Introduction

The field of decision‐making focuses on normative questions – how should we make decisions if we want to do it right? – and description questions – how do we actually make decisions when dealing with uncertainties? Numerous demonstrations of how people violate the axioms of normative theory have given rise to a deeper understanding of the processes underlying actual decision‐making.

Plato’s criticisms against poetry in the Republic X has been compared to the modern elitist criticisms against television in the 1970s and 80s by Alexander Nehamas. In his “Plato and the Mass Media” (1988), Nehamas explained that the poetry attacked by Plato—either Homer’s epics or the celebrated tragedies performed in theatres—was in the form of “popular entertainment” in the cultural context of Athens in the fifth century B.C.. The aim of my paper is not to endorse the elitist attitude toward the popular entertainment. What I wish to argue is that the variety shown by media does not entail our free choices among the various items. One significant feature of the mass media revealed by Nehamas is that the mimesis (representation/imitation) in it is “transparent.” The “transparent mimesis ” is the representation which mirrors things simply as how they appear to the audience. Due to the transparency, the work of popular entertainment “requires little or no interpretation.” In this paper, I will explore the concept of the “transparent mimesis ” in Plato and compare it with some views in the contemporary aesthetics. On freedom, I will compare it with Adorno. As for the variety shown in the transparent mimesis , I will challenge the idea that Greek art is “realistic,” by consulting the studies of aesthetics by Gombrich, Wollheim, and Halliwell. Mimeisis is not simply resembling the real things, but the things which appear to certain fixed points of views. In contrast with the popular impression that Plato is a variety-hater, my paper aims to show that Plato’s attacks on the mimetic arts come from his defence of our free choices against the false variety. Plato’s fear is not of variety, but of the false variety. The false variety in media imposes simplified fixed points of view on us via “transparent mimesis ” which constrains our perceptions. This deprives us of freedom in Plato’s sense and of our perceptions of the real variety in the aesthetic sense.

A comparative study of research questions written by L1 English authors and Chinese EFL scholars

The 50-year period from 1880 to 1929 is the richest era for theater in American history, certainly in the great number of plays produced and artists who contributed significantly, but also in the centrality of theater in the lives of Americans. As the impact of European modernism began to gradually seep into American theater during the 1880s and quite importantly in the 1890s, more traditional forms of theater gave way to futurism, symbolism, surrealism, and expressionism. American playwrights like Eugene O'Neill, George Kelly, Elmer Rice, Philip Barry, and George S. Kaufman ushered in the Golden Age of American drama. The A to Z of American Theater: Modernism focuses on legitimate drama, both as influenced by European modernism and as impacted by the popular entertainment that also enlivened the era. This is accomplished through a chronology, an introductory essay, a bibliography, and hundreds of cross-referenced entries on plays; music; playwrights; great performers like Maude Adams, Otis Skinner, Julia Marlowe, and E.H. Sothern; producers like David Belasco, Daniel Frohman, and Florenz Ziegfeld; critics; architects; designers; and costumes.

Good for a Girl: Women in Bluegrass. By Murphy Hicks Henry. (Music in American Life.) Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 2013. [xi, 469 p. ISBN 9780252032868 (hardcover), $90; ISBN 9780252079177 (pa- perback), $29.95.] Photographs, sources, bibliography, interviews, index.Serious scholarship in bluegrass, as in popular music generally, does not have a long history; with a few exceptions, most of the major studies have been published since the 1980s. Two foundational histories still essential to contemporary bluegrass researchers are Robert Cantwell's 1984 Bluegrass Breakdown: The Making of the Old Southern Sound and Neil V. Rosenberg's 1985 Bluegrass: A History (revised edition 2005), respectively the twenty-third and twenty- fourth publications in the indispensable se- ries Music in American Life, issued by the University of Illinois Press. As a pair, these studies provided, and continue to provide, bluegrass scholars and fans with a compre- hensive scholarly history of that American- made-but now globally significant-genre, from its roots through the 1970s and early 1980s. Because Cantwell and Rosenberg take such different approaches-the for- mer is a critical, intellectual history of blue- grass while the latter is a straightforward chronological narrative-the two books complement each other and have been most profitably read together. Ending with the long 1970s, a fifteen-year period which saw the greatest diffusion and popular ac- ceptance of bluegrass throughout the United States and the world, these two monographs provided readers with a sys- tematic account of the genre's roots and early history, providing a sound platform for further scholarship.Just under thirty years later, and with 150 intervening volumes in the Music in American Life series (a dozen of them about bluegrass), the University of Illinois Press has published Murphy Hicks Henry's Good for a Girl: Women in Bluegrass, a study that seeks to act as a significant cor- rective to what its author sees as the wide- spread view that bluegrass is a genre domi- nated by men: Pretty Good for a Girl sets out to add some balance to the bluegrass texts by presenting the histories of musical women (p. 6). Henry, a well-known profes- sional banjo player, bluegrass performer, critic, and pedagogue, is certainly qualified to offer such a corrective. Often, books such as these are born in outrage. According to Henry . . this book might not have sprouted wings at all if I hadn't been at the International Bluegrass Music Association Awards (IBMA) show in September 1993. My banjo-picking daugh- ter, Casey, fifteen, and I sat in the audience and watched as a band of young male musi- cians, the Bluegrass Youth All-Stars, was re- ferred to by one of the hosts as the 'future of bluegrass music.' I was livid (p. 1). Challenging this attitude led Henry to cre- ate a database on the subject, edit a quar- terly newsletter (Women in Bluegrass, 1994- 2003), complete an M.A. degree in interdis- ciplinary women's studies (George Mason University, 1999), and eventually, to pub- lish the work at hand.As a book, Good for a Girl has more in common with Rosenberg than Cantwell; that is to say, it is not a theoretical/critical approach to the subject, but a chronologi- cal history, consisting of forty-four short bi- ographies, arranged by decade, and tied to- gether by introductory sections for each time period. Readable, clear, and entertain- ing, most of the biographies average six-and-a-half pages, while nine of them average twelve-and-a-half pages. Not sur- prisingly these tend to be famous acts such as the Stonemans, Alison Krauss, Rhonda Vincent, and the Dixie Chicks. The major exception is the dual biography of Hazel Dickens and Alice Gerrard at twenty-two pages, seemingly, the heart of the work. Although well-researched, it is not what I would call academic, even though the au- thor has such credentials. Based largely on secondary sources-magazine and journal articles from the popular press, published biographies and histories, and liner notes from recordings and DVDs-the added value here is the information gleaned from the large number of interviews and author- instigated e-mail correspondence that at- tempts to fill in the gaps. …

The new governments of the United States rested on contract law, and state-chartered corporations protected by contract law, to an unprecedented extent. Established churches lost their legal standing, and symmetry between religion and commerce developed in this legal context. As commercial organizations advanced industry in ways that transformed society, religious organizations operated in the forefront of developments in print media, interregional organization, and idealism about personhood. While some Americans defended slaveholding Christianity as a legitimate version of Pauline community, others called for the emancipation of slaves and for the abolition of contract law that allowed persons to be owned as property.

Political identity has become a prominent phenomenon in Indonesia's democracy, especially since the Reformasi era, when political openness and freedom have been increasingly recognized. As a multicultural country, Indonesia faces the unique challenge of managing political identities that have the potential to foster solidarity but also risk triggering segregation and conflict. This study explores how political identity affects democracy in Indonesia and the enforcement of the rule of law, emphasizing legal certainty. In the legal context, certainty plays a critical role in maintaining social stability and ensuring equal rights for all citizens without discrimination, whether they are part of the majority or minority groups. Based on a normative approach and literature analysis, this research finds that identity politics in Indonesia often exploits religious and ethnic identities as political tools, sometimes disrupting the principles of equality, law enforcement, and democratic certainty. Legal reform is needed to strengthen human rights protections and create a fair, nondiscriminatory democratic space for all identity groups in Indonesia. It could create a void once the dominant political identity is weakened, allowing minority identities to rise, ultimately posing a new threat to democracy in Indonesia.

This study aims to analyze the cultural role of the Bali indigenous community in mitigating the impact of early marriage using a normative approach. The Bali indigenous community, rich in cultural values and traditions, serves as a significant form of social control within both social and legal contexts. Through normative research methods, this study explores how the Bali Indigenous community implements cultural norms to prevent and address the issue of early marriage. The research methods include legal document analysis, in-depth interviews with indigenous community leaders, and case studies in several traditional villages in the Bali Province. The findings show that the Bali indigenous community has strong social mechanisms for handling early marriage issues, including through traditional ceremonies and moral guidance. This study also identifies the challenges faced by the Indigenous community in exercising social control and how they adapt to social and legal changes. The findings provide insights into the effectiveness of the cultural role of the Indigenous community in preventing the negative impact of early marriage and how this approach can be strengthened. This study is expected to serve as a foundation for the development of better policies to address early marriage and strengthen the role of indigenous communities within the legal and social frameworks.

Authors from NORC at the University of Chicago conducted a five-month rapid assessment of COVID-19’s impact on the Ready Made Garments industry (RMG) in Bangladesh and India with funding from the Global Fund to End Modern Slavery (GFEMS). The research presented here highlights the increased risk of forced labor among vulnerable working populations associated with the COVID-19 pandemic. The rapid assessment addresses descriptive and normative questions about the short- and long-term impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on Bangladesh and India’s RMG industries. Qualitative data collection methods included 19 semi- structured key informant interviews (KIIs) with governmental and non-governmental stakeholders and actors across the RMG supply chain. KIIs were informed by a systematic review of recently published media articles, reports, white papers, and other online content. RMG sector stakeholders, including private sector supply chain actors, policy actors, and implementing partners, can use this research to adapt programs and address the multi-faceted challenges facing apparel workers during a global pandemic.

This is Volume 5 in the A Cultural History of Hinduism Series. The series spans the temporal frame of 2000 B.C.E. to 2017 through six volumes representing distinctive time periods that each contain an introduction plus eight chapters on eight themes that are applicable across all of the time periods: Sources of Authority; Body and Mind; Social Organization and Everyday Norms; Identity, Difference and Dialogue; Power and Politics; Visual Culture; Lineages and Emerging Exemplars and Movements; and Global Context. Each volume may be read on its own, or the reader can examine similarities and differences over time of each specific theme across the time periods represented by the volumes. Volume 5 focuses on developments in the age of late colonialism (1857-1947), including diverse ways of envisioning Hinduism’s relationships to political, social and technological changes characteristic of the period. It explores authority, tradition and modernity; modern science, Hinduism and the body; regional religious reform; ideologies of a distinctive Indian identity; emerging political discourses and religious revival; the impact of images via new print media on devotion and political symbolism; the reinvigoration of sampradaya, monastic institutions and regional networks; and the global spread of Hindus and Hindu teachings.

This essay examines the conditions shaping cinema’s emergence in the early twentieth-century American penitentiary. Cinema entered a prison environment in which the programming of film alongside other popular entertainments, such as lectures, concerts, vaudeville, and musical performances, persisted longer than in the wider society. The essay considers how cinema and other portals to the outside world, such as magazines, books, and newspapers, affected the balance of the senses; the popular press’s fascination with the idea of carceral spectatorship as an alternative to traditional models of a fee-paying audience; and cinema’s role within the “coddling” debate. By the late 1910s, Sing Sing prison, located thirty miles north of New York City, held nightly film screenings and frequently served as a film location for commercial film companies. This essay examines the interlocking institutional, carceral, and imaginative structures that made filmgoing possible for the fifteen hundred inmates in Sing Sing in the early twentieth century.

In the turbulent years of the Weimar Republic, well-known journalists working for leading newspapers regularly covered the proceedings of the criminal court in Berlin-Moabit. In seeking sensational news as well as stories about everyday life in the metropolis, the court provided them with insights into contemporary urban problems such as unemployment, political struggle, gender-based conflict, and crimes of passion. The court and the journalistic coverage of its activities are historically important because they were a locus of legal and social conflicts intermingled with popular entertainment and mass media. This article sheds light on the engagement of the press with criminal trials in Weimar Berlin. By examining material never previously discussed, it claims that, contrary to what is generally believed today, German public opinion did not on the whole accept the idea that criminals could be categorized as a genetically inferior social class. In fact, most crime reporters — who reflected and formed public opinion — argued that the psychological problems of overstrained individuals and inferior living conditions were responsible for most crimes. Offenders were therefore considered as unfortunate ‘ordinary men’, or, more generally, as ‘victims of society’. Some journalists even claimed that crimes passionelles were the result of society’s oppression. This article goes on to argue that the extreme popularity of these reports shows that the journalists’ perspective on criminality met with the approval of contemporary readers and accorded with common views on crime. As part of the larger discourse on ‘victimization’ so important to the Weimar period, this journalistic coverage of the court can help us understand the unique role the criminal played as a central symbol of the German press and public.

The Melodramatic Nation: Integration and Polarization in the Argentine Cinema of the 1930s

The termination of the cooperation agreement between the Bekasi City Government and PT. Kitita Alami Propertindo regarding the revitalization and management of Pondok Gede Market has attracted attention because it involves public interest and complex regulations. This study aims to legally analyze the aspects underlying the unilateral termination of the agreement by the Bekasi City Government due to default by PT. Kitita Alami Propertindo. The research method used is a normative legal approach, which examines the legal aspects of the cooperation agreement with a focus on default and legal procedures for terminating the agreement. The results of the study indicate that the agreement can be unilaterally terminated by the government based on default, but there are legal risks that need to be considered, especially in fulfilling the rights of third parties. In conclusion, the termination of the cooperation agreement in this legal context has implications for both parties, and requires the application of strict rules in resolving contract disputes.

the United States, modified only slightly, though significantly, since the late nineteenth century. On medium-sized farms and in towns that serve them commercially, in cities which lie just out of the suburban commuter's reach, the essence of Victorianism still thrives. It also pervades places where more far-reaching influence is exercised: in prestigious metropolitan clubs, conservative private boarding schools and suburban country clubs, and in the executive dining rooms of Pittsburgh steel companies, for example. This is not to suggest that Victorian ideas and values have disappeared elsewhere. Even the most liberated member of a California commune and the coolest pimp or pusher in a central city ghetto subconsciously hold Victorian precepts to some extent, no matter how vehemently they consciously reject those doctrines. Victorian values implicit in messages from parents, ministers, more acculturated friends and relatives, the mass media, and even teachers have reached them all. The basic elements of a culture are transmitted early in an individual's development, and efforts to change these ordinarily are resisted steadfastly. Furthermore, not all of Victorianism offends contemporary tastes. Values associated with traditional Victorian family roles, for example, retain wide appeal. Nevertheless, unmistakable shifts in the place of crucial Victorian values in American life, and in their nature, have occurred during the twentieth century. Probably the most important aspect of those changes is a loss of confidence in the civilization's conceptual bases. Even the most dedicated twentieth-century adherents of Victorianism suffer from a progressive decrease in certainty more obvious in each succeeding generation that their ideas and values are indisputably true. Twice in the twentieth century, culminating in the 1920's and 1960's, discontent with the prevailing culture became so intense and widespread that strong, organized movements and dense networks of rebellious individuals