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Places and forms of power: Which means have american people used to impose power?

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Par   •  13 Mars 2018  •  Fiche de lecture  •  954 Mots (4 Pages)  •  870 Vues

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I am going to talk about the notion of Places and forms of power. First of all i would like to give a definition of this notion: The term "power" is the capacity to make things happen or not. It is to succed in whatever we undertake. Certain spaces are where the authority takes place. Such as special institutions like buildings, international firms, lobbies or metropolis. In these places, different forms of power exist. For instance there are the political, the economical or the cultural ones. Medias and religions are forms of power too. We can say that the United states is a place where exist several forms of power. It is the first world power in the world. In order to illustrate this notion, i will talk about the power in the US.
        Therefore, we will attempt to answer the question : Which means have american people used to impose power?
        To answer to this question i will present three documents.

        The first document i have chosen is exerpt from a book written by Ray Allen Billington. It deals with the term of « Frontier ». The author draws our attention to the fact that the Americans are a very different people according to foreigners. They worship their democratic values and consider their currency as compelling. There is an obssession with working for the Americans. So much that leisures are avoided. Also, this people considers hiq frontiers as a sign of attracting opportunity.
        The historian gives an unbiased opinion. He simply provides us with the information.
        
It is a relevant illustration of the notion of Places and forms of power has it shows the importance of the political and the economical forms of power in the US. So much that american people worship these powers and their representations sush as the « Almighty Dollar » as the text says. Also it shows that frontier are important for this country, which is a space where there are a lot of regulations imposed by the government. In addition, it is the sign that America is a land of opportunity in american people mind.

        The second document is a cartoon named « Dreamland » and designed by Petar Pismestrovi. It represents the United States . In the top part of the cartoon,there is the American flag. Right under there is the mount rushmore and the Empire State Building. Also, there are iconic figures of the entertainment field such as Marilyn Monroe, Jonh Wayne, Mickey mouse, the oscar statuette for the cinema. And for the music industry there is Elvis Presley. Moreover there are allegories of the United States : such as lady liberty and Uncle Sam. Regarding the american economy, we can see international firms such as coca cola and mcdonalds.
        Through this illustration the artist wants to show the power of United States. We can distinguish the soft power of the US. In other words, it is the cultural power. We can see it through entertainment industry figures and the international firms. The two companies can also be connected with the economy. The Empire State building is also part of the economy. Besides, this form of power is the hard power. It can be seen through the guns on the cartoon too. One with John Wayne and the other one with Uncle Sam, because those represent the military power, which is part of the hard power too.  

The last document is an article written by Julian BORGER in 2006. It comes from the newspaper « The guardian ». It refers to the Segregation in the South with the civil rights icon ; Rosa Park. It explains that people who disobeyed under Jim Crow laws, still have a criminal record. Therefore it prevents them to have a government job, to get a mortgage or to vote until 2003. When Rosa Park died, it had the effect of an alarm. An alarm pointing that nobody has to die with a criminal record coming from this period. It also mentionned that some people doesn’t want to be pardonned, because it reminds them their bravest acts.
        The journalist doesn’t give his opinion. He just gives the information.
         In any case, this information is relevant for our notion. For, this article shows that the political power is essential in America. We can see that through the example of the African American and the racist laws. They were arrested when they disobeyed the Jim Crow laws. In addition, they still pay for that because of their criminal record which is not pardonned in 2006. It proves that regulations and rules have an important impact on the behaviour of each of the american citizens.

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