would surreptitiously erode the federal protection of that right, causing "both profound and unnecessary damage to the Court's legitimacy."4 It is rare for the Supreme court to reopen and terminate previous rights that have been granted. I will argue that the case was not a matter of circumstance. In many ways, the decision in Planned Parenthood v Casey foreshadowed the recent overturning of Roe v Wade in 2022, harming the lives of the many to satisfy the beliefs of the few. Scrutinizing religious

1

“The Pledge of Allegiance.” Ushistory.org, Independence Hall Association, https://www.ushistory.org/documents/pledge.htm.

2 Foster, John, et al. “Religion and the Founding of the American Republic America as a Religious Refuge: The Seventeenth Century, Part 1.” Library of Congress, 4 June 1998, https://www.loc.gov/exhibits/religion/rel01.html.

3 “Roe v. Wade.” Center for Reproductive Rights, 8 Dec. 2022, https://reproductiverights.org/roe-v-wade/#:~:text=The%20Roe%20v.%20Wade%20Ruling%2C%201973 &text=In%20its%201973%20decision%20Roe,whether%20to%20continue%20a%20pregnancy.

4 “Planned Parenthood of Southeastern PA. V. Casey, 505 U.S. 833 (1992).” Justia Law, https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/505/833/.

5

doctrine and its ties to this decision is necessary in order to consider the legitimacy of the court and its priorities.

Today, nine justices make up the supreme court. It is their duty to defend the constitution and the rights of citizens. Their decision in Planned Parenthood v. Casey affected not only people capable of getting pregnant but everyone who benefited from the right to privacy. This essay will explore the power structure that American society has operated with since the formation of the nation and the ways it has evolved, not always for the better.

II

HISTORICAL BACKGROUND

The 18th century was a unique period in American and even world political history. It began with America's original 13 colonies banding together to reject British monarchical rule and establish their own independence.5 Until then, the British had been a powerful colonizing force, gaining territory around the world. Following the Seven Year War against the French in 1763, they obtained complete control over numerous French and Spanish colonies including all of North America.6 The revolutionary war was caused by those same North American colonies rebelling against the British. A series of acts including the Stamp act of 1765, the Townshend act of 1767, and the tea act of 1773 exercised British power and directed how the colonists had to live.7 In New England the

5

Office of the Historian, Foreign Service Institute. “MILESTONES: 1776–1783.” U.S. Department of State, U.S. Department of State, https://history.state.gov/milestones/1776-1783/declaration.

6

Office of the Historian, Foreign Service Institute. “French and Indian War/Seven Years’ War, 1754–63.”

U.S. Department of State, U.S. Department of State, https://history.state.gov/milestones/1750-1775/french-indian-war.

7 Library of Congress Editors. “1766 To 1767 : Timeline : Articles and Essays : Documents from the Continental Congress and the Constitutional Convention, 1774-1789 : Digital Collections : Library of

6

rebellion erupted,8 resulting in the first official meeting of the Continental Congress where it was declared that every citizen had the right to life, liberty, property, and trial before a jury.9 During the Congress’ second meeting in 1775, British soldiers met the local militiamen in battle at Lexington and Concord beginning the revolutionary war.10 Congress voted to raise an army to fight back. In 1776 the Declaration of Independence was voted to be indoctrinated.11

“We hold these truths to be self-evident; that all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator, with certain inalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, that to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed.” - Thomas Jefferson.12

Congress.” The Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/collections/continental-congress-and-constitutional-convention-from-1774-to-1789/arti cles-and-essays/timeline/1766-to-1767/.

8 Library of Congress Editors. “U.S. History Primary Source Timeline.” The Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/classroom-materials/united-states-history-primary-source-timeline/american-revolutio n-1763-1783/colonies-rebellion-1773-1774/.

9

Boston National Historical Park. “Samuel Adams: Boston's Radical Revolutionary (U.S. National Park Service).” National Parks Service, U.S. Department of the Interior, https://www.nps.gov/articles/000/samuel-adams-boston-revolutionary.htm.

10

National Historical Park Pennsylvania. “The Second Continental Congress and the Declaration of Independence.” National Parks Service, U.S. Department of the Interior, https://www.nps.gov/inde/learn/historyculture/resources-declaration-secondcontinentalcongress.htm#:~:te xt=They%20established%20a%20Continental%20army,the%20American%20colonies%20in%20revolt.

11 “Declaration of Independence (1776).” National Archives and Records Administration, National Archives and Records Administration, https://www.archives.gov/milestone-documents/declaration-of-independence.

12

Staff, Center for Civic Education. “From the Declaration of Independence.” Terms to Know, https://www.civiced.org/9-11-and-the-constitution-terms-to-know.

7

To obtain those declared rights the colonists would need to defeat the British in the war.

Joined by the French, they were eventually victorious, signing the Treaty of Paris in 1783,13 and giving them the space to build on their freedom and independence.

The most important of those pursuits was the opportunity to form a new collective government. Representatives from nine of the thirteen colonies, who came to be known as founding fathers, were the authors primarily responsible for imagining and drafting a new constitution. It was to be a grand intellectual experiment. It started with Thomas Jefferson’s Declaration of Independence, the ideal on which America was founded.14 It continued with the constitution, a document that culminated with the United States’ fundamental laws of government and its jurisdictions.15 It would be amended by the Bill of Rights in 1791 to clarify and better articulate individual rights.16 How did such remarkable documents come about? Nearly all the founding fathers came from families of high social and economic status, the elite.17 They shared classically educated backgrounds that included an advanced understanding of philosophy, literature, and world

13

“Treaty of Paris (1783).” National Archives and Records Administration, National Archives and Records Administration, https://www.archives.gov/milestone-documents/treaty-of-paris#:~:text=This%20treaty%2C%20signed%20 on%20September,States%20as%20an%20independent%20nation.

14 “The Declaration of Independence.” National Archives and Records Administration, National Archives and Records Administration, https://www.archives.gov/founding-docs/declaration.

15

“Constitution.” U.S. Senate: Constitution, 5 Apr. 2022, https://www.senate.gov/reference/Index/Constitution.htm#:~:text=The%20Constitution%20defines%20the %20fundamental,national%20constitution%20currently%20in%20effect.

16

“Bill of Rights (1791).” National Archives and Records Administration, National Archives and Records Administration, https://www.archives.gov/milestone-documents/bill-of-rights.

17

Kertscher, Tom. “Politifact - Were the Founding Fathers 'Ordinary People'?” Politifact, 2 July 2015, https://www.politifact.com/article/2015/jul/02/founding-fathers-ordinary-folk/.

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history. It also happened during the enlightenment, a period when people believed society could be improved by the use of reason.18 Historical knowledge influenced what the founders would construct.19 The later Roman empire, the Catholic church, and the monarchies of Europe were all governmental systems structured around a single leader with absolute power. The Roman republic was an example of representative government20; the English Bill of Rights had been written to expressly limit the power of the monarchy21; and Charles de Montesquieu had already written the Separation of Powers suggesting that a government be made up of three distinct branches- the legislative, the executive, and the judicial.22 All of these ideas were influential to their thinking.

From the beginning, there was a concern with protecting minorities from the impact of majoritarian rule, “the domination of majorities in control of a powerful, freely elected government”.23 The principal problem was crafting a free society that could allow for the coexistence of legislative majoritarianism and private rights .24 With this in mind, the first amendment states: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof, or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press, or the 18

White, Mattew. “The Enlightenment.” British Library, 2018, https://www.bl.uk/restoration-18th-century-literature/articles/the-enlightenment#:~:text=The%20Enlighten ment%20%E2%80%93%20the%20great%20'Age,the%20Napoleonic%20Wars%20in%201815.

19

Richard, Carl, et al. “What the Founders Learned from the Greeks and Romans.” National Constitution Center – Constitutioncenter.org, 8 Dec. 2020, https://constitutioncenter.org/news-debate/podcasts//what-the-founders-learned-from-the-greeks-and-rom ans.

20 National Geographic Society. “Rome's Transition from Republic to Empire.” Education, 28 Sept. 2022, https://education.nationalgeographic.org/resource/romes-transition-republic-empire/.

21 “English Bill of Rights 1689 American Bill of Rights Compared.” Socorro Independent School District, https://www.sisd.net/cms/lib/TX01001452/Centricity/Domain/170/English%20Bill%20of%20Rights%20168 9_American%20Bill%20of%20Rights_Compared.pdf.

22 “Resource Separation of Powers: An Overview.” National Conference of State Legislatures, https://www.ncsl.org/about-state-legislatures/separation-of-powers-an-overview#:~:text=Under%20his%2 0model%2C%20the%20political,be%20separate%20and%20acting%20independently.

23 Bailyn, Bernard. To Begin the World Anew: The Genius and Ambiguities of the American Founders.

Vintage Books, 2004.

24 Bailyn, Bernard. To Begin the World Anew: The Genius and Ambiguities of the American Founders.

Vintage Books, 2004.

9

right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”25 This amendment is ultimately what protects our rights, even today.

The founding fathers believed that governmental power was entrusted with the authority to serve its citizens by ensuring the right to liberty, guaranteeing that individual freedoms would not be double-crossed.26 James Madison called these “the great rights of mankind.”27 “A bill of rights is what the people are entitled to against every government on earth, general or particular, and what no just government should refuse, or rest on interference,”28 said Jefferson. While the protection of rights was not the government's only task, it was the most important.

The founding fathers understood humankind to be driven by deep selfishness. They believed that authority should be confined and monitored by other parties.29 They were familiar with the work of William Shakespeare whose plays comment on politics while being presented as theatrical entertainment.30 Macbeth, for example, depicts the ways that power can become a form of addiction, even manipulating a mind into committing inhumane acts.31 The founding fathers knew the fundamental truth behind Shakespeare’s tale. Preventing the acquisition of absolute power was their primary concern. They created a system of 25

Constitution Annotated. “U.S. Constitution - First Amendment | Resources - Congress.” Constitution Congress, https://constitution.congress.gov/constitution/amendment-1/.

26 Bailyn, Bernard. To Begin the World Anew: The Genius and Ambiguities of the American Founders.

Vintage Books, 2004.

27 “1789: Madison, Speech Introducing Proposed Amendments to the Constitution.” Online Library of Liberty, https://oll.libertyfund.org/page/1789-madison-speech-introducing-proposed-amendments-to-the-constituti on.

28 “The Bill of Rights: A Brief History.” American Civil Liberties Union, https://www.aclu.org/other/bill-rights-brief-history#:~:text=So%2C%20the%20Constitution's%20framers% 20heeded,%2C%20or%20rest%20on%20inference.%22.

29 Bailyn, Bernard. To Begin the World Anew: The Genius and Ambiguities of the American Founders.

Vintage Books, 2004.

30 Mullan, John. “An Introduction to Shakespeare’s Comedy.” British Library, 15 Mar. 2016, https://www.bl.uk/shakespeare/articles/an-introduction-to-shakespeares-comedy.

31 Nandlal Kesur, Bhupendra. “Corruption, Manipulation and Abuse of Power in Shakespearean Tragedy Macbeth.” Research Gate, Mar. 2014, https://www.researchgate.net/publication/319772243_Corruption_Manipulation_and_Abuse_of_Power_in _Shakespearean_Tragedy_Macbeth.

10

government divided into three branches; each having certain authority with its powers limited.32 Thus, each branch could hold the other accountable for upholding the values of the constitution and enforcing the bill of rights.

The judicial branch and in particular the Supreme Court is to be the “balance wheel” of the federal system, the protector of individual rights, and the arbiter of the allocation of powers among the three branches of government.33 The degree to which the Supreme Court of the United States projects the values and principles of American economic, social, and personal life is often called unmatched.34 In summary, America’s grand intellectual experiment was the formation of a representative government created to avoid the corruption of power and the tyranny of the majority, to protect the rights of all its citizens.

III

THE SEPARATION OF CHURCH AND STATE AS A NATIONAL IDENTITY

An interesting aspect of the American experiment is not only the fact that no democratic country had ever been created before by intellectual debate, but no country had ever considered the need for the separation of church and state.35 Yet, for the founding fathers, this was absolutely necessary in order to codify the protection of personal rights.

32

“Separation of Powers.” Legal Information Institute, Legal Information Institute, https://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/separation_of_powers_0.

33

United States House of Representatives. “Branches of Government.” House.gov, https://www.house.gov/the-house-explained/branches-of-government#:~:text=Among%20other%20power s%2C%20the%20legislative,controls%20taxing%20and%20spending%20policies.

34 Cavalli, Caril D. “Basics of American Government - University of North Georgia.” University Press of North Georgia, Aug. 2013, https://ung.edu/university-press/_uploads/files/Basics%20of%20American%20Government.pdf.

35 “Separation of Church and State.” Teachinghistory.org, https://teachinghistory.org/history-content/ask-a-historian/24441#:~:text=The%20expression%20%E2%80 %9Cseparation%20of%20church,Danbury%20Baptists%20Association%20of%20Connecticut.

11

Religion at that time was something understood to underpin morality. Separating church and state, therefore, had to codify morality into law, different from religious doctrine. Most, if not all, the founders considered themselves to be religious men.36 And yet as enlightenment figures, they had the ability to separate paradoxical belief from moral wisdom. Thomas Jefferson had created his own version of the bible that eliminated miracles, prophesy, virgin birth, and resurrection, in an attempt to clarify the moral code taught by Jesus of Nazareth.37 He said, “religion is a matter between every man and his maker, in which no other, & far less the public has a right to meddle.”38 The first amendment’s Establishment Clause is the sentence that states “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.”39 Because America did not designate Christianity to be its established religion, and because it is prohibited from being affiliated with any religion, it is, by default, a secular nation.40 The clause states that the rights of all citizens are guaranteed, no matter their religion or lack thereof. It ensures that laws cannot be passed to support one specific religion or to discriminate between organized religions.41 The Free Exercise Clause, which directly accompanies the Establishment clause, guarantees the “right to practice their religion as they please, so long as the practice does

36

Jefferson, Thomas, and Merrill D. Peterson. Writers, Autobiography, Notes on the State of Virginia, Public and Private Papers, Addresses, Letters. Literary Classics of the U.S., 1984.

37 Mabee, Charles. “Thomas Jefferson’s Anti-Clerical Bible.” Historical Magazine of the Protestant Episcopal Church, vol. 48, no. 4, 1979, pp. 473–81. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/42973723.

Accessed 10 Mar. 2023.

38 “Founders Online: Thomas Jefferson to Richard Rush, 31 May 1813.” National Archives and Records Administration, National Archives and Records Administration, https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Jefferson/03-06-02-0155.

39 Carlson, Mr. David. “Establishment Clause.” Legal Information Institute, Legal Information Institute, 21 Nov. 2022, https://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/Establishment_Clause.

40 Hana M. Ryman and J. Mark Alcorn. “Establishment Clause (Separation of Church and State).”

Establishment Clause (Separation of Church and State), https://www.mtsu.edu/first-amendment/article/885/establishment-clause-separation-of-church-and-state.

41 Chemerinsky, Erwin. No, It Is Not a Christian Nation, and It Never Has Been and Should Not ... Roger Williams University Law Review, 2021, https://docs.rwu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1746&context=rwu_LR.

12

not run afoul of "public morals" or a "compelling" governmental interest.”42 Therefore, the freedom of religion is established as one of the country’s five fundamental freedoms, which the government cannot inhibit and must protect.

It is important to note how the Establishment Clause came to be known more commonly as the “separation of church and state.” Thomas Jefferson clarified the underlying intent in his letter to the Danbury Baptist Association in 1802, saying “I contemplate with sovereign reverence that act of the whole American people which declared that their legislature should ‘make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof,’ thus building a wall of separation between Church & State.”43 The significance of this is that one of the founders gave his interpretation, making the wall of separation clear.

The Treaty of Tripoli(1791), between the United States of America and the Bey and subjects of Barbary, declared the “government of the United States is not in any sense founded on the Christian religion.”44 The Establishment Clause and the separation of church and state have been further clarified by cases involving public schools. Abington School District v. Schempp from 1963, Wallace v. Jeffree in 1985, and Lee v. Weisman in 1992, were all cases that ruled that organized prayer in affiliation with public schools is prohibited.45

42

“First Amendment and Religion.” United States Courts, https://www.uscourts.gov/educational-resources/educational-activities/first-amendment-and-religion#:~:te xt=The%20Establishment%20clause%20prohibits%20the,as%20the%20Church%20of%20England.

43 “Separation of Church and State.” Teachinghistory.org, https://teachinghistory.org/history-content/ask-a-historian/24441#:~:text=The%20expression%20%E2%80 %9Cseparation%20of%20church,Danbury%20Baptists%20Association%20of%20Connecticut.

44 Treaty of Peace and Friendship between the United States of America and the Bey and Subjects of Tripoli of Barbary, art. 11, U.S.-Tripoli, Jan. 3, 1797, 8 Stat. 154.

45 “Guidance on Constitutionally Protected Prayer and Religious Expression in Public Elementary and Secondary Schools.” Home, US Department of Education (ED), 6 Mar. 2023, https://www2.ed.gov/policy/gen/guid/religionandschools/prayer_guidance.html#:~:text=Although%20the% 20Constitution%20forbids%20public,private%20religious%20speech%2C%20far%20from.

13

While the United States government was motivated to create a secular nation and wrote that they would not conform to organized religion, there was also cases in which the government capitulates to a Christian lifestyle, embedded in our system. Article 1, Section 7 of the constitution highlights that within the duration of the time given for the President to consider a bill before passing it, Sundays are removed from that period.46 The Christian religious practice of Sunday worship is excused from the President’s work schedule47, thus operating on a “Christian clock.” This signifies the ways that the Christian religion is still overtly the one whose practices are respected.

Most elected Presidents have reflected the historical Christian majority in their beliefs or practice, with few exceptions.48 Thus, Christians have been commonly associated with being qualified for leadership, modeling what it means to be a good upstanding citizen. This begs the question that if we are a secular nation, but leadership feels compelled to model Christian practices, what does this really mean?

IV

THE SEEMING REINTEGRATION OF CHURCH AND STATE AND

DISTORTION OF CONSTITUTIONAL PRINCIPALS- PLANNED PARENTHOOD V. CASEY

46

Id. at 470 (citing U.S. CONST. art I, § 7).

“Vetoes.” U.S. Senate: Vetoes, 14 May 2021, https://www.senate.gov/reference/reference_index_subjects/Vetoes_vrd.htm#:~:text=The%20power%20o f%20the%20President,a%20bill%20passed%20by%20Congress.

48 Sandstrom, Aleksandra. “Biden Is Only the Second Catholic President, but Nearly All Have Been Christians.” Pew Research Center, Pew Research Center, 20 Jan. 2021, https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2021/01/20/biden-only-second-catholic-president-but-nearly-all-ha ve-been-christians-2/.

47

14

The Fourteenth Amendment, passed in 1868 following the civil war, provided an expansion of personal rights to clarify who was a citizen and that “no state shall abridge privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States, nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty or property, without due process of law, nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws,”49 now referred to as the Equal Protection Clause.

The amendment was not much used until 1965 when in the case of Griswald v.

Connecticut, the term “liberty” was expanded upon to include privacy.50 The case protected couples' liberty to receive contraceptives and prevented the government from interfering with that right.51 The case was also important because it referred to the 9th amendment from the Bill of Rights which seems to have been written for the very purpose of allowing such expansions.

“The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.”52 It discusses how the Bill of Rights is not exhaustive, but the people hold other rights. Just because a right is not listed there, it doesn't mean it doesn't exist and that the people don't have it, and that the government cannot infringe on these rights.53

The Supreme court followed this ruling with others based on the Right to Privacy including most importantly, Roe v. Wade in 1973, which established that privacy could cover the right to abortion.54 The challenge of the decision was to balance the Right of the mother, a 49

“14th Amendment.” Legal Information Institute, Legal Information Institute, https://www.law.cornell.edu/constitution/amendmentxiv.

50 “Griswold v. Connecticut.” Oyez, 1965, https://www.oyez.org/cases/1964/496.

51 Vile, John R. Griswold v. Connecticut, https://www.mtsu.edu/first-amendment/article/579/griswold-v-connecticut.

52 “U.S. Constitution - Ninth Amendment | Resources - Congress.” Constitution Annotated, https://constitution.congress.gov/constitution/amendment-9/.

53 “Amdt9.1 Overview of Ninth Amendment, Unenumerated Rights.” Constitution Annotated, https://constitution.congress.gov/browse/essay/amdt9-1/ALDE_00013641/['constitution'].

54 “Roe v. Wade.” Center for Reproductive Rights, 8 Dec. 2022, https://reproductiverights.org/roe-v-wade/#:~:text=The%20Roe%20v.%20Wade%20Ruling%2C%201973 &text=In%20its%201973%20decision%20Roe,whether%20to%20continue%20a%20pregnancy.

15

woman’s right to choose, against the rights of a “potential” child. The result was that “a person may choose to have an abortion until a fetus becomes viable.”55 More specifically, the decision provided a trimester framework for the pregnancy, stating that up until the 3rd trimester of the pregnancy, a state can have no role in the individual's decision. But in the third trimester (roughly 28 weeks), when a fetus is viable, then restrictions can be put in place.56 This decision had been made under the Due process clause of the 14th amendment. Which states that “no state shall deprive any person of life, liberty or property without due process of law.”57 It interpreted that the right to liberty extends to a right to privacy in that the government cannot invade someone's home without due process of law, and that a person has the right to choose how they want to live their life privately without interference. The right to liberty is also a right to privacy, and therefore a woman’s right to choose must be supported by making abortion resources available.

This would be followed by other important decisions based on the right to privacy such as Loving v. Virginia(1967) which confirmed that desegregation extended to the right to interracial marriage and that Virginia’s segregation laws violated the 14th amendments due process clause under the right to privacy58; Lawrence v. Texas(2003) overturning sodomy laws59; and Obergefell v. Hodges(2015) establishing the right to same-sex marriage, making the right to privacy fundamental.60

55

“Roe v. Wade, 410 U.S. 113 (1973).” Justia Law, https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/410/113/#:~:text=A%20person%20may%20choose%20to,an d%2028%20weeks%20after%20conception.

56 United States Supreme Court. “Library of Congress.” U.S. Reports, 22 Jan. 1873, https://tile.loc.gov/storage-services/service/ll/usrep/usrep410/usrep410113/usrep410113.pdf.

57 “Fourteenth Amendment Section 3 | Constitution Annotated | Congress.gov ...” Constitution Annotated , https://constitution.congress.gov/browse/amendment-14/section-3/.

58

"Loving v. Virginia." Oyez, www.oyez.org/cases/1966/395. Accessed 10 Mar. 2023.

"Lawrence v. Texas." Oyez, www.oyez.org/cases/2002/02-102. Accessed 10 Mar. 2023.

60 "Obergefell v. Hodges." Oyez, www.oyez.org/cases/2014/14-556. Accessed 10 Mar. 2023.

59

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But it was also followed by a conservative backlash. Robert Bork presented the first paper on “originalism” which declared all the expansive interpretations of the 14th amendment invalid.61 The conservative party and its legal scholars argued that Roe v. Wade was unconstitutional based on an improper analysis of the constitution. They said that, because the right to privacy is not explicitly stated, the right to an abortion cannot be guaranteed. This position would seem to be contradicted by the 9th amendment which strongly insinuates that the right to privacy doesn't need to be explicitly stated, that the constitution is a flexible document, and that it must be interpreted and not read literally.

Conservative originalist values overlapped with a growing religious minority, giving them a unifying purpose, and inviting them into the republican coalition.62 In the 1980s, Ronald Regan supported a march for life, which was an antiabortion protest, establishing that he agreed with its ideologies. Reagan would appoint two conservative justices to the Supreme Court, switching it to a conservative majority, and what the conservative movement thought was the opportunity to lawfully overturn Roe.63

Planned Parenthood v. Casey of 1992 challenged the provisions of an earlier Abortion Control Act from Pennsylvania, which had been created as an attack on Roe.64

61

Graglia, Lino A. “‘Interpreting’ the Constitution: Posner on Bork.” Stanford Law Review, vol. 44, no. 5, 1992, pp. 1019–50. JSTOR, https://doi.org/10.2307/1228934. Accessed 10 Mar. 2023.

62

Vermeule, Adrian. “Beyond Originalism.” The Atlantic, Atlantic Media Company, 31 Mar. 2020, https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2020/03/common-good-constitutionalism/609037/.

63 Flowers, Prudence. “‘A Prolife Disaster’: The Reagan Administration and the Nomination of Sandra Day O’Connor.” Journal of Contemporary History, vol. 53, no. 2, 2018, pp. 391–414. JSTOR, https://www.jstor.org/stable/26416694. Accessed 10 Mar. 2023.

64 “Planned Parenthood of Southeastern PA. V. Casey, 505 U.S. 833 (1992).” Justia Law, https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/505/833/.

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Pennsylvania claimed that the state's opinion was undervalued and deserved more recognition. “[T]he Constitution does not forbid a State or city… from expressing a preference for normal childbirth,"65 thus there should be no direct punitive distinction, such as a strict clear trimester framework. In fact, the point of the trimester framework was to protect a woman's right to choose, and not to undermine the State's power. The result of the case would be upholding Roe but to a different standard. States could now regulate abortion before a fetus was viable as long as it placed no “undo burdens on a woman’s right to choose or placed a substantial obstacle between a woman and her right to terminate her pregnancy.”66

Altogether, the language the court used throughout Planned Parenthood v Casey, would subsequently diminish abortion as a federal right even without abolishing it. By replacing a clear trimester viability test with intentionally ambiguous federal standards it opened the door to the states testing the limits of those standards. States were not banning abortions, but they were restricting them, under due law.

Roe v. Wade protected the right to an abortion, regardless of the language. The Supreme court knew that the fundamental right at risk in the case was a woman’s right to choose. The impact of the decision was to give states permission to explore methods of revoking the right as if there were no longer any barriers to government regulation. This is what the Supreme Court was accepting when they issued their decision in Planned Parenthood v. Casey.

Webster v. Reproductive Health Services, 492 U.S., at 511, 109 S.Ct., at 3053 (opinion of the Court) (quoting Poelker v. Doe, 432 U.S. 519, 521, 97 S.Ct. 2391, 2392, 53 L.Ed.2d 528 (1977)).

65

66

Library of Congress. “PLANNED PARENTHOOD OF SOUTHEASTERN PENNSYLVANIA ET AL. v.

CASEY, GOVERNOR OF PENNSYLVANIA, ET AL.” U.S. Reports, Oct. 1991, https://tile.loc.gov/storage-services/service/ll/lltreaties//lltreaties-ustbv001/lltreaties-ustbv001.pdf.

18

The decision confirmed that states should be able to attempt to change anybody's mind who is considering abortion in an organized manner. States can manipulate the system by implementing a series of laws that all together culminate in a huge obstacle but would be considered separately in the court, ensuring that it could be plausible to pass the “undue burden test.”

Pennsylvania’s provisions which were contested in the Planned Parenthood v. Casey case were: 1. requiring a 24-hour waiting period prior to the procedure.

2. Requiring a minor seeking an abortion to have the consent of one parent (the law allows for a judicial bypass procedure).

3. Requiring a married woman seeking an abortion to indicate that she notified her husband of her intention to abort the fetus.67

The only provision denounced was the third, under unconstitutional grounds, while the others were upheld because they subjectively passed the “undue burden test.”68

"When we're asking 'Does it impose an undue burden?' which person are we talking about? If it's an affluent person with a car and credit cards, very few abortion regulations would impose an undue burden," Kiara Bridges, a professor of law at the University of California, said.

"But for a poor person who lives in rural areas and doesn't have a car, a two-trip requirement to

67

"Planned Parenthood of Southeastern Pennsylvania v. Casey." Oyez, www.oyez.org/cases/1991/91-744. Accessed 5 Feb. 2023.

68

“Aldo Colautti, Secretary of Welfare of Pennsylvania, Et Al., Petitioners, V. John Franklin Et Al..” Legal Information Institute, Legal Information Institute, https://www.law.cornell.edu/supremecourt/text/439/379.

19

an abortion clinic because there's a 24-hour period, that would be an incredible burden on that person," she said.69

Overall, the Casey decision upheld Roe v Wade because it did not overturn it, but revised it with less protection. In actuality, it overturned the legitimacy of Roe v Wade., foreshadowing what would be the end of Roe v Wade as a result of the recent landmark case Dobbs v Jackson Women’s Health of 2022.

The original Roe v. Wade decision provided a compromise for the conservative right (pro-life) and progressive left (pro-choice). It intentionally used the viability of a fetus as the commencement point for states to impose regulations because it gave the viable “life of the fetus” the potential to be protected, satisfying the pro-life belief,70 while the women’s right to choose, for the sake of her life and liberty, would be federally protected until then, satisfying the pro-choice side. The Casey decision makes little effort to compromise, as its goal would seem to be to take away the federal protection of a women’s choice and favor the state's interest in protecting fetal life.

Perhaps the answer to how the court was compelled to take rights away can be found in religious doctrine, and not in the constitutional analysis which the Supreme Court argues is driving their decisions.71 It is important to note that the majority of the Supreme Court was raised 69

Shivaram, Deepa. “Roe Established Abortion Rights. 20 Years Later, Casey Paved the Way for Restrictions.” NPR, NPR, 6 May 2022, https://www.npr.org/2022/05/06/1096885897/roe-established-abortion-rights-20-years-later-casey-paved-t he-way-for-restricti.

70 Rhoden, Nancy K. “A Compromise on Abortion?” The Hastings Center Report, vol. 19, no. 4, 1989, pp.

32–37. JSTOR, https://doi.org/10.2307/3562300. Accessed 30 Nov. 2022.

71 Greenhouse, Linda. “Religious Doctrine, Not the Constitution, Drove the Dobbs Decision.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 22 July 2022, https://www.nytimes.com/2022/07/22/opinion/abortion-religion-supreme-court.html.

20

in the Church.72 The Catholic Church objects to all forms of contraception and birth control and teaches that “abortion is murderous,” despite it not being explicitly stated in the bible.73 Even clearly sexist teachings that require women to be dependent on men are acceptable to the philosophy of Judge Alito who objected to the upholding of the ban that required a married woman to inform her husband of her plan to get an abortion.

Justice Alito has stated, “we cannot allow our decisions to be affected by any extraneous influences such as concern about the public’s reaction to our work.”74 However, I would say that public opinion, mainly from the individuals their decision would primarily affect, is most important in this case. Especially when it comes down to challenging their fundamental human right to the freedom of choice and control over their life and liberty.

Public opinion will always be a consideration in any case. And yet, the only explanation for how the Supreme Court accepted Pennsylvania’s invitation to challenge Roe in the first place was because the court members believed abortion shouldn’t be a protected right. They extended the power the conservative movement needed to fulfill their anti-abortion mission which had manifested for 30 years.75 The decision was motivated by a pro-life political standpoint and anti-abortion philosophy, which all conveniently overlapped with the doctrine of the religious right.

72

Geir Moulson, The Associated Press, et al. “Anti-Roe Justices a Part of Catholicism's Conservative Wing.” National Catholic Reporter, https://www.ncronline.org/news/politics/anti-roe-justices-part-catholicism-s-conservative-wing.

Abortion and Catholic thought. The little-known history. Conscience. 1996 Autumn;17(3):2-5. PMID: 12178868.

73

74

Supreme Court of the United States. DOBBS, STATE HEALTH OFFICER OF THE MISSISSIPPI DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH, ET AL. v. JACKSON WOMEN’S HEALTH ORGANIZATION ET AL. . Oct. 2021, https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/21pdf/19-1392_6j37.pdf.

Projects, Prologue. “5-4: The Return of the Rise and Fall of Roe v. Wade, Pt. 1 on Apple Podcasts.” Apple Podcasts, 4 Jan. 2022, https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/5-4/id1497785843?i=1000546865659.

75

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The Supreme Court damaged Roe, endangering constitutionally determined fundamental rights, under the corrupting guise of jurisprudence. The functionality of the constitution was limited by an originalist filter disregarding the founding father's 9th amendment recognition that the world is always evolving. They realized it would be impossible for them to list every potential right. So the solution was to describe a fundamental rights framework through the amendments in order for it to be interpreted by the Supreme Court and pave a way for the expansion of rights in the future. The convenience of ignoring the 9th amendment is evidence of power corruption.76

V

CONCLUSION

The Supreme Court possesses a form of absolute power because they are each appointed to that position for life. In effect, they are the people making discretionary decisions about the livelihood of every individual in America, and they can do so any way they choose. When a judge wants to ignore the 9th amendment and call it an “ink blot”77, they can. When a judge wants to look at laws through an originalist lens, they can. When a judge wants to overlook the opposing opinion of most women that will be adversely affected by their decision, they can.

They have the ultimate power to change the course of the country by expanding on rights or depriving them.

76

Lash, Kurt T. “Inkblot: The Ninth Amendment as Textual Justification for Judicial Enforcement of the Right to Privacy.” UR Scholarship Repository, https://scholarship.richmond.edu/law-faculty-publications/1470/.

77 Lash, Kurt T. “Inkblot: The Ninth Amendment as Textual Justification for Judicial Enforcement of the Right to Privacy.” UR Scholarship Repository, https://scholarship.richmond.edu/law-faculty-publications/1470/.

22

For years the conservative right has made strenuous efforts to implement various restrictions on women's rights which have been broadly overlooked and intentionally ignored. It is unfortunate that the state of citizens' rights is dependent on the Supreme Court's personal political and religious affiliations. The majority of justices on the Supreme Court now seem to reject the idea of separating church and state. They do not openly declare the United States officially to be a Christian nation. But this is the lens through which they will decide cases.

23

VI

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“Vetoes.” U.S. Senate: Vetoes, 14 May 2021, https://www.senate.gov/reference/reference_index_subjects/Vetoes_vrd.htm#:~:text=The% 20power%20of%20the%20President,a%20bill%20passed%20by%20Congress.

Vile, John R. Griswold v. Connecticut, https://www.mtsu.edu/first-amendment/article/579/griswold-v-connecticut.

White, Mattew. “The Enlightenment.” British Library, 2018, https://www.bl.uk/restoration-18th-century-literature/articles/the-enlightenment#:~:text=Th

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e%20Enlightenment%20%E2%80%93%20the%20great%20'Age,the%20Napoleonic%20 Wars%20in%201815.

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Carson Gregory

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How has Covid-19 Affected Netflix Subscribers?

Personal Code: kmh980

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Introduction

3

Data Collection / Sampling Plan

3

Investigation / Mathematical Analysis

5

Data interpretation

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Reflections / Conclusion

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Appendix

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Data Used in Figure 1:

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Bibliography:

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Introduction

It would be an understatement to say that the recent pandemic has changed the way we live. With many people resorting to the comforts of their sofa and entertainment, TV shows are the primary way people have spent their time the past two years, myself included. They are the most popular means of entertainment and what everyone talks about. I am particularly interested in learning about how we can see how people’s lives have changed simply by looking at the earnings of streaming services and what that tells us. Due to the reach of COVID-19, we can expect a significant increase in earnings for companies like Netflix. With this surge of demand for TV shows, how has the ease of access to television made by streaming services such as Netflix, changed the number of their subscribers since before and after the pandemic?

Data Collection / Sampling Plan To determine the effect that the recent pandemic has had on the number of Netflix subscribers, we need to find a reliable way to get the number of subscribers that Netflix has. This method is by using the quarterly earnings report released every couple of months by Netflix. This report tells us exactly the number of subscribers they had at 4 different intervals throughout the year(Q1, Q2, Q3, Q4) for the past decade. Because the data is gathered from Netflix itself, it will ensure that the data we gather is accurate. We also don’t need to exclude any data from certain countries because the whole world was affected by covid-19, so the earnings report is representative of the population we are interested in, the world.

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Once the data is collected, one mathematical process is used in the search for the answer to the proposed question. This process is Pearson's product-momentum correlation coefficient(r).

We use this to measure the strength of a linear correlation. In our scenario, we will be measuring the correlation of two separate graphs, Netflix subscribers up to the pandemic(up to Q1 2020), and including the pandemic and up to the present day(up to Q1 2022). Using this method we can develop a conclusion on whether the COVID-19 pandemic disturbed the correlation with the number of Netflix subscribers over time. We can determine the strength of the correlation with the coefficient we get after deriving Pearson’s r. It is considered a strong correlation if |𝑟| > 0. 87 and a weak linear correlation if it’s anything below. When we derive Pearson’s r for both graphs, we can observe the difference in both of the 𝑟 values, and if there was a noticeable shift in these values, we can determine the extent of the effect the pandemic had on the number of Netflix subscribers.

Investigation / Mathematical Analysis To compare the relationship between the number of subscribers up to the pandemic and including the pandemic up until present day, Pearson’s r will allow for a comparison to be made between the linear strength of the number of subscribers vs. time for both of the graphs.

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Figure 1:

Determining Pearson’s 𝑟 for figure 1: Σ(𝑥−𝑥)(𝑦−𝑦)

𝑟=

2

2

Σ(𝑥−𝑥) Σ(𝑦−𝑦)

Σ(𝑥 − 𝑥)(𝑦 − 𝑦) = 7835. 89 2

Σ(𝑥 − 𝑥) = 358. 75 Σ(𝑦 − 𝑦)

2

= 185132. 06

Plugging these in: 𝑟=

7835.89 (358.75 • 185132.06)

𝑟 = 0. 961505

Figure 2:

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Detetrmining Pearson’s 𝑟 for figure 2: Σ(𝑥−𝑥)(𝑦−𝑦)

𝑟=

2

2

Σ(𝑥−𝑥) Σ(𝑦−𝑦)

Σ(𝑥 − 𝑥)(𝑦 − 𝑦) = 3586. 89 2

Σ(𝑥 − 𝑥) = 204. 53 Σ(𝑦 − 𝑦)

2

= 65171. 39

Plugging these in: 𝑟=

3586.89 (204.53 • 65171.39)

𝑟 = 0. 9824

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Data interpretation The Pearson correlation coefficient clearly shows that there is a strong positive linear correlation(r > 0.87) between time and Netflix subscribers in both figure 1 and figure 2. With Pearson coefficient for figure 1 being 0. 961 and 0. 9824 for figure 2. Both graphs start with a y-intercept of 21.5 million and not 0 because Netflix hadn’t released their number of subscribers until they were at 21.5 million, so if we started with the y-intercept at 0, this would end up distorting our correlation coefficient. Because the r values are noticeably different, we can infer that covid-19 had an impact on the number of Netflix subscriptions bought. This is interesting because if we hadn’t known about the pandemic and used extrapolated data from figure 1 to make assumptions about the number of Netflix's subscribers in the future, we would have been off by a noticeable margin. We know that the difference in r values is a result of the pandemic because the sudden increase in subscribers in figure 1 was the same period of when people were quarantined(Q1 2020). Additionally, an exponential line of best fit is displayed for both figures.

If one had tried to extrapolate and predict the outcome of Netlfix subscribes pre-Covid-19 based off of the exponential line of best fit, the number of subscribers would have been higher than they actually were despite the increase in subscribers due to Covid-19. According to the exponential line of best fit, the number of subscribers during Q2 2020 would have been approximately 200 million compared to the actual amount of 193 million. The difference in values shows one of the main problems of extrapolation; trying to figure out data points outside of our range of gathered data leads to the extrapolated data often being incorrect.

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Reflections / Conclusion An overall takeaway from this data is that COVID-19 had a significant impact on the number of people who bought netflix subscriptions globally. For this research question, my project was made easier because Netflix is a public fortune 500 company, meaning it is mandatory to release the amount of subscribers they have which ensured that my data came from a reliable source. In conclusion, the ease of access to television made by streaming services such as Netflix resulted in their subscribers significantly increasing after the first quarter of 2020, so much so that it had a large effect on the correlation coefficient. This form of analysis by making a graph within google sheets allowed us to visualize the answer to the research question as well as the correlation between before and after the pandemic.

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Appendix

Data Used in Figure 1:

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Data Used in Figure 2:

12

Bibliography:

“Netflix Revenue and Usage Statistics (2022).” Business of Apps, 11 Jan. 2022, https://www.businessofapps.com/data/netflix-statistics/.

When Foul is Fair: A Case for Macbeth’s Innocence When the Hurly-Burly’s Done Is Macbeth culpable for the murders in William Shakespeare’s Macbeth?

Carter Roebuck

In the United States’ criminal justice system, the presumption of innocence is a legal principle derived from the belief that someone accused of a crime should be considered innocent until proven guilty.

This analysis of Macbeth’s culpability for the murders in William Shakespeare’s Macbeth similarly starts with a presumption of innocence.

what is my thesis?

Macbeth is morally innocent as he does not wilfully engage in immoral or criminal conduct and, instead, he is corrupted by external forces rather than inherently evil (a description more suitable to the Witches) as his actions might suggest; his predisposition to violence as a soldier is exacerbated by overwhelming pressures of regency, the enticing prophecy of the Witches, and his power-hungry wife.

witches & lady macbeth …The Witches’ prophecies serve as catalysts for Macbeth’s murder of Banquo, evidencing the manipulative nature of the Witches as well as underscoring the tenuous relationship between Macbeth’s conscience and his fate…

… In fretting that Macbeth’s “nature” is “too full of o’ th’ milk of human kindness” (1.5.16-17) to assist in her plan to hasten his ascension to the throne by killing King Duncan, Lady Macbeth equates the “milk”-like qualities of purity and sustenance-providing in Macbeth’s nature to flaws, affirming both the goodness in Macbeth’s character as well as the lack thereof in her…

…for by the time of King Duncan’s murder, Macbeth has lost control over his actions and innocently serves as a vessel through which Lady Macbeth can fulfill the Witches’ prophecy for Macbeth- a prophecy which she co-opted as her own…

murder of king duncan

…This apprehension indicates that, but for the fatal vision of the dagger, Macbeth did not have the depravity to kill King Duncan. The sudden apparition of the dagger symbolizes Macbeth’s fate; the floating knife leading him to King Duncan’s chamber mirrors the external forces now controlling him; he loses self-control in this moment, symbolizing his inability to override the Witches’ destiny for him…

apparitions & witches …Shakespeare’s inclusion of the Apparitions continues the role of the supernatural in Macbeth’s journey and bolsters his confidence with a notion of invincibility. That the Witches are compelled to reassure Macbeth of his safety alludes to his antipathy and shortcomings as a murderer…

…rather than presenting Macbeth as wishing to do evil, Shakespeare has shut down Macbeth’s internal emotions- Macbeth now resigns himself to his externally-controlled destiny. The emotionally-numb Macbeth, free of his moral compass and conscience, is left to act upon the first Apparition’s admonishment to “beware Macduff ” (4.1.81) with deadly consequences; to label Macbeth as evil for his actions ignores the external circumstances which robbed him of his autonomy…

monologues …a loyal soldier would not murder his king, especially a friend, without a clear aspiration, yet Macbeth has no personal aspiration, and is instead pursuing the interests of those who act through him. Moreover, it would be peculiar for someone who is inherently evil to feel as though their life has “fall’n into the sere” (5.3.27); while Macbeth is successful in his murders, he derives no pleasure from them…

…Before Macbeth’s death, he pleads to Macduff: “[b]ut get thee back. My soul is too much charged with blood of thine already” (5.8.6-7).

Struggling against his fate, Macbeth’s hesitancy is a reminder of his moral innocence. Shakespeare’s use of “charged” suggests that Macbeth is morally burdened by his murders and views them as stains on his “soul”- showing incongruence between Macbeth’s grotesque actions and his concern for the moral state of his soul…

my last few thoughts ★

Macbeth is introduced not as evil, but instead as a loyal nobleman of King Duncan whose courageousness on the battlefield saves Scotland; however, soon after the battle, outside forces conspire to erase Macbeth’s values that were responsible for the respect bestowed upon him.

★

At its core, Macbeth is a tragedy. Each Shakespeare tragedy follows a “tragic hero” who experiences a series of actions that leads to their downfall (and ultimate death). Perhaps the true tragedy of Macbeth is the manner in which his once honorable character is shattered.

★

Macbeth is not morally guilty for the killings in Macbeth, but is, instead, simply a dagger wielded by the morally culpable Witches and Lady Macbeth.

Works Cited Shakespeare, William. Macbeth. Folger Shakespeare Library, 2013.

to access a full copy of the essay, use the link below!

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1TSKEmH0ZiY3EqHt7IvDRVc9dL0_MdhgCb48M0HWt8k0/edit?usp=sharing

Cedar Hart This work is my Economics Macro Commentary on the economic well-being of Canada.

This was one of my stronger works for IB, largely limited by the tight word count the only thing I wish I could have done with this work is add more to it. Economics is my strongest IB subject, and I’m quite proud of my work done in this subject.

Candidate #: kmj010 Section: Macroeconomics Key Concept: Economic Well-being Article Title: Freeland warns of 'difficult days ahead' as Canada's economy shows sign of weakness Date Article Published: 10/19/22 Date Commentary Written: 11/1/22 Word Count: 799

The Canadian Economy is using government spending to increase economic well-being despite the counterproductive effects it has on lowering inflation. The concept of economic well-being applies to this article, as it discusses how many households in Canada aren’t able to keep up with rising prices with the minimal support that the Canadian government is giving. The demand-pull inflation in the Canadian Economy is illustrated in the diagram below.

The Canadian Economy is facing demand-pull inflation due in part to the government’s “half-trillion dollar inflationary deficits”, as well as increased consumption coming out of the COVID-19 pandemic. This increased spending across the Canadian economy increases aggregate demand (AD) (AD to AD1). As a result of rising AD, product scarcity increases across the economy, and as a result prices are increasing to reach an inflation level of 6.9% (Pe to PL1). With increased economic activity, Canada is having short-term economic growth with rising rGDP and increased employment (Yfe to Y1).

“The Bank of Canada… has been aggressively raising rates this year to establish price stability and achieve its 2 per cent inflation target.” In order to lower inflation, the Bank of Canada (BOC) is using contractionary monetary policy to raise interest rates and lower inflation. The above diagram illustrates Canada’s economy after the BOC uses both contractionary monetary policy and expansionary fiscal policy in the form of government spending. Contractionary monetary policy increases interest rates which raises the cost of borrowing money, and decreases consumption and investment, decreasing AD (AD to AD1), however, government spending increases AD again (AD1 to AD2). With the rising interest rates, prices go down (PL1 to PL2), however government spending increases inflation slightly (PL2 to PL3) by increasing AD. Similarly, rGDP is lowered as a result of the decreased economic activity (Y1 to Y2), while government spending increases it again (Y2 to Y3).

Contractionary monetary policy is an effective tool to fight moderate inflation, allowing the BOC to easily target the desired inflation rate and marginally raise interest rates until the Canadian economy has achieved the desired inflation rate. It doesn’t have many costs for low-income families, who are unlikely to be borrowing money in the first place, and since it doesn’t use the government budget, it can be used in tandem with the Canadian government’s expansionary fiscal policy to help low-income families. The Canadian government does this by “doubl(ing) the GST credit paid to low-income households.” By doing this, it increases the economic well-being of low-income households who suffer the most consequences from inflation. The Canadian government is also making sure that it doesn’t “make inflation worse and more enduring”, by “tighten(ing) its belt in the coming months so that Ottawa doesn't inadvertently drive inflation.”

Although contractionary monetary policy is a useful tool for the BOC to help fight inflation, it may not work the best on its own against moderately high inflation like the 6.9% that Canada is facing. Additionally, despite the Canadian government’s attempt to keep its spending low, any amount of spending will “only push prices higher and prompt yet another inflation fight”. Any amount of expansionary fiscal policy will prompt prices to rise again, counteracting the policies employed by the BOC. Not only does the Canadian government’s spending decrease the economic well-being of the entire economy due to driving inflation, but it also is inefficient at helping the low-income families that it is meant to support, “‘Even

the small minority who do [receive the supports] will find it gobbled up by increased inflation’”. Despite the government’s attempts to maintain the economic well-being of low-income families, its stimulus giving “eligible people without children an extra $234 this year, while couples with two children will receive an extra $467 to offset rising costs” will be unlikely to fully support low-income families when “the average family will lose $3,000 in purchasing power this year as a result of higher prices and interest rates.”

Government spending helps the economic well-being of low-income families who are affected most by inflation, however it reduces the effects of the contractionary monetary policy used by the BOC. The Canadian government is trying to reduce its spending in order to minimize the rise in inflation, however that lowers the effectiveness of the stimulus that the government is providing to low-income families. Although the reduced government spending cannot fully support low-income families, any amount of support will help reduce economic stress. Making sure the economic well-being of low-income families doesn’t decrease substantially as a result of inflation is more important than increasing the speed at which the rest of the economy regains its economic well-being. Overall, the Canadian government’s spending is an important policy that, despite slowing down Canada’s recovery from inflation, helps maintain the economic well-being of low-income families who suffer the most from inflation.

An article from CBC News https://www.cbc.ca/amp/1.6621800

Freeland warns of 'difficult days ahead' as Canada's economy shows sign of weakness Finance minister says rising interest rates will cool economy, drive up unemployment John Paul Tasker - CBC News Posted: October 19, 2022 Last Updated: October 19, 2022

Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland issued a warning to Canadians Wednesday — the coming months won't be pretty as rising interest rates slow a once red-hot economy and force some people out of their jobs.

The Bank of Canada's recent rate hikes to tame sky-high inflation will increase borrowing costs for businesses and consumers alike, which will send shockwaves throughout the economy, Freeland said.

Speaking at an auto industry conference in Windsor, Ont., Freeland said she would be honest with Canadians about the roadblocks that lie ahead and the threat of higher unemployment and mortgage rates — developments that could hurt many households.

"Our economy will slow. There will be people whose mortgage rates will rise.

Businesses will no longer be booming. Our unemployment rate will no longer be at its record low. That's going to be the case in Canada. That will be the case in the U.S. and that will be the case in economies big and small around the world," Freeland said.

"There are still some difficult days ahead for Canada's economy. To say otherwise would be misleading."

The Bank of Canada — like other central banks, including the U.S. Federal Reserve — has been aggressively raising rates this year to establish price stability and achieve its 2 per cent inflation target.

There's a long way to go. Statistics Canada reported Wednesday that the Consumer Price Index (CPI) rose 6.9 per cent on a year-over-year basis in September — marginally lower than the 7 per cent increase reported the month before.

With inflation so sticky, economists are expecting more rate hikes to reduce demand and cool the economy. That could prompt a recession sometime in 2023.

While inflation has slowed somewhat in recent months as energy prices have stabilized, Freeland said the government will not be able to help everyone ride the inflationary wave.

"We cannot compensate every single Canadian for all of the costs of inflation driven by a global pandemic and Putin's invasion of Ukraine," Freeland said.

But she promised relief for the poorest Canadians who are most vulnerable to sudden spikes in the cost of food and rent.

Freeland pointed to the passage of Bill C-30, government legislation to temporarily double the GST credit paid to low-income households.

Government estimates say this bill will give eligible people without children an extra $234 this year, while couples with two children will receive an extra $467 to offset rising costs.

Another bill before the House of Commons, C-31, would provide rent relief and send cheques to parents to cover the cost of their children's dental coverage.

Freeland said social programs like employment insurance (EI) will be available to help people who lose their jobs in the coming economic disruption.

Critics, including Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre, maintain it wasn't just pandemic-related supply chain disruptions or a war that caused inflation to spike here at home — that eye-popping government spending in response to the pandemic is also to blame.

During question period in the House of Commons on Wednesday, Poilievre said the federal Liberal government's "half-trillion dollar inflationary deficits" over the past two fiscal years are responsible for the higher costs.

Pointing to the planned low-income supports, Poilievre said the prime minister has done "nothing for the vast majority of struggling families."

"Even the small minority who do [receive the supports] will find it gobbled up by increased inflation," he said, citing a recent RBC Royal Bank report that found the average family will lose $3,000 in purchasing power this year as a result of higher prices and interest rates.

He called on the government to scrap planned hikes to the federal carbon levy — something Poilievre has called a "triple, triple, triple tax" that will drive food prices higher because it will impose added costs on all parts of the supply chain.

Trudeau defended the climate initiative, saying much of the money collected through the federal carbon tax is rebated. He said Conservatives can't be trusted on inflation relief because they oppose rental support and dental care for kids.

In the face of Tory criticism, Freeland said the federal government will continue to tighten its belt in the coming months so that Ottawa doesn't inadvertently drive inflation.

"Canadians are cutting back on costs and so too is our government. That's our part ... to not make inflation worse and more enduring," she said.

Asked later by reporters if the government has more inflation relief planned, Freeland said now is a time for fiscal restraint.

She said flooding the country with government support — like the emergency relief benefits Ottawa sent out during the worst of the pandemic — would be like "pouring fuel on the inflationary flames and we'd just make the Bank of Canada's job harder and inflation last longer."

With more stimulus money in circulation, there would be more demand for a limited supply of goods and services — which would only push prices higher and prompt yet another inflation fight, Freeland said.

"We're charting a balanced economic path. We're acting compassionately but we're very careful that our measures are targeted," she said. "We want to get past this inflation as soon as we can."

Freeland said Canada will deal with a slumping economy through a "muscular industrial policy" that will encourage companies to invest more in Canada. The government's last budget tabled in April included a $15 billion "Canada Growth Fund," a pool of money to stimulate growth in low-carbon industries and help with the country's transition to net-zero emissions.

The federal government has enjoyed some recent success in attracting major foreign investments in some economic sectors, notably electric vehicle manufacturing and critical minerals mining. Freeland said she wants to see more of that.

"We have a historic opportunity just in front of us to build an economy that will deliver great jobs and prosperity for generations to come," Freeland said.

Chelsea Haye Scientific Racism & The Exploitation of Black Bodies in America Scientific racism and the exploitation of black bodies in America are a tragic part of the country's history. This essay will hopefully help you to understand how deeply ingrained racism is in American society and shed light on the ways in which black bodies have been dehumanized and used for the benefit of others.

IB Extended Essay: History

Scientific Racism & The Exploitation of Black Bodies in America

Research Question:

To what extent did scientific racism impact the exploitation of black bodies within early America?

Word Count: 2293

2

Table of Contents: Introduction

3

Body Darwinism Exploitation of Black Bodies American School of Ethnology Medical Experimentation

4 6 7 9 11

Conclusion

13

3

Introduction Scientific racism, which is the belief that certain races are biologically superior or inferior to others, has a long and complex history that has had significant consequences for people of color around the world. In early America, scientific racism played a significant role in the exploitation of black bodies through its use to justify the transatlantic slave trade and other forms of racial discrimination and exploitation. This pseudoscientific belief was supported by scientists and intellectuals, and institutionalized in systems of power, contributing to the dehumanization and exploitation of black bodies in America. Some of the major theories that built the groundwork for this exploitation include Social Darwinism and Polygenism, along with the pseudoscientific fields that supported them such as Craniology. These theories, which fall under the ideology of scientific racism, used pseudoscience to further white supremacy and justify the inhuman treatment of African-Americans. The legacy of scientific racism can still be seen today in the ongoing disparities and discrimination faced by black people in America. This essay will explore the ways in which scientific racism impacted the exploitation of black bodies in early America and its ongoing consequences.

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Body One example of scientific racism in early America was the belief in polygenism, which is the idea that different races of humans have separate and distinct origins and are therefore biologically distinct and unequal (Fossett, 2010). This belief emerged in the 18th and 19th centuries and was used to justify slavery and racial inequality (Fossett, 2010). Polygenism was used to argue that black people were a separate and inferior "species" of humans, and therefore were fit only for manual labor and servitude (Fredrickson, 2002).1

The belief in polygenism was supported by some prominent scientists and intellectuals of the time, such as Dr. Samuel A. Cartwright, a physician who claimed that black people were biologically inferior to whites and prone to "diseases of the mind" such as laziness and stupidity (Fredrickson, 2002).2 Cartwright's theory of drapetomania, which he described as a "disease" that caused slaves to run away from their masters, was used to justify the harsh treatment of slaves and to blame slaves for their own suffering (Fredrickson, 2002).3 In addition to his belief in drapetomania, Cartwright was also a proponent of craniology, which is the study of the shape and size of the human skull. Like many other scientists and intellectuals of his time, Cartwright used cranial measurement to argue that black people were biologically inferior to whites and therefore not fit for citizenship or equal treatment under the law (Gould, 1981). This belief was used to justify slavery and segregation, and contributed to the exploitation and dehumanization of black people in America (Duster, 1990).

1

Racism: A Short History by George M. Fredrickson (2002-05-01). Princeton UP. Racism: A Short History by George M. Fredrickson (2002-05-01). Princeton UP. 3 Racism: A Short History by George M. Fredrickson (2002-05-01). Princeton UP. 2

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Other scientists and intellectuals who supported scientific racism in early America include Samuel Morton, a physician and scientist who claimed that black people had smaller brains than whites and were therefore intellectually inferior (Gould, 1981). Morton's work in craniology, which involved measuring the skulls of different racial groups, was used to support the belief in polygenism and justify the exploitation of black bodies in America (Gould, 1981). His work was widely accepted and influential, and contributed to the popularization of polygenism and scientific racism (Gould, 1981).

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Darwinism In addition to the impact of scientific racism on craniology and polygenism, the belief in Social Darwinism also played a significant role in the exploitation of black bodies in early America.

Social Darwinism is the belief that human groups and races are subject to the same laws of natural selection as Charles Darwin perceived in plants and animals in nature (Gould, 1981).

This belief was used to justify racism and eugenics, and was particularly popular in the late 19th and early 20th centuries (Duster, 1990). The belief in Social Darwinism was used to argue that white people were biologically superior to people of color, and that the superior races had a responsibility to dominate and control the inferior races (Duster, 1990). This belief was used to justify imperialism, colonialism, and the exploitation of black bodies in America, as it was argued that these practices were necessary for the survival and progress of the superior races (Duster, 1990).

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Exploitation of Black Bodies One of the most infamous examples of the exploitation of black bodies in the name of scientific racism is the case of Sarah Baartman, also known as the "Hottentot Venus."4 Baartman was a Khoi woman from South Africa who was brought to Europe in the early 19th century and exhibited as a freak show attraction due to her large buttocks and elongated labia (Duster, 1990). Baartman was subjected to scientific examination and dissection by scientists who were interested in studying her body and using it as evidence of the supposed biological inferiority of black people (Duster, 1990). The exploitation of Baartman's body was justified by the belief in scientific racism, and her treatment was seen as acceptable and even admirable by many scientists and intellectuals of the time (Duster, 1990).

Along with Sarah Baartman, Scientific racism played a significant role in the treatment of Ota Benga, a Congolese man who was brought to the United States in the early 20th century and exhibited in a human zoo (Bryan, 2007). Ota Benga's exhibit was justified by the belief in scientific racism and the idea that black people were biologically inferior and fit only for display as a form of entertainment (Bryan, 2007). This belief was supported by scientific theories such as Social Darwinism and polygenism, which argued that black people were a separate and inferior "species" of humans (Gould, 1981; Fredrickson, 2002).5 Ota Benga's exhibit was promoted as a scientific exhibit and was intended to demonstrate the supposed biological inferiority of black people (Bryan, 2007). He was exhibited alongside apes and other animals, 4

Duster, Troy. Backdoor to Eugenics. New York: Routledge, 1990.

Gould, Stephen J. The Mismeasure of Man. New York: W.W. Norton, 1981, Fredrickson, George M. Racism: A Short History. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2002.

5

8

and was subjected to degrading and dehumanizing treatment (Bryan, 2007). The exhibition of Ota Benga as a form of entertainment was a clear example of the way in which scientific racism was used to justify the exploitation and objectification of black bodies in early America (Bryan, 2007).

The treatment of Ota Benga was not an isolated incident, but rather a reflection of the widespread belief in scientific racism and the ways in which it was used to justify the exploitation and dehumanization of black people in early America. The legacy of scientific racism can still be seen today in the ongoing disparities and discrimination faced by black people, including the ongoing objectification and exploitation of black bodies in popular culture and media. It is important to recognize and confront the ways in which scientific racism has contributed to the exploitation and dehumanization of black bodies in order to work towards a more just and equitable society.

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American School of Ethnology The American School of Ethnology, which was a group of 19th century scientists and intellectuals who supported the belief in polygenism and other forms of scientific racism, had a significant impact on the way that scientific racism is understood and practiced today. This group of scientists included Samuel G. Morton, Louis Agassiz, Josiah Nott, and others. Their belief in the inherent biological differences between races, and their use of pseudoscientific methods to support these beliefs, helped to establish and institutionalize the idea of white supremacy and the belief in black inferiority.

One example of the lasting impact of the American School of Ethnology can be seen in the way that their beliefs about race and intelligence have persisted despite being debunked by modern science. Despite overwhelming evidence that intelligence is not biologically determined by race, and that any apparent differences in intelligence between racial groups are due to a variety of social and environmental factors, the myth of black inferiority persists in popular culture and is often used to justify ongoing racial inequalities (Duster, 1990).

Another example of the lasting impact of the American School of Ethnology is the way that their ideas about racial differences have been used to justify harmful and unethical medical practices.

For example, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, scientists at John Hopkins University conducted a series of experiments on black children in which they intentionally infected them

10

with diseases such as syphilis and gonorrhea in order to study the effects of these infections (Brandt, 1978). These experiments were justified by the belief in the inherent biological inferiority of black people, and were seen as a way to "advance science" and improve the health of white people (Brandt, 1978).6

Overall, the ideas and practices of the American School of Ethnology have had a significant and lasting impact on the way that scientific racism is understood and practiced today. Despite being debunked by modern science, their beliefs about racial differences and their use of pseudoscience to support these beliefs continue to shape our understanding of race and contribute to ongoing racial inequalities and injustices.

6

Brandt, Allan. The Cigarette Century: The Rise, Fall, and Deadly Persistence of the Product That Defined America. New York: Basic Books, 1978.

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Medical Experimentation Scientific racism played a significant role in the exploitation and mistreatment of black bodies in early America, including the case of John Hopkins and the experimentation on black children. In the early 20th century, John Hopkins, a pediatrician at the Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, Maryland, conducted medical experiments on black children without their consent or knowledge (Duster, 1990). These experiments were justified by the belief in scientific racism, which posited that black people were biologically inferior and therefore fit for experimentation (Duster, 1990).

John Hopkins' experiments on black children were part of a larger trend of medical experimentation on marginalized communities, including people of color, prisoners, and the mentally ill (Duster, 1990). The belief in scientific racism provided a justification for these unethical and inhumane experiments, as it supported the idea that certain groups of people were less deserving of respect and dignity (Duster, 1990). The legacy of scientific racism can still be seen today in the ongoing disparities and discrimination faced by black people in the healthcare system (Duster, 1990).

This was not John Hopkins’ only bout with experimentation on black people. There is the case of Henrietta Lacks, a black woman whose cells were taken without her knowledge or consent for scientific research.

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In the 1950s, Henrietta Lacks was diagnosed with cervical cancer and treated at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, Maryland. During her treatment, a sample of her cancer cells was taken and used to create a cell line known as the HeLa cell line. These cells were unusual in that they were able to survive and multiply outside of the body, and they became an important tool in scientific research. The HeLa cell line was used in numerous scientific studies and contributed to numerous medical advances, including the development of the polio vaccine and the study of the effects of radiation and toxic substances on human cells (Skloot, 2010).

However, Henrietta Lacks was never informed that her cells had been taken or that they were being used for scientific research, and her family was not compensated for their use. This exploitation of Henrietta Lacks's cells has been linked to the long history of scientific racism and the use of black bodies for scientific experimentation without informed consent (Skloot, 2010).

The case of Henrietta Lacks highlights the ongoing consequences of scientific racism and the need for ethical guidelines in scientific research to protect the rights of marginalized groups.

The legacy of scientific racism can still be seen today in the ongoing disparities and discrimination faced by black people in America. The impact of scientific racism on black bodies has been profound, as it has been used to justify the exploitation and dehumanization of black people and to maintain systems of power and oppression. Despite the fact that scientific racism has been largely debunked and rejected by the scientific community, its legacy can still be seen in the ongoing struggles faced by black people in America.

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Conclusion Scientific racism has played a significant role in the exploitation of black bodies throughout history, and its consequences can still be seen today. The belief in polygenism, which posited that different races of humans had separate and distinct origins, was used to justify slavery and racial inequality. This belief was supported by scientists and intellectuals of the time, such as Dr. Samuel A. Cartwright, who claimed that black people were biologically inferior to whites and prone to "diseases of the mind."(Fredrickson, 2002)7 In addition, the belief in Social Darwinism, which held that human groups and races were subject to the same laws of natural selection as plants and animals in nature, was used to justify racism and eugenics. This ideology played a significant role in the exploitation of black bodies in early America and contributed to the ongoing disparities and discrimination faced by black people in America today.

Furthermore, the pseudoscientific field of craniology, which focused on the measurement of the human skull, was used to argue that black people were biologically inferior to whites and therefore not fit for citizenship or equal treatment under the law. This belief was used to justify slavery and segregation, and contributed to the exploitation and dehumanization of black people in America. The legacy of scientific racism can also be seen in the treatment of individuals such as Ota Benga, Sarah Baartman, and Henrietta Lacks, all of whom were subjected to exploitation and dehumanization due to their race.

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Fredrickson, George M. Racism: A Short History. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2002.

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It is important to recognize and acknowledge the impact of scientific racism and its ongoing consequences in order to work towards a more just and equal society. This means acknowledging the ways in which scientific racism has been used to justify exploitation and discrimination, and taking steps to dismantle the systems and ideologies that perpetuate these injustices. This can involve educating ourselves about the history of scientific racism and its ongoing impact, challenging the beliefs and practices that support it, and advocating for policies and practices that promote racial equity and justice.

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Works Cited:

Skloot, R. (2010). The immortal life of Henrietta Lacks. New York, NY: Crown Publishers.

Fossett, Reginald. Racial Thought in the Modern World. Boston: Pearson Education, 2010.

Fredrickson, George M. Racism: A Short History. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2002.

Gould, Stephen J. The Mismeasure of Man. New York: W.W. Norton, 1981.

Duster, Troy. Backdoor to Eugenics. New York: Routledge, 1990.

Nott, J. C., and Gliddon, G. R. Types of Mankind; or, Ethnological Researches. Philadelphia: Lippincott, Grambo, 1854.

Agassiz, Louis. Principles of Zoology. Boston: Hilliard, Gray, Little, and Wilkins, 1849.

Agassiz, Louis. Nature and the Bible. Boston: Crosby, Nichols, Lee, and Company, 1850.

Agassiz, Louis. Letter to his mother. Cambridge, MA: Houghton Library, Harvard University, 1850.

Brandt, Allan. The Cigarette Century: The Rise, Fall, and Deadly Persistence of the Product That Defined America. New York: Basic Books, 1978.

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Extended Essay June 2023

INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY IN A GLOBAL SOCIETY: To what extent does TikTok influence effective social movements in the United States?

Candidate Number: kmh972 Word Count: 3990 1

Table of Contents

Introduction:

3

The Technology

4

Social Implications of the Technology

8

The Ethics of this Technology

14

Conclusion

16

Works Cited

17

2

Introduction:

In 2022, millions of teenagers spend hours each day using their smartphones to access and use all types of social media platforms. Young people are referred to as “screenagers,” and have repeatedly been warned that they can become addicted to their phone. Although many people dismiss smartphone addiction, the dangers of overusing social media are very real and require careful consideration. TikTok is a video-based social networking app that is owned by the Chinese company ByteDance Ltd. TikTok reinforces users’ existing perspectives, and for the most part, inhibits their engagement with diverse perspectives. Along with TikTok increasing polarization, it affects collective identities and mobilization. Before social media, social movements were much harder to pull off. Now, millions of people can be connected through a common belief in a matter of seconds. This essay will explore the extent to which TikTok can influence effective social movements in the United States. For the purposes of this essay, a social movement can be defined as any effort to achieve a social or political goal, or any collective forming and uniting around a common belief.

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The Technology:

Understanding social media’s effects on humans starts with understanding how the IT system operates, and why it does so in a specific way. Humans’ biological and psychological processes and values affect how one acquires knowledge. Tyrosine, an amino acid that bodies naturally reproduce, becomes dopamine (Watson). An article by Harvard’s medical school considers dopamine to be “the pathway to pleasure” (Watson). In Peter Wehner’s article, it states that “processing information that supports one’s beliefs leads to a dopamine rush, which creates feelings of pleasure” (Wehner). People are more interested in acquiring knowledge that is in line with their pre-existing beliefs rather than drastically changing their point of view and knowledge.

This is due to the pleasure that is felt when your thoughts and ideas are being agreed with or supported. Also, this is because when people drastically change their point of view, it influences them to question their identity, which is usually something people steer away from because they do not want to risk being rejected from the community they are used to being in (“When a Major Life Change Upends Your Sense of Self”). It is a natural human instinct to crave things that are familiar to us, to crave approval, and to want to be part of a community. By associating with an online identity, people can fulfill all of these desires. Being part of a community is something humans inevitably crave as feeling like you belong is found to be a root of happiness. This all helps to explain why people are wired to believe what they want to believe. Humans work together to subconsciously form groups with very one-sided points of view. Because of the naturally occurring processes and nature of dopamine, humans are wired to value and acquire knowledge that is in agreement with their already existing knowledge and beliefs. In addition, 4

the "wisdom of crowds'' concept is central to the way TikTok operates (Surowiecki). The wisdom of crowds concept means that the actions and knowledge of crowds influence people to be a part of the crowd. For example, if someone sees all of their classmates writing their names on a piece of paper, you are most likely going to do that too, even if you were not explicitly told to. While conforming to a group may have some benefits, the wisdom of the crowds concept is unreliable because it is built on the false assumption that people only support accurate content. Liking, sharing, commenting, and following can help form groups and intrigue others to join in. Many people assume that if a post on social media has a lot of likes, it must be trustworthy, but this is not always the case. This concept is central to the way social media platforms operate because it is integrated into how social media platform’s algorithms recommend content to users. This means social media will recommend what is popular, or will attract you, regardless of its authenticity, truthfulness, or moral principles. Social media takes natural desires, and uses them against us to polarize groups even further.

TikTok’s IT system and algorithm are designed to take advantage of humans’ natural desires. The app displays information/content that is formulated through the app’s algorithm which operates to match content in line with users’ values, preferences, and previously held beliefs (Elizabeth). The algorithm makes it so that people are fed familiar and very one-sided information. The app’s algorithm is a system that recommends what content will appear on one’s “For You” page. To keep users on these platforms for as long as possible, algorithms are employed to personalize accounts and show content that the user will enjoy. The algorithms, in turn, will display content based on past searches, which reveal existing perspectives, and thereby reinforce the user’s perspective, showing content that the user has already been interested in (Elizabeth). As an article published by the Wall Street Journal states, referring to algorithms that

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are used to show users content, that “they pushed us further into our own hyperpolarized filter bubbles” (Stern). This suggests that users will almost never see content with which they disagree or that does not interest them. As a result, users end up experiencing their own personalized version of reality. It is common that social media platforms keep their algorithms a secret as it is a unique proprietary technology. But, as peoples’ concern about the app rise, TikTok has revealed its algorithm’s basic ways of operating. TikTok says that the For You page algorithm is, “a stream of videos curated to your interests, making it easy to find content and creators you love. This feed is powered by a recommendation system that delivers content to each user that is likely to be of interest to that particular user” (Han). The algorithm works by taking several different factors into consideration. “In general, these systems suggest content after taking into account user preferences as expressed through interactions with the app, like posting a comment or following an account. These signals help the recommendation system gauge the content you like as well as the content you'd prefer to skip” (Newberry). User interactions are one main element that TikTok’s algorithm accounts for. A user’s likes and dislikes are measured through which accounts they follow, which videos they like, their video completion rate, and the comments they have posted. The second main way the algorithm operates is based on video information. This category is focused on what you interact with, rather than how you interact with content. In processing video information data, the AI reviews captions, sounds, hashtags, effects, and trending topics. The third way TikTok curates one’s For You page is by evaluating users’ device and account settings. These settings include language preference, country, and selected categories of interest. In addition, users have the ability to “follow” and “unfollow” accounts, which allows them to select who and what they want to be exposed to on social media.

The algorithm also works to not show duplicated content.

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In addition to specific content, the user interface and design-based attributes of the app also serve to attract users. Blue light and dopamine are present while using social media.

Dopamine is a neurotransmitter that helps humans feel pleasure (Watson). It is released when your brain is expecting a reward, which in this case, is the entertaining content social media displays. It is also connected to reinforcement, meaning that when someone feels pleasure from viewing content on their phone, they want to go back for more. Blue light is a type of light that is safe for humans to encounter during the daytime, but it can become an issue when encountering it during the night. At night, blue light makes the body’s circadian rhythm (which is like a biological clock) go off track. This can result in sleep being lost due to time spent on TikTok and may be related to several other health-related complications. As an article published by the British Psychological Society states, “social media websites encourage us to keep checking them” (“Why do we ‘like’ social media?”). A combination of the algorithms, the user interface, and the design of the social media apps cause people to crave being on the platform for as long as possible. In other words, social media app designers literally work to create an addiction.

These content-based and design-based attributes of TikTok are specifically designed to keep our attention “glued” to our screens. There are never-ending feeds of content; algorithms that make sure most of the content aligns with the user’s main interests; and attractive and friendly user interface designs that are easy to navigate and attract humans’ attention.

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Social Implications of the Technology:

TikTok influences users to align with certain online identities, but the reality of this is much more complex. As much as users think that they are using TikTok, TikTok is actually using them. The app is privately owned, and it is a pathway to billions of dollars in revenue.

Advertising is what this app is all about. As users are influenced to align with certain online identities, specific products are portrayed, and users are moved to buy it. For the group of users that aren't buying products under a direct influence from TikTok, they are still giving millions of views, likes, and comments to corporations. In this digital age full of social media, views, likes, followers, comments, and shares have become the currency, and TikTok users are tricked into selling millions of their views at their own expense. The app is designed to push users to align with an online identity very strongly, but not for long. When someone changes their beliefs, they are changing part of their identity, and naturally, humans find more comfort when sticking to one persona (“When a Major Life Change Upends Your Sense of Self”), but this is not in practice as TikTok influences users to follow trends. This process can lead users to have an identity crisis.

Trends or fads influence users to give away billions of views, and then move onto another trend, and the cycle continues. Corporations are taking advantage of TikTok users, and making billions of dollars. Social movements on TikTok act as any other trend or online identity does. They are heavily invested in by users, and they are relatively short term (Herrman).

The several content-based and design-based attributes of TikTok that are specifically designed to keep our attention “glued” to our screens have harmful consequences on individuals and societies, but also some benefits. Although many people think that extended “screen time” is

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the only issue that social media causes, there are actually several more significant ways in which social media affects human life outside of the computer. The results and outcome of this technology may be more significant than originally thought by most users. From the implementation and use of TikTok, collective identities form and social movements can be carried out more efficiently than ever, but, there are also negative implications of the app.

For many, TikTok has had an amazing impact on their lives. Many activists, public speakers, or anyone who wants to form a group of people value what TikTok can do for them.

Because the algorithms embedded in the social media platform display content that is consistent with a user’s set of beliefs or interests—rather than exposing them to different, or conflicting beliefs—they create an echo chamber that reinforces what someone already thinks. As TikTok helps form groups that share common beliefs, social movements like protests can be carried out easier than ever. TikTok breaks down the barriers that once challenged the formation of social movements. TikTok has had and continues to have an effect on peoples’ behaviors in society. As TikTok has created a space for collective empowerment, individual expression from historically marginalized identities have been able to thrive and prosper. Peoples’ self expression has been limited because of their race, ethnicity, gender, or sexuality, but TikTok has broken down the barriers that support these limitations. Empowerment may seem very apparent all through the app, but there are always going to be users who are being empowered to support contradicting movements.

Although online echo chambers can help social movements, there are negative implications that also go unseen. The TikTok algorithm is providing new opportunities for individual expression and collective empowerment, but TikTok takes it to an unhealthy extreme.

There are many good things about empowerment, but TikTok turns empowerment into

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fragmentation, extremism, and polarization (MacGowan et al.). Although TikTok influences equality and unification, it is influencing groups to unify, not the whole nation. Political and social movements on TikTok are making the ideological spectrum extreme as TikTok has affected the evolving processes by which identities are constructed, maintained and represented.

Now, identity construction happens more through a biased screen than ever before. From a mainstream culture trend to one’s identity, millions are conforming to a specific belief system and set of morals. This, in turn, causes very radicalized beliefs regarding politics and social issues which can affect a person’s actions in daily life. A content analysis experiment was carried out by researchers at the University of Mary Washington. They found that “TikTok’s algorithm creates online echo chambers, leading to users becoming radicalized on either side of the political spectrum” (Woolley). These results are not only true for political content, they are true for every type of content. Not only does the app display polarized content, but, as explored above, it also operates to keep users intrigued for as long as possible. Time spent on TikTok leads to the reinforcement of already established knowledge for any given user. One's values, which in this case are their already established beliefs, are reinforced by the acquisition of knowledge through TikTok. TikTok users stay on the app for extended periods of time because they are craving content that is consistent—not diverse from—their pre-existing beliefs. This results in a hyperpolarized, personalized, filtered, and often inaccurate representation of reality being shown to users. This also means that when people are not seeing this personalized content, they are not satisfied. As a result, when a TikTok user encounters someone in “real life” that they do not have something in common with, they may be unsatisfied—less likely to engage with, listen to, or be kind to that person. Some people that enjoy the content they take in on their phones have grown to believe and trust their own views so much that they are unwilling—or unable—to see, hear,

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and respect the views of another person (“When a Major Life Change Upends Your Sense of Self”). Also, some people are led to have a negative prejudgement of anyone who does not align with their social media-shaped preferences. The process of identity construction that TikTok has amplified results in a lack of personal autonomy. “Modern political thought and bioethics often stress that individual autonomy should be promoted and respected” (“What is autonomy and why does it matter? « I Family”). However, this is not the case. In addition, for every social movement or TikTok echo chamber, it is almost guaranteed that there will be a counter-movement or resistance group that is also a social movement. Opportunities for the formation and mobilization of oppositional (or resistance) identities are apparent. Polarization is hidden behind the short-term online world in which users can share light-hearted content and spread positivity. An online echo chamber’s beliefs are going to be different from another online echo chamber’s beliefs, but, TikTok influences both groups to strengthen.

TikTok also creates room for performative activism. Social media can make people feel like they need to speak on every social and political issue, even if they are unqualified to do so.

Social media is inherently performative; posts about serious social issues are still intended to become popular. Many social media users solely value the reputation and fame that posting about social issues gives them. Political and social content is also treated as a form of entertainment, rather than a form of education. Laura Cole, who is part of Extinction Rebelion, (a worldwide protest group) said, “in addition to Extinction Rebellion protests, it was also online pressure that helped get New York City to declare a climate emergency” (Cole). Although social media did help affect a governmental policy and create change, Laura Cole also said that “some users treat social media as their sole form of activism and this leads to a very little effect, if any, on social change” (Cole). Even though social movements are influenced as individual groups are

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strengthened online, whether or not this leads to effective social movements is in question.

Before this can be answered, it should be clear what makes a social movement effective. TikTok can support a social movement to the point where it has further real world implications outside of the app, potentially even influencing government policy change. The extent to which these implications and effects of a movement are long lasting is what separates an effective social movement from an ineffective one. Performative activism is not effective. In order for a movement to be effective or successful, it needs to be aided with a lasting commitment that fights for change. Social media has certainly helped protests be carried out, but the real challenge comes after the protest. That is, the community sustaining their passion for the movement long term. Malcolm Gladwell argues that “Social media can’t provide what social change has always required” (Gladwell). He explains that online networks are weak tie affairs that do not have the ability to create long term commitment—which is needed for lasting change. TikTok’s ever changing trends enable people to have a lack of commitment and continuity. Slacktivism has become more apparent, and it does not help social movements become effective. Protests formed online lack solid groundwork and often fall flat after the initial rise in awareness. Following the death of George Floyd, “BlackoutTuesday” became a hashtag used to represent a digital protest that aimed to show support for racial injustice. The movement included posting blank black photos that acted as a show of solidarity. A drag performer and singer, Tatianna, wrote on Twitter that “Posting black boxes…and hashtagging black lives matter is rendering the hashtag useless.

Remove the hashtag so actual BLM posts can be seen” (“TATIANNA on Twitter: "Posting black boxes on Instagram and hashtagging black lives matter is rendering the the hashtag usless.

Remove the hashtag so actual BLM posts can be seen. #blackouttuesday #BlackLivesMatter"”).

Google Trends shares data showing the worldwide online interest for “Black Lives Matter”

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(“Home”). It shows that the phrase’s popularity was insignificant online until May 17, 2020 (“Home”). Its popularity peaked in early June of 2020, and returned to insignificant levels in early August of 2020 (“Home”). From this data, we can see that social movements can act like trends, being very short lived. Historically successful movements, like the March on Washington, required months to organize before the main event happened. What differentiates performative activism from real online activism? Nothing—as far as TikTok’s algorithm is concerned, it is the same thing. New trends influence new communities, and not just about the coolest sneakers, but sets of morals and beliefs. As people have short-term weak-tie commitments to online movements, real world change is hard to effect.

Disinformation, robots, foreign actors, and fake accounts all pretend to participate in TikTok communities, making the movement unreliable and giving people a skewed, incorrect idea of the power and support behind any given movement. Inaccurate representations of reality are apparent all throughout TikTok. Because disinformation is present, it gives governments and authorities a very logical reason to disregard online movements. Governments and authorities could see online movements as genuine and committed to, or, a short term movement that is held by weak ties and also backed by fake accounts, leading officials to ignore or dismiss the movement. Movements on TikTok can be easily ignored, and may not require any action from the government, unlike having to send police to patrol large protests in real life. Although TikTok can have some level of influence on protests, or affect voting habits, it is very hard for officials to judge when it is appropriate to get involved. In addition to all of this, TikTok, like many other social media forms, is still a private business that can censor and control the app however they wish.

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The Ethics of this Technology:

The ethics of TikTok is an area with lots of controversy. Specifically, these debates deal with the ethics of true and false information. Many people feel that TikTok is responsible for false information, while others do not think that TikTok is responsible. It can be argued that TikTok is not responsible for false information because TikTok does not directly post fake news or any type of false information — it is the platform’s users who write the content that are responsible for posting and having fake news on the platform. A counterargument’s main claim would include that even though false information is posted by individual users, and not the app’s creators, the app still promotes false information through its algorithm. We know that TikTok has algorithms for sharing and spreading content, which means that they are responsible for spreading news (fake or not). When fake news is spread, legally, it is not TikTok’s responsibility to remove it from the platform. A misleading video may be bringing in millions of views, and resulting in thousands of sales for a corporation. A book published by the Amsterdam University Press states that, “accidental media hype can be triggered by any kind of emotion, regardless of its actual news value” (Vasterman). TikTok does not guarantee that everything you see on the platform is accurate as one of the app’s main purposes is to allow all users to share any content (although there are certain restrictions). Sharing false information to over one billion people can easily be seen as morally wrong even as free speech is a huge part of this country. Apart from morals or ethics, the law is what decides if it is TikTok’s responsibility to police and take down false information and fake news. Clearly, TikTok is not currently responsible for taking action and removing content that displays fake news. It can also be argued that the TikTok platform counteracts democracy because it is designed to reinforce pre-existing beliefs rather than

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encourage discussion among those who have different viewpoints. In other words, TikTok is not practicing social equality. The Renew Democracy Initiative, an American nonprofit organization that promotes and defends liberal democracy, shares in an article that TikTok is “a space where ideologies are formed and spread at lightning speed. It’s yet another platform that drives the spread of fake news and propaganda across the political spectrum. The very design of the app hacks our mind and erodes the thinking capacities that we need as informed citizens. We become ever more susceptible to propaganda both on the app and from other media sources. It takes away our ability to think rationally and prevents us from deciphering truth from fiction. Given the scope of the app’s popularity, we should remain especially aware of the danger apps like TikTok continue to present to our democracy” (Hwang). The algorithm and design of TikTok is inherently harmful to our system of democracy (Hwang).

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Conclusion:

While TikTok may seem to only be helping and enhancing the power of a specific movement, it is also helping every type of opposing movement. The app’s purpose is to entertain users and to bring in money for corporations. TikTok does influence social movements that can create change, but it does so on a relatively small scale. It is extremely hard for TikTok to influence long lasting commitment to a social movement, meaning that it is a great challenge for TikTok to affect or change something on a grand scale. TikTok can influence effective social movements in the United States, but it does so to a very low extent.

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Works Cited Cole, Laura. Presentation. Columbia University, August 2022.

Elizabeth, Tracy. “How TikTok recommends videos #ForYou | TikTok Newsroom.” Newsroom | TikTok, 18 June 2020, https://newsroom.tiktok.com/en-us/how-tiktok-recommends-videos-for-you. Accessed 28 November 2022.

Gladwell, Malcolm. “Small Change.” The New Yorker, 4 October 2010, https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2010/10/04/small-change-malcolm-gladwell.

Accessed 28 November 2022.

Han, Eric. “How TikTok recommends videos #ForYou | TikTok Newsroom.” Newsroom | TikTok, 18 June 2020, https://newsroom.tiktok.com/en-us/how-tiktok-recommends-videos-for-you. Accessed 4 September 2022.

Herrman, John. “How TikTok Is Rewriting the World.” The New York Times, 10 March 2019, https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/10/style/what-is-tik-tok.html. Accessed 28 November 2022.

“Home.” YouTube, https://trends.google.com/trends/explore?date=today%205-y&geo=US&q=%2Fm%2F01 2hdhkj. Accessed 29 November 2022.

Hwang, Jess. “TikTok: A Popular Democratic Crisis.” Renew Democracy Initiative, https://rdi.org/tiktok-a-popular-democratic-crisis/. Accessed 4 September 2022.

Kaufman, Sarah. “'It's not worth it': Young women on how TikTok has warped their body image.” NBC News, 19 July 2020,

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https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/tech-news/it-s-not-worth-it-young-women-how-tiktok-ha s-n1234193. Accessed 4 September 2022.

MacGowan, Amalie, et al. “The TikTok Algorithm Knew My Sexuality Better Than I Did.” Repeller, 7 August 2020, https://repeller.com/tiktok-algorithm-bisexual/. Accessed 29 November 2022.

Newberry, Christina. “How the TikTok Algorithm Works in 2022 (and How to Work With It).”

Hootsuite Blog, https://blog.hootsuite.com/tiktok-algorithm/. Accessed 4 September 2022.

Stern, Joanna. “Social-Media Algorithms Rule How We See the World. Good Luck Trying to Stop Them.” Wall Street Journal, 17 January 2021, https://www.wsj.com/articles/social-media-algorithms-rule-how-we-see-the-world-good-l uck-trying-to-stop-them-11610884800. Accessed 4 September 2022.

Surowiecki, James. The Wisdom of Crowds. Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group, 2005.

“TATIANNA on Twitter: "Posting black boxes on Instagram and hashtagging black lives matter is rendering the the hashtag usless. Remove the hashtag so actual BLM posts can be seen. #blackouttuesday #BlackLivesMatter."” Twitter, 2 June 2020, https://twitter.com/TATIANNANOW/status/1267738738010001410. Accessed 4 September 2022.

Vasterman, Peter. “From Media Hype to Twitter Storm.” Project Muse, Amsterdam University Press, 17 January 2019, https://muse.jhu.edu/pub/315/monograph/chapter/2366097.

Accessed 29 November 2022.

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Watson, Stephanie. “Dopamine: The pathway to pleasure.” Harvard Health, 20 July 2021, https://www.health.harvard.edu/mind-and-mood/dopamine-the-pathway-to-pleasure.

Accessed 28 November 2022.

Wehner, Peter. “Why people are wired to believe what they want to believe.” Medium, 13 March 2018, https://medium.com/trust-media-and-democracy/why-people-are-wired-to-believe-what-t hey-want-to-believe-4d9b4e161eb5. Accessed 4 September 2022.

“What is autonomy and why does it matter? « I Family.” I Family, 11 November 2014, https://www.ifamilystudy.eu/what-is-autonomy-and-why-does-it-matter/. Accessed 4 September 2022.

“When a Major Life Change Upends Your Sense of Self.” Harvard Business Review, 28 January 2022, https://hbr.org/2022/01/when-a-major-life-change-upends-your-sense-of-self.

Accessed 28 November 2022.

“Why do we ‘like’ social media?” The British Psychological Society, 17 August 2015, https://www.bps.org.uk/psychologist/why-do-we-social-media. Accessed 4 September 2022.

Woolley, Julia. “A Content Analysis of Political Discourse on TikTok.” Eagle Scholar, 6 May 2021, https://scholar.umw.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1445&context=student_research.

Accessed 4 September 2022.

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Severin Butler The Economic Miracle of Volkswagen This project was important to me as it was an expression of all of the knowledge I have gained from my education. I got to express not only my writing ability but also my interest in history and economics.

The Economic Miracle of Volkswagen What decisions and conditions were the most responsible for VW’s recovery after WWII? Topic: History Word Count: 3414 Candidate #002909 - 0004 Severin Butler

Table Of Contents Introduction…………………………………………………………………………..…………………..1 Germany 1945-1947………………………………………………………………..………….………..2 The Marshall Plan………………………………………………………………..………………….…..2 History of Volkswagen pre-WWII…………………………………………….………………...…..…3 Social Market Economy……………………………………………………….……………………….4 Removal of Price Ceilings ……………………………….………………….……………………...…4 Legacy Means of Production …………………………………………………………………………5 The Division of a Nation…………………………………………………….………………………….5 “Highly Fortuitous” Location……………………..……………………………………………...…...6 Rejection by American Manufacturers.………..……………………………………………………7 Right Place, Right Time………………….……………………………….…………….………………7 Weak Government Coordination, Strong CEO...……………………………..……………………7 Pent-Up Demand…….…………………………………………………….…………………………….8 London Debt Agreement………….……………………………………………………………………9 Korean War Effect………….……………………..……………………………………………..…….10 Conclusion…………………………………………………………………..………………………….10 Works Cited…..…………………………………………………………………………………………11

Introduction In the two decades after its humbling and financially painful defeat in World War II, Germany experienced one of the most amazing economic recoveries in modern times, with an average GDP growth rate in the 1950s of 7.5% and per capita GDP increasing from 34% of the UK’s in 1946 to matching it in 1970. While a lot of credit has been given historically to the Marshall Plan for the recovery of Europe in general and Germany in particular, there were many other economic policy and structural forces at work that made what came to be known as the Wirtschaftswunder, or economic miracle, possible. Perhaps the most impressive example of the recovery can be seen in the case of Volkswagen, the car company that had originally been started by the Nazies before the war. (“This model will open up the automobile to millions of new customers on low incomes,” Adolph Hitler said at the Berlin Auto Show in 1938.)1 This paper examines the specific case of the Volkswagen company in an effort to assess the effectiveness of the Marshall Plan and answer the question of what decisions and conditions were the most responsible for VW’s recovery after the Second World War? My research focuses on all of the factors that were at play at the time and how they could have potentially altered history.

When it came to assembling the research, it ended up being a plethora of sources, most of which were books or articles all written throughout the last one hundred years.

Germany 1945-1947 The physical and economic destruction facing the German population at the end of World War II is hard to wrap one’s head around. In the summer of 1945, industrial production in the American 1

Rieger, The People’s Car, 1.

zone stood at 12% of its 1936 level; in the British zone, only 1,000 kilometers of railroad track remained, down from 13,000 kilometers before the war. Many cities had been reduced to rubble (for example, more than half of Hamburg’s homes were destroyed ) and housing was scarce, often 5 or 6 people living in a room. Food was even harder to find: the official rationing program allowed 1200-1,500 calories a day (about half of what is recommended today) but in reality, most people received closer to 1,000.2 This could be seen as not only a human tragedy but also the ultimate failure of a political system. “Germany had reached the end of the socialist road” wrote Hans Sennholz. “There was nothing left to distribute, nothing to be rationed. Millions depended upon and actually lived by the black market.”3 Majority of trade was being done illegally and most safeties put in place by the government had failed to achieve their purpose.

“Dramatic shortages of accommodation in destroyed cities, a lack of food, clothing and fuel, a devalued currency, disruptions to the transportation network, and stringent controls over business created harsh economic realities in which many Germans experienced daily life as an existential struggle to make ends meet,” according to VW historian Bernhard Rieger.4 The Marshall Plan For the first two years after the war, the Allies (England, the United States, and the Soviet Union) were focused on deindustrializing Germany (demolishing factories, limiting raw materials) but in spite of that, they did get the VW factory going immediately. In fact, they managed to produce 1,300 VW’s in 1945 under British supervision because the British wanted the vehicles for their own use in overseeing their zone.5 By 1947, with starvation, homelessness and inflation all spiking, it was becoming clear to the U.S. that it would have to promote the rebuilding of German industry.

In January 1947, President Truman appointed former General George Marshall as Secretary of State and on June 5, 1947, Marshall gave an address at Harvard University: “It is logical that the United States should do whatever it is able to do to assist in the return of normal economic health to the world, without which there can be no political stability and no assured peace. Our policy is not directed against any country, but against hunger, poverty, desperation and chaos. Any government that is willing to assist in recovery will find full cooperation on the part of the United States. Its purpose should be the revival of a working economy in the world so as to permit the emergence of political and social conditions in which free institutions can exist.”6

2

Spicka, Selling the Economic Miracle, 27.

Sennholz, The Economic Comeback of Germany, 1.

4 Riger, The People’s Car, 94.

5 Hofig, Germany’s Difficult Passage to Modernity, 155.

6 Remarks by the Secretary of State at Harvard University June 5, 1947, https://www.marshallfoundation.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/Marshall_Plan_Speech_Complete.pdf 3

Marshall acknowledged the role that Germany played in the global economy and knew that for the world to grow and function, Germany's industrial sector would have to be returned to what it once was.

On April 3, 1948, the Marshall Plan, officially known as the European Recovery Program, was enacted to encourage recovery through a set of foreign aid and reforms. The plan committed roughly $13 billion to Western European economies, about $2 billion of which was for Germany.

There were three key elements of the plan as far as Germany was concerned.

1. Currency Reform: The elimination of all domestic debt and the conversion of the old reichsmarks into new Deutsche Marks at a rate of 10 to 1, which reduced the money supply by 93.5%.7 2. European Payments Union: The facilitation of capital flows among European member states through the provision of credit for balance-of-payments issues.

3. Foreign Debt Forgiveness and Reduction: Based on the success of the first two items, Germany’s sovereign debt would be reduced and restructured on more favorable terms.8 History of Volkswagen pre-WWII Although Germany had played an important role in the development of the automobile before World War I, its weakened production capacity and destroyed roads meant that the industry fell far behind in the 1920’s. In fact, by 1929, both Britain and France had five times the number of cars on a per capita basis as Germany. “Impeded by poor infrastructure, economic crises and conservative management, the German auto industry lagged far behind,” according to Steven Tolliday.9 The situation was so bad that Adolph Hitler decided he needed to create a new company to make vehicles on a large scale and at an affordable price point.

In 1934, the industry trade association set up by Hitler and known as RDA (Reichsverband der Deutschen Automobilindustrie) hired Ferdinand Porsche to build a Volkswagen, or “people’s car”. In 1937, oversight passed from RDA to a union organization called Deutsche Arbeitsfront, or DAF. Porsche designed the first version of the famous Beetle. The design used new advances in technology and got large subsidies from the state; according to one economic historian, Reinhard Doleschal, the subsidy amount was $12 million. The government aid was necessary because the expense and risk would have been too much for a private company.

While the supply of cars was being subsidized by the government, so was the demand. By 1939, Hitler had required 250,000 people to enroll in a “Volkswagen Savers’ Fund,” making them prepay for their cars.10 Social Market Economy

7

Lindemann and Poley. Money in the German-speaking Lands, 268.

Galofre-Vila et al, Economic Consequences, 5.

9 Tolliday, Enterprise and State 277-278.

10 Tolliday, Enterprise and State 283.

8

Ludwig Erhard, who was first the chief administrator of the British American Bizone and then Germany’s Minister of Economic Affairs, had been calling for free market reforms since the end of World War II. Erhard and other members of the Christian Democratic Union party were advocating for what Erhard called a “social market economy.” The goal of the social market economy was to “avoid the overconcentration of economic power in the hands of cartels and the state.” In his 1958 book Prosperity Through Competition, Erhard wrote of “how much more sensible it is to concentrate all available energies on increasing the nation’s wealth rather than to squabble over the distribution of wealth, and thus be side-tracked from the fruitful path of increasing the national income.”11 This called for the government “stepping into the economy to preserve free competition.”12 This meant doing things like implementing tax breaks, subsidies and development aid but avoiding interference like nationalizing industries as well as rescuing failing industries. This was a very difficult line to walk because it required an introduction into government intervention for the rebirthing economy and would affect all businesses at the time including VW. Removal of Price Ceilings Right after the war, reichsmarks were virtually worthless and the German economy was more like the economy of a prison than a modern nation, with cigarettes being the medium of exchange and city dwellers scavenging for food and spare parts. Germany had effectively turned into a barter economy. On June 20, 1948, 500 tons of new Deutsche Marks were issued, replacing the old reichsmarks. At the same time, Economic Minister Erhard removed price controls on 400 consumer items. This made a huge difference. “Twenty four hours after the currency reform,” reported the newspaper Die Welt, “a miracle is taking place: goods are being released that the German buyer has not seen for years.”13 By the end of July 1948, 90% of all price controls had been lifted.14 It was for decisions like this that Diplomat George McGhee said “Ludwig Erhard undoubtedly made the greatest individual contribution to the remarkable West German economic recovery from World War II.”15 Erhard took the first step in returning confidence in Germany’s industries and made them appear to be an investment worthy nation which would ultimately help VW’s recovery. More people had wealth to buy motor vehicles because of Erhard’s contribution.

The transition wasn’t easy on all members of society though. The lower classes suffered the most. “The resulting economic flurry led to a profit inflation in which working-class people and refugees struggled to pay the prices charged for all but the basic foodstuffs.”16 In addition, by setting the conversion rate at 10-to-1, the Americans reduced the money supply so much that it meant there was very little money available for the kinds of long-term loans needed to reconstruct the country.17 11

Erhard, Prosperity through Competition, 3.

Spicka, Selling the Economic Miracle: Economic Reconstruction and Politics in West Germany, 35 13 Nickel, “West Germany Minds Its Booming Business.” 258.

14 Spicka. Selling the Economic Miracle, 38.

15 McGhee, At the Creation of New Germany, 37.

16 Lindeman and Poley, Money in the German-speaking Lands, 269.

17 Ibid, 270.

12

Legacy Means of Production While much of German industrial capacity had been destroyed by bombs, the 3.5 million-square-foot VW plant in Wolfsburg had survived surprisingly intact. There were 2,182 bombs dropped on the factory but only 263 hit their target and many of those didn’t make it much past the roof. As a result, according to one calculation, only 20% of the floor area was damaged and the factory’s power station survived.18 According to another analysis, 70% of the buildings survived and more than 90% of its machinery survived.19 When the factory did finally shut down in February of 1945, it was due to the lack of supplies and general chaos of trade not to damage from bombs.20 Without the survival of this huge facility, whose original construction had only been made possible by Hitler’s obsession with manufacturing small cars on a huge scale, VW never would have had a shot at recovering, or even thriving. All the work from years before made way for a strong industrial infrastructure. “The importance of VW’s massive and fertile legacy of plant and product from the Nazi regime can hardly be overemphasized. It was inconceivable that any commercial enterprise would have invested on the scale or grandiose conception of the VW project either before or immediately after the war. In terms of conventional business calculation the project was absurd and infeasible. Yet it turned out to be a “triumph of folly.”21 The Division of a Nation After Germany had officially lost the war the Potsdam Conference was held. It was here in late July of 1945 that the three leading allies, the United States, the United Kingdom, and the Soviet Union would be placed in charge of navigating postwar peace in Germany. After much deliberation, Germany was split up into four areas: France was given the southwest quadrant while the United States was given the south and the Soviet Union was allotted the East. This was a brutal process where many were displaced and thrown out of their homes. Many of the displaced people ended up in Polish and Czechoslovakian labor camps. The map below illustrates the division of the nation relative to its surrounding countries.

18

Tolliday, Enterprise and State, 286.

Rieger, The People’s Car, 97.

20 Tolliday, Enterprise and State, 286.

21 Ibid, 282.

19

“Highly Fortuitous” Location “It was highly fortuitous that the VW plant at the end of the War fell into the area of British trusteeship since the British were much less committed to reparations and denazification than the Americans or French,.” according to Steven Tolliday.22 This view is echoed by Bernhard Rieger, who notes that the British policy immediately after the war was one of “constructive pragmatism,” i.e. they were worried about “strangling Germany economically.”23 In the first year after the war, the official British policy allowed for limited production, enough for their own occupying forces and the local German market. They did not want to see Germany return as an economic powerhouse immediately after defeat. While there was some disagreement among the British auto industry, Sir William Rootes, a major car dealer, expressed the most common view when he said that the Beetle was “too ugly and too noisy” to cause “undue economic competition.”24 This view did not turn out to be correct. A 1945 report by the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders said that “both the car and the factory in which it is produced are wonderful achievements in the respective spheres.”25 In fact, Colonel Guy Boas of the Control Commission’s Mechanical Engineering Branch even proposed that the British take over the 3.5 million square foot plant for themselves.

22

Ibid, 288.

Rieger, The People’s Car, 96-97.

24 Tolliday, Enterprise and State, 289.

25 Ibid, 291.

23

There was disagreement among British government officials and the British auto industry about whether to take over the plant or purposefully hurt its operation going forward but this did not matter when the British-American Bizone was created in the summer of 1946 and the Americans took a more dominant role. In 1946, the plant was given a four-year exemption from reparations and a year later the Bizone commission allowed all German industry to return to 1936 output levels. For the car industry, this meant increasing capacity from 40,000 to 160,000 cars. Exports were allowed to begin at the end of 1947 and by the end of 1948 23% of all VW vehicles were being sold out of the country. There were 7,000 exports in 1949 and 30,000 in 1950.26 Rejection by American Manufacturers VW’s situation was very different from the experience of another German auto maker, Opel, which had the misfortune to be located in the American sector. Before the war, Opel, which was partially owned by General Motors, had controlled 40% of the German car market. After the war, however, the Americans’ tougher stance on reparations and dismantlement, along with G.M. being unsure if it even wanted to keep its stake, resulted in much of Opel’s production capacity being sold off to the Russians.27 A similar fear on the part of Ford also resulted in the company missing the chance to invest in or own VW.28 Both companies failed to invest in their own operations in Germany as well, which created a vacuum for VW to fill. “The U.S.-owned companies squandered their opportunities and VW came through the gap in the middle: in 1949-1950, VW produced more cars than Opel and Ford combined and they continued to do so until the 1970s.”29 Right Place, Right Time While politicians and government officials debated post-war reparations policy, the Allied Military Government moved quickly to do what was needed on the ground. This included placing an order for 20,000 VWs for their own use. This led to making manufacturing vehicles for both the state railways and the post office.30 The military authorities also wanted to give day-to-day control of the Wolfsburg plant back to the Germans. After a failed attempt in 1947 that ended in theft and corruption, a second try was made in 1948 when the occupying forces appointed a former Opel executive named Heinrich Nordhoff to run the plant. After a brief transition period, Nordhoff took control, and held it for the next two decades.

Weak Government Coordination, Strong CEO On September 6, 1949, the British issued Ordinance 202, which made the Land of Lower Saxony “responsible for the control of Vokswagenwerk, but on behalf of and under the direction of the Federal Government until such time as the responsible German authorities issued other 26

Ibid, 297.

Ibid, 301.

28 Ibid, 307.

29 Ibid, 308.

30 Ibid, 298.

27

directions.” This made things more confusing, especially since the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Economics could not agree on who made decisions on behalf of the Federal government or how much power to give to the local government in Saxony.

This lack of coordination in the government actually ended up helping the economic recovery in unintended ways. “The decentralization of policy making imposed by the Allied powers was critical to the crafting of Germany’s development policy framework through trial and error,” writes Michael Best in his 2018 book How Growth Really Happens. “It played to the historic competitive advantage of German engineering-intensive manufacturing sectors in which the cost advantages of mass production mattered less and flexible production mattered more.”31 This “decentralization” meant that Nordhoff had a four-year period where he was able to establish his own grip on the company. During this period at the beginning of the 1950s, VW received preferential access to steel supplies, which gave it a huge advantage over other manufacturers and let it build up cash reserves that enabled it to enter into a deal with DortmundHorder Steelworks in 1952.32 Pent-Up Demand In 1938, there had been four million cars on the road in Germany and by 1945 only 300,000 remained. That number continued to increase and by 1952 it was 952,000 and soared to 4.5 million in 1960 and 8.3 million in 1964. All the while, production and exports kept rising. In 1961, VW produced over a million cars for the first time and exported more than half a million of them.33

31

Michael H. Best, How Growth Really Happens: The Making of Economic Miracles through Production, Governance and Skills. Princeton University Press, 2018. P. 131-132 32 Tolliday, Enterprise and State, 314.

33 Ibid, 326.

On a per capita basis, Germany had caught up to other western European countries by the early 1960s, a feat made possible by Nordhoff’s insistence on sticking to producing a single model, which increased the company’s efficiency and economies of scale.

The table above shows how immediately after the war West Germany’s ratio of inhabitants per car was 228 but 1964, it is 6.8. This shows how much production of automobiles increased and how the demand for cars, especially VW's, was at an unprecedented high less than twenty years after what many thought would ruin the nation economically.

London Debt Agreement In 1952 a conference on German external debts called the London Debt Conference was held.

While the conference was held that year, the London Debt Agreement did not go into effect until 1953 as it was made between the Federal Republic of Germany and creditor nations. It brought down Germany’s debts from 29.7 billion Deutsche Marks to 14.5 billion DM and linked repayment to the country’s future growth and exports.34 As H. J. Abs later wrote, “thanks to the debt arrangement, not only did the Federal Republic restore its international credit worthiness, but the world also began to trust Germany again.”35 A sign of this trust was the fact that direct foreign investment in Germany grew tenfold from 1952 to 1954.36 This was a pivotal moment for the German economy. Many people had thought that Germany would never be a safe place to

34

Galofre-Vila, Meissner, McKee and Stuckler. “The Economic Consequences of the 1953 London Debt Agreement.” Vol 23, 3.

35 Ibid, p. 3 36 Lindeman and Poley, Money in the German-speaking Lands, 277.

move production and to invest in, however, due to the London Debt Agreement, the world's trust was restored in a nation.

Korean War Effect World events also worked in Germany’s favor in the years after World War II. In particular, the timing of the Korean War, which started in 1950 and lasted until 1953, created an opportunity for German manufacturing. As Herman Nickel wrote in the New York Times Magazine in 1966, “The Korean War allowed [Germany] to stage a quick return to the world market at a time when other leading industrial nations were forced to divert productive capacity to the defense effort.”37 Conclusion Although the Marshall Plan did play a part in the Wirtschaftswunder, there were many other aspects that are often overlooked, especially when looked at through the historical lens of Volkswagen. The economic miracle of Volkswagen itself is better explained by a mix of existing infrastructure such as all of the old factories and railway lines. Another contributing factor was political confusion along with Ludwig Erhard’s economic policies and social market economy, failure of foreign competitors to see the potential of the German auto industry. Combined with a new openness to the free market and a decade of pent-up demand, these factors produced growth rates that have only been matched in modern times by China.

37

Nickel, “West Germany Minds Its Booming Business,” 58.

Bibliography

Best, Michael. How Growth Really Happens: The Making of Economic Miracles through Production, Governance, and Skills. Princeton University Press, 2021.

Erhard, Ludwig, et al. Prosperity through Competition. Thames and Hudson, 1960.

Galofre-Vila, Gregori & Meissner, Christopher & Stuckler, David. (2019). The economic consequences of the 1953 London Debt Agreement. EUROPEAN REVIEW OF ECONOMIC HISTORY. 23.

“Money in the German-Speaking Lands: Berghahn Books.” Money in the German-Speaking Lands | BERGHAHN BOOKS, https://www.berghahnbooks.com/title/LindemannMoney.

Nickel, Herman. “West Germany Minds Its Booming Business.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 27 Mar. 1966, https://www.nytimes.com/1966/03/27/archives/west-germany-minds-its-booming-business.html.

Rieger, Bernhard. The People's Car a Global History of the Volkswagen Beetle. Harvard University Press, 2013.

SPICKA, MARK E. Selling the Economic Miracle: Economic Reconstruction and Politics in West Germany,... 1949-1957. BERGHAHN BOOKS, 2022.

“The Economic Comeback of Germany: Hans F. Sennholz.” Mises Institute, 10 Aug. 2009, https://mises.org/library/economic-comeback-germany.

Tolliday, Steven. “Enterprise and State in the West German Wirtschaftswunder: Volkswagen and the Automobile Industry, 1939-1962.” The Business History Review, vol. 69, no. 3, 1995, pp. 273–350.

JSTOR, https://doi.org/10.2307/3117336. Accessed 30 Nov. 2022.

“Volkswagen Group.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., https://www.britannica.com/topic/Volkswagen-Group.

1 Nisha Siedler Extended Essay Moral Panic in the Salem Witch Trials When studying moral panic in my psychology class, I was immediately reminded of reading The Crucible in my middle school English class. Knowing that the play was based on real events, I had always questioned what was behind the mass hysteria and horrific deaths that took place during the Salem witch trials. After reading a multitude of speculations from sophisticated historians and feeling unsatisfied, I came to the conclusion that moral panic could be a possible explanation. Therefore, I decided to take the EE as an opportunity to link my knowledge from both classes together and attempt to resolve my long-lived curiosity.

Subject: History [English]

Topic: Moral Panic in the Salem Witch Trials Research Question: To what extent does moral panic offer a cogent explanation for the mass hysteria present during the Salem witch trials of 1692-93?

IBIS Personal Code: jxk988 Total Word Count: 3,962

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Table of Contents: Introduction:

3

Moral Panic:

4

The Social Outcasts:

6

The Socially Respected:

10

The Moral Entrepreneurs:

13

Conclusion:

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Works Cited:

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3 Introduction: In the winter of 1692, two young girls–Abigail Williams and Betty Parris–erupted in peculiar fits of shrieking and spasming.1 After a scrupulous inspection, William Griggs, a local doctor, detected no medical explanation and thus determined that the girls had to be “under an Evil Hand.”2 Subsequently, five other girls–labeled as the “afflicted girls”–mirrored Abigail and Betty’s condition, installing the public opinion that an unknown satanic force had bewitched them.3 Desperate to disclose the culprit, accusations snowballed among the population, forcing the commencement of the notorious Salem witch trials. From February 1692 to May 1693, Salem, a colonial town in Massachusetts, was plagued with death, horror, and upheaval, all a consequence of the investigations.

Around 200 individuals of the Salem population were charged for practicing witchcraft–the antithesis of the Puritan religion profoundly believed among the same community. For some, these allegations were synonymous with a death sentence, as 19 suspects were hanged.4 Although “the Bible condemns murder,” these executions were not deemed as sinful as “it was necessary to cleanse the land” of any witches.5 Therefore, the entire town was gripped with panic, as the innocence of witchcraft was almost impossible to prove. Surprisingly, from a 21st-century perspective, witch trials had permeated the world since the 1400s and were thus not unusual.6 Additionally, in 1692, devilish magic was an anticipated hurdle for most practicing Christians in Massachusetts, even seen by some as a “common heritage of humanity.”7 However, the paranoia, wild accusations, and executions that transpired during the Salem witch trials were on a much grander scheme than they had ever been before in New England; thus, the significance of this investigation is verified.8 Three hundred years

1

Reed, 76 Hale, 23 3 Layhew, 12 4 “Salem Witchcraft Trial Records” 5 Layhew, 26 6 Kittredge, 204 7 Kittredge, 210 and Goss, 4 8 Reed, 75 2

4 later, scholars still dispute various possible root causes of the terror witnessed, perplexed by what motivated the accusers to turn on each other so rapidly and intensely.9 In this essay, one of these heavily debated answers–moral panic–will be evaluated through a sociological lens, the first-hand accounts of villagers, and extensive historical evidence. In addition, the guiding question of “to what extent does moral panic offer a cogent explanation for the mass hysteria present during the Salem witch trials of 1692-93?” will be applied.

Moral Panic: Primarily, it is necessary to define moral panic and offer context for its substance in today’s world as a psychological phenomenon. The term is accredited to Stanley Cohen, a South African sociologist; he was the first to officially name and discuss the concept in 1972 through his groundbreaking book Folk Devils and Moral Panics.10 Cohen’s ideas rapidly gained attention thereafter, initiating the discourse around moral panic in other distinguished studies sourced in this essay, including those of Isaac Ariail Reed, Erich Goode, and Nachman Ben-Yehuda.

Essentially, moral panic occurs when a group of people determines that another group of individuals “pose a threat” to the community’s existing morals, social structure, and safety “as a consequence of their behavior.”11 The former group thus develops a “panic,” usually over “relatively minor events,” which impels them to eliminate this threat before it truly becomes dangerous “to the moral order.”12 This group–categorized as “moral entrepreneurs”–is typically composed of the media, politicians, religious leaders, or another powerful body capable of controlling social order.

Additionally, this type of group often “pronounce[s] upon the nature of the problem and its best remedies,” allowing it to swiftly gain the needed support of the population as it knows what “is 9

Layhew, 15 Reed, 66 11 Layhew, 26 and Goode, 35 12 Drislane and Goode, 22 10

5 wrong with the nation.”13 Contrarily, the menacing group–the “folk devils”–is often a minority or social outcast group with less power in the social rank, usually due to their religion, race, economic status, or gender. Consequently, moral entrepreneurs can easily “take disproportional actions against the enemy” by taking legal action to manage the folk devils, thereby “strengthening…social control” and their own authority.14 Since moral panics conventionally occur during politically and socially uncertain times, redenomination is often a motivating factor for moral entrepreneurs. As Reed elucidates, moral panics are, in essence, “a struggle for power.”15 In this way, mass paranoia can benefit moral entrepreneurs as it grants them an excuse to accomplish their political agendas. To achieve this, moral entrepreneurs hone in on the deepest fears embedded within society and “fan the[ir] flames” to the utmost to articulate “the need to do something” through their desired plan.16 This distortion demonizes folk devils by emphasizing what makes them different, allowing them to become defenseless and isolated targets. Hence, all “the evil in society is attributed to” the folk devils, generally in a symbolic and “stylized” manner to amplify their peril, convincing more individuals to oppose them.17 To sum up the tremendous societal effect this has, Reed states that “the process works somewhat like a runaway train, with more and more passengers hopping on board to speed it down the mountain.”18 Evidently, moral panic does not foster a positive ending, as when the “good” side of the community has its innermost anxieties confirmed, it feeds even more into the “illusion.”19 Therefore, the fear against the folk devils exacerbates as more of the populace demands for “something to be done,” bringing forth social change.

Although moral panic has been countlessly utilized to explain crucial social issues, many sociologists have criticized the side effects of its popularity. Since the phenomenon allows the 13

Critcher Moral Panics and the Media, 17 and Drislane Layhew, 26 and Goode, 35 15 Reed, 68 16 Reed, 68 and Reed, 78 17 Reed, 66 and Cohen, 1 18 Reed, 90 19 Reed, 90 14

6 justification of the sometimes grave harassment against folk devils, mainly due to society’s frenzy during these situations, many have argued that moral panic hinders individuals from being held accountable.20 Consequently, some, such as Yvonne Jewkes, maintain that “it is difficult to explain why criminology–and its related fields–...place…moral panic…at the heart of studies of deviance and disorder.”21 Conversely, many others convey gratitude for how it has steered psychology into a new direction, granting valuable leads to inexplicable moments in history and supplying a model of how they could develop in the future. One example is Kenneth Thompson, who asserts that moral panic “deserves to be recognized for what it truly is: a key sociological concept.”22 Since Cohen predicts that “societies appear to be subject, every now and then, to…moral panic,” the attention the phenomenon receives proves deserving.23 Consequently, this phenomenon could potentially clarify the complexity of the Salem witch trials. This theory will be tested by investigating who promoted them and the deeper meaning behind whom they were eradicating. Firstly, two trends observed within the accused–the social outcasts and the socially respected–will be assessed.

The Social Outcasts: After Grigg's diagnosis of the afflicted girls, authority figures interrogated them for the perpetrators of their condition, frantic to find the source disrupting the town’s equilibrium. Initially, “the possessed…were unable to tell who was responsible for their torments.”24 However, compelled by intense pressure from their adults, the girls eventually named the first of many “witches” convicted during the Salem witch trials: Sarah Osborne, Sarah Good, and Tituba.25 All three had distinctive qualities that reveal one prominent theme detected throughout the accusations.

20

Critcher “Moral Panics” Jewkes, 103 22 Thompson, 142 23 Cohen, 1 24 Karlsen, 245 25 Brown, 4 21

7 Sarah Osborne, an elderly woman, had allegedly not attended religious services for several years before she was accused and was thus “recognized as an irregular church attende” at the time of her incrimination.26 Puritanism, for the vast majority of the Salem community, “was not just a major factor of their life” but an individual’s “entire being.” Thereby, Osborne had already committed a tremendous sin in the eyes of Salem before she was even a “witch,” simply by not committing herself to worship.27 As mentioned by Layhew, for Puritans, “the worst sin a person could commit was rejecting God,” signifying that Osborne’s security during the trials was already doomed.28 Since joining the Devil’s side by practicing witchcraft was synonymous with “the…denial of God,” Osborne was a logical target for the Salem trials.29 Given that the Puritan “community was intended to be a reflection of God’s love,” Osborne was seen as wrecking “the moral order” of Salem.30 Although, when confronted, Osborne defended herself by expressing that she “was more like to be bewitched than that she was a witch,” her sinful reputation was not in her favor as she perfectly “fit her society’s conception of a witch.”31 One way one could have attempted to demonstrate their innocence in this situation was by reciting “the Lord’s Prayer without error.”32 Nevertheless, since Osborne had skipped time in church and was already bedeviled, she had no other option to confirm her innocence, leading to her death on May 10th, 1692.

The characteristic that connects Sarah Good to Osborne is not her age, as Good was slightly younger at 38 years old.33 In this case, Good’s low economic status as a homeless woman made her vulnerable to accusations.34 According to Demos, “many witches came from the lower

26

Karlsen, 243 Layhew, 19 28 Layhew, 19 29 Layhew, 19 30 Drislane and Layhew, 19 31 Karesen, 37 and Karlsen, 243 32 Reed, 80 33 Karlsen, 65 34 Brown, 4 27

8 levels of the social structure,” and as “the wife of a poor laborer,” she echoed this description.35 Furthermore, the wide-held preconception that “wealthy people were not witches” implied that, similar to Osborne, Good’s circumstances made her an automatic individual to blame.36 Although Good was “once-prosperous,” inheritance problems forced her into a position where she constantly begged for “work, food, and shelter” before the trials.37 Unsurprisingly, Good was thus depicted as an “embittered and resentful” woman by her more fortunate neighbors, tainting her image even further as “envy was…invoked…as a motive for witchcraft.”38 Therefore, there were no objections to Good’s punishment as she was perceived as a probable witch.39 Unable to bail herself out of jail, her execution was brought forth on July 19th with zero obstacles, suggesting another successful attempt at excluding a “deviant” in society.40 Tituba was the Caribbean Indian slave of Reverend Samuel Parris–a highly renowned minister of Salem Village.41 Mirroring Good’s financial state, Tituba was poor, although this element is not the only rationale behind Salem’s perception of her culpability. Interestingly, Parris’ own afflicted daughter, Betty, was the one to inculpate Tituba.42 According to Brown, this could partly be because “Tituba had told stories of African witchcraft to the girls as entertainment.”43 Perhaps Betty, a mere nine years old, was too naive to comprehend that these “stories” had been fiction. However, others indicate that it was Tituba’s background which “had long been associated with demonic power” in Salem, that led to her conviction.44 This idea is confirmed by the fact that any culture that differed from the views of the “non-conformists and extremist” Puritans was viewed as wicked and

35

Demos, 1316 Layhew, 27 37 Karlsen, 79 and Karlsen, 112 38 Karlsen, 131 39 Karlsen, 37 40 Reed, 68 41 Layhew, 12 42 Layhew, 21 43 Brown, 4 44 Breslaw, 536 36

9 alien, signifying that Tituba was defenseless when she was accused.45 Due to these strict religious beliefs, in 1692, there was already a profound “local fear of Indians”; thus, Betty’s allegations against her family’s slave were “credible…only by virtue of her ethnicity.”46 Although Mather counters this concept by indicating that the demons of Salem were “not Swarthy Indians” but simply “Sooty Devils,” it is undeniable that Tituba was a victim due to her background.47 Tituba, unlike Good and Osborne, likely “out of fear of her master,” became the first individual in the Salem trials to confess to practicing witchcraft.48 Since Tituba aided in confirming the public’s suspicions regarding the satanic powers at work, she was spared execution.49 Undeniably, folk devils manifested themselves in the Salem trials, hinting at the favorability of moral panic as an interpretation. As authorities coerced the afflicted children to reveal the witches within their community, the girls “reacted out of fear, and named those in the village who were easy targets” as they “fit into the archetype of a witch.”50 Whether irreligious, impoverished or from a different culture, all three women mentioned were associated with identities or behavior “that had long…marked them out as a suspect” for ungodly practices.51 Therefore, possibly in “an attempt to escape punishment,” the girls shifted the blame for their inexplicable fits to outcasts they knew Salem would relish having executed to “settle an old grudge.”52 Thereafter, “the hysteria developed in a frightening direction” as accusations flooded from all directions when higher status individuals realized that they could eliminate anyone “abus[ing] the social fabric” of Salem.53 As Charles W. Upham voiced, “the ‘afflicted children’ and their associates…became intoxicated by the…success of their imposture…and nothing but the blindness of the bewildered community saved them 45

Layhew, 13 Breslaw, 540 47 Mather “Digital Commons,” 41 48 Karlsen, 37 49 Karlsen, 263 50 Layhew, 27 51 Demos, 1317 52 Brown, 4 and Brown, 2 53 Layhew, 27 and Layhew, 19 46

10 from…well-deserved punishment.”54 Through this, a facet of moral panic–disproportionality–is detected. Salem underwent a “‘fundamentally inappropriate’ reaction,” where hundreds of individuals accused another solely due to the “relatively minor event” where a few young girls were categorized as “under an Evil Hand.”55 This mass hysteria was impossible to contain as anything could be construed as evidence. As long as claims “fit the narrative, the prosecutors were satisfied” since it appeared as if they were dealing with the issue to the public by “execut[ing] those who disregard God’s plan.”56

The Socially Respected: Another theme that ties Osborne, Good, and Tituba together is that all three were women.

This trend is echoed throughout the entirety of the trials; of the 19 individuals hanged, around 73.7% were women.57 Although the exact number of the accused is unclear, around 74% were also women.58 Unquestionably, this was another group of folk devils that moral entrepreneurs were eager to exterminate.

Overall, Puritans in Salem “have earned a reputation...as strict, unrelenting, and extremely pious,” which supports the position that women held in society before and during the trials.59 While women did have the responsibility of “raising a family,” besides this, “a Puritan woman had no real place” in society. Nonetheless, this task was still appraised as vital, as women had the task of breeding “the next generation of…faithful” Puritans.60 Although women were granted some significant rights–such as speaking freely, possessing land, or going to court–acting on them was

54

Upham 384 and Upham, 385 Goode, 22 and Hale, 23 56 Brown, 3 and Layhew, 20 57 Karlsen, 41 58 Demos, 1315 59 Layhew, 14 60 Layhew, 23 55

11 perceived as disreputable and “made the woman an enemy in the eyes of neighboring men.”61 Reminiscent of the social outcasts, disregarding these standards made women susceptible to witchcraft accusations. Additionally, there was once more an existing fear of this specific target, involving “horrid tales of…sinful women” who practiced the Devil’s magic. This prevailing conception originates from the Puritan belief “that Satan attacked the soul by assaulting the body.”62 Considering that women’s bodies and minds were regarded as “weaker” compared to men, it signified that the Devil could, without difficulty, seize and control their souls to his liking and harm the rest of society.63 In the Biblical story of Adam and Eve, often referred to in Puritan culture, women’s ostensible inferiority is further discerned. When God created Adam–the first man–and then Eve–the first woman–he made Eve “destined to serve man,” indicating that she was nothing but “a wife in relation to a husband.”64 Nonetheless, the lower rank of women stems from a more intricate resentment. In the story, Adam and Eve submit to the Devil’s lure by eating the forbidden fruit, thus rebelling against God’s will.65 Given that the most immoral sin a Puritan could commit was “rejecting God,” this action was seen as identical to witchery.66 Although both were punished, Eve was chastised even more as she fell into the Devil’s trap before Adam did. According to Karlsen, Eve was deemed accountable for “man’s downfall” as she had “implicat[ed] him in her guilt” by seducing him into eating the fruit.67 Inversely, Adam was acknowledged as the “unwitting victim of his tempress wife.”68 In turn, Eve became known as the “Devil’s willing agent,” comparable with the profane symbols ascribed to folk devils.69 Since all humans descended from these original ancestors 61

Layhew, 23 Reis, 93 63 Reis, 93 64 Karlsen, 174 65 Karlsen, 175 66 Layhew, 19 67 Karlsen, 175 68 Karlsen, 177 69 Karlsen, 176 and Goode, 27 62

12 from the Puritan view, women in 1692 Salem were still recognized as witches. Thus the hostility felt towards them persisted, converting them into easy targets.

In the beginning, the women accused–including Osborne, Good, and Tituba–were predominantly “out of place” based on their identity and behavior in society. However, as the number of unaccused social outcasts slimmed over time, “the accusers ran out of ‘acceptable witches” and began to condemn the women “in place.”70 One instance involves Rebecca Nurse, who was indicted on March 23rd.71 At first, most of the community was reluctant to approve this accusation as Nurse was a highly-respected woman, devout church member, and an avid dissenter of the charges against her.72 All aspects of her being, except her gender, indicated that she was the contradiction of a typical witch. Once again, an individual’s identity was detrimental to their safety during the trials, as the reminders of Eve denoted Nurse’s guilt. Equivalent to the biblical story, individuals in 1692 Salem supposedly underwent “severe pressures to go…to the Devil’s side” and were persuaded with “bribes in an effort to break down their Christian loyalties.”73 Furthermore, since women were still viewed as weak, they were “easy prey for the Devil,” just as Eve had been.74 Consequently, a second layer was supplemented to the panic, “as it opened the door to anyone being vulnerable…not just the poor and disliked,” but also women.75 Presumably, this resulted from the potency of Puritanism during this time. Through the repetitive “religious reading” of stories such as Adam and Eve, the “myth” of sinful women who preyed on the destruction of humanity was implanted into society.76 Therefore, it becomes apparent that these witch trials were indeed a ploy to harm several folk devils in an attempt to reinstate authority. Nevertheless, the question of whom it benefitted remains.

70

Layhew, 26 Reed, 76 72 Reed, 79 73 Demos, 1321 74 Layhew, 22 75 Brown, 4 76 Reed, 91 and Reed, 92 71

13

The Moral Entrepreneurs: Although the original accusers were the afflicted children, more individuals of other identities accused or shared accounts of suspicious behavior as the trials advanced.77 While the adolescent girls presumably reacted out of fright in the beginning, as the executions of their neighbors commenced, there was “no room for admitting errors” in the stern Puritan-ruled Salem.78 The hysteria had already consumed the town to the point of no return, as the opportunity to damage the reputation and security of one’s enemies was too worthwhile to waste. Moreover, some contend that the girls–usually one of the folk devils–immensely “enjoyed the attention and power they received,” being the center of the mania.79 They were no longer constricted to the confines of their community, at last able to express a voice in a world where they were otherwise silent. With approximately 85.3% women and nearly 75.9% between the ages of 11-20 as accusers, the robust band of teenage girls declared a newfound superiority, transitioning into moral entrepreneurs.80 Of the witnesses, however, a majority of 75% were men. Even so, Demos diminishes the effect of this large sum by clarifying that it was because “men were more likely…to take an active part in legal proceedings of any type,” especially as church members, as women were customarily not supposed to.81 A minor example of this involves Thomas Putnam; as a notable founding member of the Salem Village Church, he transcribed over 100 witness reports against Salem villagers, where many were subsequently convicted.82 Reverend Samuel Parris, who heavily influenced many verdicts of the accused during the trials, was arguably one of the more major examples of politically engaged men. After three years of 77

Demos, 1316 Layhew, 27 79 Layhew, 27 80 Demos, 1315 81 Demos, 1316 82 Ray, 90 78

14 serving as the first appointed minister of Salem Village, Parris had a reputation for his exceptionally unyielding and selfish character.83 According to Starkey, this fostered an apprehensive environment where “damnation was…as inevitable as death.”84 In 1691, this tension was discernible as complaints were filed to remove Parris from his position. Thereafter, his salary and the expansion of his church were halted.85 Frustrated by his loss, Parris ingrained fear into the town by alerting it that “the devil was bent on destroying their church,” the greatest fear of pious Puritans.86 In the thick of this conflict, two afflicted girls began to exhibit satan-stirred behavior right in Parris’ own home, offering the perfect evidence to his predictions.87 Therefore, the common suspicion that Parris produced the moral panic of Salem to suit his interests emerges. As the trials developed, the division among the community became elucidated, as the accusers most often belonged to Parris’ church, whereas the accused were his objectors.88 Presumably, in an attempt to gain support from his dissenters, Parris’ sermons–a religious oration often conducted by ministers–followed the repeating content of himself as the embodiment of Christ amid the perilous witches confronting Salem’s people.89 Given that “Puritans were deeply invested in…sermon[s],” these speeches profoundly affected the trials.90 When Rebecca Nurse was indicted on March 23rd, the court dismissed it at first due to her long-pledged loyalty to the church. However, the same members later revised their opinion with a new verdict declaring her guilt.91 According to Reed, this fluctuation was the aftermath of one of Parris' most charged sermons, delivered on March 27th–four days after the initial accusation.92 Throughout, it is conspicuous that Parris had “a specific purpose” of demonizing Nurse to display

83

Layhew, 20 Starkey, 5 85 Ray, 70 86 Ray, 70 87 Ray, 70 88 Ray, 70 89 Reed, 82 90 Reed, 80 91 Reed, 77 92 Reed, 78 84

15 the consequences of disrupting both God’s and his own order.93 Towards the beginning, Parris strategically nurtures fear among his listeners by directly targeting his congregation. He laments, “Have not I chosen you twelve, & one of you is a Devil.”94 Although it is not stated, the timeliness of this sermon indicates that this line is directed at Nurse. To heighten his fury, Parris then establishes that “Hypocrites are the sons & heirs of the Devil, the free-holders of hell, whereas other sinners are but Tenants.”95 Through his intense language, Parris accentuates the wickedness of Nurse’s betrayal as she had been formerly perceived as devout, unlike some of the other accused witches. Finally, Parris magnifies the Puritan anxieties by reminding them of the presence of “Devils in the guise of Saints” to verify how nobody can be trusted, seeming “how deep Satan had reached into the congregation.”96 Mirroring the greedy impression the town had of him, Parris undeniably exploited Nurse’s case and the trials as a whole. This allowed him to reestablish his expertise and the necessity of a strict religious plan, generating more support for his church when it had been lacking.97 The melodramatic tone of Parris’ sermon benefits this agenda as it stresses the “need to do something” to the public by reminding them that his original prophecy had been accurate, rebuilding his credibility.98 Through this example, it becomes plain “how much work it is to stage a witch trial.”99 Despite this, the profits seem to appear worth the labor and distress to power-hungry leaders. Mirroring moral entrepreneurs, Parris successfully rid Salem of those against him, pushing others to follow his lead, and elevating his power.

93

Reed, 81 Parris, 147 95 Parris, 149 96 Parris, 151 and Reed, 86 97 Reed, 78 98 Reed, 78 99 Reed, 92 94

16 Conclusion: To conclude, every point in this essay evinces that moral panic presents a valid clarification for the mass hysteria witnessed during the Salem witch trials to a great extent. Indeed, the fundamental folk devils of Cohen’s model were at play. Whether it was an impious, penniless, ethnically diverse, or a female individual that was targeted, all were imaginable scapegoats to feed the desperate populace of Salem. Considering that the Puritan nightmare had become a reality, madness swiftly befell the community, supplying the vulnerable puppet required for moral entrepreneurs to abuse. These manipulators–in this case, the disturbed teenage girls and specific religious leaders–pulled the strings of the public to obtain more might in the social hierarchy, costing the town 25 innocent demises. Although many believed that the Devil’s forces were truly bewitching the afflicted girls, it is indisputable that numerous took the trials to their advantage. As quickly as the mania had begun, it also promptly came to a close with the court’s dissolution in the spring of 1693; at this point, even moral entrepreneurs felt the accusations had become irrational.100 Unexpectedly, authorities eventually confessed that they had been at fault; regretful apologies were made, names were exonerated, and several families that had suffered emotional or economic losses were compensated.101 Regardless, the tragedy had already taken its toll. To this day, the Salem witch trials remain a focal point in history, tourism, education, and literature. Fortunately, they were the last trials ever recorded in New England. However, it is still debatable if the lessons of maintaining caution around determining guilt or innocence even made an enduring impact. In current society, innumerable harmless individuals are still incarcerated simply due to their identity; our authority figures continue to irresponsibly affix blame to content the public, ignoring the real issue at hand and, in turn, allowing it to worsen.

100 101

Layhew, 13 Reed, 77

17 Works Cited: Breslaw, Elaine G. “Tituba's Confession: The Multicultural Dimensions of the 1692 Salem Witch-Hunt.” Ethnohistory, vol. 44, no. 3, 1997, p. 535., https://doi.org/10.2307/483035.

Brown, Michael. The Salem Witch Trials: Dehumanizing the Different, 2019, https://digitalcommons.lasalle.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1058&context=the_histories.

Cohen, Stanley. Folk Devils and Moral Panics: The Creation of the Mods and Rockers. Taylor & Francis e-Library, 2011.

Critcher, Chas. Moral Panics and the Media. McGraw-Hill, 2003.

Critcher, Chas. “Moral Panics.” Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Criminology and Criminal Justice, 2017, https://doi.org/10.1093/acrefore/9780190264079.013.155.

Demos, John. “Underlying Themes in the Witchcraft of Seventeenth-Century New England.”

The American Historical Review, vol. 75, no. 5, 1970, p. 1311., https://doi.org/10.2307/1844480.

Drislane, Robert, and Gary Parkinson. “MORAL PANIC.” Online Dictionary of the Social Sciences, 2002, https://bitbucket.icaap.org/dict.pl?term=MORAL+PANIC. Goode, Erich, and Nachman Ben-Yehuda. Moral Panics: The Social Construction of Deviance.

Wiley-Blackwell, 2009.

Goss, K. David. Salem Witch Trials: A Reference Guide. Greenwood Publishing Group, 2008.

Hale, John, and John Higginson. A Modest Enquiry into the Nature of Witchcraft, and How Persons Guilty of That Crime May Be Convicted: And the Means Used for Their Discovery Discussed, Both

18 Negatively and Affimatively, According to Scripture and Experience. Printed and Sold by Kneeland and Adams, next to the Treasurer's Office, in Milk-Street., 1771.

Jewkes, Yvonne. Media and Crime. SAGE, 2015.

Karlsen, Carol F. The Devil in the Shape of a Woman: Witchcraft in Colonial New England. Peter Smith, 1999.

Kittredge, George Lyman. Notes on Witchcraft. General Books, 2009.

Layhew, Ashley. “The Devil’s in the Details: A Comprehensive Look at the Salem Witch ...”

The Devil’s in the Details: A Comprehensive Look at the Salem Witch Mania of 1692, https://www.tnstate.edu/history/Ashley%20Leyhew.pdf.

Mather, Cotton. “Digital Commons - University of Nebraska–Lincoln.” The Wonders of the Invisible World. Observations as Well Historical as Theological, upon the Nature, the Number, and the Operations of the Devils (1693), 1692, https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1019&context=etas.

Parris, Samuel. “The Sermon Notebook of Samuel Parris: March 27, 1692: Salem Witch Trials.” The Sermon Notebook of Samuel Parris: March 27, 1692 | Salem Witch Trials, 2016, https://salem.lib.virginia.edu/sermons/parris16920327.html#:~:text=of%20you%20to%20fa miliarity%20with,1.

Ray, Benjamin C. “Satan's War against the Covenant in Salem Village, 1692.” The New England Quarterly, vol. 80, no. 1, 2007, pp. 69–95., https://doi.org/10.1162/tneq.2007.80.1.69.

19 Reed, Isaac Ariail. “Deep Culture in Action: Resignification, Synecdoche, and Metanarrative in the Moral Panic of the Salem Witch Trials.” Theory and Society, vol. 44, no. 1, 2015, pp. 65–94., https://doi.org/10.1007/s11186-014-9241-4.

Reis, Elizabeth. Damned Women: Sinners and Witches in Puritan New England. Cornell University Press, 1999.

“Salem Witchcraft Trial Records.” Salem Witchcraft Trial Records | Congregational Library & Archives, https://www.congregationallibrary.org/digital-collections/salem-witch-trials.

Starkey, Marion Lena. The Devil in Massachusetts. Anchor Books, 1969.

Thompson, Kenneth. Moral Panics. Routledge, 2005.

Upham, Charles Wentworth. Salem Witchcraft, Volumes I and II with an Account of Salem Village and a History of Opinions on Witchcraft and Kindred Subjects. Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, 2006.

Zack Gregory

In 1932-33 an estimated five million died in the Ukrainian terror-famine, the Holodomor. Exact causes of the Holomodor are subject to debate, whether Stalin intended to kill a substantial portion of the Ukrainian population is also unknown. We do know the Stalin policies of collectivization and dekulakization for the Ukrainian farms were major contributing factors to the mass starvation. In 1928, Stalin initiated the dekulakization which essentially removed the wealthy peasant farming class from Ukraine; these were the individuals who knew how to run the farms. The kulaks were positioned as the enemy of socialism. Upon the removal of the kulaks, their land, equipment and grain was seized by the communist government as the first step towards collectivization of the farms. Collectivization was initially voluntary, later compulsory organized by the twenty-five thousanders - most loyal communists, deployed to the local farming villages. Peasant resistance was commonplace at first, in the end futile when by 1932 collectivization was essentially mandatory for even a remote hope of survival. The motivations of those sent to carry out collectivization, was propagated by Stalin who proposed agricultural collectivization as necessary to increase output, which would be used to fund rapid industrialization of Russia.

Stalin assumed control of Russia in 1924 following the death of Lenin. Stalin advocated the theory of “Socialism in One Country,” following the defeat of European communist revolutions in World War I, Stalin advocated for a Russian national communism. Fear of invasion from the West, and a desire to compete with modern nations led Stalin to launch in 1928, the first five-year plan designed at achieving rapid industrialization. The design was to transition from an agricultural nation to an industrial power by collectivization of the farms. With collectivization increased farming output would provide the source of funds for new factories, additionally the working class would shift from farming the fields to manufacturing. The first step towards Stalin’s socialist farming mission was the “liquidation of the kulaks as a class” in 1929…”Now we have the opportunity to carry out a resolute offensive against the kulaks, break

their resistance, eliminate them as a class and replace their production with the production of kolkhozes,” (wikipedia.org/dekulakization). Stalin was capitalizing on the discontent among the poor peasants, many in areas already experiencing famine, Kulaks were depicted as enemies of the state and enemies of socialism.

To carry out the party mission of collectivization and dekulakization, Stalin enlisted the “Twenty-Five Thousanders” a group of loyal communists, who received brief training, however they were largely ignorant on farming techniques. With unlimited power, the Twenty-Five Thousanders (‘thousander’) were deployed to rural villages throughout Ukraine to enforce collective farming and spread the communist propaganda. At one village’s first thousander meetings, the Comrade Professor spoke “A foreboding of the coming disaster overcame us. We had previously heard about collectivization, dekurkulization, and even about the annihilation of kurkuls as a ‘social class.’ But so far we had not heard about the arbitrary killing of kurkuls. He now talked about killing them as a matter of honor and merit.” (Dolot, p.16) The Thousander, recruited local propagandists, enlisted the armed forces and the secret police. The Young Communist League and the Pioneers mobilized those ages 8-26, they encouraged young children and adults alike to spy on their neighbors, denounce and publicly report any objections to communism or collectivization. “Thus this monstrous machine of collectivization was set in motion. It ground, it pulled, it pushed, and it kicked. It was merciless and insatiable. Once it was started, it could not be stopped, and it consumed more and more victims.” (Dolot pg. 14) A community that promotes distrust of your neighbors is doomed to fail.

With the initial efforts to carry out collectivization ‘voluntary’, the thousanders and their accompanying communist propagandists were on a mission to convince the Ukrainian farmers of the ideological and economic benefits for contributing their farm to the collective. Dolot describes the first mandatory village communist propaganda meeting for the new government

administration, “want to make the life of each farmer easier and more secure. Work on the collective farm would be less arduous and more profitable. There the farmers would be protected from exploitation from rich farmers.” (Dolot, p.17) The initial appeal yields no collectivization success. With the verbal ideological methods failing, the thousander brings the first tractor to the village. “Look here,” he said, pointing with both hands at the tractor. ‘Where else, but in the Soviet Union, do you have this advantage!’... ‘Only you, in our beloved country, have tractors, the mighty machines that will work for you.’”(Dolot p.27) Even with the promise of better equipment, farmers were reluctant to give up their land, their only source of food and security. With voluntary methods failing to yield the desired collectivization quotas, local party representatives gave a stern warning. “I am forced to warn you that even the smallest attempt to oppose the measures of our beloved communist party and the people’s government will be suppressed ruthlessly. We will crush you like detestable vermin!” (Dolot p.34)

With voluntary collectivization methods failing, the communist party regime turned to forcible coercion in the winter of 1929. The local Bread Procurement Commission would seize the Ukrainian farmers' stored grain, leaving families with no food for surviving the winter period until the next spring harvest. With their grain taken, Dolot depicts the arrival of a local communist party member arriving in the middle of the night, with their ‘opportunity’ to join the collective farm. “Whereas the collective farm has advantages over individual farming; and where's it is the only way to secure a prosperous and happy life, I voluntarily request the collective farm management to accept me as a member of your collective farm.” (Dolot, p.68) With their signature for the collective farm, all livestock, wagon, plough and other farming equipment would be taken. Once collectivized, survival was entirely dependent upon the communist party distribution of grain to the local Ukranians. By the spring of 1931, 80-90% of Ukrainian grain production was collectivized, simultaneously Stalin’s five year plan called for a

decrease in grain production in turn for other crops, sugar beets and cotton. Additionally, a drought and miss-management of grain collection led to a 25-30% drop in grain yields.

In early 1932 with the collectivization complete, the prevailing communist campaign in the Ukraine shifted from collectivization to the Grain Procurement Campaign. Unable to meet their planned production quota, the communist party introduced a rationing system to supply the urban industrialized areas with food. Starving and desperate, Ukrainian collective farmers were prohibited from going to the cities in search of work and food. There was no accommodation for the poor farming conditions, the grain quota for the 1932 harvest remained elevated. Only the farmers who were able to work the collective farms received a bare minimum of sustenance.

The working villagers still had the problem of trying to feed their dependents, no food was given for the elderly or the children. Many resorted to stealing food in a desperate attempt at survival.

In August 1932, the communist put forth their cruelest law yet. The law detailed that crops in fields, warehouses, farm animals, and everything else related to agriculture were to be state owned and protected by theft to the utmost degree. The punishment for stealing any of this ‘property’ was death by firing squad.

While the individuals representing the Thousanders, Bread procurement commission, the police, the propaganda machine, the courts, the kolkhozes often changed, their fierce nationalist loyalty to communist ideology and Stalin’s plan to industrialize Russia never waivered. The communists were on a mission to extract as much grain, and taxes as possible from the Ukranians at all costs. “With the rest of my generation, I believed firmly that these ends justified the means. Our great goal was the universal triumph of communism, and for the sake of that goal everything was permissible - to lie, to steal, to destroy hundreds of thousands and even millions of people.” (Conquest, p 294). In November 1932, a government decree withheld the distribution of any grain to the Ukrainian farmers. In December 1932, the government

introduced a single passport system to prevent starving farmers from migrating to the cities.

Note, with all of their prior food storage, taken by the Bread Commission, the Ukranians were left to face the winter without any access to food. Those fortunate enough to have material goods of some kind, made the long journey to trade them in for bread at a government store, “My mother took all the jewelry which she inherited from her mother to a government store in the city of Nizhen and traded it for bread. The government set up stores like this one, torksin, for the purpose of pumping out jewelry from starving people.” (Iwanechcko).

The late spring harvest of 1933 brought a reprieve to the starving Ukrainian people, but not before an estimated 5 million plus people had perished from starvation (Wikipedia, Holodomor). Many historians have questioned Stalin’s motivations, there was the strong desire to build an industrialized nation, additionally Stalin’s desire to squash Ukrainian nationalism and any threat to the Russian communist state. Motives aside, this was a well organized communist machine that was fierce and had no mercy. For once the wheel of communism started turning in Ukraine, there was no stopping it, for you would only be crushed.

Sources

“Joseph Stalin.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 12 Jan. 2021, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Stalin; “Collectivization in the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 17 Dec. 2020, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Collectivization_in_the_Ukrainian_Soviet_Socialist_Republic; “Holodomor.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 6 Jan. 2021, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_five-year_plan; en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holodomor.

Chalk, Frank Robert, and Kurt Jonassohn. The History and Sociology of Genocide Analyses and Cases Studies. Yale University Press, 1990.

Dolot, Miron. Execution by Hunger. W.W. Norton, 1985.

A family friend, Maria Iwanechcko shared the story of her father’s family. In 1933, her father Borys Kuchynsky was seven years old living with his school teacher mother 100 miles east of Kyiv. Borys’ second grade class had 30 children, he was one of four to survive the holodomor.

Shortly before his passing in 2003, he wrote the attached letter below intended for The New York Times.

Samantha Lopez Title: Women’s Treatment in the United States Healthcare System My extended essay was on the treatment of women in the healthcare system. Women are at a disadvantage because there are certain ways that diseases should be treated, diagnosed, monitored, and so on in accordance with one's identity. The main healthcare model is catered more towards men than women, so doctors lack knowledge about how to approach and diagnose diseases on women. Moreover, it is hard for women and doctors to trust each other when doctors dismiss women’s concerns frequently. The exclusion of women when the foundation of the healthcare system was being built adds to the neglect that women have faced with medical care. As a woman myself and as someone who is considering going into the medical field, I find it important to consider an individual’s identities in order to cater to their specific needs to give them the best care possible. Through holistic care, I want to be an advocate for patients who are part of marginalized communities. Of course, other identifiers like race, ethnicity, and age can affect the type of care and methods that should be used to treat someone, but I decided to focus on women and their neglect within the healthcare system because it is common to see women expressing their concerns about how doctors have dismissed their symptoms and giving tips to other women so that they can be taken seriously during their next doctor visit.

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Women’s Treatment in the United States Healthcare System

Personal Code: kmh989 To what extent–socially and historically–does gender play a part in the valorization of women as consumers of healthcare in the United States healthcare system?

World Studies Essay Theme: Equality and Inequality Subject Areas: History and Social and Cultural Anthropology Word Count: 3,966

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Table of Contents Research Question……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………....3 Introduction……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..3-4 Investigation (Research, Analysis, and Discussion)…………………………..…………………………………….….4-15 Evaluation of Sources……………………………………………………………………………………………………………..…..15 Conclusion…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………...15-16 References…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………....17-18

3

The main reason why society functions a certain way usually has to do with an underlying “-ism” that results in the prioritization and better treatment of certain people over others. In the United States, these “-isms” include racism and sexism, which affect anything from why people from different backgrounds worry about different problems to why some people have a better advantage of obtaining resources for a more comfortable life. Gender is an identifier that affects a person’s life. Women tend to be more disadvantaged than men in many aspects of society such as their treatment in the healthcare system. With this said, to what extent–socially and historically–does gender play a part in the valorization of women as consumers of healthcare in the United States healthcare system? First, socially speaking, there are factors that make women more prone to some diseases than men. Next, health providers and female patients lack knowledge about the risk factors that women face for certain diseases. Also, the traditional biomedical model for health does not consider social factors that would affect an individual’s health. Plus, there is less urgency to address diseases that might be especially threatening to women. Furthermore, research on certain health conditions may be focused on men, even if women are more affected. In addition, women have limited access to healthcare because of insurance eligibility and less services made available to them. Moreover, women and health professionals do not trust each other because physicians have historically ignored women’s complaints about their health in favor of their own knowledge. Professionals even dismiss women’s problems as hysterical and/or linked to a woman’s sexual reproductive system. Additionally, medical school teaches its students more about the male body and how disease manifests in it than the female body, so health professionals go into the field with insufficient knowledge about women. This problem is exacerbated

4

by excluding women from important medical trials. Finally, women were rejected from the healthcare field ever since its framework was being established.

To start, certain societal factors make women more susceptible to certain diseases than men. A meeting with a group of professionals from the Society for Women’s Health Research was arranged to discuss how to make research, treatment, and education more inclusive of women and their health. This meeting revealed that women are pressured to maintain their physical appearance, which often pertains to using cosmetics, “an industry that is widely under-regulated and has had substantive unintended consequences on eye health” (Aninye et. al., 2021). Because many lash-lengthening products are sold over the counter, they are not as regulated as medical compounds are. “Users, most often women, are at the mercy of potentially undisclosed ingredients, warnings, and/or side effects” (Aninye et. al., 2021).

If women are automatically disadvantaged by social pressures, there should be more help for them from the healthcare system to mitigate this issue.

Furthermore, health providers and patients lack knowledge about the risk factors for women for certain diseases. The Society for Women’s Health Research concluded that all healthcare providers–including non-eye health specialists–should be educated on risk factors and indicators of eye diseases and pregnancy-related eye diseases to improve equity and care for women. It is important to educate women about the risks of eye disease at every stage of their lives, including pregnancy and menopause. Because sex plays a role in the risk of getting certain diseases, sex as a biological variable should be considered in research. “Gender-based research should focus on the roles of behavior, 5

differential access to care, cultural norms, and environmental influences on eye health disparities and inequities” (Aninye et. al., 2021). Analyzing the different factors that constitute a woman’s health would help gain a better understanding on which diseases a woman should worry most about for their particular situation.

Also, the biomedical model for health does not consider certain social factors that affect individuals’ different circumstances that would affect their health. “The biomedical model has served as the modern basis for medical education and for the organization of health services in the United States” (Zimmerman, M. K., & Hill, S. A., 2000). This model focuses more on “establishing patterns of normal and pathological biophysiology” and less on “the social context and the psychosocial parameters of illness” (Zimmerman, M. K., & Hill, S. A., 2000). In other words, the model focuses solely on the disease and its medical causes and does not incorporate possible environmental factors that could have a significant impact on an individual’s risk for contracting a disease. Acknowledging non-medical factors could help create a healthcare system with services specifically catered towards an individual so that their needs are addressed better. This model does not take into account the patriarchal way of society or “unequal resource distribution on the basis of gender–in addition to inequalities of distribution on the basis of class and racial-ethnic group” (Zimmerman, M. K., & Hill, S. A., 2000). For example, more Black women die of heart disease than White women, but the model does not distinguish between races like that. The model is taking too broad of an approach to a person’s health. This model also caused mental health to be separated from healthcare. More women are diagnosed with depression than men, but few are treated adequately for it. Many times, mental 6

health services are excluded from the primary care service package that managed care provides, and left to agencies that do not focus on the main problem that resulted in a person’s mental health illness. The sociomedical model, on the other hand, focuses on diagnosis and treatment that “recognize[s] and address[es] both body and mind, and how they are related to each other and to the social environment” (Zimmerman, M. K., & Hill, S. A., 2000). This new model would be a way to include intersecting identities in determining how a person’s disease developed and should be treated.

Moreover, there is seldom urgency in meeting health goals for women in relation to diseases that are major threats to them. Lung cancer, for example, has become the number one cancer killer for women in the United States–a fact that many doctors did not know–and insufficient research and resources are allocated to improving treatment options and health centers for women struggling with this consequence of smoking. “There is hardly any research money to look at women's lung cancer, in terms of lives lost” (Women’s E-News, 2004) according to Dr. Joan Schiller. Breast cancer gets about ten times as much funding. More frustrating was that a report analyzing the performance of states in relation to preventing and stopping women and girls from smoking found that states “are failing to help women stop smoking, despite reliable and cost-effective methods” (Women’s E-News, 2004). Even though smoking is a serious health issue for women, the country is falling behind on federally established health goals to prevent women from smoking. The fact that there are methods available to achieve this goal but states still fail to meet it shows a reluctance to prioritize women’s health. There is pessimism on the treatment of lung cancer. “Only a handful of states have passed the low-cost or no-cost programs that would turn this around” (Women’s E-News, 2004), but those programs soon 7

became scarce when budget cuts were implemented later on. Even if women wanted to stop smoking, many “are hampered by a lack of access to smoking cessation treatments” (Women’s E-News, 2004).

Equally important, research done on certain health conditions like PTSD may prioritize men, even when those conditions are seen mostly in women. As previously stated, women are more likely to be excluded from clinical trials, and a lack of research on how a condition shows up for them makes it harder to find high-quality treatment options. When a study was conducted using the research database PubMed to investigate PTSD in relation to war combat and PTSD in relation to sexual assault, it was difficult to find articles discussing the latter topic. PTSD is more likely to be experienced by women, but most of the articles posted were about male veterans. This study aimed to find differences between the symptoms of PTSD based on trauma type (sexual assault or war) and struggled to find answers because of the shortfall of data analyzing PTSD and sexual assault. The conducters of the study speculate that this was due to a “cultural bias that validates and contributes to the socio-cultural norm which almost expects PTSD to result from combat, but not from sexual assault” (Anzalone et. al., 2022). The experience of sexual assault is overlooked, especially compared to other crimes. “Of every 1,000 instances of rape, only 230 are reported to the police leading to about 7 convictions” (Anzalone et. al., 2022). For other felonies, the reporting rate is three times higher and the rate of conviction is between four to eight times higher. Sexual assault is so devalued that the American Psychiatric Association itself portrays sexual assault as a trauma that is similar to a car accident or weather event. This social perspective of sexual assault probably caused it to be overlooked as a trauma-type leading to PTSD. The chronic pain that women who experienced sexual assault bear is 8

pelvic pain, abdominal pain, chest pain, and genital pain while women veterans experience arthritis and chronic lower back pain. This is a compelling difference between chronic pain–a condition of PTSD–and trauma type, but not much is known about this association because of the lack of research.

Because of the minuscule amount of data published on sexual assault victims and PTSD, “researchers and clinicians must rely on what is known from the more abundant research of PTSD in combat war veterans” (Anzalone et. al., 2022). The problem with this is that the effects of PTSD based on trauma type and sex are not universal. Using knowledge from research about male war veterans to make decisions on how to treat female victims of sexual assault is like trying to put an edge piece of a puzzle into the center: it will not work. This tendency applies for other diseases as well like cardiovascular disease. “Research questions and the populations that most benefit from the research reflect societal priorities” (Anzalone et. al., 2022). Once research that prioritizes men’s wellbeing makes its way to general public knowledge, the gap between the benefits of those research results for men in comparison to women widens.

Additionally, health insurance eligibility requirements and available services limited women’s access to healthcare. Healthcare was originally a commodity, and as it started to become an “employment-based health insurance system” (Zimmerman, M. K., & Hill, S. A., 2000) for workers, women were at a disadvantage because most of them were unemployed and therefore more unable to get healthcare unless they were married in which they could receive healthcare through an affiliation with their husbands. This left single women at a disadvantage. Employment-based insurance is complex because it assumes that the stability of employment and family life is higher than it actually is in the US, where an 9

increasing amount of people are single, divorced, or widowed. Even though more women have entered the workforce, insurance coverage is harder to obtain for them because they tend to have lower-paying jobs, less work benefits, and are likely to be non-unionized compared to men. Because women tend to suffer more from chronic problems that require home health care or ambulatory services and insurances usually cover hospitalizations (which men need more of), women’s needs are not being prioritized. Few insurance plans cover maternity, infertility, or abortion services. Most health maintenance organizations (HMOs) did not allow women to “self-refer to an obstetrician-gynecologist other than their primary care provider” (Zimmerman, M. K., & Hill, S. A., 2000) more than once a year, which hindered the efficiency that managed care should bring and limits the prevention and monitoring of health problems. One way to improve women’s access to healthcare is maintaining access to telehealth services, specifically because women were more likely to use those services before and during the pandemic (Aninye et. al., 2021). Not only are women dealing with fewer options for seeking treatment, but the functions that are normal for their bodies are being categorized as more of an abnormal event through medicalization (i.e. when a human condition gets treated like a medical condition). PMS (premenstrual symptoms) have been medicalized and treated as a mental illness instead of a normal characteristic of a menstruating person. This allows medicine to “culturally construct[..] what is normal and abnormal” (Zimmerman, M. K., & Hill, S. A., 2000).

Next, there is a trust gap between health professionals and women patients because, historically, professionals often dismiss women’s health concerns as “hysterical” or favor their own knowledge about diseases that affect women over the complaints that women assert. They deem women’s 10

symptoms to be all in their heads. This tension leads professionals to be distrustful of what women patients say and women patients to be distrustful of their medical professionals because they feel dismissed. This distrust goes back to the fifth century when the term “hysteria” was used “to refer to illnesses in women caused by the womb--which, at the time, was nearly every illness that could [affect] a woman” (Plaza, C., 2020). Then, in the eighteenth century, this term categorized all women’s illnesses, especially those “thought to be psychiatric in origin. This idea of a connection between women, their reproductive organs, and psychiatric illnesses stuck around through the nineteenth century and was solidified in the twentieth century with the Freudian school of thought” (Plaza, C., 2020). Therefore, the idea that women’s illnesses and symptoms are related to their reproductive organs and are probably psychological is a common thought throughout the history of medicine. Even more concerning was how little time it took to make the decision that a woman’s condition was all in their head, with healthcare professionals determining a patient’s condition to be psychogenic in just thirty seconds to two minutes according to one study. This conclusion was dependent on “whether the physician felt confused, irritated at the patient, or felt that the interaction with the patient was negative” (Plaza, C., 2020). Not only is the time frame for that conclusion concerning, but so is the fact that that conclusion can be reached because of how a professional feels towards a patient; feelings are tainting the logic and care that professionals use in their practice. Because women know that their symptoms will not be taken seriously, they report “making great efforts to balance assertiveness, emotionality, and appearances” (Plaza, C., 2020). Women should not have to take such measures just because practitioners have a certain preconception of them. One of the aspects of medical malpractice is violating the standard of care. Because there is limited knowledge about how certain diseases affect 11

women, healthcare professionals might not know about new knowledge on women’s health and will not trust women with their symptoms. Unfortunately, this distrust is probably not “a deviation from the basic standard of care as long as a practitioner takes what most ‘ordinary’ practitioners would deem to be reasonable action in response to their women patients” (Plaza, C., 2020). Clearly, the conditions behind violating the standard of care regarding women are in the healthcare practitioner’s favor. When a patient experiences malpractice, it can be hard for their case to be taken up if it is not economically valuable. Women and the elderly are more impacted by this because if a patient is too old, they could be deemed less of a priority since “damages are often calculated in terms of lost future wages or productivity,” or by how much economic impact the damage due to medical malpractice had (Plaza, C., 2020).

Besides the wariness exercised by health professionals and patients against each other, there has been a knowledge gap for health professionals about understanding women’s health, especially because historically less is known about the female body and its reaction to diseases compared to the male body, so medical students are not taught about it. The idea of having the male body as a default for any medical study goes back to the Ancient Greeks, as Aristotle thought women’s bodies were “mutilated male bodies. ‘Ovaries’ were referred to as female testicles and were not named as a separate organ until the seventeenth century” (Plaza, C., 2020). Even nowadays, “neutral” body parts depicted in medical textbooks tend to be male organs. Because of this ongoing way of teaching future medical professionals, women have been treated for illnesses based on the male model, which often does not fit female bodies. Symptoms of heart attacks for women, for example, are different than those in men, but 12

even if a woman patient’s symptoms are similar to those of the “male model” of a heart attack, the woman could still be dismissed because physicians do not take their pain seriously, so chest pain could be determined to result from anxiety instead (Greenwood, B. N., Carnahan, S., & Huang, L., 2018). It was not until 1990 following a U.S. Government Accountability Office audit that the Office of Research on Women’s Health was formed, which made it mandatory to include women as research subjects to analyze the impact of certain diseases on men versus women and mandated more efforts to research conditions that affect women more than men. These improvements, however, were not that progressive because this mandate on including women in research “only applied to later phases of research … so studies at the cellular level or in the animal research phase could still be all male” (Plaza, C., 2020). Plus, studies that did equally include women did not “publish gender difference analyses” (Plaza, C., 2020), which are crucial to understanding how diseases impact men and women differently.

A lot of research is privately funded by pharmaceutical companies that are mostly unregulated. There are no guidelines that say women must be included in research “and the FDA has not implemented any such requirements into its approval process” (Plaza, C., 2020). On the contrary, “from 1977 to 1993, the FDA explicitly prohibited women ‘of childbearing potential’ from participating in early phase drug trials” (Plaza, C., 2020), which increased the underrepresentation of women in research. With no female participation in drug trials, the effects of drugs on fertility can not be known, which is unsettling for women who are able to or plan to have children. Because there is not much representation of women in early phase trials and analysis of gender in late phase trials, women have been left out of many influential medical studies throughout history. What little knowledge there is about women’s health has not been transferred to medical education, so medical bodies are defaulted 13

to male bodies. A study was done using a survey from patients with acute myocardial infarction (i.e. a heart attack) in Florida hospitals between 1991 and 2010. In general, female patients treated by female physicians had a higher survival rate than female patients treated by male physicians. Male and female patients had similar survival rates when treated by female physicians, so the problem seemed to be regarding male physicians. When there were more female physicians present in the emergency department, even if a female patient was treated by a male physician, they would still have a higher rate of survival than if there were significantly less female physicians present. This could be because female physicians can share their knowledge about acute myocardial infarction (AMI) in female patients with male physicians and “influence ER protocols in a way which helps the diagnosis and treatment of female patients” (Greenwood, B. N., Carnahan, S., & Huang, L., 2018). Additionally, the more female patients the male physician has treated, the higher the female patient’s rate of survival. The study found that “female patients treated by male physicians experience a 0.02% increase in survival for each female patient the physician treated in the prior quarter” (Greenwood, B. N., Carnahan, S., & Huang, L., 2018), which amounts to a 0.16% increase in survival rate per patient. The results suggest that healthcare professionals need to acknowledge the “challenges male providers face when treating female AMI patients” (Greenwood, B. N., Carnahan, S., & Huang, L., 2018). Additionally, while it is a relief to hear that survival rates for female patients increase when a male physician has treated many female patients, that also indicates that the earlier female patients treated by that physician were sacrificed for that gain. It is important to increase the number of female physicians in the emergency department and “update the training that physicians receive to ensure that heart disease is not simply cast as a ‘male’ condition” (Greenwood, B. N., Carnahan, S., & Huang, L., 2018). Yet again, the problem in this study 14

came down to the fact that there is a meager understanding about the presentation and treatment of health conditions in women. On that note, there also needs to be a better understanding of the differences between symptoms of menopause and menstruation and conditions that cause women to exhibit similar symptoms. “Many illnesses are likely to be misdiagnosed if they share any symptoms with menopause, like hot flashes in non-Hodgkin lymphoma, or present with abdominal pain misconstrued as menopause or menstrual cramps, like uterine, colon, and bladder cancers” (Plaza, C., 2020). Medical school has historically been in favor towards men. “In addition to the content of the curriculum, students learn a gendered form of respect for patients through the way in which gender issues are handled within their own medical institutions'' (Zimmerman, M. K., & Hill, S. A., 2000). In the mid-1980s, female applicants stated they were questioned heavily on their family plans and marriage, and while some of that sexism has decreased, medical school is still hostile toward women.

Gender bias in medical school includes “gender preferences in faculty and guest lecturers and in the evaluation of student awards, research assistantships, and other opportunities; sex bias and inapporopriate stereotypes in classroom material; and a lack of programs and resources to address women’s issues” (Zimmerman, M. K., & Hill, S. A., 2000).

In the past, women have been pushed away from the healthcare field when it was being established.

Since the mid-1800s, women that applied to medical schools were being turned away. By 1900, only 5.5% of doctors in the US were women ( UAB, n.d.). “The discovery of scientific medicine and the emergence of an industrial economy during the 19th century became key elements in keeping women out of medical practice” (Zimmerman, M. K., & Hill, S. A., 2000). Medical technologies were accepted 15

by allopathic physicians, which were mostly male, and they created standards for medicine. This further excluded women from having a voice on the framework of medicine. Industrialization, which separated “home and economical production” (Zimmerman, M. K., & Hill, S. A., 2000), further excluded women from medicine as they were constantly told that they had domestic responsibilities.

Some might argue that women have been increasingly valued in medical care because health policies are more consumer-focused, preventative services for women have increased, and women are now equally likely to have health insurance as men. However, services covered by insurance meet men’s needs more.

Overall, the prevailing issues within healthcare for women outweigh the resolved issues.

Lastly, while most of the journals used in this essay are peer-reviewed, recent, and published from organizations that advocate for women, “Women’s E-News” is a magazine that does not seem to be peer-reviewed, so it is the least reliable. However, it is still useful because it provides perspectives from women on medical policies.

To conclude, gender plays a part in the valorization of women as consumers of healthcare in the United States healthcare system to a great extent from a social and historical perspective. From a social perspective, issues with the healthcare system such as not considering social and economic factors heavily when acknowledging how women are affected by diseases, not covering enough of the services that mostly women would need through insurance, and having insurance eligibility requirements that make it harder for women to get covered have yet to be resolved. Research facilities do not study how 16

health conditions–such as PTSD–develop and affect women compared to men. From a historical perspective, the idea that women’s health concerns are probably just issues with the reproductive system or invented mentally by them has been around for centuries, along with the exclusion of women from participating in medical trials for groundbreaking drugs and the construction of the structure of the medical system that is still in place today. It is clear that in order for the healthcare system to make women feel more valued as consumers of healthcare, it needs to eradicate the long-held belief that women’s problems are psychological or have to do with their reproductive system and include women in all aspects: medical school education that explains conditions that predominantly affect women or show up differently in women, the acceptance of more women into the medical field for patient care and the exchangement of ideas between professionals, consideration of how new insurance policies might affect women, and input on changes to the structure of healthcare.

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References Aninye, I. O., Digre, K., Hartnett, E. M., Baldonado, K., Shriver, E. M., Periman, L. M., Grutzmacher, J., & Clayton, J. A. (2021). The roles of sex and gender in women’s eye health disparities in the United States. Biology of Sex Differences, 12, 1-8. Coronavirus Research Database; ProQuest Central Student; Publicly Available Content Database. http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s13293-021-00401-3 Anzalone, J., Ramos-Goyette, S., Morganelli, M., & Krevosky, M. (2022, January). Differences in Research on Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder: How Trauma-Type and Sex Contribute to the Published Research. Journal of International Women's Studies, 23(1), COV1. Gale. Retrieved April 10, 2022, from link.gale.com/apps/doc/A695168375/PPDS?u=nysl_me_brookfs&sid=bookmark-PPDS&xid =081e44ae Greenwood, B. N., Carnahan, S., & Huang, L. (2018, August 21). Patient–physician gender concordance and increased mortality among female heart attack patients. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 115(34), 8569-8574. JSTOR. Retrieved April 10, 2022, from https://www.jstor.org/stable/26530173 Plaza, C. (2020). MISS DIAGNOSIS: GENDERED INJUSTICE IN MEDICAL MALPRACTICE LAW. Columbia Journal of Gender and Law, 39(2), 91. Gale. Retrieved April 10, 2022, from https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A626204749/PPDS?u=nysl_me_brookfs&sid=bookmark-PP DS&xid=777da0ce

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UAB. (n.d.). History of Women in Medicine - Diversity and Inclusion. UAB. Retrieved October 15, 2022, from https://www.uab.edu/medicine/diversity/initiatives/women/history U.S.-HEALTH: LUNG CANCER IN WOMEN A NEGLECTED EPIDEMIC. (2004, January).

Women's E-News.

Zimmerman, M. K., & Hill, S. A. (2000). REFORMING GENDERED HEALTH CARE: AN ASSESSMENT OF CHANGE. International Journal of Health Services, 30(4), 771-795.

JSTOR. Retrieved April 10, 2022, from https://www.jstor.org/stable/45131841

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Luella Ottmann This extended essay evaluates how fictional and nonfictional media desensitizes us to violence.

Using case studies and other research, I examined how violent media affected those in a laboratory setting. Then, I brought in other research examining the effects of violent media in the real world. In general, I chose this topic because I really wanted to focus on how violence affects adolescents. Extremely violent media has been around for decades, but now, it can be delivered directly to our phones anytime. This is something that worries me as I scroll through social media daily. I constantly see disturbing and emotional events on the internet, yet for many, including myself, it becomes so easy to simply scroll and move.

International Baccalaureate Diploma Program- Extended Essay

Research Question: To what extent does fictional and non-fictional media desensitize adolescents' perception of violence?

Subject: Psychology Word count: 3651 Student ID: kmh992

Introduction

1

Varied research over the years on fictional media violence

2

Defining desensitization

2

Case studies

3

Contradictory evidence

5

Real-life media violence and its consequences

7

Conclusion

Introduction On average, American children ages 8-12 spend 4-6 hours a day consuming screen media, nearly as much time as they spend in school. 1Within the popular screen media that kids and teenagers watch, there is a significant amount of violence. This idea that media violence harms society and, in some cases, results in highly distressing crimes has been the subject of a long-running discussion. Most investigations into violent media have explored how it ignites aggressive tendencies in its users. For instance, according to the excitation transfer theory, arousal elicited by external sources may be mistaken for rage, increasing the likelihood of anger-driven aggressive conduct. In addition to arousal-facilitated aggression, other studies tie violent media to psychological desensitization to violence, which will be the subject of this essay. Psychological desensitization in this context refers to a decrease in psychological responsiveness upon further exposure to violence. Most people automatically experience an adverse emotional reaction when they see acts of violence, which is seen in changes in skin conductance and heart rate. According to many researchers, that decreases the more an individual has been exposed to media violence.2 While many studies have focused on violence in movies, video games, and television and how it may affect children, this essay will also delve into real media violence. As a society, we haven't given enough thought to children and teenagers seeing incidents in real-time with little filtering of the awful and graphic fatalities, severe injuries, or emotional reactions of individuals who have seen the events firsthand.3

Varied research over the years on fictional media violence Over the years, numerous researchers have investigated how fictional violence affects adolescents. In 1954, Dr. Wortham, author of Seduction of the Innocent, argued that comic book addiction led to a growth in juvenile delinquency. Drawing on his own clinical study and personal interpretation of plots, he discussed how comics made criminal activities appealing and taught young readers violent practices, making the claim that American youth were being led to lifestyles of violence, drugs, and crime. According to carol L Tilley, an assistant professor at the University of Illinois, “a recent analysis of the sources he used to write "Seduction of the Innocent" shows that Wertham misrepresented many of his studies and invented some of his findings. The number of kids Wertham dealt with at the free mental-health clinic he founded may have been in the hundreds rather than the thousands he claimed.”

Other examples demonstrate how Wertham left out or outright created facts in the lives of his patients,

1

Aacap. “Screen Time and Children.” AACAP, https://www.aacap.org/AACAP/Families_and_Youth/Facts_for_Families/FFF-Guide/Children-And-Watchin g-TV-054.aspx#:~:text=Screen%20Time%20and%20Children&text=Children%20and%20adolescents%20 spend%20a,spend%20up%20to%209%20hours.

2

Carnagey, Nicholas L., et al. “Media Violence and Social Neuroscience: New Questions and New Opportunities.” Current Directions in Psychological Science, vol. 16, no. 4, 2007, pp. 178–82. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/20183192. Accessed 17 Jul. 2022.

3

Pittaro, Micheal. “Exposure to Media Violence and Emotional Desensitization.” Psychology Today, Sussex Publishers, https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/the-crime-and-justice-doctor/201905/exposure-media-violenceand-emotional-desensitization.

many of whom came from families plagued by violence and drug misuse.4 While his research was debunked, research on the effects of fictional violence did not end there. Many researchers and concerned parents are still searching for answers regarding the effects of fictional violence.

In today's world, concern has moved to the violent video game industry and how today's youth are affected by these games. Numerous studies have demonstrated that routine exposure to violent content over time may lessen the nervous arousal that occurs in response to violent imagery. Additionally, it has been found that people grow less emotionally responsive to violent stimuli and exhibit less sympathy for victims of violence in the actual world. 5Although most researchers attempt to find correlations between violent media and aggressive behavior, this will focus on how fictional and non-fictional violence in the media desensitizes its viewers and alters their subsequent reactions to it over time.

Defining desensitization The process of desensitization modifies emotional responsiveness. It refers to the gradual reduction of response to stimulation after repeated exposure. Desensitization in the context of media violence, more specifically, refers to a process through which initial arousal responses to violence are diminished, changing an individual's internal state at the time.6 Desensitization to violent media stimuli is particularly effective at lowering anxiety arousal. When faced with brutality, people's natural and innate reaction is fear. “Frequent exposure to violence in the media can decrease the chance of an anxious reaction because the more frequently a stimulus is presented, the less likely it is to provoke strong feelings.”7 Case studies Before focusing on violent video games, it is important to discuss the extensive research done on general violent media, which has proven to be more conclusive than research on violent video games. The study that will be discussed in depth is a study that looked at how exposure to violent media stimuli affects desensitization. Krahé B et al. measured desensitization by recording SCL (skin conductance level) constantly before and after the films to measure physiological arousal. According to the hypothesis, the more the person watches violent media, the less psychological arousal they would have when watching a violent movie. Additionally, it was hypothesized that individuals would report less anxiety and more pleasant arousal in reaction to violent video clips the more media violence they experienced.According to hypothesis 1, the researchers discovered that the participants' psychological 4

Itzkoff, Dave. “Scholar Finds Flaws in Work by Archenemy of Comics.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 19 Feb. 2013, https://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/20/books/flaws-found-in-fredric-werthams-comic-book-studies.html.

5 Krahé B, Möller I, Huesmann LR, Kirwil L, Felber J, Berger A. Desensitization to media violence: links with habitual media violence exposure, aggressive cognitions, and aggressive behavior. J Pers Soc Psychol.

2011 Apr;100(4):630-46. doi: 10.1037/a0021711. PMID: 21186935; PMCID: PMC4522002.

6 Krahé B, Möller I, Huesmann LR, Kirwil L, Felber J, Berger A. Desensitization to media violence: links with habitual media violence exposure, aggressive cognitions, and aggressive behavior. J Pers Soc Psychol. 2011 Apr;100(4):630-46. doi: 10.1037/a0021711. PMID: 21186935; PMCID: PMC4522002.

7 Krahé B, Möller I, Huesmann LR, Kirwil L, Felber J, Berger A. Desensitization to media violence: links with habitual media violence exposure, aggressive cognitions, and aggressive behavior. J Pers Soc Psychol. 2011 Apr;100(4):630-46. doi: 10.1037/a0021711. PMID: 21186935; PMCID: PMC4522002.

reactions to the violent clip decreased as their exposure to violent media increased. According to their second hypothesis, it was discovered that exposure to media violence and pleasant arousal were positively correlated. Therefore, the data supported both hypotheses, proving that repeatedly viewing violent media might lead to desensitization and an increase in enjoyment while watching violent media. 8 Another study that will be discussed in depth was conducted in 2009 by Craig Anderson, a psychology professor at Iowa State University, and Brad Bushman, a researcher of aggression and violence at Ohio State University. It examined how violent media desensitizes its users and reduces their ability to aid people in need. Previously, studies had measured desensitization in terms of decreased skin conductance and heart rate. However, this case measured desensitization in a real-life scenario.

Participants in this experiment either played violent or nonviolent video games. Later, they overheard an injury-causing stage fight. They hypothesized that, “playing a violent video game would lessen the chances of helping the victim, delay helping the victim, and lessen how severe the emergency was perceived to be.”9 It was discovered that the assistance rates for violent and nonviolent video game players differed slightly. Only 21% of individuals who identified fighting as their preferred genre of video game showed support for the victim, compared to 25% of those who identified nonviolent video games as their preferred genre. Furthermore, compared to those who played nonviolent video games, people who played violent video games reported hearing fights less frequently, 94% and 99%, respectively. “The severity of the fight was judged to be less severe by those who played violent video games than by those who played nonviolent games, while men also judged the conflict to be less severe than women.”

10 Essentially, “violent video game usage led to signs of psychological desensitization, especially with the finding that participants who played violent video games took much longer than those who played nonviolent games to help the victim, taking more than 450% longer. An inability to comprehend the gravity of a serious situation is a significant indicator of desensitization.”11 While these two studies concluded that exposure to violent media leads to desensitization, psychological arousal is frequently assessed in different ways, which might produce conflicting results. In particular, studies on violent video games have produced less clear data regarding short-term desensitization. According to a 2007 study conducted by Nicholas Carnegey, a consumer understanding and behavioral science researcher, playing a violent video game lowered participants' psychological arousal to images of real-life violence compared to a control group that had played a nonviolent video game.12 This study measured desensitization over a week using heart rate and galvanic skin response.

Krahé B, Möller I, Huesmann LR, Kirwil L, Felber J, Berger A. Desensitization to media violence: links with habitual media violence exposure, aggressive cognitions, and aggressive behavior. J Pers Soc Psychol. 2011 Apr;100(4):630-46. doi: 10.1037/a0021711. PMID: 21186935; PMCID: PMC4522002.

9 Krahé B, Möller I, Huesmann LR, Kirwil L, Felber J, Berger A. Desensitization to media violence: links with habitual media violence exposure, aggressive cognitions, and aggressive behavior. J Pers Soc Psychol. 2011 Apr;100(4):630-46. doi: 10.1037/a0021711. PMID: 21186935; PMCID: PMC4522002.

10 Krahé B, Möller I, Huesmann LR, Kirwil L, Felber J, Berger A. Desensitization to media violence: links with habitual media violence exposure, aggressive cognitions, and aggressive behavior. J Pers Soc Psychol. 2011 Apr;100(4):630-46. doi: 10.1037/a0021711. PMID: 21186935; PMCID: PMC4522002.

11 Bushman, Brad J., and Craig A. Anderson. “Comfortably Numb: Desensitizing Effects of Violent Media on Helping Others.” Psychological Science, vol. 20, no. 3, 2009, pp. 273–77. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/40575012. Accessed 17 Jul. 2022.

12 Nicholas L. Carnagey, Craig A. Anderson, Brad J. Bushman, The effect of video game violence on physiological desensitization to real-life violence, Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, Volume 43,Issue 3, 2007, Pages 489-496, ISSN 0022-1031, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jesp.2006.05.003. (https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0022103106000825) 8

However, in 2006, Mary Ballard, a psychology professor at Appalachian State University, used blood pressure to measure desensitization and found some evidence of psychological desensitization over a three-week game-playing period but failed to find an increase after time went on.13 The lack of consistency in research may be because of the variety in operationalizing arousal. Researchers utilize various measures of psychological arousals, such as blood pressure, heart rate, brain activity, and skin conductance, while some studies have a self-reported effect.

Limited research has looked at subjective and psychological arousal indicators, and even fewer have incorporated accounts of both positive and negative emotional responses. However, Carnagey’s 2007 study, using the General Aggression Model to include desensitization, explored the link between anxiety and pleasant arousal. They reasoned that while frequent exposure to violent media lessens the anxiety response to violent media content, new depictions of violence elicit different emotional responses than if desensitization had not occurred. An effective response might be a favorable reaction to the violence that would have been prevented by anxious arousal.14 Rowell Huesman, professor at the Institute for Social Research of the University of Michigan, and Lucyana Kirwil, Professor at SWPS University of Social Sciences and Humanities, have called this process sensitization. They argued that, although it may arouse anger, seeing violence does not cause nervous arousal for certain people. Instead, these people grow to enjoy viewing violence as they watch it more frequently. They are experiencing a sensitization of positive feelings. Therefore, people who have experienced high exposure to media violence would provide indirect evidence of the desensitization to unpleasant emotions toward the violence.15 Based on this logic, they hypothesized “that the anxious arousal caused by violent media stimuli is negatively correlated with pleasant arousal. Routine exposure to media violence should reduce adverse emotional reactions to violence and increase positive emotional reactions.”16 However, the increase in positive emotions will only happen for a small subset of people. For instance, Kirwil discovered in 2008 that people who tend to be aggressive are more likely to have a decrease in nervous arousal after watching violent media. In contrast, reactively aggressive people tend to respond with increased enjoyment. 17 There is also limited research that deals with desensitization to arousing stimuli with varying levels of effectiveness. However, in 2009, Kostas Fanti, Professor of Developmental Psychopathology at the University of Cyprus, explored this question. Participants were shown gruesome and humorous movie scenes and were asked to rate their enjoyment. There was a linear curve of preference for violent scenes.

After initially inclining, the viewer's appreciation of the violent sequences increased throughout succeeding scenes and peaked at the end of the series rather than the beginning. On the other hand, the humorous situations gradually lost viewers' interest. According to this research, sensitization was unique 13

Ballard, Mary E., et al. "Repeated exposure to video game play results in decreased blood pressure response." Media Psychology 8.4 (2006): 323-341.

14 Nicholas L. Carnagey, Craig A. Anderson, Brad J. Bushman, The effect of video game violence on physiological desensitization to real-life violence, Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, Volume 43,Issue 3, 2007, Pages 489-496, ISSN 0022-1031, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jesp.2006.05.003. (https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0022103106000825) 15 Flannery, Daniel J., Alexander T. Vazsonyi, and Irwin D. Waldman, eds. The Cambridge handbook of violent behavior and aggression. Cambridge University Press, 2007.

16 Kirwil, Lucyna. "Effects of violent media consumption on emotional arousal and proactive/reactive aggression in young adults." INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF PSYCHOLOGY. Vol. 43. No. 3-4. 27 CHURCH RD, HOVE BN3 2FA, EAST SUSSEX, ENGLAND: PSYCHOLOGY PRESS, 2008.

17 Kirwil, Lucyna. "Effects of violent media consumption on emotional arousal and proactive/reactive aggression in young adults." INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF PSYCHOLOGY. Vol. 43. No. 3-4. 27 CHURCH RD, HOVE BN3 2FA, EAST SUSSEX, ENGLAND: PSYCHOLOGY PRESS, 2008.

to violent content. 18 Bruce Bartholow, Professor in the Department of Psychological Sciences at the University of Missouri, conducted another study that compared violent media to other media types in 2006. ERPs (Event-Related Potential) were compared to violent images with nonviolent but emotionally upsetting images ( images of facial disfigurements). They concluded that “past exposure to violent games and a preference for those games predicted lower ERPs to violent images but not to unpleasant comparison images.”19 The two studies suggest that repeated media exposure desensitizes emotional reactions to violence only if the exposure is to scenes of violence.20 Contradictory evidence When comparing crime statistics to video game releases, there is contradictory evidence, even though most of this research has demonstrated that exposure to violent media results in desensitization in some form. Compared to the growth in crime rates, Micheal Ward, professor of criminology, sociology and social policy at Swansea University in 2011, discovered a negative correlation between crime and county-level video game store growth. 21 Additionally, they found evidence that these violent films were luring males away from their aggressive impulses and instead into theaters.22 American University criminologist Joanne Savage points out, “Looking at the data as a criminologist, I have to say that the evidence does not demonstrate a measurable effect of any type of violent media on violent crime,” says Savage. She adds, “It’s also nonsense to argue in favor of legislation restricting violent media to help decrease violent crime — as some politicians have done — by citing methodologically flawed studies that test the effects of media on minor aggression.” 23 Dr. Doug Gentile, who has done extensive research on the impact of video violence on children, disagrees, arguing that using violent crime data to assess the impact of violent video games is an unsuitable level of analysis. “The only way for violent games to affect serious criminal violence statistics is if they were the primary predictor of crime, which, of course, they’re not,” he says. 24While crime is not an adequate way to measure desensitization in the real world, these two studies imply that, contrary to the findings of laboratory studies, the connection between violent media and its effects in the real world may be more nuanced.

There are differences in opinion over how laboratory studies on video game violence should be interpreted within the psychology literature. For instance, methodological issues such as the use of subpar desensitization measurements and inflated effect size have been brought up by critics. Other experts have disputed the idea that children are harmed by violent video games, notably psychologist Christopher J. 18

Fanti, Kostas A., et al. "Desensitization to media violence over a short period of time." Aggressive Behavior: Official Journal of the International Society for Research on Aggression 35.2 (2009): 179-187.

19 Fanti, Kostas A., et al. "Desensitization to media violence over a short period of time." Aggressive Behavior: Official Journal of the International Society for Research on Aggression 35.2 (2009): 179-187.

20 Bartholow, Bruce D., Brad J. Bushman, and Marc A. Sestir. "Chronic violent video game exposure and desensitization to violence: Behavioral and event-related brain potential data." Journal of experimental social psychology 42.4 (2006): 532-539.

21 Cunningham, Scott, et al. “Violent Video Games and Violent Crime.” Southern Economic Journal, vol.

82, no. 4, 2016, pp. 1247–65. JSTOR, https://www.jstor.org/stable/26632315. Accessed 17 Jul. 2022.

22 Cunningham, Scott, et al. “Violent Video Games and Violent Crime.” Southern Economic Journal, vol.

82, no. 4, 2016, pp. 1247–65. JSTOR, https://www.jstor.org/stable/26632315. Accessed 17 Jul. 2022.

23

Azar, B. (2010, December). Virtual violence. Monitor on Psychology, 41(11). https://www.apa.org/monitor/2010/12/virtual-violence 24 Azar, B. (2010, December). Virtual violence. Monitor on Psychology, 41(11). https://www.apa.org/monitor/2010/12/virtual-violence

Ferguson. Ferguson claims that laboratory outcomes have not been translated into meaningful effects in the real world. According to him, many video game violence studies have neglected to account for factors like family and mental health. According to his research, kids who are already vulnerable may be more inclined to choose to play violent video games. Ferguson claims that these additional risk factors, rather than the media they consume, lead to desensitization. 25 Many others who criticize studies on methodological grounds claim that while desensitization may occur, the many millions of people that consume violent media experience no severe consequences in the real world. Scientists like Steven Pinker point out, "we consume more violent content than we have ever before, and yet we have never been at a lower risk of a bloody demise."26 In reality, most video games contain overtly socially acceptable themes, which many concerned adults and parents fail to realize. When a person plays video games, they are not practicing to go on a shooting rampage; instead, they are practicing to be the hero who defends their victims from evil. 27The same holds for more conventional forms of fiction like novels, movies, and television. Whenever the antagonist of a tale commits a murder, it is almost always condemned. Violence is only justified in fiction when it defends the weak against evil. In his novel Danse Macabre, Steven King describes horror stories as being "truly as conservative as an Illinois Republican in a three-piece pinstripe suit." This can relate to many types of fictional violence. Its overriding goal is to reinforce the norm by demonstrating the terrible outcomes that await those who do immoral acts. Steven King further states, "Within the framework of most horror tales, we find a moral code so strong it would make a Puritan smile." 28Even if we could stop disturbed people from viewing violent fiction, they could still find plenty of inspiration in incidents like school shootings or terrorist attacks, which are all casually discussed on the evening news.

Although studies have shown that fictional violence does cause desensitization to some extent, people fail to realize that real-life media provides just as much violence for today's youth to view at their discretion. Dr. Dimitri Christakis, director of the Center for Child Health, Behavior, and Development at Seattle Children's Research Institute, states, "We know from hundreds of studies on thousands of children that there is a link between 'virtual violence' and real-world aggression," He further states, "On average, the effect is in what we would deem the small to moderate range, but equivalent to the link between passive smoke exposure and lung cancer – something that municipalities have reacted to by enacting non-smoking ordinances." 29 In response to Christakis's statement, According to Dr. Douglas Gentile, a psychology professor at Iowa State University, stated that the quality of the media can have a greater impact than the quantity. He states, "Often, there are people who like to take extreme positions. Either the

American Psychological Association. (2013, November 1). Violence in the media: Psychologists study potential harmful effects. https://www.apa.org/topics/video-games/violence-harmful-effects 25

26

Gottschall, Jonathan. “2013 : What *Should* We Be Worried about?” Edge.org, 1 Jan. 1970, https://www.edge.org/response-detail/23745.

27 Gottschall, Jonathan. “2013 : What *Should* We Be Worried about?” Edge.org, 1 Jan. 1970, https://www.edge.org/response-detail/23745.

28 Clasen, Mathias, '“I’m Nervous That Horror Films Are Immoral”', A Very Nervous Person's Guide to Horror Movies (New York, 2021; online edn, Oxford Academic, 19 Aug. 2021), https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780197535899.003.0005, accessed 30 Aug. 2022.

29 Howard, Jacqueline. “Screen Violence -- Real and Fictional -- Harmful for Kids, Experts Say.” CNN, Cable News Network, 18 July 2016, https://www.cnn.com/2016/07/18/health/screen-violence-children/index.html.

studies show games are creating a generation of shooters, which the science does not support, or they say there is no evidence that there are harmful effects, which the science also does not support." 30 Real life media violence and its consequences As much as people are concerned about media violence, it cannot be said that violent media, particularly video games, are the main problem when desensitizing children to violence. The constant cycle of violent news and real-life violence we see daily in the media is often left out of the discussion.

Since the creation of television, violence has always been present in the media. However, it no longer has the same impact as it once did. For instance, the American public had unrestricted access to vivid and horrifying footage of the Vietnam War, the world's first televised war. It was the first time Americans viewed real footage of death and destruction, and it caused outrage. 31Now, the world and how it consumes and perceives information has completely changed. The violence that once concerned viewers during the Vietnam War is now shown nonstop. We now have 24-7 news stations, social media, and digital photography. We go through social media and hear news of shootings or our rights being taken away, and the only thing we do is scroll on to the next post. A growing culture of ‘True Crime’ has emerged; its audience is fixed on stories of kidnapping and murder. Undoubtedly, Americans have become desensitized during the past 30 years. The violence we witness in the media will always be a distressing sight, but perhaps it can no longer affect a public that is completely used to seeing these upsetting scenes daily. Today's kids, teens, and young adults are exposed to too much violence to the point where another school shooting becomes another school shooting without evoking the emotions we should anticipate in a child.32 There may be individual differences, but it's obvious that many of us are becoming desensitized due to living in a digitally connected society where violence is broadcast continually and at such a high volume. Despite many recognizing this problem, there is still minimal research on how this is affecting us. However, in one of the only notable studies available, a team of Bradford researchers sought to discover how much we are impacted by these horrific events that we are so often subjected to. In the study, 189 individuals were exposed to stories and photographs of violent incidents, including the September 11 attacks, school shootings, and suicide bombings. According to the researchers' data, only 22% of individuals who took part were seriously impacted by what they saw, displaying evidence that many of us are growing desensitized to these horrific events. "With the frequency of shootings and attacks, there is a sense of dread that is developing, and people have a sense of vulnerability and impotence," said Anita Gadgia-Smith, a psychologist in Washington. She adds, "the alarm is raised, but there may also be some desensitization taking place." 33 Particularly on social media, we are subjected to a 30

Howard, Jacqueline. “Screen Violence -- Real and Fictional -- Harmful for Kids, Experts Say.” CNN, Cable News Network, 18 July 2016, https://www.cnn.com/2016/07/18/health/screen-violence-children/index.html.

31 Rogers, Katie. “What Is a Constant Cycle of Violent News Doing to Us?” The New York Times, The New York Times, 15 July 2016, https://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/16/health/what-is-a-constant-cycle-of-violent-news-doing-to-us.html.

32 Rogers, Katie. “What Is a Constant Cycle of Violent News Doing to Us?” The New York Times, The New York Times, 15 July 2016, https://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/16/health/what-is-a-constant-cycle-of-violent-news-doing-to-us.html.

33 Rogers, Katie. “What Is a Constant Cycle of Violent News Doing to Us?” The New York Times, The New York Times, 15 July 2016, https://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/16/health/what-is-a-constant-cycle-of-violent-news-doing-to-us.html.

never-ending future of violence, negativity, and intolerance. Alerts for breaking news continuously vibrate on our phones, and rumors and false information are widespread in reaction. 34 Conclusion Based on what studies have told us, it can be argued that both fictional and nonfictional violence in the media causes evidence of desensitization, although it is difficult to prove this when taken outside of a laboratory. So it is not just fictional violence that causes desensitization, but rather a combination of real and fictional violence. In terms of the studies discussed, the first study concluded that repeatedly viewing violent media might lead to desensitization and increased enjoyment while watching violent media.

Carnagey and Kirwil also found evidence that some individuals experience more enjoyment when watching violent media, along with a decrease in anxiety. The second study proved that those who frequently watch violent content were less likely to help a victim in real life. Additionally, Fanti and Bartholow discovered in their research that repeated media exposure only desensitizes emotional responses to violent scenes. When considering evidence of desensitization outside of a laboratory setting, Micheal Ward found contradictory evidence when comparing crime rates and video game store growth, proving that the connection between fictional violence and desensitization is more complicated in the real world.

Additionally, most of these studies were conducted quite a few years ago, and these results may differ if they were conducted today, mainly because of how rapidly technology has progressed. It's also challenging to prove evidence of desensitization to real-life violence in the media, primarily because of the lack of research that has been done. However, based on our knowledge of how desensitization occurs, children and teenagers viewing awful events in real-time with little to no filtering will inevitably lead to some form of desensitization. Ultimately, fictional violence in the media does cause desensitization, but as a society, we should be just as concerned by the cycle of real violence in the media. Children are losing their ability to judge severe emergencies, and as the future continues and more distressing events occur, this may only increase. As a result, these adolescents may become increasingly out of touch with the real world and will begin to lose their ability to understand the severity of violence as it occurs in real-time.

On the other hand, gradual desensitization to the frightening events around us can be seen as a natural psychological defense. Up to a certain extent, it is healthy. Being subjected to constant anxiety and distress would not be healthy for any individual. However, with today's constant cycle of violence in the media, our natural response to desensitize these events has gone too far. This outcome is highly distressing because the younger generations will lose the drive to take the initiative when these wrongful acts transpire. If the media continues to normalize these events and doesn't modify the way they circulate harmful information, the youth will lose their ambition and will learn to accept these events without the desire to do anything about it.

Works Cited

Pittaro, Michael. “Exposure to Media Violence and Emotional Desensitization.” Psychology Today, 6 May 2019, https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/the-crime-and-justice-doctor/201905/exposure-mediaviolence-and-emotional-desensitization. Accessed 2 September 2022.

34

1. Aacap. “Screen Time and Children.” AACAP, https://www.aacap.org/AACAP/Families_and_Youth/Facts_for_Families/FFF-Guide/Children-An d-Watching-TV-054.aspx#:~:text=Screen%20Time%20and%20Children&text=Children%20and %20adolescents%20spend%20a,spend%20up%20to%209%20hours.

2. Carnagey, Nicholas L., et al. “Media Violence and Social Neuroscience: New Questions and New Opportunities.” Current Directions in Psychological Science, vol. 16, no. 4, 2007, pp.

178–82. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/20183192. Accessed 17 Jul. 2022.

3. Pittaro, Micheal. “Exposure to Media Violence and Emotional Desensitization.” Psychology Today, Sussex Publishers, https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/the-crime-and-justice-doctor/201905/exposure-mediaviolence-and-emotional-desensitization.

4. Itzkoff, Dave. “Scholar Finds Flaws in Work by Archenemy of Comics.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 19 Feb. 2013, https://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/20/books/flaws-found-in-fredric-werthams-comic-book-studie s.html.

5. Krahé B, Möller I, Huesmann LR, Kirwil L, Felber J, Berger A. Desensitization to media violence: links with habitual media violence exposure, aggressive cognitions, and aggressive behavior. J Pers Soc Psychol. 2011 Apr;100(4):630-46. doi: 10.1037/a0021711. PMID: 21186935; PMCID: PMC4522002.

6. Bushman, Brad J., and Craig A. Anderson. “Comfortably Numb: Desensitizing Effects of Violent Media on Helping Others.” Psychological Science, vol. 20, no. 3, 2009, pp. 273–77.

JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/40575012. Accessed 17 Jul. 2022.

7. Nicholas L. Carnagey, Craig A. Anderson, Brad J. Bushman, The effect of video game violence on physiological desensitization to real-life violence, Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, Volume 43,Issue 3, 2007, Pages 489-496, ISSN 0022-1031, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jesp.2006.05.003. (https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0022103106000825) 8. Ballard, Mary E., et al. "Repeated exposure to video game play results in decreased blood pressure response." Media Psychology 8.4 (2006): 323-341.

9. Flannery, Daniel J., Alexander T. Vazsonyi, and Irwin D. Waldman, eds. The Cambridge handbook of violent behavior and aggression. Cambridge University Press, 2007.

10. Kirwil, Lucyna. "Effects of violent media consumption on emotional arousal and proactive/reactive aggression in young adults." INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF PSYCHOLOGY. Vol. 43. No. 3-4. 27 CHURCH RD, HOVE BN3 2FA, EAST SUSSEX, ENGLAND: PSYCHOLOGY PRESS, 2008 11. Fanti, Kostas A., et al. "Desensitization to media violence over a short period of time."

Aggressive Behavior: Official Journal of the International Society for Research on Aggression 35.2 (2009): 179-187.

12. Bartholow, Bruce D., Brad J. Bushman, and Marc A. Sestir. "Chronic violent video game exposure and desensitization to violence: Behavioral and event-related brain potential data."

Journal of experimental social psychology 42.4 (2006): 532-539.

13. Cunningham, Scott, et al. “Violent Video Games and Violent Crime.” Southern Economic Journal, vol. 82, no. 4, 2016, pp. 1247–65. JSTOR, https://www.jstor.org/stable/26632315.

Accessed 17 Jul. 2022.

14. Azar, B. (2010, December). Virtual violence. Monitor on Psychology, 41(11). https://www.apa.org/monitor/2010/12/virtual-violence 15. American Psychological Association. (2013, November 1). Violence in the media: Psychologists study potential harmful effects. https://www.apa.org/topics/video-games/violence-harmful-effects 16. Gottschall, Jonathan. “2013 : What *Should* We Be Worried about?” Edge.org, 1 Jan. 1970, https://www.edge.org/response-detail/23745.

17. Clasen, Mathias, '“I’m Nervous That Horror Films Are Immoral”', A Very Nervous Person's Guide to Horror Movies (New York, 2021; online edn, Oxford Academic, 19 Aug. 2021), https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780197535899.003.0005, accessed 30 Aug. 2022.

18. Howard, Jacqueline. “Screen Violence -- Real and Fictional -- Harmful for Kids, Experts Say.” CNN, Cable News Network, 18 July 2016, https://www.cnn.com/2016/07/18/health/screen-violence-children/index.html.

19. Rogers, Katie. “What Is a Constant Cycle of Violent News Doing to Us?” The New York Times, The New York Times, 15 July 2016, https://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/16/health/what-is-a-constant-cycle-of-violent-news-doing-to-u s.html.

20. Pittaro, Michael. “Exposure to Media Violence and Emotional Desensitization.” Psychology Today, 6 May 2019, https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/the-crime-and-justice-doctor/201905/exposure-mediaviolence-and-emotional-desensitization. Accessed 2 September 2022.

Maya Evans Title: Magical Realism and the Patriarchy in Chronicle of a Death Foretold and The Virgin Suicides The work I have chosen to showcase is my extended essay, a comparative literature essay titled “Magical Realism and the Patriarchy in Chronicle of a Death Foretold and The Virgin Suicides.”

In this essay, I explored the presence of magical realism in both texts and how the authors used aspects of magical realism, such as mystical links between the characters and otherwise inanimate objects, authorial reticence, and narrative uncertainty, to portray the effects of the patriarchy on women and young girls. I focused mostly on the patriarchal objectification of teenage girls and the male gaze. This essay is very important to me because I was able to combine my curiosity about magical realism with an issue that affects my life every day. I feel that this essay is a true reflection of my interests and my creativity.

Magical Realism and the Patriarchy in Chronicle of a Death Foretold and The Virgin Suicides

RQ: To what extent do Chronicle of a Death Foretold and The Virgin Suicides use magical realism to explore the effects of a patriarchal society?

Personal Code: kmh978 Subject: English Category: 2 Word Count: 3947

1

Table of Contents Introduction

2

Chapter 1: background of magical realism + how it is present in both texts

2

Chapter 2: the tension between mystical links between female characters and the male gaze

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Chapter 3: narrative voices

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Conclusion

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Bibliography

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Introduction Jeffrey Eugenides’ The Virgin Suicides (TVS), a novel about the five Lisbon sisters who are obsessively objectified by the boys in their suburban neighborhood and end up committing suicide in a single year, and Gabriel García Márquez’s Chronicle of a Death Foretold (Chronicle), a novella about the murder of Santiago Nasar, a rich man who allegedly took Angela Vicario’s virginity and is murdered by her brothers because of it, share obvious motifs, such as virginity, religion, and memory. However, these novels also share similarities in their narrative structures. In both books, there is no suspense for the deaths to come, as it is announced in their titles and first pages. In addition, both books share a kind of narrative uncertainty, leaving the reader somewhat unsatisfied as they reach the last page and find no explanation for some of the biggest questions; in TVS, there is no definitive answer as to why the Lisbon sisters committed suicide, and similarly, in Chronicle, we never find out if Santiago Nasar actually took Angela Vicario’s virginity. Many of these narrative similarities can be interpreted as elements of magical realism, a style of literature that blurs the lines between fantasy and reality by adding an undercurrent of fantasy/magic to an otherwise mundane real-world setting. However, as explored in this essay, the most interesting similarity between these two novels is how magical realism is used as a vessel for societal critique. By using aspects of magical realism, Chronicle and TVS explore how patriarchal social codes objectify girls and how their communities uphold this damaging societal structure.

Chapter 1: background of magical realism + how it is present in both texts It’s important to establish what magical realism is before delving into how it is specifically used in the aforementioned novels to explore the damaging effects of the patriarchy.

German art critic Franz Roh first coined the term “magic realism” in 1925 and although he was using this term in reference to post-Expressionist German paintings, the Spanish translation of his article Nach-Expressionismus (Magischer Realismus): Probleme der neuesten Europaischen Malerei laid the foundation for Latin American writers who were trying to portray a “marvelous reality” specific to indigenous Latin American culture in their literature.1 In 1949, taking inspiration from Roh’s initial description of magic realism as a “serene wonder at the magic of existence,”2 Nobel Prize-winning Cuban novelist Alejo Carpentier developed a uniquely Latin American form of magic realism called “lo real maravilloso.” Describing Latin American history as a “chronicle of the marvelous real,” Carpentier argues that lo real maravilloso is specific to Latin America because its history is an “unexpected alteration of reality” from what Europeans

1

Simpkins, Scott. “Magical Strategies: The Supplement of Realism.” Twentieth Century Literature, vol. 34, no. 2, 1988, pp. 140–54. JSTOR, https://doi.org/10.2307/441074. Accessed 5 Sep. 2022.

2 Bényei, 151

3

are comfortable with.3 However, Carpentier didn’t use the exact term “magical realism.” Instead, it was Angel Flores who first used “magical realism” in his influential 1955 essay “Magical Realism in Spanish American Fiction.” Most literary critics, Flores included, do not think of magical realism as exclusively Latin American. There are magical realist authors all over the world, including Toni Morrison, Salman Rushdie, Ben Okri, Haruki Murakami, and Isabel Allende. However, it’s important to understand the Latin American context behind the popularization of magical realism; because this literary technique grew from countries dealing with the long-lasting effects of colonialism, it became intertwined with heavy critiques of society.

Magical realist texts often tell stories about those that society refuses to accept, revealing society’s faults and criticizing those with societal power. A defining characteristic of magical realism is the portrayal of mundane, real-world settings with magic/mystical elements accepted as normal, and by blending the fantastical with what’s familiar to the reader, magical realist texts aim to show a more authentic reality than other conventional writing styles could convey.

Another defining characteristic of magical realism is authorial reticence. Described by Scott Simpkins as “an awareness of the ineluctable lack in communication,”4 authorial reticence is a literary technique where the narrator doesn’t express clear opinions about the accuracy of the events described in the text or the characters’ worldviews.5 In other words, much is left unexplained. Authorial reticence is used to help the reader accept the magical elements in the text as real. “Normal” things don’t need to be explained so explaining the magical elements in detail makes them seem less real in comparison.

Although some literary critics such as Enrique Anderson Imbert believe that magical realism is an overused term,6 there are clear elements of magical realism in Chronicle and TVS. In Chronicle, supernatural events occur in a small Colombian town and are accepted as entirely normal, which is the main characteristic of magical realism. For example, Santiago Nasar’s mother Plácida Linero’s ability to accurately interpret the meaning of dreams is presented as a legitimate fact rather than some sort of small-town myth. Even though Plácida Linero did not see any ominous imagery in Santiago’s dreams predicting his death, the novella doesn’t imply that this is because her dream interpretations aren’t real, but rather because she simply “mixed up the magnificent augury of trees with the unlucky one of birds.”7 Another example of magical realism is the fact that Bayardo returns to Angela’s house with a suitcase full of years of unopened letters that she had sent. Bayardo didn’t know that those were passionate love letters because he didn’t open any of them, and yet he still felt that he had to return to her.

3

Carpentier, Alejo, et al. “On the Marvelous Real in America (1949).” Magical Realism: Theory, History, Community, edited by Lois Parkinson Zamora and Wendy B. Faris, Duke University Press, 1995, pp.

75–88. JSTOR, https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctv11cw5w1.7. Accessed 3 Aug. 2022.

4 Simpkins, 143 5 Moore, Lindsay. “Magical Realism.” Postcolonial Studies at Emory, Emory University, Oct. 2017, https://scholarblogs.emory.edu/postcolonialstudies/2014/06/21/magical-realism/#:~:text=Authorial%20Reti cence%3A%20Authorial%20reticence%20refers,promotes%20acceptance%20in%20magical%20realism.

6 Imbert, E. A. “‘Magical Realism’ in Spanish-American Fiction”. International Fiction Review, vol. 2, no. 1, Jan. 1975, https://journals.lib.unb.ca/index.php/IFR/article/view/13093.

7 Márquez, 98

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Gabriel García Márquez is one of the most well-known magical realist authors, so it’s easier to recognize magical realism in his writing. With TVS, however, magical realism is more subtle and appears in the form of mystical or symbolic connections, a concept that will be explained further in the next chapter. One example of this is how Old Mrs. Karafilis, one of the Lisbons’ neighbors, is described as being able to “enter into telepathy” with the Lisbon sisters.8 In addition, Eugenides’ fascination with “impossible narrative voices” led him to use a unique first-person plural narrative voice.9 The narrator, one of the neighborhood boys obsessed with the Lisbon sisters, uses “I” to refer to himself, but he also uses “we” to describe internal thoughts and feelings that would seem too specific to be applied to a group. The impossibility of this narrative voice is also a vehicle for authorial reticence. Having a multiple-person narrator may seem to promise a more reliable version of events than if it came from only one person,10 but there is a collective uncertainty about the events described, and important information is left unexplained. This aspect of authorial reticence is also seen in Chronicle where the townspeople provide conflicting memories of the day Santiago was murdered to the point where it’s difficult for the reader to discern which version of the story is true.

Chapter 2: the tension between mystical links between female characters and the male gaze As mentioned before, one of the main components of magical realism is societal critique, and in both novels, magical realism is specifically used to show the patriarchy’s harmful effects on women and the community around them. One example of this is the mystical link between female characters, specifically Angela Vicario and the Lisbon sisters, and their houses. In professor Francisco Collado-Rodríguez's essay, he argues that García-Márquez and Eugenides imbue the houses in their books with the “spirit of their dwellers,” meaning that “what happens to the [female] protagonists deeply and magically affects the condition of their houses.”11 In Chronicle, girls and boys have very clear societal roles set out for them, with boys expected to be “men” and girls “reared to be married.”12 In addition, girls are expected to hold their virginity with high importance, as it is synonymous with their honor and reputation. Not only is it expected that a girl remains a virgin until marriage to maintain her honor, but it’s expected to go to extreme lengths to protect and defend that honor. Angela’s friends teach her “old wives’ tricks” so that she could proudly display a sheet with her “stain of honor” the morning after her wedding because of these strict social codes.13 This is also why Bayardo forcefully returns 8

Eugenides, 167 Foer, Jonathan Safran, and Jeffrey Eugenides. “Jeffrey Eugenides.” BOMB, no. 81, 2002, pp. 74–80.

JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/40426739. Accessed 5 Sep. 2022.

10 Shostak, Debra. “‘A Story We Could Live With’: Narrative Voice, the Reader, and Jeffery Eugenides’s ‘The Virgin Suicides.’” Modern Fiction Studies, vol. 55, no. 4, 2009, pp. 808–32. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/26287384. Accessed 5 Sep. 2022.

11 Collado-Rodríguez, Francisco. “Back to Myth and Ethical Compromise: García Márquez’s Traces on Jeffrey Eugenides’s ‘The Virgin Suicides.’” Atlantis, vol. 27, no. 2, 2005, pp. 27–40. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/41055202. Accessed 5 Sep. 2022.

12 Márquez, 31 13 Márquez, 38 9

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Angela to her family after discovering that she isn’t a virgin. Angela did not follow the social codes that were expected of her by having sex before marriage and the mystical consequences of this start to occur when the house that Bayardo bought for Angela is abandoned and looted.

Despite Colonel Lázaro Aponte’s constant supervision, items in the house disappear in impossible ways - a huge closet disappears even though it was assembled inside the house because it was too big to fit through the door, and Yolanda Xius, the dead wife of the house’s previous owner, confirms “in her own handwriting” that she has been taking back what’s hers.14 The only traces of Angela left in the house are the devices she was going to use to fake her virginity, showing how she’s been reduced to her lost honor and the actions that society deems most disgraceful. The house is used as symbolism specifically to show how heavily these social codes are relied on in every aspect of life in Chronicle. The gender roles impressed upon Angela were so strict that the moment she began to stray from them, “the house began to crumble.”15 The fact that the house falls prey to mystical looting only after Bayardo discovers Angela isn’t a virgin shows how even the places considered to be the safest and most intimate have relied on these archaic patriarchal ideals for so long that they almost can’t survive without them.

In TVS, the link between the Lisbon sisters and the physical condition of their house is a little different. With clear examples of magical realism, Eugenides shows how the internal turmoil of the Lisbon family attracts an equally depressing environment. When Mrs. Lisbon takes her daughters out of school and doesn’t let them leave the house, the condition of the Lisbon house begins to decay, and the narrator describes a dark cloud that always “seemed to hover over the Lisbons’ roof.”16 As the Lisbons recede from the community and society around them, their house continues to deteriorate; the curtains are described as “a film of dirt with spy holes wiped clean” and the people in the Lisbons’ suburban neighborhood refuse to go near or even touch the house.17 “The house truly dies”18 when Mr. Lisbon gets fired from his job as a teacher because the Lisbons’ only remaining reason to leave the house, as well as their last tie to society, was now severed. Similar to how Angela had very strict societal codes imposed upon her because of her gender, much of Mrs. Lisbon’s strict rules regulate her daughters, specifically Lux, based on how she (and society) thinks a teenage girl should act. For instance, she forces them to wear modest clothes and doesn’t let them wear makeup. In addition, it’s only after Lux Lisbon returns home late from a date that Mrs. Lisbon starts keeping her daughters and the house in “maximum-security isolation.”19 The Lisbon girls’ imprisonment in their home represents how they are silenced and controlled by the social construction of what their femininity should look like. In the midst of both her family and her house deteriorating, magical realism is once again intertwined with the house to show Lux’s desire to break free from the stifling rules imposed on her; people begin to see Lux having sex with random men on her roof, even though she never 14

Márquez, 87 Ibid 16 Eugenides, 136 17 Eugneides, 154-155 18 Eugenides, 157 19 Eugenides, 136 15

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leaves her house and it’s virtually impossible to sneak these men up the creaking stairs without her parents knowing.

However, even in her attempt to escape from her mom’s strict regulation of her femininity, Lux is still trapped in another harmful aspect of the patriarchy – the sexualization and objectification of teenage girls, specifically that of the narrator. This concept of viewing women and girls as passive sex objects is known as the male gaze. On a societal level, this patriarchal structure empowers men by dehumanizing women, and this is apparent through the narrator’s portrayal of Lux. With metaphors reminiscent of magical realism, Lux is described in a way that almost makes her seem inhuman. The men who allegedly had sex with her use animal characteristics to describe her, such as them being pinned down by “two great beating wings” or feeling “plumage” above her upper lip.20 In addition, the narrator likens Lux to some sort of mythical sexual being, with her sexual encounters being mere “footholds in [her] ascent” and her eyes shining with “intent on her mission as only a creature with no doubts as to either Creation’s glory or its meaninglessness.”21 With these descriptions of Lux as a mysterious sex being, Eugenides demonstrates how Lux is reduced to her sex appeal by the men around her and by society. They only value how she satisfies them sexually and because of this, she seems less human in their eyes.

It’s clear to the reader that Lux is struggling. All of the boys she had sex with mention “her jutting ribs” and other signs of sickliness such as “the small cold sores at the corners of her mouth” and “the patch of hair missing above her left ear.”22 Despite this, she is still sexualized, because her trauma and sickliness will never outweigh the fact that she is a young girl - the narrator even says himself that those details did not detract from her image as a “carnal angel.”23 The fact that the narrator and his friend group picture Lux when they have sex with their current lovers, even though they’re now middle-aged men and she was only fourteen, shows how heavily teenage girls are sexualized. They will always see her as the “pale wraith [they] make love to”24 and nothing else. This is seen in Chronicle as well when Victoria Guzmán is described as being “seduced by Ibrahim Nasar in the fullness of her adolescence.”25 The contrast between the magical realist descriptions and the more human descriptions of Lux encourages the reader to look past the portrayal of her that’s so heavily influenced by the male gaze and see her for who she is: a traumatized fourteen-year-old girl and a child without mysterious sex appeal.

Chapter 3: narrative voices Narrators are prominent tools for magical realism in both books, but they are used in different ways. Chronicle uses authorial reticence and narrative uncertainty to subtly encourage 20

Eugenides, 143 Ibid 22 Ibid 23 Ibid 24 Eugenides, 142 25 Márquez, 9 21

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the reader to challenge the narrative presented to them. Throughout the novel, the townspeople have conflicting memories of the weather on the day of Santiago’s murder. While some, such as Santiago’s cook Victoria Guzmán, remember the morning as being beautiful and sunny, others, such as Santiago’s mother, remember it being dreary and rainy. As the narrator’s account of the day continues, the contradicting memories continue. Colonel Lárazo Aponte says with certainty that the rain started at 5 pm but both Vicario twins insist that there was no rain and later Cristo Bedoya, one of Santiago’s friends, remembers golden sunbeams coming through the windows.

The narrator’s account is also filled with more examples of magical realism in regard to Santiago’s murder. Before the murder, Hortensia Baute testifies that the Vicario twins’ knives seemed to be dripping blood but, interestingly, during the actual murder, “there wasn’t a drop of blood” on the knives as Pedro and Pablo Vicario stabbed Santiago.26 Despite being stabbed multiple times, Santiago then stands up and walks through the streets holding his own intestines, even brushing the dirt off of them before he dies.

Becky Boling, a now-retired professor from Carleton College, believes that the town has accepted these mystical and unrealistic accounts as fact to remove themselves from their own culpability in the tragedy. In her words, “by converting the sordid incident into a ‘drama’...the twins and the town gain stature, give form to an absurd tragedy, and mitigate their own guilt.”27 With unrealistic details and contradicting memories, Márquez pushes the reader to “insert meaning within the absences” of reasonable explanation28 and see the larger societal implications of what’s been presented to them. For example, the narrator describes Santiago as being “peaceful and openhearted” but in the next few pages, we see him sexually assaulting Divina Flor, one of his servants.29 The narrator doesn’t give an explicit explanation as to how Santiago could be seen as peaceful when he is sexually violent toward his servants, and this strategy of exclusion highlights the cultural and sociopolitical subtext of the novel,30 specifically how sexual violence toward women is ignored and normalized in the patriarchy. As shown by the narrator’s description of Santiago, a man can openly sexually assault a young girl and still be seen as “peaceful and openhearted” by nature. The fact that Santiago’s father also sexually assaulted Divina Flor’s mother shows how this behavior has been passed down to the next generation and repeated time and time again.

Another example is the ambiguous language surrounding Angela and Santiago’s relationship when the Vicario twins force Angela to tell them who took her virginity. In the narrator’s words, Angela looks for Santiago’s name “in the shadows…among the many, many easily confused names from this world,”31 implying that Santiago is not actually the one who took her virginity. However, even though most of the town agrees with this interpretation, his innocence doesn’t matter. The vast majority of the town knows that the Vicario twins were going 26

Márquez, 118 Boling, Becky. “Crónica de Una Muerte Anunciada: In Search of Authority.” Hispanic Journal, vol. 9, no.

1, 1987, pp. 75–87. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/44284136. Accessed 5 Sep. 2022.

28 Boling, 82 29 Márquez, 8-9, 13 30 Boling, 82 31 Márquez, 47 27

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to kill Santiago Nasar as well as the reasons why, but most don’t do anything to stop it. It’s easier for them to just accept Santiago as the perpetrator because they know the Vicario brothers have to restore their sister’s honor, which is so important in Colombian society that the law protects those who commit crimes “in legitimate defense of honor.”32 More remorse is shown for the Vicario brothers who are expected by society to violently defend their sister’s honor than for Santiago who is actually about to be killed, because, in a way, Santiago acts as a sacrifice to strengthen the patriarchal roots of the town. This is why the twins are able to say that even though they “killed him openly,” they are innocent of committing an actual crime and why they insist on being transferred to the prison in broad daylight to show they are not ashamed of what they did.33 The town is hesitant to challenge the patriarchal structures in place so they manage their guilt about refusing to get involved by returning to the societal “pretext that affairs of honor are sacred monopolies.”34 By upholding the patriarchal structures that allowed and encouraged Santiago’s murder, the town plays a direct role in the crime.

On the other hand, in TVS, magical realism in the narrative voice reveals the narrator’s objectification of the Lisbon sisters. Though the girls are subjected to a lot of sexual objectification by the boys in their community, their lives are also romanticized to the point where their individuality and humanity are lost. For the boys, the Lisbon sisters are the embodiment of magical realism. The boys view them as a mysterious homogenous entity, which is clear by the fact that they didn’t think to decide who would take each sister to prom. They are more obsessed with this romanticized idea of the girls than the girls as actual humans, which is why the girls appear more real in the boys’ dreams than when they were alive and why Trip abandons Lux when she starts to break down emotionally. They are obsessed with the girls’ beauty, and they force their voyeuristic interpretations onto them under the guise of understanding them, convincing themselves that they’re close to the Lisbon sisters.35 This explains why the boys refuse to accept the more realistic explanations for the suicides. In Shostak’s words, their rejection of what they deem “merely historic” shows that they “find succor in the mythic—the ‘haunted quality’ of the uncanny in magical realism” because it supports “the narrative that suits their narcissistic desires.”36 To them, the Lisbon sisters are “really women in disguise” who understand “love and even death.”37 They believe that they understand what it’s like to be a Lisbon sister by reading parts of Cecilia’s diary; however, they could never actually understand this because they contribute to that imprisonment with gross objectification such as looking up Cecilia’s dress, exposing their genitals to her, and sexualizing the bodies of her and her sisters. The boys view the girls as idealized objects of two different types of desire: erotic desire and the desire to tell the story of a tragedy that greatly affected their community. Because of this, they construct a one-sided mythic narrative littered with magical 32

Márquez, 48 Márquez, 83 34 Márquez, 87 35 Shostak, 825 36 Shostak, 825 37 Eugenides, 40 33

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realism instead of an accurate historical account. The fact that they are still looking for a mysterious light they saw in Lux’s eyes the night she and her sisters committed suicide shows they cannot look past their mystical objectifying view of the sisters even in adulthood.38 One of the only sentiments we hear directly from the girls themselves is that they just want to live their lives free from the scrutinizing and objectifying eyes of the people around them (if anyone would let them). The magical realism in Eugenides’ unique narrative voice gives the reader the choice to either listen for the unheard voices of the Lisbon sisters or comfortably accept the idealized mythic view of Lisbon girls as presented by the narrator, imprisoning them once again.

Conclusion Chronicle of a Death Foretold and The Virgin Suicides utilize magical realism to show the patriarchy’s objectification of teenage girls as well as how communities uphold this damaging societal structure. Multiple literary devices were used, including mystical symbolism, authorial reticence, and the narrative voice, to convey how heavily the Lisbon sisters are objectified by the male gaze in The Virgin Suicides and how patriarchal social codes control the town in Chronicle of a Death Foretold. A critique that some people might have of this essay is that the authors of both novels are men. Eugenides and García Márquez are in positions of power in the patriarchy, so they will never completely know or understand the experience of a woman in the patriarchy. In addition, it was mentioned earlier in this essay that the Latin American origins of the popularization of magical realism are a key reason why this literary technique is often intertwined with heavy critiques of society. However, Eugenides presents a different response to colonialism than García Márquez (and other magical realist authors who have been directly affected by colonialism). The aftereffects of colonialism on white suburbia can be seen subtly in multiple points throughout the novel, namely in the reference to Detroit as “the impoverished city we never visited”39 as well as when the narrator mentions that the neighborhood was unhappy about the number of black people who had to leave the now deteriorated Detroit to shop. Eugenides is an example of how colonialism manifests itself differently in magical realist texts depending on the experiences of the author. As a white American man, Eugenides doesn’t directly experience the ever-present effects of colonialism in modern society but he still embeds it into his writing through his perspective as an observer. I believe that Eugenides and García Márquez’s societal critique lays the groundwork for the reader to make their own interpretations and opinions about what has been presented to them. It’s up to the reader to recognize the ways that the narrators are limited – not just the narrators of each novel, but the authors themselves as well. In her essay pertaining to The Virgin Suicides, Shostak speaks of the danger of just accepting the authority of one narrative voice/perspective.40 The reader can think of Eugenides and García Márquez in the same way. Although the magical 38

Shostak, 824 Eugenides, 31 40 Shostak, 827 39

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realism in these novels is an important tool for understanding the patriarchy’s devastating effects on communities, it’s crucial that these novels are not your only tools and that you continue to educate yourself.

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Bibliography Simpkins, Scott. “Magical Strategies: The Supplement of Realism.” Twentieth Century Literature, vol. 34, no. 2, 1988, pp. 140–54. JSTOR, https://doi.org/10.2307/441074. Accessed 5 Sep. 2022.

Bényei, Tamás. “Rereading ‘Magic Realism.’” Hungarian Journal of English and American Studies (HJEAS), vol. 3, no. 1, 1997, pp. 149–79. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/41261604.

Accessed 5 Sep. 2022.

Carpentier, Alejo, et al. “On the Marvelous Real in America (1949).” Magical Realism: Theory, History, Community, edited by Lois Parkinson Zamora and Wendy B. Faris, Duke University Press, 1995, pp. 75–88. JSTOR, https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctv11cw5w1.7. Accessed 3 Aug. 2022.

Moore, Lindsay. “Magical Realism.” Postcolonial Studies at Emory, Emory University, Oct. 2017, https://scholarblogs.emory.edu/postcolonialstudies/2014/06/21/magical-realism/ Imbert, E. A. “‘Magical Realism’ in Spanish-American Fiction”. International Fiction Review, vol. 2, no. 1, Jan. 1975, https://journals.lib.unb.ca/index.php/IFR/article/view/13093.

Foer, Jonathan Safran, and Jeffrey Eugenides. “Jeffrey Eugenides.” BOMB, no. 81, 2002, pp.

74–80. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/40426739. Accessed 5 Sep. 2022.

Eugenides, Jeffrey. The Virgin Suicides. Picador, 1993.

García Márquez, Gabriel. Chronicle of a Death Foretold. Vintage Books, 1981.

Shostak, Debra. “‘A Story We Could Live With’: Narrative Voice, the Reader, and Jeffery Eugenides’s ‘The Virgin Suicides’.” Modern Fiction Studies, vol. 55, no. 4, 2009, pp. 808–32.

JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/26287384. Accessed 5 Sep. 2022.

Collado-Rodríguez, Francisco. “Back to Myth and Ethical Compromise: García Márquez’s Traces on Jeffrey Eugenides’s ‘The Virgin Suicides.’” Atlantis, vol. 27, no. 2, 2005, pp. 27–40.

JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/41055202. Accessed 5 Sep. 2022.

Boling, Becky. “Crónica de Una Muerte Anunciada: In Search of Authority.” Hispanic Journal, vol. 9, no. 1, 1987, pp. 75–87. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/44284136. Accessed 5 Sep. 2022.

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Milla Sa My Extended Essay explores Andy Warhol's attitude toward religion, which can be seen as contradictory as he participated in religious activities while critiquing the Catholic Church through his art. Warhol highlights the consumerist actions of the Catholic church while still participating in them. Similarly, he critiques celebrity culture and idolisation while participating in that same culture. The paper argues that Warhol's use of religious imagery in his art is a critique of the commodification of the Catholic Church and a symbol of consumer culture's power over all aspects of modern life, including spiritual dimensions.

Research question: How does the religious imagery in Andy Warhol’s work reflect

his criticisms of the Catholic Church as a consumerist organisation?

Subject area: Visual arts Personal code: kmh997 Word count: 3767

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Table of Contents Background

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Examination of Warhol’s work Warhol’s Gold Marilyn Monroe Warhol’s Are You Different Warhol’s Raphael Madonna-$6.99 Warhol’s Last Supper (Dove)

6 6 8 9 11

Religious Reflection

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Conclusion

13

Bibliography

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Andy Warhol, one of the most well-known modern artists, became famous through his attention-grabbing art and mystifying personality. Most well-known for his Campbell's Soup paintings, Warhol pulled inspiration from mass media and glorified everyday objects through his art. There have been debates over the intentions, if there are any, behind Warhol's art. Warhol himself was very elusive: he gave little information concerning the intentions behind his work.

While Warhol spoke very little of the intended messages behind his art, it is clear that he did have deeper meanings in his work. For instance, Warhol’s identity as a gay man, living in the 1980’s, can give us some insight into his work. And, although overshadowed by his more famous pieces, his works shrouded in religious iconography make up a large part of his collection and can shed light on his more personal intentions as well. Though perhaps unexpected from an artist so famous for his work on celebrity and consumerism, religion played a large role in Warhol’s life and his work. We know from his diary and accounts from friends that he frequently attended church services, but he had a complex relationship with religion. It is not always easy to tell if Warhol’s inclusion of religious symbols was because he was devout Catholic or rather for aesthetic purposes. Only towards the end of his life did critics take the spiritual dimension of his art into consideration.1 In this paper, I will examine certain works of Warhol’s in order to more deeply understand his application of religious ideologies in his art. Through deeper analysis of Warhol’s artwork, interviews, and personal diary entries, this paper will show that Warhol’s inclusion of religious imagery, in his pieces, is a criticism of the commodification of the Catholic Church and the idolization of religious figures. More profoundly, however, Warhol’s religious works call into question any clear division between the spiritual and the mundane aspects of modern life. In the end, Warhol’s comparisons between consumerism and Catholicism highlight his own personal struggle with morality.

Background Born in Pennsylvania in 1928, Andy Warhol grew up in a Byzantine Catholic household surrounded by religious art.2 Producing over 21,000 pieces3 over the course of his life, Warhol created a wide variety of artworks. Warhol created numerous works featuring religious imagery, such as his 1950s painting Madonna and Child.4 His use of religious iconography picked up in the last 10 years of his career; one of the last collections he did was a series of 100 paintings 1

Bennett-Carpenter, Benjamin. “The Divine Simulacrum of Andy Warhol: Baudrillard's Light on the Pope of Pop's ‘Religious Art.’” Bennett-Carpenter - The Divine Simulacrum of Andy Warhol - JCRT 1.3, Benjamin Bennett-Carpenter, 28 July 2021, https://jcrt.org/archives/01.3/carpenter.shtml.

2 Elie, Paul. “Andy Warhol's Religious Journey.” The New Yorker, 7 Dec. 2021, https://www.newyorker.com/culture/culture-desk/andy-warhols-religious-journey.

3 “Paintings, Sculptures, and Drawings.” Paintings, Sculptures, and Drawings – The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, 13 Sep. 2021, https://warholfoundation.org/warhol/catalogue-raisonne/paintings-sculptures-drawings/.

4 Warhol, Andy. Raphael Madonna-$6.99. THE ANDY WARHOL FOUNDATION FOR THE VISUAL ARTS, INC, 1985, The Andy Warhol Museum, Pittsburgh.

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solely based on the Last Supper5 by Leonardo da Vinci. Indeed, many of Warhol’s religious paintings were based on famous renaissance works. Warhol blended classic images and juxtaposed them with bold modern consumerist symbols, such as price tags and brand logos.

Warhol’s transformations of these traditional paintings shows his desire to communicate his critiques of modern Catholicism, as well as his more well known interest in consumerism.

Warhol’s engagement with the idea of consumption followed along the lines of the Pop Art Movement. The Pop Art Movement focused on challenging accepted ideas of what art could be, concentrating on the harmonisation of so-called high end and low end art. Artists drew inspiration from the day-to-day, creating accessible art from themes of everyday life.6 Warhol started as a commercial illustrator, and eventually began to gain recognition in the late 1950s after entering a few of his pieces into galleries. At the time, the Pop Art Movement had begun to pick up in both England and the United States. It emerged after the Second World War as a reaction to abstract expressionism: Pop Art, unlike many other art movements, linked artists through subject matter rather than artistic style.7 Pop artist Roy Lichtenstein, who became one of the leading faces in the Pop Art movement along with Warhol, was heavily influenced by comic book styles and advertisement culture.8 His work, although a different style than Warhol’s, focused on similar topics of mass media and current culture. These themes allowed artists in the Pop Art movement to challenge the traditional values of fine art, instead rebelliously incorporating consumerist and mass media imagery into ‘high end’ art. Warhol’s earliest works were based on advertisements, and used repetition to present highly familiar images (like the Campbell’s Soup can) in unexpected ways.9 Warhol was innovative not only in the subjects he chose, but also the tools he used to make his art. In the 1960s Warhol began using a silk screen, a tool not yet popularised in the modern art scene. This silkscreen allowed him to quickly create replications of his paintings, and emphasised his interest in repetition even more. Thus Warhol was an integral part of the Pop Art Movement as it brought about a new focus on expanding how art was made and a revolt against what would traditionally be considered art.10 As a result of Warhol’s prolific work in the Pop Art Movement, he came to be known as one of the first celebrity artists.11 Called by some the “Pope of Pop”,12 his iconic paintings of celebrities and everyday commercial objects shot him to stardom. What separated Warhol from other artists of his time was his high volume of repetitive works, combined with his enigmatic and showy personality. Warhol rarely gave interviews, and when he did he spent the majority of

5

Da Vinci, Leonardo. Last Supper. Currier & Ives, New York, 1498, Santa Maria della Grazie church in Milan.

Furnham, A. and Walker, J. (2001), Personality and judgements of abstract, pop art, and representational paintings. Eur. J. Pers., 15: 57-72. https://doi.org/10.1002/per.340 7 Selvin, Erdem. (2016). The Analysis of Pop Art: Content, Subject Matter, Style and Form. 10.13140/RG.2.1.4782.5047.

8 Berman, Avis. “Roy Lichtenstein Foundation.” Roy Lichtenstein Foundation, 2022, https://lichtensteinfoundation.org/.

9 Diaz, José Carlos. “How Warhol's Complicated Relationship with Catholicism Influenced His Art.” The Andy Warhol Museum, 20 Aug. 2020, https://www.warhol.org/warhols-relationship-with-catholicism-was-far-from-simple-still-he-evoked-god-through-his-art/.

10 Tate Museum. “Pop Art.” Tate, https://www.tate.org.uk/art/art-terms/p/pop-art.

11 Berman, Avis. “Roy Lichtenstein Foundation.” Roy Lichtenstein Foundation, 2022, https://lichtensteinfoundation.org/.

12 Balis, Anthia. “Andy Warhol: The Pope of Pop.” Honi Soit, 18 Oct. 2021, https://honisoit.com/2021/10/andy-warhol-the-pope-of-pop/.

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the time giving cryptic answers and avoiding questions.13 Because Warhol was so reluctant to talk about his work, scholars have resorted to a variety of speculations about the real meaning behind his art.14 Warhol’s critiques of consumerism in his art are often discussed,15 but these discussions overlook Warhol’s religious artworks and the meanings behind them. Considering the heavy religious imagery in much of Warhol's work, along with his words and accounts from friends, can add depth and complexity to his critique of modernity. Consumption becomes, explicitly, something that has invaded our very souls.

While Warhol engaged with religious ideas throughout his career, his work grew increasingly more religious in the last years of his life, and in parallel with the introduction of the AIDs epidemic. It was well known that Warhol was a gay man, and during the AIDs epidemic many people in his life were affected. In his diary Warhol talks about AIDs, refering to the disease as “gay cancer”, and expressing his concerns about it. “Donahue had a show on gay cancer,”16 he wrote, “but I didn’t want to watch it, it made me nervous.”17 While he continued regularly going to church during this time, he was not unaffected by the church’s outspoken hate against gay people. Warhol’s feelings of betrayal become clear in his increasingly religious work late in his career, in which he critiques themes of consumption and devotion, casting doubt on the sincerity of the Catholic church. And yet, until the end of his life, he remained a church-goer, and never outspokenly criticised the church. In the following section of my paper, I will examine four separate works of Warhol’s in chronological order, analysing the religious symbolism in each of the pieces, and exploring how Warhol’s critique builds over time while never quite invalidating Warhol’s own personal use of religious routines.

13

Cavalier, director. Andy Warhol Interview (1966). YouTube, YouTube, 3 Mar. 2019, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p7nw9Up54pg. Accessed 5 Oct. 2022.

14 Cavalier, director. Andy Warhol Interview (1966). YouTube, YouTube, 3 Mar. 2019, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p7nw9Up54pg. Accessed 5 Oct. 2022.

15 Culver, Natalee. “Andy Warhol and His Obsession with Consumer Culture.” Sutori , https://www.sutori.com/en/story/andy-warhol-and-his-obsession-with-consumer-culture--bJeWXVmeqmKWZcZMfHMXNTsX. 16 Hackett, Pat. The Andy Warhol Diaries. Simon and Schuster, 1989, 234.

17 Hackett, Pat. The Andy Warhol Diaries. Simon and Schuster, 1989, 234.

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Examination of Warhol’s work Warhol’s Gold Marilyn Monroe

Warhol, Andy. Gold Marilyn Monroe. Giotto. Giotto. Ognissanti Madonna (Maestà Di Ognissanti).

2022 Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Italy, 1306, Uffizi Gallery.

Arts / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York, Gallery, 1962, MoMA, New York.

Warhol began making religious references in his work early in his career. In his 1962 Gold Marilyn Monroe, Warhol explored the connection between religious figures and celebrities.

Warhol created this painting as a tribute to Monroe after her passing. He used the famous bust of Monroe, one of the most recognizable photos of the late celebrity. Indeed, Warhol frequently used this image of Monroe for many of his paintings of her. This time, however, Warhol depicted Monroe surrounded by a sea of gold. In this way Warhol created a comparison between Monroe and classical religious figures.

Dating back to mediaeval art, gold was often used to show the light of god.18 One famous example of this is in Giotto di Bondone, Ognissanti Madonna 1310, with gold halos surrounding the Virgin Mary and the Child of Christ. Even as Warhol’s use of gold in his portrait of Monroe portrays her as a modern religious icon, his reference to older, religious artworks also implicitly compares saints to celebrities. Warhol comments on the fact that Monroe, and other celebrities of 18

“More Stories.” Colour in Art: a Brief History of Gold | Art UK, https://artuk.org/discover/stories/colour-in-art-a-brief-history-of-gold.

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her renown, hold the same influence and following as such religious figures used to. People devote themselves to these new modern icons much in the same way people once devoted themselves to the imagery of god. At their core, however, celebrities are representations of consumerist culture. Thus, Warhol is also setting up an implicit connection between consumerism and religious practice. People buy and consume movies and products pushed by modern celebrities, in a very similar way to the way religious followers buy and consume the ideas sold to them by the church. Warhol’s depiction of Monroe is not meant to condemn, so much as to highlight the connection in the way people consume culture and religion.

Indeed, Warhol’s diaries make it clear that he reflected heavily on the relationship between religion and modern celebrities, often making references to the ultimate religious celebrity, the Pope. On April 2nd of 1980, Warhol comments on his experience meeting the Pope, retelling the crowd’s reaction: “There was a bunch of cheerleaders saying, “Rah-rah, pope.”’19 Warhol was intrigued by the enthusiasm of the crowd around him: “The people next to me were giving him a gold plate, they were from Belgium. The mobs behind us were jumping down from their seats,”20 In contrast to his focus on the crowd’s energy, Warhol mentions very little of what the Pope himself did. “He got up and gave a speech against divorce in seven different languages. … That took three hours. It was really boring, and then finally the pope was coming our way.”21 Warhol watches the crowds of people push towards the Pope, like swarms of fans crowding to see their favourite celebrity. As mundane as the Pope’s speech is, people still gather around to hear, less excited about the speech than about meeting this icon.

Warhol draws focus to the crowd’s reactions to the Pope, skipping over the Pope’s message and rather focusing on the mindless following that the Catholic Church as a whole has garnered. Ironically, in the very same crowd, Warhol too was recognized for his own brand. As he wrote in his diary on the occasion of his visit to the Pope, “A nun screamed out, “You’re Andy Warhol! Can I have your autograph?”’.22 From the way he dressed and presented himself, to his art itself, everything about Warhol was very recognizable and conducive to celebrity culture. People in the crowd were excited by the fact Warhol was there, not because they were necessarily fans of his work, but rather simply because he was recognizable and famous. While Warhol can readily point out the hypocrisy of a spiritual leader like the Pope acting as a celebrity, he also embraces the provocative thrill of being a celebrity himself.

Similarly, even as Warhol critiques the masses for their idolization of religious figures, he still embraces aspects of Catholicism in his own life. Warhol often talks of going to church, but only staying for ten minutes at most. “Went to church,” Warhol wrote in his diary. “I always go for five minutes. Ten or five minutes”.23 Though he does not elaborate, we can speculate that Warhol’s brief appearances at church might be due to his disconnect from the religion itself.

Warhol went to church habitually, but he was not necessarily going to feel spiritually fulfilled. To 19

Hackett, Pat. The Andy Warhol Diaries. Simon and Schuster, 1989, 334.

Hackett, Pat. The Andy Warhol Diaries. Simon and Schuster, 1989, 334.

21 Hackett, Pat. The Andy Warhol Diaries. Simon and Schuster, 1989, 334.

22 Hackett, Pat. The Andy Warhol Diaries. Simon and Schuster, 1989, 334.

23 Hackett, Pat. The Andy Warhol Diaries. Simon and Schuster, 1989, 822.

20

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Warhol, religion was less about the supposed ideas preached at church, such as by the Pope, but rather about the comfort of a familiar and dependable ritual.

Warhol’s Are You Different

Warhol, Andy. Are You Different. The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Inc., London, 1986.

Familiarity can be positive for Warhol, but also it can be negative. In 1986, Warhol created Are You Different, part of a collection he called “Ads and Illustrations.”24 In this series Warhol uses the familiarity of advertisements to further his critique of religion and consumerism.

Are You Different has undeniable spiritual aspects to it.25 For instance, the light bursting from the figure's head, characteristic of the nimbus in Renaissance paintings, shows that the subject is a spiritual character. However, in using the recognizable format of an advertisement, repeating over and over, Warhol relates the religious imagery, in this piece, to the consumerist nature of modern society. Warhol seems to be implying the Catholic church has shed a lot of its deeper meanings and virtues in favour of selling people an image of Catholicism designed to procure more supporters. He critiques the way religion has been turned into a product, showing spirituality as a washed up version of what religion was meant to be.

This collection differs from Warhol’s usual bright colours. The flat, black and white image lacks the usual depth seen in a lot of Warhol’s other art works. Warhol communicates the shallowness of advertisements through the flat figure and lack of colour. In previous works, such as Gold Marilyn Monroe, Warhol uses colour to invoke religious intentions.In this piece, however, Warhol uses the absence of colour to imply the absence of spiritual depth in this seemingly religious piece. In renaissance paintings colour was very important, as a 24

Gagosian Gallery. “Andy Warhol: B&W Paintings: Ads and Illustrations 1985–1986, 555 West 24th Street, New York, March 2–30, 2002.” Gagosian, 12 Apr. 2018, https://gagosian.com/exhibitions/2002/andy-warhol-bw-paintings-ads-and-illustrations-1985-86/.

25 Tate. “'Are You Different?', Andy Warhol, C.1985–6.” Tate, https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/warhol-are-you-different-ar00236.

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representation of different things: there was a lot of meaning behind each individual colour. The nimbus, representative of the light of god,26 is usually a gold colour, as it is in Gold Marilyn Monroe. In Are You Different, on the other hand, Warhol uses black and white to show the loss of spiritual depth from the religious aspects of this piece. This symbolises the Catholic Church's gradual loss of its own religious fundamentals due to the overpowering influence of consumerist society. The Church, seen as one of the world's most powerful institutions, could not withstand the dominance of modern commerce.

The question posed by the title of this piece, “are you different?” questions viewers directly about whether they are a part of this consumerist culture. The quotations around the word “different” point to the fact that Warhol doesn’t believe anybody can be free from participating in this consumerist culture. Even if one is aware of such consumerist aspects built into society, it is still impossible to set oneself apart and be “different”. Even while participating in religious activities, one cannot avoid the consumerist values in society. In this piece, Warhol relates spirituality and the products of a consumerist society, such as advertisements. In this way, he highlights the connections he is drawing between the Catholic church and materialism. 27

Warhol’s Raphael Madonna-$6.99

Warhol, Andy. Raphael Madonna-$6.99. Raphael. Madonna di San Sisto. Italy, THE ANDY WARHOL FOUNDATION 1512, Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister, FOR THE VISUAL ARTS, INC, 1985, Dresden.

The Andy Warhol Museum, Pittsburgh.

26

Ray, Michael, and Gloria Lotha. “Halo Art.” Edited by Alicja Zelazko, Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., 1998, https://www.britannica.com/art/halo-art.

27 Tate. “'Are You Different?', Andy Warhol, C.1985–6.” Tate, 2022, https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/warhol-are-you-different-ar00236.

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Warhol uses a similar flat black and white colour scheme in his Raphael Madonna $6.99. In this 1985 piece, Warhol recreates Italian renaissance painter Raphael's Madonna di San Sisto. In Warhol’s version, he strips away the colour from the figures in the original painting, and Raphael’s Madonna loses the visual depth and beauty that it once had. Like so many of his other works, Warhol uses his silk screening method to replicate the figures in Raphael's painting.28 Now reduced to flat images with hard outlines, Warhol takes away the human aspects of the original painting. The few eye-catching colours that Warhol chooses to include draw the audience’s attention, replicating the bright pops of colour seen in modern day advertisements.

The largest difference between Warhol’s Madonna and Raphael’s is Warhol’s addition of a large price tag, reading $6.99. The bright red price tag sits against a mostly colourless backdrop, pulling viewers’ eyes towards it. Warhol’s colour scheme and his addition of the large red price tag turns the classically religious painting into something that resembles a promotion at a supermarket.

Warhol’s Raphael Madonna - $6.99 demonstrates Warhol’s views on the commodification of the Catholic church quite clearly. By packaging Raphael’s famous religious painting as an item meant to be bought and sold, Warhol comments on the materialistic values of the Catholic church. With flat lines and fake people for sale, Warhol strips away the deep religious meaning once held by these figures. Furthermore, Warhol's treatment of this religious artwork mirrors, in some ways, the Catholic church’s treatment of its own principles.29 As one scholar argues, the church uses spectacle and ornamentation to attract patrons and donations, while allowing its followers to ignore values that are supposedly the core ideas of the Catholic church. Warhol communicates, through his artwork, his belief that the church has let go of its values in favour of selling people a product or idea.

28

Horowitz, William. “Raphael Madonna-$6.99.” Religyinz, 26 Feb. 2021, https://religyinz.pitt.edu/raphael-madonna/.

Ortiz, Dr. Jared, et al. “Spectacles for the People.” Catholic World Report, 25 Aug. 2019, https://www.catholicworldreport.com/2019/08/25/spectacles-for-the-people/.

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Warhol’s Last Supper (Dove)

Warhol, Andy. Last Supper (Dove). 2022 Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York, 1986.

Da Vinci, Leonardo. Last Supper. Currier & Ives, New York, 1498, Santa Maria della Grazie church in Milan.

Warhol makes this idea even more explicit in his Last Supper (dove), painted in 1986, which shows the Last Supper side by side with logos from popular brands. The important religious painting’s meaning is diminished by the large colourful logos surrounding the figures in the painting. Everything in the painting is supposed to be a consumerist item, all adorned with a large red 59¢ at the top of the painting. The bright and well known brand logos catch viewers' eyes and tempt them with eye-catching products. By extension, this work seems to say, the church is also trying to sell a product–albeit in a subtler, more discreet way. The Catholic Church has historically used art to remind people of religious happenings and the consequences of their unfaithfulness.30 The Catholic Church is still trying to sell its ideas to people in order to stay

30

Harris, Beth, and Steven Zucker. “Why Commission Artwork during the Renaissance? (Article).” Khan Academy, Khan Academy, https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/renaissance-reformation/early-renaissance1/beginners-renaissance-florence/a/why-com mission-artwork-during-the-renaissance.

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relevant in ever-changing modern society. Warhol highlights this by pairing the Last Supper with popular brand images.

This work originated when Warhol was commissioned by Alexandre Lolas to create a series, based on the Last Supper, to be hung near the original Last Supper painting in Milan. This was the last large project of his life. Warhol fixated on the commission, creating over 100 versions of the Last Supper, and thus demonstrating his deep, personal connection to the material. Though this work is a critique, Warhol, did in fact, grow up with a last supper painting hanging in his house31. By using that familiar image, Warhol isn’t noting the importance of the religious scenes these paintings depict but rather the effect they have on people. Brands use logos and symbols to create an automatic reaction within consumers and the Catholic church has similarly done this with recognizable biblical scenes like the last supper.

Religious Reflection In a conversation with Interview Magazine in 1975, Warhol talks about his experience connecting with the aesthetics of church. “I think it's really pretty to go to church,” Warhol writes. “The church I go to is a pretty church. They have so many masses”.32 Warhol merely goes to church to complete a ritual and to enjoy the aesthetics of the space. Warhol doesn't separate himself from the masses buying into this religion. In fact, toward the end of his life, Warhol found solace in the Church: it was in these last 10 years of his life when religion took a centre stage in his art33. After being shot by Valery Salons in 196834 Warhol became more nervous around people and in public spaces. As he wrote, “She looked like Valerie Solanis so I got scared she’d pull out a gun and shoot me”.35 Perhaps to assuage this constant anxiety, he began going to church even more36. Then, days before he began this Last Supper series, his partner Jon Gould tragically died of AIDs. Despite the hardships in his life at the time Warhol still chose to take the commission.

He continued to go to church regularly through the AIDs epidemic and up until he died, even though there was an uptick of anti gay violence in the 1980’s37 supported by the Pope and other religious figures. Warhol’s seemingly obsessive habit of going to church was not because he believed he was saved by God but rather because of the image the Catholic Church had sold to him. His obsessions with the Last Supper hints at Warhol’s obsession with betrayal, and gives 31

Bockris V. Warhol: The Biography. Cambridge, MA: Da Capo Press; 2003.

Radziwill, Lee, and Andy Warhol. “Andy Warhol Goes to Church.” Andy Warhol Goes to Church, 2 Feb. 1975, https://warholstars.org/chron/warholchurch.html.

33 Tate. “What Was Andy Warhol Thinking?” Tate, https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artists/andy-warhol-2121/what-was-andy-warhol-thinking.

34 Pruitt, Sarah. “Andy Warhol Was Shot by Valerie Solanas. It Killed Him 19 Years Later.” History.com, A&E Television Networks, 31 May 2018, https://www.history.com/news/andy-warhol-shot-valerie-solanas-the-factory.

35 Hackett, Pat. The Andy Warhol Diaries. Simon and Schuster, 1989, 334.

36 Elie, Paul. “Andy Warhol's Religious Journey.” The New Yorker, 7 Dec. 2021, https://www.newyorker.com/culture/culture-desk/andy-warhols-religious-journey.

37 Greer, William R. “Violence against Homosexuals Rising, Groups Seeking Wider Protection Say.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 23 Nov. 1986, https://www.nytimes.com/1986/11/23/us/violence-against-homosexuals-rising-groups-seeking-wider-protection-say.html.

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us some insight as to why he was so willing to stick with religion.The Catholic Church, despite all the hate and anti-gay rhetoric they preached, gave Warhol a comforting place of familiarity where he could find solace.

When it comes to retrospectives on Warhol’s work, there are many critiques that his art was meaningless, mere surface-level replication of culture38. In contrast to this assumed superficiality, Warhol’s complicated relationship to the Catholic çhurch shows his desire for comfort through surface-level rituals. Some say that the subjects displayed in Warhol's paintings are empty representations of consumerism from an artist who really has nothing to say39. But contrary to many beliefs that Warhol’s art was just a ploy for him to gain celebrity recognition, some of his close friends have talked about the layers to Warhol that were never noted by the public. “The knowledge of [his] secret piety,”40 said Warhol’s friend John Richardson, “inevitably changes our perception of an artist who fooled the world into believing that his only obsessions were money, fame [and] glamour”41. Warhol himself was part of the consumerist culture he was trying to depict, and his critiques of consumerism went far beyond household products, to people and even religion. Much of the art Warhol made wasn’t for commission or profit but rather art he wanted to make, and even when commissioned Warhol’s repetitive nature and determination to stick to a subject in his work showed his dedication to the ideas he had behind his art.

Conclusion On the surface level, Warhol’s attitude toward religion can seem contradictory. Warhol’s critiques of the Catholic church seem weakened by the fact that he himself participated in religious activities. Warhol regularly attended church, even in the height of the AIDs epidemic, and he had met the Pope and never actively spoke out against the Catholic church. Despite all this however, the message through Warhol’s art, that he is in fact critiquing the actions of the church, is still strong. Warhol doesn't separate himself from the ideology he is critiquing. He highlights the Catholic Church’s consumerist actions while still participating in them. Similarly, in his work featuring Marilyn Monroe or other famous celebrities, Warhol is critiquing celebrity culture and the idolisation of these people while also participating in that same culture. Indeed, Warhol’s art can make participation in these institutions seem inevitable. Even for him, as he is seemingly fully aware, he can not separate himself from the consumerist culture that defines modern life. Through deeper analysis of Warhol’s artwork, interviews, and personal diary entries, this paper has demonstrated that Warhol’s inclusion of religious imagery, in his pieces, is a 38

Bennett-Carpenter, Benjamin. “The Divine Simulacrum of Andy Warhol: Baudrillard's Light on the Pope of Pop's ‘Religious Art.’” Bennett-Carpenter - The Divine Simulacrum of Andy Warhol - JCRT 1.3, Benjamin Bennett-Carpenter, 28 July 2021, https://jcrt.org/archives/01.3/carpenter.shtml.

39 Rossato, Melissa. “The Contradictions of Warhol: More than Pop and Color.” The Columbia Chronicle, 22 Jan. 2020, https://columbiachronicle.com/the-contradictions-of-warhol-more-than-pop-and-color.

40 Tate. “What Was Andy Warhol Thinking?” Tate, https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artists/andy-warhol-2121/what-was-andy-warhol-thinking.

41 Tate. “What Was Andy Warhol Thinking?” Tate, https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artists/andy-warhol-2121/what-was-andy-warhol-thinking.

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critique of the commodification of the Catholic Church, but more profoundly, a symbol of the power consumer culture wields over all aspects of modern life, including the deeply personal spiritual dimensions of life.

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Bibliography Balis, Anthia. “Andy Warhol: The Pope of Pop.” Honi Soit, 18 Oct. 2021, https://honisoit.com/2021/10/andy-warhol-the-pope-of-pop/.

Bennett-Carpenter, Benjamin. “The Divine Simulacrum of Andy Warhol: Baudrillard's Light on the Pope of Pop's ‘Religious Art.’” Bennett-Carpenter - The Divine Simulacrum of Andy Warhol - JCRT 1.3, Benjamin Bennett-Carpenter, 28 July 2021, https://jcrt.org/archives/01.3/carpenter.shtml.

Berman, Avis. “Roy Lichtenstein Foundation.” Roy Lichtenstein Foundation, 2022, https://lichtensteinfoundation.org/.

Bockris V. Warhol: The Biography. Cambridge, MA: Da Capo Press; 2003.

Cavalier, director. Andy Warhol Interview (1966). YouTube, YouTube, 3 Mar. 2019, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p7nw9Up54pg. Accessed 5 Oct. 2022.

Culver, Natalee. “Andy Warhol and His Obsession with Consumer Culture.” Sutori , https://www.sutori.com/en/story/andy-warhol-and-his-obsession-with-consumer-culture--bJeWX VmeqmKWZcZMfHMXNTsX. Da Vinci, Leonardo. Last Supper. Currier & Ives, New York, 1498, Santa Maria della Grazie church in Milan.

Diaz, José Carlos. “How Warhol's Complicated Relationship with Catholicism Influenced His Art.” The Andy Warhol Museum, 20 Aug. 2020, https://www.warhol.org/warhols-relationship-with-catholicism-was-far-from-simple-still-he-evok ed-god-through-his-art/.

Elie, Paul. “Andy Warhol's Religious Journey.” The New Yorker, 7 Dec. 2021, https://www.newyorker.com/culture/culture-desk/andy-warhols-religious-journey.

Furnham, A. and Walker, J. (2001), Personality and judgements of abstract, pop art, and representational paintings. Eur. J. Pers., 15: 57-72. https://doi.org/10.1002/per.340 Gagosian Gallery. “Andy Warhol: B&W Paintings: Ads and Illustrations 1985–1986, 555 West 24th Street, New York, March 2–30, 2002.” Gagosian, 12 Apr. 2018, https://gagosian.com/exhibitions/2002/andy-warhol-bw-paintings-ads-and-illustrations-1985-86/.

Greer, William R. “Violence against Homosexuals Rising, Groups Seeking Wider Protection Say.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 23 Nov. 1986, https://www.nytimes.com/1986/11/23/us/violence-against-homosexuals-rising-groups-seeking-w ider-protection-say.html.

Hackett, Pat. The Andy Warhol Diaries. Simon and Schuster, 1989, 234.

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Harris, Beth, and Steven Zucker. “Why Commission Artwork during the Renaissance?

(Article).” Khan Academy, Khan Academy, https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/renaissance-reformation/early-renaissance1/beginnersrenaissance-florence/a/why-commission-artwork-during-the-renaissance.

Horowitz, William. “Raphael Madonna-$6.99.” Religyinz, 26 Feb. 2021, https://religyinz.pitt.edu/raphael-madonna/.

“More Stories.” Colour in Art: a Brief History of Gold | Art UK, https://artuk.org/discover/stories/colour-in-art-a-brief-history-of-gold.

Ortiz, Dr. Jared, et al. “Spectacles for the People.” Catholic World Report, 25 Aug. 2019, https://www.catholicworldreport.com/2019/08/25/spectacles-for-the-people/.

“Paintings, Sculptures, and Drawings.” Paintings, Sculptures, and Drawings – The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, 13 Sep. 2021, https://warholfoundation.org/warhol/catalogue-raisonne/paintings-sculptures-drawings/.

Pruitt, Sarah. “Andy Warhol Was Shot by Valerie Solanas. It Killed Him 19 Years Later.”

History.com, A&E Television Networks, 31 May 2018, https://www.history.com/news/andy-warhol-shot-valerie-solanas-the-factory.

Radziwill, Lee, and Andy Warhol. “Andy Warhol Goes to Church.” Andy Warhol Goes to Church, 2 Feb. 1975, https://warholstars.org/chron/warholchurch.html.

Ray, Michael, and Gloria Lotha. “Halo Art.” Edited by Alicja Zelazko, Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., 1998, https://www.britannica.com/art/halo-art.

Rossato, Melissa. “The Contradictions of Warhol: More than Pop and Color.” The Columbia Chronicle, 22 Jan. 2020, https://columbiachronicle.com/the-contradictions-of-warhol-more-than-pop-and-color.

Selvin, Erdem. (2016). The Analysis of Pop Art: Content, Subject Matter, Style and Form.

10.13140/RG.2.1.4782.5047.

Tate. “'Are You Different?', Andy Warhol, C.1985–6.” Tate, https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/warhol-are-you-different-ar00236.

Tate Museum. “Pop Art.” Tate, https://www.tate.org.uk/art/art-terms/p/pop-art.

Tate. “What Was Andy Warhol Thinking?” Tate, https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artists/andy-warhol-2121/what-was-andy-warhol-thinking.

Warhol, Andy. Raphael Madonna-$6.99. THE ANDY WARHOL FOUNDATION FOR THE VISUAL ARTS, INC, 1985, The Andy Warhol Museum, Pittsburgh.

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Coleman Hamilton Extended Essay on Consumer Manufacturing (3D Printing) As a part of the IB curriculum, I had to complete the Extended Essay. The Extended Essay is a long-form exploration of a topic of a student’s choosing in the form of a 4000-word paper. For my Extended Essay, I wrote about my interest in 3D printing and the economic implications of manufacturing products with the technology. More specifically my paper compared 3D printing to Injection molding, the technology used to manufacture most plastic parts today. There are many pros and cons to each method. Large-scale implementation of 3D printing in the everyday household would involve a rather large initial learning curve however, the end result would be a decentralized system of manufacturing by which people could download products from the internet and then create and assemble the parts in the home. The system for creating plastic parts which we use today involves a rather large supply chain that supplies the world with jobs but at the same time causes large amounts of waste. With 3D printing large sections of the supply chain could be skipped, and so could the carbon emissions which come with them. While writing the paper was an arduous task, I learned a great amount about 3D printing, one of my interests and hobbies, and writing articles on a scholarly level.

IB Subject: Design and Technology Extended Essay

Additive Manufacturing, A Promising Alternative: “To what extent do the economic, logistic, and environmental implications of 3D printing and Injection Molding Manufacturing Differ?”

Word Count: 3,728 Candidate Number: Kmh983

TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction

2

1.1 Parameters

2

1.2 Significance

3

1 Economic Impact of 3D printing

3

2.1 Examples of Usage

4

2.2 Final Thoughts

6

2 Logistic Impacts

6

1

3.1 Supply Chains

6

3.2 Examples of Usage

8

3.3 Impacts of Implementation

9

3 Environmental Impacts

10

4.1 Production Cycle

11

4.2 Eco-Consciousness

12

Final Thoughts 5.1 Summative Statement Sources Cited

12 12 13

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INTRODUCTION The unprecedented public interest in additive manufacturing caused by the recent availability of consumer-ready 3D printing technology to the public has allowed many to question whether there is a new revolution in manufacturing on the rise. Large-scale methods of plastic part creation such as injection molding have been established as the industry standard for decades. However, with the many recent innovations in 3D printing technologies, the effectiveness of said large-scale processes has been brought into question. This paper will be a comprehensive examination and comparison of the two methods of fabrication and their respective benefits and drawbacks in the economic, logistic, and environmental sectors.

PARAMETERS Before comparing the two contrasting methods of part creation, certain parameters must be set to clearly define the area of research, and certain terms which appear throughout the paper must be defined: For the purposes of this comparison, the term “3D printing” will be utilized to mainly refer to the “Fused Deposition Modeling” variation of 3D printing technologies. “Fused Deposition Modeling”, often shortened to “FDM 3D printing”, is a process in which a plastic spool of material known as “filament” is melted by a heated extruder which then draws out varying layers of melted plastic repeatedly until the desired object is generated. On the other hand, the term “Industrial manufacturing” will refer to the standard practices of fabrication that are in place today, mainly “Injection molding”, a process of creating plastic parts in which melted plastic is rapidly heated and injected into a mold of the desired object. then cooled to create a copy of the registry. While injection molding can be done on a smaller scale, it is most commonly used in an industrial setting, and henceforth should be assumed as such. Opposingly, “3D printing” will most often refer to the hobbyist, market-ready version of the technology as opposed to its rarer industrial counterpart. This is to separate 3D printing apart from large-scale manufacturing operations, and place it into its own opposing mean of manufacturing, “Consumer manufacturing”. “Industrial manufacturing” occurs on a large scale and is mostly utilized by

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sizeable corporations whereas “consumer manufacturing” occurs on a smaller scale mostly by smaller businesses and on the end of consumers of products.

SIGNIFICANCE It is important to investigate the prospects of consumer manufacturing as it offers a potentially more viable alternative method of fabrication to industrial manufacturing. By investigating the economic aspects of 3D printing, the benefits it may bring to consumers may offer more opportunities to the public. Investigating the logistics of 3D printing will similarly allow more opportunities for the public, especially in the job market. Finally investigating the environmental impacts of 3D printing will allow for a more sustainable means of fabrication as an alternative to the pollutant industrial methods which are commonplace nowadays.

ECONOMIC IMPACT Developed as a means of large-scale rapid production, injection molding remains the industry standard for creating most plastic parts. With the recent introduction of 3D printing to the public, however, this norm is now put into question, as the technology allows smaller creators to create their own parts in-house without the use of a third-party manufacturer, potentially removing income from their market. In their 2016 research journal, Global Value Chains From a 3D Printing Perspective, business experts André O Laplume, Brent Petersen, and Joshua M Pearce claim that: "Recent work shows that 3D printing is economically viable for US households (Wittbrodt et al., 2013). As they adopt the technology, households and 3D print shops may gain a bigger share of potential industry earnings (Dedrick, Kraemer, & Linden, 2010).”1.

The utilization of 3D printing by smaller companies would allow them to cut manufacturing costs by opting for self-made 3D printed parts instead of factory-made parts. In a financial report from market trend analysts at, Grand View Research, it is examined that: “The hardware segment led the market and accounted for more than 60.0% share of the global revenue in 2021. The

1

Laplume, André O., et al. “Global Value Chains from a 3D Printing Perspective.” Journal of International Business Studies, vol. 47, no. 5, 2016, pp. 595–609. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/43907593. Accessed 14 Sep. 2022.

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hardware segment has benefitted significantly from the growing necessity of rapid prototyping and advanced manufacturing practices.”2.

For smaller-scale fabrication operations, 3D printing is a more affordable alternative to the traditional injection molding process most larger-scale operations utilize. This fact can be accredited to the varying costs to create with each respective method. As shown in figure 13, injection molding is initially more expensive than 3D printing since a mold needs to be created however, once this mold is created, the more it is used, the fewer companies charge for parts to be created since the only new resource in the process is plastic alone. 3D printing however remains at a consistent cost because the only material in the process is the material that makes up the product itself. A particular case of this phenomenon is examined in Journalist Peter Nowak’s 2013 journal article The Promise and Peril of 3D Printing: “The cost of making a single lead bullet through traditional manufacturing [was] about a tenth of a cent. Using a more direct ink write process cost considerably more, at 66 cents per bullet. A comparatively complex knee implant, however, cost approximately $1900 to make through traditional means, but only about $1,650 through additive manufacturing."4 3D printing is most cost-efficient when used for small batch creation, whereas industrial means such as injection molding are more cost-effective when creating multiple of the same product with little to no customization.

EXAMPLES OF USAGE Because of the advantages that additive manufacturing has with its high levels of customization, it can be used especially in fields that require specific parts to be made. For example, the medical field has seen a recent growth in 3D printer usage. According to the software company, Dassault Systèmes: “In 2018, the medical 3D printing market was valued at $973 million and is expected to grow to almost $3.7 billion by 2026.”, 2

3D Printing Market Size & Share Report, 2022-2030, https://www.grandviewresearch.com/industry-analysis/3d-printing-industry-analysis.

3 Thornsberry, C. “3D Printing Vs. Injection Molding.” 3 Space, 10 Dec. 2021, 3space.com/3d-printing-vs-injection-molding.

4 GADZALA, ALEKSANDRA. 3D Printing: Shaping Africa’s Future. Atlantic Council, 2018. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/resrep17104. Accessed 14 Sep. 2022.

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proving its promise for future growth. A specific example of how 3D printing has been used within the medical field can be exhibited in its usage in other nations without access to large-scale manufacturing technologies: “a consortium of Canadian organizations in partnership with the comprehensive rehabilitation services (hospital) in Kisubi, Uganda, is trialing 3D printing of prosthetic limbs for amputees. Rather than being cast with plaster, the damaged limbs are digitally scanned and the prostheses are digitally modeled before being sent for production.

This method has produced better fitting limbs at a quarter of the usual production time."5. 3D printing provides better techniques in certain fields making the technology highly sought after with PRNewswire estimating that “The 3D printing market in the healthcare industry value is projected to grow by $ 2.53 bn at a CAGR of 18% during 2021-2025”6. This will lead to the creation of new opportunities for innovation in 3D printing technology, a topic later discussed in this comparison.

Furthermore, 3D printers have been used within schools to create either resources or models to help students understand concepts with hands-on objects. While these models could be bought in a store, after the initial cost of a 3D printer, creating the parts in-house costs much less.

An example of 3D printers being used in the classroom is illustrated in an article titled Enhancing Learning Using 3D Printing: An Alternative to Traditional Student Project Methods, published in an edition of The University of California’s The American Biology Teacher. In the article, a student suggests using 3D printing to create accurate models of root tips to use as visual aids for students to better understand their structure, after hearing her peers struggle with comprehending them from drawings alone. After designing and printing their own 3D models, the students were not only more engaged but also able to further understand a concept they had previously struggled with. One student states: “It is difficult to imagine that I would have committed the same amount of time to the project if I had opted for a more traditional route.”, proving that 3D printers have a usage in the classroom and education market as learning tools.

5

GADZALA, ALEKSANDRA. 3D Printing: Shaping Africa’s Future. Atlantic Council, 2018. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/resrep17104. Accessed 14 Sep. 2022.

6 Technavio. “3D Printing Market in Healthcare Industry Market to Grow by USD 2.53 Billion Through 2025|Impacts of Drivers and Challenges|Technavio.” PRNewswire, 26 May 2021, www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/3d-printing-market-in-healthcare-industry-market-to-grow-by-usd-2-53-billion -through-2025impacts-of-drivers-and-challengestechnavio-301299326.html.

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FINAL THOUGHTS 3D printing has allowed many to enter fields of creation that previously were impossible.

Specifically, the recent availability of consumer 3D printers to the general public has allowed interest in the topic to spike. Current innovations have allowed the field to attract millions of newcomers to the 3D printing community. As the demand for 3D printers has increased over the years, so has their usage in the mainstream. Machining data company Smithers estimates that in the future: “Companies will manufacture an increasingly large share of 3D printing machines, especially the low-cost, lower capability machines favored by the hobbyist/[Do it Yourself] segments, and by casual school and commercial users.”7 because of how lucrative the market for them has become. Due to their increasing accessibility users are able to rapidly create prototypes, spare parts, and even market-quality products without the introduction of larger manufacturing companies to the process. The availability of 3D printing technology has allowed people to make creations specific to their needs far more easily than before they were introduced.

LOGISTIC IMPACT While our supply chain mainly relies on industrial manufacturing as of now, consumer manufacturing threatens to alter industrial manufacturing’s prominence in the logistics process.

The current supply chain is composed of a complex web of factors that each play a role in the manufacturing and transporting of goods. While operational, the supply chain has a lengthy amount of steps between raw materials and the consumers who purchase products. Consumer 3D printing however requires much fewer stages in the production process which makes it a strong competitor against the current supply chain in place. The widespread usages of the two processes have great effects on the logistics of the world’s supply chains, specifically impacting the “time to market”, the job market associated with the supply chains, and international relationships in global value chains, each in their own respective ways.

SUPPLY CHAINS The supply chain utilizing industrial means of production involves many components 7

HQ. “Reasons Why 3D Printing Is Reaching Mainstream.” Smithers, www.smithers.com/resources/2017/jul/reasons-why-3d-printing-is-reaching-the-mainstream. Accessed 14 Sept.

2022.

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between an initial idea, and a finished product getting to a consumer. As shown in figure 28, the standard supply chain involves several steps including prototyping, manufacturing, shipping, and warehousing. A 3D printing-based supply chain involves a less complex process in comparison.

A 3D printing supply chain would involve companies, or creators alike coming up with an idea, then uploading it to a cloud-based file-sharing website where 3D printer owners can download and print their files from their own property. The usage of a 3D printing-centric supply chain allows for certain stages present in the traditional chain to be skipped, creating a streamlined production of goods.

Instead of taking months or even years to get a product to shelves, files can be uploaded and distributed almost immediately, meaning that consumers can receive products within just hours: “3D printing now threatens to upend retailers, distributors (middle-men), and manufacturers of tangible goods, by introducing a new paradigm of industrial production via the layer-by-layer additive construction of 3D objects from digital designs. (Lipson &Kurman,2013)”.9 The benefits of a direct to a consumer supply chain can immediately be seen with the recent Covid-19 outbreak which brought the global supply chain to a grinding halt in 2020. In such situations, the availability of online files and 3D printing allowed many, (myself included) to continue creating while still sheltering in place.

8

Maritime Impact. “Additive Manufacturing Makes Spare Parts Easily Available for Yachts.” DNV, 29 Sept. 2020, dnv.com/expert-story/maritime-impact/Additive-manufacturing-makes-spare-parts-easily-available-for-yachts.html.

9 Laplume, André O., et al. “Global Value Chains from a 3D Printing Perspective.” Journal of International Business Studies, vol. 47, no. 5, 2016, pp. 595–609. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/43907593. Accessed 14 Sep. 2022.

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EXAMPLES OF USAGE One of the main uses for 3D printers in business has been prototyping. 3D printing technologies have allowed designers to cut down on costs and turnaround times when it comes to creating prototype designs. Chinmay Rathi, a worker at Precious 3D, a company specializing in prototype development using 3D printing states that: “3D printing service cost has cut up to 70% savings due to prototyping costs. Whereas, traditional manufacturing involves high cost of manufacturing and shipping.”10. During an interview, architect Francesco Terranova of the Renzo Piano Building Workshop claims that while creating designs for the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures in Los Angeles that the schematics would constantly change. Terranova explains that when under a time crunch: “The only way to [make the changes] so fast [is] to 3D print [them]. The good thing is that we can launch the printer in the night, and when we come back in the morning, we find the model done.”11. As exemplified by this instance, the availability of 3D printers to the public has allowed makers to speed up their creative process and streamline their workflow.

As mentioned, however, the implementation of a 3D printing supply chain involving a decentralized method of manufacturing would cause major disruption to previously established infrastructure, especially the job market associated with the centralized manufacturing process.

In a 2018 research report, the Atlantic Council’s Africa Center states that: “While 3D printing does not have the advantage of economies of scale, making it unsuitable for high volume manufacturing, it does allow for rapid prototyping, shortening the time it takes to move a product from design to production”. They continue that: “According to the Oxford Martin School at the University of Oxford, 85 percent of Ethiopian jobs are at risk of being replaced by 3D printing and automation, 67 percent in South Africa, and 65 percent in Nigeria”12, as a result of the shortened supply chain. From this example, the effects of a 3D printing supply chain on the number of jobs available to the public can be seen.

10

Rathi, Chinmay. “Traditional Manufacturing Vs 3d Printing – a Cost Analysis.” Precious3D - 3D Printing in Chennai, 13 July 2020, precious3d.com/traditional-manufacturing-vs-3d-printing.

11 “How Renzo Piano Building Workshop Creates Architectural Models With 3D Printing.” Formlabs, formlabs.com/blog/renzo-piano-architectural-models-3d-printing. Accessed 14 Sept. 2022.

12 GADZALA, ALEKSANDRA. 3D Printing: Shaping Africa’s Future. Atlantic Council, 2018. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/resrep17104. Accessed 14 Sep. 2022.

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IMPACT OF IMPLEMENTATION Although, it should be noted that the increasing demand for 3D printing has created many new jobs for people in fields that utilize 3D printing. A report by the Center for an Urban Future on New York’s 3D printing market, states that: “What began with a handful of New York-based companies such as MakerBot and Shapeways is now a growing industry that includes dozens of companies, hundreds of jobs, and thousands of makers.”13. With the growth of 3D printing, more jobs involving the maintenance of machines, or even the creation of 3D models to be printed will be created. The article also adds: “As 3D printing expands into new territory, moving beyond the production of individual products to include design services and integrated manufacturing, the industry shows significant potential for future growth.”14. A final observation this article includes is the fact that: “Determining the exact number of 3D printing jobs in New York City is impossible. Government agencies like the US Department of Labor do not track the sector; jobs in 3D printing are included within a wide range of other job categories. Overall the sector includes hundreds of jobs in New York City.”15 Because these jobs are grouped with similar ones, it may be easier than originally thought to move laterally between jobs that involve machines in the industrial manufacturing industry to ones involving machines in the 3D printing industry.

While the 3D printing industry does offer new opportunities in thriving nations, in developing countries, it threatens to cripple their economies. Traditionally, operations involving industrial manufacturing outsource work internationally to nations that specialize in providing specific goods or services, as these nations can provide these services or goods at a lower cost than the countries looking to outsource their work. This is cost-efficient for companies, and beneficial to developing countries since it allows for developing countries with specialty exports to provide other nations with their services/goods, stimulating their economies. However, with one of the most outsourced services--manufacturing--being localized by nations through 3D 13

Euchner, Charles, et al. “3D PRINTING: GUTENBERG IN THE FACTORY.” MAKING IT HERE: The Future of Manufacturing in New York City, edited by Eli Dvorkin and Jonathan Bowles, Center for an Urban Future, 2016, pp. 6–13. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/resrep14851.4. Accessed 14 Sep. 2022.

14 Euchner, Charles, et al. “3D PRINTING: GUTENBERG IN THE FACTORY.” MAKING IT HERE: The Future of Manufacturing in New York City, edited by Eli Dvorkin and Jonathan Bowles, Center for an Urban Future, 2016, pp. 6–13. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/resrep14851.4. Accessed 14 Sep. 2022.

15 Euchner, Charles, et al. “3D PRINTING: GUTENBERG IN THE FACTORY.” MAKING IT HERE: The Future of Manufacturing in New York City, edited by Eli Dvorkin and Jonathan Bowles, Center for an Urban Future, 2016, pp. 6–13. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/resrep14851.4. Accessed 14 Sep. 2022.

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printing: “the trend toward 3d printing narrows the path for less developed economies to industrialize”16. The Atlantic Council states that: “For African economies, this may mean fewer entry points into global supply chains and may make industrialization more difficult to achieve.

Because most African countries generally lack essential technology and industry skills, there is no near-term scenario under which they would be able to leverage technologies like 3D printing and automation to compete globally in manufacturing.”17. Because of the jobs that automation puts at risk, its usage on a large scale would make it harder for developing countries to form relationships with others while maintaining their own sovereign economies. Global value chains are a crucial part of international relationships which are put at risk by Automation and 3D printing: “By inserting itself into downstream activities in GVCs, Bangladesh was similarly able to generate millions of jobs in the textile and garment sectors. However, 86 percent of jobs in Vietnam and more than 70 percent of jobs in Bangladesh are at risk of being replaced by 3D printing and other disruptive technologies.”18 If the world were to see a large-scale implementation of decentralized manufacturing in which the means of production were given back to the people, the benefits would be held back only by the amount of change it would cause. There is no question that an AM supply chain would be more efficient, however, the adverse effects on the job market, and the global trade economy would be a large concern of its implications.

ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT Another large difference between industrial and consumer-based manufacturing is each model’s respective overall sustainability. For this instance, sustainability can be defined in this instance as each process’ resourcefulness. While the industrial manufacturing process has been long utilized, it has been harshly criticized for its lack of renewability. 3D printing has the potential to offer a cleaner alternative method of fabrication. The industrial process has long struggled to use methods to make it more environmentally conscious. The 3D printing 16

GADZALA, ALEKSANDRA. 3D Printing: Shaping Africa’s Future. Atlantic Council, 2018. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/resrep17104. Accessed 14 Sep. 2022.

17

GADZALA, ALEKSANDRA. 3D Printing: Shaping Africa’s Future. Atlantic Council, 2018. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/resrep17104. Accessed 14 Sep. 2022.

18

GADZALA, ALEKSANDRA. 3D Printing: Shaping Africa’s Future. Atlantic Council, 2018. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/resrep17104. Accessed 14 Sep. 2022.

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community has also searched for ways to make home 3D printing more eco-conscious.

PRODUCTION CYCLE The renewability, (or therefore lack of it) of the industrial manufacturing process is apparent in the life cycle of most consumer products. The Industrial lifecycle of products is linear, beginning with raw materials, which later become products for consumers, which are then discarded by consumers in the final phase of the product lifecycle. With 3D printing, however, the product life cycle is truly cyclical, beginning with filament plastic which is printed into the desired object, used, and then recycled into new filament. While it is true that certain items can be recycled in the industrial process, it is much harder to do so than with the 3D printing model in which parts are ground up, melted, and re-extruded into usable filament.

The environmental implications of 3D printer manufacturing are far less concerning than that of industrial manufacturing. Earlier, the modification of the supply chain 3D printing would cause was mentioned. With decentralized manufacturing, customers can access their items immediately as opposed to the Industrial manufacturing process where products must be created in a remote location, and then be shipped to consumers. Before the shipping process can even begin, however, industrially made products must be packaged in more raw materials. Packaging is one of the wasteful parts of the industrial production process, with the Environmental Protection Agency reporting that 30,470,000 US tons of container and packaging waste ended up landfilled in 201819. Seeing as most of the packaging materials end up being discarded by consumers, cutting the packaging phase of the industrial fabrication process would mean a great decline in product waste in the future. The Shipping process also plays a major role in the environmental repercussions of industrial manufacturing. Transport creates a large amount of waste as well with just container shipping alone accounting for an estimated 3% of global carbon emissions20. With localized manufacturing, people can create and receive their items almost instantaneously, cutting the process of transportation entirely from the model making the model greener than industrial Manufacturing.

19

“Containers and Packaging: Product-Specific Data.” US EPA, 8 Mar. 2022, www.epa.gov/facts-and-figures-about-materials-waste-and-recycling/containers-and-packaging-product-specific.

20 Acciaro, Michele, and Alan C. McKinnon. “CARBON EMISSIONS FROM CONTAINER SHIPPING: AN ANALYSIS OF NEW EMPIRICAL EVIDENCE.” International Journal of Transport Economics / Rivista Internazionale Di Economia Dei Trasporti, vol. 42, no. 2, 2015, pp. 211–28. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/43744151. Accessed 14 Sep. 2022.

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ECO-CONSCIOUSNESS Additionally, many companies within the 3D printing industry have been researching ways in which to make hobby 3D printing further environmentally friendly. PLA or Poly Lactic Acid is the most common material in which 3D printer users print parts. Created from lactic acids mainly from plant life such as sugarcane, PLA is a biodegradable plastic created from a renewable source. Additionally, stated in a BioPak research paper: “According to research, the carbon emissions associated with PLA production are 80% lower than that of traditional plastic”21 furthering its eco-consciousness. PLA is however limited in the fact that it is easily susceptible to high temperatures. For heat-resistant parts, stronger plastics must be used such as PET which is most commonly used for food packaging products.

CONCLUSION Scholar Roger Highfield writes: “When [3D Printers] become as common as the microwave, they will have a profound effect on everyday life. [Do it Yourself] will take on a new meaning. Why order parts from a warehouse or visit a shop when entire designs can be stored in virtual computer warehouses, waiting to be printed locally, and on-demand?”22 The availability of 3D printers to people allows for many benefits and may be a viable alternative depending on a person’s specific requirements.

SUMMATIVE STATEMENT The two methods of creation differ greatly in their process of generating desired objects.

3D printing is a form of Additive Manufacturing, a procedure in which the desired object is created layer by layer from bottom to top. Injection molding is a process where objects are generated from a mold of an original “master” object. Plastic is heated, injected into the desired mold, rapidly cooled., then released from the mold.

Injection molding allows for a rapid creation process which the intricate process of 3D printing does not, making it a more cost-effective option for large-scale operations requiring greater output. 3D printing however allows for customization which injection molding does not,

21

NatureWorks | Why It Matters. www.natureworksllc.com/What-is-Ingeo/Why-it-Matters. Accessed 14 Sept. 2022.

Highfield, Roger. “Manufacturing Enters a New Dimension.” The World Today, vol. 69, no. 5, 2013, pp. 12–16.

JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/43857575. Accessed 14 Sep. 2022.

22

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making it more financially viable for industries requiring the production of more detailed parts.

Logistically, products created with Injection molding typically come from factories and must be transported to the consumer, a process that requires many steps such as assembly, packaging, and shipping. While lengthy, this supply chain stimulates the job market. Products created with 3D printing however no longer require this process, as files can be sent directly to consumers and printed locally, allowing for a shorter supply chain but at the cost of many jobs.

Injection molding is a process that creates a large amount of waste with packaging, pollution, and carbon emissions from the supply chain. Because 3D printing does not require a traditional supply chain, it is a much greener process, mainly reliant on a clean source of energy.

While 3D printing is a promising technology, it will most likely be a long time before it is integrated into everyday life because of its public reception. While 3D printing is a process that returns the means of production to the hands of the consumer, consumers must first be ready to accept this undertaking. Today, only a very small few are willing.

SOURCES CITED 1.

Laplume, André O., et al. “Global Value Chains from a 3D Printing Perspective.” Journal of International Business Studies, vol. 47, no. 5, 2016, pp. 595–609. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/43907593.

Accessed 14 Sep. 2022.

2.

Thornsberry, C. “3D Printing Vs. Injection Molding.” 3 Space, 10 Dec. 2021, 3space.com/3d-printing-vs-injection-molding.

3.

GADZALA, ALEKSANDRA. 3D Printing: Shaping Africa’s Future. Atlantic Council, 2018. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/resrep17104. Accessed 14 Sep. 2022.

4.

Technavio. “3D Printing Market in Healthcare Industry Market to Grow by USD 2.53 Billion Through 2025|Impacts of Drivers and Challenges|Technavio.” PRNewswire, 26 May 2021, www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/3d-printing-market-in-healthcare-industry-market-to-grow-by-USD-2 -53-billion-through-2025impacts-of-drivers-and-challengestechnavio-301299326.html.

5.

HQ. “Reasons Why 3D Printing Is Reaching Mainstream.” Smithers, www.smithers.com/resources/2017/jul/reasons-why-3d-printing-is-reaching-the-mainstream. Accessed 14 Sept. 2022.

6.

Maritime Impact. “Additive Manufacturing Makes Spare Parts Easily Available for Yachts.” DNV, 29 Sept.

2020, dnv.com/expert-story/maritime-impact/Additive-manufacturing-makes-spare-parts-easily-available-for-yac hts.html.

7.

Rathi, Chinmay. “Traditional Manufacturing Vs 3d Printing – a Cost Analysis.” Precious3D - 3D Printing in Chennai, 13 July 2020, precious3d.com/traditional-manufacturing-vs-3d-printing.

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8.

“How Renzo Piano Building Workshop Creates Architectural Models With 3D Printing.” Formlabs, formlabs.com/blog/renzo-piano-architectural-models-3d-printing. Accessed 14 Sept. 2022.

9.

Euchner, Charles, et al. “3D PRINTING: GUTENBERG IN THE FACTORY.” MAKING IT HERE: The Future of Manufacturing in New York City, edited by Eli Dvorkin and Jonathan Bowles, Center for an Urban Future, 2016, pp. 6–13. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/resrep14851.4. Accessed 14 Sep. 2022.

10. “Containers and Packaging: Product-Specific Data.” US EPA, 8 Mar. 2022, www.epa.gov/facts-and-figures-about-materials-waste-and-recycling/containers-and-packaging-product-spe cific.

11. Acciaro, Michele, and Alan C. McKinnon. “CARBON EMISSIONS FROM CONTAINER SHIPPING: AN ANALYSIS OF NEW EMPIRICAL EVIDENCE.” International Journal of Transport Economics / Rivista Internazionale Di Economia Dei Trasporti, vol. 42, no. 2, 2015, pp. 211–28. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/43744151. Accessed 14 Sep. 2022.

12. NatureWorks | Why It Matters. www.natureworksllc.com/What-is-Ingeo/Why-it-Matters. Accessed 14 Sept. 2022.

13. Highfield, Roger. “Manufacturing Enters a New Dimension.” The World Today, vol. 69, no. 5, 2013, pp.

12–16. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/43857575. Accessed 14 Sep. 2022.

14. 3D Printing Market Size & Share Report, 2022-2030, https://www.grandviewresearch.com/industry-analysis/3d-printing-industry-analysis.

15. Center for Devices and Radiological Health. “3D Printers Are Used to Manufacture a Variety of Medical Devices.” U.S. Food and Drug Administration, FDA, https://www.fda.gov/medical-devices/3d-printing-medical-devices/medical-applications-3d-printing.

16. Corp, Spatial. “Why Use Spatial for 3D Software Development Toolkits.” Why Use Spatial for 3D Software Development Toolkits, https://www.spatial.com/misc/why-spatial.

17. Patricia McGahern, et al. “Enhancing Learning Using 3D Printing: An Alternative to Traditional Student Project Methods.” The American Biology Teacher, vol. 77, no. 5, 2015, pp. 376–77. JSTOR, https://doi.org/10.1525/abt.2015.77.5.9. Accessed 30 Nov. 2022.

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Liam Cotter-DeFehr

Work Title: The Influence of Mysticism and Theosophy in the Music of Alexander Scriabin This essay aims to provide a comprehensive account of the musical and artistic development of composer Alexander Scriabin, analyzing the various ways in which Scriabin’s music was shaped by his perpetual and developing interest in the mystic arts, philosophical conceptions, and theosophical ideals. This essay is particularly meaningful to me due to its connection to a lifelong interest in music, and more specifically my personal fascination with the music of Scriabin.

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Extended Essay Music

The Influence of Mysticism and Theosophy in the Music of Alexander Scriabin To what extent did Mysticism and Theosophy influence the Music of Alexander Scriabin?

(Wordcount 3861)

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Abstract It is difficult to comprehend the entirety of Alexander Scriabin’s musical oeuvre employing a fundamentally holistic method of analysis. Few other composers have produced such a stretching and diverse range of music, or expended and adopted such contrasting styles over the course of their artistic development. In the case of Scriabin, the great changes seen in his music writing throughout his career are the direct result of the development of another branch of his artistry: the expansion of his interest in theosophy and mysticism.

Although the various periods of his writing may exist autonomously, it may in fact be effectual to analyze certain works of one period while concurrently applying analysis of the work of a different period and style for the purpose of further understanding the composer’s musical development as well as the growing influence of his philosophical notions. His stylistic evolution, which spanned total harmonic functionality to the practical extinction of traditional tonality, was synchronous with his growing interest in mysticism and theosophical principles.

The objective of this essay is to provide a comprehensive analysis of how the composer’s musical development was shaped by his expanding mystical and theosophical interests.

Through studying the distinctive periods of his music, the influence of his philosophical beliefs in his music writing becomes increasingly evident as his style both matures and as his music becomes independent, as the Scriabin gradually freed himself from the influence of past composers. It is this contrast seen in analyzing his early, transitional, and late period music that elicits one’s understanding of how through the composer’s changing stylistic development, he gradually became compelled to imbue his philosophies within his own composition.

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Contents Abstract………………………………………………….……………… 2 Introduction………………………………………………….………….. 4 1. First Period………………..……..…………….…………………6 i.

Initial Influences ...………….…….……….………..……6

ii.

Later Years of the First Period…….…………….………..8

2. Transitional Period………………………………………………10 i.

Harmonic transitions…………………………………….11

ii.

Inauguration of Scriabin’s Mysticism…………………...14 a. Theosophy……………………………………….15

3. Final Period……………………………………………………...16 i.

Abandonment of Conventional Tonality…….…………..17

ii.

Influence of Theosophy in late works…………..…….…19

iii.

Scriabin and Gesamtkunstwerk………..……….………..21

4. Conclusion………………………………………….….………...23 Bibliography………………………………………….….…...………….24

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Introduction

The music of Russia produced during the mid to late 19th century has not only enjoyed a certain resonance in the world of Western classical music, but cultivated a distinct individuality of character. Russian composers of the later romantic tradition epitomized the identity of this music in ways that Italian or German composers may have in the Baroque and Classical eras, respectively1. There is a certain flavor to Russian romantic music, not unlike the music written during this similar time by French revolutionary Claude Debussy, or the late romantic music of Isaac Albeniz or Enrique Granados, so distinctly and idiomatically Iberian. This style of Russian music was to constitute the early works of Alexander Scriabin (1872-1915)2.

Beginning roughly in the 1890s, the Russian Symbolist movement began to inform the thinking of writers, poets, and artists. This intellectual movement placed emphasis on the synthesis of mystical and universal experiences in various forms of artistic expression3. Scriabin found great appeal in the ideologies rooted in this mysticism, and after over a decade of composing in a stylistically romantic idiom, began writing with an all together separate intent: to express his philosophical notions and mystical experiences through sound4. The composer’s interest in theosophy later saw him grow and foster his own personal philosophies, largely centering around the role of artistry within the greater prospects of universal existence, divinity,

1

Antcliffe, Herbert. “The Significance of Scriabin.” The Musical Quarterly, vol. 10, no. 3, 1 July 1924, pp.

333–345. JSTOR, 333 2 Antcliffe, Herbert. “The Significance of Scriabin.” The Musical Quarterly, vol. 10, no. 3, 1 July 1924, pp.

333–345. JSTOR, 338 3 Kaykov, Michael. “Three Etudes Op. 65: Alexander Scriabin’s Late Period Harmonic Innovations.” International Review of the Aesthetics and Sociology of Music, vol. 51, no. 2, Dec. 2020, 223 4 Kaykov, Michael. “Three Etudes Op. 65: Alexander Scriabin’s Late Period Harmonic Innovations.” International Review of the Aesthetics and Sociology of Music, vol. 51, no. 2, Dec. 2020, 224

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and creation5. These various notions were to profusely affect his music writing; within some short years, his musical language had been altogether reworked, reaching entirely new extents of tonal ambiguity, harmonic abstraction, and individuality.

In comprehending the progression of Scriabin’s musical output, the gradual influence of his expanding interest in philosophical teachings as his music matures becomes increasingly evident. In light of this, it may prove fruitful to this essay to analyze the works of various periods of Scriabin's development to further understand the extent to which the composer’s mystical beliefs impacted his musical evolution. Through analysis of selected works as well as discussion of Scriabin’s personal writings, this essay will closely examine the relationship between the development of the composer’s music writing and his conception of theoretical and philosophical notions.

5

Kaykov, Michael. “Three Etudes Op. 65: Alexander Scriabin’s Late Period Harmonic Innovations.” International Review of the Aesthetics and Sociology of Music, vol. 51, no. 2, Dec. 2020, 224

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1) First Period

The initial period of Scriabin’s compositional output can be traced from his time as a student at the Moscow Conservatory, as a progressing concert pianist in the mid 1890s, and, finally, during his six year tenure as a professor at the Conservatory, lasting from 1897 until 1903. The bulk of music composed by Scriabin in his early years, while not displaying a lack of technic austerity, bears a strong likeness and is often discussed in comparison to the works of preceding romantic composers, most notably Frédéric Chopin6. In the final years of his first period, however, Scriabin’s creative individuality began to prosper, and precursory developments later elemental in the conception of his mystic philosophies gradually became perceptible in his music writing.

i) Initial Influences

Scriabin’s earliest works are not in any sense particularly harmonically ambitious or innovative; nevertheless, they display a precocious level of talent for music writing. The earliest of Scriabin’s pieces display what incredible influence the music of Chopin exerted on the young composer; nevertheless, these works contain hints of Scriabin’s harmonic individually7. The First Sonata, opus 6, written for piano in 1889 when Scriabin was seventeen, is a fine example of his student work, proclaiming the young musician’s technical skill for composition and mastery of form. The sonata does also contain some traces of the composer’s character, as Arthur Eaglefield 6

Antcliffe, Herbert. “The Significance of Scriabin.” The Musical Quarterly, vol. 10, no. 3, 1 July 1924, pp.

333–345. JSTOR, 338 7 HULL, A. EAGLEFIELD. “A Survey of the Pianoforte Works of Scriabin.” The Musical Quarterly, II, no. 4, Oct. 1916, 601

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Hull, a British music critic and writer, stated, “(The First Sonata) is Chopinesque in feeling, truly enough; but there is a masterly stride in it which even the Polish composer did not possess…already we cannot fail to see that here is no ordinary musical talent”8. Nonetheless, Scriabin’s early works are undoubtedly evocative of Chopin’s musical language. The compositions during his first years also appear to employ the formats used by his predecessor: the Mazurka, Waltz, Étude, and Prelude, the latter two of which Scriabin wrote some cycles of in his early years, his 12 Études, op. 8, and 24 Preludes, op. 11, both in imitation of Chopin’s own sets of Études and the 24 Preludes, op. 28 9. Although these pieces may clearly bear the formal characteristics of the Chopin, Scriabin’s set of Études carry with them a particular individuality, as Herbert Antcliffe, a noted musicologist of the early 20th century, stated, “We find in (the Études op. 8) the feeling for harmonic colour which is so striking a feature of all his later work”.10

The general style of the works composed in what is now accepted as Scriabin’s first period can be described as idiomatically romantic. However, it is not simply enough to mention that during this time the composer wrote with a harmonically Chopinesque palette. The works of this period conform to the majority of principles, descriptors, and characteristics of romantic music in general, including intense and contrastful dynamic changes and melodic passagework.

8

HULL, A. EAGLEFIELD. “A Survey of the Pianoforte Works of Scriabin.” The Musical Quarterly, II, no. 4, Oct. 1916, 602 9 HULL, A. EAGLEFIELD. “A Survey of the Pianoforte Works of Scriabin.” The Musical Quarterly, II, no. 4, Oct. 1916, 601 10 Antcliffe, Herbert. “The Significance of Scriabin.” The Musical Quarterly, vol. 10, no. 3, 1 July 1924, pp.

333–345. JSTOR, 338

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ii) Later Years of the First Period

The years during which Scriabin enjoyed a successful concert career, later pursuing a teaching position at the Conservatory in 1897 from which he had graduated five years prior, saw a distinct evolution in the composer’s music writing. The second piano sonata, or Sonata-Fantasy, op. 19, written between 1890 and 1895, foretells his later, more distinctly philosophical music, as stated by Herbert, “the Sonata-Fantasia, into which some…read a foreshadowing of his ‘Theosophical’ works”11. The harmonies show an advancement in the composer’s musical language, beginning to develop the idiom of works that would follow.

Consider the opening of op. 19:

Figure 1 Scriabin commences the piece with an unstable and ambiguous chord, a half-diminished inversion. Although there is a stated tonic rooted in G# minor, it is blurred by the addition of an E#, which creates a sensation of uncertainty characteristic of the half-diminished quality.

Moreover, this first statement is left momentarily unresolved, shown in the succeeding rest 11

Antcliffe, Herbert. “The Significance of Scriabin.” The Musical Quarterly, vol. 10, no. 3, 1 July 1924, pp.

333–345. JSTOR, 338

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marked with a fermata, indicating a lengthy pause. This too adds to the ambiguous impression of the introduction. Scriabin also provides an indication to play in a soft dynamic range and at a leisurely tempo, a departure from the eruptive Allegro con fuoco (fast and fiery) opening of his first sonata. These many distinguishers show an incredible advance in Scriabin’s development; the composer established both a fresh harmonic palette from which to write from as well as an increased musical independence, of which both would contribute significantly in Scriabin’s gradual combining of philosophy and musical art12.

To proceed further, Scriabin would execute his first symphonic work during his time as a professor at his alma mater13. This Symphony, written in E major, was to be one of the composer’s first works in which he definitively expressed his developing beliefs retaining to creation, art, and universal acclimation. These ideas are further explained in numerous notebooks the composer would write over his career14. In emulation of Beethoven’s ninth, Scriabin concludes his first symphony with the addition of a chorus, which is, as Hull describes it, “a ‘Hymn to Art’”. In this final movement Scriabin, who himself had written the text for the choir, praises artistic creation as a means of uplifting morality15.

12

HULL, A. EAGLEFIELD. “A Survey of the Pianoforte Works of Scriabin.” The Musical Quarterly, II, no. 4, Oct. 1916, 604 13 HULL, A. EAGLEFIELD. “A Survey of the Pianoforte Works of Scriabin.” The Musical Quarterly, II, no. 4, Oct. 1916, 605 14 Kaykov, Michael. “Three Etudes Op. 65: Alexander Scriabin’s Late Period Harmonic Innovations.” International Review of the Aesthetics and Sociology of Music, vol. 51, no. 2, Dec. 2020, 225.

15 HULL, A. EAGLEFIELD. “A Survey of the Pianoforte Works of Scriabin.” The Musical Quarterly, II, no. 4, Oct. 1916, 605

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2) Transitional Period

1903 – the year Scriabin resigned from the tutorial staff of the Moscow Conservatory – was an extremely prolific year for the composer16. The works completed during this year present a significant pivot in Scriabin’s harmonic language, and his interests in mysticism and philosophy became distinctly shaped17. Perhaps most preponderant, however, is the clarity of individuality displayed in Scriabin’s middle period works, as described by Hull: “The early works are now accepted classics in all our colleges and academics; the middle works, however, represent Scriabin in the most important and fascinating development of his rich personality”18.

The emergence of Scriabin’s individual character in these middle works is also indicated by the composer’s choice to often preface his pieces with his own poetry, a practice through which his growing interest in mysticism can be clearly seen19.

16

HULL, A. EAGLEFIELD. “A Survey of the Pianoforte Works of Scriabin.” The Musical Quarterly, II, no. 4, Oct. 1916, 605 17 Antcliffe, Herbert. “The Significance of Scriabin.” The Musical Quarterly, vol. 10, no. 3, 1 July 1924, pp.

333–345. JSTOR, 339 18 HULL, A. EAGLEFIELD. “A Survey of the Pianoforte Works of Scriabin.” The Musical Quarterly, II, no. 4, Oct. 1916, 613 19 Matlaw, Ralph E. “Scriabin and Russian Symbolism.” Comparative Literature, vol. 31, no. 1, 1979, p. 2

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i) Harmonic Transitions

The works written by Scriabin at the time of this evolution are notable for their advancements in harmony and display of an altogether new style. A consummate example of this transition can be seen in the Fourth Sonata, op. 30. Consider the first measures of the piece:

Figure 2

Although the opening may appear similar to that of the Second Sonata (as seen in the similar choice of dynamic and tempo), here, Scriabin enters an entirely new world of sound: to start, the first few notes create a major seventh chord, previously not principally used by Scriabin, and of which the sound quality can be described as ethereal and mystical. The middle few notes then slide a chromatic third downwards, forming a new sonority comprising whole tones. This chord shares the same celestial quality of the starting chord, although clearly altered.

These chords and intervals had previously been used chiefly in transitions or as passing tones;

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here, they are the very elements of the thematic material. Already, Scriabin has created an entirely changed harmonic language.

Furthermore, this sonata decidedly commenced Scriabin’s unmitigated application of his mystical interests to his musical works. Antcliffe notes that Scriabin offered a description of the first theme which begins the piece: (Scriabin) described the two motives of the first theme of this Sonata as “the striving upwards towards the Ideal Creative Power” and “the resultant Languor or Exhaustion after effort.” Here we see distinct signs of the composer’s developing knowledge of human psychology, for after the statement of the theme comprising these motives he develops first the Languor motive and then makes that relating to Creative effort seem to force itself forward till at last all languor disappears and gives way to the joy of Creation. This, it will be noticed, is the basic idea of all his later works20.

With this sonata, Scriabin sought the application of his developing interest in mysticism and theosophy to musical composition, a substantial advance in both his stylistic development and cultivation of individuality in his writing.

Despite the innovations that this sonata represented for Scriabin intellectually and it’s assuredly evolutionary harmonies, the work is by no means exhibitory of the composer’s entire individuality, as observed by Antcliff: “With the Fourth Sonata, he entered a period of his work…that was free from direct influences, though he did not yet show his full individuality”21.

This freedom of character would become assuredly evident in the sonata which would follow it, the Fifth Sonata op. 5322. This work, similar to the Third Symphony op. 43 (entitled Le Devin Poème, or The Divine Poem) displays Scriabin’s growing concern with the sheer opulence, lucidity, and beauty of sound rather than attempting to create a comprehensive tonal center23.

20

Antcliffe, Herbert. “The Significance of Scriabin.” The Musical Quarterly, vol. 10, no. 3, 1 July 1924, pp.

333–345. JSTOR, 339 21 Antcliffe, Herbert. “The Significance of Scriabin.” The Musical Quarterly, vol. 10, no. 3, 1 July 1924, pp.

333–345. JSTOR, 338 22 Antcliffe, Herbert. “The Significance of Scriabin.” The Musical Quarterly, vol. 10, no. 3, 1 July 1924, pp.

333–345. JSTOR, 339 23 Antcliffe, Herbert. “The Significance of Scriabin.” The Musical Quarterly, vol. 10, no. 3, 1 July 1924, pp.

333–345. JSTOR, 339

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This was the composer’s first sonata to be written in one movement, whereby Scriabin compressed the austerity of sonata form into a single movement work evoking the format of his numerous Poèmes, a title he now prefered over Prelude24. Moreover, the composer’s indications written throughout the score became increasingly poetic in this sonata: the coda, to provide an example, has markings including instructions to play “with a fantastic intoxication”, with “dizziness and fury”, with “luminosity”, and “ecstatically”25.

Scriabin prefaced his fifth sonata with a short verse, which conjures the inspirations the composer experienced in birthing this piece. It is as follows:

Figure 3 Apart from elucidating the inspirations felt by Scriabin when composing this work Furthermore, the poem also allows the performer to develop a greater understanding of the composer’s intentions when writing the sonata, which may further contribute to conveying the ideas behind the work in performance.

As Scriabin had at this point began to distinctly fuse his developing ideas and concepts relating to mystic teachings and theosophical principles, it would likely prove apposite to now examine these beliefs themselves before proceeding further.

24

HULL, A. EAGLEFIELD. “A Survey of the Pianoforte Works of Scriabin.” The Musical Quarterly, II, no. 4, Oct. 1916, 603 25 https://vmirror.imslp.org/files/imglnks/usimg/9/99/IMSLP509048-PMLP5365-Scriabin_A_-_Op_53_Piano_Sonata _No.5_(Muzgiz).pdf

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ii) Inauguration of Scriabin’s Mysticism

Scriabin’s initial fascination with mysticism arose at the turn of the 20th century, when he began his involvement with the Moscow Philosophical Society26. It was not until his middle period works, however, that his accumulated ideas would begin to take shape within his compositions. As mentioned, the first piece to signify the gradual combining of music and philosophy was to be the fourth sonata in 1903; this became even more readily apparent in the fifth four years later. It is noteworthy that, by the time of the composition of Scriabin’s op. 53, he had amassed a great breadth of technical knowledge for music, which enabled the composer to search for greater theoretical possibilities in relation to his composition, a desire which would be fulfilled by the imbuement of philosophical concepts into his works27. Unlike the early works, which show their roots in romantic ideals, Scriabin’s music after the first few years of the 20th century found inspiration in mystical and theosophical conceptions28.

To examine Scriabin’s own philosophies, a fundamental truth seen in a great majority of his mature compositions is Scriabin’s desire to represent the rise of consciousness in humanity29.

This enlightenment, he felt, was to be most perfectly achieved through artistic means, as seen in the preface of his fifth sonata. Scriabin’s early philosophical conceptions were intimately connected with the aesthetics of his music’s tonality; it was not until his late career that his ideologies would become greatly complex, becoming one with his artistic intentions30. His 26

Kaykov, Michael. “Three Etudes Op. 65: Alexander Scriabin’s Late Period Harmonic Innovations.” International Review of the Aesthetics and Sociology of Music, vol. 51, no. 2, Dec. 2020, pp. 224.

27 Antcliffe, Herbert. “The Significance of Scriabin.” The Musical Quarterly, vol. 10, no. 3, 1 July 1924, pp.

333–345. JSTOR, 340 28 Antcliffe, Herbert. “The Significance of Scriabin.” The Musical Quarterly, vol. 10, no. 3, 1 July 1924, pp.

333–345. JSTOR, 340 29 Antcliffe, Herbert. “The Significance of Scriabin.” The Musical Quarterly, vol. 10, no. 3, 1 July 1924, pp.

333–345. JSTOR, 341 30 Antcliffe, Herbert. “The Significance of Scriabin.” The Musical Quarterly, vol. 10, no. 3, 1 July 1924, pp.

333–345. JSTOR, 341

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compositions during the period in which his philosophies were still in a developmental stage, however, rely foremost on musical aspects, such as thematic or motivic material, to express any mystic conceptions. This is noted by Antcliffe: “Scriabin found his subjects and expressed himself in the nearest terms which music possessed relating to religion or philosophy”.31 Scriabin, in an attempt to fuse his notions of intellectual revelation and artistic invention, would henceforth find great appeal in Theosophy.

a) Theosophy

In letter dated from 1905, Scriabin wrote of his astonishment at the book La Clef de la Théosophie, or The Key to Theosophy, by Helena Blavatsky, remarking at how much the ideas outlined in Blavatsky’s book aligned with his own32. Fundamentally, Scriabin’s interest in Theosophical ideas stemmed from the commonalities he felt his ideas shared with that of Blavatsky and Theosophy, chiefly retaining to the potential of artistic creation being used to achieve divine revelation and to transcend human consciousness to a heightened station33.

Theosophy soon began to substantially transform far more than simply his musical language; it began to shape how Scriabin connected with his own artistry34. In the same year, 1905, Scriabin wrote:

31

Antcliffe, Herbert. “The Significance of Scriabin.” The Musical Quarterly, vol. 10, no. 3, 1 July 1924, pp.

333–345. JSTOR, 341 32 Kaykov, Michael. “Three Etudes Op. 65: Alexander Scriabin’s Late Period Harmonic Innovations.” International Review of the Aesthetics and Sociology of Music, vol. 51, no. 2, Dec. 2020, pp. 225.

33 Antcliffe, Herbert. “The Significance of Scriabin.” The Musical Quarterly, vol. 10, no. 3, 1 July 1924, pp.

333–345. JSTOR, 340 34 Kaykov, Michael. “Three Etudes Op. 65: Alexander Scriabin’s Late Period Harmonic Innovations.” International Review of the Aesthetics and Sociology of Music, vol. 51, no. 2, Dec. 2020, pp. 227.

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“How can you express mysticism with major and minor? How can you convey the dissolution of matter, or luminosity? Above all, minor keys must disappear from music. Minor is an undertone. I deal with overtones. Oh, how I want to break down the walls of these tempered tones.”35

Scriabin’s personal beliefs retaining to mysticism and theosophy slowly began to take greater and greater form in his music. After the completion of his fifth sonata in 1907, his late period effectively had commenced, and his compositions had entered his final period in his harmonic development36. Increasingly, Scriabin wrote in a decidedly programmatic nature37as he began to envision artistic works of a more conceptual scale, though these ideas would not be fully conceived until his final years38.

3) Final Period

Scriabin’s determination to suffuse philosophical ideologies within his music writing led the composer to search for new musical concepts through which to further express his mysticism.

Antcliffe describes the inevitability of Scriabin’s further harmonic development concomitant with his deepening appeal to Theosophy: “As (Theosophy) at the time had not been expressed to any full extent in music, he had to extend the vocabulary of that art, which he did by introducing new chords which gradually lead almost to the exclusion of the chords to which we had been made accustomed before”39. Scriabin, in the last period of his work, sought to render his 35

Kaykov, Michael. “Three Etudes Op. 65: Alexander Scriabin’s Late Period Harmonic Innovations.” International Review of the Aesthetics and Sociology of Music, vol. 51, no. 2, Dec. 2020, pp. 227.

36 HULL, A. EAGLEFIELD. “A Survey of the Pianoforte Works of Scriabin.” The Musical Quarterly, II, no. 4, Oct. 1916, 610 37 Antcliffe, Herbert. “The Significance of Scriabin.” The Musical Quarterly, vol. 10, no. 3, 1 July 1924, pp.

333–345. JSTOR, 337 38 Kaykov, Michael. “Three Etudes Op. 65: Alexander Scriabin’s Late Period Harmonic Innovations.” International Review of the Aesthetics and Sociology of Music, vol. 51, no. 2, Dec. 2020, pp. 226.

39 Antcliffe, Herbert. “The Significance of Scriabin.” The Musical Quarterly, vol. 10, no. 3, 1 July 1924, pp.

333–345. JSTOR, 340

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philosophical and mystical conceptions directly through new usages of harmony and tonality, employing novel scales and chords to further express this40.

i) Abandonment of Conventional Tonality

While Scriabin’s fifth sonata, op. 53 can still be considered a work of his transitional period41, it did not take a great many more opus numbers until the composer had achieved what is now viewed as his late period harmonic idiom. Scriabin’s 56th opus, a set of four small pieces conceived in 1908, is greatly abstract in its harmonic language. Hull offers a description of the fourth piece in the set: “The Étude (No. 4) is very extreme in its harmonic handling…we do not hear the tonic harmony till the twentieth bar, which is practically the Coda of this short piece”42.

These pieces, while substantial in their contribution to the development of Scriabin’s late period harmony, appear to only be precursive in import to Scriabin’s 60th opus, a symphonic tone poem of enormous scale43. This work, entitled Prometheus: The Poem of Fire, is highly exemplary of Scriabin’s fusion of musical and artistic invention and theosophical inspiration44. Scriabin’s conception of Prometheus was rooted in Greek mythology, however Scriabin extracted only the mystical elements of the legend and imbued it into music45. Moreover, Prometheus effectively commenced several new innovations in Scriabin’s late music. The first became a chief

40

HULL, A. EAGLEFIELD. “A Survey of the Pianoforte Works of Scriabin.” The Musical Quarterly, II, no. 4, Oct. 1916, 610 41 Antcliffe, Herbert. “The Significance of Scriabin.” The Musical Quarterly, vol. 10, no. 3, 1 July 1924, pp.

333–345. JSTOR, 340 42 HULL, A. EAGLEFIELD. “A Survey of the Pianoforte Works of Scriabin.” The Musical Quarterly, II, no. 4, Oct. 1916, 610 43 Antcliffe, Herbert. “The Significance of Scriabin.” The Musical Quarterly, vol. 10, no. 3, 1 July 1924, pp.

333–345. JSTOR, 343 44 Matlaw, Ralph E. “Scriabin and Russian Symbolism.” Comparative Literature, vol. 31, no. 1, 1979, p. 11 45 Antcliffe, Herbert. “The Significance of Scriabin.” The Musical Quarterly, vol. 10, no. 3, 1 July 1924, pp.

333–345. JSTOR, 343

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representation in sound of mysticism which Scriabin would employ in almost all his very late work46. This chord, as described by Michael Kaykov, an American pianist and educator, “redefined the function of an inherently unstable sonority based around a dominant seventh chord, into a stable element needing no resolution”47.

Figure 4

Deemed the “Mystic Chord” or the “Prometheus Chord”, Scriabin effectively created a sonority at the intersection of dissonance and irresolution, yet still inherently full of allure and beauty48.

Before proceeding with further examination of Scriabin’s Prometheus, there exist other works of the composer’s late period of considerable merit as to be mentioned for their harmonic contributions. This principally includes the final five piano sonatas, all stylistically similar, and exceptional in their exhibition of Scriabin’s late harmonic language. The ninth, op. 68, designated the title Black Mass, is a true medley of Scriabin’s mastery of form, atmospheric dynamic range, and late period harmonic advancements. Hull provides a description of the opus 68: “The Ninth Sonata is to my mind one of the most attractive of all Scriabin’s creations. The

46

Kaykov, Michael. “Three Etudes Op. 65: Alexander Scriabin’s Late Period Harmonic Innovations.” International Review of the Aesthetics and Sociology of Music, vol. 51, no. 2, Dec. 2020, pp. 230.

47 Kaykov, Michael. “Three Etudes Op. 65: Alexander Scriabin’s Late Period Harmonic Innovations.” International Review of the Aesthetics and Sociology of Music, vol. 51, no. 2, Dec. 2020, pp. 230.

48 HULL, A. EAGLEFIELD. “A Survey of the Pianoforte Works of Scriabin.” The Musical Quarterly, II, no. 4, Oct. 1916, 609

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form is tightened up into one movement of great pliancy and cohesion…the harmony is beautiful, interesting, and amazingly distorted at times”49 These final sonatas offer an incredible contribution to the late works of Scriabin, providing particularly remarkable insight into the greatly complex harmonies of his final period.

ii) Influence of Theosophy in Late Works

To return to Prometheus, Scriabin entailed the use of a Color Organ, an instrument which projects various colors of light. Antcliffe notes that the inclusion of the Color Organ for the performance of Prometheus, “fitted both the advancement of his musical technic and his Theosophical ideas of the relation of life and light”50. Ralph E. Matlaw, an expert in Russian literature, described Scriabin’s own program notes for Prometheus: “‘Fire is life, light, struggle, increase, abundance, and thought’”, with Matlaw adding “The theosophical ramifications are enormous”51.

Scriabin’s theosophical conception of fire and light in relation to life, creation, and the growth of thought did not only manifest in Prometheus. His Poème opus 72, titled Vers la Flamme (Towards the Flame), shares the same conceptual basis of Prometheus52. Notable in this work is how Scriabin heavily utilized inversions of the mystic chord, as observed below in the stacked intervallic fourths:

49

HULL, A. EAGLEFIELD. “A Survey of the Pianoforte Works of Scriabin.” The Musical Quarterly, II, no. 4, Oct. 1916, 611 50 Antcliffe, Herbert. “The Significance of Scriabin.” The Musical Quarterly, vol. 10, no. 3, 1 July 1924, pp.

333–345. JSTOR, 342 51 Matlaw, Ralph E. “Scriabin and Russian Symbolism.” Comparative Literature, vol. 31, no. 1, 1979, p. 11 52 Antcliffe, Herbert. “The Significance of Scriabin.” The Musical Quarterly, vol. 10, no. 3, 1 July 1924, pp.

333–345. JSTOR, 344.

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Figure 5

Vladimir Horowitz, a greatly celebrated virtuoso of the 20th century, described Scriabin’s Vers la Flamme as inspired by Scriabin’s conception of the world’s destruction from flames slowly engulfing the earth, as seen in the gradual dynamic and emotional build throughout the piece53/54.

Scriabin’s unrealized Mysterium was envisioned by the composer to bring about the end of life on earth, before which the consciousness of humanity would be raised to transcend materialization55. This coincided with Scriabin’s accumulated interest in the combination of various forms of artistry and physical sensation, which had previously manifested in Prometheus.

53

“Vladimir Horowitz: A Reminiscence.” Kultur Films , 1994.

Clark, John W. “Divine Mysteries: On Some Skriabin Recordings.” 19th-Century Music, vol. 6, no. 3, 1983, pp.

266 55 Kaykov, Michael. “Three Etudes Op. 65: Alexander Scriabin’s Late Period Harmonic Innovations.” International Review of the Aesthetics and Sociology of Music, vol. 51, no. 2, Dec. 2020, pp. 226 54

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iii) Scriabin and Gesamtkunstwerk

Scriabin’s uncompleted magnum opus was to be a fusion of a great many forms of art, and physical sensations, including music and dance, and incorporating the projection of various colors and the diffusion of various smells56. This synthesis of various art forms is often known as a Gesamtkunstwerk57. Matlaw offers an elucidation for the premise of this work, which Scriabin referred to as the Mysterium: “Scriabin’s Mysterium was all inclusive. He believed that ancient rituals and mysteries used arts now forgotten or unknown to produce mystical catharsis, and that he might reintroduce them”58. These ideas can be traced in his many notebooks which he filled over his career with detailed explanations of his philosophy, the primary elements of which Kaykov offers a summation: 1) The arts should combine (or recombine).

2) Art should reconnect with its mystical origins and unite mankind in a spiritual sense.

3) The world was on the brink of a new era, and art (Scriabin’s art in particular) had a crucial role to play in bringing that era into being.

4) The basis of artistic creation and of meaningful insight was ecstatic inspiration.

5) The higher self is identical with the divine principle, and the artists’ work is equivalent to the creation of the universe.59 These chief principles of Scriabin’s mysticism were to largely serve as a basis for the formulation of his Mysterium. Moreover, Scriabin sought to reach this achievement by surmounting the musical complexity of his late work with highly simplified sonorities such as basic intervals of thirds, fourths, and fifths60. Most paramount of all aspects of this Mysterium, 56

Kaykov, Michael. “Three Etudes Op. 65: Alexander Scriabin’s Late Period Harmonic Innovations.” International Review of the Aesthetics and Sociology of Music, vol. 51, no. 2, Dec. 2020, pp. 225 57 Matlaw, Ralph E. “Scriabin and Russian Symbolism.” Comparative Literature, vol. 31, no. 1, 1979, p. 22 58 Matlaw, Ralph E. “Scriabin and Russian Symbolism.” Comparative Literature, vol. 31, no. 1, 1979, p. 19 59 Kaykov, Michael. “Three Etudes Op. 65: Alexander Scriabin’s Late Period Harmonic Innovations.” International Review of the Aesthetics and Sociology of Music, vol. 51, no. 2, Dec. 2020, pp. 225 60 Kaykov, Michael. “Three Etudes Op. 65: Alexander Scriabin’s Late Period Harmonic Innovations.” International Review of the Aesthetics and Sociology of Music, vol. 51, no. 2, Dec. 2020, pp. 225

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however, was the sought combination and synthesis of visual, auditory and sensory experiences to facilitate the entrance into a transcendent state of consciousness61. Ultimately, Scriabin would die without ever putting the Mysterium into effect, but his numerous sketches offer considerable insight, providing an exceptional account of the composer’s conception of this titanic work.

61

Matlaw, Ralph E. “Scriabin and Russian Symbolism.” Comparative Literature, vol. 31, no. 1, 1979, p. 3

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Conclusion

Alexander Scriabin’s musical output cannot entirely be characterized in a general sense, nor can his intentions, nor can the various inspirations and influences he came under over the course of his musical career, however his music can indeed speak to the art of the process, the experimentation of creation, as stated by Antcliffe in recalling a quotation by the French composer Vincent d’Indy: “All processes are good, on condition that they never become the principal end, and are regarded only as a means to make Music”62. As Scriabin’s music matured, his developing fascination with philosophy saw the composer gradually transform his musical language and, with it, his own artistry, until his artistry practically became one with his mysticism. A great many of Scriabin’s most lauded works are those in which his Theosophy was more than simply of great import to the work itself, but of enormous consequence to the inspiration, intention, and, now, legacy of his music. In the hypothetical absence of his mystical ideologies and their development, Scriabin’s music would not have simply lacked the composer’s great sense of character and individuality consequential of his theosophy, but the musical innovations resultant of his philosophies likely would have purely not occurred, innovations which would usher in the music of the 20th century63. Ultimately, mysticism and Theosophy impacted the music of Alexander Scriabin to significant extents, fundamentally persuading the artist to develop and adapt his style to the heightened individualism and indicative musical character appreciated in his work today.

62

Antcliffe, Herbert. “The Significance of Scriabin.” The Musical Quarterly, vol. 10, no. 3, 1 July 1924, pp.

333–345. JSTOR, 344 63 HULL, A. EAGLEFIELD. “A Survey of the Pianoforte Works of Scriabin.” The Musical Quarterly, II, no. 4, Oct. 1916, 613

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Bibliography

Journal Articles Antcliffe, Herbert. “The Significance of Scriabin.” The Musical Quarterly, vol. 10, no. 3, 1 July 1924, pp.

333–345. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.2307/738482?refreqid=search-gateway HULL, A. EAGLEFIELD. “A Survey of the Pianoforte Works of Scriabin.” The Musical Quarterly, II, no. 4, Oct. 1916, pp. 601–614., https://www.jstor.org/stable/737943?searchText=Scriabin&searchUri=%2Faction%2FdoBasicSearch%3FQue ry%3DScriabin%26so%3Drel&ab_segments=0%2FSYC-6398%2Ftest&refreqid=fastly-default%3Ab44724e 3b6dace9ea721a04e19891846&seq=1 Kaykov, Michael. “Three Etudes Op. 65: Alexander Scriabin’s Late Period Harmonic Innovations.”

International Review of the Aesthetics and Sociology of Music, vol. 51, no. 2, Dec. 2020, pp. 1–24. https://www.jstor.org/stable/26959870?searchText=Scriabin+theosophy&searchUri=%2Faction%2FdoBasicS earch%3FQuery%3DScriabin%2Btheosophy%26so%3Drel&ab_segments=0%2FSYC-6398%2Fcontrol&refr eqid=fastly-default%3Accaa412c70ca629eb22ced07a3350a8d&seq=2 Clark, John W. “Divine Mysteries: On Some Skriabin Recordings.” 19th-Century Music, vol. 6, no. 3, 1983, pp. 264–268., https://doi.org/10.2307/746591. https://www.jstor.org/stable/746591?searchText=sofronitsky+scriabin&searchUri=%2Faction%2FdoBasicSea rch%3FQuery%3Dsofronitsky%2Bscriabin%26so%3Drel&ab_segments=0%2FSYC-6398%2Ftest&refreqid =fastly-default%3A1d88631420ead64f39316187e9e2f700&seq=4 Matlaw, Ralph E. “Scriabin and Russian Symbolism.” Comparative Literature, vol. 31, no. 1, 1979, p. 1., https://www.jstor.org/stable/1770938?searchText=&searchUri=%2Faction%2FdoBasicSearch%3FQuery%3D Scriabin%26so%3Drel&ab_segments=0%2FSYC-6398%2Ftest&searchKey=&refreqid=excelsior%3A648f3 6841d3e88a50ed0e234abe06b61&seq=3#metadata_info_tab_contents

Films “Vladimir Horowitz: A Reminiscence.” Kultur Films , 1994.

Images Figure 1: http://vmirror.imslp.org/files/imglnks/usimg/0/09/IMSLP111216-SIBLEY1802.15556.f43c-39087012659928score.p df Figure 2: http://vmirror.imslp.org/files/imglnks/usimg/a/aa/IMSLP509047-PMLP5654-Scriabin_A_-_Op_30_Piano_Sonata_ No.4_(Muzgiz).pdf

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Figure 3: Antcliffe, Herbert. “The Significance of Scriabin.” The Musical Quarterly, vol. 10, no. 3, 1 July 1924, pp. 333–345.

JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.2307/738482?refreqid=search-gateway Figure 4: HULL, A. EAGLEFIELD. “A Survey of the Pianoforte Works of Scriabin.” The Musical Quarterly, II, no. 4, Oct. 1916, pp. 601–614., https://www.jstor.org/stable/737943?searchText=Scriabin&searchUri=%2Faction%2FdoBasicSearch%3FQuery%3D Scriabin%26so%3Drel&ab_segments=0%2FSYC-6398%2Ftest&refreqid=fastly-default%3Ab44724e3b6dace9ea72 1a04e19891846&seq=1 Figure 5: http://vmirror.imslp.org/files/imglnks/usimg/c/c3/IMSLP507376-PMLP8451-Scriabin_-_Vers_la_flamme,_Op.72.pd f

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Christina Ukadike Subject: English Category: 3 Personal Code: kmj002

Have You Ever Been Blue? Or Felt Your Train Moving While Standing Still?– The Sensationalization Of Mental Illness On Social Media Through Books And Movies

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Word count: 3,537 Often in literature, the true meaning of a piece is veiled within metaphors. An author may mean "character x is sad" but will write "the world went grey for character x" instead. The art of reading is to put together artfully strung metaphors and attach emotion and motive to them.

Though reading and comprehending material seems simple enough, everyone is bound to make mistakes at some point, and on the world-wide-web, more and more mistakes come to light, and more and more people agree with these wrong ideas. Unfortunately, books and media are not immune to this. Often on the internet, people share their views while openly inviting others to comment and add their nuance and opinions. While this phenomenon is undoubtedly a good thing in terms of culture sharing and opening users' minds to new views, it is also one of the many shortcomings of the internet. The internet, in its totality, is an algorithm based on showing users content that will pique their interest—such as a manipulative friend, convincing you that it can do no wrong while shielding you from the many problems it has. The internet is a manipulative friend, gaslighting users and continuing the misunderstandings of books and media. In an interview, Susanna Kaysen, author of "Girl Interrupted," said, "I don't know you."

(2018). What did she mean by that? What does this have to do with the internet?

Mental illness is a complex and multifaceted issue discussed for decades. Despite the progress made in breaking down the stigma surrounding mental illness, media, including books, movies, and social media, continue sensationalizing it. The portrayal of mental illness in literature and media significantly impacts public perception and understanding of the issue. It is crucial to critically analyze these representations to ensure that they do not perpetuate harmful stereotypes or contribute to stigmatizing those with a mental illness.

One of the main issues with portraying mental illness in literature and media is the sensationalization of it. This sensationalization is especially prevalent in fiction, where the author primarily aims to entertain readers. Unfortunately, this often means that mental illness is reduced to a mere plot device, and its portrayal can be harmful and inaccurate. Eugenides' novel "The Virgin Suicides" is an example of this. The novel's satirical depiction of the Lisbon sisters' mental health struggles is often romanticized with comments lacking nuance, perpetuating harmful stereotypes about mental illness. This misunderstanding can lead to misconceptions of the complexities of mental health issues and further stigmatize those who suffer from them.

The novel follows the Lisbon sisters, five teenage girls living in a suburb in Michigan, who commit suicide one after the other. Told from the perspective of a group of neighbourhood boys who become obsessed with the sisters; as the story progresses, they begin to understand the reasons behind their suicides. While the novel is praised for its beautiful writing and engaging plot, its portrayal of mental illness has been criticized for being sensationalized and inaccurate.

While the book is a satirical comment on the sensationalization and sexualization of mental illness in women, the misconstruing of the commentary is rampant across social media.

Rather than understanding the satirical nature of the novel, much of the content surrounding it further perpetuates the poor portrayal of mental illness. The Lisbon sisters are depicted as mysterious, fragile, and otherworldly, and their mental illnesses are never fully explored or explained. Instead, they are portrayed as inherently damaged, which feeds into the stereotype

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that mentally ill people are inherently dangerous or unpredictable. Furthermore, the novel purposefully perpetuates the myth that suicide is a romantic or poetic act.

Similarly, the movie "Girl, Interrupted" also portrays mental illness in a sensationalized and inaccurate manner. The movie, based on Susanna Kaysen's memoir of the same name, tells the story of a young woman admitted to a psychiatric hospital in the 1960s. While the movie has been praised for portraying female friendship and mental illness, its depiction of mental illness is criticized for being oversimplified and sensationalized. It is essential for media to accurately depict mental illness and suicide, as inaccurate portrayals can perpetuate harmful myths and discourage those suffering from seeking help. Instead, the media should strive to provide accurate information and resources for those struggling with mental health issues.

Furthermore, the film perpetuates the stereotype that mentally ill people are inherently violent or unpredictable. This is particularly evident in the character of Lisa, a fellow patient portrayed as manipulative and dangerous. While the character is fictional, her portrayal perpetuates the myth that mentally ill people are problematic and should be feared.

The sensationalization of mental illness in literature and media has consequences beyond the immediate portrayal. One of the most significant impacts is the perpetuation of stereotypes and stigmas surrounding mental illness. When mentally ill people are portrayed as dangerous, unpredictable, or damaged, it can lead to further marginalization and discrimination.

This discourages those suffering from seeking help for fear of being judged or ostracized.

Furthermore, the sensationalization of mental illness can also lead to the trivialization of it.

When mental illness is reduced to a mere aesthetic device, it can lead to a lack of understanding of the complexities of mental illness. This can discourage people from seeking help or engaging in meaningful conversations about mental health. It can also lead to the propagation of harmful myths, such as the idea that mental illness is a choice or a character flaw.

In "The Virgin Suicides," the girls' suicides are described in graphic detail, with their beauty and youth being emphasized even in death. In one scene, the narrator describes Lux's appeal: "But none of these signs of malnourishment or illness or grief detracted from Lux's overwhelming impression of being a carnal angel." (Eugenides, 143) Her suicide is idealized, aligning her with an angel; her suicide is portrayed as beautiful and pure, satirizing the far too familiar description of mentally ill women. This idea has been heavily distorted on social media.

This type of description can damage readers and viewers, creating a false sense of allure around suicide and self-harm. In "Girl, Interrupted," the main character, Susanna, is shown engaging in self-harm behaviours, such as hitting her wrists and picking at her skin.

These scenes can be triggering for those who struggle with similar issues and can make self-harm seem like an acceptable coping mechanism.

The supposed sensationalization of mental illness in these works of literature and film harms those struggling with mental health issues and perpetuates harmful stereotypes and stigmas.

Because of the competitive nature of mental illness, especially depression and eating disorders, coupled with the near impossibility of creating media that discusses mental health without sensationalization, the lack of proper nuance in the books and movies contributes to negative

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stigma. The media often portrays those with mental illness as dangerous or unpredictable, which can lead to discrimination and isolation. The satirical nature of "The Virgin Suicides" is often lost on social media platforms, where users may simply share quotes or images without fully understanding the context or intent behind them. For example, one post by a user" says, "Virgin Suicides summer," including artful pictures of the Lisbon sisters, contributing romanticization of mental illness, directly ignoring the critique the book aims to bring. This can be particularly problematic regarding mental illness. The book's portrayal of the Lisbon sisters' struggles strives to be critical of the societal pressures and expectations that contributed to their tragic end, though users disregard the satirical commentary.

One example of this is how the character of Lux Lisbon has been romanticized and idolized on social media. Despite her depression and suicidal thoughts, Lux a rebellious and desirable figure, with fans sharing rosy images of her smoking, wearing lingerie, and posing seductively, ignoring the severe nature of her mental health issues and perpetuating harmful stereotypes about the sexualization of mental illness.

Moreover, using quotes and images from "The Virgin Suicides" on social media can sometimes have the unintended effect of normalizing or glamorizing suicide. For example, the line "Obviously, Doctor, you've never been a thirteen-year-old girl"(Euginedes, 13) has been widely shared and celebrated as a profound statement. Still, it reinforces the idea that suicide is a viable solution to the struggles of adolescence. Similarly, images of the Lisbon sisters in their prom dresses or a group hug have been used as aesthetic inspiration without considering that these scenes depict young women in the throes of a mental health crisis.

Much of the romanticization is often found when books are adapted into movies.

Commonly, when books are adapted and turned into films, new viewers rush to watch them, enjoying the beautifully portrayed movies with their fitting soundtracks and attractive actors. This widespread phenomenon occurs in almost every movie that discusses mental health, regardless of the plot. For example, both "The Virgin Suicides" and "Girl Interrupted" were heavily sensationalized after the movie adaptations.

Furthermore, the aim of the books is often lost by movie watchers; rather than reading a multiple-page description of grotesque portrayals of mental illness, movie watchers see the often shortened and beautified events of the books. Early in "The Virgin Suicides," the boys describe going into the Lisbon sisters' house for dinner, walking to the bathroom, and finding a used tampon "still fresh from the insides of one of the sisters" through watching the movie; this grotesque act is removed from the movie entirely, keeping only Peter gazing longingly at their lipstick.

Moreover, in "Girl Interrupted," characters and plots are added that don't line up with the book despite it being a memoir; dramatic flare is added to entice viewers; one of the most sensationalized scenes in the movie shows Susanna and Lisa running away from the facility, hitchhiking, taking a van to New York City, then visiting daisy. Following their runaway comes one of the most sensationalized scenes in which Lisa leads Daisy to suicide. After watching this scene, rather than appropriately discussing it, the scene became a trending sound used by many to show off their appearance. Users lipsync to the audio "And everybody knows, Everybody knows that he fucks you, what they don't know, is that you like it" (1:28:34, Girl Interrupted, 2000). The scene which so graphically describes Daisy's molestation by her father is used to thirst trap, creating videos that leave out context, discussion, and, nuance, showing

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off physical appearance instead. The graphic scene that is so heavily romanticized does not even occur in the book. In the novel, the facility's residents are told about Daisy's suicide and are gutted by the event. The sensationalization of the novel in this way impacts not only sufferers of mental illness and victims of sexual assault but Susanna Kaysen herself. Following the release of the film adaptation of "Girl, Interrupted," Susanna Kaysen experienced a surge of attention from fans who had formed parasocial relationships with her through her book and the movie. Parasocial relationships involve one-sided connections where individuals feel emotionally invested in a media figure, and Kaysen was no exception. Book and movie fans felt a deep connection with her; some even felt a sense of ownership over her story.

The parasocial relationships Kaysen experienced after the movie's release were both positive and negative. On the one hand, she received support and validation from fans who empathized with her experiences. On the other hand, fans crossed boundaries, approaching her in public or sending her unsolicited letters and gifts. These interactions made her feel vulnerable and exposed, leading her to reflect on the limitations of her relationship with her readers and fans.

She is very aware of the sensationalization of her book; in her interview, she says, "I would say to myself, I didn't. I don't know you. I wasn't trying to reach you" (Kaysen 2018) to fans, imparting their relationship to the book, disregarding the highly emotional aspect of the memoir.

Regardless of this, fans continue to sensationalize the movie, imparting their feelings about a life that Suzanna lived.

Furthermore, the focus on sensationalized portrayals of mental illness can distract from the real issues surrounding mental health. Instead of addressing the root causes of mental illness and working to create a more supportive and accessible healthcare system, the media often chooses to sensationalize mental diseases for the sake of entertainment.

The sensationalization of mental illness in books and media can harm those with mental illnesses. It can perpetuate stereotypes and make it harder for individuals with mental illnesses to seek help or be taken seriously. For example, someone with depression might hesitate to seek treatment because they believe that depression only looks a certain way and their experiences don't match what they've seen in the media. Or someone with bipolar disorder might feel like they have to be constantly "on" or "off," as if there is no middle ground between mania and depression.

In recent years, social media has become a new platform for sensationalizing mental illness.

Social media users often share posts about mental illness that are either oversimplified or exaggerated, and the message can become distorted as it is shared and reshared. Social media can also perpetuate the idea that mental illness is something to be proud of or celebrated. For example, a post that says, "I'm not lazy; I have depression," might seem to empower, but it also perpetuates the stereotype that people with mental illnesses are lazy. It fails to address the fact that depression is a treatable medical condition.

Social media can also make it easier for individuals to compare their own experiences with mental illness to those they see online, which can lead to feelings of inadequacy or shame. For example, someone with anxiety might see a post from someone who describes their anxiety as debilitating and wonder why their anxiety isn't "as bad." Or someone with depression might see a post from someone who represents their depression as a constant struggle and feels guilty for having good days.

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Furthermore, social media can create a false sense of community around mental illness. While it may seem helpful to connect with others going through similar struggles, the anonymous nature of social media can also lead to toxic online environments where harmful behaviors are normalized and encouraged.

Overall, the sensationalization of mental illness in books and movies on social media can damage those struggling with mental health issues. Media creators and social media users must be mindful of their content's impact and work towards creating a more accurate and supportive representation of mental illness. As author Matt Haig states, "Mental illness is not a story; it is a reality. And it's a reality that needs to be approached with care, empathy, and respect."

Often on social media, people describe themselves as a collection of the things they like or relate to without actual descriptors. One person might say that they are "virgin suicides, Sufjan stevens, laying in the grass, coquette, pink pilates princess" This means they want to be viewed as mysterious and hyperfeminine. In contrast, others may say they are "Scott Pilgrim vs. The World, Girl interrupted, dyed hair, smudged mascara," meaning they want to be perceived as a "manic pixie dream girl" wild and mystical. The issue with these phrases is not their inherent meaning but their context; in these situations, mental illness isn't seen as an issue but as an aesthetic. Rayne Fischer-Quann voiced this thought in her think piece. She says, "It's become widespread for women online to express their identities through an artfully curated list of the things they consume, or aspire to consume — and because young women are conditioned to believe that their identities are defined almost entirely by their neuroses," (Fisher Quann, 2022).

Users pick characters who are often the most extreme version of their archetype. Characters such as Lisa from "Girl Interrupted" define themselves. Individuals attempt to distinguish themselves from others through mental illness, using it to garner attention or create a sense of uniqueness. Consequently, this further aligns users with trends; in distinguishing themselves from others, they become a ripple in the sea of users attempting to do the same thing. This trend has become increasingly common on social media, where individuals may feel pressure to showcase their individuality to stand out among the masses. Individuals may inadvertently glamorize and trivialize mental illness by aligning themselves with mentally ill characters. This can normalize dangerous behaviours and attitudes surrounding mental illness, such as self-harm and suicide. Furthermore, it can create a culture of competitiveness around mental illness, where individuals may need to one-up each other regarding who is the "most mentally ill." This can further stigmatize mental illness, making it more difficult for those who live with it to receive the support and understanding they need.

In addition to the overt sensationalization of mental illness on social media through romanticization, the sensationalization of melancholy has turned these communities into echo chambers, where people are encouraged to wallow in their sadness instead of seeking help and support. This differs from mental illness portrayed in a rosy light as users are painfully aware of their suffering but are comforted by media in the opposite fashion. Instead of romanticizing mental illness, users intellectualize their suffering, continuing the ever-so-competitive need to be the smartest. This is especially true on sites like Twitter which are mainly word-based; it becomes a contest-- who can most intelligently discuss mental illness while seeming not to sensationalize it. One trend on TikTok uniquely displays this. Dubbed "core-core," the trend

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highlights societal problems using melancholic songs and depressing yet aesthetic pictures to showcase how society causes their problems. While societal systems are not absolved from responsibility, users use trends like these to sensationalize mental illness by intellectualizing it, gaining moral high ground for admitting to the problem yet evading accountability under the guise of discussion. Coupled with TikTok's algorithmic curation, users discuss their existential dread post-ironically, using the juxtaposition of somber music to critique the internet while participating in the negative trends. This is in direct contrast to anti-intellectualism on the internet through the effects mirror each other; At the same time, a creator may post a "core-core" TikTok describing the nuance and misconstruing of media; they continue to romanticize the sadness shown in said media; on the other hand, a post perpetuating anti-intellectualism may take the plot of the media at face value romanticizing aspects that are meant to be discussed with nuance.

There has been controversy surrounding the portrayal of mental illness in literature and media, particularly concerning "The Virgin Suicides" by Jeffrey Eugenides and "Girl, Interrupted" by Susanna Kaysen. Some have accused these works of sensationalizing mental illness and perpetuating negative stereotypes and stigma. However, it is essential to consider the context in which these books were written. Both authors drew from their own experiences and observations of individuals with mental illness. Rather than glorifying or romanticizing mental illness, these works shed light on the struggles and challenges those who suffer from such conditions face. Moreover, the authors do not present mental illness as a monolithic or static condition. Instead, they explore the complexity and nuances of mental illness and the different ways it can manifest in individuals. They also highlight the need for greater understanding, empathy, and support for those affected by mental health issues.

To combat the sensationalization of mental illness in media and social media, it is essential to promote accurate and nuanced depictions of mental illness. This involves educating the public about the complexity of mental illness and encouraging empathy and understanding toward those who live with mental illnesses. It can also include promoting diverse representations of mental illness in media, including stories from individuals who have lived with mental illness and providing resources for those who need help. Platforms like Instagram and TikTok are filled with images and videos of individuals engaging in self-harm or discussing their struggles with mental illness. While some of these posts mean to raise awareness or provide support, they are often triggering for those struggling with similar issues.

"The Virgin Suicides" and "Girl, Interrupted" provide a glimpse into the experiences of those affected by mental illness and its impact on their lives and relationships. While it is essential to be critical of the portrayal of mental illness in literature and media, it is equally important to recognize the potential value of such works in starting conversations and raising awareness about mental health. Furthermore, it is crucial to approach these books and movies with contextual nuance and discussion, using their context to properly assess the goals and plot of the books and movies without taking them exclusively at face value. Moreover, it is vital to

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practice internet literacy, critiquing others' views while being open-minded to new opinions. The internet is not a single entity, and every discussion adds more nuance to every conversation; when discussing media online, users must use a critical lens to approach topics while considering the weight of the debate and its impact on others.

Therefore, rather than misconstruing the authors' intentions or dismissing these works altogether, we should approach them with a critical yet open-minded perspective. By doing so, we can appreciate the complexity of mental illness and its effects on individuals and society while working towards greater understanding, compassion, and support for those affected.

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Bibliography Works Cited Cabral, Sasha. “Op-Ed: From stigmatized to glamorized: mental illness in the media.” Upstream News, 8 December 2021, https://cvhsnews.org/7373/opinion/op-ed-from-stigmatized-to-glamorized-mental-illness-i n-media/. Accessed 1 April 2023.

“Eating Disorders and Intrasexual Competition: Testing an Evolutionary Hypothesis among Young Women.” NCBI, 20 December 2011, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3330742/. Accessed 1 April 2023.

Eugenides, Jeffrey. The Virgin Suicides. HarperCollins Publishers Limited, 2021. Accessed 1 April 2023.

Fisher, Rayne. “standing on the shoulders of complex female characters.” internet princess, 6 February 2022, https://internetprincess.substack.com/p/standing-on-the-shoulders-of-complex. Accessed 1 April 2023.

“Five tips to maintain your mental health while using social media.” UNICEF, 8 February 2021, https://www.unicef.org/romania/stories/five-tips-maintain-your-mental-health-while-usingsocial-media. Accessed 1 April 2023.

Kaysen, Susanna. Girl, interrupted. Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group, 1994. Accessed 1 April 2023.

Levitan, Hunter. “Parasocial Relationships - Definition, Signs, Examples, Per Experts.” Women's Health, 24 July 2022, https://www.womenshealthmag.com/relationships/a40560383/parasocial-relationships/.

Accessed 1 April 2023.

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“Media and mental health - PMC.” NCBI, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6198586/. Accessed 1 April 2023.

Merrigan, Tara Wanda, and Michael Lionstar. “The Paris Review - 'Girl, Interrupted,' Twenty-Five Years Later.” Paris Review, 27 June 2018, https://www.theparisreview.org/blog/2018/06/27/girl-interrupted-twenty-five-years-later/.

Accessed 1 April 2023.

Pantic, Igor. “Online Social Networking and Mental Health - PMC.” NCBI, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4183915/. Accessed 1 April 2023.

Zhou, Qin, et al. “Effect of social support on depression of internet addicts and the mediating role of loneliness - International Journal of Mental Health Systems.” International Journal of Mental Health Systems, 16 August 2014, https://ijmhs.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/1752-4458-8-34. Accessed 1 April 2023.

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Jake Tentler

Assessing the Failures in Peace Processes Following the Tajik Civil War To What Extent Were the Tajik Peace Agreements a Failure? kmj000 IB History 3,914 Words

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Intro:

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Background:

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The Peace Accords:

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Why it Failed: Client-Patron SystemRegionalismWarlordsIslamLimited Interest-

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Conclusion:

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Bibliography

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Intro: If you were to ask the average person to find Tajikistan on a map, you would most likely be met with surprise to hear that the nation exists. Even less likely, would they know of Tajikistan’s civil war during the 1990’s that claimed as many as 200,000 lives.1 Peace agreements effectively ended the violence almost four years after the war had started, but they failed to set up democratic institutions and change socio economic conditions that have created a larger threat of conflict for the future.

The outcome of these peace agreements remain relevant today. Recently, 2,000 miles from Tajikistan’s borders, Ukraine has delved into a massive war with Russia. A conflict itself heavily influenced by Russia, the Tajik Civil War proves a sobering example. Looking into the successes and failures of resolving recent violent conflicts can prove particularly useful in today’s climate. Migration, foreign influence, and religious society are only a few aspects of the Tajik Civil War that have relevant applications around the world today, and how Tajikistan’s democracy has developed following the agreements is most relevant in analyzing the effectiveness of peace agreements.

Lastly, Tajikistan holds a deeply important history: its second largest city, Khujand, was once at the heart of the Silk Road, and its modern day territory was once ruled by the Persian Empire, the Ottoman Empire, the Mongol Empire, Arab caliphates, the Russian Empire, and Alexander the Great of Macedonia.2 It is important that we understand this history and understanding Tajikistan’s civil war is a vital piece.

Majils Podcast, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty “Tajikistan Hiding Security Operation In Pamirs From The World” 1

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Nourzhanov, Kirill, and Christian Bleuer. Tajikistan: A Political and Social History. ANU Press, 2013.

JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt5hgxx8. Accessed 1 Dec. 2022.

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Background: Why the peace agreements were not successful comes down to a number of factors and it is necessary to begin with understanding the roots of the civil war. Unfortunately, the origin of the Tajik Civil War is a question that lacks a simple answer.

Regional divisions have always existed in Tajikistan. In Tajik society, local community is very important and Tajiks are more likely to identify with a subgroup than as Tajiks.3 The main Tajik subgroups include Khulobis, Gharmis, and Pamiris, while ethnic Uzbeks, Kyrgyz, and Russians also have sizeable representation. Rigid physical barriers separate mountain Tajiks from valley Tajiks; and distinct languages, physical characteristics, and cultural practices further separate these groups.4 The creation of the Tajik state during the 1890’s was completely arbitrary and did not follow any of the existing cultural, linguistic, or natural borders. Making things even more tricky, most groups in Central Asia were (and are) nomadic, and confining one group to a single nation was an entirely new concept contradictory to the normal way of life. For centuries, people of various ethnic groups lived throughout the region independently and separate from other clans. Therefore, the concept of a Tajik identity was a creation of the Soviet state with little meaning in real life. In a society already ruled by clan alliance, the Soviet system imposed during the 1920’s only exacerbated the significance of these differences. Eventually, everything in Tajik society would run through local networks and when government officials were appointed, they filled their ministries with members of their own ethnic subgroup.5 This led to certain ethnic groups dominating certain sectors of the country and the development of a 3

Nourzhanov, Kirill, and Christian Bleuer. Tajikistan: A Political and Social History. ANU Press, 2013.

JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt5hgxx8. Accessed 1 Dec. 2022.

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Nourzhanov, Kirill, and Christian Bleuer. Tajikistan: A Political and Social History. ANU Press, 2013.

JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt5hgxx8. Accessed 1 Dec. 2022.

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Nourzhanov, Kirill, and Christian Bleuer. Tajikistan: A Political and Social History. ANU Press, 2013.

JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt5hgxx8. Accessed 1 Dec. 2022.

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“patron-client state.” Under the USSR, the Soviets maintained control of this system, suppressing any regional discourse and enforcing the stability of the chain of command. By this time, Leninabadi elites from the north controlled the government while Kulobis dominated law enforcement. Gharmis from southern Tajikistan and Pamiris from eastern Gorno-Badakhshan were effectively barred from these positions, instead becoming farmers and traders in the marketplace.6 Then in 1991, the Soviet Union collapsed, and Tajikistan was finally able to elect its own government. The question now became who would control it. By the end of the Soviet era, political dialogue was allowed and a number of political movements flourished. Unhappiness with living conditions in Tajikistan gave these new groups an opportunity to quickly gather a lot of support. Tajikistan fell into open political warfare.

Most ethnic Russians were pushed out of power and the political struggle ensued between the pro-Communist Old Guard and their opposition. During this political identity crisis, a number of political movements gained traction. These parties came together under one opposition to challenge the active government. Elections were held November of 1991 and elected communist Nabiev 57% to 37%. But the opposition rejected the elections prompting Nabiev to offer ⅓ of the ministerial positions to the opposition coalition. Nabiev supporters in the south then rejected this compromise offer and civil war ensued.7 The two parties in the conflict are referred to as the Popular Front of Tajikistan and the United Tajik Opposition. The United Tajik Opposition refers to the coalition of opposition groups.

Despite being independent groups with separate political motives and distinct regional bases, 6

Nourzhanov, Kirill, and Christian Bleuer. Tajikistan: A Political and Social History. ANU Press, 2013. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt5hgxx8. Accessed 1 Dec. 2022.

Ahmed, Mutahir. “Civil War in Tajikistan: Internal Strife and External Response.” Pakistan Horizon, vol. 47, no. 4, 1994, pp. 87–95. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/41393503.

Accessed 10 Mar. 2023.

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these parties decided to join under one single banner. The parties included in the coalition are: the Islamic Renaissance Party- Islamic religious party with main support from Vakhsh Valley Gharmis from Qarateghin Mountains; Democratic Party of Dushanbe- pro-democracy; Rastokhez Popular Movement- Tajik Nationalist party supported by intellectuals from Dushanbe; and La’li Badakhshan- a party seeking greater autonomy for Pamiris. On the other side, The Popular Front was primarily an alliance between the Leninabad elite and Khulobi’s who had held governmental positions.8

Ahmed, Mutahir. “Civil War in Tajikistan: Internal Strife and External Response.” Pakistan Horizon, vol. 47, no. 4, 1994, pp. 87–95. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/41393503.

Accessed 10 Mar. 2023.

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The Peace Accords: As the general agreement stated “inter-Tajik talks on national reconciliation [had] been conducted from April 1994 up until [June 27 1997] under the auspices of the United Nations.”9 The agreements consisted of eight rounds of talks between delegations from the government, six meetings between President Rakhmonov and UTO leader Said Nuri, and three rounds of consultations between the two parties. The talks were held in a series of cities, beginning in Moscow and then moving on to Tehran, Bishkek, and Almaty. When The Moscow Declaration, the General Agreement on the Establishment of Peace and National Accord in Tajikistan, and the Protocol of Mutual Understanding between the President of Tajikistan E.S. Rakhmonov and the leader of the United Tajik Opposition S.A. Nuri were all signed on June 27 1997, the signatures included Emomali Rakhmonov: president of Tajikistan; Said Abdullah Nuri: Leader of IRP and UTO; G. Merrem: Special Representative of the Secretary-General of the United Nations; E. M. Primakov: Minister for Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation; and A. A. Velayati: Minister for Foreign Affairs.

The UN took the position as leaders in formulating the peace process while the OSCE led “the development of democratic institutions.”10 Foreign governments encouraged the participation of opposing parties to meet, while for seven years the UN designed a negotiation process, keeping in contact with all parties and becoming mediators. “[Rakhmonov and Nuri]…[requested] the Secretary-General of the [UN] to provide assistance and cooperation in

Posted by USIP Library on: April 9 2002 Source Name: Text e-mailed from the United Nations Information Centre, Washington, D.C. Source Document Number: U.N. Doc. No. A/52/219 Date e-mailed: February 24 2000 https://www.usip.org/sites/default/files/file/resources/collections/peace_agreements/tajik_gen_a gree_19970627.pdf 9

Ahmed, Mutahir. “Civil War in Tajikistan: Internal Strife and External Response.” Pakistan Horizon, vol. 47, no. 4, 1994, pp. 87–95. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/41393503.

Accessed 10 Mar. 2023.

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the comprehensive implementation of the General Agreement. They…also agreed to request the Chairman-in-Office of the [OSCE], the [OIC] and the Governments of the guarantor States to provide cooperation in the implementation.”11 The head of the UNMOT stated “The success of the peace process…attributable to three main factors -- United Nations involvement from…beginning…, the strong support of eight neighbouring States, and the political will of the two Tajik parties and their leadership to resolve differences through dialogue.”12 A major aspect that allowed the peace talks to take place and reach settlements was the willingness of the two sides to engage in nonviolent channels/dialogue. This was certainly in part because of the brutality of the conflict. The first two years of the war had been the most active and were particularly devastating. By 1994, the conditions of the Tajikistan Civil War were at their worst. The warring parties had been left to fight with little supervision and warlords began to assume large amounts of power. There were mass casualties, villages had been burned, there were reports of rape and torture, there were ethnic cleansings, major damage had been done to infrastructure, and hundreds of thousands were living as refugees. The opposing sides were aware that further fighting would only bring more destruction, and both sides considered peace as the only viable solution. This was crucial to the creation of discussion and was integral to the effectiveness of the agreements.

Posted by USIP Library on: April 9 2002 Source Name: Text e-mailed from the United Nations Information Centre, Washington, D.C. Source Document Number: U.N. Doc. No. A/52/219 Date e-mailed: February 24 2000 https://www.usip.org/sites/default/files/file/resources/collections/peace_agreements/tajik_gen_a gree_19970627.pdf 11

HEAD OF TAJIKISTAN MISSION DESCRIBES REASONS FOR PEACE PROCESS SUCCESS, AS SECURITY COUNCIL HOLDS FINAL MEETING ON UNITED NATIONS MISSION 12 May 2000 Press Release SC/6859 12

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Why it Failed:

Client-Patron SystemThe first major issue that the accords failed to address was the client-patron dynamic that controlled social, economic, and political power in Tajikistan. The vessel through which the warring elites ascended, the client-patron system was something that desperately needed to be dismantled. Not only did it reserve power for the few ‘patrons’, in the long-term it limited the ability for their ‘clients’ to achieve prolonged and sustained success.^5 How this system developed in the first place owes itself to the traditional Tajik culture that still dominated Tajikistan and its people. As previously described, Tajiks were more connected to their locality than anything else. Still massively underdeveloped, most of Tajikistan’s population was living in its rural areas and mobility outside of these areas was limited.13 Understandably, these communities were very close knit and resembled something of an extended family. This carried over during the Soviet era, where one was inclined to represent the interests of one's specific community within government. Lacking other opportunities, these men would provide the only available access to resources and became crucial connections for their communities.

13

Tadjbakhsh, Shahrbanou. “Tajikistan: From Freedom to War.” Current History, vol. 93, no.

582, 1994, pp. 173–77. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/45316979. Accessed 10 Mar. 2023.

9

What should have happened was a comprehensive effort to deconstruct this system. In order to do this, efforts should have been made to ensure diversity not only in political and governmental representation but within the workplace and economic sectors. While historically not always successful, an option to consider would have been quotas. Weak attempts were made to ensure a certain percentage of Rakhmonov’s government were of certain groups, however, these efforts were largely unsuccessful and did not ensure diversity.14 But like all actions that should be taken, it really all relies on the enforcement and political will of internal Tajik actors as well as external actors to make real change, and that was something that Tajikistan lacked. In retrospect, one of the biggest reasons for the maintenance of the client-patron system was the lack of interest amongst persons in power to make a change.

RegionalismAlso important to the war and violence in Tajikistan was the growing regionalism that had been sparked by the warring leaders. Where there had not been a drastic threat before, inter-clan relationships quickly became a matter of life or death. Similarly to historical examples like Rwanda, the inter-clan divide and notions of regionalism had been intensely developed in the leadup to the civil war. Playing up differences between Tajik sub-groups, influential leaders saw opportunity in the climate of ethno-nationalism.

International Crisis Group. “EXECUTIVE SUMMARY AND RECOMMENDATIONS.” TAJIKISTAN: THE CHANGING INSURGENT THREATS. International Crisis Group, 2011. http://www.jstor.org/stable/resrep36874.3.

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In midst of the destruction of Tajikistan’s political system, top leaders vyed to take control by mobilising a strong support base along clan lines. Not only did this increase the support towards these leaders, but it increased the intensity and energy behind these movements.15 As mentioned before, clan divisions had always existed. Unlike the neighboring Uzbeks, Kazakhs, and Kyrgyz who were nomadic, Tajiks were a sedentary people which meant Soviet russification had lesser change to their culture. The traditional hierarchies and social structures persisted, maintaining their family centered society.

Rivalries existed, but blood rites and small-scale disputes were the extent of intercommunal violence. Soviet rule emboldened these divisions, giving these identities much more significance and an increasingly important application in society. Despite this, antagonism between clans was still not very serious and did not interfere with their coexistence.16 Yet, Tajik leaders began to draw on these divisions once rival parties started to feud. As the new political movements began to challenge one another, they used ethnicity as a way to advertise themselves.

Despite having little issue with ethnic tensions and regionalism pre-war, the war by and large was fueled by the rampant regionalism that had been created in recent years/months.

Nourzhanov, Kirill, and Christian Bleuer. Tajikistan: A Political and Social History. ANU Press, 2013. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt5hgxx8. Accessed 1 Dec. 2022.

15

16

MALASHENKO, ALEXEY. Tajikistan: Civil War’s Long Echo. Carnegie Moscow Center, 2012.

JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/resrep26714. Accessed 10 Mar. 2023.

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When the peace accords handed Rakhmonov the presidency, the regionalism that was a major driving factor was maintained. Rakhmon was given complete control and thus, he was easily able to maintain power for his clan (Kulobis) and maintain regionalism within politics.17 The peace accords did nothing to address regionalism and in fact kept it in place.

This is a major failure. Regionalism was: a detriment to the economy, a spark for much of the violence during the war, and severely damaged the relationship of Tajiks as well as social dynamics. While resistance from the opposition’s mainly Gharmis and Pamiris has been suppressed it has no indication that it will not result in more violence in the future. Ethnic groups that have been excluded from industries and opportunities that have allowed other groups to succeed create a perfect climate for intense racism, ethnic violence, and rebellion. More should have been done to not only include opposition in government, but to ensure that certain sectors and departments not be dominated by a single clan. Much more easily said than done, it would be difficult to accomplish, but as a fundamental piece of the conflict it was still a failure. The point of peace accords is to end conflict and resolve the insinuating factors. Violence was ended but the issue of regionalism was not and this indicates a failure in actually resolving the conflict.

International Crisis Group. “EXECUTIVE SUMMARY AND RECOMMENDATIONS.” TAJIKISTAN: THE CHANGING INSURGENT THREATS. International Crisis Group, 2011. http://www.jstor.org/stable/resrep36874.3.

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WarlordsAnother important factor that was not addressed in the peace accords was the removal of warlords. The role of warlords in the Tajik civil war presents a unique phenomena. Many examples of warlords gaining significant power in times of state fragility can be seen during the Afghan war, throughout Africa’s post-colonial conflicts, and during China’s Warlord Era, but the speed and manor in which Tajikistan’s warlords ascended is remarkable. Seemingly average and every-day Tajiks became powerful kingpins overnight. As leading factions needed military support, Tajiks with any sort of money invested in weapons and then recruited members of their local community, creating their own small armies. As Tajikistan’s political parties began feuding, fighting between the parties was importantly un-unified. The war was mostly comprised of fighting between these small bands that had somewhat loosely connected through the main warring parties. This meant that most military leaders were actually independent of the larger political motive despite fighting in its name. Even more dangerous than their rogue nature, the power that they had attained was monumental. Again, as a result of the patron-client system, these local warlords were able to easily gain regional and national power and assert themselves as major actors.18 19 What makes these warlords so problematic is that when a war is not being fought between exclusive entities with defined motives it makes it much more difficult to 18

Paul, Christopher, et al. “Tajikistan (1992–2008).” Mexico Is Not Colombia: Alternative Historical Analogies for Responding to the Challenge of Violent Drug-Trafficking Organizations, Supporting Case Studies, RAND Corporation, 2014, pp. 197–210. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.7249/j.ctt7zvzdn.16. Accessed 10 Mar. 2023.

Nourzhanov, Kirill, and Christian Bleuer. Tajikistan: A Political and Social History. ANU Press, 2013. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt5hgxx8. Accessed 1 Dec. 2022.

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resolve. For example, even if the dispute between the major actors (Popular Front and UTO) is resolved, it won't be able to determine the actions of these independent warlords.

Throughout the conflict, warlords gained control of significant resources, controlled certain localities, and began to assert themselves into the larger spectre of power-brokering. The warlords were now as powerful, and possibly even more powerful, than Rakhmonov and his elites.20 It was imperative that if the peace accords were to be successful that these warlords would be deposed. The warlords had become a crucial entity within the war and imperative to any peace. These independently minded leaders could reignite fighting at any time and they needed to be addressed. Additionally, political and economic power needed to be returned to legal entities for any possibility of success for Tajikistan. Their control over politics and economy was undoubtedly a threat to allowing illicit influence dictate the state of the country, as well as limit Tajikistan’s ability to govern itself.

The peace agreements did nothing in response to limiting the power of these warlords. With very little known about the Tajik underworld post-war, warlords reportedly maintained significant control for years to come, with some areas even allegedly being outside of government control.

Paul, Christopher, et al. “Tajikistan (1992–2008).” Mexico Is Not Colombia: Alternative Historical Analogies for Responding to the Challenge of Violent Drug-Trafficking Organizations, Supporting Case Studies, RAND Corporation, 2014, pp. 197–210. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.7249/j.ctt7zvzdn.16. Accessed 10 Mar. 2023.

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IslamAn issue that every Central Asian country has considered a top priority in recent years has been the threat of radical Islam. While authorities claim that Islamic-related terrorism is their largest threat to security, most experts and their statistics contest that this notion is an exaggeration.21 Nevertheless, drastic measures have been undertaken in each Central Asian state to control Islam. Islam is permitted/allowed within Central Asia, but the states have created one of the most tightly controlled forms of faith in the world. After the return to Islam following the fall of the Soviet Union, Central asian states have promoted the Hanafi school as the only permitted form of Islam. Measures to ban Islamic dress, control the number of mosques and Imams, restrict Islamic education, and even ban children from attending Mosque have been drastic efforts to limit the influence of Islam on society.22 Tajikistan has been touted as being unique in their greater acceptance and promotion of Islam, but these minor differences do not in any way indicate an absence of religious suppression. In fact, this type of religious suppression actually creates a larger threat for Islamic-related violence in the future.23

Saud, Adam. “Islamic Renaissance Party of Tajikistan: Past, Present and Future.” Pakistan Horizon, vol. 63, no. 3, 2010, pp. 77–91. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/24711009.

Accessed 10 Mar. 2023.

21

22

Omelicheva, Mariya. “Terrorism in Central Asia: Dynamics, Dimensions, and Sources Association for Asian Studies.” Association for Asian Studies, www.asianstudies.org/publications/eaa/archives/terrorism-in-central-asia-dynamics-dimensionsand-sources.

Omelicheva, Mariya. “Terrorism in Central Asia: Dynamics, Dimensions, and Sources Association for Asian Studies.” Association for Asian Studies, www.asianstudies.org/publications/eaa/archives/terrorism-in-central-asia-dynamics-dimensionsand-sources.

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Limited InterestFinally, there was limited interest from the mediating actors. In addition to this, a number of other actors were involved in the conflict. Russia was the most important “non-tajik actor”. Tajikistan had only just left Russia’s control and Russia’s influence clearly remained. Russia still had troops stationed there and provided the most support to the Tajik government. Neighboring Uzbekistan initially provided support to the Russian and Popular Front forces, fearful of Islamic extremism. But after Uzbekistan effectively eliminated all opposition within their country they lost this fear and supported peace. Iran also held interest in Tajikistan, whose Tajiks are ethnically Iranian, and wanted to prevent Turkish and other Central Asian influence. They provided funding and resources to the opposition groups and also facilitated peace talks later on. The mujahideen and the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan also contributed to the civil war.

After being pushed out of Uzbekistan the leaders of Adolat formed the IMU and fled to Tajikistan where they allied with the UTO who needed resources. Lastly, there were a number of foreign and NGO organizations that gave assistance throughout the war and throughout the peace talks.24 The United Nations was a significant player actively involved from the start of the war. The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe and the Organization of the Islamic Conference were also involved, in particular

Ahmed, Mutahir. “Civil War in Tajikistan: Internal Strife and External Response.” Pakistan Horizon, vol. 47, no. 4, 1994, pp. 87–95. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/41393503.

Accessed 10 Mar. 2023.

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during the agreements. And the World Food Bank and Red Cross gave humanitarian assistance.25 Despite this, the conflict was still not a top priority for the mediating actors like Iran or Russia until the Taliban takeover in Afghanistan. After the fall of Kabul in 1996, the negotiations were fast tracked and a total end to conflict was given much more focus. Not surprisingly, a year after the takeover in June 1997 the war was ended.

Ahmed, Mutahir. “Civil War in Tajikistan: Internal Strife and External Response.” Pakistan Horizon, vol. 47, no. 4, 1994, pp. 87–95. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/41393503.

Accessed 10 Mar. 2023.

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Conclusion: Analysing the state of the nation post-conflict provides the best picture to really see the effects of the peace agreements and its influence on Tajikistan. A successful peace agreement should lay the groundwork for setting up a country to move forward and begin growth. While progress might not be obvious in the immediate years following conflict, growth should begin to occur eventually.

Unfortunately, in Tajikistan’s case, growth has been almost non-existent. The country remains severely impoverished; health, hunger, and education remain an issue; there is no economy; and there is still a threat of state-fragility.26 The peace agreements’ largest failure was letting Emomali Rakhmon remain in power. His victory in the accords and his acceptance as president has been unbelievably detrimental to Tajikistan. After signing the agreements Rakhmon quickly began sequestering power and has since prevented all prospects of development.27 Tajikistan being “the poorest Central Asian state to begin with” lost 7 billion dollars due to the war, yet they still remain “the poorest country in Central Asia.”28 Following the conflict, instead of attempting to repair the economy and develop democratic institutions, Rakhmon prioritized seizing power for his family and eliminating 26

The Rising Risks of Misrule in Tajikistan Crisis Group Europe and Central Asia Briefing N°86, 9 October 2017 https://icg-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/B86-the-rising-risks-of-misrule-in-tajikistan.pdf 27

Standish, Reid. “How Tajikistan’s President Extended His Term—for Life.” Foreign Policy, 25 May 2016, foreignpolicy.com/2016/05/25/how-tajikistans-president-extended-his-term-for-life-rahmon-isis-m igrant-imf.

28

“Dictator-lit: The Tajiks in the Mirror of History.” The Guardian, 4 Dec. 2009, www.theguardian.com/books/booksblog/2009/dec/04/dictator-lit-emomalii-rahmon-tajikistan.

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opposition. Rakhmon’s absence of involvement resulted in neglect and has lead to serious failure.

While Rakhmon should have begun exploring strategies to create economic growth and stability (such as seeking foreign investment, investing in a particular sector, insentivising business, or circulating money to people to increase spending), and to form a functional government (comprimising with opposition, ) Rakhmon has instead focused on increasing the wealth of his family. Holding on to the influence he has left, 25 years later Tajikistan has been neglected a state.

Patronage and the corrupt systems that have persisted are no longer able to function. What limited political and economic structures existed after the war are now completely untenable. Rakhmon’s kleptocracy has funelled what little money Tajikistan has to his family and desemated the economy. Continuous removal of funds without any increase in capital means there is no more money left for patron figures to give reasources while citizens are unable to pay bribes or dues.29 According to the World Bank, remmitances grew to account for more than 44% of Tajikistan’s GDP by 2008 and have contributed more than 25% of its GDP since 2006.30 Contributing more than half of the income for over 60% of Tajik households (according to ILO surveys) remittances are vital to Tajikistan’s economy.31 With a lack of industry The Rising Risks of Misrule in Tajikistan Crisis Group Europe and Central Asia Briefing N°86, 9 October 2017 https://icg-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/B86-the-rising-risks-of-misrule-in-tajikistan.pdf 29

30

“Personal Remittances, Received (% of GDP) - Tajikistan | Data.” Personal Remittances, Received (% of GDP) - Tajikistan | Data, data.worldbank.org/indicator/BX.TRF.PWKR.DT.GD.ZS?locations=TJ. Migrant remittances to Tajikistan : the potential for savings, economic investment and existing financial products to attract remittances / ILO Subregional Office for Eastern Europe and Central Asia, International Labour Office. Moscow: ILO, 2010 74 p. ISBN 9789221235071 (print); ISBN 9789221235088 (web pdf) 31

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and business there is little need for a labor force while white collar jobs come few and far between. The most promising prospect for Tajiks is migrant labor, particularly to Russia, and in some cases is the only viable legal source of income. Tajikistan has become far too reliant on remittances dependent on Russia; and Covid-19, the recent Russian recession, as well as overall downward trends have shown how unreliable it is for Tajikistan’s economy.32 Rakhmon’s games of political nepotism have only further devolved the country, and his fight over the Tajik Aluminum Company (Talco) represents a larger fragility in state peace.33 A dispute with his uncle over the company that provides 70% of its foreign currency earnings, Rakhmon’s biggest interests are conflicts amongst his own camp.34 While initially reserving the wealth and lucrative jobs for members of his Kulobi ethnic-subgroup, wealth has since withered and is now exclusive to a limited few.

Previously having strong support from Kulobis, there is now more division between Kulobis of different regions who feel that others have favored. This fracture in support represents a larger instability that challenges the nation that has remained under Rakhmon’s rule for nearly 30 years.

Standish, Reid. “How Tajikistan’s President Extended His Term—for Life.” Foreign Policy, 25 May 2016, foreignpolicy.com/2016/05/25/how-tajikistans-president-extended-his-term-for-life-rahmon-isis-m igrant-imf.

32

The Rising Risks of Misrule in Tajikistan Crisis Group Europe and Central Asia Briefing N°86, 9 October 2017 https://icg-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/B86-the-rising-risks-of-misrule-in-tajikistan.pdf 33

The Rising Risks of Misrule in Tajikistan Crisis Group Europe and Central Asia Briefing N°86, 9 October 2017 https://icg-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/B86-the-rising-risks-of-misrule-in-tajikistan.pdf 34

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While he prepares to hand off his presidency to his son, Rustam, a number of internal actors, most of which are of his own family, pose a challenge. While Rakhmon focuses on maintaining his power, the country falls into further uncertainty. Along with poor conditions in the country, a perceived weakness within the Rakhmon regime might give life to any opposition movements still active in the Rasht and Gorno-Badakshan regions. How much control Rakhmon has over all the regions of his country remains unclear up until now and various areas may be under the control of warlords. Reports of uprisings and major oppositional activity are rare and the country has had little issue with staying at peace, but what incidents Rakhmon’s government has had to deal with have shown how unprepared they are if something were to erupt. The main deterrent for opposition remains the horrific memory of war that still haunts many Tajiks, but as the number of Tajiks born after the war grows and cracks appear within Rakhmon’s rule the thought of dissent becomes more promising.

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Bibliography: Ahmed, Mutahir. “Civil War in Tajikistan: Internal Strife and External Response.”

Pakistan Horizon, vol. 47, no. 4, 1994, pp. 87–95. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/41393503. Accessed 10 Mar. 2023.

Civil War in Tajikistan: Internal Strife and External Response https://www.jstor.org/stable/41393503?read-now=1&seq=2#page_scan_tab_contents “Dictator-lit: The Tajiks in the Mirror of History.” The Guardian, 4 Dec. 2009, www.theguardian.com/books/booksblog/2009/dec/04/dictator-lit-emomalii-rahmon-tajikis tan.

HEAD OF TAJIKISTAN MISSION DESCRIBES REASONS FOR PEACE PROCESS SUCCESS, AS SECURITY COUNCIL HOLDS FINAL MEETING ON UNITED NATIONS MISSION 12 May 2000 Press Release SC/6859 International Crisis Group. “EXECUTIVE SUMMARY AND RECOMMENDATIONS.” TAJIKISTAN: THE CHANGING INSURGENT THREATS. International Crisis Group, 2011. http://www.jstor.org/stable/resrep36874.3.

Kamoludin Abdullaev and Catherine Barnes, Conciliation Resources Accord: Politics of Compromise The Tajikistan Peace Process Majils Podcast, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty “Tajikistan Hiding Security Operation In Pamirs From The World” MALASHENKO, ALEXEY. Tajikistan: Civil War’s Long Echo. Carnegie Moscow Center, 2012. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/resrep26714. Accessed 10 Mar. 2023.

Migrant remittances to Tajikistan : the potential for savings, economic investment and existing financial products to attract remittances / ILO Subregional Office for Eastern Europe and Central Asia, International Labour Office. Moscow: ILO, 2010 74 p. ISBN 9789221235071 (print); ISBN 9789221235088 (web pdf) National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism University of Maryland, College Park- Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU) Nourzhanov, Kirill, and Christian Bleuer. Tajikistan: A Political and Social History. ANU Press, 2013. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt5hgxx8. Accessed 1 Dec. 2022.

22

Omelicheva, Mariya. “Terrorism in Central Asia: Dynamics, Dimensions, and Sources Association for Asian Studies.” Association for Asian Studies, www.asianstudies.org/publications/eaa/archives/terrorism-in-central-asia-dynamics-dim ensions-and-sources.

Paul, Christopher, et al. “Tajikistan (1992–2008).” Mexico Is Not Colombia: Alternative Historical Analogies for Responding to the Challenge of Violent Drug-Trafficking Organizations, Supporting Case Studies, RAND Corporation, 2014, pp. 197–210.

JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.7249/j.ctt7zvzdn.16. Accessed 10 Mar. 2023.

“Personal Remittances, Received (% of GDP) - Tajikistan | Data.” Personal Remittances, Received (% of GDP) - Tajikistan | Data, data.worldbank.org/indicator/BX.TRF.PWKR.DT.GD.ZS?locations=TJ. The Rising Risks of Misrule in Tajikistan Crisis Group Europe and Central Asia Briefing N°86, 9 October 2017 https://icg-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/B86-the-rising-risks-of-misrule-in-tajikistan.pdf Saud, Adam. “Islamic Renaissance Party of Tajikistan: Past, Present and Future.”

Pakistan Horizon, vol. 63, no. 3, 2010, pp. 77–91. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/24711009. Accessed 10 Mar. 2023.

Standish, Reid. “How Tajikistan’s President Extended His Term—for Life.” Foreign Policy, 25 May 2016, foreignpolicy.com/2016/05/25/how-tajikistans-president-extended-his-term-for-life-rahmo n-isis-migrant-imf.

Tadjbakhsh, Shahrbanou. “Tajikistan: From Freedom to War.” Current History, vol. 93, no. 582, 1994, pp. 173–77. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/45316979. Accessed 10 Mar. 2023.

Posted by USIP Library on: April 9 2002 Source Name: Text e-mailed from the United Nations Information Centre, Washington, D.C. Source Document Number: U.N. Doc. No. A/52/219 Date e-mailed: February 24 2000 https://www.usip.org/sites/default/files/file/resources/collections/peace_agreements/tajik _gen_agree_19970627.pdf United States Institute of Peace https://www.usip.org/publications/1995/11/war-tajikistan-three-years

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Ezra Richter Personal Essay on Homesickness: -I hold this work very dear to my heart, as it talks about one of the scariest experiences of my life, which was moving to the U.S. from London at the age of 9.

It didn’t take me until l was 12 years old to fully grasp the meaning of ‘Saudade’.

It managed to encapsulate a certain state of melancholy I experienced so frequently throughout my childhood.

“Saudade is an emotional state of conspicuous melancholic or profoundly nostalgic longing for something or someone that one cares for, loves, but is not necessarily real. Moreover, it often carries a repressed knowledge that the object of longing may never be had again or attained.”

Having experienced homesickness on many occasions, I am apprised to the sense of debilitation experienced when away from the places and people we love. It is a feeling of utter dejection. It compromises the comfort and stability in our lives; two things we will forever seek out. As Baldwin states: “Most of us are not compelled to linger with the knowledge of our aloneness, for it is a knowledge that can paralyze all action in this world”(Baldwin). We often cannot explain why we feel such a lingering sadness, leaving us oblivious to our own despair. Saudade intrigued me because it asked the question whether our longing and yearning for something may be internal rather than external. Meaning that our fear and temptation does not come from the absence of a legitimate thing, but instead from the reluctance to start somewhere new.

We convince ourselves that familiarity comes from the physical aspects of life, but I believe we must question that notion. It is normal for humans to seek comfort in the old, yet it almost always interferes with the new, as you cannot fully accept the new until you move on from the old.

I experienced this when moving to New York, as I left so much behind back home in England, I found it difficult to let go of my life there and accustom to my new one in New York. Everything was unfamiliar, and I sought refuge from this discomfort by thinking about all I had already known. I couldn’t stop thinking about how my Math

teacher back home wouldn’t skip ahead and check that we all understood the answers before proceeding. I missed being in a class full of people who said “full stop” instead of “period”. I missed taking the tube as I memorized the entire bakerloo line and dreaded the idea of learning a new train system. A James Baldwin quote reminded me of the somewhat monotonous aspect of moving from place to place: “We lived in Brooklyn then, as I say; we had also lived in San Francisco, where I was born, and where my mother lies buried, and we lived for awhile in Seattle”(Baldwin, 10) As Joseph Brodsky once said, “If there is anything good about exile, it is that it teaches one humility. It accelerates one’s drift into isolation, an absolute perspective.

Into the condition at which all one is left with is oneself and one’s language, with nobody or nothing in between. Exile brings you overnight where it would normally take a lifetime to go.” Brodsky compares exile to that of a clean slate, that there is beauty in facing the unknown, without clinging to the comfort of one’s past. For my first year in the United States, I was unable to find a balance between appreciating my life in England and everything that came with it, while also giving myself the chance to start something new in America. Letting go of this fear allowed me to embrace my new life in America, without abolishing my ties back home. And in doing so, I was able to learn a very valuable lesson. It is that the very fact that homesickness doesn’t last forever indicates its lack of significance. What is significant however, is that we don’t hold back from gaining new experiences and opportunities by staying rooted in the comfortability of our past. Maybe being faced with a new environment and surroundings allows us to retain a sense of humility. Maybe when we are used to something for too long, complaceny and satisfaction sets in, which I consider to be the two destroyers of ambition.

What must I do to avoid such an abominable outcome? Must I sleep under a new ceiling every other night? My answer is no, of course, yet maybe a slight less of an exaggeration would be more appropriate. I am not calling anybody out who experiences feelings of homesickness for if none of us did, I’m not sure we could call ourselves human. However, I implore you not to give in to a sense of complacency within your environment and a reluctance to breach out and experience something new. Don’t let your wonderful ceiling at home ruin the chance of finding one just as captivating, if not more.

Isabel Georgiades Title: “How did the French Revolution (1789-1799) impact the feminism movement of 18th century France?”

Description: My essay discussed the French Revolution and how it influences the feminist movement specifically of the 18th century. It evaluates women's involvement in the revolution and how the time of war impacted gender politics. Using sources from the period as well as scholarly articles investigating the period I asses the revolution's negative impact on the feminist movement of the time.

“How did the French Revolution (1789-1799) impact the feminism movement of 18th century France?”

Personal Code: kmh979 Historical Internal Assessment 2023 Word count: 2,001

Section 1: Identification and Evaluation of Sources This investigation will be discussing: “How did the French Revolution (1789-1799) impact the feminism movement of 18th century France?” in this investigation. The french revolution sparked the inspiration for change within the feminist movement, in a century when a country's independence was highly sought after but how much of a difference did it truly make during the time period.

Olympe de Gouges was a French political activist during the french revolution, who wrote The Declaration of the Rights of Woman in September 1791. The document addressed the women of 18th century Paris to become more aware of the lack of equal rights to their male counterparts. Feminism in the French Revolution was written by Jane Abray. Jane Abray is a writer and teacher at the University of Toronto. Feminism in the French Revolution was written in 1975 and discusses feminism in 18th-century France and its failures, comparing it to the 20th century.

A value of The Declaration of the Rights of Woman by Olympe de Gouges’s origin is: that the declaration was written during the french revolution and was created as a commentary on the new declarations of the rights of man; it gives us insight into the progression of the feminist movement during this time and what they believed to be born rights for women as well as men from a woman's perspective.

She was very politically active, having published many pamphlets that reached a widespread audience.

The Declaration was widely popular. It started as a letter to Marie Antonette. The letters' bold nature and controversial argument allowed them to grow greatly in popularity. A value is that the content gives insight into what feminists of the time believed to be the birthrights of women and its purpose as a document created to spread awareness of their cause. A limitation is that the declaration only discusses Olympe de Gouges's opinions of the women she worked with and herself. We are not given insight into what the overall belief was regarding feminism was in Paris at the time .1

1

Woolfrey, Joan. “Olympe De Gouges (1748—1793).” Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy, https://iep.utm.edu/gouges/.

A value of my secondary source, Feminism in the French Revolution, is Jane Abray’s knowledge of early modern European history. With a master's from McMaster University and a Ph.D. from Yale, she is a scholar. Specializing in French and English European history she also focuses on gender history in Western Europe.2 Another value of the source is its origin. Being in the Historical American Review and published by the University of Chicago Press and. she paints Olympe de Gouges in a strong light, discussing her revolutionary ideas surrounding equality and feminism. A limitation is that the article focuses on specific figures within the feminist movement of 18th-century France and does not fully discuss the movement's successes during the time period.

Section 2: Investigation The 18th century was a time of change for countries ruled by monarchies. During the french revolution (1789-1799), as the royals began to fall, the members of the 3rd estate ( 98% of the French population at the time) began to start discussions around distributions of power and men's born rights.

Along with this movement came women also evaluating their rights. Pre-revolutionary France gave women no political standing3. 18th-century French lawyer Robert Joseph Pothier explains: “ Our customary law has put women into such a condition of dependence on their husband that they can do nothing valid, nothing that the civil law will recognize unless they have been specifically authorized by their husbands to do it.” 4. Their lives were under the control of their fathers until they were married, then their rights would be under the control of their husbands². Seeing as women were primarily left out of the men’s fight for independence, many stood up to fight for their rights. This is seen through female activity during this time. Women wrote articles and pamphlets against misogynistic ideals during the time. Along with the revolutionary feminist that rose to fame during the french revolution, some women countered

2

“L.J. Abray.” Department of History, University of Toronto, 5 Dec. 2019, https://www.history.utoronto.ca/people/directories/all-faculty/lj-abray.

3

Scott, Joan W. Only Paradoxes to Offer: French Feminists and the Rights of Man. Cambridge, Mass: Harvard University Press, 1996. Print.

4 Pothier, Robert Joseph. “Traité De La Puissance Du Mari.” Oeuvres complètes, Chez Thomine Et Fortic, Paris, 1821.

those ideals. This investigation will discuss how the french revolution impacted the feminist movement in 18th-century France and if it helped further the movement or impede it.

The Declaration of the Rights of Woman 5, written by Olympe de Gouges, is one of the most famous pieces of feminist writing born in revolutionary France. The document serves as a critique of The Declaration of the Rights of Man, bringing to light its sexist nature and how it discludes a giant piece of the population. Olympe de Gouges’s document was considered very controversial. This controversy allowed it to gain popularity and for Olympe de Gouges to be considered a serious threat to the misogynistic society that she fought against6. Sadly this popularity caused her to be considered treacherous enough to be executed. Olympe de Gouges’ most popular works were born from the French Revolution and are still used today as examples of extraordinary feminist ideals. Her works were inspirational to the feminist minority and reached many surrounding counties such as the United Kingdom. The Declaration of the Rights of Woman was the biggest set of critiques on the lack of equality normalized in European society and set a precedent for feminism of the era. Olympe de Gouges’ outspoken opinions on the lack of equality between men and women were considered treacherous by the newly established revolutionary government. This led to her execution by guillotine displaying how threatening her work was to the French government. Information on Olympe de Gouges’ is difficult to attain but through context and her writings, a connection can be made to her impact on the revolutionary French public.

However, scholar Jane Abray discussed the failures of women in the feminist movement during this period. Although many radical ideas were produced during this period it ultimately was not very successful in popularizing the feminist ideology. Abray dictates that the downfall is due to its lack of popularity, especially within the upper classes. During revolutionary France, it was already deemed 5

“Olympe de Gouges, The Declaration of the Rights of Woman (September 1791),” LIBERTY, EQUALITY, FRATERNITY: EXPLORING THE FRENCH REVOLUTION, accessed May 3, 2022, https://revolution.chnm.org/d/293.

6 NAISH, C. (1991). Death Comes to the Maiden: sex and Execution, 1431-1933. London, Routledge.

unnatural for women to have power over their lives leaving a majority of women to grow disdain towards feminist ideology. Along with a lack of popularity, the feminist associations that had been fighting for women to gain more rights were not taken seriously. Due to the many conflicts surrounding revolutionary France, such as famine, these feminist groups began to lose focus and start aiding these issues that were important but not a part of the cause. These acts contributed to the stripping of their original ideas and the rebranding of them to be considered women's clubs and not the radical feminist associations that they were. Even after the publications of pamphlets and speeches from historical figures such as Olympe de Gouges the feminist movement was not taken seriously. Due to its unpopularity and lack of specific organizations, the movement faded into obscurity, the majority of the population considering the discussions started by these feminists to be insane. Feminists during this period were usually ignored by women and seen as threats by men. What also halted their success was the lack of support from upper-class women. Upper-class women in 18th-century France also lacked gender equality but live much more comfortably compared to the majority of women and also held more power over high society. This lack of contribution negatively impacted the movement because of missing support. With all of that in mind, we have still gained many valuable figures and an opportunity to learn from our failures. Jane Abray writes “...revolutionary feminism is not without significance.” 7.

R.B. Rose furthers this idea with her journal article: Feminism, Women and the French Revolution8. When depicting the french revolution and its influence on women there are two different directions: women's history and feminist history. Because feminist progress was made during revolutionary France does not make it the only part of women's history prevalent during that period.

Along with the feminist figures were also women who fought for the revolution just not the revolution for women to be considered humans. Rose also discusses one of the most important events in revolutionary

7

Abray, Jane. “Feminism in the French Revolution.” The American Historical Review, vol. 80, no. 1, 1975, pp. 43–62, https://doi.org/10.2307/1859051. Accessed 3 May 2022.

8 Rose, R. B. “Feminism, Women and the French Revolution.” Historical Reflections / Réflexions Historiques, vol. 21, no. 1, 1995, pp. 187–205. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/41299020. Accessed 6 Jun. 2022.

Frances women's history: The Women's March on Versailles. This march was started by 7,000 women coming from the markets of France fighting over the high prices. These women were not fighting for equality just fair pricing making it a part of women's history and not feminist. Much like Abray, Rose also concludes with a critique of women's participation in the hindrance of the feminist movement. Through the curches influence and the influence of society, many women could not comprehend a life without the constant control of men. This fear of the unknown and lack of education/experience created a community of women that fought for the suppression of feminism.

Upon considering all these perspectives, it ultimately comes to: the French Revolution hurt the feminist movement. Although there was a minority of feminists taking big strides for the feminist community, it was not enough. Historically in times of change societies fall into a default of suppression, for revolutionary France, this fell on marginalized groups. With the suppression of women so prevalent and a lack of focus on the cause, the feminist movement fell into obscurity. This was not helped by murdering some of its loudest voices due to their ideas of equality being considered treason. During the French Revolution, there were already millions of people starving and suffering due to the monarchy.

With the majority’s attention focusing on survival and overthrowing their oppressive government the focus was taken away from feminists attempting to create change. Although there was little change in laws the feminist movement of revolutionary France is seen as an inspiring time filled with amazing female voices speaking out on what they believed even if they were a minority. Today works by Olympe de Gouges are taught to provide insight into the revolutionary ideas that were born during this era, sadly the french revolution did nothing but help suppress it.

Section 3: Reflection Throughout the investigation, many sources were found to be helpful in providing evidence for my thesis. I utilized prior knowledge as well as research on famous political figures during the French Revolution (1789-1799) such as Olympe de Gouges.

By narrowing down the most reliable and valuable sources the list of sources was shortened. The investigation utilized three main sources: two secondary and one primary. When researching for these sources I utilized digital libraries. The primary source, Olympe de Gouges, The Declaration of the Rights of Woman, was easy to discover because of how popular and influential it was to the feminist movement in revolutionary France. The two secondary sources were the hardest to narrow down. For the investigation to be specific, the secondary sources had to be very accurate to the thesis. Jane Abray’s Feminism in the French Revolution was one of the most valuable sources utilized. It provided insight into a side of the french revolution that I had not seen before. Abray's article was not hard to find and was well-cited as a reliable source. R. B. Rose’s Feminism, Women and the French Revolution was discovered after. It fits well into the specifics of the investigation and was considered reliable. Upon reading the article, it began to further the point made by Abray. When analyzing Olympe de Gouges and Jane Abray’s sources, it was difficult finding the specifics of their documents and life. For The Declaration of the Rights of Woman, there was difficulty accessing knowledge surrounding the specific effects her documents had on the female population of revolutionary France. For Feminism in the French Revolution, there were mostly difficulties with finding information on the article's origin and the author's background. In the end, I was required enough to form two evaluations of the sources.

Starting the investigation, it was originally going to discuss mostly the positive impact the french revolution had on the feminist movement. Once exploring my sources the investigation began to transform. Two of my sources raised strong arguments discussing the revolution's negative impacts leading the investigation to explore that more thoroughly. These two sources helped my INvestigation to reach a definitive conclusion.

Bibliography: Woolfrey, Joan. “Olympe De Gouges (1748—1793).” Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy, https://iep.utm.edu/gouges/.

“L.J. Abray.” Department of History, University of Toronto, 5 Dec. 2019, https://www.history.utoronto.ca/people/directories/all-faculty/lj-abray.

Scott, Joan W. Only Paradoxes to Offer: French Feminists and the Rights of Man. Cambridge, Mass: Harvard University Press, 1996. Print.

Pothier, Robert Joseph. “Traité De La Puissance Du Mari.” Oeuvres complètes, Chez Thomine Et Fortic, Paris, 1821.

“Olympe de Gouges, The Declaration of the Rights of Woman (September 1791),” LIBERTY, EQUALITY, FRATERNITY: EXPLORING THE FRENCH REVOUTION, accessed May 3, 2022, https://revolution.chnm.org/d/293.

NAISH, C. (1991). Death comes to the maiden: sex and execution, 1431-1933. London, Routledge.

Abray, Jane. “Feminism in the French Revolution.” The American Historical Review, vol. 80, no. 1, 1975, pp. 43–62, https://doi.org/10.2307/1859051. Accessed 3 May 2022.

Rose, R. B. “Feminism, Women and the French Revolution.” Historical Reflections / Réflexions Historiques, vol. 21, no. 1, 1995, pp. 187–205. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/41299020. Accessed 6 Jun. 2022.

Vega Gullette HL Essay: Exploring the Strength of Androgyny in Shakespeare’s Macbeth In this composition, I sought to reach beyond the often contested theme of gender dynamics in the play and examine the lesser-discussed role of androgyny and the power it supplies in its own right to the characters. I got to lean on ideas old and new and challenge myself to examine a well-revered text through a lens informed by centuries’ worth of social movements and anthropological readings of human behavior.

May 2022 Personal Code: kmh982 High Level IB Literature Essay Word Count: 1,666 Exploring the Strength of Androgyny in Shakespeare’s Macbeth

Macbeth is widely regarded as a fateful play in contexts of greed, madness, and, of course, death, but the winding exploration of gender proves to be the most compelling, a tenet emphasized by the power dynamics Shakespeare draws between characters. In a play dominated by men’s issues, non-male characters provide insight to the intricacies of gender roles. The audience watches the Lady Macbeth grapple to conquer her femininity in an attempt to assimilate to the violent masculine culture surrounding her. Meanwhile, the witches’ detachment from human expectations of gender grants them significant respect and control. Both demonstrations of noncompliance with gender roles subvert the binary, patriarchal landscape of the play, exhibiting the power accessible through androgyny; to exist outside a system is to be freed from its constraints, thereby gaining the autonomy those within it yearn for.

The witches’ androgyny is not borne from a rejection of societal impositions; they are introduced as unwonted forces transcending all and any customs of humanity. The presence of these eerie, preternatural beings is the very thing that disturbs the natural order of the play’s atmosphere, to begin with. Bewildered by their presentation, Banquo wonders, “What are these, So withered, and so wild in their attire, That look not like th’ inhabitants o’ th’ Earth And yet are on ’t? . . . You should be women, And yet your beards forbid me to interpret That you are so” (1.1.4). In early modern England, bearded men commanded respect and authority, while beards on women were considered alarming abnormalities.

Banquo’s perplexity insinuates that something in the witches’ appearance led him to believe they “should be women”, despite their visible beards, and as Shakespeare refrained from describing their physical appearances in detail, we can only assume their otherworldly qualities are what led to his confusion. As the witches bear neither the scorn nor skepticism awarded to women—that they may have received were they (female) fortune-tellers, for instance—the men accept their word and are forced to reckon with the prophecy. Were the witches male, one could assume our noblemen would react defensively to a perceived onslaught of threats, questioning the agenda of their hooded counterparts and perhaps suspecting militaristic deceit. It is not the witch’s femininity or masculinity that makes them powerful; it is their confidence in what they are saying that compels Macbeth and Banquo. Virtually unaffected by human affairs and uninhibited by gender limitations, they achieve a puppet-master-like control over the subjects of their prophecy—in this case, Macbeth himself. Their presence looms over the events of the play like a dark stormcloud, their prophecies unfurling and sending everyone’s lives into chaos. The advice and information they relay to Macbeth and Banquo ends up being true, but is also misleading, like a riddle of sorts. They and their mistress, Hecate, the goddess of magic in Greek mythology, act in mysterious, often unpredictable ways. One of their most significant—and confusing—messages is that “'None of woman born shall harm Macbeth” (4.1.81), which would probably be interpreted by most as an inhuman creature being his greatest threat, but it’s revealed to be a warning of Macduff, who was delivered by means of cesarean birth. The distancing from womanhood in this, our protagonist’s greatest threat, is interesting;

Shakespeare minimizes the power of women to bring life into the world by associating someone born from a woman with weakness. The witches' prophecy reduces the significance of childbirth, an act that women can perform that men cannot; Macduff becomes superhuman since he was born without the support of a woman. The phrase 'born to woman’ is repeated seven times throughout the play, gradually becoming the connotation of 'vulnerable' for Macbeth, as though sensitivity were an impurity emanating from women–ironic, as childbirth itself is a harrowing ordeal suffered almost always by women.

Lady Macbeth’s pitting of femininity against masculinity is a far more complex ordeal. Clearly engulfed in internalized misogyny, the audience watches her grow repulsed with her own femininity.

Seeking to rid herself of the female attributes she expects will interfere with her murderous plot, she calls on otherworldly forces in what is perhaps the most iconic soliloquy attributed to her character: “Come you spirits, That tend on mortal thoughts, unsex me here And fill me from the crown to the toe top-full Of direst cruelty. Make thick my blood; Stop up the access and passage to remorse, That no compunctious visitings of nature Shake my fell purpose, nor keep peace between The effect and it. Come to my woman's breasts And take my milk for gall, you murd’ring ministers” (1.5.50-55) In denouncing her conscience and capacity for remorse as one with her femininity, a clear equating of womanhood with moral fragility and manhood with amoral strength is drawn. “Gall” or bile is a poison; to replace the milk in her breasts with something that would kill an infant downright forsakes the idiosyncrasies of a nursing mother nurturing life. She is exchanging life with death, love with hate, and humanity with apathy. The mentioning of particular female reproductive systems, including her menstrual cycle and breasts, speaks to another significant factor in her struggle for power: her lack of a child.

As a woman—in 11th century Scotland,--her value is bound to her ability to provide a child and future heir for her husband. Having failed to bring life into the world, she seeks to attain power and legacy for her family through other means: by taking life out. Her rapacity for murder is arguably a method of (over)compensation for her inadequate fulfillment of feminine roles. Building on the aforementioned significant talk of children in the play, Lady Macbeth employs it as a means of shaming her husband for his hesitation to murder, in turn demonstrating her absolute devotion to their mission at all costs. “I have given suck,” she tells him coldly, “and know how tender 'tis to love the babe that milks me. I would, while

it was smiling in my face, Have plucked my nipple from his boneless gums and dashed the brains out, had I so sworn as you have done to this.” (2.1.40). Worried about Macbeth's waning commitment to their plan, Lady Macbeth vows that she would have murdered her child to achieve an otherwise unattainable aim.

This declaration has long been interpreted as proof of Lady Macbeth's intention to usurp masculine power in order to further her husband's political aims. Scholars have suspected this to be a subtle insinuation of a child she perhaps had and lost; the death of newborns was all too common in this era.

This seemingly soulless promise is at once a testament to her devotion and a reinforcer of her rejection of classic feminine expectations; what mother would kill her own child? In the ancient Greek myth of Medea, she kills her children as an act of revenge toward her husband, destroying the product of a couple’s love—the children—for her own superficial gain and satisfaction. Demoting one’s child from a human being with agency to a sacrifice for a cause is a clear negation of motherly love; the child has been reduced in essence to an instrument of her delirium, the disposable pawn in a game only she is playing.

While she evidently craves power, such power seems to be contingent on Lady Macbeth's maternal status, which is unclear and often contested in early modern England. In a misguided attempt to escape the gendered limitations that bind her, she tries to shed all her femininity and embrace strong masculinity as she’s been exposed to it: ruthless, angry, bloodthirsty—the qualities her husband was praised for in the war. She tips the scale, so to speak, and the villain-seductress-manipulator she’s been painted as is born.

This caricature of an evil, possessive wife is simply the output of her battle fighting to survive in this male-dominated regency, grappling with her femininity as an obsessive curse that consumes her. In a man’s world, when a man is struggling, that struggle takes precedence over everything. We see her tending to him in his delusional state, still embodying the role of a gentle caregiver as she is no doubt struggling herself. Although she succeeds for a time: “Bring forth men-children only, For thy undaunted mettle should compose Nothing but males.” (1.7.83-85) When he gains confidence and excludes her from the plan, it eventually undermines her and she crumbles under the stress and guilt of the entire ordeal, which includeS disassociating from all her true feelings and expression about any of it. She eventually resigns to her fate as a woman once she’s failed to escape from it.

The androgynous natures crafted by the witches and Lady Macbeth startle and bend the psychological field of the play and demonstrate how breaking the feminine mold can hold immense power. The power in androgyny exists in its balance; the witches and Macbeth, who succeeds in being in touch with his emotions as well as being successful, achieve stability and thus power. Lady Macbeth essentially fails in her inner quest, exhibiting the trap of the gender binary and the way it’s virtually impossible to do femininity “right” when acting for the patriarchy. Imposed gender roles are vastly complex societal constructions that lack a spectrum, translating into a lack of spectrum for those

emboying them. Rejective feminism as a means of escaping gender roles is an interesting method of coping with the curse of gender and the inherent lack of power non-men have. The way women lose power in Shakespeare is when men are threatened by the power of their femininity. Author Janet Adelman writes in her essay Escaping the Matrix: The Construction of Masculinity in Macbeth, “the play will finally reimagine autonomous male identity, but only through the ruthless excision of all female presence, its own peculiar satisfaction of the witches’ prophecy” (Adelman 34). In Macbeth, every sort of femininity that normally grants authority on a woman does not do so; individuals must disguise their femininity in order to gain power.

Works Cited

Adelman, Janet. Escaping the Matrix: The Construction of Masculinity in Macbeth.

Hannah Vinson To What Extent Does Plastic In New York Estuaries Affect Shoreline Marine Food Webs?

My extended essay focuses on the effect of plastics on our ecosystems, specifically in waterways surrounding New York. I spent part of my research sifting through sand in different beaches around New York like Coney Island beach and a sandy peninsula in Brooklyn Bridge Park. I collected and observed plastics found in the sand, and determined their origins and how long they had been in the water for. I researched how currents and other oceanic factors play a role in the plastic that washes up on shore, and I am grateful to have had the opportunity to interview Dr. Herstoff from Saint Francis College about plastics and aquatic food chains. Plastics and their effect on the environment is a really important topic to me because only 6% of plastic gets recycled, and plastics don’t decompose. Plastic pollution is an issue that needs to be talked about now, and I hope to continue my environmental research and work to create alternatives to plastic in the future.

To What Extent Does Plastic In New York Estuaries Affect Shoreline Marine Food Webs?

Candidate Number: kmj005 Subject: Environmental Systems and Societies Word Count: 3859

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Table of Contents Introduction

2

Microplastics

3

Plastic in The Food Chain

3

Plastic in Waterways

4

Analyzing NY Ocean Plastics

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Why Recycling Isn’t the Solution

7

Counter Argument

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Possible Solutions

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Bibliography

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Introduction Everywhere you go, you will see single use plastics, whether it’s your toothbrush, water bottle, eating utensils, or takeout container. Plastic is a set of polymers, molded together through heat to create durable, cheap material to meet the demands of consumers. Today, Plastic waste accumulates in every marine ecosystem on the planet.

It’s estimated that 12.7 million metric tons of plastic waste were emptied into the world's oceans in the year 20101.

Marine life like fish, sea turtles, and whales mistake plastic for food and ingest it.

Ocean birds accidentally ingest plastic when skimming the ocean to hunt. Plastics make animals feel full, and they then wind up starving to death. The frequency of this marine endangerment is increasing. Since 2015, 56% of all marine bird species, 54% of all marine mammals, and all species of sea turtles have faced negative impacts from plastic, through ingestion or entanglement.2 Plastic also has an impact on other forms of pollution. Plastic attracts many toxic pollutants which can make their clean up far more difficult. It is estimated that 165,840,512 million plastic particles are currently afloat in NY-NJ Harbor Estuary waters.3 The East River and Brighton Beach shores are home to many species of fish, shrimp, crabs, amphipods, phytoplankton, and more, all of which are greatly affected by plastic pollution.

In my study, I aim to figure out how plastics in New York harbors affect shoreline food webs. I will do this by comparing the types and amounts of plastics at Coney Island’s Brighton beach and Brooklyn Bridge Park’s East River beach through conducting sand sifting experiments.

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scienceintheclassroom.org sciencedirect.com 3 raritan.rutgers.edu 2

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Microplastics When plastics swarm the ocean, they break apart into smaller pieces of plastics, called microplastics. Microplastics are classified as a plastic less than five millimeters in length, around the size of a sesame seed4. They can be manufactured to be tiny, or be broken off of larger pieces of plastic over time. These microplastics end up in our waterways, eventually leading to our food. When fish ingest microplastics, the plastics get passed down the food chain levels. We are surrounded by microplastics, one example being microbeads, tiny manufactured polyethylene plastic. Microbeads have been used in skin care products, exfoliants, beauty products, and toothpastes. These small particles can get into our water filtration systems and make their way into our oceans, harming wildlife. Microbeads in cosmetic products were banned in 20155, but the 50 years worth of microbeads from these products still roam the planet6. Not only do microplastics and plastic particles harm animals, but studies are showing that they have an impact on humans too. Humans eat 40 pounds of plastic in a lifetime7. Our waterways and air are filled with microplastic particles which make their way into our bodies through the food we eat, air we breathe, products like toothpaste and lip gloss that go near our mouths, and more8. Plastic has recently been found in human blood. In a recent study published by Environmental International, plastic was found in the bloodstream of 17 out of 22 participants. That’s about 77 percent9.

Plastic in The Food Chain Plastic has had a large impact all over the world on the food web. Plastic is everywhere, and one of the main ways it affects food webs is when organisms mistake plastic for food and eat it by accident. Since plastics are so ubiquitous and can’t be broken down, the consumption of plastics is not uncommon. The plastics cause animals to starve to death from lack of nutrients.10 There are other ways in which plastic kills the marine life that eats it. In an interview with Dr. Herstoff from St Francis College in Brooklyn, NY, Herstoff mentioned that the plastics themselves are not toxic to the animals that eat them, but many times, plastic becomes a good place for toxins to absorb onto. Lots of animals that eat the plastics in New York Harbor and elsewhere are harmed in particular, because they accumulate a lot of toxins into their diet. Herstoff 4

oceanservice.noaa.gov govinfo.gov 6 wedocs.unep.org 7 plasticoceans.org 8 smithsonianmag.com 9 sciencedirect.com 10 plasticsoupfoundation.org 5

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also brought up the issue of biomagnification with toxins on plastics. When studying coastal marine food webs, researchers may begin looking at primary producers like phytoplankton. These small organisms can pick up toxins or consume other organisms that have toxins in them. Everytime a zooplankton eats organisms that contain toxins in them, the phytoplankton receives a small amount of that toxin into its body. As this accumulation of toxins happens with thousands of phytoplankton around coastal areas, the small fish who eat phytoplankton attain more and more toxins for every phytoplankton they eat. As the food chain moves up levels, much more of that toxin is accumulated. By the time a top predator like a striped bass is reached, the organism it eats will have huge amounts of toxins in it. Herstoff mentioned that this can directly kill the striped bass or kill or harm their offspring.

There are many other ways that plastics interfere with the food web. When predators consume plastic instead of eating the prey that they normally eat, the predator may die of starvation. If the predator population begins eating more and more plastic than prey, the prey population may grow faster and increase because less of them are being eaten. Then It may get to a point where the population grows out of control, and there won’t be enough food/prey for that population, which will lead to a decrease in population size.

Plastic in Waterways Currents can work to accumulate or spread out the plastic waste that swarms through waterways. Rivers are conduits, and when plastic junk is disposed of, since it doesn’t decompose, it will eventually end up in a river. The New York harbor has many different systems feeding in, like the Hudson River on the west of Manhattan, and the East River on the east side. All of these waterways eventually lead to the ocean. As plastic flows through inland waterways such as the East River, it could eventually enter the ocean, through wind or tides. The East River flows in between Manhattan and Brooklyn. It connects to the Upper Bay, connecting to the North Atlantic Ocean.

Currents in the ocean or any large body of water will work to push plastics into a particular area. “It may push plastics into a bay or harbor where the currents are a little less strong, and they [bay or harbor] might start to accumulate more plastics,” said Dr. Herstoff. Currents affect the levels of plastic in the water because they lead plastics to concentrate in some areas more than others. Particularly if they are in an area close to a river that leads to a large body of water like an ocean.

Analyzing NY Ocean Plastics To better understand how plastics are impacting the water surrounding New York, I set out to complete a plastics measurement experiment and data collection. My field

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study was a simplified version of the 5 Gyres “Plastic Beach - A Citizen Science Protocol for Microplastic Pollution” protocol. The protocol required: 1-Millimeter sieve, 1 x 1-meter quadrat, 5-Gallon bucket, Bags, jars or other sealable containers. My planned out simplified procedure would be to take plastic samples in multiple transects on Coney Island Beach and Brooklyn Bridge Park Pier 4. For my Coney Island sampling procedure, I sampled at 2 transects parallel to the water (one close to the boardwalk, one in the middle of the beach, and one by the shore), and 2 samples per transect, each about 10 feet apart. That's 4 samples. The Brooklyn Bridge Park peninsula is a much smaller beach, about 20’ long. I planned to sample 1 transect with 2 samples. For each sample at both locations, I planned to place my 1 x 1-meter quadrat in the sand.

Then, with a small shovel, I would scoop about an inch deep into the sand throughout the entire quadrat. I would place every scoop of sand onto my sieve, and shake it. The 5 Gyres Plastic Beach protocol suggested that I pour my sifted plastics into a 5-Gallon bucket of water, but I used a 1 gallon bucket. Then I would collect the plastics that visibly floated in the water and put them in a sealable bag, labeled with the sample number. I would repeat these steps for every sample.

I began my research at Coney Island. I arrived at the beach at 11 am on June 26th, 2022. The area was 300 ft in length and 150 ft in width. My transects were around 100 feet apart each. Sample one was on transect one. Out of the visible plastics that floated in my water bucket, 3 remained. A clear 5” pen ink chamber, a 1.5” broken piece of a blue toothbrush case, and a hard 2” broken piece of neon green plastic. The pen ink cartridge was very scratched up and there were accents of dried ink still present. I inferred that this came from the ocean and not the beach, due to scratches, and the hint of green on parts of the pen. The toothbrush case was broken in half and covered in scratches, with the brand name “Reach” engraved on it. The wear and tear led me to believe that it came from the ocean and was old. The final piece of plastic from this quadrat was the edge of a bright green plastic toy or tool. It was small, around two inches in length, and had broken off from a larger plastic item, the curved edge indicated that it was likely a frisbee. Its bright green hue and shiny condition indicates that it wasn’t in the ocean for too long, and it probably came from Coney Island Beach itself.

Sample 2 was ten feet away, in the same transect. I found four pieces of broken plastic. A 1.5” piece of a disposable coffee cup lid, a .4” piece of pink plastic, and a 1” hollow blue tube, and 2.5” clear piece of plastic. The white coffee cup lid was scratched and dented. The material was very bendable and cheap, and most likely came from someone at Coney Island. The pink plastic was hard and rigid, and had been broken off of something else. Its scratches showed that it probably had been in the ocean for some time. The blue tube was shaped like a cylinder. It was likely part of a longer tube, perhaps equipment for a boat. It was very hard and not bendable. It was very smooth except for the mini scratches all around it. I am certain that this object had been in the

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ocean for a long time, though it is hard to tell where it could have come from. The final piece of plastic was a three inch long semi-clear plastic rhombus with a ridge through the center. It was not originally rhombus shaped, there were two clean tears on either end of the object. The plastic was white with some hints of brown and is slightly bendable. It was possibly melted at certain points. It also was covered in scratches which makes me believe it came from the ocean.

When I observe all eight plastics found in transect one, they are all scratched up and seem to have spent some time in the ocean. Most of them are broken pieces of larger plastics.

Transect two was about 100 feet down from transect one, and about 120 feet above the shore. Right in the middle. I started by sifting sample 3, and found one visible plastic. A dark blue .2” tall bottle cap. I couldn’t see any scratches. It was likely sourced from Coney Island beach and it seemed pretty recent.

Sample 4 was a crumpled up gum raper. I uncrumpled it and the green foil immediately broke into pieces. I infer that someone dropped it.

Overall, much less plastics were found in transect two, some of which are likely sourced to Coney Island. A possible reason why there might be more trash in transect one is because high tide and rogue waves push trash from the ocean onto the shore, and the further on shore the trash is, the more difficult it is for it to be dragged back.

On June 28th 2022, I went to Brooklyn Bridge Park by pier 4. I conducted the second part of my study from 9AM to 10AM on a sandy peninsula with water on both north and south sides. The tide was coming in on the north side. Being right next to a pier makes it easier for plastic contaminated water to flow in. plastic may get trapped in the backend of the harbor because of the currents washing them to shore, and the piers blocking off entrances back to the harbor. I set up transect 1 on the north side by doing 3 samples by the shore, each ten feet apart. Compared to Coney Island Beach, there was a drastic amount of plastic at Brooklyn Bridge park. In sample 1, I found 17 pieces of plastic debris. A 4.5” clear plastic straw, a 1” broken piece of clear packaging, .5” styrofoam cigarette butt, four different pieces of styrofoam, a 2” cap from plastic pouch, 1” piece of a Dunkin Donuts straw, 2.5” piece of packaging, a clothing tag holder, 2.5” lollipop stick, plastic food wapping, and 4 different pieces of colorful broken plastics. I interpreted that the plastics were recent, and sourced from the East River because they would have been broken into microplastics if they came all the way from the Upper Bay. Sample two had 30 pieces of plastic. The bigger pieces consisted of a 1” flattened bottle cap, 1.5” piece of another bottle cap, cigarette butt, 1” piece of styrofoam, clear plastic packaging, and the rest were all small pieces of colorful microplastics, styrofoam, and fishing wire. Though it’s hard to tell where exactly the plastic came from, I can tell they have been floating in the water for a long time. The bigger plastics all seemed to be dirty, scratched, flattened, and the small plastics had clearly been broken from other plastics.

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I found more microplastics and small plastics in Brooklyn Bridge Park than at Coney Island beach because Brooklyn Bridge Park’s East river connects to other estuaries such as its connection with the Upper Bay. the colliding currents of different estuaries clash and cause more commotion, therefore causing more plastics to break apart into smaller pieces.

Plastic Found in Birds There’s no doubt that plastics are constantly affecting marine life. University of Rhode Island’s Graduate School of Oceanography has taken studies on seabirds caught in fishing nets and washed up on shore. Many of them being Great Shearwaters, a seabird commonly located on the New England coast. Graduate student Anna Robuck dissected into the belly of a Great Shearwater in the study.11 Out of all 401 birds she studied, "Every bird I was cutting open had plastics in it," said Robuck. "It just really turned into this kind of mind-blowing thing, like, 'Oh, my word, there's so many plastics in these birds.'" Currently, Robuck has studied a total of 112 seabirds, and saw that each bird had around eight to ten plastics stuck in its gizzard, an organ used to mechanically digest food. A majority of the plastics were small, “around the size of a pinkie fingernail”. One bird in her study had 202 pieces of plastic all throughout its internal organs. "There's no way a bird could tell this apart from a potential food item.

It's just a colorful little fragment floating around in the environment," Robuck said. In order to figure out what kinds of plastic items were found and where they came from, Robuck sent her 1600-or-so plastic samples to Christy Hudak, a research associate at the local Center for Coastal Studies. Hudak specializes in analyzing the plastic found in marine animals. In a recent study with seal feces for instance, using a spectrometer, she found plastic fragments of a cell phone, resin, and rubber.

When studying about 1000 plastic fragments from Robuck’s samples, Hudak found that most of them were polyethylene, "Think of it as shampoo bottles or food containers," she says. "And what's interesting is, of all the pieces that we obtained — approximately 1,000 — about 96% of them were recyclable plastics."

Why Recycling Isn’t the Solution While many people might think that recycling is the solution to the plastic pollution problem, that is actually not true. According to a 2021 report from the advocacy groups ‘Beyond Plastics’ and ‘The Last Beach Cleanup’, only 5 percent of plastics are recycled in the US12. The report highlights the depressing truth about the plastic lifecycle 11 12

wbur.org invw.org

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and adds weight to the idea that the plastic industry has been insincere in its encouragement of recycling as the solution to this problem. In April 2022, the California attorney general announced an investigation of petrochemical and fossil fuel companies, calling it a “decades-long plastics deception campaign” in promotion of recycling13. Yet records show decades ago that they knew recycling would never be able to stay in sync with the increasing production of plastics14.“The plastics industry must stop lying to the public about plastics recycling,” says Judith Enck, president of Beyond Plastics and former regional administrator for the EPA. The two advocacy groups researched the total weight of plastic recycled from two different sources: the EPA and a recent study from the National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Mathematics. They then divided it by the total weight of plastic waste created in the U.S 2021. According to the EPA numbers, only 6 percent of plastics were recycled, while the results from the National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Mathematics showed 4.8 percent15.

This report showcases more numbers to be concerned about, like the rising volume of plastic waste in the U.S. In 38 years, per capita plastic waste increased by 263 percent. At 60 lbs in 1980, to 220 lbs per person per year in 2018. In this time, usage of truly recyclable paper and glass has decreased16.

To Christy Hudak and the other scientists at the Center for Coastal Studies, the results from the Great Shearwater plastic samples17 show a great deal of evidence that recycling won’t solve the issue of plastic pollution."Your most positive thing is just to not use plastic wherever possible. As an individual human, though, that really doesn't have much of an impact," says Dr. Ludwig, who runs the Marine Debris and Plastic Program at the Center for Coastal Studies.18 "But collectively, when you're talking about 7 billion people drinking water from plastic water bottles, it has a huge impact. And so it really is important to bring your energy for this topic to a different, systemic level."

Counter Argument Ashley Balzer, a writer from the Sustainability Times makes the argument that plastic packaging is necessary because of its durability and protection from contaminants. She brings up the point that plastic food packaging ultimately reduces 13

grist.org npr.org 15 invw.org 16 resource-recycling.com 17 atlanticmarinebirds.org 18 coastalstudies.org 14

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food waste because it keeps food fresh for longer. The packaging also keeps food protected from germs, bugs, and humidity19. If food isn’t shielded with plastic protection, it is likely to go bad faster, and become damaged. Balzar claims that “Since food waste contributes to climate change, water and energy consumption, deforestation and biodiversity loss, every effort we make to mitigate those effects makes a big difference, and plastic packaging helps make that possible”20.

Another point is made that transporting thin, lightweight plastic has a lower carbon emission than bulkier material like cardboard and metal, since the plastic doesn’t have too much volume or mass. This transportation result means that fuel consumption can be reduced by plastic, saving money, and lowering harmful carbon emissions.

This article brings up a great point, considering 108 billion pounds of food is wasted yearly in the U.S21. when food waste gets to the landfill, it produces methane, the greenhouse gas 25 times more potent than carbon dioxide22. But not all food waste comes from families throwing out old scraps or expired food. 33 percent of food waste comes from agricultural production, before the food is even shipped off to be packaged.

Upstream wastage, like the production of the food, post harvest handling, and storing it, accounts for 54 percent of all food waste23. These statistics have nothing to do with packaging, and creating more single use plastic will not decrease these numbers.

It’s true that transporting lightweight plastics may create less emissions than bulky cardboard and metals, but with plastic consumption having quadrupled in the past 30 years24, the number of plastic produced and our demand for it will only increase, therefore increasing the fossil fuels and carbon emissions it takes to make plastic. Every piece of plastic we ever used still exists today. Yet bulky cardboard and metal are recyclable materials.

If we continue to create plastic and fill our everyday lives with it, more and more animals will become endangered, and we will find even more plastics washing up on beaches like Coney Island Beach and Brooklyn Bridge Park.

Possible Solutions About one third of the plastic polluting our environment originates from China, and 10 percent comes from Indonesia. The top five counties with the most plastic pollution are China, Indonesia, The Philippines, Vietnam, and Sri Lanka. Due to fast economic growth and poor management of waste, LEDCs (lower economically 19

sustainability-times.com .romyfoods.com 21 feedingamerica.org 22 cec.org 23 fao.org 24 oecd.org 20

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developed countries) are one of the top twenty worst offenders of plastics25. Yet the U.S, creating less than 1% of global waste and being number twenty on that list, produces twice as much plastic waste as the people in China. If the five most plastic polluting countries gained a waste management improvement by 50%, through building waste management infrastructure for instance, total global waste mismanagement would reduce by 25%. HEDCs (higher economically developed countries) have an equal amount of measures to take to reduce the number of plastic waste emitted per person.

For example, taking measures like reusing plastics, and through shifting responsibilities for plastic waste back to the companies in the plastic industry.

A good solution to the waste management issue could be to make plastics worth money. An example of this is putting deposits on beverage bottles, an effective way at reducing waste. Plastic containers and packaging then gain value and People are less likely to dispose of them, and if they are thrown away, others may pick them up.

According to theconversation.com, creating a deposit on all plastic items in the start of their life as raw materials, “would incentivize collection by formal waste managers where infrastructure is available, but also by consumers and entrepreneurs seeking income where it is not”. Plastic pollution is a major issue that is affecting everyone through the plastic products we use and eat from, to the plastic in our waterways that go into our air stream. We can learn from scientists like Dr. Herstoff, Dr. Hudak, and the many other researchers that the plastics in our waterways are very clearly a danger to the marine animals that live there, as it interferes with the food web and makes its way into animals' digestive tracts.

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Bibliography 1. Jambec, Jenna. “Plastic Waste Inputs from Land into the Ocean.” Science in the Classroom, Science, 13 Feb. 2015, 4 July, 2022. https://www.scienceintheclassroom.org/research-papers/plastic-waste-inputs-land-ocean .

2. Gall, S.C., and R.C. Thompson. “The Impact of Debris on Marine Life.” Marine Pollution Bulletin, vol. 92, no. 1-2, 12 Mar. 2015, 4 July 2022, pp. 170–179., https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpolbul.2014.12.041.

3. “Ny NJ baykeeper Plastics Report - Raritan.rutgers.edu.” NY-NJ HARBOR ESTUARY PLASTIC COLLECTION REPORT, Rutgers University, Feb. 2016, Accessed 22 Aug. 2022, http://raritan.rutgers.edu/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/NYNJBaykeeper-Plastics-Report-F ebruary-2016.pdf.

4. “OASIS Map.” Oasis Map, Oasis NYC, Aug. 2009, Accessed 10 Aug. 2022, https://www.oasisnyc.net/map.aspx.

5. “What Are Microplastics?” NOAA's National Ocean Service, US Department of Commerce, 13 Apr. 2016, 7 Jul 2022, https://oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/microplastics.html.

6. United States, Congress, Microbead-Free Waters Act of 2015: 2015. Government Publishing Office Congress. Accessed 29 June 2022, https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/BILLS-114hr1321enr/pdf/BILLS-114hr1321enr.pdf.

7. “Fact Sheet - United Nations Environment Programme.” Plastic Cosmetics Fact Sheet, United Nations Environmental Programe, Accessed 5 Sep. 2022,https://wedocs.unep.org/bitstream/handle/20.500.11822/21754/PlasticinCosmetics 2015Factsheet.pdf?sequence=1&%3BisAllowed=.

8. Bonfiglio, Jon. “Humans Eating Plastic - over 40 Pounds in a Lifetime.” Plastic Oceans International, 17 Dec. 2020, Accessed 15 july 2022, https://plasticoceans.org/humans-eating-plastic-over-40-pounds-in-a-lifetime/.

9. Magazine, Smithsonian. “Microplastics Detected in Human Blood in New Study.”

Smithsonian.com, Smithsonian Institution, 28 Mar. 2022, Accessed 23 July 2022, https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/microplastics-detected-in-human-blood-18 0979826/.

12 10. Leslie, Heather A., et al. “Discovery and Quantification of Plastic Particle Pollution in Human Blood.” Environment International, vol. 163, May 2022, Accessed 10 August 2022, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envint.2022.107199.

11. “What Happens When Animals Eat Plastic.” Plastic Soup Foundation, 1 May 2020, Accessed 3 July 2022, https://www.plasticsoupfoundation.org/en/plastic-problem/plastic-affect-animals/animalseat-plastic/#:~:text=Animals%20that%20accidentally%20eat%20plastic,obtain%20less% 20energy%2C%20and%20weaken.

12. Moran, Barbara. “Study: Most of the Plastic Found in Seabirds' Stomachs Was Recycleable.” Study: Most Of The Plastic Found In Seabirds' Stomachs Was Recycleable | WBUR News, WBUR, 21 Oct. 2020, Accessed 3 July 2022, https://www.wbur.org/news/2020/10/21/great-shearwaters-study-microplastics-recycling.

13. Winters, Joseph. “The US Only Recycled about 5% of Plastic Waste Last Year.”

InvestigateWest, 5 May 2022, 28 July 2022, https://www.invw.org/2022/05/05/the-us-only-recycled-about-5-of-plastic-waste-last-year/ .

14. Winters, Joseph. “California Opens Investigation into 'Decades-Long Plastics Deception Campaign'.” Grist, Grist, 2 May 2022, Accessed 20 July 2022, https://grist.org/accountability/california-launches-investigation-decades-long-plastics-de ception-campaign/.

15. Sullivan, Laura. “How Big Oil Misled the Public into Believing Plastic Would Be Recycled.” NPR, NPR, 11 Sept. 2020, Accessed 11 July 2022, https://www.npr.org/2020/09/11/897692090/how-big-oil-misled-the-public-into-believing-p lastic-would-be-recycled.

16. Winters, Joseph. “California Opens Investigation into 'Decades-Long Plastics Deception Campaign'.” Grist, Grist, 2 May 2022, Accessed 20 July 2022, https://grist.org/accountability/california-launches-investigation-decades-long-plastics-de ception-campaign/.

17. RRS. “Data Corner: The Evolving Ton over 25 Years - Resource Recycling.” Resource Recycling News, 17 Jan. 2019, Accessed July 2 2022, https://resource-recycling.com/recycling/2018/10/29/data-corner-the-evolving-ton-over-2 5-years/.

18. “Plastic Ingestion and Bycatch Demographics of Great Shearwaters from the Gulf of Maine.” Atlantic Marine Birds Cooperative, 16 Mar. 2020, Accessed 25 August 2022, https://atlanticmarinebirds.org/plastic-ingestion-and-bycatch-demographics-of-great-shea rwaters-from-the-gulf-of-maine/.

19. “Marine Debris and Plastics Program.” Center for Coastal Studies, Accessed 19 August 2022, https://coastalstudies.org/marine-debris/.

20. Balzer, Ashley. “We Need Plastics. What We Don't Need Is Plastic Waste.” Sustainability Times, 25 Apr. 2019, https://www.sustainability-times.com/green-consumerism/we-need-plastics-what-we-dont -need-is-plastic-waste/.

13 21. Foods, ROMY. “Article Defining the Issue of Food Waste.” Romy Foods, 28 Mar. 2019, Accessed 13 July 2022 https://www.romyfoods.com/en-US/news/article-defining-the-issue-of-food-waste/.

22. “How We Fight Food Waste in the US.” Feeding America, Accessed 19 JULY 2022, https://www.feedingamerica.org/our-work/our-approach/reduce-food-waste.

23. “How We Fight Food Waste in the US.” Feeding America, Food Matters Action Kit, 2022, Accessed 3 September 2022, https://www.feedingamerica.org/our-work/our-approach/reduce-food-waste.

24. “Food Wastage Footprint: Impacts on Natural Resources - Summary Report.” Food Wastage Footprint Impacts on Natural Resources Summary Report, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, 2013, Accessed 4 September 2022, https://www.fao.org/3/i3347e/i3347e.pdf.

25. OECD. Plastic Pollution Is Growing Relentlessly as Waste Management and Recycling Fall Short, Says OECD, Organization for Economic Co-Operation and Development, 22 Feb. 2022, Accessed 30 August 2022, https://www.oecd.org/environment/plastic-pollution-is-growing-relentlessly-as-waste-man agement-and-recycling-fall-short.htm.

26. Hardesty, Britta Denise, and Chris Wilcox. “Eight Million Tonnes of Plastic Are Going into the Ocean Each Year.” The Conversation, 12 Feb. 2012, Accessed 5 September 2022,https://theconversation.com/eight-million-tonnes-of-plastic-are-going-into-the-ocean -each-year-37521.

Juna Waugh A psychoanalytic view on Narcissus and Echo, by Ovid This essay is an interesting twist on a typical analysis of greek mythology. I chose to analyze the story through the perspective of psychoanalytic thought, focusing on the origins of narcissism (and the different kinds of narcissism) and how it affects people. I have been deeply interested in psychoanalytic thought for the past two years, and introducing the theory to my English class has helped me to connect more with literature and the metaphors that lie within the books that we read.

Juna Waugh English Liz Heck 1/7/23 When observing “Narcissus and Echo” from a psychoanalytic viewpoint, it is necessary to first identify how a healthy “ego” or “self” presents itself. Freud theorized three main components of the unconscious mind: the id, ego, and superego. The id and the ego are not entirely separate, but the main distinctions are the “pleasure principle” and “reality principle”.

While the pleasure principle is driven by impulse and desire, the reality principle is responsible for “governing” the desired behaviors to what is acceptable in relation to context. The specifics of what is and is not “acceptable” is varied among every culture, household, and relationship.

The ego is developed through unpleasant experiences and parental control of the infant. The id is constantly seeking pleasure, though “impulsive behavior may result in an increase of tension by calling forth punishment from the external world” (Hall, 23). When the actions of the id meet the external world, that is when the discomfort may arise, encouraging the ego to develop; “Eventually, the reality principle leads to pleasure, although a person may have to endure some discomfort while he is looking for reality” (Hall, 29). While the id is something instinctual, the development of the ego is based on the environment in which the individual lives. A healthy ego or self expresses itself while taking others into account, meaning that the self is able to exist in a relational context, essentially, “what you want matters, and what I want matters''. A healthy ego displays compassion, empathy, and competition in context with feelings that make room for both people. This being said, narcissists only see the way people affect them.

Within the stories, Narcissus and Echo represent two contradictory, extreme personalities.

Narcissus conveys a narcissistic personality, one that is self obsessed and self destructive. Echo, on the other hand, is a direct extension of Narcissus and his desires. Dr. Elinor Greenberg, a trained psychoanalyst who practices Gestalt therapy introduces the concept of a “closet narcissistic”, someone who has the desire to find a narcissist to echo. A closet narcissist experiences admiration through pleasing the narcissist. Many stories about heroes, fairy tales, fantasies, etc. are centered around this very concept. The story of Batman and Robin is an example among many within the “main character/sidekick” trope; Batman is the superhero who

receives recognition and praise, while robin lives in reflected glory while never being in the spotlight. Ovid’s “Narcissus and Echo” expresses opposite representations of behaviors and personalities; Narcissus has rejected the self that he cannot handle, and replaces self hatred with self obsession, while Echo experiences emptiness. Echo is not consciously aware of herself and her own desires, instead filling that emptiness through borrowing someone else’s identity. She uses the reflection of Narcissus to create an extension of him, while he projects an extension of himself onto everyone else. The reason Narcissus and Echo work so well together is because they each fulfill one another’s desire to either thrive off the admiration and obsession from others, or, provide the admiration and obsession of others through hiding and adapting. A healthy ego is somewhere in between Narcissus and Echo, among other traits.

While they seemingly work together well, there are extreme consequences to both behaviors. As a result of Narcissus' narcissism, she is rejected by him, leaving her as an empty reflection of no one. She is silenced, without a voice, unless echoing another, and without a physical body. Echo’s individualism is stolen from her by Narcissus, much like many of Ovid’s stories. Her sense of self is destroyed, leaving her abilities to remain confined to reflect and repeat others. She becomes a literal extension of others, a perfect fit for Narcissus’ ego. The grief of losing him causes Echo to physically and emotionally wash away, transforming her into literal emptiness, her initial desire.

A fear of engulfment, preventing the letting go of all defenses causes one to be true to themselves and be an independent individual. Echo’s displaced desire for intimacy and reciprocated love from Narcissus becomes a fear of rejection; she yearns for Narcissus, but because she fails to let go of her defenses, a fear is substituted from that desire. Anxiety that something bad may happens if she acquires her own personality and enact her wish fulfillment takes over, a fear so strong that could perhaps cause her body to wash away, left to hide in the forest, stripped of a voice, and separated from Narcissus with only a reflection that belongs to him without any control. She has both lived her truest desire and nightmare as a victim of Narcissus’s ego.

The characters within this story can be partially explained through two forms of libidinal cathexis: ego-labido and object labido. Narcissus represents the ego-labido, essentially meaning self-love, and Echo represents object labido, essentially meaning the love of objects/others.

Narcissus experiences a regression from the object labido, making him self obsessed and incapable of recognizing his own faults. Freud’s concept of infantile primary narcissism refers to the infant’s libido directed to their own satisfaction, and not of others or their surroundings.

Primary narcissism is a defense against inevitable threats to the child, ie fears, separation from the parents, etc. In the case of Narcissus, he regresses to this childhood defense in order to protect himself from the self hatred and dangers he may face without the protection of narcissism, causing him to reject Echo out of cruelty and power. As he views his reflection at the end of the story, the self he sees in the water represents both his admiration for himself as well as his self imposed isolation. His reflection is in fact him, but distorted to fit his fantasy of his self image. Two aspects of his unconscious at war are displayed in the reflection: the mirror of

himself showing his narcissistic self and the man looking down at himself, his real self, made up of faults, self hatred, and destruction trapped inside of the water. With Echo now gone, he is truly isolated, leaving her, the extension of himself, to be part of the man looking at his reflection.

Although opposing personalities, both Echo and Narcissus fail to receive love, as a result of either extreme dependence or extreme counter-dependence. Neither personality is capable of complete independence, as independence refers to self sufficiency and the capacity to feel for and engage with others. Narcissus relies on himself, though his ego feeds off of the praise and infatuation provided by others to satisfy him, and Echo borrows his personality, relying entirely on Narcissus to fulfill his need for admiration and power. Within this analysis, there is not a distinct transformation within the mind of Narcissus, whom the story primarily surrounds. The reflection he sees shows his capability to transform, though the two personalities never merge to create an empathetic, independent, self-sufficient Narcissus.

Che Rose ASSESSING NET SOCIETAL BENEFITS RELATED TO LEGALIZED RECREATIONAL MARIJUANA

Research Question: Have positive externalities from the legalization of recreational marijuana (LRM) outweighed negative externalities for the state of Colorado?

Personal Code: kmh996 Word Count: 3,831

Table of Contents Introduction…….………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 3 Why I chose this topic?…………………………………………………………………………………………………… 5 Methodology……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 5 Research and Analysis…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 7 Market failures Positive externalities of legalized marijuana Negative externalities of legalized marijuana Economic Analysis………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 14 Measuring the impact of positive externalities of legalized marijuana Measuring the impact of negative externalities of legalized marijuana Demand distortion due to government taxing policies Conclusion………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 24 Recommendation Evaluation / Unanswered Questions………………………………………………………………………………………….. 25 Bibliography……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 26

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Introduction

In November 2012, Colorado, along with Washington State, legalized recreational marijuana (LRM) use, in effect decriminalizing possession and cultivation1. In Colorado, this was achieved by the passage of Amendment 64 which importantly required the state to establish a regulatory framework for retail sales2. This followed the November 2000 voter approval of Amendment 20 which legalized medical marijuana in the state.

Supporters of LRM pointed to increased state tax revenue and reduced criminality. Being one of the first states to legalize and decriminalize marijuana, Colorado has become a case study for the benefits and costs of this policy. Marijuana is a Schedule 1 substance under the Controlled Substances Act, meaning it has a high potential for abuse, no currently accepted medical use in treatment in the United States, and a lack of accepted safety for use under medical supervision.3 Despite this, Colorado embarked on this policy with the belief that positive societal benefits exceeded the costs. Given Colorado has taxing and regulatory authority, it can influence the price and thus demand to influence the impact on the citizens of Colorado.

Marijuana has a long and controversial history in the United States. States began to regulate and ban marijuana starting in 1911 when Massachusetts required a prescription for the sale of Indian hemp4.

1

MPP Archuleta, Alex. “Amendment 64.” CSPM, 12 Feb. 2021, 3 Get Smart about Drugs, April 2020 4 Paul, 2018 2

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Regulation of cannabis increased through the early 1900s at the state level and this led to federal regulation in 1937 with the Marihuana Tax Act. The Marihuana Tax Act regulated the importation, cultivation, possession, and/or distribution of marijuana and required importers to register and pay an annual tax. This effectively stopped the use of marijuana for recreational usage5.

In 1956, cannabis was included in the Federal Narcotics Control Act which strengthened the existing laws against the illicit traffic of drugs with heavy penalties including the death penalty for offenders.

Finally, in 1970 the federal government categorized marijuana as a Schedule I substance, which meant that it had no acceptable medical use and was among the class of illicit drugs having the highest potential for abuse6.

Interestingly, soon after the 1970 Federal Narcotics Control Act was passed, states began to decriminalize marijuana starting with Texas in 19737. There was a prevailing view that marijuana was helpful from a medical perspective and this quote from President Jimmy Carter in a letter sent to Congress in 1977 sums up the other perspective that marijuana wasn’t a dangerous substance: “Penalties against possession of a drug should not be more damaging to an individual than the use of the drug itself ”8.

This push for decriminalization, and then later legalization, was driven by the view that marijuana had many positive externalities, from use for medical reasons to one of the most cited reasons, economic growth via an increase in tax revenue.

5

DBP, 2019 Alcohol Policy Information System 7 Eubank, B (2022), KVUE 8 Wooten, J (1977), The New York Times 6

4

Given marijuana is legal in Colorado, there is a restrictive federal law, and not legal in bordering states, it is possible to respond to the research question “Have positive externalities from the legalization of recreational marijuana (LRM) outweighed negative externalities for the state of Colorado?” by isolating the impact just to the state.

Why I Chose This Topic

I got interested in the legalization of recreational marijuana as I heard in the news debates both for and against recreational marijuana. I am a firm believer in individual rights and people making decisions for themselves. I also think that the fact that alcohol can have the same impact on people as marijuana is legal and recreational marijuana is illegal. As a person of color, I also wanted to understand the disparate impact on communities of color relating to marijuana arrests and incarceration. Also, there is a great deal of talk in terms of the booming marijuana economy, but often I never hear about the costs related to recreational marijuana legalization. I wanted to dig deeper and understand marijuana legalization from both sides and use data to know if the benefits outweighed the costs or if the costs outweighed the benefits.

Methodology To answer the research question, “Have positive externalities from the legalization of recreational marijuana (LRM) outweighed negative externalities for the state of Colorado?” I focused on microeconomic theories relating to market failure and externalities. After reading economic

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academic texts that dealt with the market dynamics of legalized marijuana I combined this with research on both positive and negative externalities to identify costs and benefits. I gathered secondary data on taxation policy to understand the market-clearing price of legalized recreational marijuana. This allowed me to determine if government policy contributed to market inefficiency.

In the interest of the investigation, I restricted the time frame to only using primary and secondary data from 2014 to 2018. I chose these dates as the commercial sale of marijuana to the general public began on January 1, 2014, to establish licensed under governmental regulatory stores.

And 2018 was an important year given the Colorado state legislature changed the formula for the excise tax to increase the amount of retail marijuana excise tax that can be credited to the assistance fund, up from the first $40 million collected.

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Research and Analysis

Market Failures In economics, market failures are an economic situation defined by an inefficient distribution of goods and services in the free market9. More directly, market failures describe situations in which market outcomes are not Pareto efficient (chart 1). Pareto efficiency occurs when resources are allocated so that it is not possible to make anyone better off without making someone else worse off10

Chart 1 9

(2002), OECD (2002), OECD

10

7

Key: MSB = marginal societal benefit MSC = marginal societal cost MPB = marginal private benefit MSB = marginal societal benefit This graph represents a market equilibrium in which the optimal supply matches the optimal demand.

Under market failures, individual incentives for rational behavior do not lead to rational outcomes for everyone as everyone is making the best decision for themselves but those individual decisions are not the best for everyone together. Often, market failures lead to government regulation and intervention.

There are generally four types of market failures that may require government intervention11: 1. Externalities: refer to situations where the effect of production or consumption of goods and services imposes costs or benefits on others that are not reflected in the price of a certain good or service provided.

2. Public Goods: a good or service that is provided without profit to all members of a society, either by the government or a private individual or organization. These do not lend

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8

Ribaudo, M (2008), USDA

themselves to market allocation because you cannot exclude individuals from using the service or good once it is produced.

3. Insufficient information: without enough information, both buyers and sellers cannot appropriately purchase or sell something because there is uncertainty as to the price to sell or buy. Thus, the amount that is bought or sold could be too high or too low.

4. Market power: when a few buyers or sellers are able to exert significant power over prices, this power prevents the forces of supply and demand from naturally setting prices. The most common form of market power is a monopoly, where one large seller sets prices high to maximize their own profits.

Legalized Recreational Marijuana as a Merit Good The legalization of recreational marijuana by the Colorado government in 2012 would point to marijuana being a merit good. Merit goods are goods that produce positive external benefits when consumed, and often these benefits are not recognized. Given this, merit goods are typically under-consumed. Reflecting on the definition of market failure, merit good has positive externalities, which could include: ● Medical usage for treatment of certain illnesses and ailments including cancer, Alzheimer’s disease, HIV/AIDS, and anxiety. ● Reduction of violence associated with the illegal drug trade ● Reduced costs and burden on the law enforcement and justice system

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Positive externalities exist when the benefit to society at large is greater than the benefit to the residents of Colorado. This results in “welfare loss” or a loss to society given the inefficient allocation of legalized marijuana. If these positive externalities exist, then there is a misallocation of resources as society isn’t able to join the full benefits of LRM.

Chart 2 Key: MSB = marginal societal benefit MSC = marginal societal cost MPB = marginal private benefit MSB = marginal societal benefit

Represents welfare loss; when the market equilibrium quantity is less than the socially optimum quantity This graph represents a market in which the benefit to society is greater than the benefit of individuals, thus

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the market produces less than the optimal amount of units. This creates a loss to society (welfare loss).

The most widely discussed positive externality is the economic benefit of LRM. In 2017, marijuana sales in Colorado totaled $1.5 billion and consisted of legalized recreational marijuana sales of $1.1 billion and medical marijuana sales of $417 million. The economic benefits have been a bit muted given each local jurisdiction chooses whether to allow recreational marijuana stores. As of April 1, 2019, only 23% of jurisdictions allowed all forms of legalized marijuana12.

The retail sales of legalized recreational marijuana are just one part of the economic impact. There are other impacts also. In order to sell legalized recreational marijuana, licenses were necessary and the license holder would then open a store to sell the product. When legalized marijuana sales began in 2014, there 156 licenses were issued for stores and this number had grown to 518 stores in February 2018. To supply those stores, there were 1,473 licenses for cultivation facilities including both medical and recreational, 535 licenses for infused product manufacturing facilities, 23 licenses for testing facilities, 12 operator licenses, and 18 transporter licenses13

12 13

Payan, D (2021), The Milbank Quarterly Felix, A (2018), Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City

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Those stores and other related activities require employees, and this is another related economic impact. Employment in the legalized recreational marijuana market is estimated at nearly 18,000 in 201814.

The ultimate impact on the citizens of Colorado is seen in the increase in tax revenues from legalized recreational marijuana. We will also examine tax policy later in this paper. The tax rate on legalized medical marijuana is much higher than other goods and services in Colorado. The tax regime consists of an excise tax (tax on a commodity), a special sales tax, and regular sales and local tax. As of 2017, the combined tax rate on legalized recreational marijuana was 32.9% with the excise tax at 15%, the special sales tax at 15%, and sales and local sales tax at 2.9%. The combined tax revenue in 2017 was $247 million15. The tax revenue is allocated on a set formula as described below:

14 15

Colorado, Department of Revenue Colorado, Department of Revenue

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Negative Externalities of Legalized Recreational Marijuana The legalization of recreational marijuana also has a number of negative externalities of consumption, as the marginal private benefit is greater than the marginal societal benefit. Thus, more units are consumed than are socially optimal. This happens when private citizens consume 16

(2002) Colorado, Department of Revenue

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more of a product than society would prefer as consumption of the good produces some negative outcomes for society. The most widely known negative externality is pollution associated with driving; individuals want to consume as much driving in their cars, but cars produce pollution. Every mile driven by a person is beneficial to that person, but they are creating a cost for others through pollution. Therefore, they may be willing to drive a lot as they are not paying for the price of this pollution17. While the state of Colorado touted the positives of legalized recreational marijuana, the negative externalities were not as commonly discussed. Negative externalities of legalized recreational marijuana include:: ● Increased power consumption from growing marijuana which contributes to carbon emissions ● Increased usage by teenagers which can lead to stunted brain development ● Costs related to addiction and other mental health issues such as lung cancer, schizophrenia, etc. ● Risks from others usage of legalized recreational marijuana such as driving under the influence

There are many other, less well known, negative externalities. Interestingly, there has been a link between a reduction in local housing prices in Amsterdam, Netherlands when local coffee shops started selling marijuana18

Chart 3

17 18

Dubner, S (2008), The New York Times Langen, M (2018), Royal Economic Society

14

Key: MSB = marginal societal benefit MSC = marginal societal cost MPB = marginal private benefit MSB = marginal societal benefit

Represents welfare loss; when the market equilibrium quantity is less than the socially optimum quantity This graph represents a market in which the benefit to society is greater than the benefit of individuals, thus the market produces less than the optimal amount of units. This creates a loss to society (welfare loss).

Economic Analysis

Given a large number of externalities, both positive and negative, it was not practical to analyze the impact on everyone. Thus, I chose one positive and one negative externality to analyze to see if there are net positive societal impacts to Colorado from the legalization of recreational marijuana.

Measuring Positive Externalities Given the primary reason for the legalization of recreational marijuana in Colorado was economic, I analyzed the net positive benefit from tax revenue related to legalized recreational marijuana.

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As discussed earlier, the tax revenue is split by type, with the excise tax going exclusively to education in Colorado. The excise tax on legalized recreational marijuana is for the exclusive use of the Colorado Capital Construction Assistance Fund to help renovate and build new schools19. Also named the BEST program (Building Excellent Schools Today), it is used to improve health, safety, and security issues for schools, including asbestos removal, new roofs, improved classrooms, and other improvements. In the last year of my analysis (Fiscal 2017 to 2018), the excise tax on legalized recreational marijuana sales was $68.2 million, of which $40 million went to the BEST program.

Since 2008, the Colorado Capital Construction Assistance Fund has received $1.8 billion in revenue and this has allowed $2.8 billion in school infrastructure projects to be completed. The marijuana excise tax represents $329 million of the $1.8 billion; it is important to note that while the $1.8 billion since 2008, the excise tax on legalized marijuana only started in 2014.

19

Stiffler, C (2012), Colorado Center on Law and Policy

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The BEST projects that were funded are as follows:

20

Colorado Department of Education

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To measure the positive externality of legalized recreational marijuana, I used research to isolate the economic impact of educational funding. The retail sales of legalized recreational marijuana, as we have discussed, have a direct link to education spending through the excise tax that Colorado imposes. This excise tax is used to support schools through facility renovation and construction. The positive externality of LRM, then, is from this increase in education spending and the concept of the “multiplier”. The multiplier is an economic factor that when increased causes an increase in other related economic variables22. The key, then, would be for the increase in other economic variables (income, economic growth, jobs, etc.) to exceed the main economic factor (in this case, school spending). The two studies that I used to establish the multiplier on education spending are “The Multiplier Effect of Education Expenditure”23 and “Economic Impact Analysis of School Facility Construction24” “The Multiplier Effect of Education Expenditure” quantifies the effect of educational investments on economic growth in the short-run by measuring the impact of the Federal Pell Grant Program on economic activity at the city level while “Economic Impact Analysis of School Facility Construction” quantifies the economic impact analysis of new school construction on the local economy in Huber Heights, Ohio. The study of the Pell Grant Program established a multiplier of 2.4x of local income over a two-year period. Interestingly, the study of school construction, which seems to be a perfect example of the excise tax used for the Building Excellent Schools Today program, showed a multiplier of 2.2x.

21

Colorado Department of Education Hayes, A (2021), Investopedia 23 De Ridder, M (2020), Finance and Economic Discussion Series 24 Wright State University, Center for Urban and Public Affairs (2010) 22

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Multiplier effect of education spending Wright State study of school construction Investment

Fed study on Pell Grants

$159.1 million

Benefits Sales

$258.3 million

Labor income

$92.0 million

Sales and income tax

$4.5

Total Benefits

$354.8 million

Multiplier

2.2

million

Multiplier

2.4

Using an average of the two studies, or 2.3x, the expected benefit of educational spending would be $156.9 million in the Fiscal Year 2017-18 ($68.2 million in excise tax * 2.3x multiplier). Over the past four years of the essay study period, the total economic impact would be $475.6 million. Research has shown that a 10% increase in per-pupil spending leads to 0.31 more years of schooling25 Research has also shown the beneficial effects of education on cognitive abilities of approximately 1 to 5 IQ points for an additional year of education26. Using the upper range of the 1-5 IQ points estimate and the estimated number of Colorado students of 1,235,575 under the age of 18, the increase in lifetime monetary valuation gain would be between $4.9 billion and $6.0 billion.

25 26

Evans, D (2019), World Bank Blogs Ritchie, S (2018), National Library of Medicine

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Given the influx of tax revenue and thus economic benefits via the multiplier effect, I wanted to see if Colorado’s economy had outperformed relative to the US economy and the states surrounding Colorado. Looking at the quarterly changes in the gross domestic product (GDP) from 2014 to 2018 (the research period for this essay), Colorado’s economy (+3.67%) outperformed the overall US economy (+2.37%) and the average of the states surrounding Colorado (+2.04%). It is not fair to attribute this outperformance to the legalization of recreational marijuana but was simply an interesting view to see how the Colorado economy performed over the research period of 2014-18.

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Average United States

2.37%

Arizona

2.86%

Colorado

3.67%

Nebraska

2.22%

New Mexico

0.94%

Oklahoma

2.19%

Utah

4.35%

Wyoming

-0.33%

Rocky Mountain

3.39%

Average of 6 surrounding states

2.04%

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Measuring Negative Externalities Similar to positive externalities, there are a number of negative externalities that could be evaluated. I chose to focus on one that I felt strongly about, which is the potential negative impact on children’s brain development through marijuana usage. First, I wanted to understand the impact on youth marijuana usage since legalization. Research has shown that the legalization of recreational marijuana increases usage across all age brackets28.

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Regional Economic Accounts Hall, W (2016), National Library of Medicine

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In addition, marijuana usage of individuals aged 12-17 in Colorado is one of the highest in the country. The incidence of youth marijuana usage doubled since 2005 in Colorado from 7.0% to 12.6% in 2013-14, right when the legalization of recreational marijuana began. As the NIH notes, legalization likely leads to increased long-term usage given availability is greater29.

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2017-18 National Survey on Drug Use and Health

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2017-18 National Survey on Drug Use and Health30

The rate of marijuana usage in Colorado has far outpaced national usage; in 2005, the rate of marijuana usage in Colorado among 12-17 year-olds was as mentioned 7.0%while the rate for the entire country was 6.8%. The rate in Colorado increased to 12.6% by 2013-14 while the rate for the country was relatively stable at 7.4%. This dramatic increase in the rate of marijuana usage among youth may not be entirely related to legalized recreational marijuana, but data from the CDC and NIH already sourced in this essay likely points to a link31.

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2017-18 National Survey on Drug Use and Health Azofeifa, A (2016), CDC

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This increase in youth usage of marijuana is troublesome, but even more when combined with the impact of marijuana on the developing brain of adolescents. Research has shown that marijuana usage in youth contributes to a 2-point drop in IQ32. To understand the cost of this negative externality, I have tried to quantify the impact on Colorado youth. A study

by Scott D. Grosse and Ying Zhou calculated the implied lifetime monetary valuation of an IQ point in the United States of $10,600 to $13,100. Therefore, combined with the study on marijuana usage contributing to a 2-point drop in IQ, the estimated impact on implied lifetime monetary valuation would be $21,200 to $26,200. The population of youth under the age of 18 was 21.4% of Colorado’s 5,773,714 in 2020 (the census is only completed every 10 years, so I could not get information for the 2014-18 period). This would estimate Colorado’s youth population at 1,235,575. Applying the low end of the lifetime monetary valuation impact of a 2-point IQ decline to the under-18 population in Colorado would lead to a total lifetime economic valuation loss of between $26 billion and $32 billion33.

Conclusions Responding to the question “Have positive externalities from the legalization of recreational marijuana (LRM) outweighed negative externalities for the state of Colorado?” I conclude that the 2014-2018 time frame does not support this question. It seems that negative externalities may outweigh the benefits.

However, there are a number of both positive and negative externalities that I have not explored given it would have been impossible to note them all and likely to have quantified them as well. The economic impact of higher tax revenues was clearly seen and documented. The linkage to economic impact came via the transformation of education spending to lifetime monetary value for youth in Colorado. This was shown in the analysis by the estimate of an increase in the lifetime monetary valuation gain from the expected benefit of educational spending between $4.9 billion and $6.0 billion. However, the cognitive impact on these same Colorado youth from marijuana usage seems to have more than outweighed the benefits. My analysis shows the increase in youth usage of 32 33

(2021), Science Daily Grosse, S (2021), National Library of Medicine

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marijuana leads to a lifetime economic valuation loss of between $26 billion and $32 billion. In effect, marijuana has a four to a five-time negative impact on the youth population of Colorado.

Evaluation / Unanswered Questions Arising from the investigation are a number of unresolved questions. First is trying to link the economic impact of marijuana through the increase and decrease of IQ in Colorado youth. It was clear to understand the increase in tax revenue from legalized recreational marijuana but it was more challenging to quantify the economic impact of this tax revenue. Tax revenue by itself doesn’t create economic value. Even more difficult was trying to quantify the negative impact of marijuana usage. I used linkages to changes in IQ from blood lead levels and per pupil spending in low and middle-income countries, which both may not be great examples of marijuana usage impacts.

Finally, the economic impact analysis I used to calculate the positive and negative externalities was beyond my ability to analyze and put to use. The outcomes of this analysis, such as the multiplier effect of education expenditures, use advanced mathematics and statistics. Therefore, I used the conclusions of these studies and could not replicate the actual mathematical formulas.

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Disease Control and Prevention, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 21 June 2017, https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/65/ss/ss6511a1.htm?s_cid=ss6511a1_w#B1_down. ● by: Alison Felix, et al. “The Economic Effects of the Marijuana Industry in Colorado.”

Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City, 16 Apr. 2018, https://www.kansascityfed.org/denver/rocky-mountain-economist/rme-2018q1/. ● Colorado Department of Revenue, https://sbg.colorado.gov/med/employee-license-application. ● “Core Scholar - Wright State University.” Site, 2010, https://corescholar.libraries.wright.edu/. ● De Ridder, Maarten, Simona M. Hannon, and Damjan Pfajfar (2020). “The Multiplier Effect of Education Expenditure,” Finance and Economics Discussion Series 2020-058. Washington: Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, ● “Did You Know... Marijuana Was Once a Legal Cross-Border Import?” U.S. Customs

and Border Protection, 20 Dec. 2019, https://www.cbp.gov/about/history/did-you-know/marijuana#:~:text=His%20campaign %20against%20Cannabis%20led,an%20annual%20tax%20of%20%2424. ● Directorate, OECD Statistics. “MARKET FAILURE.” OECD Glossary of Statistical

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● Dubner, Stephen J., and Steven. “Not-so-Free Ride.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 20 Apr. 2008, https://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/20/magazine/20wwln-freakonomics-t.html. ● “Dutch Coffee Shops Reduce Local House Prices - Royal Economic Society.” Royal

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Blogs, 17 Jan. 2019, https://blogs.worldbank.org/impactevaluations/education-spending-and-student-learni ng-outcomes#:~:text=Using%20the%20variation%20in%20spending,annual%20incide nce%20of%20adult%20poverty. ● “Frequent Cannabis Use by Young People Linked to Decline in IQ.” ScienceDaily, ScienceDaily, 28 Jan. 2021, https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/01/210128134755.htm. ● Grosse, Scott D, and Ying Zhou. “Monetary Valuation of Children's Cognitive Outcomes in Economic Evaluations from a Societal Perspective: A Review.” Children

(Basel, Switzerland), U.S. National Library of Medicine, 29 Apr. 2021, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8146900/. ● Hayes, Adam. “Multiplier: What It Means in Finance and Economics.” Investopedia, Investopedia, 6 Oct. 2022, https://www.investopedia.com/terms/m/multiplier.asp. ● M;, Hall W;Lynskey. “Evaluating the Public Health Impacts of Legalizing Recreational Cannabis Use in the United States.” Addiction (Abingdon, England), U.S. National Library of Medicine, Oct. 2016, https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27082374/. ● “Marijuana Tax Reports.” Department of Revenue, https://cdor.colorado.gov/data-and-reports/marijuana-data/marijuana-tax-reports.

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● “Marijuana Tax Revenue and Education.” CDE, https://www.cde.state.co.us/communications/2021marijuanarevenue#:~:text=In%20add ition%2C%20both%20medical%20and,how%20the%20revenue%20is%20distributed. ● “National Survey on Drug Use and Health: Model-Based Prevalence Estimates (50 States and the District of Columbia) .” SAMHSA.gov, https://www.samhsa.gov/data/. ● “Office of Capital Construction - CDE.” Colorado Department of Education, https://www.cde.state.co.us/communications/capitalconstruction-factsheet. ● Paul, Michael S. “The Effects of the Legalization of Recreational Marijuana.” Criminal

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● Stiffler, Christopher. “Amendment 64 Would Produce $60 Million in New Revenue and ... - CCLP.” Colorado Center on Law & Policy, 16 Aug. 2012, https://cclponline.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/amendment_64_analysis_final.pdf. ● “United States Drug Enforcement Administration.” Drug Fact Sheets | DEA.gov, Apr. 2020, https://www.dea.gov/factsheets. ● Wooten, James T. “Carter Seeks to End Marijuana Penalty for Small Amounts.” The

New York Times, The New York Times, 3 Aug. 1977, https://www.nytimes.com/1977/08/03/archives/carter-seeks-to-end-marijuana-penalty-f or-small-amounts-urges-fines.html#:~:text=%E2%80%9CPenalties%20against%20poss ession%20of%20a,serious%2C%20Federal%20criminal%20offense.%E2%80%9D.

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Criterion A1: Explain the context of the play and playwright WHY AREN’T YOU DEAD ALREADY was first presented by Keen Company and Samuel French as part of the 2014 Keen Teens Festival of New York. The intended audience were adults and teens between the age of 14 - 18. Halley Feiffer is a writer and actor. The play responds to the mass amount of cyberbullying and the effects that has on adolescent behavior. Bullying has always been an adverse but critical aspect of growing up. At the turn of the 20th century a new platform was created and indirectly affected the issue by making bullying easily accessible and more effective through the Internet.

Keen Teen Theatre Company is a nonprofit free program in the New York City-area created in 2007, for student performers to collaborate with professional writers, directors, and designers in mounting world premiere plays Off-Broadway.

Criterion A2: Explain the ideas present in the play and how they are presented by the playwright There are many dense ideas that are explored throughout the play. When I thought about the ideas in the play, I wrote what came to mind.

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Cyberbullying

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Cruelty

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Protection

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Suicide

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Self-harm

-

Grief

At the beginning of the play, as the audience, you are aware that Anna is not a popular girl at school but Chris is. Marshall, Malory, Teresa, and Garret believe that it’s disturbingly dissonant that Chris and Anna have a relationship. They are completely repelled by the idea that Chris could even think about being with Anna. This hierarchy displays how the newer generations are shallow and how the internet allows for their actions to be carried out in a more effective way. I think that the play should have been created to provide parents with guidance in how to navigate a situation like this.

Criteria B1: Artistic responses (images, ideas, etc) When I first read the play I related to it because it is a common situation to experience. I thought back to when one of my sixth grade classmates committed suicide.

I don’t necessarily know if it was an effect of cyberbullying; it might have been part of the reason. I also thought about the show ‘13 Reasons Why’ and essentially it depicts the events leading up to a teenage girl's suicide explaining the 13 reasons why she killed herself. This show came out close to the time that my friend had passed away. It was sort of comforting to see a show that displayed the emotions I was going through myself. I think that if I had read this play around that time too I would have found comfort in it as well. In the play I wish there was more about the dynamic between the bully’s and their parents. I think that people fail to come to terms with the fact that children are a product of their environment and if parents aren’t showing up for their children, in all aspects, they project their attention elsewhere. I feel that that concept could have been a part of the overarching theme of the play. This was solely a man inflicted issue that can directly cause death. If parents were able to look out and protect their children from experiences such as those in the play I truly believe that there wouldnt be as many teen suicides. An image that struck me would be a high school hallway with Chris walking down it, depressed and restless while everyone goes on with their lives like nothing happened. I think that as humans in our society we have no regard for human life; especially young people. ​ After reading the play I thought about a recent news article1 about a 14 year old girl Adrianna Kuch, who took her own life in New Jersey, assumed to be caused by an assault and cyberbullying that had happened many days prior to the death of Kuch. The superintendent of New Jersey’s Central Regional School District made up excuses with no regard to the student and her family. I think that because the bullying is through a phone it is hard to believe the impact it can leave on someone but on top of that she was physically assaulted in the halls of the school which the school miserably failed to acknowledge either and simply just ignored the entire situation. The superintendent 1

Steinbuch, Yaron, et al. “Dad of NJ Girl Who Committed Suicide after School Beatdown Said Her Death Came after Taunting Text.” New York Post, New York Post, 10 Feb. 2023, https://nypost.com/2023/02/10/dad-of-nj-girl-who-committed-suicide-denies-racism-involved-in-attack/

reminds me of the parents, in the play, of Mallory and Marshall. The superintendent’s response to the suicide of one of his students that was caused by bullying by another group of his students. It shows how ignorant a person can be when they are in a time of distress and panic. Everyone will react in whichever way they can or know how to.

Criteria B2: Links to theater we have seen In Loyd Suh’s, Far Country2, a play that tells a story about a family that travels from rural Taishan to California in the midst of the Chinese Exclusion Act. Before the beginning of the play, the actor was set on the stage before audience members even came into the theater. The feeling was tense because it wasn’t very clear if the play had started or not but once the actor lifted his arm the entire audience was silent in a matter of seconds. When the actor was still, if he had moved just an inch to sit up on the chair or a twitch on his face, he would've done his part incorrectly, but he never moved. In addition to the actor being on the stage before the play began there was a certain fog at the ceiling of the theater which created an ambiance of eeriness and it felt very heavy.

These decisions were made to preemptively give the audience an idea of how this specific character’s journey would transpire through the play. I think that this was a crucial aspect of the play because it created more of an exploration for the audience of what is next to come.

In Gracie Gardner’s I’m Revolting3, the set was made up of a skin cancer clinic that is surrounded by a wall of mirrors. At the clinic the characters are treated and end up changing their appearances. It is very ironic how the walls are made up of mirrors, making it easily accessible to look at your own face; by the end of the play the appearances of the characters have all changed dramatically. Mirrors trigger self-awareness and the entire play is a critique of healthcare in America. Mirrors tell the 2

Suh, Lloyd. “The Far Country.” Atlantic Theater Company, https://atlantictheater.org/production/the-far-country/ .

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Gardner, Gracie. “I'm Revolting.” Atlantic Theater Company, https://atlantictheater.org/production/im-revolting/ .

truth because it is a reflection, a duplicate of what is in front of it. The audience was also able to watch themselves through the mirrors. It was as if there were two sides and the mirror divided those spaces.

Criteria C1: Directorial Intentions/Impact you want the piece to have My overall vision for the play is to set an example for parents so that they are able to set an example for their children. My intended audience are the parents of teenagers because they are what molds the fundamental parts of a human being. The root of the problem is how children are taught to treat other people, not technology or cyberbullying.The intended impact would be to spread awareness of how we use the internet, especially how teens use the internet and to bring awareness to how parents raise their children and how they teach them to treat others. When I read the play I imagined it taking place on a revolving stage. I would like the set to be very elaborate because the attention to detail is a crucial part to parenting a child, so one of the ways this would be conveyed to the audience is through the specificity of the set. I want the theater piece to be an experience not just a story that they can watch. I want there to be a series of rooms for each scene of the play where the audience walks through the scenes like a maze. It would be a group of three or four people who go at a time, it would be set up so that the group of people (the audience) are able to ‘walk in’ on the scene.

This creates more of a realistic feeling. For the interrogation scenes I want the characters to be speaking towards the group of people (the audience). This will allow the audience to be placed in a different point of view because they are on the receiving end of what the characters are experiencing.

I want the audience to feel that they are in the moment. I want the actors to speak to the audience as if they are a part of the play. I want the audience to feel this way because it is easier to understand something if you are seeing from a different perspective. The different scenes would be divided into the interrogation scenes and non-interrogation scenes. I don’t want it to be big, I want it to feel real. I want the actors to really convert themselves into these other personalities. I want the connections between the characters to feel distant mentally but close physically. I want the scenes with Anna and Chris at the beginning of the play to feel innocent and light but as if there is a big connection between them. I want there to be a lot of romantic tension and

chemistry between them. As the play continues the sense of romanticness between Anna and Chris begins to dwindle down, because there are outside forces inserting themselves into Anna and Chris’ relationship which is what causes an abruption in their lives. This will be displayed through light changes. For the scenes that are heavy and there is more tension the lights will be more cool and blue tones rather than the scenes that are lighter in tension will be warmer4

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Matt Kizer's Online Lighting Color Lab ~ Plymouth State University, https://scenicandlighting.com/colorlab/.

Criteria D1: I chose to stage scenes 4 and 6 because they focus on how parents teach their children and react to tough situations. Scene 4 depicts when Chris discovers Anna’s self harm; it shows how Chris responds to the situation. At the beginning of Scene 4, Anna and Chris are having a good time so the lighting would be warm and at the moment when Chris looks at the bandage on Anna’s arm the lights turn slightly blue and there is a distinct buzzing sound in order to create the tension that something is wrong. I highlighted the lines with purple, where I feel that there should be a pause to let the line sit with the audience. I think that a three second pause is enough time for the audience to feel the significance of the line. Scene 6 is when Mimi and August, the bullies parents, are interrogated. They both defend their own kids with no regard for Anna so there is a lot of tension. They want to protect their children but they know that what they’re children said was severely wrong. For this scene there is a very prominent buzzing sound and at parts of the scene the buzzing gradually gets louder to create a build up of emotion until a certain line that the audience should sit with for a couple of seconds too.

Criteria D2: How you would stage 2 moments from the play

Bibliography -

Steinbuch, Yaron, et al. “Dad of NJ Girl Who Committed Suicide after School Beatdown Said Her Death Came after Taunting Text.” New York Post, New York Post, 10 Feb. 2023, https://nypost.com/2023/02/10/dad-of-nj-girl-who-committed-suicide-d enies-racism-involved-in-attack/ .

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“Why Aren't You Dead Already?” Concord Theatricals, https://www.concordtheatricals.com/p/58389/why-arent-you-dead-alrea dy .

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Matt Kizer's Online Lighting Color Lab ~ Plymouth State University, https://scenicandlighting.com/colorlab/ .

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Suh, Lloyd. “The Far Country.” Atlantic Theater Company, https://atlantictheater.org/production/the-far-country/ .

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Gardner, Gracie. “I'm Revolting.” Atlantic Theater Company, https://atlantictheater.org/production/im-revolting/ .

Angus Parkhill Title: Were both sides of the Irish Civil War nationalists that were fighting for the betterment of Ireland by obtaining freedom?

Description: This work is about the Irish Civil War, and examining the different sides taken during the conflict. It's important to me because I have Celtic ancestry, and learning and understanding more about my home's history is crucial in order for me to understand myself, especially in relation to where I come from.

Were both sides of the Irish Civil War nationalists that were fighting for the betterment of Ireland by obtaining freedom?

Candidate Number: kmh993

Word Count: 2197

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Table of Contents

Section 1: Identification and Evaluation of Sources …… 3-4 Section 2: Investigation …… 5-9 Section 3: Reflection …… 10-11 Bibliography …… 12

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Section 1: Identification and Evaluation of Sources

Were both sides of the Irish Civil War nationalists that were fighting for the betterment of Ireland by obtaining freedom? The two sources addressed here will go over the ways to analyze this research question.

Green Against Green is a book written by Michael Hopkinson, and it's one of the most comprehensive and detailed historical references for the Irish Civil War. It takes an objective stance on the progression and actions of the events during the war, making it amazing for being able to analyze things without preconceived notions and biases interfering with individual opinions. When compared to other books of a similar nature, it's described by the Irish Democrat as "if ever there was one… a thorough job of evidence-gathering and history-writing."

There's a firsthand account of the fighting in Dublin during the war (per The New Statesman). It's from a very specific perspective — that of a citizen's — and the stories told are impacted based on what that one citizen saw and witnessed, as well as their own personal beliefs. It's a great change of pace, and it's important to actually use the firsthand sources, as they're often the most reliable and sometimes the most expansive.

Whereas Green Against Green covers all the topics from the Irish Civil War, the citizen's account only covers the fighting in Dublin. However, that's not to say that it's any worse for it; on the contrary, it adds to specificity and expands knowledge of the

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situation, and gives another much-needed perspective for historians to look at to better understand what it was actually like to be there at the time. Green Against Green has much more context, given as it's a book, and was made with the intention of spreading information in mind. This is one of the main values of Green Against Green — there's so much to learn from it, and it uses so many sources, that it contains everything someone looking to learn about the Irish Civil War from almost any level of original knowledge would want or need to know. It can be used and applied to many different things. The firsthand account, on the other hand, zooms in on a particular time period, and provides a peek behind the curtain. Green Against Green cannot be as comprehensive as the firsthand source, due to its very nature. It's intended to be unbiased. There are no such limitations for someone talking about their own experiences. That's a value and a limitation for the both of them. Both can very accurately and comprehensively describe and expand on what they're focusing on, but even though they're focused on the same topic, both will always be very different. Additionally, and more specifically, Green Against Green has almost too many sources, and lacks a sense of personality and a truly proper understanding of different perspectives as a result. It's impossible to use it as a way of giving anything more than a surface-level factual analysis. The firsthand source gives that alternative that Green Against Green lacks, but doesn't encapsulate a bigger picture sense of the war in general, and how it affected Ireland beyond the expanse of a small time period in Dublin.

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Section 2: Investigation

In June 1922, a war broke out between two sides of the same argument; Ireland should be an independent nation, free of British rule1. It was a very common sentiment in Ireland at the time, and it came to a head when the Anglo-Irish treaty was signed on December 6th, 1921, between Great Britain and the government of Ireland. The treaty ended the Irish War of Independence, and made Ireland a self-governing state under the blanket control of Britain23. Ireland and its people were split over the debate of whether or not this was a fair enough deal to constitute the independence that they had fought for, and so the Irish Civil War began on June 28th, 19224. The Irish Civil War led to thousands of deaths, a large number of assassinations, and a deeply rooted scar in Irish nationalism5. This paper goes into why the war began, and evaluates how similar both sides of the war were in ideology, but why they fought so bloodily anyway.

As of 1921, Ireland was already a long-suffering British colony, striving to free themselves from the bonds they were in. After the War of Independence from January 21, 1919 to July 11, 1921, Great Britain and Ireland signed the Anglo-Irish Treaty, which established the Irish Free State as a self-governing dominion within the "community of nations known as the British Empire", a status shared with the Dominion of Canada6.

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"The Troubles", Claregalway Historical Society, https://claregalway.galwaycommunityheritage.org/content/category/topics/1916-and-the-troubles 2 Michael Hopkinson, Green Against Green, 37 3 Michael Hopkinson, Green Against Green, 38 4 Michael Hopkinson, Green Against Green, 179 5 Bill Kassane, The Politics of the Irish Civil War, 39 6 Michael Hopkinson, Green Against Green, 44

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The Anglo-Irish Treaty was the major point of contention between the Irish people leading up to the Civil War. Since it didn't truly provide Ireland with full freedom, given that Ireland was still under official British rule, debates began about whether or not it was good enough. Soon enough, parties that thought the government had signed away Irish freedom after all the strife from the Irish War of Independence (which caused around 2300 deaths) began to form, and coalitions against the Irish provisional government formed. Irish nationalism pre-war changed drastically in the span of a few short years, and the general uncertainty of where Ireland's future stood and what it meant to truly be Irish played a large role in the disagreements between the parties.

Institutional as it was, [Irish nationalism] underwent " amazingly rapid changes… and in Anglo-Irish relations between 1912 and 1921."7 These changes included leadership, policies, laws, and attitudes towards Britain, particularly the desire to finally be free from their rule. It's worth noting that the Anglo-Irish Treaty also provided Northern Ireland, which had been created by the Government of Ireland Act 1920, an option to opt out of the Irish Free State, which the Parliament of Northern Ireland exercised8. Northern Ireland and Ireland officially became 2 separate countries, so Northern Ireland was generally uninvolved in this conflict. So it became that the Irish provisional government, who had signed the treaty, supported it, whereas the notorious Irish Republican Army (IRA) opposed it, believing it to be a betrayal of the Irish Republic, which had declared independence just 5 years previously9.

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Michael Hopkinson, Green Against Green, 13 "Ireland (Joint Declaration)", UK Parliament, https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm199394/cmhansrd/1993-12-15/Debate-1.html 9 Bill Kassane, The Politics of the Irish Civil War, 42 8

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The aforementioned split in the nationalist movement between the pro-treaty and anti-treaty sides was the start of serious conflict. As Éamon de Valera, the head of the anti-treaty IRA, put it, "If the Treaty were accepted, the fight for freedom would still go on, and the Irish people, instead of fighting foreign soldiers, will have to fight the Irish soldiers of an Irish government set up by Irishmen."10 de Velera realized the irony of the two Irish nationalist parties fighting early on, but was too firm in his beliefs to stop the conflict. The same was true for Michael Collins and the Irish provisional government.

Collins was a major strategist for Ireland in their War of Independence, and supported signing the Anglo-Irish Treaty as an adequate, if not exceptional, resolution to the war.

He also, however, foresaw the aftermath of the treaty, saying "Think—what I have got for Ireland? Something which she has wanted these past 700 years. Will anyone be satisfied at the bargain? Will anyone? I tell you this—early this morning I signed my death warrant" after it was signed11. Similarly to de Valera, Collins also strongly believed that what he had done for Ireland was correct. The two men embodied the nature of what Irish nationalism had become — the willingness to die for their visions of the best, freest Ireland possible. The anti-treaty IRA went on to present their own "Army Executive", which they declared as the real government, but they had no real political sway. de Valera used the declaration to seize attention towards their cause and legitimateness12. Shortly after, on April 14th, 1922, the IRA seized the Four Courts, a major political area; Rory O'Connor, a devout anti-treaty commander, was the one who led a force of volunteers to seize control of Dublin's buildings13. The occupation is

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Michael Hopkinson, Green Against Green, 109 T.R. Dwyer, Michael Collins and the treaty: His differences with de Valera, chapter 4 12 Bill Kassane, The Politics of the Irish Civil War, 127 13 Michael Hopkinson, Green Against Green, 111 11

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regarded as the official outbreak of the Irish Civil War. As the war progressed, the emotions attached to it did as well. It was deeply personal for many people, and many felt betrayed by their former comrades choosing the other side, whichever one it may have been. However, interestingly enough, and perhaps due to fear of the consequences, these values were not discussed. As one citizen living in Dublin at the time recounts, "Everybody else, whatever their sympathies may have been, resolutely refused to disclose them. They watched the struggle with a cool detachment that would have been rare anywhere, and was to me unprecedented in Ireland."14 This is evident of how much the ideas of Irish nationalism had been altered by the progression of the Civil War, and how, no matter someone's beliefs, everyone was, at the end of the day, Irish.

The refusal to share was symbolic of that.

As the Irish Civil War crept on, it became clear that the anti-treaty IRA did not have the strength to overcome the government's forces. Because of this, they started to carry out assassinations of major political figures, including Michael Collins, on August 22nd, 192215. This deeply embittered the pro-treaty forces, and made the war even more personal to many. Guerilla fights broke out across Ireland, and any goodwill the two sides had for each other faded entirely. "As the war went on, perceived similarities seemed to fade in favor of the fighting itself: "the longer the conflict progressed, the less realistic peace proposals seemed, and by April 1923 the common ground among the 14

"8 July 1922: Bullets fly from the guns of the IRA and Free State Soldiers, but spectators resist taking sides.", The New Statesman, https://www.newstatesman.com/long-reads/2020/05/ns-archive-irish-civil-war-dublin-fighting-free-state-rep ublican 15 "Gunman believed to have killed Michael Collins was granted military pension", The Irish Times, https://www.irishtimes.com/news/politics/gunman-believed-to-have-killed-michael-collins-was-granted-milit ary-pension-1.1949934

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political elite had entirely disappeared among exchanges over the need for IRA decommissioning."16 A united Ireland was put to the side in favor of exterminating the other side. Laws were put in place as another method of combatting the IRA, including the death penalty for any and all support17. There was no longer a vision, just a war. By February 1923, the pro-treaty forces had achieved a de facto victory, as there was no longer any resistance18. A new age of Irish politics was born. In 1937, a new constitution was created which did not swear allegiance to the British monarch, and in 1948 the Republic of Ireland was proclaimed19.

Ireland went through many drastic changes in a very short period of time. The very nature of what it meant to be Irish was questioned. However, despite all this, and the ensuing Civil War, the two sides both just wanted the best for their country. Both were nationalists that wanted freedom and success, and though they may have lost sight of those initial goals, they eventually both achieved what they wanted.

16

Bill Kassane, The Politics of the Irish Civil War, 112 Breen Timothy Murphy, The Government's Executions Policy During the Irish Civil War 1922 -1923, 70-72 18 Michael Hopkinson, Green Against Green, 237 19 Michael Hopkinson, Green Against Green, 279 17

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Section 3: Reflection

After conducting the investigation into why the Irish Civil War began, and how it happened when both sides had extremely similar ideologies, I've learned a lot more about the issues historians face when trying to research topics. One of the biggest issues I faced was trying to find sources that were reliable, and doing the background checks to confirm it. There were many, many sources I stumbled upon that had plenty of useful information, but that were not up to the standard of the ones I used in this paper. An example of this is a book review in the Irish Democrat of Green Against Green I found, while, ironically, trying to determine the book's validity20. It was a good review, and heavily praised it, but was just an independent article without any real backing on its credibility for why it could confirm how good the book was. I ended up making sure that the sources I used either were primary sources, or heavily cited them, just to be positive that everything was backed up with reliability in mind. I would imagine this is even harder for historians, as they are often the ones gathering the primary sources themselves, and have to independently confirm its accuracy with background checks of their own.

Relatedly, I also learned that the problems that historians faced in gathering sources and doing research are very different from the problems experts in other fields face. Historians really only have a very limited amount of material to work with, and 20

"Green Against Green", The Irish Democrat, https://archive.irishdemocrat.co.uk/book-reviews/green-against-green/

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there's a finite amount of research that can be done based on that material. Scientists and mathematicians never have to worry about running out of numbers or elements, but historians may only have a couple primary sources to work with, and so much information. I felt this struggle as I tried to find many sources, but struggled in gathering them all. For example, with the information about Dublin's citizens being unwilling to talk about the conflict, even though it was a reputable, first person source, I couldn't find anything else to back it up, or expand on it21. It was still useful, but the lack of more first person accounts made it extremely hard to expand on. Historians face the same issues, and trying to make proverbial lemonade out of one lemon is difficult.

Overall, I think that in general this investigation really gave me more insight into the difficulties, but also the strategies, that historians face and employ. It's a really interesting behind-the-scenes glimpse into a complex and lively world.

21

"8 July 1922: Bullets fly from the guns of the IRA and Free State Soldiers, but spectators resist taking sides.", The New Statesman, https://www.newstatesman.com/long-reads/2020/05/ns-archive-irish-civil-war-dublin-fighting-free-state-rep ublican

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Bibliography

Hopkinson, Michael. Green against Green: The Irish Civil War. Gill and Macmillan, 2004.

Kissane, Bill. The Politics of the Irish Civil War. Oxford Univ. Press, 2007.

Anonymous. “From the NS Archive: Dublin Bears Silent Witness to the Civil War.” New Statesman, 15 June 2021, https://www.newstatesman.com/long-reads/2020/05/ns-archive-irish-civil-war-dublin-fighting-free -state-republican.

Laffan, Michael. “Green against Green: The Irish Civil War. by Michael Hopkinson. PP XVI, 336, Illus., with 2 Maps. Dublin. Gill & Macmillan. 1988. Ir£12.95 Paperback.: Irish Historical Studies.”

Cambridge Core, Cambridge University Press, 28 July 2016, https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/irish-historical-studies/article/abs/green-against-green-t he-irish-civil-war-by-michael-hopkinson-pp-xvi-336-illus-with-2-maps-dublin-gill-macmillan-1988ir1295-paperback/475B6EC1C540858CA9CF85A57130388A. “The Troubles.” Claregalway Historical Society, https://claregalway.galwaycommunityheritage.org/content/category/topics/1916-and-the-troubles .

McGreevy, Ronan, and Stephen Collins. “Gunman Believed to Have Killed Michael Collins Was Granted Military Pension.” The Irish Times, The Irish Times, 3 Oct. 2014, https://www.irishtimes.com/news/politics/gunman-believed-to-have-killed-michael-collins-was-gr anted-military-pension-1.1949934.

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Murphy, Breen Timothy. The Government's Executions Policy during the Irish Civil War 1922-1923. 2010.

Dwyer, T. Ryle. Michael Collins and the Treaty: His Differences with De Valera. Mercier Press, 1988.

"Ireland (Joint Declaration)". UK Parliament, 1920.

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Nadia Abadzis

IB HL Art Process Portfolio This piece is especially important to me since it tracks my progress of different pieces throughout my two years doing IB. This portfolio expresses some of my weaknesses but also strengths when it comes to creating art.

Introduction This process portfolio is an overview of my journey as an artist throughout the two years I have been in IB art. In the first year of my artistic pursuit in this program, I confined myself into a box of having to follow a strict theme that all my artwork had to relate to. Most of my artwork I would work on in junior year became unfinished because of this pressure of having to make sure all my pieces are about this certain theme or idea. Though during my senior year of taking IB art I gradually started to step outside the box and simply make what called to me. Most of my work now are various forms of the body, architect, and expressing personal emotion through my artwork. These different ideas stemmed from wanting to get a reaction out of someone emotionally, whether its negative or positive since I’ve personally been moved by many pieces of art. Overtime I figured out more about how color and subject matter can go together and not go together to create a certain feeling like nervousness or calmness. I started to lean more towards things I wanted to paint, and that drew me to it rather than if it fit in a certain box. Throughout this process of creating my exhibition I learned how to create connections throughout my work as well as find connections within each piece whether they were made intentionally or subconsciously.

The Body

Amethyst Form

Harmony in Contrast

The Tips of Connection: Idea Development Learning about the Renaissance and different artists, I was fascinated by the contrasts of shadows and lights specifically in Michelangelo's, The Creation of Adam. I was astounded by the talented artists of that time period, and more so Michelangelo who was a prominent artist during the Renaissance period. As I delved deeper and learned more about this time period I was struck by the immense focus on realism and humanism, which is what this time period is mainly known for. Artists would portray the human form as natural and real as possible in their own unique ways. After learning about many pieces, they all left an impression on me; seeing the human form painted in its most natural and real form. Being inspired by that specific aspect of the Renaissance period led me to create a piece inspired by Michelangelo's famous piece. By using the different tones of medium I aim to create a sense of drama, intensity and calmness which in turn leads to evoking emotion from the viewer. I remember a while back drawing the two hands meeting from his painting, and focusing on the different tones of color at different points in the hands, trying to make it as spot on as possible. By specifically selecting and layering different tones of my selected medium, I strove to create a sense of dimensionality that would evoke a powerful and emotional response in the viewer.

The Tips of Creation

The Creation of Adam, Michelangelo, 1508–1512

The Tips of Connection: Process The materials I used for this painting were an array of paintbrushes, acrylic paint and of course a canvas. My techniques I used to complete this painting was to first sketch the hands with yellow paint and get the sizing right. After that I blocked in the main colors and place down where the highlights and shadows were. Then I began making the colors more accurate and start layering colors and making it more detailed. When completing this painting it took a lot of trial and error when it came to colors and layers. I experimented with the way I blocked in colors, going back and forth with the colors. When doing highlights at the end, I experimented with a more rough brushstroke look, but then I went back and changed the look and made the highlights look more smooth and realistic. My material and and stylistic choices strive to explore/represent ideas connected to my overall work and theme by focusing on human anatomy and using small brushes to make the overall appearance smooth and realistic. In my process I was mainly thinking about if everything was proportional to everything and if the color was exact. The color ended up not being exact but it still turned out well. When blocking in colors I was curious to see if I should experiment with making the brushstrokes show in the artwork but I eventually went with the realistic look. Making the color exact didn't work and trying to remake the exact shade each class did not work at all. The highlights were one thing that worked really well because I think it made the overall image pop and look really realistic. Visual formal elements that I incorporated in my piece were, black color as the background, smooth brush technique, and having it centered. I included the blank background to really make the main image stand out. I had smooth brushstrokes to give the effect of realism. Some conceptual decisions I had to make was the color of the background and whether or not to make the hands realistic.

The Tips of Creation

The Tips of Connection: Revision and Reflection During this process some things that didn't work was getting the color exactly right. In the first photo I got the paint to a similar shade but since I had to recreate the color each class, they came out much differently, leading me to repaint each class. Another thing that didn't work was one of the fingers on the hand, it came out weird and uneven.

Some things that did work were combining the shades and highlights together to make it come out super smooth and realistic. Getting it proportional went well. The most difficult challenge that arouse was having to recreate the same shade each class and trying to combined new paint with what I left of at last class. Some revisions I had to make were the angle at which the wrist bent. I realized it bent to early to I had to reshape the hand mid-painting. I also started to paint the background that was originally in the picture, but I went with a plain background instead. What I would like my viewer to to experience and or think about when interacting to my piece is notice how detailed it looks, and maybe think about how much it pops out against the background.

The Tips of Creation

The Body: Idea Development Still extremely moved by the renaissance I continued on the aspect of humanism in art.

This piece primarily focuses on the interplay between lights and shadows as the body twists into various angles. While I drew inspiration from my homework sketches, my overall inspiration was still the Renaissance period. As there is a big and present underlying theme of societies view on the human body, I aim to create these pieces presenting the beauty in these body parts. The Renaissance celebrated the human body, and being inspired by that led me to create these images in such a way. I believe art can have a great influence on people's perception on different things, and to evoke emotion in the viewer. With this in mind, I strive to evoke any type of emotion from the viewer Sketches of random hands I did for homework and to encourage people to look at the human form with a less societal constructed view.

This artwork is an exploration of different parts of the body with how they appear at different angles. I intent to create a sense of depth and realism creating the viewer to look deep into the details of the piece. Whether or not the viewer chooses to view this piece in a positive manner, it is overall a celebration of the body with the intention to evoke emotion and reflection; because of the way society has led us to look at the body in different forms and think certain things I wanted to essentially challenge that idea.

My beginning sketch

First layer of paint

Middle process of painting

The Body: Process For this artwork, I decided on a different approach, and branch out more instead of using acrylic paint. I saw many different people on tik tok using gouache when making their artwork, and it inspired me to try and use this paint. I found the best way to paint was to layer the gouache. In the past I've found comfort in painting with acrylic so that was always the material I would use, so I decided with this piece to experiment and try gouache. When using this material I learned that it's a lot like watercolor, in the way that you can layer to many times or else the paper will start to ruin. I also learned that it takes a lot of patience because you can't mess up too many times. It made me much more skillful when using a much smaller brush since these drawings require a lot of detail and small brushstrokes. For myself I feel I can express myself freely and much more clearer through paint whether that be acrylic, gauche, or oil.

My work was originally not in any specific arrangement, as shown on the sketch. My teacher gave me some advice on how to position the different images together to create something much better and something that would draw your eyes in. When painting I was always thinking on the best approach to avoid it looking blocky and rough. Being patient and taking time really worked when painting the first image.I was able to recreate a detailed and accurate image. What I found out that didn't work in working in big chunks.

First layer applied on this sketch

For the arm of the top image I painted all at once and I found it more difficult to add detail and make it look smooth and how I want it. When it comes to scale I tried to make it arranged in a way that would capture the viewer's attention. Composition wise my teacher guided me to make the choices of how big each part should be and what would look best where and this was the final product that I arranged. For the palette, I decided to go with an accurate and realistic approach with the skin tones. I tried not to show too much brushwork because that isnt what im going for but with the image of the back, it was inevitable since its a much bigger sketch to paint. Since the images in painting are based on images from online, I didn't want to change too many qualities except for the skin tones. Changing too many of the original qualities would be harder for me to express in my artwork. There weren't any artists or ideas that changed my way of thinking along the way. I had to make the decision to always be patient since I would get the best result, but that's difficult since most days are very different.

More process made on hand image

More paint applied to sketch

The Body: Revision and Reflection I really like how my artwork has developed because I really think i've improved in many aspects when it comes to painting such as the detail required in the piece. Throughout the process of making this piece i've found out that painting larger parts of the image doesn't turn out very well.

One challenge that arose was after painting a few layers the paper would start to get ruined and that was something I had to work around. My original organization for the piece was different from what it is right now. I changed the sizes and the placement of the images. Another challenge that came up when creating this piece was retracing my sketch onto the paper in which I could then paint on. I was able to overcome it with patience. There were many edits or revisions I had to make when creating my piece.

Continuation of the back

Beginning stages of 3rd image

Throughout this process I learned the struggles that come with painting with gouache. Painting very detailed images with gouache is a very difficult task and for my next project i'll know not to paint such a detailed image if I want to use gouache. This connects with my last project in the way that I'm focusing on different body parts and the complexity of it. I’m not sure if this will be used in my show since its not totally finished.

I would like to make the viewer think of body parts in a different way when they look at my piece. Society has engraved a certain thought about bodies and I would like to try and change that mindset.

More progress on this image

Amethyst Form: Idea Development My concept for this piece was to further explore the male anatomy, specifically the torso, and the interaction of lights and shadows on muscle lines. I found inspiration from different social media platforms and was drawn in by the achievable realism. Though the Renaissance period in art is my main influence on many of my pieces. Though I try to evoke emotion through the representation of the male body, I aim to also elicit feelings in the viewer through the use of colors. Being exposed to male models in advertisements everywhere, I was much more subconsciously aware of the male body which is shown through my different pieces. Though I create an intense focus on the body, I try and rival that with the emotions and feelings that can be evoked from such a piece. My intention is for not only the viewers to look and see a male body but to look deeper and at different angles on the views of the body; literally and metaphorically.

Looking back on different advertisements to expand on my thought process, was this Calvin Klein Jeans. At any age but especially at a young age, thought this is about jeans, what the eyes of the viewer will look at first is the torso of Justin in this advert. Over years the buildup of subconscious acknowledgement of the male body is my overall inspiration for this piece.

A motif throughout my work that I focus on is the idea of how certain cutoffs of the body make people feel and the emotions I can derive from people when they look at my piece.

Calvin Kleins Jeans advert, 2015

Amethyst Form beginning sketch

Amethyst Form: Process Initially when planning my piece I wasn't focused on the materials I would be using for this piece. I noted that when it comes to painting, I take a very long time to finish that piece, focused on little things and not the piece as a whole; so I chose against using paints. My next thought was, what materials haven't I used in a while that I also enjoy using, which landed me on oil pastels for my chosen medium. My technique for this piece wasn't anything special, I just wanted to use the oil paints in a way that would make my piece appear realistic and similar to that of an actual human body. I took a more carefree approach when handling the oil paints since I didn’t want to overwork on one chosen area, I simply worked larger and became more free with my strokes. When creating this piece I had to step outside of my comfort zone, learning how to work messier and in bigger sections with ultimately helped my piece out in the end. I knew I wanted to keep the same dull blues through my different pieces, so instead of using normal skin tones for my image, I decided so use an array of purple and blue tones to effectively replicate the contrasts with shadows in the skin. My work had evolved/changed by figuring out the composition and size i would have my piece to be; coming to the conclusion of cutting some of my piece off. The paper I chose to use had some texture on it, appearing through the oil pastel unless using hard strokes. I had to make the decision to combined both light,harsher and multiple strokes to create the outcome I wanted for this piece. I thought the texture in which the paper provided created an almost human texture; since skin isnt always smooth.

When deciding on the point of view/perspective for my piece, I knew it couldnt just be the body since it wouldn’t be me, and would be boring. So after trial and erro, and to essentially make the piece me, I decided on using multiple of the same image but in different angle and different parts all fit in one space. I chose to do this since it makes the piece more interesting as well as for the viewer who has to decipher it.

Amethyst Form first layer of color

Amethyst Form: Revision and Reflection I liked how my artwork developed because it ended up how I wanted to technically, but I don’t really like how the finish product turned out. The muscle lines throughout each body is very harsh which doesn't make the piece look super realistic which is why I don't like where it landed that much.

Though my original concept didn't change and remained the same until the end I definitely think I couldn't worked on it more to make the outcome appear more realistic. A main challenge I encountered with the piece was working at a larger pace while also making sure the different colors blended together smoothly and the strokes were not going in too many different direction. I was able to overcome this challenge by not getting too hung up by details. Some revisions I had to make to my overall picture was to crop the borders to make the overall image even. In the process of creating this piece as well thinking about my next piece, I decided to step away from the anatomy scene and create art that express a more structural image. This piece connects to my other work because it follows similar colors and tones as well as the idea of my art being somehow cut off; leaving a sense of mystery and claustrophobia.

Amethyst Form second layer of color

Harmony in Contrast: Idea Development

Paul Strand, Wall Street, 1915

For this next piece, I was inspired mainly by minimalist architecture photography. Along with painting, I also try and take photos in my free time; a key aspect of photography I like to focus on is architectural photography. I specifically looked at the photographer Paul Strand. This piece, Wall Street, captures the everyday life of new yorkers, but beyond that, Strand captures an element in photography which I strive to capture in not only photography but also in painting. The simplicity and minimalism of this piece makes it almost have a surreal aspect to it, creating an array of thoughts and emotions. Strand didn’t include any aspects in this piece to infer that it was taken in New York, which i'm hugely inspired by; cropping my images in a way that leaves a sense of mystery within the viewer.

For my piece I was able to find a picture I took this year and crop it in a way that would be able to fit within my overall ideal concept. I was intrigued by the way this minimalist building looked against the flat blue sky, and because there were no clouds in the background the building looked almost surreal; similar to Strands picture and how its cropped in a way that creates confusion. When I cropped the photo of the building I took, it looked even more surreal; the cut off creating a feeling of unervingness and not seeing where the building is makes the whole scene more illogical. In a larger sense this piece especially explores the idea of perspective and how different things can be and or look at different viewpoints.

Inspiration photo I took

Harmony in Contrast

Harmony in Contrast: Process Since I wanted to be different with this piece, I knew I had to use a medium that wasn't my go to. I didn't want to stray too far away from the medium im most comfortable with, so I chose the easy choice and picked oil. My technique was slightly different as well; I opted to block in each color of the building at once which isn't my usual technique. Doing this improved the overall outcome of the painting since it's easier to see where everything is laid out and what specifically I need to fix without too much damage being done. Style-wise since my reference was on the minimalist side, I decided to keep that same aesthetic throughout the painting. When creating this piece I had to be open to learning new skills since i've only used this medium once. I had to maneuver around my skill set that was used for acrylic on canvas, and figure out how to paint with oil on panel. Painting at a bigger scale was one of the main skills I had to learn. As well as being more careful around the edges where other colors meet since oil takes a very long time to dry, the colors could still end up mixing together.

I also mainly had to learn how to paint in an architectural lens compared to an anatomy lens. I had a few issues with the alignment of the buildings; being too short or leaning more left. Also making sure the perspective and lines all lined up was a challenge but after a while it came together. There weren't many formal choices I had to change but I did refuse to paint a singular cloud since I wanted the background to be plain like my other paintings. I wanted to keep the minimalism of the picture when painting to I didn't add any textures or brushwork; keeping it smooth and flat.

Harmony in Contrast first layer

Harmony in Contrast: Revision and Reflection Throughout creating this piece, one of my main worries was that the painted building would look off in some sense; lines of the building being off, creating unnaturalness. After having to look at the painting multiple times at different angles, and having to fix slight mistakes, I believe the end product of my piece is something to be proud of. I did manage to keep my original intent for this piece all throughout until the end. One of my main challenges was making sure each line was even and straight, and gave the illusion of an actual building. It took a lot of repainting and blocking in to end up where it did. For the duration of this project I learned how to paint buildings realistically, amongst other formal skills, which lead me to create another architectural piece for my next artwork. This will be used in the show, and how it connects to my other pieces is the cut off; not being able to see everything, therefore know the whole story. This goes along with the feelings that would be evoked from a cut off such as this. The blank background of this piece is also a main qualities that connects it to all the other pieces.

Harmony in Contrast

Grey Suburbia: Idea Development My inspiration for this piece came from a piece painted by Edward Hopper, Cape Cod Sunset. I was immediately drawn to the way Hopper could recreate a scene he saw that would usually have more details, but painted with minimal details, still able bring forth this idea of a house without the details of a house; brick, wood, etc. I took a photo of my house and the neighboring houses next to it simply because the background was a simple plain blue with no clouds; making the houses look movie-esque.

The similarity between the houses I took a photo of, and Hoppers painting; the dark roofs and white/gray building, was another main inspiration.

Edward Hopper, Cape Cod Sunset, 1934

I’ve always been interested in minimalism and the look of everything being light and pleasing to the eye. I wouldn’t say this piece is exactly minimalism but it does fall under the idea of art being composed of simple/clean geometric shapes that are mainly based on rectangles and or squares. I like having a clean look to all my pieces, especially ones that involve buildings since its all geometric. My main thought process was how I was gonna arrange the houses in a way that would fit in my theme, but also keep the serenity and minimalism the picture had. Throughout my work I try to explore emotion and how to evoke emotion through the viewer. At a larger perspective, emotion runs through everyone in many different ways and being able to effect someone through my art is one of my main goals in all my pieces.

Grey Suburbia first layer

Though majority of my inspiration comes from this piece, I also found inspiration in the suburbia life in comparison to the city life. I wouldn’t say I live in the suburbs but it's definitely closer to that than of the city life.

Since I go to school in the city, I wanted to create a piece that not only has a suburban aspect which relates to my home; houses with triangle rooftops, but also a city aspect; the closeness and compactness like a city.

Grey Suburbia: Process Since I was doing another aritech piece, and my last piece turned out really well, I decided to stick with the previous materials I used for this piece; oil paint on panel. I had to do a lot of learning pertaining to the contrast of shadows and light on buildings rather than anatomy. As well as perspective and how viewpoint especially matters to buildings or else everything looks off and not realistic. Learning how to be patient with oil painting became forefront since its being used on panel, the same rules for painting on canvas don't apply here so I had to maneuver around what I did know, and grow from my mistakes. My work evolved a lot since there were so many different shapes at different angles that needed all the lines to be straight and even or else the whole painting would look off. Before I was able to paint I had to decide on composition and scale. I knew I wanted to show specifically how the buildings looked against the sky, so I decided to paint the tips of the houses so it would again fit within my theme along with my other pieces of work. I decided to change the colors of the houses to a more grey scale though most were already grey, some had a spark of color which I didn’t want to include; wanting to keep the minimalist inspiration all throughout. I didn’t add any extra texture or change up my brushstrokes since I wanted to keep it as realistic as best I could.

Grey Suburbia first layer

Grey Suburbia: Reflection Though this painting took a lot of time because of re-editing, where it landed now turned out better than I would've expected. I would say my original intent for this piece stayed the same all throughout until the end since I prefer knowing what i'm going to accomplish from start to finish. One of the main challenges I faced with this piece was definitely the viewpoint of the houses. The viewpoint is especially important since all lines should end up at that one point, so painting straight and even lines was a big challenge. When overcoming this I decided to block in each color, not worrying if they overlapped or not since it was the first layer. Then after I would go in painting the colors with more precision and accuracy. I had to make many edits of the shadows/building since some of the lines where off in certain spots, which created the shadows to be off as well. During this painting process I was able to broaden my knowledge on viewpoint and the difficulty it comes with of painting with oils. This will connect to my other pieces since it has the same motif of the cut off, and the simplicity of it, evoking emotion. This painting will definity be included in my show because of the underlying connections it has with my other pieces.

Grey Suburbia first + second layer

Midnight Cathedral: Idea Development The background of this piece is a continuation of the previous pieces, highlighting the architectural lens i've decided to look and learn through. I took a liking to painting different buildings specifically how im able to manipulate different tools in my favor to ignite emotion in someone. Around where I live, there's a beautiful and large cathedral, which isn't in use anymore, but being able to just to gaze at the complex architecture was enough inspiration for me to paint it and include it in my show. I have a fascination with complex and interesting architecture, so whenever I see something that catches my eye in public I always try and take a photo of it. When curating this piece my thought process mainly revolve around what tone I want this painting to be or what do I want to convey to the viewers, while also it having personal aspects that connect back to me. I think color has a lot to do with emotion especially how you arrange it. When adding a subject I think that can change things up immensely and throughout my pieces I enjoy toggling with that idea of subject matter going in turn or against the color palette. I like to think that this idea can connect on a larger scale in the way that one thing, color, subject matter etc, can affect many people in a a variety of ways. My goal with my paintings mainly this one is to unlock a memory or idea that evokes different emotions or just one, and being able to impact someone through art.

palette

Midnight Cathedral first layer

Midnight Cathedral: Process Though this was a continuation on my new lens, I decided to step back to my roots for no particular reason and paint will acrylic on canvas. I think it was partially having more control over the medium, being able to essentially erase things and more. For this painting though I decided to paint more messier than I usually would since I tend to work on one bit for an extended amount of time which Midnight Cathedral second layer overall increases the time of painting the whole thing. I decided to paint more freely with my brushstrokes, not worrying if a stroke overlapped with a different color etc. One main thing I had to learn was how to paint brick. Since my previous paintings didn’t involve such detail I had to figure out the best method that wouldn’t take more than an hour to complete. I think learning to paint different textures is important because it can always come in handy and developing a new skill is always good. To create the bricks I learned it's best not to paint the whole thing, but little sections of a brick like texture spread out amongst the whole painting is visually appealing the same way if it was fully covered. When it came down to the different shades used for this building was one of main things I kept having to change since one part couldn’t be too dark since the shadow had to be darker, and sometimes the shadow would be lighter and so on. My palette choice for this was much different compared to previous artworks. I kept this piece at a darker tone, using dark purples and blues and having the background be an almost near blackish purple shade. I wanted to keep it dark since the subject was an abandoned building I thought the colors would go in turn with the subject.

Midnight Cathedral: Reflection In the beginning of the painting process for this piece, I had a few doubts about how it would turn out and if I would like the end piece or not. Though I had many doubts, I believe the end product of the piece was up to my standards. My original concept for this piece stayed the same all throughout the painting process, not straying too far from my original sketch. One of the main challenges that I kept encountering was the geometrical aspect of painting buildings. Since buildings are very linear and are made of shapes it was a challenge to paint straight and even, whilst I was also trying to be more carefree when painting. How I overcame this challenge was that I wouldn't have my main concern be about if everything is straight, instead I would worry about the palette and how different colors look together. I would still think about how the overall building looks in a geometric sense but that would be a lesser concern. I had to make some revisions on the texture of the building and how to properly replicate it without taking too much time to paint it. Though it took a few tries, I was eventually able to end up with something that was up to my standards. One of the main things I was able to learn and take with me for the future is when painting something with small details such as bricks, it doesn’t look off or bad when painting a small cluster of bricks spread around the building. This piece connects with my other pieces because of the palette choice that can evoke negative emotion such as nervousness or fear, as well as cutting of the bottom half of the cathedral which can also bring nervousness and confusion.

Midnight Cathedral first+second layer

Colossus Reflections: Idea Development My concept for this piece was to first combined the two main subject matters that are the main focus of my piece; anatomy and architecture. While talking to a close friend about this idea and how to properly convey what I wanted to show, we started doing some rough sketches of the outline and placement of things. I knew I wanted the person to be male since the male body has been my main focus, but for the buildings I was stumped since putting random buildings at the bottom would look a bit outdated. While looking around the room for inspiration my gaze fell upon my other paintings of buildings and I thought it would be a perfect idea to include an easter egg of sorts by painting my previously painting buildings. One main inspiration for the giant man would come from Junji Ito who has brilliant artistic skill when it comes to drawing people in a horrific and terrifying way. I wanted to include a similar sense of ominous and confusion with the man, even more so than it walking over buildings. Another inspiration which I didn’t fully realize until after a few people mentioned it was from Attack on Titan which is all about giants wrecking havoc, though I have never watched the show. My first idea I was exploring in this piece is basically a summary of the other pieces I’ve created. Though my second idea more focused on how can I make this look creepy so people will feel creeped out or confused.

Colossus Reflections first layer

Colossus Reflections: Process After having to paint with acrylic on canvas and being reminded why I swayed away from that material, I came back to using oil on panel for this piece. Since this piece included more or less a full body of a man, I had to first learn about the body and how it moves and how I can translate that into paint on panel. I gathered pictures of this sketch book that shows different body parts at different angles to help draw it, and used that as I was painting the man. This was one of the main things that helped develop more of my artistic skills since I was able to look at the body from multiple angles and not just one angle; really getting a sense of the body and how muscle and shadow appear in movement. This piece was one that involved a lot of change. At one point I noticed a lot of things that aren't adding up visually with the body, and after numerous failed attempts at fixing it, I realized I would have to just start over. I had to repaint the arm closest to the viewer since the shoulder was off, making the whole arm off. I then noticed the torso to be angled a bit to infront and needed to be shifted facing more to the side so I had to re paint that as well. The composition of the piece mainly evolved around the size and shape of the panel. I knew i wanted to include the buildings and the man walking over them so I had to figure out a way that would fit everything, which is why the sketches from the very beginning helped with the overall composition of this piece. The pallet wasn't such a concern as it was for the other pieces, I mainly just wanted to include the aspects from my different pieces into one, which is why the pallet isn't as confined as my previous ones.

Colossus Reflections second layer

Colossus Reflections: Reflection I think this painting in particular had a lot of development done to it and so being able to see it in its finished form after so much editing is something to be proud of. My original concept for this piece did remain the same although there were times where I had to repaint parts of the painting due to those specific sections looking off or just wrong. One main challenge I encountered was the perspective of the man. Though I had a book that helped me with different angles of the body, I had to splice together different images from that book of different body parts to be able to paint the body accurately. I overcame this challenge by being patient and knowing not everything can be finished first try and that its normal to have to start over a part of the painting you initially thought was finished. More specifically, the left arm of the man (his right), had to undergo a lot of revision and repainting since at one point the shoulder was off, and then the lower arm was too short, overall making most of the arm look off which lead me to having to start the arm over from scratch. One of the colors for the buildings looked off as it did not go in turn with the color palette of the other buildings which led me having to change the original colors of the middle building. I also painted the muscle lines too sharp, making it look a tad unrealistic so I had to go over the lines with a dry brush to smooth everything out since I was painting with oils. In the process of creating and painting this piece I learned a lot more about the male anatomy, and how shadows appear of the body in certain positions and mainly how to paint them. For my next piece I learned to try and stray away from the harsh lines of muscle and try and smooth things out to make the skin on the body look more realistic.

This peace will connect with my other art pieces since it includes the concepts from my other pieces, while also having the body and buildings still cut off; leaving the viewer with confusion or nervousness or some type of emotion.

Colossus Reflections 3rd+4th layer

Sources Works Cited Leonardo da Vinci: Paintings, Drawings, Quotes, Facts, & Bio, https://www.leonardodavinci.net/. Accessed 4 April 2023.

Cocteau, Jean, et al. “Surrealism.” Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Surrealism. Accessed 4 April 2023.

“The Creation of Adam.” Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Creation_of_Adam. Accessed 4 April 2023.

Graham-Dixon, Andrew. “Caravaggio | Biography, Paintings, Style, & Facts | Britannica.” Encyclopedia Britannica, 12 February 2023, https://www.britannica.com/biography/Caravaggio. Accessed 4 April 2023.

“Minimalism.” Tate, https://www.tate.org.uk/art/art-terms/m/minimalism. Accessed 4 April 2023.

“Realism.” Tate, https://www.tate.org.uk/art/art-terms/r/realism. Accessed 4 April 2023.

“Salvador Dali | Biography, Art, Paintings, Surrealism, & Facts.” Encyclopedia Britannica, 16 March 2023, https://www.britannica.com/biography/Salvador-Dali. Accessed 4 April 2023.

Process Portfolio Coco Colley This demonstrates the process and journey of my artwork from 11th grade to 12th grade. My work explores ethereal dreaming throughout the universe, nature, sky, and earth. In my artwork, along with the use of different mediums, I strive to convey feelings of peaceful uncertainty. This is important to me as I have been developing my artwork and theme for the past two years.

Project 1: Idea development The themes and ideas in this piece are about a night sky, space, and the galaxy. It is about the uniqueness in the sky, and how intricate and beautiful it is. My idea for this project came from my love for stars and appreciation of the night sky. Because I live in New York, the sky pollution hides all of the millions of stars, so whenever I see them they are extra beautiful. I also love the mix of colors and unique shapes of the galaxy, and I wanted to try and capture that in my artwork. A few artists and artworks influenced my ideas. For example, Fred Tomaselli was a main influencer for my work. The way he uses abnormal objects to create his pieces, specifically night skies inspired me. Vija Celmins was also a main inspiration for this piece, her work in particular helped me in my ideas for the stars and the placing of them. I wanted to mix in simplicity and the realisticness of the stars.

Fred Tomaselli, “Untitled” 2000

Vija Celmins, “Starfield” 2010

Project 1: process I went through a lot of experiments trying to find the right medium I wanted to use, and how I was going to create this. I tried a few different mediums like acrylic and gouache. I think they would of worked but would have been a completely different feel and style than what I have now. I created my final piece through a lot of trial and error. As well as using some of the pieces I experimented with, without that being my initial idea. The medium I chose to use was india ink drops. The way that the ink drop on the paper and create a ripple and moves and intersects with the other colors represent a galaxy like look. My ideas for this were constantly changing throughout the many experiments I did. I only decided to use four different pieces together when I was done and liked the way they looked together. I realized the placement of the stars really changes the look of the piece and how I needed to make them look more natural, and they don't need to be evenly placed. To create the stars I used masking fluid before I added the paint and then peeled it off. Using the masking fluid was the first thing I was practicing with. I chose to put four different squares evenly spaced on a separate piece of paper because I wanted to show the uniqueness in the night sky.

Deciding the order of pieces

Project 1: reflections A major challenge I encountered was trying to find the right medium and how I was going to construct my piece. It took me a while to figure out what worked best for me and what I wanted to continue with. I enjoyed being able to use parts that I thought I had messed up on in my final artwork, originally not knowing I was going to do that. I made many different squares and ended up choosing these four. However, I still needed to figure out the right position and order I wanted them to be presented. From the start of this project, I was unclear on where it was going to end, and if it was going to be different then what I was imaging. In the end, I remained with the same intent and concept when I began, but the piece was more developed than I thought it would be. Another certain challenge I had to overcome was letting the paint move by itself and using that to my advantage, instead of messing with it and therefore ruining it. When the viewer looks at this piece, I want them to think about the ways in which the colors move around each other and create patterns and designs. How the universe is always flowing and moving, which I tried to represent in this.

Project 2: idea development It took me a little while to see where I wanted to go with this piece, I originally started with just a window and wasn't sure what I wanted to add to it. I went through many ideas of mountains, oceans, and sunsets.

However I decided to stick with my theme from my last piece, and explore another galaxy like setting. I spent so much time only my last piece experimenting with the galaxy, that I felt I must incorporate it into this piece.

Especially because the sky is a very prominent part in this piece. The uniqueness of galaxies and the night sky is what intrigues me and what I want to explore.

Edward Hopper, Morning sun, 1952 I took inspiration from Edward Hopper and how he uses windows to create a certain feeling in his artwork. I was unsure of his work at first and how it correlated to my window frame, but after reflecting on some of his pieces, I related it to my own artwork. Edward Hopper’s painting, some viewers feel a sense of calmness, peace, or an immense feeling of loneliness and isolation, or both.

Project 2: process My plan was to do gouache on wood, with a window opening to a moon. I drew the window with sharp lines using pencil, I transfered the outline to wood using transfer papers. To enhance the sharp edges on the window sill using gouache. As well as including bright colors to make the moon stand out. Like in my first piece, I used india ink oil paints to create a galaxy-like night sky. I tried to incorporate multiple mediums into this piece to add layers to it. I painted the room of the window in a teal color using gouache.

Project 2: reflection Challenges/revisions: It was challenging for me was beginning my piece and being able to get in the flow and not stopping and rethinking my decisions as much. I changed my idea many times throughout this process. I didn’t have a clear vision of exactly what I wanted it to be and I have been exploring many ideas. I wanted to make it as interesting and developed as I could do, so I chose to switch it to wood instead of paper. The main challenge, however, was painting the moon.

Originally I was going to put a collage of the moon in but I decided to paint it instead.

Intent:

This was one of my original inspiration photos, mainly for the window sill.

This piece deals with surrealism through unrealistic perspective of the moon. The themes and ideas are about thinking beyond the box, and exploring new possibilities. It brings up the idea of being trapped in you own life and wanting to be free. I want to try and convey the feeling of being lonely and calm at the same time. I want the viewer to think about their own life and they way they may feel trapped.

Photo of the moon from NASA - used as inspiration for the detail on my moon

Project 5: Idea development In this piece I attempted to capture the beauty of the ocean and nature. It’s about a peaceful and nostalgic feeling. I was really curious about doing a short film for an art piece and using a black and white super-8 film camera. I was inspired by my mom’s work with film cameras. I was interested in filming different bodies of water and the different feelings those brought up. I’ve gone to Cape Cod every summer since I can remember, which is where I shot this film. One of my favorite things to do at the beach is to watch the receding and the crashing waves, and listen to the sounds it make. I wanted to try and capture that feeling of being apart of something bigger and being able to experience the movement and naturalness of nature. As I was making this piece and furthering my exhibition, my intent for this piece shifted to capturing the heartbeat of nature and the feeling of tranquility. My aim was for the viewer to get lost in the body of nature.

These are images of the pond and beach I filmed at in Cape Cod.

Film cutting/assembly:

Project 5: Process Materials: To create this short film I used a super-8 film camera. Over the summer I went to Cape Cod and filmed the beaches and ponds using 8 ml film. I filmed short clips of the ocean, dunes, This is the super-8 camera that I used. people, and trees. I filmed over 3 minutes of content, however, I only used about 1 minute of it for my final film. Once I used all of my film I sent it to a film developing place. Once I got my film I uploaded it to my computer and imputed it into iMovie. From there I began to edit and cut down the film and work on creating an This is an image of the nature sounds I added. experience for the viewer. Once I had edited out most of the clips that I didn't feel belonged, I started to incorporate beach and bird sounds into iMovie. The original film was silent, however I felt that adding the sounds of nature would further enhance my theme.

I decided to begin my film with multiple shots of waves, and throwing in bits of the sand dunes and people walking down the beach. The film being black and white gave it a very nostalgic feeling, which I think worked well to enhance the feeling of dreaming, connecting back to my overall theme. After the clips on the beach I decided to switch up the scenery and incorporate clips of speeding by trees that I filmed while in a car. As well as clips of a pond at the very end.

Project 5: Reflections Challenges: I experienced a few challenges in making this film. For example, choosing which clips to discard and which clips to keep, as well as the order of the clips. The biggest challenge I experienced was figuring out what to do about sound. At first I was planning on keeping it as a silent film, however I decided that some sort of sound would add to the piece. Originally I was going to choose a song to play over the film but nothing seemed to fit right, so instead I chose to add natural ocean and bird sounds.

Final product of the lake

Revisions: I made many revisions throughout my process of making this film. As I mentioned when I talked about challenges, I made many revisions with what I wanted for the sound. As well as editing out a few seconds of clips, and then deciding I want to put it back in. The revisions and editing was very tedious but overall was very important for the film.

Intent: My intent for this piece is to have the viewer feel a sense of peace and nostalgia. However, I also want them to experience the feeling of being in a dream-like reality surrounded by nature and the ocean.

Final product of the ocean

Project 5: Idea Development While on a family trip to Georgia, I was attempting to capture the bright and fluorescent looking palm trees against the dark, mat, starry sky behind them. This one photo in particular stood out to me and inspired me to try and translate it into a painting.The photo felt very dream-like and almost surreal because of the strong light on the palm tree and lack of light in the background. I was also intrigued by how the stars were presented in the photo as sort of fuzzy and subtle, but also very bright. The idea development behind this began as a simple recreation, however throughout the process there were many more aspects involved.

Photograph I took in Georgia

Project 5: Process Beginning: After deciding to use gouache on wood, the next step to creating this piece was outlining the palm tree in pencil. This was an important step because it was where I had to get the detail of the palm tree leaves. Next I painted the tree trunk, which took me a while to mix the correct color. I later came back and added detail and shading to the trunk to add the bark aspect. After that I started working on the palm leaves, which later I realized was a mistake because it became difficult to do the background after that. For the palm leaves I added many different shades of green to capture the different lighting in the photo.

Background: After I had painted my first draft of the palm tree I began to work on the background. The background proved to be a bit of a struggle as well for a few reasons. First, it was hard to mix the right amount of blue and black so it wasn't too dark or too bright, and then being able to blend it smoothly throughout the entirety of the background. I redid the background many times. However, once I felt confident in it, I began to work on the celestial part.

Although, after adding the color I still wanted to incorporate the stars from the original photo/stars in general. To give them a more natural look, I decided to incorporate four real constellations that connected back to nature: #1- Andromeda - Royal Sea Monster Bait (located bottom left corner) #2- Eridanus - River (located bottom right corner) #1- Andromeda -

#3- Dorado - Fish (located top left corner) #4- Mensa - Table Mountain (located upper right corner)

Stars/Color: As stated earlier my original plan was to stick with just stars, however after many attempts of placing them just right I chose to take a new approach. I started to add splotches of color (white, purple, blue) throughout the background. It took me a while to figure out the technique/style I was going for with the color, however in the end it become translucent-ish swirls and stems of color. #2 - Eridanus

#3 Dorado

#4 Mensa

Project 5: Reflections In this piece, I wanted to explore the dream-like aspects of nature and the sky. This piece changed a lot from my original ideas and required a lot of fine tuning on the small details. I experienced many challenges whilst making this piece. For example, mixing the right colors to make the best match and shading the trunk was something I found challenging and took me a while to perfect. As well as certain aspects of the background such as, painting it around the palm leaves because I painted the palm leaves before the background. Secondly, fully smoothing and blending out the background so it moves together was very challenging because of the way the paint would dry in certain areas and so forth.

However, it was beneficial for some parts to be darker as seen in the original photo. The final and most challenging part was adding the color aspect. It was a big challenge for me because it took me a while to figure out how I wanted to have the color displayed. Originally I had the color in solid swirls, however this did not convey the aspects I wanted to. I wanted the color to feel more part of the background and feel like there was movement and it was alive in the background.

Adding the constellations was a last minute decision, however I think it was the best way I could have incorporated stars. I really enjoyed adding the constellations because it adds a deeper and more hidden meaning to the artwork. Three of the constellations directly relate to the water which plays a part in my overall theme. The fourth constellation is of my favorite mountain, table mountain, which is also related to nature. Overall, this piece was a long process however the many changes and additions/improvements were very crucial to the final product.

Bibliography “Fred Tomaselli.” James Cohan, https://www.jamescohan.com/artists/fred-tomaselli.

“Ritter and Sabine Craters on the Moon – Moon: NASA Science.” NASA, NASA, https://moon.nasa.gov/resources/278/ritter-and-sabine-craters-on-the-moon/?category=images.

“Star Constellations Map: All 88 Star Constellations (in 8K).” Nature Noon, 7 Feb. 2022, https://naturenoon.com/star-constellations-map/.

Rowan Emery Work Title: Metamorphoses Close Passage Analysis Description: I chose this work Because Ovid's Metamorphoses was my favorite book we read this year in English class. More specifically this analysis because I talk about a story I have always been interested in which is The Story of Perseus and Medusa. I think I talk about some interesting themes In my Analysis, and am proud of the Ideas I could come up with. I hope you enjoy reading it.

The Story of Perseus and Medusa Rowan Emery 11/30/22 Analysis Lines From the third to last line on page 140 down to the second stanza on page 141.

The story of Persues and Medusa is about a young man who goes to great lengths to save and help the people he loves. Perseus is relentlessly persistent in his task to kill Medusa, which shows how bravery plays an important factor In this story. In the first four lines, we are introduced to the idea of bravery, Persues says “He held it fast as he advanced across uncharted, lonely tracts, across rough rocks and horrid gullies, till he reached the house of fierce Medusa”(11-14). As the story continues Bravery is shown throughout the whole passage but is highlighted when Persues has to actually kill Medusa. “A shield of bronze reflecting her dread form. And when deep sleep had overtaken her” (23-24). Perseus' Bravery even if he is not capable of something gives him the strength to complete a mission someone else would be too cowardly to do. This ultimately seems to be a recurring theme throughout, demonstrating how confidence and love can make bravery outweigh the fear.

The passage teaches us a lot about the lengths people will go to for the ones they love but what comes with love (as we know) comes with many other feelings as well. One of these themes is loyalty which we see through Perseus. “Now the sturdy son of Danae, may I pray that you retell what force and craft you used when you subdued the Gorgon snake-wreathed head”(1-3). Since Persues was raised by his mother he would do anything to give her what she wants. Because Danae, his mother, wanted Medusa's head, Persues killed Medusa for her with no hesitation, showing his loyalty to Danae. This leads us to believe he doesn't need a reason for his killings as long as it's for the people he's loyal to. “Persues added to his tail the perils not fictive- he had faced in his long journey, he told them, too, of all the seas and lands that he had seen beneath him in his flight” (29-32). Perseus is not just loyal to his mom but also loyal to the way he lives his life. He will conquer any beast in his path and loves to tell the tale. Overall Persues demonstrates very bold characteristics and shows us that If you want something enough you can have it. Perseus' bravery and loyalty mixed with his warrior persona help him conquer any obstacle in his way.

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Ruby Luzzatto Economic Authoritarianism by the United Fruit Company and United States in Guatemala I’m really interested in the way we define government and economy. In this essay I explore the word “authoritarian” and how it applies to governments but not firms, despite firms’ capability to fit all the definitions of authoritarianism. The Coup in Guatemala is a horrific example of the dangers of what I called economic authoritarianism. It’s also a story that is often not told. As an economics student, this history essay was fun to write and interesting to relate to economics.

Economic Authoritarianism by the United Fruit Company and United States in Guatemala

Subject History

Research Question To what extent could the action by the United Fruit Company and later the United States to consolidate economic power over the banana industry in Guatemala in the early 1950s be considered authoritarian?

Candidate Number kmh990

Word Count 3803 Table of Contents

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Abstract ………………………………………………………………………………….…… 3 Introduction …………………………………………………………………………………... 4 Authoritarian Tactics ………………………………………………………………….………4 Initial and expanding economic ties between the US and Latin America ………………5 The banana market’s predicaments and UFCO efforts to control labor …….…………..6 Disequilibrium and marketing in the banana market ……………………………………...7 Advertising the banana to further US cultural ties to the market ………………………...8 Authoritative control measures by UFCO which culminate in a coup …………………. 10 US and Guatemala international relations: communism and Jacoba Arbenz ………….11 Propaganda and fear: CIA infiltration of Guatemala and subsequent coup …………….12 Operation PBSUCCESS: the CIA and Guatemala ………………………………………..13 The Coup in Guatemala City ………………………………………………………………...14 Conclusion ……………………………………………………………………………………..15 Weaknesses, Challenges of Debate ………………………………………………………..16 References …………………………………………………………………………………….17

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Abstract This essay will answer the question: to what extent could the action by the United Fruit Company and later the United States to consolidate economic power over the banana industry in Guatemala in the early 1950s be considered authoritarian? It will focus on the period of time in Guatemala during and leading up to the Coup in Guatemala City in 1954. It will discuss how and why the United Fruit Company (UFCO) worked with the US to maintain control over both banana exports and Guatemala resources. The essay will use primary sources such as a UFCO advertisement from 1954, a photograph from the Harvard collection of the UFCO from the first half of the 20th century, and newspaper articles written in 1954. Additionally, it will gather general information from several main secondary sources including books, videos, peer reviewed articles, history websites, and documentaries. The variety of sources helps to portray a more thorough and accurate understanding of the UFCO and US in Guatemala. Each source describes the period in Guatemala with a different tone and different biases, so the range of source evidence is necessary. Most notably, the book Bitter Fruit by Stephen Schlesinger thoroughly details the US involvement in the Coup and the months leading up to it and is acclaimed for its investigative nature.

The exploitation and violence of the period and place are important to recount because they provide examples of the dangers of monopolization and authoritarianism.

Though the UFCO was a company not a government, they utilized methods of fear, propaganda, and violence usually categorized as part of an authoritarian regime. The UFCO suppressed their workers' freedoms and any opposition they faced through violence and other authoritarian methods of control to maintain their profit margins.

They partnered with the US to seize absolute power through propaganda in the US and the Coup in Guatemala City in 1954. So, when fighting for democracy, historians must not only criticize governments, while letting firms get away with power-motivated violence. It is also important to study because it is an example of how US economic and military involvement in foreign and domestic markets has hurt or destroyed democracy.

The US has famously claimed, since its founding, to be a country which values strengthening democracy abroad. Thus, investigating the US’s actions during this history is vital. The US undermined democracy, instigated a coup, and worked with a

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non-state actor to obtain control of Guatemala. Evidently, the US did not adhere to the democratic ideals they claimed to value, especially in this case in which profit and net export revenue were a clear motivator.

Introduction This essay will explore how the United Fruit Company used authoritarian tactics to maintain economic control in Guatemala, culminating in a coup instigated by the CIA. The company used censorship and propaganda, suppression of freedoms such as access to transportation and communication, and ultimately suppression of opposition through violence. Due to these methods, they maintained their profit margins and monopolization over the banana industry in Guatemala. In many of these efforts, the UFCO worked with the US Government and Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). The US backed the banana company both financially and militarily before, during, and after the Coup.

Politics and culture, economic interreliance, and the threat of communism solidified their alliance. Because of the UFCO marketing campaigns, the banana was considered an American staple by 1954 and beloved by many. The US’s economic benefit from the UFCO’s imports was significant and American investment in UFCO stock was high. Finally, due to the Cold War, the international expansion of communism was one of the US’s main concerns. Consequently, the US readily supported the UFCO when fake reports and propaganda of a communist Guatemala were released.

Authoritarian Tactics Authoritarian states manipulate economic, social, and political factors using propaganda, force, and violence to seize or maintain control. Authoritarian states are not responsible to any constituency and exercise power entirely arbitrarily.1 Common tactics of authoritarian states include limiting freedom of assembly, travel and communication, spreading disinformation, instigating or encouraging violence,

1

Neville, Niamh. n.d. “Introduction to Authoritarian States - IB History.” IB History. Accessed January 4, 2023. https://niamhnevilleib.weebly.com/introduction-to-authoritarian-states.html.

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politicizing independent institutions, and limiting constituents’ economic independence.2 States often strip civil liberties and political rights from their subjects and do not allow turnover of power.3 Power is often assumed from the military following a coup.4 Consensus among historians is that there is great variation amongst authoritarian rulers in their tactics.5 If the style of rulers deemed authoritarian can vary, the type of control can too. The UFCO’s tactics can be categorized as authoritarian.

Initial and expanding economic ties between the US and Latin America In 1899, the Boston Fruit Company merged with over twenty of its rival fruit and banana firms to become South America’s largest employer, and the largest company in Guatemala.6 By 1950, Latin America was considered equal to Europe in importance for investment by US firms and more important than investment in Asia, Africa, or Australia.7 In South America, US firms’ private long term investment had reached roughly $6 billion, surpassing the $4.6 billion private long term investment in the Western Hemisphere.8 The UFCO in Latin America significantly contributed to net export revenue in the US. Additionally, UFCO stock was considerably popular in the US.9 UFCO owned or leased property across the continent in Costa Rica, Panama, Columbia, Honduras, Cuba, Jamaica, and Guatemala.10 By the 1950s, the UFCO had expanded most significantly in Guatemala, a country that now relied almost entirely on the US economically. 77% of Guatemalan exports were sold to the United States, and

2

ibid; Dresden, Jennifer, Ben Raderstorf, and Aaron Baird. 2022. “The Authoritarian Playbook.” Protect Democracy. June 15, 2022. https://protectdemocracy.org/work/the-authoritarian-playbook/.

3 “Authoritarianism.” 2022. Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica. November 18, 2022. https://www.britannica.com/topic/authoritarianism.

4 Niamh, Introduction to Authoritarian States - IB History, 2023.

5 Encyclopædia Britannica, Authoritarianism, 2022.

6 “United Fruit Company Photograph Collection - Photography Collections - Historical Collections Harvard Business School.” n.d. Baker Library | Bloomberg Center | Harvard Business School. Presidents and Fellows of Harvard College. Accessed October 11, 2022. https://www.library.hbs.edu/hc/pc/large/united-fruit.html#:~:text=The%20United%20Fruit%20Company%2 0was,%2C%20Central%20America%2C%20and%20Colombia.; Harris, Johnny. 2021. “How the US Stole Central America (With Bananas).” YouTube. December 8, 2021. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WWBCl8huNMA. 7 Immerman, Richard H. 1982. The CIA in Guatemala. University of Texas Press, 8.

8 ibid 9 Glaser, Jason, and Diego Lopez. 2014. Banana Land: Blood, Bullets and Poison.

10 “United Fruit Company Photograph Collection - Photography Collections - Historical Collections Harvard Business School” n.d.

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66% of imports came from the United States.11 Additionally, the UFCO controlled, either directly or indirectly, 40,000 jobs in Guatemala.12 The fruit company’s investment in Guatemala was valued at approximately sixty million dollars.13 The banana market’s predicaments and UFCO efforts to control labor After the banana’s introduction at the World Fair in the late 1800s, the product’s supply levels had to adjust to a growing international demand.14 Unfortunately for banana manufacturers, the crop spoils fast, is very fragile, and grows far from its main consumer, the United States.15 Consequently, the banana must be sold in large quantities with a low margin to be profitable.16 These restrictive supply side issues contributed to why the UFCO found it necessary to attain dominion over its resources, notably labor. They owned and leased many of the workers’ housing.17 The company paid its workers in vouchers, also known as company scrip, that could only be used at specific UFCO commissaries.18 Thus, the UFCO did not just control their workers through poor wages, hours, and conditions, they also controlled the entire economy in which the workers could participate. Furthermore, the UFCO built and controlled the schooling system for laborers' children like a government would.19 Through the schools, the UFCO was able to control the next generation of workers’ access to information and supply them with the specific teachings which would benefit the company, much like propaganda. School systems are often run by the government, meaning the company’s schools were an attempt to assume greater control over its constituents.

11

Brubraker, Rachel. 2013. “Background on the Guatemalan Coup of 1954.” Https://Www2.Umbc.Edu. UMBC. May 14, 2013. https://www2.umbc.edu/che/tahlessons/pdf/historylabs/Guatemalan_Coup_student:RS01.pdf.

12 Schlesinger, Stephen, and Stephen Kinzer. 1982. Bitter Fruit. Harvard University David Rockefeller Center for Latin American Studies.

13 ibid 14 ibid 15 ibid 16 Glaser and Lopez, Banana Land, 2014 17 Harris, How the US Stole Central America (With Bananas), 2021 18 Glaser and Lopez, Banana Land, 2014; Harris, How the US Stole Central America (With Bananas), 2021 19 United Fruit Company School at Virginia for Second Class Employees, Guatemala, July 6, 1927. 6AD.

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Above is a photograph of one of the many company schools.20 Disequilibrium and marketing in the banana market The UFCO managed to gain control over the entire supply chain of the banana.

Due to this, costs of production lowered, so supply rose considerably. Unfortunately, demand was not yet meeting it.21 The market for bananas was having an ironic switch; the UFCO had increased production to meet a rising demand for bananas when there had been a shortage, but they had been so successful that supply now greatly surpassed demand. The UFCO responded to negative externalities of production but overcorrected by raising supply far past what was necessary. Then, negative externalities of consumption persisted instead and market failure remained.

This new surplus of bananas led the UFCO to spearhead an expansive marketing campaign to stimulate demand. This furthered their economic alliance and partnership with the United States. The advertising campaign infiltrated American culture and made the banana a profitable and valuable market. This protected the 20 21

United Fruit Company School at Virginia for Second Class Employees, Guatemala, July 6, 1927. 6AD. Harris, How the US Stole Central America (With Bananas), 2021

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UFCO’s authoritative control over Guatemala because they were now affiliated with America and its powerful military.

Advertising the banana to further US cultural ties to the market To market their product effectively, the UFCO paid doctors to write medical journals and publish research about the health benefits of bananas.22 They partnered with Kellogs to market cereal as a product to be paired with bananas.23 They advertised to mothers, made cookbooks, made guides about decorating with bananas, and created the caricature “Miss Chiquita”.24 “Miss Chiquita” was an advertising cartoon of a feminine, over-sexualized banana. They also convinced the US to sponsor initiatives to promote the banana as an American staple.25 The US’s partnership with the UFCO later contributed to its instigation of a Coup on Guatemala in the UFCO’s favor.

The advertisement shown above was the cover of Fruit Dispatch Company’s publication

22

Harris, How the US Stole Central America (With Bananas), 2021 ibid 24 ibid 25 Brubraker, Background on the Guatemalan Coup of 1954, 2013 23

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“Serve Bananas in ‘Latest Style’” in 1940.26 The marketing was effective in obtaining the support of US society. Thus, newspaper articles at the time were also complimentary. Publications such as the New York Times, the New York Herald Tribune and the Christian Science Monitor published favorably towards the UFCO.27 In October of 1954, after the horrific Coup in Guatemala City, the Dallas Morning News wrote, United Fruit gives jobs to nearly 100,000 persons. It has built model housing, modern schools, and up to date hospitals. Its program of high wages, paid vacations, and health improvement has done much to raise formerly low standards of living… [The company] receives no thanks from the Latin American governments. The leftist bosses of Guatemala confiscated 450,000 acres of its banana land under a so-called agrarian reform law.”28 UFCO was a prime representation of what the US valued: the ability to profit. The same article published that “[the UFCO] has been an example of United States efficiency and enterprise in getting jobs done.”29 Even with favorable articles from top newspapers in the country, the UFCO also funded the expenses of journalists to travel to Guatemala and write from the UFCO’s perspective.30 These preemptive measures to manipulate the US public successfully quelled questioning or backlash against the UFCO’s anti-democratic action in Guatemala. Ultimately, the UFCO was able to infiltrate the Guatemalan government in the Coup of 1954. The use of propaganda intended to quiet resistance within powerful constituencies is an authoritarian method of control, one which the UFCO employed successfully.

Authoritative control measures by UFCO which culminate in a coup United Fruit obtained increasing levels of control over markets previously controlled by the government, like postal or transport, and infiltrated much of Guatemalan life. The company owned or leased 42% of Guatemalan land as they 26

"Serve Bananas in ‘Latest Style,’." Fruit Dispatch Company, 1940. ibid 28 Gard, Wayne. 1954. “Big Fruit Company Benefits Latins.” Dallas Morning News, October 19, 1954.

29 ibid 30 Brubraker, Background on the Guatemalan Coup of 1954, 2013 27

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owned every banana farm.31 They also manipulated the Guatemalan government to exempt them from paying taxes and import duties.32 In their efforts to obtain absolute control of the country’s production, labor market, and exports, the UFCO took command of communications. Guatemala hired the UFCO to oversee their postal service. The company also obtained control of Guatemala’s radio stations and radio infrastructure, and they owned and monopolized Guatemala’s telegraph and telephone facilities.33 Absolute control over communications made rebellion and organization of opposition to United Fruit difficult, but it also meant that Guatemalans could not communicate at all without paying the UFCO for their facilities and being surveilled by the company. In addition, the company had a transport monopoly over Guatemala and surrounding Central and South America as they owned all railroads used for the transport of products and all ports in the region.34 Their subsidiary, IFCA, owned almost every mile of Guatemala in railroad, approximately 887 miles.35 By the 1950s, the UFCO had earned the nickname “El Pulpo”, or “The Octopus” because they had their “tentacles” in every part of Guatemala.36 The UFCO was also called the “Banana Republic” because in effect, the UFCO was acting like an authoritarian government, not a firm. Guatemala also became known to Americans as the term “banana republic” because they depended on one cash crop: bananas.37 With the same term referring to both the UFCO and Guatemala, the lines between country and firm were fading. In many ways, the UFCO had become the Guatemalan government.

US and Guatemala international relations: communism and Jacoba Arbenz Jacoba Arbenz was the second democratically elected leader of Guatemala.38 When he instituted a land redistribution policy in 1954 to expropriate unused UFCO land and redistribute it to Guatemalans living in poverty, the UFCO turned to its economic

31

Brubraker, Background on the Guatemalan Coup of 1954, 2013 ibid 33 Harris, How the US Stole Central America (With Bananas), 2021; Chapman, Bananas, 248-249; Schlesinger and Kinzer, Bitter Fruit, 12 34 Glaser and Lopez, Banana Land, 2014 35 Chapman, Peter. 2007. Bananas. US: Canongate, 55.

36 Chapman, Bananas, 55 37 Chapman, Bananas, XIV; Brubraker, Background on the Guatemalan Coup of 1954, 2013 38 ibid 32

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and political ally: the government of the United States.39 The Cold War was a major anxiety in the US, and President Eisenhower was already concerned that President Arbenz had allowed the 4000 Guatemalan communists (of 3 million Guatemalan citizens) to participate in politics.40 Jacoba Arbenz had also been instituting efforts to gain independence from Guatemala’s economic reliance on the US. He planned a highway to run parallel to the UFCO-run railway and a port to compete with Puerto Barrios, the UFCO owned port, for increased freedom of transportation.41 Arbenz also planned to disrupt the American energy monopoly by building a hydroelectric plant, so Guatemala could produce its own energy.42 Because of these efforts by Arbenz to be free from the US’s indirect control, the White House was willing to work in the interests of the UFCO. Propaganda and fear: CIA infiltration of Guatemala and subsequent coup The UFCO’s involvement with the US military began long before 1954, when the company’s “The Great White Fleet”, a naval boat collection of 93 vessels, was used during World War II.43 This alliance or partnership with the US government and military would only grow in the next decade, but the company still needed to solidify their alliance with the US. Thus, the UFCO utilized an effective authoritarian tactic: instilling fear in US lawmakers.

United Fruit hired a skilled public relations specialist to generate fake stories linking Arbenz with communism.44 The PR specialist created a false Guatemalan newspaper, which pretended to be communist propaganda marketed towards Guatemalans, and invented reports with disinformation about Guatemalan communism.

They distributed these papers to US lawmakers. At the height of the Cold War, hostility towards communism was high. The threat of a communist Arbenz regime enabled the UFCO to use US resources against Guatemala. After the PR campaign, President 39

Harris, How the US Stole Central America (With Bananas), 2021 Brubraker, Background on the Guatemalan Coup of 1954, 2013 41 Bucheli, Marcelo. 2008. “Multinational Corporations, Totalitarian Regimes and Economic Nationalism: United Fruit Company in Central America, 1899–1975.” Business History, no. 4 (June): 433–54. https://doi.org/10.1080/00076790802106315.

42 Bucheli, United Fruit Company in Central America.

43 Chapman, Peter. 2007. Bananas. US: Canongate.

44 Harris, How the US Stole Central America (With Bananas), 2021 40

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Eisenhower sent the CIA to Guatemala to fulfill “Operation PBSUCCESS,” to investigate the communism scare and remove Arbenz from office.45 Thus, the UFCO’s planted disinformation resulted in US support and contributed to a CIA backed coup.

With the success of the propaganda distributed in the US Senate, any action by Guatemala could be taken as extreme and instill fear. In March 1954, at the Tenth Inter-American Conference, US Secretary of State John Dulles, pressured countries to sign a resolution condemning communism. Guatemala did not.46 When Arbenz received a shipment of arms from Czechoslovakia, Eisenhower had enough real evidence of possible communism in Guatemala to issue a public statement warning the international community of a possible communist outpost in the Americas.47 The fear of this statement allowed for some of the Coup to be above board instead of covert. It allowed Eisenhower to publicly authorize official military aid to Honduras and Nicaragua.48 Both countries were dictatorships at the time; Honduras was hiding Guatemalan oppositionists to the Arbenz presidency.49 However, Eisenhower still needed the covert CIA to conceal the direct US involvement.

Operation PBSUCCESS: the CIA and Guatemala The newly formed CIA was not the objective intelligence organization it was intended to be. The director of the agency, Allen Dulles, owned stock in UFCO and his brother was a lawyer for the banana company.50 There were clear financial incentives for the Dulles family to support the UFCO’s, and the CIA did nothing to address this conflict of interest.

The Eisenhower administration needed to maintain the image of the US as a country that fought for democracy, not one that attacked allies over banana profits. So, the CIA covertly organized the Coup in Guatemala City in 1954.51 They funded and trained Guatemalan rebels, including Carlos Castillo Armas, a Guatemalan who wanted

45

Brubraker, Background on the Guatemalan Coup of 1954, 2013 Schlesinger and Kinzer, Bitter Fruit, p.12 47 Schlesinger and Kinzer, Bitter Fruit, p.10 48 ibid 49 ibid 50 ibid 51 ibid 46

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to come into power and who was willing to do the US and UFCO’s bidding.52 According to Armas’s armed soldiers, the men were paid generously and usually in US dollars.53 The CIA set up a covert radio station to spread anti-Arbenz propaganda in Guatemala.54 In the US, the press published misinformation about mass arrests and tortures from the Arbenz administration.55 The CIA jammed Guatemalan radios, blocked the airways with false transmissions, hired US pilots to bomb specific strategic locations in Guatemala City, and sent spies into the Guatemalan government and military to undermine Arbenz’s authority as a leader and hurt his efforts to fight back against the Coup.56 The CIA also created and distributed physical propaganda to instigate unrest. On June 18th, 1954, a US made plane dropped leaflets signed ‘National Liberation Forces’ throughout Guatemala City stating, “Guatemala’s President, Jacoa Arbenz, must resign immediately.”57 The leaflets also included a warning that if Arbenz did not resign, the aircraft would bomb the city’s arsenal.58 The Coup in Guatemala City On June 18th, 1954, the Coup officially commenced. Guatemala's military had been weakened due to the arms embargo the US had imposed for the previous six years.59 US Ambassador John Peurifoy dictated a stream of dispatches to the White House from Guatemala City.60 Peurifoy had been placed in Guatemala to carry out negotiations between the UFCO and the Guatemalan government over the initial land expropriation disagreements, which the CIA had used to justify their involvement.61 To instigate and prepare for the Coup, the CIA had sent the US Navy to block water transportation.62 Throughout the nine day coup, Armas’s men strategically bombed

52

Chapman, Bananas, 129 Glaser and Lopez, Banana Land, 2014 54 Brubraker, Background on the Guatemalan Coup of 1954, 2013 55 Schlesinger and Kinzer, Bitter Fruit, 10 56 Brubraker, Background on the Guatemalan Coup of 1954, 2013 57 Schlesinger and Kinzer, Bitter Fruit, 8 58 ibid 59 ibid 60 Schlesinger and Kinzer, Bitter Fruit, 13 61 Schlesinger and Kinzer, Bitter Fruit, 15 62 Harris, How the US Stole Central America (With Bananas), 2021 53

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Guatemala City, but also attacked Guatemalan towns.63 American planes dropped supplies to Guatemalans to encourage them to join Armas’s rebels.64 The rebels were working with the military backing of the US as they flew P47 planes manufactured in the US, while the Guatemalan government had six fighter planes total.65 In another attempt to gain the support of Guatemalan deserters, Armas’s men strategically bombed and destroyed Arbenz’s gas supply, so troops could not be transported. They then bombed those same vulnerable troops to hurt morale.66 They were using violence to assume control of the government, but also to inspire collaboration of Guatemalans.

The US State Department attempted to manipulate the international narrative of the Coup by issuing an official statement. They reported that “the latest outburst of violence within Guatemala confirms the previously expressed view of the United States concerning possible action by the [Organization of the American States/OAS] on the problem of communism.67 To this, the Guatemalan government responded, “when the government of the United States denied all requests to sell US arms to Guatemala, we saw their intentions clearly,” they even went on to point out the true underlying cause of the violence by saying their “crime is having enacted an agrarian reform which affected the interests of the United Fruit Company”.68 Guatemala reported on the corrupt nature of the US’s collaboration with the UFCO, but UFCO propaganda had worked so well that Guatemala’s statement would make no difference for the Coup’s image on the international stage. The CIA was successful in overthrowing the Guatemalan government.

The Coup in Guatemala City ended on June 27, 195469. Arbenz resigned his post as president and fled the country. The CIA immediately placed Armas as a military dictator and announced him to the Western Hemisphere as the “liberator” of

63

Harris, How the US Stole Central America (With Bananas), 2021; Schlesinger and Kinzer, Bitter Fruit, 17 64 Schlesinger and Kinzer, Bitter Fruit, 17 65 Schlesinger and Kinzer, Bitter Fruit, 16 66 Schlesinger and Kinzer, Bitter Fruit, 17 67 Schlesinger and Kinzer, Bitter Fruit, 18 68 Schlesinger and Kinzer, Bitter Fruit, 19 69 Doyle, Kate, and Peter Kornbluh. n.d. “CIA and Assassinations: The Guatemala 1954 Documents.” The National Security Archive. The George Washington University. Accessed January 22, 2023. https://nsarchive2.gwu.edu/NSAEBB/NSAEBB4/.

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Guatemala.70 The UFCO, in alliance with the US, had succeeded in using authoritarian forms of suppression to maintain control and maximize profits. The damage by the global superpower left an unfortunate and lasting truth: democracy in Guatemala has not recovered to what it was since Arbenz fell.71 Conclusion The UFCO, in conjunction with the US, obtained effective control of Guatemala through authoritarian tactics in order to maximize profits, but their actions went beyond justifiable profit maximization. They were able to maintain economic control over the industry by limiting worker’s economic and social freedoms. Also like an authoritarian state, the company spread pro-UFCO propaganda in the US to justify their exploitation in Guatemala. They funded mis-informative and dis-informative advertising and news campaigns to manipulate the American public and the international community, making efficient use of the American fear of a communist threat. Their effective control over Guatemala, similar to that of a government’s control, in conjunction with their subsequent infiltration of Guatemala's actual government, makes the actions of the UFCO and US in Guatemala undoubtedly authoritarian.

Although there is no evidence of some common authoritarian tactics such as limiting freedom of assembly, their overall use is undeniable. Arguably, their control may not be classified as like authoritarianism as they did not have technical control over the state until after the Coup, when their control was indirect. However, when a firm has such power, it ceases to matter whether they are the state or not because in practice, their actions affect their constituents just as significantly.

Anti-democratic action, especially that which exploits people, must be interrogated whether the actor is a state or firm. There must be a political check on political and economic actors. In 1954 Guatemala, not only was there no political check against the UFCO, they had a most powerful ally: the United States military and government. Together, they controlled Guatemalan banana exports and ultimately the country’s government. Since the Coup, Guatemalan economic independence and

70 71

Brubraker, Background on the Guatemalan Coup of 1954, 2013 Harris, How the US Stole Central America (With Bananas), 2021

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democracy have not recovered and relations with the US were left severely hurt.

In conclusion, firms should be held accountable and to the same standard as states, and authoritarianism must be interrogated no matter the perpetrator.

Weaknesses, Challenges of Debate This essay dictates the history of violence and exploitation in the banana industry by the UFCO and makes the case that the firm in conjunction with the US blended government and business in acting authoritatively over Guatemala. There were challenges. To begin with, authentic UFCO advertisements, which are cited in almost every source as being important, are very difficult to locate. Access to the propaganda distributed to Congress would have made the evidence more robust, but was also difficult to access. Secondly, different secondary sources account for what happened in different ways. For example, most sources, including documentaries, peer reviewed articles, and many books, reported that Guatemalan threats of communism were baseless. However, the book Bananas by Peter Chapman described the Guatemalan government as communist. Either the misinformation of the time has had lasting effects on how historians interpret the Coup in Guatemala, or multiple sources were wrong about the reports being fake. Because of this, the sources were cross referenced and judgments made about which to trust. Either way, the conclusions drawn remain the same: even if Guatemala was becoming a communist state, the right to exploit, manipulate, and control the government and banana production was not the UFCO’s or the US’s.

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References

“Authoritarianism.” 2022. Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica. November 18, 2022. https://www.britannica.com/topic/authoritarianism.

Brubraker, Rachel. 2013. “Background on the Guatemalan Coup of 1954.”

Https://Www2.Umbc.Edu. UMBC. May 14, 2013 https://www2.umbc.edu/che/tahlessons/pdf/historylabs/Guatemalan_Coup_stude nt:RS1.pdf.

Bucheli, Marcelo. 2008. “Multinational Corporations, Totalitarian Regimes and Economic Nationalism: United Fruit Company in Central America, 1899–1975.” Business History, no. 4 (June): 433–54. https://doi.org/10.1080/00076790802106315.

Chapman, Peter. 2007. Bananas. US: Canongate.

Doyle, Kate, and Peter Kornbluh. n.d. “CIA and Assassinations: The Guatemala 1954 Documents.” The National Security Archive. The George Washington University.

Accessed January 22, 2023. https://nsarchive2.gwu.edu/NSAEBB/NSAEBB4/.

Dresden, Jennifer, Ben Raderstorf, and Aaron Baird. 2022. “The Authoritarian Playbook.” Protect Democracy. June 15, 2022. https://protectdemocracy.org/work/the-authoritarian-playbook/.

Gard, Wayne. 1954. “Big Fruit Company Benefits Latins.” Dallas Morning News, October 19, 1954.

Glaser, Jason, and Diego Lopez. 2014. Banana Land: Blood, Bullets and Poison.

Harris, Johnny. 2021. “How the US Stole Central America (With Bananas).” YouTube.

December 8, 2021. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WWBCl8huNMA. Immerman, Richard H. 1982. The CIA in Guatemala. University of Texas Press.

Neville, Niamh. n.d. “Introduction to Authoritarian States - IB History.” IB History.

Accessed January 4, 2023. https://niamhnevilleib.weebly.com/introduction-to-authoritarian-states.html.

Schlesinger, Stephen, and Stephen Kinzer. 1982. Bitter Fruit. Harvard University David Rockefeller Center for Latin American Studies.

“United Fruit Company Photograph Collection - Photography Collections - Historical Collections - Harvard Business School.” n.d. Baker Library | Bloomberg Center | Harvard Business School. Presidents and Fellows of Harvard College. Accessed

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October 11, 2022. https://www.library.hbs.edu/hc/pc/large/united-fruit.html#:~:text=The%20United% 20Fruit%20Company%20was,%2C%20Central%20America%2C%20and%20Col ombia.

Samuel Elliot Title: What Causes Led to The Formation of the Red Brigades in Italy?

Description: This work is important to me because it shows how much I like to study history.

History has been my favorite topic throughout all of high school and being able to explore it in depth is really enjoyable for me. For this assignment, I was allowed to choose any historical event, so I chose one that was less known but still was interesting and substantial. Being able to explore it thoroughly was invigorating and this essay shows how much I enjoy it.

Candidate Number: 002909-0010 What Causes Led to The Formation of the Red Brigades in Italy?

Word count: 2193

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S.Za. “The Years of Lead.” Iconic Photos, 6 Feb. 2017, https://iconicphotos.wordpress.com/2016/12/22/the-years-of-lead/.

Section 1: Identification and Evaluation of Sources

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Section 2: Investigation

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Section 3: Reflection

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Bibliography

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Section 1: Identification and Evaluation of Sources

This investigation will focus on the research question: “What caused the terrorist group, the Red Brigades, to come into being and commit acts of violence during the Years of Lead?”

The years of lead were decades of political turmoil and violence characterized by horrific terror attacks committed by far-left and far-right terrorist groups.

A book written by Paul Ginsborg, a professor of contemporary history and general historian, titled “A History of Contemporary Italy'' is relevant to this investigation because it gives insight not only about how the Years of Lead unfolded in the beginning, but also as it describes in detail all the events of the time. An excerpt from a journal by Richard Drake titled “Italy in the 1960s: A Legacy of Terrorism and Liberation” is essential to this investigation as it provides valuable information on the specific ideology and beliefs of the Red Brigades, and also events that influenced the creation of the group.

A value of content from the book A History of Contemporary Italy by Paul Ginsborg is that it encompasses the whole of history leading up to and during the time period of focus, the Years of Lead. It specifically highlights the causes for the formation of terrorist groups, but also examines in detail the economic, social, and political nature of Italy at the time of the formation and operation of the Red Brigades. The content of this book encompasses the whole time period of Italy during the Years of Lead, and not just the violence itself. A value of origin is that it was written by Paul Ginsborg, a lifelong historian who was a professor at the Universities of

Siena and Florence. A limitation of origin in this source is that it doesn't include any accounts from individuals who were involved in the years of lead, nor any firsthand accounts of events that unfolded in Italy at the time. A way this source is limited in terms of content is that it focuses on a broad range of topics, rather than just the Red Brigades, thus it is less specifically focused on the topic at hand. A limitation of this source in terms of purpose is that it is used solely for education and study, rather than it being used to push a narrative of either side of the conflict.

A value of the purpose and content of the journal article is that it specifically studies the Red Brigades and the many factors that contributed to their coming into being, and how their ideologies led to their formation. A value of the origin is that it is written by Richard Drake, who is a historian and has a PH.D in European history. A limitation of content is that the source focuses more on the ideology of the Brigades rather than the social and economic causes of the formation of the group.

Section 2: Investigation

Between the 1960 and 1970s, the country of Italy experienced several decades of political and social disorder characterized by acts of violence and terrorism known by the world as the Years of Lead. In which, approximately 428 civilians fell victim to terror attacks, with many more being injured2. Years of political discourse, economic crisis, and social upheaval led to militant groups materializing and wreaking havoc upon the Italian populace for years. These terrorist groups came on either side of the political spectrum. One of which being the Red Brigades, a far-left terrorist groups known best for the kidnapping and killing of the then former Italian prime minister Aldo Moro. This essay will investigate the reasons for the formation of the Red Brigades, and address the roles of social unrest and political upheaval as roles in the creation of the Red Brigades.

Since the fall of fascism in Italy in 1944, the dominant political power in the region was the Christian Democratic party3. Throughout the years leading up to the Years of Lead, the Christian Democratic Party maintained nearly nearly 40 percent of the popular vote4. This infuriated the leftist population of Italy, as the Christian Democratic Party was

2

Sarcinelli, Alessandro. “Anni Di Piombo, Le Vittime Dimenticate Dallo Stato - Lettera43.” Years of Lead, the Victims Forgotten by the State, Lettera 43, 16 Mar. 2016, https://www.lettera43.it/anni-di-piombo-le-vittime-dimenticate-dallo-stato/. Accessed 28 May 2022 3 Cappadocia, Ezio. “The Christian Democratic Party in Italian Politics.” International Journal, vol. 16, no.

4, 1961, pp. 383–98. JSTOR, https://doi.org/10.2307/40198751. Accessed 28 May 2022.

4 Ginsborg, Paul. A History of Contemporary Italy: Society and Politics, 1943-1988. Palgrave Macmillan, 2003. Accessed 28 May 2022.

more in line with centrist and religious principles. Although Italy was becoming more progressive compared to just a decade beforehand, an example being the Divorce Referendum of May 1974 being passed, allowing individuals unhappy with their marriage to end it5, in the eyes of those who vehemently opposed the principles that the Christian Democratic party held, the only answer was violent revolution. As more and more people began to turn to Communism as an ideology during the 1970s, those same people began to lose faith in the CDP. This was due to a shift in values from the Italian people, which, according to the historian Paul Ginsborg, came as a result of industrialization, modernization and urbanization6. The shift in values from the Italian people also came as a result of worker’s movements such as the “Hot autumn” movement, a series of industrial worker’s strikes throughout Italy. As the political rhetoric among the Italian populace began to shift to the left, many looked to the Christian Democratic Party as their enemy. In the words of Richard Drake, the Red Brigades were “radical Marxist-Leninists whose violent campaign against the Christian Democratic establishment had enjoyed widespread and long-term support”(Drake, 65) from people of all walks of life. This included students, workers, professors, and other ordinary citizens whose belief in the necessity of communist revolution came as a result of the “extraparlimentary left movement”(Drake, 65) which united them all and led them to groups such as the Red Brigades. What made this rhetoric worse was the “Historic Compromise” of 1972 in which the CD attempted to compromise with aspects of the Italian Communist party, making reform that the two could agree with7. This infuriated some far leftists, who felt like the party that was supposed to be representing them had 5

Ginsborg, A History of Contemporary Italy, 351 Ginsborg, A History of Contemporary Italy, 351 7 Ginsborg, A History of Contemporary Italy, 354 6

begun to agree with their enemy, leaving violence as their only method of having their voices be heard.

As mentioned before, Italy was undergoing rapid change at the time of the beginning of the Years of Lead. As Italy rapidly modernized and industrialized, values among the populace changed as well. Some historians argue that modernization was central to political discourse, and thus started the years of lead8. As a modern proletariat emerged in Italian cities, discourse between working class and upper class individuals became more common. An example of this being the education system reform and the “Children of 1968”9. The state forced reform onto primary schools and universities, like a compulsory education age and not requiring entrance exams10. The result of which was massive overcrowding and understaffing of education institutions, which led to students who came from less wealthy families to perform poorly when competing with richer students, who had more resources and time to study. This led to students accusing the education system of class bias, along with every other aspect of Italian society. These accusations became clear as lower class students were failing and dropping out at a higher rate than their richer peers, which was noticed by Italians all over, especially left-wingers11. This brought about the generation who claim to be “Children of 1968” who were part of this student body who felt discriminated against by the education system, and decided to take it out on people they saw to be supportive of the capitalist cause.

One such “Child of 1968” was Valerio Morucci, who took part in the kidnapping and 8

Mason, Tim. “Italy and Modernization: A Montage.” History Workshop, no. 25, 1988, pp. 127–47.

JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/4288822. Accessed 29 May 2022.

9 Drake, Richard. “Italy in the 1960s: A Legacy of Terrorism and Liberation.” South Central Review, vol.

16/17, 1999, pp. 62–76. JSTOR, https://doi.org/10.2307/3190077. Accessed 29 May 2022.

10 Drake, Italy in the 1960s: A Legacy of Terrorism and Liberation, 70.

11 Drake, Italy in the 1960s: A Legacy of Terrorism and Liberation, 70.

subsequent killing of former Italian prime minister Aldo Moro, the most infamous act by the Red Brigades. In the example of this Morucci, he joined the Brigades in order to act against a system that he felt was unfairly biased against him. Seeing as many other students at this time went through a similar experience, it becomes very clear that one of the leading factors in the formation of the Red Brigades came as a result of ill-planned education reform that many students felt was unjust and classist.

Of the causes of the Years of Lead and the formation of the Red Brigades, none was more tangible than the Piazza Fontana bombing on the 12th of December, 1969.

On that day, a neo-Fascist group planted a bomb inside of the National Back of Agriculture in Milan. The bomb went off, and 16 were killed, leaving 88 more wounded12.

It is believed by many that this incident in particular kicked off the Years of Lead, which would last more than a decade after this event, as it was the first terror attack since the Second World War, becoming a prelude to hundreds more13. When recalling the event for an interview, a Political Officer from Rome, Robert Babour, said that he believed the event to be the beginning of the era, which would get much worse and more violent soon after14. Immediately after the bombing, the police accused anarchist terrorist groups, like the Red Brigades, of being responsible for the attack. Consequently, two people were arrested under suspicion of being involved in the bombing. The first was 12

Ginsborg, A History of Contemporary Italy, 333 Perisse, Marco. “La Strage Di Piazza Fontana, Cosa è Successo e Come Ha Cambiato La Nostra Vita.”

The Massacre of Piazza Fontana in Milan, GQ Italia, 12 Dec. 2019, https://www.gqitalia.it/news/article/strage-di-piazza-fontana-milano-12-dicembre-1969. Accessed 29 May 2022 13

Dee, Liz. “‘Years of Lead’ - Domestic Terrorism and Italy's Red Brigades.” Association for Diplomatic Studies & Training, 1 Mar. 2016, https://adst.org/2016/03/years-of-lead-domestic-terrorism-and-italys-red-brigades/. Accessed 28 May 2022 14

Pietro Valpreda, who would spend 3 years in jail waiting to be tried, and the other was Guiseppe Pinelli, who died in police custody15. The chaos following the terrorist attack on the bank as well as the swift accusation from police led many to believe that this was a prelude to a fascist coup of the government, using this attack as an excuse for the army to seize power from the government under the guise of “protection”16. These fears proved to be unfounded, however, but it still led many ordinary leftist Italians to join militant factions in hopes of opposing the military government they thought would appear. And, according to Richard Drake, the Red Brigades were the most popular, gaining many recruits as a result of the attack. Although many factors led to the rise of the Red Brigades and their horrific acts during the Years of Lead, none were more obvious than the terrorist attack in Piazza Fontana in Milan. The perpetrators accomplished their goal, striking fear into the hearts of Italian leftists, and leaving them scrambling for any form of reassurance. The Red Brigades offered that, and thus the bombing directly led to the formation of the Red Brigades.

In conclusion, the primary factors that led to the creation of the terrorist group the Red Brigades in Italy was a combination of a tense political scene, rapid societal change and fears of a fascist coup brought about by a bombing, among many other 15 16

Ginsborg, A History of Contemporary Italy, 333 Drake, Italy in the 1960s: A Legacy of Terrorism and Liberation, 72.

factors. Whereas these sole events alone may not have resulted in creation of the terrorist group, and thus the ensuing violence, all of them combined created the perfect environment for the creation and subsequent growth of the group.

Section 3: Reflection

Throughout this investigation, locating the causes for the formation of the Red Brigades has introduced me to the challenges that historians may face when they explore historical events. One challenge that I faced in my allocation for primary sources was that I wanted to find an interview with a member of the Red Brigades, to understand their motives and find causes for their enlistment in the group. However, I found that these interviews were difficult to locate and decided to include an interview with government officials in Italy instead. The reason for this was, the government of Italy at the time wanted to contain the group, and thus carefully censored any interviews with the terrorists, with the fear that they would inspire more extremist actions in the future. In one example, two journalists, Mario Scialoja and Giampaolo Bultrini, were arrested by the Italian government for an interview with the Red Brigades in 1981. They were charged with aiding and abetting terrorists17. This incident in particular would have discouraged other journalists from conducting their own interviews with the Red Brigades out of fear of being arrested, thus leading to a scarcity of interviews with Red

17

Puella, Phillip. “Italians Flock to Read Controversial Red Brigades Interview.” UPI, UPI, 3 Jan. 1981, https://www.upi.com/Archives/1981/01/03/Italians-flock-to-read-controversial-Red-Brigades-interview/822 4347346000/. Accessed 29 May 2022

Brigades members. For this reason, I only have a primary source regarding the perspective of the Italian government.

Historian Paul Ginsborg writes a significant amount about the global economic crisis of the 1970s in his chapter about the years of lead and its causes. My investigation focuses mainly on the social and political causes of the formation of the Red Brigades. The economic crisis affected nearly everyone in Italy and would have impacted those most economically vulnerable, as well. Ginsborg recognizes this as a major cause for the Years of Lead, as economic crisis is commonly followed by political discourse. By focusing solely on societal and political causes for the formation of the Red Brigades, my paper misses the larger consequences of the economic crisis on the Italian populace and how it may have incentivized some to become radicalized. This made me realize how historians are faced with the challenge of either focusing solely on one aspect of causes for an event, or looking at the bigger picture to gather the most information.

Images Cited S.Za. “The Years of Lead.” Iconic Photos, 6 Feb. 2017, https://iconicphotos.wordpress.com/2016/12/22/the-years-of-lead/.

Works Cited: Sarcinelli, Alessandro. “Anni Di Piombo, Le Vittime Dimenticate Dallo Stato - Lettera43.” Years of Lead, the Victims Forgotten by the State, Lettera 43, 16 Mar. 2016, https://www.lettera43.it/anni-di-piombo-le-vittime-dimenticate-dallo-stato/. Accessed 28 May 2022 Cappadocia, Ezio. “The Christian Democratic Party in Italian Politics.” International Journal, vol. 16, no.

4, 1961, pp. 383–98. JSTOR, https://doi.org/10.2307/40198751. Accessed 28 May 2022.

Ginsborg, Paul. A History of Contemporary Italy: Society and Politics, 1943-1988. Palgrave Macmillan, 2003. Accessed 28 May 2022.

Mason, Tim. “Italy and Modernization: A Montage.” History Workshop, no. 25, 1988, pp. 127–47. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/4288822. Accessed 29 May 2022.

Drake, Richard. “Italy in the 1960s: A Legacy of Terrorism and Liberation.” South Central Review, vol.

16/17, 1999, pp. 62–76. JSTOR, https://doi.org/10.2307/3190077. Accessed 29 May 2022.

Perisse, Marco. “La Strage Di Piazza Fontana, Cosa è Successo e Come Ha Cambiato La Nostra Vita.”

The Massacre of Piazza Fontana in Milan, GQ Italia, 12 Dec. 2019, https://www.gqitalia.it/news/article/strage-di-piazza-fontana-milano-12-dicembre-1969. Accessed 29 May 2022 Dee, Liz. “‘Years of Lead’ - Domestic Terrorism and Italy's Red Brigades.” Association for Diplomatic Studies & Training, 1 Mar. 2016, https://adst.org/2016/03/years-of-lead-domestic-terrorism-and-italys-red-brigades/. Accessed 28 May 2022 Puella, Phillip. “Italians Flock to Read Controversial Red Brigades Interview.” UPI, UPI, 3 Jan. 1981, https://www.upi.com/Archives/1981/01/03/Italians-flock-to-read-controversial-Red-Brigades-interview/822 4347346000/. Accessed 29 May 2022

Works Consulted: Sznajder, Mario. “Italy’s Right-Wing Government: Legitimacy and Criticism.” International Affairs (Royal Institute of International Affairs 1944-), vol. 71, no. 1, 1995, pp. 83–102, https://doi.org/10.2307/2624011. Accessed 16 May 2022.

Sarah Jones Examining the Relationship Between Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder and Substance Abuse Disorder In this paper, I investigated the correlation between ADHD medication and substance abuse. AHDH and Substance abuse have been proven to be highly correlated. I was interested in the role ADHD treatment in the form of stimulant medication plays in the possible development of SUD. This topic was important to me because I was diagnosed with ADHD at the age of six.

After my diagnosis, my parents researched different treatment options and ultimately decided to treat my ADHD with stimulant medication. My parents were very proactive in my ADHD treatment because they were concerned about the link between ADHD and SUD, especially since I have a family history of substance abuse. This paper was an opportunity for me to learn more about my brain as well as the interesting intersection between different disorders.

Examining the Relationship Between Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder and Substance Abuse Disorder Subject Psychology

Research Question To what extent is stimulant ADHD medication linked to the development of Substance Use Disorder?

Word Count 3999

TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction 1. Opening paragraph 2. Topic Rationale 3. Research plan 4. About ADHD 5. About SUD 6. Correlation between ADHD and SUD 7. Background on ADHD treatment Analysis of Research 1. Case for positive correlation 2. Case for negative correlation 3. Case for no correlation Discussion 1. Limitations 2. Implications Conclusion References

Introduction Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder affecting an estimated 6.1 million diagnosed US children and adolescents (Danielson et al., 2022). People with ADHD often experience increased inattention, hyperactivity, and impulsivity.

These conditions can make school and social relationships challenging, leading to feelings of isolation and inadequacy. Furthermore, there appears to be a definite link between ADHD and substance use disorder (SUD), a dangerous condition that causes individuals to be unable to regulate their use of substances such as alcohol and drugs (NIMH, 2021), in severe cases leading to addiction. Recent findings indicate that people with ADHD are at risk a higher risk of developing a SUD. These findings are especially worrisome insofar as the standard successful treatment protocol for ADHD, stimulant medication, is correlated with the development of SUD. This essay investigates current research on whether ADHD stimulant medication is linked to SUD and evaluates the costs and benefits of such medication in light of these findings.

A highly debated subject within the medical community is the role of ADHD stimulant medication in the development of SUD. One side of the debate argues that stimulant medication leads to a higher risk of SUD, while the other side states that stimulant medication may actually prevent the development of SUD. Other researchers argue a third alternative; namely, that stimulant medication neither increases nor decreases the likelihood of developing SUD.

Topic Rationale In 2013 the US Census Bureau estimated that over 1.7 million people ages 5-19 suffer from ADHD worldwide, an estimated 7.2% of the global population. The 2019 UN global Drug Report found that an estimated 35 million people wide suffer from a SUD. Research has found that these two statistically prevalent disorders are linked. The more researchers can understand the comorbidity of these disorders; the quicker advancements can be made in treating these disorders. I am very interested in psychology and neurology, and this paper provided an opportunity for me to learn more about the correlations between neurological disorders. The intersection of substance abuse and mental disorders is also something I have witnessed become more prevalent in my larger community and personal life. Additionally, there is a lot of stigma in the popular media around stimulant medication since it is a controlled substance. Many fear that the medication could lead to drug addiction. However, this stigma and misconceptions around ADHD medication cause harm when they negatively influence individuals’ plans for treatment (How to ADHD, 2020).

Research Plan This essay will investigate the question: To what extent is stimulant ADHD medication linked to the development of Substance Use Disorder? This essay will compare and analyze three peer-reviewed articles that came to different conclusions regarding this question. One of the

three studies was a longitudinal study that tracked the development of SUD in medicated and unmedicated individuals. Along with the longitudinal study, two Meta-analytic reviews will be included. Meta-analysis compiles various studies to form a larger sample and assess the strength of the data combined. All reviews included were published within the last thirty years to ensure that the information is relevant to recent pharmaceutical developments.

A longitudinal study by Lambert & Hartsough (1998) on the prevalence of tobacco smoking and substance dependence amongst individuals with and without ADHD concluded that the use of stimulant medication resulted in a higher risk of substance dependence. Research by Wilens et al. (2003) contradicts these findings Wilens et al. (2003) Meta-analysis determined that stimulant medication exhibited a protective effect against SUD. However, a meta-analysis by Humphreys et al. (2013) came to a third conclusion: their research found that stimulant medication did not affect the development of SUD. After evaluating these three arguments, this essay concludes that due to the common comorbidity of both disorders, it is not reasonable to determine any link between stimulant treatment and SUD from these studies. ADHD should be treated on a case-by-case basis under careful observation, and parents should not let possible positive or negative correlation between medication and SUD influence their treatment decisions.

ADHD Background ADHD is defined by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) as "The most common neurodevelopmental disorder of childhood (CDC, 2022)." Neurodevelopmental disorders result from abnormal brain development that affects an individual's behavior, communication, and cognitive abilities (Mullin et al., 2013). ADHD is a fairly common disorder. Using the 2016 U.S. national survey of children's health, Danielson et al. (2018) estimated that as of 2016, 6.1 million or (9.4%) of U.S. children aged 2-17 had received an ADHD diagnosis. The most notable symptoms of ADHD include inattention, hyperactivity, and impulsivity. These symptoms often result in a child struggling in school, struggling to connect with others and struggling to follow instructions, and often getting in trouble. These repeated experiences can cause a child with ADHD to grow up with a lack of self-esteem and feelings of failure and isolation from others (Faraone et al., 2021). Although the reason ADHD develops is not fully understood, it is theorized that genetic and environmental factors dictate its root cause.

Conditions during development in utero are environmental factors that can greatly affect the development of ADHD. Multiple studies have found that smoking while pregnant leads to a fifty percent increased risk of offspring with ADHD as well as premature birth (Faraone et al., 2021). Exposure to chemicals such as lead has been correlated with ADHD. Studies such as (Goodlad et al., 2013) found that higher blood lead levels were recorded in individuals with ADHD. Poverty and trauma are other environmental correlates. A South Korea-based study found that increased rates of ADHD were correlated with lower-income families (Choi et al., 2017). U.S. Population-based study (Ouyand et al., 2008) found a link between ADHD and victims of sexual and/or physical abuse.

Research has found that genetics is a major determinant in the development of ADHD. Although no specific gene has been linked to ADHD, research has determined that certain variations in the DNA sequence and regulatory sequence are responsible for an increased risk of ADHD. Twin studies have found that ADHD has a high rate of heritability, seventy-four percent (Stevens et al., 2013). This finding implies that the disorder runs within families, and its prevalence can be determined through genetics. More research is needed to further understand these variants and how they interact with genetic and environmental factors to trigger the manifestation of ADHD. SUD Background Substance Use Disorder (SUD) is defined by the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH, 2021) as "a mental health disorder that affects a person's brain and behavior, leading to a person's inability to control their use of substances such as legal or illegal drugs, alcohol, or medications." A SUD can develop in anyone regardless of gender, age, race, or socioeconomic status. However, certain circumstances can put an individual at a higher risk of developing a SUD. Like ADHD, these circumstances can be put into two categories: environmental and genetic.

Regarding environmental influences, researchers have identified that adolescents are at a higher risk of developing a SUD if they experience bullying (Hsiung et al., 2022). Adolescent substance abuse can escalate into a dangerous routine of abuse that continues into adulthood. A study conducted by Grant and Dauson (1998) found that the likelihood of substance abuse increased by 4-5% every year before the subjects were first introduced to drugs. Research has found socioeconomic inequalities increase substance use in impoverished communities, which lack access to treatment and medical care, making substance abuse more dangerous and harder to combat (Mennis et al., 2016). In addition, a person’s relationship with substances can also be informed by their family's relationship and attitude toward substances. For instance, parental drug use and low parental monitoring have been associated with a higher likelihood of substance abuse (Mennis et al., 2016). The link between SUD and parental drug behaviors could be the result of genetic influence. Due to genetic variation, some individuals are more at risk of (or predisposed to) developing a SUD than others making SUD a hereditary disorder (NIDA, 2019).

An interesting correlation exists between environmental and genetic influences. Research has shown that environmental factors (such as parental supervision) may determine the importance of genetic predisposition. The research found that low parental monitoring resulted in increased genetic influence on substance abuse (Dick et al., 2007).

Correlation between ADHD and SUD ADHD puts individuals at a significantly higher risk of developing a SUD. Research has found that individuals with ADHD are more than two and a half times as likely to develop a substance abuse/dependence issue (Dick et al., 2007). A 2014 screening of adults from ten

different countries who were seeking treatment for SUD found that of the 3558 adults included, 40.9% of them screened positive for ADHD, proving a strong correlation between the two disorders (van de Glind et al., 2014). Research has also shown that statistically, adolescents with ADHD start drug use earlier than their peers. Research has also identified that the period between initial drug use and the onset of a SUD is shorter in individuals with ADHD (Zulauf et al., 2014). Although a finite explanation for the link between the two disorders has not been established, multiple theories are proposed to explain the correlation. Many theories suggest that parental substance abuse and genetic correlations could explain the link between the two disorders—for instance, substance use while pregnant may increase the risk that the offspring will develop ADHD. Neurobiological differences have been used to explain the linkage between the two disorders. Research cites frontal cortex abnormalities that affect the limbic/reward system (Zulauf et al., 2014). This system regulates dopamine (a chemical responsible for the sensation of pleasure) in the brain. Drugs such as nicotine, alcohol, cocaine, and opium cause massive dopamine releases into the brain. An abnormality in the brain's ability to naturally produce dopamine may cause an individual to abuse drugs to compensate for the dysregulated dopamine system (National Institute for Health, 2014). Another possible explanation for the connection between ADHD and SUD is both disorders' relationship to social anxiety. ADHD-related struggles such as low self-esteem, executive functioning, emotion control, and missing social cues can make one more susceptible to social anxiety (Chillemi, 2022). Social anxiety can often manifest in fear of judgment, avoidance of social interaction, and difficulty retaining friendships and relationships. These experiences can lead an individual to take substances for relief-self-medication (Lemyre et al., 2019) This self-medication theory is particularly prevalent in the case of nicotine abuse due to nicotine's effects on the brain. Wilens & Decker (2007) conclude: A large literature demonstrates the bidirectional overlap of ADHD and cigarette smoking/nicotine use. Nicotinic cholinergic neurotransmission plays an important role in attention and executive function processes, and nicotine has demonstrated procognitive effects in a number of animal studies, and pilot data indicates some degree of efficacy in small proof-of-concept adult ADHD trials. (p. 1218) The research suggests that the positive cognitive effects nicotine has on the brain could result in individuals using nicotine as a form of self-medication for their ADHD to increase their attentivity.

Background on ADHD Treatment The most common treatment for ADHD is medication, therapy, or a combination. ADHD medications are classified into subtypes: stimulants, such as Amphetamines and Methamphetamines, and non-stimulants, such as Guanfacine and Atoxomine (CDC, 2022).

Stimulant medications treat ADHD by targeting the prefrontal cortex, the brain region

responsible for concentration and impulse control. The medication will increase the activity and transmission between neurons in this region of the brain, helping to combat the symptoms of ADHD. This result is achieved by increasing the concentration of neurotransmitters in the prefrontal cortex (Boorad, 2023). Although stimulant medications are the most commonly used, they are not always successful, in which case, non-stimulant medications can be used as an alternative. Some individuals prefer non-stimulant medication even though they are less effective because, unlike stimulants, they do not contain possibly addictive substances (Miller, 2023).

Stimulant medications can also result in negative side effects such as difficulty sleeping, head and stomach pain, and appetite suppression, which can result in extreme weight loss. Both stimulant and non-stimulant medication has been linked to psychosis or mania (Stevens et al., 2013). These disturbing side effects can dissuade parents from wanting to medicate their children entirely. In these cases, therapy can be a treatment option. The most common types of therapies used are behavioral therapy, parental training and education, social skills training, and cognitive behavioral therapy. Many parents opt for a combination of medications and therapy to treat their children (CDC, 2023).

Analysis of Research Case of positive correlation A prominent study by Lambert & Hartsough (1998) found evidence to support the theory that stimulant treatment for ADHD could be linked to a higher risk of a SUD developing in adulthood. The study aimed to compare the use of substances among individuals with and without ADHD. The study identified a sample of 492 children, 282 were diagnosed with ADHD. When the participants were adults, a follow-up interview collected data from the participants regarding their tobacco and substance use history. The study concluded that individuals with ADHD were more likely to develop substance dependence; the scientific community supports this conclusion. However, Lambert and Harsough also identified participants using stimulant medications to treat their ADHD reported higher levels of substance use, most notably tobacco, and cocaine. In order to explain this finding, the authors hypothesize that "Prior exposure to cerebral stimulants may make participants more susceptible to tobacco and cocaine dependence in adulthood. (p. 541) "This theory suggests that the medication's effect on the brain makes an individual more susceptible to drug abuse, not behavioral and conduct issues brought on by the disorder. However, this study has limitations that must be considered, including the age of publication, which will be addressed in the discussion section, and the population size.

Compared to other studies, the sample was small, consisting of only 492 participants, thus limiting the study's ability to approximate the larger population. Additionally, all sample members resided in the east bay area of San Francisco, making the study less applicable to the larger U.S. or the global population.

Case for negative correlation According to a meta-analysis of six studies published in 2003 by Wilens et al. there is strong evidence that treating ADHD with stimulant medication during childhood will decrease the likelihood of an individual developing a SUD in adulthood. In the review, Wilens et al.

(2003) provide many possibilities for why stimulant medication could be a preventative measure.. The study hypothesizes that stimulant treatment reduces the need for an individual to utilize illicit drugs as a form of self-medication. In the discussion, Wilens et al. (2003) state, "It may be that the reduction of ADHD symptoms, demoralization, poor self-esteem, and academic or occupational failure associated with ADHD factors associated independently with SUD risk results in reduced SUD (p.183-184). "Wilens et al. (2003) pose the theory that an indirect correlation could be responsible, "Families who seek medication treatment of their youths may be more intact or of higher socioeconomic status, more invested in their children's educational success, or more involved in their parenting (p.184)." This theory is strong evidence that socioeconomics and parenting are environmental factors that play a huge role in the development of SUD, along with educational and professional success (Dick et al., 2007). The Meta-Analysis structure of this investigation is an advantage since it provided Wilens et al. with a large sample size of 1034 participants from multiple countries. The large and diverse sample increases the accuracy and generality of the results; however, many disadvantages can be attributed to a meta-analysis. Since the researcher does not collect the data, they cannot control variables such as age and gender within the sample. The values and limitations of a meta-analysis will be further investigated in the discussion. When evaluating research, it is important to consider ulterior motives that could have influenced the study, for instance. Timothy Wilens is on the advisory board and receives research funding from many major pharmaceutical companies, such as Abbott Laboratories, Shire Labritories Inc, Eli Lily and company, and Novartis pharmaceuticals. All of these companies are key players in the manufacturing of stimulant medications. This creates a conflict of interest since these companies might financially entice Wilens to make their medication seem more appealing in the study.

Case for no correlation ​ The most recent evidence in the debate over stimulant medication and its correlation to substance abuse suggests that no such correlation exists. In 2013 Humphreys et al. conducted a large meta-analysis to investigate the relationship between stimulant medication and subsequent drug use. The meta-analysis compiled 15 published and unpublished studies that reported on the lifetime substance use of individuals with ADHD, both medicated and non-medicated. Through meta-analysis, the investigation determined that stimulant medication did not affect the risk of substance use disorders. Additionally, the results disproved the theory that stimulant medication acts as early drug initiation leading to a higher risk of lifetime drug abuse. Humphreys et al.

(2013) conclude, Given that children with ADHD may have an early substance initiation and concern that the use of medication may sensitize youth to future substance

outcomes, these results find substance use unrelated to medication treatment (pg.

8-9).

The meta-analytic method used in the study produces significant advantages, most notably the large sample size, which consisted of 2565 participants. This large sample size increases the study's reliability. Although this sample size is far from representative of the global population, it is far more expansive than other studies on this subject. Humphreys et al. (2013) obtained four studies utilizing unpublished data. The use of unpublished data reduces the impact of possible publication bias. As seen in Wilens et al. (2003), the nature of a meta-analysis produces many values and limitations that will be further reviewed in the discussion.

Discussion All three studies (Lambert & Hartsough, 1998), (Wilens et al., 2003) (Humphreys et al., 2013) came to different conclusions regarding the effects of stimulant medication treatment of ADHD and SUD. Lambert and Hartsough (1998) found that stimulant medications resulted in more cases of substance use. Wilens et al. (2003), however, found that stimulant treatment provided a protective effect against SUD. Most recently, Humphreys et al. (2013) found no evidence to suggest a correlation between treatment with stimulants for ADHD and SUD. The opposing conclusions reached by these studies could be caused by limitations that influenced the data.

Limitations All three of the studies obtained data through longitudinal studies. In a longitudinal study, researchers record data by continuously monitoring subjects over a long period of time. This method is practical when researching something like the prevalence of SUD in individuals taking stimulant medication. However, this type of study is hard to control, leaving the opportunity for other factors to influence the data. Environmental factors play a major role in the development of SUD. However, it would be unethical for scientists to control the subjects' lives to prevent the impact of environmental influences. Since the study is less controlled, environmental factors such as economic status, parental supervision, and substance access may have influenced the data. In addition, there is no way of controlling genetic factors correlated with ADHD. Due to genetics' strong influence on substance abuse, some participants may have had a significantly higher risk of developing a SUD since birth. Due to these uncontrollable factors, it is harder to determine whether the study's findings result from stimulant treatment or are influenced by genetic and environmental factors.

Another limitation of a longitudinal study is that they take a long time to complete. In the case of (Lambert & Hartsough, 1998), (Wilens et al., 2003) (Humphreys et al., 2013), decades passed between when the subjects were first diagnosed and when the study was published. This time gap is limiting because the criteria for ADHD diagnosis have changed over time. For

example, Lambert & Hartsough (1998) participants were diagnosed with ADHD in 1974 according to the DSM-III-R criteria. However, since 1975, these criteria have changed three times. Presently we use the DSM-5-TR criteria. The differing diagnosis criteria make the data less applicable to individuals diagnosed in the present day.

Two of the three studies (Wilens et al., 2003) and, (Humphreys et al., 2013) utilize data from multiple longitudinal studies to conduct a meta-analysis. A meta-analysis is a form of statistical analysis in which researchers will combine multiple independent studies investigating the same question to find overall trends in the data. This research method is advantageous because it allows researchers to compile a large sample. However, this method is limited since the researchers have no control over how the data was collected. For instance, the studies compiled by (Wilens et al., 2003) have a discrepancy between the ages of the participants when the follow-up interview was conducted. Four of the studies reported that the participants were adults at the time of the follow-up interview. Two studies, however, reported their participants were 15 years old during the follow-up interview. This discrepancy could have greatly impacted the analysis since fifteen-year-olds have significantly less life experience. Additionally, most of the studies where the participants were adults during the follow-up reported they were only in their early twenties. Their young age leaves the majority of their life experience with substances unknown.

Implications Disputes within the medical community regarding stimulant medication's side effects and risks can have harmful implications, especially when these disputes result in spreading misinformation with the popular media. Fear caused by misinformation can lead individuals not to seek treatment. ADHD, if left untreated, can be damaging. Cattoi et al. (2022) determined that ADHD: …leads to numerous adverse health correlates and consequences, a markedly increased risk for childhood and midlife mortality, and an average reduction in life expectancy by later life of 9-13 years (range of 1 to 29 years), a figure that far exceeds any single one of the major life-reducing health problems (obesity, smoking, alcohol use, coronary heart disease, nutrition, etc.) as well as their combination. (p.18) This decrease in life expectancy is attributed to the symptoms associated with ADHD causing individuals to make unhealthy lifestyle choices. Additionally, the impulsivity associated with ADHD makes them prone to take greater risks. (Cattoi et al. 2022). The prevalence of these risks is dependent on the severity of the symptoms. If an individual's symptoms are extreme, treatment should be administered to alleviate these symptoms. Stimulant medication has been proven to be

very effective at elevating the symptoms of ADHD. However, if evidence sufficiently links stimulant medication to SUD, that information should be factored in when considering treatment.

Conclusion ADHD is a disorder that can be very damaging if left untreated. However, there is a fear in the general community that stimulant medication used to treat ADHD is linked to the development of SUD. SUD is a very dangerous disorder with deadly risks. After analyzing multiple studies, it can be concluded that stimulant ADHD medication is linked to the development of Substance Use Disorder, but only to a certain extent. Studies, e.g., Lambert, Hartsough (1998), and Wilens et al. (2003), concluded there is a link between stimulant medication and SUD. However, their findings conflicted regarding the direction of the correlation. Lambert Hartsough (1998) argued stimulant medication increased the risk of SUD, whereas Meta-analysis by Wilens et al. (2003) concluded that stimulant medication decreased the risk of SUD. On the other hand, a Meta-analysis by (Humphreys et al., 2013) found no evidence to suggest a link between stimulant medication and SUD exists. These differing findings could result from limitations in the data collection methods and the many factors that can influence the development of both disorders. From these three studies, a definitive conclusion cannot be drawn. More research is necessary to determine the relationship between stimulant treatment and ADHD. Therefore any fear of subsequent drug abuse or incentive of protection against SUD should not be considered when deciding whether to medicate. However, since negative side effects have been associated with stimulant medication, they should only be administered under careful observation by a physiatrist.

References Boorad, R. (2023, Feb. 1) Stimulant Medications for ADHD Ritalin or Adderall? Short or long-acting? A look at the alternatives, and how they work. Child Mind Institute.

Accessed February 5, 2023, https://childmind.org/article/understanding-adhd-medications/ Cattoi, B., Alpern, I., Katz, J. S., Keepnews, D., & Solanto, M. V. (2022). The Adverse Health Outcomes, Economic Burden, and Public Health Implications of Unmanaged Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD): A Call to Action Resulting from CHADD Summit, Washington, DC, October 17, 2019. Journal of Attention Disorders, 26(6), 807-808.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). (2022, August 9). Treatment of ADHD. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Retrieved February 5, 2023, from https://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/adhd/treatment.html.

Chillemi, K. (2022, October 31). ADHD: Bottom-up triggers of social anxiety. Psychology Today Retrieved February 5, 2023, from https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/functional-legacy-mindset/202210/adhd-botto m-triggers-social-anxiety#:~:text=Adult%20clients%20who%20present%20with,particul arly%20adverse%20 for%20 mental%20health.

Choi, Y., Shin, J., Cho, K. H., & Park, E. C. (2017). Change in household income and risk for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder during childhood: A nationwide population-based cohort study. Journal of Epidemiology, 27(2), 56-62.

Children and Adults with ADHD. (2022, October 20). General prevalence of ADHD. CHADD. Retrieved February 6, 2023, from https://chadd.org/about-adhd/general-prevalence/ Danielson, M. L., Bitsko, R. H., Ghandour, R. M., Holbrook, J. R., Kogan, M. D., & Blumberg, S. J. (2018). Prevalence of parent-reported ADHD diagnosis and associated treatment among US children and adolescents, 2016. Journal of Clinical Child & Adolescent Psychology, 47(2), 199-212.

Danielson, M. L., Holbrook, J. R., Bitsko, R. H., Newsome, K., Charania, S. N., McCord, R. F., ... & Blumberg, S. J. (2022). State-level estimates of the prevalence of parent-reported ADHD diagnosis and treatment among US children and adolescents, 2016 to 2019.

Journal of Attention Disorders, 26(13), 1685-1697.

Dick, D. M., Viken, R., Purcell, S., Kaprio, J., Pulkkinen, L., & Rose, R. J. (2007). Parental monitoring moderates the importance of genetic and environmental influences on adolescent smoking. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 116(1), 213.

Faraone, S. V., Banaschewski, T., Coghill, D., Zheng, Y., Biederman, J., Bellgrove, M. A., . . .

Wang, Y. (2021). The world federation of ADHD international consensus statement: 208 evidence-based conclusions about the disorder. Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews, 128, 789-818. doi:10.1016/j.neubiorev.2021.01.022 Faraone, S. V., & Larsson, H. (2019). Genetics of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.

Molecular Psychiatry, 24(4), 562–575. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41380-018-0070-0

Goodlad, J. K., Marcus, D. K., & Fulton, J. J. (2013). Lead and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) symptoms: a meta-analysis. Clinical Psychology Review, 33(3), 417-425.

Grant B.F & Dawson, DA. (1998). Age of onset of drug use and its association with DSM-IV drug abuse and dependence: results from the National Longitudinal Alcohol Epidemiologic Survey. Journal of Substance Abuse, 10(2):163-73. doi: 10.1016/s0899-3289(99)80131-x.

How to ADHD. (2020, Oct 13). Why Stimulant Medication Helps ADHD -- and How Stigma Can Hurt [Video]. Retrieved February 5, 2023, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=38qpm6VKBFc&t=337s Hsiung, H., Patel, K., Hundal, H., Baccouche, B. M., & Tsao, K. W. (2022). Preventing Substance Abuse in Adolescents: A Review of High-Impact Strategies. Cureus, 14(7), e27361. https://doi.org/10.7759/cureus.27361

Humphreys, K. L., Eng, T., & Lee, S. S. (2013). Stimulant medication and substance use outcomes: a meta-analysis. JAMA psychiatry, 70(7), 740–749. https://doi.org/10.1001/jamapsychiatry.2013.1273 Lambert, N. M., & Hartsough, C. S. (1998). Prospective study of tobacco smoking and substance dependencies among samples of ADHD and non-ADHD participants. Journal of Learning Disabilities, 31(6), 533-44. doi:10.1177/002221949803100603 Lemyre, A., Gauthier-Légaré, A., & Bélanger, R. E. (2019). Shyness, social anxiety, social anxiety disorder, and substance use among normative adolescent populations: A systematic review. The American Journal of Drug and Alcohol Abuse, 45(3), 230-247.

Mennis, J., Stahler, G. J., & Mason, M. J. (2016). Risky Substance Use Environments and Addiction: A New Frontier for Environmental Justice Research. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 13(6). https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph13060607.

Meyers, J. L., & Dick, D. M. (2010). Genetic and Environmental Risk Factors for Adolescent-Onset Substance Use Disorders. Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Clinics of North America, 19(3), 465. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chc.2010.03.013

Miller, C. & Taskiran, S. (2023, January 26). What Are Nonstimulant Medications for ADHD? Child Mind Institute, Accessed February 5, 2023. https://childmind.org/article/what-are-nonstimulant-medications-for-adhd/.

Mullin, A. P., Gokhale, A., Moreno-De-Luca, A., Sanyal, S., Waddington, J. L., & Faundez, V. (2013). Neurodevelopmental disorders: mechanisms and boundary definitions from genomes, interactomes and proteomes. Translational Psychiatry, 3(12), e329-e329.

National Center on Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities. (2022, August 09). What is ADHD? Center for Disease Control (CDC). https://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/adhd/facts.htmll National Institute on Drug Use (NIDA). (2019, August 5). Genetics and Epigenetics of Addiction DrugFacts." National Institute on Drug Abuse. https://nida.nih.gov/publications/drugfacts/genetics-epigenetics-addiction.

Nation Institute for Health (NIH). (2014, November 18). The reward circuit: How the brain responds to natural rewards and Drugs. National Institutes of Health. https://nida.nih.gov/videos/reward-circuit-how-brain-responds-to-natural-rewards-drugs.

National Institute for Mental Health (NIMH). (2021, March). Substance use and co-occurring mental disorders. National Institute for Mental Health. https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/topics/substance-use-and-mental-health.

Ouyang, L., Fang, X., Mercy, J., Perou, R., & Grosse, S. D. (2008).

Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder symptoms and child maltreatment: a population-based study. The Journal of pediatrics, 153(6), 851-856.

Stevens, J. R., Wilens, T. E., & Stern, T. A. (2013). Using stimulants for attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder: clinical approaches and challenges. The Primary Care Companion for CNS disorders, 15(2), PCC.12f01472. https://doi.org/10.4088/PCC.12f01472 United Nations Ofice on Drugs and Crime (2019) World Drug Report (Sales No. E.19.XI.8) United Nations publication. https://www.unodc.org/unodc/en/frontpage/2019/June/world-drug-report-2019_-35-millio n-people-worldwide-suffer-from-drug-use-disorders-while-only-1-in-7-people-receive-tre atment.html van de Glind, G., Konstenius, M., Koeter, M. W. J., van Emmerik-van Oortmerssen, K., Carpentier, P., Kaye, S., . . . van den Brink, W. (2014). Variability in the prevalence of adult ADHD in treatment seeking substance use disorder patients: Results from an

international multi-center study exploring DSM-IV and DSM-5 criteria. Drug and Alcohol Dependence, 134, 158-166. doi:10.1016/j.drugalcdep.2013.09.026 Wilens, T. E., Faraone, S. V., Biederman, J., & Gunawardene, S. (2003). Does stimulant therapy of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder beget later substance abuse? A meta-analytic review of the literature. Pediatrics, 111(1), 179-185.

Wilens, T.E. & Decker, M.W. (2007). Neuronal nicotinic receptor agonists for the treatment of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder: Focus on cognition. Biochemical Pharmacology, 74(8), 1212-1223. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bcp.2007.07.002 Zulauf, C. A., Sprich, S. E., Safren, S. A., & Wilens, T. E. (2014). The complicated relationship between attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder and substance use disorders. Current Psychiatry Reports, 16, 1-11.

Arla Graham - Social Media and Mental Health

My math IA was a statistical analysis to measure how social media can affect adolescents’ mental health. I did this by conducting a survey in which I sent out to the BFS Upper School to gather information about how long students spend on social media and how they felt throughout the day. I then performed a chi-square test to determine if there was association between time spent on social media and how someone was feeling. Using this test, I was able to determine that there was significant association between the two variables for the BFS Upper School Community.

1

Social Media and Mental Health A Statistical Analysis to Measure how Social Media Affects Adolescents’ Mental Health.

Personal Code: jxk982

2

Contents

Introduction

3

Sampling plan

3

Data

4

Mathematical Analysis

8

Analysis Interpretation

11

Reflection

11

Appendix

12

3

Introduction When starting this research project, I immediately knew that I wanted to include mental health in some way. I came to the question of How does the amount of time on social media affect teenagers’ mental health? I’m interested in this question because I know, from being a teeneager myself, that social media has a large influence on teenagers. I wanted to see how this influences mental health. Additionally, I wanted to see how people’s answers compare and find the average of the data collected. I chose this because I believe that social media can be problematic for teenagers' mental health and I wanted to see how many people are affected by it. I hypothesize that there is a significant association between time spent on social media and how people feel.

Sampling Plan To collect data I needed to gather information from students about their overall screen time on social media apps and how they were feeling to find any correlation between the two. I sent out a survey to the BFS high school asking questions about how they felt, how much time they spend on social media and if they thought social media has negatively impacted their mental health. My variables are how people said they were feeling on a scale from 1 to 5, where 1 means terrible and 5 means great, and how much time they spend per day on social media (hours). I am also comparing their results from two different days. I think that this sampling method was a good representation of the population I was interested in receiving information from. I used convenience sampling, I chose data from BFS high school students because they were closest to me. I took data from those who were willing to participate in my survey.

Additionally, I made this survey anonymous because I wanted people to answer as honestly as possible.

Being a high school student, I know from experience that I will most likely be honest when something is anonymous. By making the survey anonymous, I think I was able to get accurate results which I was initially worried about.

4

Data Here’s the data I gathered from my survey: Table 1 How much time

How much time (hours)

How do you feel

(hours) did you spend

How did you feel

today?

on social media today? yesterday?

did you spend on social media yesterday?

3

2

3

2

4

2

4

2

2

0.5

2

2

2

0.5

3

2

3

2

3

2

4

0.5

3

2

4

0.5

3

2

1

2

3

5

3

0.5

3

2

3

0.5

2

2

3

0.5

4

0.5

3

0.5

3

0.5

4

2

3

2

4

0.5

3

2

2

5

3

5

5

4

0.5

5

0.5

3

2

3

2

1

0.5

5

10.5

4

2

3

2

4

2

5

5

3

0.5

4

0.5

4

0.5

4

0.5

4

0.5

2

0.5

1

2

1

2

4

0.5

3

0.5

2

0.5

3

0.5

4

0.5

4

0.5

2

2

4

5

4

2

4

2

1

5

2

5

4

0.5

4

0.5

4

2

2

5

2

2

1

5

3

2

3

5

3

2

1

2

6

2

5

3

5

3

2

3

2

3

5

2

5

3

2

3

2

2

2

1

2

4

8

5

5

4

10.5

5

10.5

3

2

3

2

1

0.5

1

2

4

0.5

3

5

4

2

3

5

3

2

2

2

4

0.5

3

2

7

Graph’s 1 and 2 show how a person was feeling on two different days and how much time they spent on social media for each of those days.

Graph 1

Graph 2

A main difference between these two graphs is that more people felt at a 4 when they spent less time on social media. This is critical to note because this already demonstrates that there is some type of association between time spent on social media and how a person feels.

8

Graph 3 In the data I collected, there seems to be some type of correlation between time spent on social media and how the surveyed people felt. Generally, when they spent more time on social media they felt worse and when they spent less time on social media they felt a little bit better. This is a pie chart of people's general opinions if social media had impacted their mental health.

Most people who use social media said that they felt it has negatively affected their mental health.

Mathematical Analysis For my mathematical analysis, I will be using the Chi Squared Test of Independence. This test will show if there is an association between time on social media and how a person was feeling. To perform the Chi Squared Test, a table of observed values should be organized so all values are 5 or higher.

Then a table of the expected values should be created, and technology should be used to ultimately calculate the Chi Squared Statistic.

First, I re-ordered my data so I could apply Chi’s independence test.

9

Table 2 Today time spent on social media vs how person is feeling Today

<1 hour

1-10 hours

Total

Low Feelings (1-2)

5

7

12

High Feelings (3+)

23

13

36

Total

28

20

48

𝑐𝑜𝑙𝑢𝑚𝑛 𝑡𝑜𝑡𝑎𝑙 × 𝑟𝑜𝑤 𝑡𝑜𝑡𝑎𝑙 . 𝑔𝑟𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑡𝑜𝑡𝑎𝑙

Next, I need to determine the expected value for each of the cells. This equation is Table 3 Today

<1 hour

Low Feelings (1-2)

28 × 12 48

High Feelings (3+)

28 × 36 48

Total

28

1-10 hours

Total

=7

20 × 12 48

=5

12

= 21

20 × 36 48

= 15

36

20

48

2

Next, I have to apply the Chi formula to each cell in the table using the equation: 𝑥 = Σ

2

(𝑜−𝑒) 𝑒

. O is the

observed value, and e is the expected value.

Table 4 Today

<1 hour

Low Feeling (1-2)

(5 − 7) 7

1-10 hours

2

2

= . 571

(7 − 5) 5

=. 8

10

2

High Feelings (3+)

2

(23 − 21) 21

(13 − 15) 15

= . 190

= . 267

Then I did the same for “yesterday” Table 5 Yesterday

0 to 2 hours

3+ hours

Total

Low Feelings (1-3)

25

8

33

High Feelings (4+)

10

5

15

Total

35

13

48

Yesterday

0 to 2 hours

3+ hours

Total

Low Feelings (1-3)

35 × 33 48

= 24. 0625

13 × 33 48

= 8. 9

33

High Feelings (4+)

35 × 15 48

= 10. 9

13 × 15 48

= 4. 1

15

Total

35

Table 6

13

48

Table 7 Yesterday

0 to 2 hours

3+ hours

Low Feeling (1-3)

(25 − 24.0625) 24.0625

High Feelings (4+)

(10 − 10.9) 10.9

2

2

= . 04

2

(8 − 8.9) 8.9

= . 091

2

= . 074

(5 − 4.1) 4.1

= . 198

11

Analysis Interpretation When performing Chi’s independence test, p-value > .05 must be used. If the p-value is greater than .05, that indicates that there is significant association between two variables that are being tested. In my mathematical analysis, almost every p value is greater than 0.05. This indicates that there is significant association between the two variables, a person’s wellbeing and time spent on social media. There is an outlier, .04 which is someone feeling 1-3 and has spent 0-2 hours on social media that day. This does not significantly impact my results because it is clear that there is an association between time on social media and how someone is feeling that day.

Reflection Overall, I believe that this was a successful experiment. By surveying people randomly, I was able to come to a conclusion that social media usage affects teenager’s mental health. Additionally, I believe that these results can be used in the future for people to see how they can manage their time on social media. By doing this, people may find themselves in a state of better well being just by limiting their time on social media. Even though this was a successful experiment, there were a few aspects that could be improved if this were to be repeated. For example, I would have liked there to be more participants in this survey. I received 48 responses out of the 170 students in the high school. While this is a large part of the high school, I still would’ve liked to have more responses to have more accurate results. Additionally, I had received submissions after I had done my mathematical analysis. If I were to repeat the experiment, I would add a timestamp or a date marker so I would have all of my results in without receiving extra that I can’t use.

12

Appendix Questionnaire

13

14

15

Responses

16

1

Willa Umansky The Co-Construction of Identity in Building a Fan Base The One Direction craze of the 2010s interested me greatly, given that I was apart of it as a youngster and still identify with the “fandom”. The level of dedication from fans over the last thirteen years is so mind bogglingly impressive that I thought to investigate the psychology behind this and the marketing strategies used to employ the obsessive nature of fans. I wish that I had more space to map all of this out more thouroughly, however I’m proud of the job that I did within the confines of a 4,000 word limit.

The Co-Construction of Identity in Building a Fan Base RQ: To what extent has the co-construction of identity and emotional marketing strategies led to the financial success for One Direction between 2012-2015?

Subject: World Studies Theme: Culture, Language, Identity Global Issue: Gender dynamics in demographic marketing Personal Code: kmj003 Word Count: 3596

2

Table of Contents Introduction Background Psychology The Importance of Idol Worship in Developing a Fanbase Developing Consumer Loyalty Through Co-Construction of Identity Coconstruction of Identity and Social Media Business Social Marketing Marketing and Business Theory Quantifying Success Conclusion

3 3 4 4 4 6 7 8 9 10

3

Introduction Boy Bands are a cultural marker of our time and that begs the question of why? The Backstreet Boys, NSYNC, BTS, and even the Beatles have demonstrated what an absolute gold mine of a market boy bands can be. Every boy band craze that has old men on television complaining about “music these days” causes one to wonder, what makes a boy band so unique? The main player in the success and hype that defines the culture of boy bands is the concept of the modern fangirl.

Traits of the modern fangirl include: excessive Twitter use, hatred for new fans, gatekeeping tendencies, an overwhelming and uneven sense of closeness to the people they “stan” (stalker fan), unhinged behavior (such as hacking into security cameras to catch a glimpse of their favorite celebrity), ability to start and end online trends, etc.1 But what was the groundwork for this new concept of a modern fangirl? Shockingly or not, depending on how you look at it, this concept stems from gendered demographic marketing strategies implemented by the management teams of boy bands.

Background The modern fangirl is an ever-present concept in the lives of anyone on the internet. They’re the ones commenting about their favorite singer’s new single on any random tweet, launching DIY media campaigns for songs that they think didn’t get the hype they should, and canceling anyone who dares to disrespect their faves. But how did they come to be? I firmly believe that One Direction’s marketing truly spearheaded what we think of as The Modern Fangirl.

During the seventh season of X Factor five different boys from all over the UK, whose ages ranged from 16-18, auditioned individually. They all made it past the auditions, but were eliminated during bootcamp. However minutes after Louis Tomlinson, Zayn Malik, Liam Payne, Niall Horan, and Harry Styles were called back to the stage and given the choice to go home as solo artists or stay on the show as a group, they chose to stay. The boys began doing weekly video diaries where they would answer fan questions and goof around, which was retrospectively their first marketing campaign. With a compilation of the video diaries having over six million views on youtube.2 They received massive amounts of support on social media. They actually ended up only placing third, which was probably a strategy done by Sony to give themselves a leg up in contract negotiation with the boys, but nevertheless their careers had begun. Developing a better understanding of identity and emotional marketing strategies will aid in understanding the success and growth in market share for One Direction because of how central they both are to their success.

Psychology

1 2

(“Stan”) (“One Direction Video Diaries (ALL)”)

4

The Importance of Idol Worship in Developing a Fanbase In order to understand the outlandish success of One Direction it is pivotal to understand the psychological concepts such as cult of personality and idol worship that contributed to their success. Cult of personality and idol worship, both concepts may seem a bit extreme when applied to One Direction and their loyal Directioners, but they are entirely applicable. Many people are idolized for their talents, in fact, it is natural to uplift someone when they achieve something spectacular in their field. There just so happens to be something about musicians, actors, and model types in our modern world that make them incredibly appealing to the public. Cult of Personality occurs when a public figure is presented to the masses as someone great who should be looked up to and adored.3 The thing that differentiates the target of a cult of personality from a regular idol is the way that the target, unlike in idol worship, will be admired for their flaws4. Flaws or struggles like the way that Harry has asthma, Liam’s struggle with alcohol, Louis’ loss of his mom and sister, or Zayn’s eating disorder made them more relatable to fans. There was a period of time where fan’s thought that management was turning down Niall’s microphone so they would cheer extra loud for him, demonstrating that flaws and weaknesses were interpreted as relatability. The relatability that stems from the apparent flaws of people you admire creates even more of a cult-like following because now The Modern Fangirl can see herself in the idol she worships.

Developing Consumer Loyalty Through Co-Construction of Identity Developing loyalty in a fanbase goes beyond creating an idolic image for a celebrity presented to the public. Actual brain cells are involved in the process, these cells are called mirror neurons.5 Watching someone perform an action triggers mirror neurons in the brain, which can make the viewer feel like they’re performing the action as well. Especially when there is an emotional tie between the watcher and the doer, the viewer will feel a “vicarious sense of success” according to Indiana University professor of psychological sciences Ed Hirt.6 With a fan that is experiencing the psychological effects of obliviously worshiping an idol while simultaneously having neurons in their brain that literally deeply emotionally connect them to that idol they are bound to fall victim to being the ideal target of emotionally manipulative marketing. The Modern Fangirl was doomed from the start, from her first glimpse of an edit on twitter, she was bound to fall victim to the scientifically explainable obsession with her favorite star.

Initially introduced in a reality television format, One Direction and their marketing team were handed a group of over-emotionally invested fans on a silver platter. Beginning the band in a reality television space was the first step of One Direction’s perfect marketing storm, that coupled with the rise of social media during the rise of One Direction led to the easy opportunity for marketers to target their ideal demographic. Fans were able to construct an identity for the 1D boys alongside their own as they all grew into the social media age together. This makes for a concept 3

(“Cult of personality Definition & Meaning”) (“Idol Worship and Personality Cult - This is NOT Greatest Site”) 5 (WINERMAN) 6 (Booth) 4

5

called the co-construction of identity, which describes the way in which fans are able to (to some degree) construct their ideal persona and project that on their favorite celebrity or fictional character.7 Brands like One Direction tell stories about themselves through song lyrics, media campaigns, social media, etc, however, they also need fans to tell stories about them to maintain relevance, which is where the co-construction comes into play. They need to have fans talking about them and co-constructing identities alongside their own in order to remain relevant. This creates a very asymmetrical sense of intimacy with the individual that they are obsessing over. The malleability of the falsely constructed identity is attractive to The Modern Fangirl because she is able to somehow insert herself into the life of her favorite star, an example of this is two prevalent fanfiction tropes that demonstrate different manifestations of this need for intimacy between fan and star: self/fan insertion fanfictions and observer fanfiction.8 Self-insertion fanfictions are the standard fanfiction that one imagines when they hear the word, the kind where The Modern Fangirl can write herself into the celebrity sphere, that she is so obsessed with, and eventually fall madly in love with her favorite star. Self insertion fanfictions about One Direction are a tangible expression of the success of the hypersexualized marketing tactics used for the band that targets the repressed sexuality of young girls in our society. The songwriters of One Direction actually played into this trope by writing vague songs where fans can easily insert themselves into the role of whatever woman the boys are singing to and/or about. The other popular fanfiction trope is observer fanfictions, or in other words (generally speaking) the tales of secret gay relationships.9 This demonstrates the perceived closeness that fans feel with their favorite celebrity, by “proving” how well they know their celebrity by being savvy to the celebrity’s closeted queerness. It is arguable that both of these tropes are manifestations of the way that fans desperately wish to know their favorite stars. Both of these very popular and accessible fanfiction tropes demonstrate how well the coconstruction trick worked from the get-go. The fanfictions started being written about the boys within months of their public debut, highlighting how quickly they were able to make fans feel an attachment to them.10 Fanfictions are the vehicle in which people are able to play out their delusional co-constructions of identity with the band, which in turn promotes ticket and merchandise sales.

The concept of parasocial relationships originated in 1956 when Donald Horton and R. Richard Wohl published a piece in Psychiatry titled, Mass Communication and Para-Social Interaction: Observations on Intimacy at a Distance11. The term refers to when one individual dedicates emotional energy, time, interest, and more to another person who is unaware of their existence.12 Our dive into a media-ruled world allows for people to have 24-hour access to socials, giving them more of a chance to fall into an obsessive, one-sided relationship with their favorite 7

(Lovelock) (Lovelock) 9 (Lovelock) 10 (“13 Years Old One Direction Fanfiction Stories”) 11 (“What Is a Parasocial Relationship?”) (“Parasocial Interactions and Relationships with Media Characters--An Inventory of 60 Years of Research”) 12 (“What Is a Parasocial Relationship?”)

8

6

stars. This obsession leaves room for management companies to continue to capitlize on the deluded emotional connections that fans feel towards celebrities which in turn drives up ticket sales, merchandise sales, social media followings, and overall cultural relevance for the stars. Yet another way that The Modern Fangirl’s unrequited love for Harry Styles was fated.

Coconstruction of Identity and Social Media

13

Above is a graph demonstrating the massive growth in market share for influencers since 2016, the year that influencers began being seen as such. Social media is probably the most important way to distribute content and connect with fans these days. In fact, the presence of social media in our society has completely warped the classifications of celebrity status within the celebrity sphere, creating an entirely new type of celebrity known as the influencer. The presence of influencers have forced celebrities to embrace social media as a means of communicating with fans. In 2022 it is clearly an integral part of a celebrity and fan relationship, but the powers that rule One Direction recognized that early and utilized it. The come up of the group being tied to the come up of social media is what created such a quick fanbase for them. It all started with teen girls in the UK who found the boys cute after watching The X Factor tweeting about the boys, then their friends and followers would see, then the whole thing snowballed. In the case of One Direction, there are two lines of communication with the group. The main means of communication was through the record label or the group themselves, which can look like anything between addressing fans at concerts or the label making announcements about new music. The secondary line of communication, which can prove more useful than the first in the digital world, is the use of social media.

The way that social media seemingly removes all barriers between star and fan only allows for further delusion within the parasocial relationship at hand. Whenever a successful boy band emerges, they are often compared to the Beatles. In reflecting on the differing and similar 13

(“Key Influencer Marketing Statistics You Need to Know for 2022”)

7

characteristics of Beatlemania and crazed 1D fans the only notable difference is the presence of social media. There is no intense psychological or chemical difference between teen fangirls in the 1960s and 2010s, but those in the digital age are able to fully immerse themselves into their obsession.

Between taking part in fandom on twitter or tumblr, watching video compilations of the boys on youtube, and stalking internet tabloids the modern fangirl is able to live entirely in a world of parasocial delusion.

Business Social Marketing Referring to this group of young men as a brand may seem bizarre, but it’s because that title describes them exactly. While fans are constructing their lust-filled versions of these guys, their management is doing the behind-the-scenes work to make sure that is able to happen. This is evident through the evolution of their fashion style, which was rumored to be blowing around $78,000 a year in costs.14 They were all given a strict dress code to follow and had their respective roles. Harry was the ladies man with an eye for quirky fashion, Niall was the boy-next-door type, Zayn was the artsy bad boy, Liam was the golden retriever nice guy who you could bring home to your mom, and Louis was similar to Zayn except a little bit more sexually ambiguous. The lack of a uniform aesthetic for all of the boys made it so they looked like a band of friends rather than a homogenized music group that existed solely for financial gain.15 This catered to their ever relatable image that kept teen girls across the world wrapped around their fingers.

The self-assuredness of One Direction as a brand is what ultimately determined their success.

They knew who they were from the get-go. Early on they had already identified their consumer base, teenage girls who would eventually become The Modern Fangirl, and never strayed from it.

Sure, here and there they would attract fans outside of that demographic, but for the five straight years that they were together the marketing demographic was clear. They were also hyper aware of the deep, and potentially unhealthy, emotional connections that fans felt towards the boys.

Marketing and Business Theory Marketing is so much more than just the advertising of products, it is the complete construction of a brand image from which you attract consumers. “Marketing is the management process responsible for identifying, anticipating, and satisfying customer needs”.16 Marketing wholly encompasses: Market research, pricing, product design, advertising, and more.17 Every single one of these boxes that need to be checked, though they don’t necessarily sound applicable to a group of humans, they absolutely can be applied to the marketing of One Direction. Market research is clearly applicable, but they knew their demographic from day one and absolutely never strayed from 14

(Edwards and Brankin) (Morris) 16 (Smith and Stimpson #) 17 (Smith and Stimpson #337) 15

8

marketing to them. Product design has a less obvious connection, but this applies to their public storylines and individual aesthetics. What separates the marketing of the band from the marketing of a product is the ability that the boys have to connect with fans. The use of the emotional connection to hook your consumer base is growing more and more popular, as we see businesses relying on their products to simply sell dying out. One Direction fell into an interesting part of business marketing because it wasn’t explicitly a service or a good. Concerts could be classified as services, while merchandise goods. The bandwidth of the brand One Direction made it impossible to classify whether strategies for marketing goods or services should have been implemented. What was, however, very apparent was the perceived value from the consumer’s perspective of One Direction.

Perceived value is how much the consumer believes that the service or good they are paying for is worth.18 The band had been a hit from day one, they could successfully make the consumer equate a feeling of high worth to their services which would inherently plant the seed for an emotional connection to the band. They used social marketing as a tool to effectively work on balancing: company profits, consumer wants, and social interests. One way in which they brilliantly honed in on all three of these goals, was their wildly successful and popular marketing campaigns.

Like any Simon Cowell made band would have, One Direction had a habit of launching incredibly successful media campaigns. They would make some goal for fans, like free tickets or something of the sort, but essentially end up manipulating fans into generating free publicity for them. One example of that was a campaign called Bring me to 1D. In 2012 there was an international campaign that had fans from across the world competing for a golden ticket to the One Direction show at Madison Square Garden. Each country had specific guidelines, for instance, Norwegian fans had to make videos with loads of people saying “We love One Direction”, while fans from New Zealand had to buy 1D dolls.19 Another program that was less of a media campaign and more of a one time thing to generate publicity was 1D Day. 1D Day was a live TV program aired on the 23rd of November in 2013. It was a seven-hour live stream that was intended, according to a tweet from Niall Horan, “give back to fans”. Three days before the livestream they announced their special guests, which included anyone in between The Muppets (Kermit and Miss Piggy) and Celine Dion20.

It was these very campaigns that inspired fans to do their own fan projects on large scales.

Project No Control was a DIY fan run marketing campaign that had fans promoting No Control, a song of One Direction’s fourth studio album, like it was a single.21 They even went as far as to call into radio stations asking for it to be played. The reasoning for this is actually really interesting and relates back to that concept of Cult of Personality. Louis Tomlinson had spent years having his mic turned down and receiving the least amount of solo time in all of their songs despite writing the vast majority of them. No Control was the first One Direction song featuring Tomlinson as the essential lead vocalist. Despite management’s hesitation to give Louis any time to shine, fans adored having a 18

(Smith and Stimpson #341) (“Syco and One Direction - “Bring Me to 1D” Campaign”) 20 (“1D Day | One Direction Wiki | Fandom”) 21 (“Project No Control”) 19

9

song with him leading. The Modern Fangirl doesn’t take kindly to anyone putting down her favorite star, even their own managemen. To prove a point to management, fans launched Project No Control. One Direction’s emotional marketing strategies were so successful that they had fans doing their promotion for them.

Quantifying Success

22

The above graph charts the obvious growth in networth for One Direction, but fan engagement, though not quantifiable in the same way, is a far better metric of success. Also the data was taken from 2012-2015 which was the height of their career, but the reach of One Direction as a brand has expanded since their disbanding. The way that the 10-year anniversary of the band back in 2020 played out is a great way to demonstrate their lasting success. According to billboard, the band reclaimed the number two spot on the Social 50 chart, a dystopian ranking of the hottest celebrities for their social media following. There was also a 468% spike in the band’s music catalog on youtube.23 For an event about a band that hasn’t been together in the last 5 years and where the most recognition that fans got about their excitement was an instagram post or a tweet, that is an extreme response from fans. Another example of the continued success of the band is what happened with a website called 10yearsof1d.com. This website was, clearly, made for fan use during 22 23

Statistical information taken from: (Gerencer), graph was self generated (Mercuri)

10

the ten year anniversary of the band. Crazed fans finally had a taste of hope for some sort of interaction between the boys since the band had split up. The website was a genius marketing move because it made fans feel like they had hopes in the delusion of a reunion of sorts. The layout of the site was especially genius, because it was entirely based around unlocking pages and finding hidden messages. This kept The Modern Fangirl strung along and gave them something to do and look forward to throughout the day. It had her making sure that her notifications for all the boys and other affiliated people were on for every social media platform, effectively increasing all of their social media stats.

Conclusion Throughout my research it was hard to find the raw data of their ticket sales and I had to average out the different networths that showed up for the band to graph their success. I also couldn’t find the history of their social media followings, so that was another method of tracking success that I couldn’t do. I still think that my research demonstrates the psychological and scientific reasoning behind fandom culture and the success of the emotional marketing strategies implemented

by One Direction’s management team. Since they were the first boy band to exist in the age of social media, they created a model for other artists to optimize their success. They brilliantly decided their most lucrative fanbase, teenage girls, from the start. As their success grew, they continued to hone the emotional targeting marketting strategies that had proved successful. This form of emotional manipulation proved lasting demonstrated through the events of their ten year anniversary as a band. One Direction management brilliantly utilized emotional marketing strategies to maximize their growth in the collective networth of the band. The importance of One Direction’s success with emotional marketing strategies is that they created a model for other artists. They demonstrated that gender specific demographic and emotional marketing in fact do create a cult-like sense of loyalty among fans. The extent to which the co-construction of identity and emotional marketing strategies actually increased One Direction’s net worth, but the psychological components of fandom culture significantly aided in the success of the band.

11

Works Cited Booth, Stephanie. “Field Guide to the Die-Hard Fan.” Psychology Today, 1 January 2011, https://www.psychologytoday.com/intl/articles/201101/field-guide-the-die-hard-fan. Accessed 12 September 2022.

“Cult of personality Definition & Meaning.” Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/cult%20of%20personality. Accessed 7 October 2022.

Edwards, Natalie, and Emma Brankin. “One Direction earnings: Band spends millions a year to maintain their image and tour | news.com.au — Australia's leading news site.” News.com.au, 3 April 2017, https://www.news.com.au/entertainment/music/tours/the-insane-amount-of-money-one-direction-sp ends-in-a-year/news-story/4660b618f76c87becef63074d5648db1. Accessed 28 November 2022.

Gerencer, Tom. “One Direction Net Worth.” Money Nation, 18 January 2016, https://moneynation.com/one-direction-net-worth/. Accessed 4 October 2022.

“Idol Worship and Personality Cult - This is NOT Greatest Site.” Google Sites, https://sites.google.com/site/lyricsyndrome/articles/features/the-fangirl-phenomenon/idol-worship-a nd-personality-cult. Accessed 12 September 2022.

Jansen, Bernard J., et al. “Evaluating the performance of demographic targeting using gender in sponsored search.” Penn State College of IST, 17 July 2012, https://faculty.ist.psu.edu/jjansen/academic/jansen_gender_ppc.pdf. Accessed 10 October 2022.

“Key Influencer Marketing Statistics You Need to Know for 2022.” https://influencermarketinghub.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/1-1024x807.png. Accessed 28 November 2022.

12 Lovelock, Millicent. “You & I: One Direction, Fans and the Co-Construction of Identity.” OUR Archive

Home, January 2017, https://ourarchive.otago.ac.nz/bitstream/handle/10523/7691/LovelockMillicentE2017MA.pdf?seque nce=1&isAllowed=y. Accessed 7 October 2022.

Mercuri, Monica. “Here Is The Social Media Impact Of One Direction’s 10-Year Anniversary.” Forbes, https://www.forbes.com/sites/monicamercuri/2020/07/31/here-is-the-social-media-impact-of-one-dire ctions-10-year-anniversary/?sh=10b6b81c50a3. Accessed 28 November 2022.

Morris, Lucy. “Analysing The Cynical Marketing Messages Behind One Direction's Outfits.” Grazia Daily, 14 April 2017, https://graziadaily.co.uk/fashion/news/remembering-one-direction-zayn-harry-louis-liam-niall-style/.

Accessed 28 November 2022.

“1D Day | One Direction Wiki | Fandom.” One Direction Wiki, https://onedirection.fandom.com/wiki/1D_Day. Accessed 7 October 2022.

“One Direction Net Worth.” TheRichest, https://www.therichest.com/celebnetworth/celeb/singer/one-direction-net-worth/. Accessed 4 October 2022.

“One Direction Video Diaries (ALL).” YouTube, 2 April 2013, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9B4nbsTdMGg. Accessed 27 November 2022.

“Parasocial Interactions and Relationships with Media Characters--An Inventory of 60 Years of Research.” https://go.gale.com/ps/i.do?id=GALE%7CA621689770&sid=googleScholar&v=2.1&it=r&linkacc ess=abs&issn=01444646&p=AONE&sw=w&userGroupName=anon%7Edbc6efc. Accessed 12 September 2022.

13 “Project No Control.” Fanlore, 14 November 2021, https://fanlore.org/wiki/Project_No_Control. Accessed 28 November 2022.

Smith, Alex, and Peter Stimpson. Business and Management for the IB Diploma. 2011.

“Stan.” Urban Dictionary, https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Stan. Accessed 10 October 2022.

“Syco and One Direction - “Bring Me to 1D” Campaign.” Music Ally, 14 December 2012, https://musically.com/2012/12/14/direction-bring-me-to-1d/. Accessed 28 November 2022.

“13 Years Old One Direction Fanfiction Stories.” Quotev, https://www.quotev.com/stories/c/Fanfiction/c/One-Direction/13+Years+Old. Accessed 27 November 2022.

“What Is a Parasocial Relationship?” Verywell Mind, 22 December 2021, https://www.verywellmind.com/what-is-a-parasocial-relationship-5210770#citation-1. Accessed 12 September 2022.

WINERMAN, LEA. “The mind's mirror.” American Psychological Association, 5 October 2005, https://www.apa.org/monitor/oct05/mirror. Accessed 12 September 2022.

To what extent does the United States Happiness Planet Index (HPI) correlate to its real GDP between 2017 and 2022?

Topic: Economics Candidate Number: kmh977 Word Count: 3868

Table of Contents

Abstract

2

Introduction

3

Methodology

4

Happiness Planet Index

5

Data

7

Various Forms of Wealth

8

The COVID-19 Pandemic

9

Cost of Living

10

Salary

11

Conclusion

14

Deviations in Data

14

Bibliography

17

Abstract This essay investigates the question, “To what extent does the United States Happiness Planet Index (HPI) correlate to its real Gross Domestic Product (rGDP) between 2017 and 2022?”

Firstly, this study helps understand how HPI can measure a nation's sustainable well-being level. The happiness planet index (HPI) is composed of three factors; life expectancy, experienced well-being, and Ecological Footprint. The paper will separately compare these different factors to the salary of Americans.

Subsequently, this essay analyzes the trends in America’s rGDP. Outliers in rGDP data are individually analyzed to see if there is a correlation between the factors of HPI and the rGDP outliers. With these outliers disregarded, the average American lifestyle is compared to the nation’s total happiness.

Finally, this essay analyzes different salary ranges in the US population to see the effect of salary levels on happiness. Even though this topic is very volatile, salary's impact on happiness depends on how salary is acquired. The conclusion of this paper states that as individuals become worse off financially, they end up less happy.

Furthermore, individuals become happier the more significant their wealth is. But as one’s affluence grows, one sees less growth in happiness. There are a lot of different aspects that should be explored in more depth. Still, with the data collected, this conclusion is the most accurate, as it targets the most extensive range of the American population.

Introduction The modern world revolves around money; some live to gain wealth, others live to be happy, and some get both, but many are left in sorrow with little economic opportunity. This research paper will analyze the extent to which the happiness of U.S. citizens, based on the ranking of the Happiness Planet Index (HPI), has real effects on the real Gross Domestic Product (rGDP) per capita. As we grow older, we are taught to question this labor-intensive world we are expected to participate. Labor and employment have always been pillars of the U.S.'s economic advancement/progression. Even if an individual would be happier not working and instead relying on passive income – which limits the number of working hours – it comes with a higher social cost. Active income is needed in an economy since labor is crucial. Without it, many

necessities would be inaccessible to most of the population. Nowadays, technology is replacing labor to facilitate and increase production efficiency. Advancements in technology would not be possible without the evolution of our economy and the labor that has contributed to the research and construction of such new technologies. As our economy grows, our living standards increase. “The Happy Planet Index measures what matters: sustainable wellbeing for all. It tells us how well nations are doing at achieving long, happy, sustainable lives.”1 HPI was conceived

by Nic Marks, who was a researcher at The New Economic Foundation.2 This index considers various factors, including ecological footprint, well-being, and life expectancy. HPI can be used to rank countries by HPI. For example, in 2021, Costa Rica was ranked 1st with an HPI of 62.1, and the U.S. was placed at 122nd place with an HPI of 37.4.3 Quality of life is connected to happiness due to the correlation between health, security, and happiness. The higher one’s living standards are, the more comfortable one will be. Even if the HPI attempts to achieve this measurement of happiness, it will never accurately depict each individual’s happiness and what one bases their joy on. This is because there is no tangible way to compare everyone’s happiness to one another’s. The research on the correlation between HPI and rGDP in America will help us understand the significance of the current medium of exchange in our economy and our reliance on it. The U.S. was the country chosen to analyze because of its global reach and significance.

America is also the world’s biggest economy, with a GDP of $20.89 trillion. 4 The U.S. has the resources to progress faster than other countries, allowing the government to gather accurate data on the factors of HPI because they can allocate more resources to this task. As this extended essay focuses on analyzing the last five years of the American economy, this research is relevant to the current economy.

Methodology To find some of the data in this research paper, I had to brush through several different sources to gather the information I could use to construct data that could relate to my topic. For the correlation between HPI and salary, there was no significant data created on this subject.

Therefore I had to resort to analyzing the factors of HPI (Ecological Footprint, well-being, life 1

“Methodology Paper - Designed - Happy Planet Index.”

“Happy Planet Index.” Slow Food International 3 “Methodology Paper - Designed - Happy Planet Index.”

4 Seth, “Top 15 Countries by GDP in 2022.”

2

expectancy). I resorted to available data between 2001 and 2014. This makes the data not completely relevant to my research questions. However, it helps us understand the overall trend of an American lifestyle and, therefore, can still be used in my analysis. Furthermore, when looking at the Ecological Footprint in correlation to salary, I resorted to using the carbon footprint data as I know it shows a similar curve due to the similarity in negative externalities that each individual creates. As the carbon footprint data does not fit into the calculation of HPI, I estimated the resulting HPI (if it increased or decreased). When estimating the correlation between Ecological Footprint and carbon footprint, as the denominator grows, HPI becomes smaller, showing that the larger the carbon footprint is, the gloomier one will be. I analyzed this data correlated to the data range of salary to find a linear relationship that would lead me to a curve showing the effects of wealth on happiness.

This paper will refer to a chart created by the Well Being Economy Alliance (WEAll) 5, which calculates the HPI for the United States of America and many other countries. Moreover, this paper will analyze a chart created by PBS (Public Broadcasting Service). Still, as there was only an image attached to the website, the data collected from the image is only based on basic assumptions of the size of each bar, making it not entirely accurate. The last source I used was pulled from the article, “Experienced well-being rises with income, even above $75,000 per year” by Matthew A. Killingsworth. 6 Happiness Planet Index Many factors are considered when calculating the HPI of a country: life expectancy, experienced well-being, and Ecological Footprint. All three of these variables can indicate the happiness of a country. However, as we know, everyone views and experiences happiness differently. To approximate the happiness of a country, the equation 𝐿𝑖𝑓𝑒 𝐸𝑥𝑝𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑦 (𝑌𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑠) × 𝐸𝑥𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑖𝑒𝑛𝑐𝑒𝑑 𝑊𝑒𝑙𝑙 𝐵𝑒𝑖𝑛𝑔 (1−10) 𝐸𝑐𝑜𝑙𝑜𝑔𝑖𝑐𝑎𝑙 𝐹𝑜𝑜𝑡𝑝𝑟𝑖𝑛𝑡 (𝑔ℎ𝑎 𝑝𝑒𝑟 𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑠𝑜𝑛)

is used, as all the factors can be seen as

obtainable and will simplify determining one's happiness.7 The first factor, life expectancy, is very easily measured as the U.S. government gathers data on the average age of death each year.8 WEAll, and NewZealand Hub, “Home.”

Killingsworth, Matthew A, “Experienced Well-Being Rises with Income, Even above $75,000 per ... - PNAS.” 7 “Methodology Paper - Designed - Happy Planet Index.”

8 “Life Expectancy in the U.S. Dropped for the Second Year in a Row in 2021.”

5

6

In the past 50 years, American life expectancy has ascended from ​70.8 years in 1970 to 78.9 years in 2019. This increase of 8 years in age throughout the population was due to better health care and hygiene, healthier lifestyles, diet, improved medical care, scientific breakthroughs, and economic growth.9 Unfortunately, after its peak in 2019, the Covid-19 pandemic started to impact our county’s life expectancy as deaths rose to an all-time high, reaching 3,458,697 deaths by 20xx. The Pandemic caused the average life expectancy to plummet to 77.4 years; its decline was further seen in 2021 when life expectancy in the U.S. sank to around 76 years.10 With life expectancy, we can determine the overall health of a country. The second factor that impacts one's happiness is experienced well-being. Experienced well-being is based on the daily positive and negative emotions that citizens experience.11 This factor is the least accurate since it relies on subjective data, where one's opinions of well-being might differ from another person’s perception. This makes the data more volatile as the range of answers will be greater. The question asked by the U.S. government to households is as follows. "Please imagine a ladder with steps numbered from zero at the bottom to 10 at the top. Suppose we say that the top of the ladder represents the best possible life for you; the bottom of the ladder represents the worst possible life for you. On which step of the ladder do you feel you personally stand at the present time, assuming that the higher the step, the better you feel about your life, and the lower the step, the worse you feel about it? Which step comes closest to the way you feel?"12 This question gives the U.S. household ten options which help narrow down the range of data so that experienced well-being can be accurately portrayed. The American government asks such questions because money alone can not foretell one's happiness; in this case, with this data, we can enhance our understanding of the conditions in households that lead to an increase or decrease in experienced well-being.

Lastly, all these factors do not consider the negative externalities created when experiencing happiness. The Ecological Footprint is what accounts for these externalities. A country's Ecological Footprint is calculated by adding all the population's demands which

Quora. “4 Reasons Life Expectancy Has Increased in the Past 200 Years.”

“Life Expectancy (United States of America).”

11 Miret, Marta, et al, “Association of Experienced and Evaluative Well-Being with Health in Nine Countries with Different Income Levels: A Cross-Sectional Study - Globalization and Health.”

12 “OECD Guidelines on Measuring Subjective Well-Being - NCBI Bookshelf.”

9

10

compete for biologically productive space.13 To simplify this, adding the amount a nation consumes per year and dividing that by the amount of land used to harvest that consumption will result in one's nation's Ecological Footprint. The latest data collected on Ecological Footprint was in 2018. During this time, the U.S. had an 8.15 gha Ecological Footprint per person.14 This put them in eighth place behind Mongolia.15 Decreasing the world's Ecological Footprint, which is in our best interest, will cost us money and time, but we need to invest in a greener lifestyle.

These investments will enable future generations to live happier lives as their planet becomes greener, causing fewer negative health impacts to decrease one's happiness.

Furthermore, some people are not willing to invest in the world's future and rather live their happiest life in the present, which could lead to an increase in Ecological Footprint. This widespread lifestyle in the US will create an inhabitable earth in a couple of dozen years.16 Nevertheless, as we make technological improvements, such as the implementation of electric cars into our society and the increased use of renewable energies, we can put society on a sustainable path. Between 2006 and 2020, the United States HPI increased by 5.4, going from 34.3 in 2006 to 39.7 in 2020.17 Data Life Expectancy (years)

13

Ladder of life (0-10)

Ecological Footprint (g ha) HPI

HPI Rank

2006

77.9

7.18

10.12

34.3

2007

78.1

7.51

9.94

35.9

91

2008

78.3

7.28

9.36

36.4

92

2009

78.5

7.16

8.54

37.9

97

2010

78.7

7.16

8.87

37.2

96

2011

78.8

7.12

8.41

38.1

101

2012

78.9

7.03

8.04

38.6

101

“FAQ.” “Open Data Platform.”

15 Ecological Footprint by Country 2023, 16 Press, Associated, and Seth Borenstein. “Landmark UN Climate Change Report: 'Parts of the Planet Will Become Uninhabitable'.”

17 “Methodology Paper - Designed - Happy Planet Index.”

14

2013

78.9

7.25

8.27

39

95

2014

78.9

7.15

8.22

38.6

102

2015

78.9

6.86

8.07

37.7

107

2016

78.9

6.8

8.17

37.2

108

2017

78.9

6.99

8.04

38.3

115

2018

78.9

6.88

8.15

37.4

120

2019

78.9

6.94

8.21

37.4

123

2020

77.4

7.03

7.2

39.7

As we now know what HPI consists of, we can determine how the factors of this measurement correlate to an individual's or nation's real GDP. Gross Domestic Product (GDP) "measures the monetary value of final goods and services—that is, those that are bought by the final user—produced in a country in a given period of time."18 The latest data on the real GDP of the U.S., which differs from GDP as it accounts for the inflation in the economy, was recorded in 2021, when it reached $69,587.5. This puts America in 12th place behind Singapore. 19 According to real GDP, the U.S. has doubled its economic growth in the past 20 years.20 With the massive increase in rGDP, Americans' happiness has steadily increased. The scale of HPI ranges from 0-100, with 100 being the unhappiest someone can be and 0 being the unhappiest. In comparison with other nations, the U.S. has seen a slower growth in happiness over the years as they started 91st in 2007, and in 2019 we see the U.S. in 123rd place, with an HPI of 37.4.21 Many factors can be attributed to the change in happiness, as HPI has not seen a linear increase, alongside the growth in rGDP, in the past 17 years. The factors, besides GDP, that help calculate HPI are not related to money and buying power. From 2013 through 2016 and 2018 to 2019, the U.S. has seen a decline in its happiness despite an increase in rGDP. In 2013 many events, such as Detroit filing for bankruptcy, The Moore, Okla. Tornados, George Zimmerman’s acquittal, and many more occurrences have made the overall population of the United States measurably less happy.22

18

Tim Callen, “Gross Domestic Product: An Economy's All.” “GDP per Capita (Current US$).”

20 Timelines Explorer - Data Commons, 21 “Methodology Paper - Designed - Happy Planet Index.”

22 Staff, TIME. “Top 10 U.S. News Stories.”

19

Furthermore, in 2017 the global economic slowdown, trade tensions, and geopolitical risks affected the well-being of U.S. citizens, decreasing HPI in the following years. Although we do not yet have much data on the Covid-19 Pandemic, we would infer that it did not increase happiness. Still, looking at the data available thus far, we see that at the start of the pandemic, the U.S. saw a shocking increase of 1.3 points to an HPI of 39.7, which would differ from our assumption.

Various Forms of Wealth To further analyze the extent of the correlation between HPI and rGDP, we need to analyze three scenarios that could affect the outcome of happiness. As we all wish that money would fall from trees, this is impossible. However, some could resort to luck and win the lottery.

Winning the lottery is very rare, but it will quickly increase the quantity of money one acquires.

This form of receiving money only requires the cost of buying a single lottery ticket. Making it basically free money will in terms significantly increase one’s happiness as they do not lose anything in the process. There are many scenarios where one has a problem with their winnings, but looking at the bigger picture of gaining money without consequences would seem to bring one joy.

Another way of income is passive income. It is similar to winning the lottery but requires less and a greater upfront cost. An example of passive income is investing in the stock market. Luck is still involved in the stock market, but many “safe” stocks will grant you long-term investment returns. This type of income is the highest risk but offers the biggest rewards, as many make millions trading in the stock market. One’s happiness when investing in stocks might be very volatile as one sees their money increase and decrease by the day. However, as they do not work for this income, they do not lose any happiness by watching their money fluctuate in the stock market. However, considering the initial investment would decrease happiness as this money could have been used to buy goods and services, making one happier.

Lastly, active income. Active income includes wages, salaries, bonuses, commissions, tips, and net earnings from self-employment.23 This type of income is the safest option as this can safely give one a steady flow of income. This type of income is known as a low risk and low reward. As there is a set wage one acquires when working. As one works, one may be unhappy 23

Kagan, Julia. “What Is Active Income?”

and may not value the salary they earn more than their investment in the form of work, making them less happy. Nonetheless, one might enjoy a job and value the invested work. This would then create double the happiness as happiness is not negatively affected by working, and one also gets happiness from their income.

“Conventional wisdom suggests that “money cannot buy you happiness,”24 which entails that one’s goal should not be to get rich. As the data presents, the proportional correlation between HPI and real GDP shows that conventional wisdom is incorrect. Money makes people happier. However, this conclusion can not be final because of the data’s inaccuracy and the variety of people the data analyze. Nevertheless, we can still compare the two variables and create hypothetical conclusions about them. For example, HPI and rGDP might end up being completely separate, and another variable might be the one whose impact more closely affects HPI and rGDP. Therefore, many different theories can be formed according to the data we collected, and many more can be assembled with additional outside information that is still yet to be collected.

Cost of Living, The cost of living is a significant factor when analyzing happiness through the income lens. In different states in the US, money might be worth different amounts. For example, places like New York City and Los Angeles require more money to buy the same amount of goods and services because there is more demand for goods and services in these cities as they are among the biggest cities in the US.

24

Stieg, Cory. “People Actually Are Happier When They Make More Money: Wharton Study.”

25

This diagram above is created from the data found in an article by GOBankingRates called “What Is the Minimum Salary You Need To Be Happy in Every State?” by Gabrielle Olya. The data show that Hawaii is the state that requires the highest salary to be “happy.”

Furthermore, we can analyze that one needs to make a minimum salary of $202,965 to be “happy.” in Hawaii. They also say, “you can settle for emotional well-being [...] at $115,980.”26 Emotional well-being is very different in comparison to happiness. Emotional well-being is where one does not necessarily have to have positive feelings but solely recognize their emotions and can deal with them in a balanced manner. Happiness is when one has more positive feelings than negative ones and is usually harder to reach. Below are the emotional well-being and happiness boundaries for the rest of the states in America.

Salary Let us look at this question from another perspective, such as salary. We will see different results if there is no data available on the Ecological Footprint concerning salary, but using Carbon Footprint to show the same relation to the Salary will help us acquire a vague idea of the correlation. This research paper utilized one’s Carbon Footprint to analyze the connection

25

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1H41Yi--VvrOW3JUD3Ss_e4kJJpr8GX_DLvh1bSLJ_g Q/edit#eoid=604655486 26

Olya, Gabrielle. “What Is the Minimum Salary You Nee d to Be Happy in Every State?”

between the externalities of happiness and rGDP. First, determining the life expectancy in correlation to income to find one of the three factors of HPI.

This data shows that as one becomes affluent or acquires a higher salary, they are expected to live longer. There are many reasons for this, but the most likely is access to good health care.

The curve represents an exponential curve showing that as one becomes older, they are more likely to be rich. However, as one acquires more than $100,000 in wealth, their life expectancy will still increase but not as drastically as before $100,000.

Next, we can analyze experienced well-being and how it is affected by income. This data originates from a research article by Matthew A. Killingsworth called Experienced well-being rises with income, even above $75,000 per year.27

27

Killingsworth, Matthew A. “Experienced Well-Being Rises with Income, Even above $75,000 per ... - PNAS.”

This has around the same trend line as the other graph showing a positive correlation.

However, as we see, the curve has a steeper slope up until the 50000$ mark. This exponential curve shows that there will always be a slight increase in experience well-being as income increases. However, the effect of income on experienced well-being will decrease as one becomes wealthier.

The diagram below shows the correlation between Carbon Footprint and Income. The data below comes from an image with no valid data points, assuming by the eye that these data points are around the correct value they were assigned in the diagram below. This data is from 2019 and might change from year to year, but it gives us an overall view of the average emissions for each salary level.28

28

Taiebat, Morteza, and Ming Xu. “5 Charts Show How Your Household Drives up Global Greenhouse Gas Emissions.”

In this data, we can see a strong positive correlation. As income increases, so makes one’s carbon footprint. This makes sense as the more money one has, the more goods and services one will own and use. Each good or service comes with externalities, such as CO2 emissions. We can see then that we assume that this is proportional to one’s Ecological Footprint; as one becomes richer, one will have a more significant Ecological Footprint.

Conclusion To conclude, there are two types of happiness. One’s day-to-day happiness can be based on current events or stress. Then there is also long-term happiness based on fulfilling relationships, meaningful work, good health, a sense of purpose, personal growth, and contributions to others. It can also be influenced by one's beliefs, values, and mindset, as well as having a positive outlook and gratitude for the present moment.

Research suggests that mindfulness, exercise, and social support can contribute to long-term happiness. Happiness is hard to measure but vital to everyone’s lives. The data above shows no limit to money or happiness; as one becomes affluent, their happiness increases. The different factors that affect happiness are interconnected and can either positively or negatively influence one's overall well-being. Income is a crucial factor affecting happiness levels, as it can provide a sense of security and access to resources that can improve one's quality of life.

However, research has shown that the happiness level does not change drastically after a certain amount of income. This means that money alone cannot bring lasting happiness.

It is also important to note that the ecological impact of affluence has a linear relationship with happiness, which means that as affluence increases, so makes its impact on the environment.

In comparison, life expectancy and perceived happiness do not have a linear relationship.

This highlights the importance of considering the environment and taking steps to minimize its impact on the pursuit of happiness.

Deviations in Data One interpretation based on my knowledge disproves this conclusion: if the population who lives above the poverty line suddenly becomes sick, this would increase the HPI in the nation, making the people happier, which could also suggest an increase in HPI in the year 2020.

This conclusion could also mean multiple things; as a worker gets a raise, the working hours will most likely stay the same. Therefore, making $20 an hour instead of $15 but working the exact amount will make one happier as their work reward increases. The data collected shows that as more people become poor, the country’s happiness also tends to decrease, meaning that more people in poverty will lead to higher HPI. Another factor HPI does not account for is the effects of emotional distress in younger age groups. Since most of the well-being questionnaires are filled out by heads of households, which does not consider the happiness perceived by children, their many emotions, such as depression or other mental illnesses, can not be measured with the current tools. Therefore household leaders do not express the household’s overall well-being via the questionnaire used to measure HPI. Additionally, many factors influence the HPI, such as a nation’s population density. The more people are found in a country. More hectares are needed to feed the population. This, in terms, increases the country’s Ecological Footprint as the ratio between the population and the amount of available land will grow smaller. In 2010 the Ecological Footprint of the U.S. was 8.87 gha and now stands at 7.2 gha.29 With a smaller denominator, the faction eventually becomes more significant, which is one reason we see an increase in HPI. Another component of HPI is life expectancy; as it is very volatile, we can see what the pandemic has done to it.

29

“Methodology Paper - Designed - Happy Planet Index.”

Furthermore, it also depends on the person we are analyzing. One might find wealth a necessity for happiness; the other might prefer a life outside the economy that does not rely on money. Even though everyone can be different, this paper analyzes the average American participating in the economy. This type of person will become less happy because of decreased wealth. All these deviations from the predicted outcome of our correlation between rGDP and HPI are evident. They will always happen in our lives since life is not predictable, and many events might change the outcome of the data.

Bibliography “CDC Museum Covid-19 Timeline.” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 16 Aug. 2022, https://www.cdc.gov/museum/timeline/covid19.html#:~:text=January%2010%2C%202020,%2D nCoV)%20on%20its%20website.

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Zavier Cruickshank Title of Work: An examination of the results of the 1994 Assault Weapon Ban The work that I submitted is my Historical Extended Essay, which I wrote about the 1994 Assault Weapon Ban. The ban attempted to curb the usage of assault weapons in crime, but in my view it was not very effeective. In the essay, I examine the question: To what extent was the 1994 assault weapon ban effective in curbing gun violence and the availability of “assault weapons” in the United States?

1

To what extent was the 1994 assault weapon ban effective in curbing gun violence and the availability of “assault weapons” in the United States?

An examination of the results of the 1994 Assault Weapon Ban

Subject: History Word Count: 3,512

2

Table Of Contents

1. Introduction and Context……………………………………………………………… 2 2. Body…………………………………………………………………………………… 4 a. The effect of the ban on street crime………………………………… 4 b. The effect of the ban on mass shootings……………………………… 6 c. The availability of assault weapons post-ban………………………… 9 3. Conclusion……………………………………………………………………………… 11 4. Works Cited……………………………………………………………………………. 12

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In 1994, the Federal Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act was signed by President Bill Clinton. This bill contained a number of provisions aimed at combatting various ills facing American society, such as the Violence Against Women Act which established the Office on Violence Against Women, as well as the Crime control act of 1994, which banned certain fireams which were deemed “assault weapons”, as well as certain high capacity magazines. However, in the time after the law was passed, some of the bill’s weaknesses came to light. This of course raises the question: To what extent was the 1994 assault weapon ban effective in curbing gun violence and the availability of “assault weapons” in the United States?

While the bill did have some positive effects on gun crime, the evidence seems to indicate that the bill was an overall ineffective attempt at stopping gun violence.

In order to understand the significance of the law, it is important to consider the circumstances in which it was passed. Like many restrictive laws, the assault weapon ban was ushered into place because of a sense of fear. Shootings such as the “Cleveland school masssacre” in 1989, in which an armed gunman named Patrick Purdy killed 5 school children and wounded 30 people in total. According to the NIJ, he was “armed with an AKS rifle—a semiautomatic variant of the military AK–47” (Roth,Koper,1). Of course, this tragedy raised concerns among Americans, especially over weapons with a faster firerate or higher magazine capacity. An astonishingly high number, Purdy allegedly fired more than 100 rounds in 1 minute from his AKS rifle. Unfortunately this tragedy, which was unleashed upon these innocent children, was not an isolated incident. According to the NIJ “this tragedy and other similar acts of seemingly senseless violence, coupled with escalating turf and drug wars waged by urban gangs, sparked a national debate over whether legislation was needed” (Roth,Koper,1) Although there were certainly some dissenters, it would certainly be accurate to say that there was a large

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amount of support for legislation that would restrict these firearms. According to a Gallup poll, about 78 percent of Americans supported making gun legislation more strict in the year 1990, a figure that is significantly higher than any other year on the graph. This level of public outcry continued into the subsequent years, with 70 percent support between 1992 and 1994, where a drop in support can be observed during 1994, possibly due to the ban being passed, which some Americans may have viewed as a sufficient measure (Gallup).

Although a significant attempt at curbing gun violence on a federal level, it was certainly not the first time in history that legislation of this sort was created. A somewhat similar law was passed 8 years prior in 1986, which banned the possession and manufacture of machine guns manufactured after a certain date, except for ones being made for the government. The ATF defines machine guns as “Any weapon which shoots, is designed to shoot, or can be readily restored to shoot, automatically more than one shot, without manually reloading, by a single function of the trigger”(ATF,1). Naturally, this includes all fully automatic weapons, such as the Uzi or Thompson gun, as well as the more traditional machine guns that are more closely associated with the term. This explains the seemingly limited scope of the ban, as it may seem strange to some that the bill focuses on semi-automatic weapons.

The assault weapon ban was somewhat smale scale, placing bans on a relatively small number of semi-automatic guns. These included, but were not limited to: Automatic Kalashnikov rifles (commonly reffered to as AK’s), the Colt AR-15, and the TEC-9 and variants.

Additionally, many “high capacity magazines'', which were classified as magazines capable of holding more than 10 rounds, were banned (Roth, Koper, 2). However, there were several significant weaknesses to these bans. For example: the Colt AR-15 had a legal substitute in the form of the Colt Sporter Match H-Bar, which was also a semi-automatic gun. Making the ban

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ineffective at stopping access to those sorts of weapons. Additionally, there were exploitable loopholes for altering weapons that would make them legal again. It banned exact copies of some guns, however a skilled tinkerer could apply small changes in order to make said guns legal weapons once again. According to a NIJ brief on the law, “Shortening a gun’s barrel by a few millimeters or “sporterizing” a rifle by removing its pistol grip and replacing it with a thumbhole in the stock, for example, was sufficient to transform a banned weapon into a legal substitute”(Roth,Koper,2). Furthermore, the bill possessed a grandfather clause which permitted weapons and magazines which were manufactured prior to the bill passing. While compromises are of course important, especially in a country with the right to bear arms encoded in its constitution; allowing some of the weapons that the government wanted to ban to stay in circulation, undoubtedly hurt the bill’s cause. That being said, the weapons became limited editions by necessity, meaning that the remaining ones may have ended up with collectors rather than criminals. Overall though, the law’s effectiveness was likely impeded by the compromises within it.

The first criteria under which the bill should be evaluated is its effect on street level crime. It is important to note that there were some limitations in data collection for the government, based on the fact that they had to deliver a report to congress on the effects of the law within the first 30 months of it being passed, which limited some of their scope in their initial study. Additionally the bill was allowed to expire after 10 years, preventing a holistic view of its long-term effects. According to an NIJ document, “Criminal use of the banned guns declined, at least temporarily, after the law went into effect, which suggests that the legal stock of preban assault weapons was, at least for the short term, largely in the hands of collectors and dealers”. (Roth,Koper,2). Despite loopholes to the law, it does seem that it was in fact effective at

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limiting the criminal use of those banned weapons. However, it is important to keep in mind that the majority of these guns that were subject to the ban were already somewhat rarely used in gun crimes. According to the NIJ, “most of them rarely turned up in law enforcement agencies’ requests to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (BATF) to trace the sales histories of guns recovered in criminal investigations” (Roth,Koper,2) For example, according to a table provided in this National Institute of Justice document, the Beretta AR-70, a semi-automatic assault rifle, only came up in a single trace request by the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms. (Roth,Koper,3) Therefore, the ban’s overall impact was generally limited by the rarity of the weapons that were subject to restrictions. Additionally, according to the Bureau of Justice, guns aren’t even especially commonplace in violent crime in general. According to a Bureau of Justice study published in 1995, “almost 43.6 million criminal victimizations occurred in 1993, including 4.4 million violent crimes of rape and sexual assault, robbery, and aggravated assault.

Of the victims of these violent crimes, 1.3 million (29%) stated that they faced an offender with a firearm” (Zawitz,1). Although 70% of the murders in 1993 where committed firearms, only 3% of those were with rifles (Zawitz,1,2). Due to the fact that only around a quarter of the stated violent crimes were committed with firearms, as well as the evident lack of rifle usage in street crime, the ban's impact was once again inherently limited; simply due to the fact that a ban on firearms obviously has no bearing on crime not being committed with a firearm.

However, not all of the weapons impacted by the bill were rare in crime. According to the same table, 1202 Intratec firearms and 175 Exact copies of the banned Tec-9 and its variants came up during the ATF’s trace requests in 1993. Additionally, 581 Colt AR-15’s and 99 AR-15 versions from other companies were found in trace requests of guns found in criminal investigations. This indicates that despite some of the bans being practically pointless, as the

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guns were a rarity even before becoming illegal, the law would of course have some sort of effect on criminal usage on other banned weapons. While it is clear that crime was reduced overall around the time that the ban was passed, there was already a downward trend of crime prior to it becoming a law. “From 1980 to 1991, the homicide rate fluctuated between 8 –10 per 100,000 population. After that, the homicide trend began a large, steady decline. Between 1991 and 2000, homicide rates per capita fell from 9.8 to 5.5 per 100,000, a drop of 44 percent”(Levitt, 3) Therefore, it would be unfair to give the assault weapon ban much credit for this successful crime reduction. With this in mind, it is fair to say that the ban had some limited success, although the potential success was unfortunately reduced by an ineffective selection of guns and a prevalent black market.

The second criteria that will be used to evaluate the effectiveness of the ban is its effect on mass shootings. Logically, the ban should have had a larger effect on mass shootings by itself than on other types of gun crimes, because assault weapons are more common in mass shootings, where the shooter’s objective is generally to murder as many people as possible, whereas in organized crime, smaller arms are more common because they are easier to conceal when in public, as well as easier to obtain legally than a rifle. According to a follow up study conducted by the National Institute of Justice assault weapons were used in nearly half of the mass shootings prior to the ban, “AWs[Assault Weapons] or other semiautomatics with LCMs[Large Capacity Magazines] were involved in 6, or 40%, of 15 mass shooting incidents occurring between 1984 and 1993 in which six or more persons were killed or a total of 12 or more were wounded” (Koper, 20). Additionally, mass shootings with assault weapons and larger magazines tend to be more lethal: “In mass shooting incidents (defined as those in which at least 6 persons were killed or at least 12 were wounded) that occurred during the decade preceding the ban,

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offenders using AWs and other semiautomatics with LCMs (sometimes in addition to other guns) claimed an average of 29 victims in comparison to an average of 13 victims for other cases” (Koper,90). Therefore, if the number of assault weapons used during mass shootings was reduced it would likely be followed by a sizable reduction of the lethality of mass shootings, as well as the ease with which they could be committed. This change is supported by the actual statistics to an extent, as it does seem that the amount of mass shootings being carried out with rifles is low after the ban, indicating that they are hard to obtain. According to research carried out by the news organization Mother Jones, of the 12 mass shootings that were carried out between the passing of the ban in September of 1994 and the year 2022, only 4 were executed using assault weapons; defined as shotguns and assault rifles (Follman, Aronsen, Pan). In contrast, in just the 4 year span from the time before the ban passed and 1990, 5 out of the 11 mass shootings that occurred were carried out using assault weapons. Therefore, there is a clear decrease in the amount of assault weapons being used in mass shootings after the ban; with shooters opting for semi-automatic handguns as their murder weapon. (Follman et. al) However, the results on the lethality of shootings is far less conclusive. There does not seem to be any clear trend with the amount of deaths in mass shootings after tha ban is passed, yet that isn’t enough to say that it was unsuccessful, since so many factors come into play when deciding how lethal a shooting will be, such as the location (a school or mall for example), the firearm that the shooter is using, the shooter’s skill with the weapon, and the proximity of the police. Within these categories there is of course even more random chance at play. For example, the location depends on the shooter's access to transportation as well as the shooter's motivation. The location also dictates the availability of the police, as some areas and neighborhoods are more heavily policed than others. Due to the nature of this essay as historical, it would be nearly impossible to

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sufficiently monitor these seemingly mundane details, especially due to the ban occurring in the 1990s; prior to the modern internet. Thus, it would be hasty to conclude that the ban had any kind of effect on the lethality of shootings. In conclusion, while the ban did decrease the frequency with which assault weapons were used in mass shootings, a similar trend was not seen with the lethality of those shootings, indicating that while it is true the ban was visibly effective in the realm of mass shootings, it still saw some small setbacks due to several factors which are difficult to control or predict.

Fortunately, the number of mass shootings committed also seemed to see a decrease as was predicted; with 4 mass shootings occurring in 1993 and only one occurring in each of the 3 subsequent years, according to a Statista graph. In the case of the study which procured the data that Statista used to make the graph, the extremely broad and divisive term “mass shooting” was narrowed down and defined as “any single attack in a public place with four or more fatalities”(Statista, 1). The apparent decrease in the number and frequency of mass shootings over the course of the years following the enactment of the law would seem to indicate that the law was effective in reducing their frequency, potentially by making it harder for potential mass shooters to access the guns that they would prefer to use. However, other parts of the graph indicate that the results are far more complex than that, which makes it difficult to determine how much of the change was because of the ban. For example, after the drop in mass shootings which occurred in 1994, in 1997 the number of shootings began to climb until 1999, where there were 5 mass shootings, which was the highest number among the 1990s. In addition, in the years prior to the ban, similar lows were observed. For example, from 1986 to 1988, three years of only 1 mass shooting per year also occurred. Therefore, one could argue that the apparent decreases were simply natural fluctuations, rather than results of the bam. Due to the apparent

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randomness of the changes, especially when taking into consideration the already apparent fluctuations in the years prior to the ban, it is likely that the changes were due to other factors.

This is especially true, because there is an element of randomness which comes into play when considering when and where mass shooters emerge. People carry out mass shootings for various reasons such as revenge, political ideology, and media attention. Although people might have said underlying desires or motivations for a long time, in order to be able to motivate people to carry out such heinous acts, the person has to reach a level of extremism where they are willing to give up their life and freedom. Of course, it is rare and unlikely for people to reach such a state, and therefore it is hard to predict when mass shootings might appear, as seen on the graph, due to troubled people being everywhere. Therefore, it would seem that the ban’s impact on the number of mass shootings was minimal. In both the number of mass shootings and the lethality of those shootings, the ban did have some impact, however it wasn’t massive. Therefore, it is clear that unexpectedly, the ban’s performance was unusually strong when it came to curbing the prevalence of mass shootings in America. However, when taking into consideration the fact that mass shootings being most impacted is simply the logical conclusion, the ban’s impact is still somewhat miniscule.

The third criteria with which the ban’s effectiveness should be considered is its effect on the availability of these assault weapons. Although it may seem like this ban would have had an entirely negative effect on the availability of the banned firearms, the evidence points to a much more complex situation than that. For example, the ban led to temporarily higher prices and increased manufacturing of the weapons that were to be banned: “The research shows that the ban triggered speculative price increases and ramped-up production of the banned firearms prior to the law’s implementation, followed by a substantial postban drop in prices to levels of

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previous years” (Roth,Koper,2). For a period of time, gun companies rushed to produce as much of the gun as possible before it became illegal. However, as stated, these effects did mostly subsist, proving that the ban’s effect on the market was not as large as one might think. As an example of this, one may look at the AR-15’s prices: “Prices for banned AR–15 rifles, exact copies, and legal substitutes at least doubled in the year preceding the ban, fell to near 1992 levels once the ban took effect, and remained at those levels at least through mid-1996”(Roth,Koper,4). Once again, this indicates that despite speculation from many gun experts that they would become rare collector’s items, they returned to a similar position in a short period of time. In addition, the previously discussed figures for the availability of the banned guns are only representative of those that were sold legally and tracked properly. Of course, there was also a black market for guns present at the time. According to an economist named Steven Levitt, “Given the realities of an active black market in guns… the apparent ineffectiveness of gun control laws should not come as a great surprise to economists. Even in the late 1980s … only about one-fifth of prisoners reported obtaining their guns through licensed gun dealers” (Levitt,12). Due to the fact that many guns were being obtained illegally anyway, it would seem that while the ban may have deterred more petty criminals, criminals with sufficient connections would have been able to circumvent it, once again indicating that the ban had little effect on buyers’ ability to obtain the weapons. This is especially true for certain foreign weapons, which had already been banned from being imported prior to the law taking effect. The AK, Uzi, Beretta AR-70, FN/FAL rifles, and the Steyr AUG were already illegal to import to the US, (Roth,Koper,3) which meant that they were already somewhat rare prior to being placed under the Assault Weapon Ban. Overall, while the ban did have temporary effects on the availability of the weapons, the state of the gun markets seemed to quickly go back to normal.

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In conclusion, the 1994 Assault weapon ban did see some limited success, however it was not enough to offset its many failures. As a result, Congress allowed the law to expire in 2004, indicating that they too felt it was a weak law. In the future, if the federal governemt wishes to implement further restrictions on gun owners, they should use the failures of this law as an example and a learning experience. Based on the law’s poor success, it certainly would not be inaccurate to claim that if the goal was to limit the usage of these guns significantly, this law proved to be simply too lenient and small scale. The relatively small number of gun models that were banned, along with apparently insufficient consideration for which weapons were actually most prevalent in crime, made the bill far less effective than it could have been under better circumstances. Although it is far too late to ban guns in America, it would certainly be possible to curb gun crime more effectively than in the 1994 assault weapon ban. If they do plan to make a major gun control push such as this one in the near future, it would be wise for them to focus on making the law more efficient and targeted; focusing on the guns which actually commit the most murders, namely handguns, rather than the guns which are most dangerous or frightening in theory. Additionally, a large-scale gun control push would be most effective when coupled with an honest and focused effort to address the underlying causes of gun crime in America; such as poverty and mental health. The federal government has yet to adequately address these issues, and until they do, it is possible that the problem of gun crime will continue to persist.

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Works Cited Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics, and Marianne W. Zawitz. Bureau of Justice Statistics Selected Findings, Bureau of Justice Statistics, July 1995. bjs.ojp.gov/content/pub/pdf/GUIC.PDF. Accessed 15 Oct. 2022.

Follman, Mark, et al. “US Mass Shootings, 1982–2022: Data from Mother Jones' Investigation.”

Mother Jones, Mother Jones, 29 Dec. 2012, www.motherjones.com/politics/2012/12/mass-shootings-mother-jones-full-data/.

“Guns.” Gallup.com, Gallup, 6 Dec. 2022, news.gallup.com/poll/1645/guns.aspx.

Levitt, Steven D. “Understanding Why Crime Fell in the 1990s: Four Factors That Explain the Decline and Six That Do Not.” The Journal of Economic Perspectives, vol. 18, no. 1, 2004, pp.

163–90. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/3216880. Accessed 13 Oct. 2022.

“National Firearms Act Definitons.” Firearms - Guides - Importation & Verification of Firearms National Firearms Act Definitions - Machinegun | Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, www.atf.gov/firearms/firearms-guides-importation-verification-firearms-national-firearms-act-defin itions-0#:~:text=26%20U.S.C.%20%C2%A7%205845.

National Institute of Justice, Office of Justice, and Christopher S. Koper. Updated Assessment of the Federal Assault Weapons Ban: Impacts on Gun Markets and Gun Violence, 1994-2003, National Institute of Justice, July 2004. www.ojp.gov/pdffiles1/nij/grants/204431.pdf.

National Institute of Justice, Office of Justice, et al. Impacts of the 1994 Assault Weapons Ban: 1994–96, National Institute of Justice, Mar. 1999. www.ojp.gov/search/results?keys=1994%20assault%20weapon%20ban. Accessed 13 Oct. 2022.

14 “Number of Mass Shootings in the U.S. 1982-2022.” Statista, Statista Research Department, 24 Nov. 2022, www.statista.com/statistics/811487/number-of-mass-shootings-in-the-us/.

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Zoe Bartsch The title of my extended essay is “The Extent to Which Social Media Impacts the Adolescent Mind”. My essay is psychology focused and I decided to explore the ways social media impacts the adolescent mind, specifically in regards to aspects such as body image and confidence. While social media can be an effective tool for communication and connection, it can also lead to increased feelings of pressure and unrealistic expectations. And as social media is increasing in popularity among adolescents and our generation is the first main generation with such extensive access to the online world, I wanted to learn more about the impacts the internet has on the mind of teenagers and center my essay around it.

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The Extent to Which Social Media Impacts the Adolescent Mind “To what extent does social media affect body image and confidence in teenagers, resulting in unrealistic expectations and pressure one places on oneself regarding their appearance and abilities?”

Psychology Word Count: 3896

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Table of Contents

Introduction

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Biological Background

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Social Media and the Mental Health of Adolescents

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Implications

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Conclusion

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Introduction In this day and age, society is experiencing a period of rapid growth surrounding technological developments. New breakthroughs are continuously being made and we are constantly bombarded with further discoveries and information. Humans are currently living in an extremely innovative time period, especially in more developed countries. This also means that as further advancements are made, plenty of information is fairly new and just beginning to be uncovered. New inventions are continually being developed and the effects are still being explored and observed. We are learning everyday and witnessing the effects that arise when innovation is introduced.

One area in human life that is constantly expanding is technology. Technology is constantly growing as a result of the plentiful research being done and the myriad of tools at our disposal. And as a result of this period of rapid growth, social media is present more than ever.

Not only is it more present and continually being refined, but it is also heavily relied on in society. As time has passed, its ubiquity and shift to a highly necessary aspect of living in the modern world has become even more transparent. Nowadays, the internet is heavily interlinked to countless facets of daily life, often necessary for travel, education, the workplace, commerce, news, socialization, and recreation.

All of this has occurred fairly recently as well. The first cell phone was not invented until 1973 and the first iPhone was not around until 2007. Facebook was also not created until 2004 and Instagram was not present until 2010. It is clear that technological developments are much more recent, meaning that their effects are still being assessed. This is significant to take into account, as it signifies that this current generation is being influenced the most by social media

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and today’s adolescents, unlike older generations, are growing up with this new technology and spending much of their time developing online. People are also still becoming aware of how this can effect their minds and either further or hinder their overall growth in this crucial period of transition.

I aim to explore this further in my essay and believe it is suited for this purpose because of how relevant it is not only amongst society but amongst teenagers such as myself. I am constantly witnessing the presence of social media everywhere, especially around teenagers I’m surrounding myself with. I find social media and its effects brought up in many of my conversations and it has a major involvement in my life, as I often find myself in discussions surrounding online occurrences and social media’s influence. As I have become more active on the internet, I have found that I have been witnessing the effects it has on me as well. Because of social media’s strong involvement in my life and the lives of other adolescents and the discussions I have had with other teenagers surrounding its impacts, I want to further explore this and learn about how it effects other young minds.

I plan to accomplish this exploration by first focusing on the biological aspect and learning about areas of the brain that are impacted by the internet and online interactions. Once I obtain further knowledge surrounding this area, I plan to connect this to the manifestation of certain behaviors and thought processes expressed by teenagers. I will be focusing on seeing how strongly social media can influence an adolescent’s mind and change the way they view themselves physically and mentally. This could surround the way they view themselves, certain habits they implement into their daily lives, and the appearance of certain mental struggles or disorders. I then plan to access the length to which the online world can effect young minds from

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the research I have obtained. I will use this to make connections and implications, consider the future and what can be learned from this information, and then conclude my paper.

In order to explore this thoroughly and maintain my focus and overall purpose for my research, I aim to use a variety of credible sources that provide me with information directly linked to my topic. I also will remain focused on the length or “extent” to which the behaviors witnessed are connected to social media and if it truly does impact certain aspects such as self esteem and body image. And I am choosing to keep my research primarily focused on teenagers, exploring how their minds can be more susceptible and gaining insight directly from teenagers themselves. Lastly, I plan to wrap up my essay by bringing everything together and considering the overall implications of what I have found as well as how society can grow from this information.

Ultimately, my essay will be exploring the question of “To what extent does social media affect body image and confidence in teenagers, resulting in unrealistic expectations and pressure one places on oneself regarding their appearance and abilities?”

Biological Background According to Tufts Communications and Marketing, social media is “the means of interactions among people in which they create, share, and/or exchange information and ideas in virtual communities and networks”. In order to further investigate social media and the extent to which it effects young minds during these interactions and exchanges, it is important to explore the biological aspect of social media and the impact it has on the brain, as this helps one form an understanding of how this biology can be shown through one’s thoughts and behaviors. One is able to gain insight on the direct link internet use can have with the brain’s function.

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When considering areas of the brain particularly vulnerable to online influence, an important neurotransmitter to discuss with an active role in motivation, memory, activity, attention, and more is dopamine. This chemical signal works to carry information from one neuron to another. It is present in all specimens and can be seen even more in humans due to our consumption of meat and seafood. When we do anything involved with pleasure and satisfaction, dopamine works as a reward system for positive behaviors and encourages us to repeat them.

Dopamine is also linked to love, attention, and addiction. While dopamine is essential for life and offers great benefits, too much dopamine can be dangerous and can result in addiction to anything that triggered the increase initially. Dopamine releases that take place in the prefrontal cortex strengthen the memory, although too much or too little dopamine can be harmful.

When someone takes a drug or consumes another addictive substance, dopamine releases and stays in the brain longer than its usual duration, leading to intensified pleasure and a craving for more of the substance. This serves as both a reward and leads to us awaiting our next pleasure release. This is often referred to as the “dopamine loop”, which occurs when the brain adjusts to a higher amount of dopamine and begins yearning for more and more of the addictive chemical.

Technology has a great influence on the brain and is capable of causing stress, which can shut down the prefrontal cortex. This area of the mind normally places a limit on dopamine and our feelings of pleasure we get from rewards. Furthermore, the behaviors we engage in when interacting online combined with the brain’s neuroplasticity allow our minds to be easily shifted and influenced. Even simply sending a text message through the phone can provide a burst of euphoria and cause the person to seek this burst more.

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Big technology companies are knowledgeable about how this cycle of dopamine rush works and serve to perpetuate it further. The way the internet is designed gives it a strong ability to absorb the focus of users. Its algorithm works to muffle content that doesn’t receive as much attention and then keep track of and increase content that does receive plenty of attention. Major technology companies and creators have been known to exploit this component of the online world by observing and testing various features of their programs to see if they can increase levels of engagement. This is often done without concern for the mental health and welfare of users.

An additional aspect that is becoming increasingly evident as technology develops is that internet use from teenagers is much more frequent among the younger generation than adults.

This can partly be attributed to the fact that adults have grown up without internet and witnessed the change from a world without internet to a world full of internet firsthand. Teenagers, however, have grown up entirely within an internet-reliant world, especially in more developed countries.

Teenagers’ vulnerability to social media can also be attributed to the fact that their brains are not as developed and do not have the same cognitive abilities as the brains of adults. While those who are grown are more capable of thinking logically as a result of a more advanced frontal cortex, younger adults rely more heavily on emotion perpetuated by the sensitive and reactive amygdala.

Between the ages of ten and twelve, the brain undergoes specific transformations that result in an emphasis on social rewards; they begin to provide more satisfaction and pleasure.

This results in the adolescent desiring them and pursuing them further. This becomes present when the receptors for dopamine and oxytocin, commonly known as the “happy hormones”,

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begin to heavily increase in an area of the brain known as the ventral striatum. This makes preteens more reactive to the attention and appreciation others provide them. This appears evident through the teenager craving further validation. Another area of the brain with a connection is the ventral pallidum. This part, which is located next to the ventral striatum, is a part of the brain that is highly responsible for motivating behaviors. These two regions are older sections of the brain that are in charge of instinctual actions.

While social media is connected to these two structures in the brain being activated in adults as well, this occurs at a much lower rate. This is partly due to adults having the ability to rely less on receiving admiration from others. Additionally, the prefrontal cortex is more mature in adults, resulting in a more controlled response to social rewards.

Social Media and the Mental Health of Adolescents Prior to social media’s success, this desire for attention and approval has often had positive connotations, allowing adolescents to explore healthy ways to socialize and connect with both their environment and others. However, as a result of social media’s rise, the implications of this are fairly different today. Now, teenagers and everyone else can continue to search for and provide further social rewards through means such as likes, comments, follows, shares, views, and more. Furthermore, these online exchanges also tend to be quite permanent and public, which raises the stakes even higher. Children and young adults often long to “go viral” or receive attention from large groups of people. And unlike what is said in the real world, what is posted online can often remain there permanently, posing a risk for users.

There has been concern shown from parents, doctors, teachers, scientists, and more about how an adolescent’s biology can put them at a greater risk of falling under social media’s influence as they increase their presence online. This has already been apparent, as issues such as

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poor body image and self esteem have been more evident in younger social media users than older social media users. While previously body standards were portrayed through media such as the radio, television, and magazines, the spread of social media is now another main source of these expectations.

As a result of social media use, teenagers can experience a variety of new thought processes and even undergo certain mental health struggles. When one continues to use social media in hopes of another reward, especially a younger person, disappointment can be very difficult. Not receiving what is considered a sufficient amount of attention through likes, comments, and views can be disappointing, especially when compared to others’ accounts.

Social media use leads to a constant search for validation, and not obtaining this validation can be distressing for youth.

According to the Pew Research Center in 2018, 95% of 13-17 year olds either have or are able to access a smartphone, 72% of them are active on Instagram, and 41% are present on Snapchat. And this number is only increasing, with 97% of teens reporting that they use social media daily, compared with 92% in 2014-2015. Furthermore, it is becoming increasingly difficult to get off of social media, with over 54% of teenagers claiming that it would be either very difficult or somewhat difficult to quit social media. This constant use of and direct accessibility to social media can be detrimental to the mental health of teenagers, as children and teenagers are constantly online and exposed to the far-reaching content at their disposal. This, combined with the brain’s neuroplasticity and their vulnerability to appraisal, can cause them to begin developing new habits and comparing their appearances to mutuals and influencers on social media. This can occur despite only seeing a fraction of these people's’ seemingly flawless lifestyles.

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An additional issue is that although social media platforms typically specify an age minimum, the majority of teenagers and pre-teens don’t heed to this guideline, often lying about their date of birth, which quickly grants them access to the online world. There are no strict measures to detect the true age of the adolescent, which is something that a parent should keep in mind when providing their child with a smartphone or access to the internet.

One area that is often noted when considering the internet’s influence is the adolescent’s self-esteem and body image. The media puts out this unrealistic ideal of only one body type that is quite unobtainable for many, yet teenagers proceed to chase after this ideal. There is an eversopresent pressure to appear “perfect” on the internet and adjust one’s body to accomplish this perfection. Despite this being a hopeless pursuit due to the fact that each individual has different genetics and a unique composition, younger minds ignore the science and yearn to achieve the unachievable.

This pressure can lead to teenagers making use of editing apps and certain angles to make their bodies appear differently online. There are a variety of online programs and editing software that are known to help them accomplish this goal. This editing only further confuses the minds of others, as they believe these alterations are real and attainable. Teenagers may also resort to more dangerous measures such as starvation, overexercising, and self-harm, which is highly destructive to their overall health. According to a study done by the University of California School of Medicine, 44% of young girls perceived themselves as over their ideal weight and 60% were actively pursuing weight loss despite the majority of these participants being within what was considered a “normal” weight range. The internet is causing young adults to have a greater dissastisfaction with their bodies while altering the way they view themselves, leading to increased cases of body dysmorphic disorder.

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Body dissatisfaction can have other negative impacts on mental health as well, with teenagers reporting higher levels of anxiety and depression, worsening sleep quality, and a declining self-esteem. This results in feelings of inadequacy and isolation. Additionally, these societal expectations tend to differ between young men and young women. Teenage girls are often faced with the pressure to appear lean and have a petite figure, while young boys feel a need to look muscular. This results in girls depriving themselves of food and nutrients necessary for their growth and development and boys feeling a pressure to constantly work out and be overly attentive to their nutrient intake.

Specific teenagers have spoken out about this issue and the effect it has had on them.

According to the NewYork Times, one teenage girl commented, “I have seen weight loss videos that make no physical sense, and I know girls take unreasonable measures to achieve their goals.

But even knowing that it can be unhealthy, I can’t help but ask myself if just a little overexercising or a little starvation could pay off”. Another teenager noted the effect these online pressures can have on young males. They shared, “For men, there is often competition to be physically strong as well as emotionally strong. Social media images of ‘strong’ men influence younger and younger boys who change their eating, exercise, and social habits”. It is evident from this that teenagers can clearly see these effects and how they differ amongst girls versus boys.

Adolescents have also been experiencing other emotions, such as feelings of loneliness, perpetuated by seeing others posting pictures going out and spending time with large groups of friends. They also feel inadequate when it comes to style, possessions, money, lifestyle, and more. There are a variety of reasons for this.

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One source of these struggles are the increasingly common presence of those with a strong online persona, commonly referred to as “influencers”. Since the rise of social media, the term “influencer” has become much more popular amongst adolescents. Influencers are typically people who have “the ability to influence the behavior or opinions of others” (according to the Cambridge Dictionary). Social media influencers can vary in following and can have specific niches and characteristics that attract different viewers. Teenagers spend much of their time online interacting with influencer pages and taking inspiration from their postings. Influencers can provide a source of entertainment, guidance, inspiration, and more. However, they can also inspire harmful lifestyles and cause teenagers to engage in risky behaviors at an early age. Many are also highly unrealistic online, portraying a perfect lifestyle and not showing the flaws or imperfections. And while there are a multitude of positive online influencers, not all young people are proficient at seeking out these influencers. Once teenagers learn how to properly differentiate between the positive influencers rather than the negative influencers, their social media use can be much more safe; this just isn’t always so easy.

Another difficulty teenagers face online is commonly referred to as FOMO, or fear of missing out. This phrase, which has heavily increased in use since the rise of social media, indicates that someone is feeling unease and concern about missing out on potential experiences and opportunities. Moreover, when someone is not feeling included in an event or group discussion, this can leave them feeling down. Before social media, people weren’t as aware of events around them or activities others were engaging in. Now, social media allows them to view what everyone is up to, which makes them more aware of what they are missing and less fulfilled overall. This can be detrimental to their self-esteem and leave them feeling isolated and unsatisfied with their quality of life.

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Furthermore, unlike adults, youth are not as adept at differentiating truth from false. This means that they can often fall victim to the spread of misinformation. On a platform where users have plenty of flexibility to post what they feel like without repercussions (with a few exceptions), misinformation can be spread easily and become increasingly difficult to contain.

According to Unicef, “The algorithms that are designed to serve up content that captures user attention and encourage sharing are also likely to promote misleading clickbait, conspiratorial rhetoric, and harmful mis/disinformation that endangers children, currently at marginal cost to content creators and technological companies”. This can be harmful to young minds, which are not as proficient at spotting false claims. Furthermore, these claims can spread quickly on social media, leading to a wide population of children and teens being exposed to false information.

The dissemination of fake news and unfounded statements as well as the rise of “clickbait” can subconsciously influence the minds of teenagers who don’t have the cognitive ability to combat this influence. This can cause harmful views and behaviors surrounding one’s appearance and traits.

While these various areas can directly lead to a worsened mental state, outside factors can be impacted as well, such as sleep. Studies have found direct correlations between social media use and amount of sleep, with many receiving less sleep the more they are online. Because teenagers are losing sleep due to social media, their mental health quality declines as well. And not only this, but it consumes the time that they would use for other purposes, such as socializing with their family or peers, reading books, playing sports, gaining new skills, and more. They miss out on these experiences and opportunities when spending this extensive time online. This issue combined with teenagers spending much greater time indoors only worsens their mental health and self-esteem, leaving them feeling less accomplished and fulfilled.

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Implications Overall, it is clear that social media is here to stay, playing a strong role in many aspects of our lives. As we continue to make the online world a significant part of our society, one question we must consider is how we can accept this while continuing to better the experience for all users to ensure their health and wellbeing; how we can take this technology and use it for good in order to bring the best out of young minds.

It is certainly evident that social media does impact the mental health of teenagers to a great extent and is capable of swaying their confidence levels and feelings surrounding their bodies and self-esteem. However, they are able to control to an extent what they choose to expose themselves to and also what they allow to affect them; they can decide whether the content they primarily engage with is positive or negative. By educating themselves on proper social media literacy and differentiating true information from false information, they can further protect themselves when online. They can also focus on surrounding themselves with positive influences that make them feel good about their lives. One teen commenting on this shares, “I find that I encounter more body positive content than negative. The reason for this, though, depends on who you follow and surround yourself with, and I make sure to surround myself with and follow those who encourage me instead of putting me down”. This highlights the importance of creating a safe social media environment and interacting with positive communities.

Teenagers are very capable of tailoring their own feed to what they want to see and the life they want to live. That is why it is important for them to learn how to properly surround themselves with the right people who make them feel good rather than insecure about their bodies and abilities. Additionally, their parents or guardians can teach them how to properly navigate social media to ensure that they have a good experience online. There are many sources

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out there that can be inspiring and promote a positive mindset and way of living; it’s just about finding the right places.

Conclusion In the future, people should continue aiming to enhance social media and attain a safe online environment in order to ensure the safety of the younger generations. The effects of the internet should also continue to be evaluated and assessed. One fact that is certain is that social media can drastically influence the young mind. This is a known piece of information, which can be used for good as further developments are made. Society can use this knowledge to ensure that this influence is positive and the online world brings out the best in adolescents.

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Vogels, Emily A., et al. “Teens, Social Media and Technology 2022.” Pew Research Center: Internet, Science & Tech, Pew Research Center, 10 Aug. 2022, https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/2022/08/10/teens-social-media-and-technology-2022/.

Pirdehghan, Azar, et al. “Social Media Use and Sleep Disturbance Among Adolescents: A Cross-Sectional Study.” Iranian Journal of Psychiatry, Psychiatry & Psychology Research Center, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Apr. 2021, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8233562/.

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“The Social Dilemma: Social Media and Your Mental Health.” Here's How Social Media Affects Your Mental Health | McLean Hospital, 21 Jan. 2022, https://www.mcleanhospital.org/essential/it-or-not-social-medias-affecting-your-mental-health.

“The Science Behind Social Media Addiction.” YouTube, Newsy, 10 Apr. 2018, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8pPZ-6MAna8.

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18 Abrams, Zara. “Why Young Brains Are Especially Vulnerable to Social Media.” American Psychological Association, American Psychological Association, 23 Feb. 2022, https://www.apa.org/news/apa/2022/social-media-children-teens.

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