Hunger game Essay Example for Free

Hunger game Essay In the novel the Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins, the main character is Katniss Everdeen a female that represent district 12. Throughout her journey she has to fight against eleven other district and twenty-three other tributes in order to be the last tribute to survive. Although Katniss know that the Hunger Games is not an easy task to complete winning or staying alive is the only option, she still gain the power and confidences to compete. Throughout the Hunger Games all the power was given to the totalitarian government of the capitol. The government was able to control the people and the districts of Panem, because they hold most of the country of Panem wealth. In theHunger Games the citizens of Panem were consider to be servants in a brutal game of life and death. The games keep the people of the districts divided and fighting among themselves. â€Å"Taking the kids from our districts, forcing them to kill on another while we watch† (1.  18). The main purpose is to remind the districts how weak they are, and cannot do nothing about it, their deaths is for televised entertainment. As the journey continues Katniss started to develop more power and confidences in herself. The control the capitol has over each districts is to maintain order. But when it came to Katniss and Peeta the capitol had little control over them. â€Å"Eventually I understood this would only lead us to more trouble† (1. 6). At this point in time Katniss’s fear that the capitol is controlling her. â€Å"I don’t want them to change me in there. Turn me into some kind of monster that I’m not† (10. 141). Peeta wants to die as himself, not as one of the capitol’s servants. The Hunger Games involved different stages of dystopia. In which they used propaganda to control the citizens of Panem. The only option they have is to fight for their survival to win or to be killed. However Katniss defeats the capitol and frees the districts from its wrath.

Law Essays Legal ownership vested in trustees must be balanced by identifiable equitable ownership

Law Essays Legal ownership vested in trustees must be balanced by identifiable equitable ownership Legal ownership vested in trustees must be balanced by identifiable equitable ownership. Critically discuss this statement and the difficulties inherent in it in relation to the interests of beneficiaries under discretionary trusts. What is the practical importance of determining where the beneficial interest lies in discretionary trusts? The trust is a creature of equity. It has been described as â€Å"the paradigm case of equity’s interference with common law rights in pursuit of justice.† The trust imposes obligations on the legal owner of particular property to hold that property for the benefit of others. Thus the opening quotation can be said to identify one of the basic tenets of trust law in England and Wales. The trust has developed over the centuries in England to incorporate various types. One such type is the so-called discretionary trust. However, arguably disparity exists between the need to establish identifiable, beneficial or equitable ownership, and a discretionary trust which, by its nature, evades such identification. A contrast is seen between the discretionary trust and the fixed trust; although both are types of express trust. Under a fixed trust, the beneficial interests are just that: fixed. Thus the share of the trust property to which the beneficiary is to receive is ‘fixed’ into the trust instrument. However with a discretionary trust, the trustee, in whom legal ownership vests, has a dispositive discretion. Thus under a fixed trust, the trustee must dispose of the trust property in accordance with the terms of the trust; whereas under a discretionary trust he may have discretion as to the precise value of the beneficiaries’ entitlement, or even if they are to receive anything at all. An example of such a dispositive discretion is where a trust is established for a group of beneficiaries â€Å"in such portions as the trustee shall in their absolute discretion see fit†. It is a fixed trusts’ rigidity which seemingly underpins the subsequent reasoning behind the discretionary trust. A fixed trust may become outmoded or outdated due to changing circumstances; whereas a trustee under a discretionary trust can respond appropriately to these changing circumstances by applying his discretion accordingly to the situation. A beneficiary may, for example in the light of his allotted share, decide to forego education or employment and live off the trust property; the so-called â€Å"trustafarian†. Under a discretionary trust the trustee would have the power to temporarily sever that beneficiary from the trust property as an incentive to become more self reliant. To take a further example from the common law, the seminal case of McPhail v Doulton (1971) saw Mr Baden establish a trust for the benefit of the staff of his company, their relatives and dependents. He granted â€Å"absolute discretion† to the trustees to distribute the trust fun d as they saw fit. By 1971, the trust fund had increased significantly, as had the size of the class of potential beneficiaries (the employees alone numbered 1300 in 1941). The nature of the trust was flexible enough to allow the trustees to select which members of the intended class should benefit. An interesting aspect of the discretionary trust, and a pertinent one to the opening quotation, is that no individual who is part of the class of possible beneficiaries, has any equitable title to or interest in the trust property until such time as the trustee exercises his discretion in that individual’s favour. It is also important to note that despite the discretion granted to the trustee, this does not equate to him having ‘free rein’ to do whatever he wishes with the trust property.He will still be limited by the terms of the trust, and remains under a fiduciary obligation to carry out these terms. Again, McPhail v Doulton is significant here, as the House of Lords in that case held that the trustees, despite their â€Å"absolute discretion† to select the beneficiaries, were not at liberty to refuse to carry out the trust. However this does not arguably make it any easier to reconcile the discretionary trust with the opening quotation; rather it highl ights the limits of the trustee’s dispositive discretion. To compare the discretionary trust to the fixed trust and the power of appointment is instructive:no proprietary interest in the fund exists with the objects of a power, unless an appointment is made in their favour. Under a fixed trust, the beneficiaries have an identifiable equitable title to the property: the subject of the trust. However with a discretionary trustit has been suggested that beneficiaries have a â€Å"quasi-proprietary† right;that is that the class of beneficiaries as a whole can be seen to have a collective proprietary entitlement to the fund, although individual members of the class cannot claim individual proprietary entitlement. This was highlighted in Gartside v IRC(1968) when Lord Reid stated that â€Å"†¦you cannot tell what any one of the beneficiaries will receive until the trustees have exercised their discretion.† An important principle in trust law generally is that identified in the case of Saunders v Vautier (1841). Briefly, this principle states that a beneficiary who has an absolute interest under a trust, and who is sui juris (that is, of full age and sound mind) is entitled, at any time, to call on the trustee to transfer the legal title to the trust property in which the beneficiary holds that interest to him. The operation of this principle under a fixed trust is quite straightforward, as the beneficiary’s equitable entitlement will be easily ascertainable. How does it apply to discretionary trusts where the interest is not so easily identifiable? This issue was considered by Romer J in the case of Re Smith (1928). With reference to the earlier case of Re Nelson(1918), Romer J stated that under a discretionary trust where there are two ‘objects’ (the term applied to possible beneficiaries under a discretionary trust), â€Å"..You treat all the people put together just as though they formed one person, for whose benefit the trustees were directed to apply the whole fund.† So essentially, Romer J meant thatthe beneficiaries may, acting together as one, require the trustees to transfer the trust property to them as co-owners. However, perhaps the Saunders v Vautier principle is not entirely applicable to discretionary trusts; namely because the beneficiaries are not treated as having a vested interest in the trust property. Only after the beneficiaries, acting as one, have demanded the transfer of the trust property using the Vautier principle, do they acquire their indefeasible interests in the trust property. This was established in Vestey v IRC (No 2) (1979), but had already been considered by Lord Reid in Gartside v IRC (1968). Here Lord Reid stated that the individual interests of the objects of a discretionary trust are actually in competition with each other until such times as the each object has his own individual right to retain whatever income is appointed to him. To return to the rights of objects of discretionary trusts, how can they enforce a possible interest if that interest is not ascertainable because the trustee has not exercised his discretion? It is well established that objects of discretionary trusts have locus standi to sue trustees in order to enforce the trust. It is, however, difficult to control trustees in exercising their discretions. Trustees are under a duty to survey the range of objects, or the members of the class of potential recipients. Lord Wilberforce considered this matter in McPhail v Doulton, stating that â€Å"†¦Any trustee†¦would surely make it his duty to know what is the permissible area of selection and then consider responsibly, in individual cases, whether a contemplated beneficiary was within the power, and whether, in relation to other possible claimants, a particular grant was appropriate†. Thus the rights and interests of objects of a discretionary trust have caused considerable academ ic debate. Commentators such as Harris have suggested that under a discretionary trust, the trustees â€Å"appear† to be the legal owners, subject to the equitable rights of enforcement of the beneficiaries (as the objects will then become). If necessary, the courts will construe the terms of the trust to determine the boundaries of the trustee’s discretion. In Gisborne v Gisborne, the trustee had been granted an â€Å"uncontrollable authority† by the trust instrument. When the beneficiary received less of the trust property than she had hoped for, the court did not intervene because the trustee had acted within his authority as granted by the trust instrument. In addition, the discretion shown by the trustee must be exercised in good faith, and in the best interests of the objects or beneficiaries. Thus while this does not aid in establishing the beneficial interest, it does provide a crucial limit on a trustee’s discretion. An interesting development in recent years in the area of the validity of a trustee’s discretion is the application of the Wednesbury principle, which was established in the case of Associated Provincial Picture House Limited v Wednesbury Corporation (1948). This was applied in Edge v Pensions Ombudsman (1998), in which it was established that a court should not interfere unless the trustee took into account â€Å"improper, irrelevant or irrational considerations†. Again, although this provides a useful limit to the unfettered discretion of a trustee, it does not necessarily assist in identifying the beneficial interest to counterbalance the legal interest vested in the trustee. A discussion of the beneficial interest under a discretionary trust must consider the important distinction between a trust and a power. As Martin simply puts it, â€Å"trusts are imperative; powers are discretionary.† That is to say the trustees are obliged to carry out their duties under the trust, whereas donees under a power may or may not exercise the power as they see fit. This highlights the essential problem with the opening quotation’s applicability to discretionary trusts, even though the beneficiaries as a whole, or as one, own the interest to equitable title in the trust property, and can even compel the trustees to transfer the legal title to them under the principle in Saunders v Vautiers (1841). This approach was subsequently adopted by Romer J in the Court of Appeal in Re Smith (1928), in which he said that the principle should be to â€Å"treat all the people put together just as though they formed one person, for whose benefit the trustees were direct ed to apply the whole of a particular fund.† The beneficiaries cannot demand payment under a discretionary trust as they would be able to under a fixed trust, because there is no identifiable value to which the beneficiary is entitled until the trustee exercises his discretion. The beneficiaries can, however, compel the trustee to consider what he will do, although they cannot compel him to distribute. This was established in McPhail v Doulton, and also demonstrates where the distinction between a discretionary trust and a power exists: under the latter there is no such duty on the donee to make an appointment. McPhail v Doulton was also significant because of Lord Wilberforce’s criticisms of the rule set out in IRC v Broadway Cottages Trust (1955) in relation to the validity of discretionary trusts. That rule, he stated, ought to be discarded, and the new test ought to be â€Å"that the trust is valid if it can be said with certainty that any given individual is or is not a member of the class† (at 456). The test in IRC v Broadway Cottages Trust was known as the â€Å"complete list† test, and suggested that a discretionary trust would fail for lack of certainty of objects if a â€Å"complete list† of the potential beneficiaries could not be drawn up. Lord Wilberforce’s criticisms focused on the fact that this was only really appropriate where the discretionary trust was a â€Å"family-style† trust under which the class of potential beneficiaries was small, and was inappropriate given the changing social functions of the discretionary trust. In McPh ail v Doulton, however, as Lord Wilberforce identified, this test was simply unworkable, since that case would have demanded a complete list be drawn up of all employees, ex-employees, relatives and dependents. This highlights the administrative difficulties of the original test. As amended by Lord Wilberforce, however, the test becomes more manageable. Harris has described McPhail v Doulton as a watershed in the law in this area. This was largely because of its effect on the existing law as set down in IRC v Broadway Cottages Trust, which stated that to be valid, a discretionary trust had to specify an ascertainable class of cestuis que trust. As Harris argues, this was a welcome development as many judgments, applying the previously existing law, had expressed regret as to the position of the law on policy grounds. An example of this is in the Broadway Cottages case itself, in which Jenkins LJ admitted that the rule was contrary to common sense. What other factors contribute to the practical importance of establishing where the beneficial ownership lies in discretionary trusts? Under the complete list test, the beneficial ownership would necessarily be shared equally by the entire class of beneficiaries in the event that the trustee defaulted in his duty. Lord Wilberforce also addressed this issue in McPhail v Doulton. â€Å"Equal division is surely the last thing the settlor ever intended: equal division among all probably would produce a result beneficial to none†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (at 451). As Gardner points out, this recognised the evolution of the social function of the discretionary trust to enable property owners to â€Å"confer benefits on deserving cases amongst large constituencies – in the same sort of way as charitable trusts.† Where the beneficial ownership lies in discretionary trusts is also important in the context of â€Å"administrative unworkability†, another concept to arise out of McPhai l v Doulton. This applies to situations where, again in the words of Lord Wilberforce, â€Å"the meaning of the words used is clear but the definition of the beneficiaries is so wide as to not form â€Å"anything like a class† so that the trust is administratively unworkable†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (at 457). Lord Reid’s comment in Gartside v IRC noted above perhaps gives the best illustration of the position of discretionary beneficiaries in relation to identifiable beneficial interest in the trust property. He stated that â€Å"two or more persons, cannot have a single right unless they hold it jointly or in common. But clearly the objects of a discretionary trust do not have that: they have individual rights, they are in competition with each other and what the trustees give to one is his alone.† The same principle was applied in Re Weir’s Settlement (1969) and Sainsbury v IRC (1970). The difficulties of applying the principle outlined in the opening quotation to discretionary trusts have been considered. Fundamentally it is problematic because the whole purpose of a discretionary trust is to allow the trustee to use his discretion to assign a value of the trust property to a particular beneficiary. Although the class of potential beneficiaries as a whole own the beneficial interest, arguably there is no way of identifying the individual shares until the trustee has exercised his discretion. Even this assertion is contentious, however, as Pettitt, for example, has argued that the beneficial interest under a discretionary trust remains â€Å"in suspense† until the trustees exercise their discretion. The more significant right of the members of the class of beneficiaries is the right to be considered as a potential recipient from the fund by the trustees. This was highlighted by Lord Wilberforce in IRC v Gartside (at 606). Furthermore, the members have the ri ght to have the trustees use their discretion â€Å"bona fides†, â€Å"fairly†, â€Å"reasonably† and â€Å"properly†. This falls some way short of the rights of a beneficiary under a fixed trust, and again, highlights the fundamental problem with the application of the opening statement to the operation of discretionary trusts. BIBLIOGRAPHY Cases Associated Provincial Picture House Limitd v Wednesbury Corporation [1948] 1 KB 223 Burrough v Philcox (1840) 5 My CR 72 Edge v Pensions Ombudsman (1998) Gartside v IRC [1968] AC 553 Gisborne v Gisborne (1877) 2 App Cas 300 IRC v Broadway Cottages Trust [1955] Ch 20 McPhail v Doulton [1971] AC 424 Re Gulbenkian’s Settlement [1970] Ch 408 Re Nelson, ex parter Dare and Dolphin [1918] 1 KB 459 Re Smith, Public Trustee v Aspinall [1928] Ch 915 Re Trafford’s Settlement [1985] Ch 32 Re Weir’s Settlement [1969] 1 Ch 657 Sainsbury v IRC [1970] Ch 712 Saunders v Vautier (1841) 4 Beav 114 Vestey v IRC (No 2) [1979] Ch 198 Secondary sources Gardner, S (2003) An Introduction to the Law of Trusts, 3rd Edition (Oxford: Clarenden) Harris, J. (1971) ‘Trust, Power or Duty’, 87 Law Quarterly Review 31 Harris, J. (1970) ‘Discretionary Trusts, an End and a Beginning’, Modern Law Review, 33, 6 Hudsdon, A. (2007) Equity and Trusts, 5th Edition (London: Routledge) Martin, J.E. (2001) Hanbury and Martin – Modern Equity, 16th Edition (London: Sweet Maxwell) Pearce, R. and Stevens, J. (2006) The Law of Trusts and Equitable Obligations, 4th Edition (Oxford: OUP) Penner, J.E. (2004) The Law of Trusts, 4th Edition (London: LexisNexis) Pettit, P.H. (2001) Equity and the Law of Trusts, 9th Edition (Oxford: OUP) Watt, G. (2007) Todd and Watts Cases and Materials on Equity and Trusts, 6th Edition (Oxford: OUP)

Adolescent Behavior Essay -- Music, Media

Introduction This chapter will review the factors that affect suicidal tendencies amongst adolescents as well as the role music plays in adolescent behavior. As there is a dearth of documentation on the emo culture, this review relied on articles and researches done in the United States and Australia. Music and the Adolescent According to Roe â€Å"music plays an important social role† in the development of adolescents (Roe K, 2000). Music acts as a buffer for adolescents; substituting as a means of distraction as well as entertainment. Roberts and Christenson (2001) assert that adolescent also use music as a way to take control of their moods and emotions. They maintain that music is also used as a means in the formation of their identities; this allows them achieve group identity and integration into subcultures. However, while Took and Weiss (1994) also agree that music is used as the means to join a social group, they ascertain that music is only used as a form to reflect the level of turmoil adolescents are feeling at that stage in their lives. Many researchers have conducted studies on popular music and its effects on school work, social interaction, mood and affect, with particular emphasis on behavior. They have developed numerous theories which explain the link between music and behavior and Wass et al (1991) has made indications that heavy metal music has links to homicides, suicides and satanic practices. Public criticism was wildly sounded when Gaines (1991) implied that there was a link between heavy metal and teen suicide pacts. The American Academy of Pediatrics (1996) has stated that the effect that popular music has on children and adolescents is of paramount importance and is a cause for concern. Brook... ...be assigned to each choice of response with 1 being assigned to â€Å"not at all† and 5 being assigned to â€Å"completely†. Data Analysis After the data has been collected, analysis of data will be done using Statistical Program for Social Science (SPSS) software. Charts and graphs will be used to illustrate the results of the questionnaires allowing the researcher to create a comprehensible analysis of the findings. The questionnaire will be analyzed by the five factors outlined earlier and not by each individual question. However, some questions, which the researcher finds as being significant to the research, will be analyzed individually. A pre test will be done on five participants to ensure that the questionnaire did not have errors and that the questions are clearly understood by the respondents. This will aid in determining the validity of the questionnaire.

Clinical Genetic Disorder: Beta Thalassemia Essay -- Genetic Blood Dis

John and his wife Mary decided that after 3 years of marriage it was time for them to bring a child into their life. John and Mary lived on the coast of Italy, where the weather was always sunny and warm and the water not but a stone toss away. John and Mary decided that it was the right time, then, 9 months later they conceived a son, they named him Henry. During the first two years of Henry’s life John and Mary noticed abnormalities in Henry’s development. Henry did not gain weight or grow as he was expected to. He also exhibited signs of weakness and fatigue. Henry had always been pale, and this alone was never enough to alarm suspicion; but Henry’s paleness started to shift to a more yellowish tint, and along with these other signs raised enough suspicion to take Henry to the hospital. The doctor took blood from Henry to be tested. After the test result came back the doctor concluded that Henry had an enlarged spleen and liver. He was suffering from a heredit ary disease called beta-thalassemia. John and Mary in complete dismay questioned the doctor as to how their son suffered from a hereditary disease that neither of them suffered from. The doctor informed the grieving parents that both of them must be carriers of the mutated HBB gene. During the conception of Henry, John and Mary must have passed on the mutated recessive gene on: thus with the presence of two mutated recessive HBB genes caused Henry to develop Beta-thalassemia. The doctor continued to explain that the beta-thalassemia causes the beta-globin, a subunit of hemoglobin, to not be produced creating non-functional hemoglobin. Without sufficient hemoglobin, red blood cells do not develop properly, causing a shortage of mature red blood cells. This lack of red bl... .... MedicineNet, "Beta Thalassemia (A Genetic Blood Disorder)." Accessed January 27, 2014.http://www.virtualmedicalcentre.com/diseases/thalassaemia-mediterranean-a nemia-cooley. Palit, Sarmi, Robiul Bhuiyan, Aklima Jannatul, Raju Dash, and Talha Emran. Journal of Basic and Clinical Pharmacy, "A study of the prevalence of thalassemia and its correlation with liver function test in different age and sex group in the Chittagong district of Bangladesh ." Last modified December 31, 2012. Accessed January 30, 2014. http://www.jbclinpharm.org/article.asp?issn=0976-0105;year=2012;volume=3;issue=4;spage=352;epage=357;aulast=Palit. Virtual Medical Centre, "Thalassaemia (Mediterranean anemia; Cooley’s anemia)." Last modified 11 2, 2008. Accessed January 27, 2014. http://www.virtualmedicalcentre.com/diseases/thalassaemia-mediterranean-anemia-coole'ys-anemia/130

Chaucers Irony - The Canterbury Tales Essay -- English Literature

Chaucer's Irony - The Canterbury Tales Chaucer's Irony Irony is a vitally important part of The Canterbury Tales, and Chaucer's ingenious use of this literary device does a lot to provide this book with the classic status it enjoys even today. Chaucer has mastered the techniques required to skilfully put his points across and subtle irony and satire is particularly effective in making a point. The Canterbury Tales are well-known as an attack on the Church and its rà ´le in fourteenth century society. With the ambiguity introduced by the naà ¯ve and ignorant "Chaucer the pilgrim", the writer is able to make ironic attacks on characters and what they represent from a whole new angle. The differences in opinion of Chaucer the pilgrim and Chaucer the writer are much more than nuances - the two personas are very often diametrically opposed so as to cause effectual irony. In the Friar's portrait, he is delineated and depicted by riddles of contradictory qualities. Chaucer expertly uses ironic naivetà © to highlight the Friar's lack of moral guilt. When the reader is told that the Friar, "knew the taverns wel in every toun" (l. 240), we can take it to mean that he spends very much time drinking, flirting and socialising in pubs. The Friar is superseded to be a holy man, but we see that he knew the landlords and barmaids much better than the people he has meant to be consoling, praying for and helping out of the vicious circle of poverty. Chaucer the pilgrim explains how impressive the Friar's generous charity is and has respect for the way he marries off young girls with suitable husbands and pays for the ceremony. However, he neglects to mention that the only reason the Friar does this is because he has illegi... ...Of course, Chaucer the pilgrim simply sees this as being elegant and sophisticated. Throughout The General Prologue we see how Chaucer the pilgrim has been swayed and convinced by what the other pilgrims tell him. So much so that he reports qualities that are often the opposite of the true personalities of the characters he is describing. This ambiguity reveals a very clever sort of irony on behalf of the writer - while Chaucer the pilgrim is easily drawn in by their deliberate misrepresentations, it is up to the readers to see how wrong he is and draw their own, more accurate, conclusions. It shows many of the pilgrims to be very different people than those symbolised by the ideal qualities they want others to see. This astute technique is particularly effective in pointing out the hypocrisy and corruption in the Christian Church during Chaucer's time.

The Relationship between Faith and Reason

â€Å"Faith and Reason are like two wings on which the human spirit rises to the contemplation of truth† Explain the dangers for a theologian when faith and reason are divorced from each other. Use at least one example of a Christian teaching that shows the harmony of faith and reason The harmony of faith and reason are the grounds upon which many Christian teachings are built. This relationship enhances elements of both constructs, however the danger of separating reason from faith is that reason will endeavour to prove literally and most logically which would cause the ultimate goal and question to be lost in deliberation and, on the other hand, separating faith from reason would cause faith to be viewed as mere fable or superstition. The two must cooperate in equal conjunction in order for the human spirit to rise to the contemplation of truth as proposed in the encyclical letter ‘Fides et Ratio’ by the late supreme pontiff Pope John Paul II. Reason could be simply defined as the logical conclusion drawn from literal occurrences or the confirmed nature of a tradition or practise. However more elements of Reason hold true in addition to the prospect of something that can be ‘proven’. Reason is generally understood as the principals for a methodological inquiry, whether intellectual, moral, aesthetic or religious. 1 Any acquisition of intellectual knowledge, through either direct understanding or argument is a representation of ‘reason’ The Internet Encyclopaedia of Philosophy Hebrews 11:1 states that â€Å"faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see†. The basis of faith is usually adapted from the authority of revelation whether that be direct (God speaking directly to a person), or indirect (books of the bible, sermons by priests, etc). Faith depicts a trust in God and his promises to his people. Pope John Paul II stated that through Christian teachings, what humans cannot see or touch is confirmed by faith2 Pope John Paul II, not only addresses the fallacious assertions of modern philosophers, but offers a remedy by demonstrating the truth of the Aristotelian or Tomistic worldview, showing that faith and science are by no means contrary to one another, but that it’s essential for the progression of humanity—of any kind—that faith and science (or reason) be used together. 3 The separation of the two cause a confusion, previously experienced by philosophers, that sections faith and science/reason as two detached entities. Viewing this detachment in its simplest formation, the human thinker surmises that for one to be faithful to God, and a religious being, they must reject all elements of reason and commit solely to the concepts of faith. Alternatively, one who would believe in a greater percentage of reason must be atheist as any rejection of God is inherently a rejection of faith itself. As the world develops and humans become more knowledgeable, it becomes impossible to deny certain facts; however this becomes a danger to all religious communities as by simplest thinking, trusting in any evidence is perceived as a rejection of trust in God. Herein lies the dangers for theologians; prior of course to John Paul II’s Fides et Ratio 2 3 Fides et Ratio, John Paul II Catholic Champion that acknowledges that â€Å"reason and faith cannot be separated without diminishing the capacity of men and women to know themselves, the world and God in an appropriate way †¦There is thus no reason for competition of any kind between reason and faith: each contains the other, and each has its own scope for action† As individuals, we must affectively reason within our own contexts and founded understandings of the world which we live, thus this will help us engage in our faith to make sense of the world we observe. 4 Noticeably it can be understood that faith, tradition and reasoning are intertwined within one another, you cannot have one without the other and all 3 elements are essential components in understanding and living ones faith. The harmony of faith and reason is best seen through the story of creation. â€Å"By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God’s command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible†5. This passage highlights the significance of the contributions from both faith and reason through Genesis and the early books of the bible to the validity of belief. Plato tried explaining man’s position in the world and the beginning of our time through the allegory of the windowless cave. In the simplest form, the cave presents the backdrop upon which a play of shadows takes place. The men in the cave watch this play being executed from a light source as the only reality they know. While rumours flare of an outside ‘world’ the play continues, and ‘reason’ creates speculation over what is about to happen next and theories are developed regarding the purpose. Over time, reason will explain most aspects of the show, but would only hold 4 5 Fides et Ratio, John Paul II 94 Hebrews 11:3 vidence enough to understand the earliest moments of the show. To reach full truth, faith needs to be introduced to actually believe in the initial source of light. Furthermore to the prospect, faith and reason question what happens if the light sources goes out; for the play will not â€Å"die† as death is merely an understood element of the play. No one was around at the time of creation and no one has a direct knowledge of what happened; so reason cannot c onfirm whether or not God did it. But reason does suggest that the universe is operating and therefore must have had a beginning. It is very intricately designed, from the basic laws of physics to the incredible complexity of the human brain. Whether a person looks at the beauty and exclaims, â€Å"There must be a God! † or whether that person has to sit down and calculate the probability of these things happening by chance, the conclusion of the honest seeker is that nature does not explain itself. Furthermore the reasonable belief in Genesis 1:1, â€Å"In the beginning God created the Heavens and the Earth† is a sheer step of faith rather than an uninformed stab in the dark. The ideas and theories of past philosophers have greatly affected the divorce between faith and reason however John Paul II’s Fides et Ratio has significantly helped the church and her people understand and feel comfortable with the concept of a ‘circle’ holding both entities together in a strong union where on e feeds off the other. Theologians face a danger when thinking opposed to the late pope’s discussion as the concept draws contradictions and confusion from believers that leads to the assumption that they are less than faithful in the eyes of God for considering reasonable and proven evidence. Olsen, Ross Faith and Reason: What is the Relationship?

Assignment for Resort Management Essay

The key areas requiring coverage will be the following: What factors influenced Disney to internationalize and why, please discuss thoroughly What were Disney’s ownership specific advantages (what did they have to trade/what areas were they expert in?) What were Disney’s location specific factors (the Where) – why did they select France? – Discuss and thoroughly evaluate and discuss using factors in the text What were Disney’s internationalization advantages (the how), how were they going to achieve such a complex move to a European culture and why? Assess the relationship between two parties (Disney & the French Government), who holds the most powerful position, discuss and evaluate What are the multiplier’s effects for France and Disney? Evaluate, analyze and compare Conclusion No additional research is necessary for this assignment. All details are included in the text given to you. Reproduced by permission of John Wiley & Sons, LTD from Progress in Tourism and Hospitality Research Vol. 3 No 1, 1997 Disneyland Resort Paris: a permanent economic growth poll in the Francilian landscape Anne- Marie d’Hauteserre Department of Geography, Southern Connecticut State University, 501 Crescent Street, New Haven CT06515 USA Disneyland Resort Paris was located in the Francilian landscape to increase the capital accumulation of the Walt Disney Company. It has settled there permanently, thanks in part to the convention signed by the company with the French government who needed an economic growth pole in the eastern part of the Paris Basin. Disney accepted the partnership and it’s constraints because it had ambitious real estate development plans. The French government, with it’s New Town policy, was the only European country that could provide such a large acreage which it used to lever Disney’s presence. Keywords: capital circuits; new towns; economic growth pole; landscape formation; public/private partnership Introduction The arrival of the Magic Kingdom in the Francilian1 landscape ignited a vituperative press campaign by French intellectuals who stood adamantly opposed to American cultural imperialism. It is the latest (although only) international theme park venture by Disney Company. Why did this highly successful company, selling an American specific cultural product that would not benefit from production cost reduction, decide to internationalize? It certainly would not reduce labor costs as illustrated by the migration of European car factories to the United States, while it would require major construction costs. Was the prospect of a widened European market by the  time of the opening of Disneyland Resort Paris in April 1992 the main incentive for foreign foray, and why? Was it established to act as an economic growth pole, complementing the French state’s policy of urban development of the Eastern suburbs of Paris? Large theme parks, like megaevents, promise potential economic development of the areas they localize in. This new geographic landscape was produce not just by private capital, to be dismantled at capital’s whim (Harvey, 1989), but by the synergic action of several different agents. This paper will demonstrate how the continued economic success of Disneyland Resort Paris is not simply just the result of it’s capacity to create profits through it’s consumption in a new locale, however semiotically explained, and/or the result of the judicious choice of the localization of this cultural capital circuit at the apex of European accessibility. Its success is circumscribed by and dependent on the French government’s development strategies and judicial structures. Capital has had to negotiate with government the design of it’s commodified landscape, the continued organization of which has also been subject to pressure by its potential customers. The convergence of these agents’ guarantees that Disneyland Resort Paris will remain embedded in Marne-la-Vallee in spite of all the difficulties it has faced until now such as financial restructuring in March 1994. The paper will first discuss how different approaches to economic globalization explain the Disney Company’s move to internationalize and how the choice of the site was based more on traditionally geographic reasons such as accessibility and availability of land. It will then demonstrate how the Company’s designs to ensure continued growth in the far future could only be accommodated by France with it’s New Town development strategy. This allowed the state to impose constraints on this private venture to ensure that it would remain a permanent part of the Francilian landscape whose new design the company had to negotiate. The paper will then show how Disneyland Resort Paris is not the white elephant that the French government was accused of subsidizing but will continue to act as a major economic growth pole. Causes of Disney Company’s move to internationalize The circuits of capital approach emphasize the totally interconnected nature of finance, production, commodity trade and consumption. ‘Capitalism is a process of reproduction of social life through commodity production. The laws of capital circulation are consistent’ (Harvey, 1989:343). The primary requisite of a capitalist economy is a continuous circulation of capital. Jean-Paul Sartre had noticed already in 1945 that ‘over and above greed, a genuine economic principle motivates Americans: â€Å"Money is supposed to circulate† (Combat)’. As capital circulates it is transferred from one investment to another. It follows only one cardinal rule: value be increased. Competition has become increasingly global. Disney Company, like all TNCs, is essentially a capitalist enterprise driven by profit. ‘The odd thing about post-modern cultural production is how much sheer profit seeking is determinant in the first instance’ (Harvey, 1989:336). The domestication of fantasy in visual consumption is inseparable from centralized structures of economic power. Disneyland Resort Paris is a private instrumental space designed for the efficient circulation of commodities, which is itself a commodity produced for profit. Cultural capital may represent an infinitely more expendable resource for capital accumulation than traditional investment capital, both for private companies and for governments. Cultural capital is considered here as a form of economic capital invested in the production of culture, rather than a symbolic capital, a person’s or group’s knowledge. These circuits of capital are not abstract notions; they are anchored in space where they create geographical landscapes. The company and its imagineers have been pushed by investors to create more and more circuits. The Bass brothers controlled nearly 25% of equity and so named Michael Eisner as the new company chairman in 1984, following other hostile takeover attempts, because the company was not exploiting it’s full potential to create more circuits of capital (Wallace, 1985; Taylor, 1987). The company, in 1984, was already a powerful brand name with annual revenues of $1B. Disney’s profits had soared to $783M in 1989 and its revenues had reached  $8.5B in 1991 thanks to a very successful theme park in Japan, through enlarging the Orlando area and through other ventures. It’s new directors wanted to capture more of the surplus value the name generated by entering the real estate business. They wanted to collect more than just royalties, as in Japan, to control more hotel development (they own only a small portion in Orlando), and to draw in more potential customers. ‘They are banking on Eurodisney as the principal engine of Disney’s growth in the 90’s’(Business Week, 1990). Disneyland Resort Paris was considered a major investment potential by 1984 because of the worldwide shift in capitalism from an emphasis on production to consumption. The organization of consumption has just as important an effect on economic and social structure as the organization of production (Lash, 1993; Zukin, 1991). Shopping, consuming is the most important contemporary social activity on North America (Levine, 1990; Williamson, 1986). The consumption landscape can be viewed as a by-product of the changes in the distribution of income in the constant struggle of labor and capital over economic surplus. Consumption is also emphasized inside the parks. The Magic Kingdoms represents a fantasy landscape constructed around an entirely fictive nexus based on highly selective memory and mediated by mass consumption. In the United States â€Å"†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.the Disney landscape has become a model for establishing both the economic value of cultural goods and the cultural value of consumer products† (Zukin, 1991: 231) and has legitimized investment in them. In the over crowded market place (even or especially that of theme parks – see Figure 2) imagery has become increasingly critical as a way of attracting particular publics and facilitating acts of consumption. The decision to internationalize is a major strategic decision. Disney was looking for economies of scope and co-ordination (Dicken, 1992: 143). Although the process of knowledge accumulation obtained from locating in new markets generates endogenously productivity gains that can sustain long run growth, the company had to ‘compare anticipated streams of monopoly profits with expected costs of product relocation’ (Grossman and Helpman, 1992:335). The innovation phase of its entertainment product (‘Magic Kingdom’)  required it’s location in California, close to the movie and television studios it’s inception and survival depended on (W.Disney in Schikel, 1968). As the product matured, the company reacted to the actions of major competitors. To prevent further entry by competitors it developed the resort in Florida and licensed the ‘Magic Kingdom’ to a Japanese company (Lanquar, 1992). The dynamic nature of economic and social processes finally led to the direct penetration of foreign markets, penetration of foreign markets, penetration limited in Europe exclusively for the next ten years to it’s French site (Convention, 1987.) Disney Company developed a globally integrated competitive strategy to focus on it’s know-how in resort development which had taken it thirty years to develop and refine and which would differentiate it from it’s competitors. In North America, Disney World had remained the most frequented tourist site, as of 1995. Las Vegas is disputing this ranking today. Dunning (1980, 1991)2 indicates that, at the micro (firm specific) level, to internationalize, companies need to fulfill three conditions: ownership specific advantages, internationalization of the use of these advantages, and location specific factors, all of which characterize the Disney Company if not always in the traditional manner. Disney’s ownership specific advantages reside in intangible assets, it’s perfected knowledge in resort development, it’s ability to create new imaginative visual consumption products, it’s sophisticated imagineering skills, inscribed in it’s brand image. Disney’s pursuit of an intentional accumulation of knowledge to respond to anticipated market conditions (for example, by engineering new themes for consumption, since the company has vowed to forever renew it’s parks, cf. Flower, 1991: 186-8, 205-6, 279, 285) requires an allocation of resources and investment of the same magnitude as for creating new technology. ‘Internationalization of this knowledge will require [Disney] to operate a network of [parks] on a world-wide basis’ (Grossman & Helpman, 1991:82). The application of these skills is limited to theme park creation although the idea has been replicated in other arenas of consumption: mega-malls, for  example, seek to attract and retain customers for the longest time by presenting Disney-like attractions. Steve Wynn salutes Disney’s imagineering with his pirate shows performed against the backdrop of a ‘Treasure Island’ sidewalk dà ©cor in Las Vegas. Copycat theme parks have burgeoned too, like Busch Gardens. This socio-spatial complex of production cannot be geographically separated from its consumers. It has needed to locate (i.e. to move outside of the US to where the consumers are) this new form of consumption as well as to localize it’s specific features (creating it’s own landscape within another cultural landscape, both at a geographic site and in the business and consumption world). The very localized consumption space offered by its theme parks limited it’s possibility for expansion. Disney needed to serve new markets in different locations directly even though the product is virtually identical. Marginal increases in numbers of visitors would have been minimal even if the parks in the United States were enlarged (this was one of the main reasons for Disney’s original move to Florida). This potential number of tourists from Europe would not increase either much above the 2 million now visiting the theme parks in the United States, considering the slow growth of European population and of it’s wealth. Time and cost space convergence have not been significant enough at the international level for pleasure travelling and it has not dissolved the psychic distance (language barrier for travelling to the United States, if not inside the Disney theme parks). Geographic reasons for choosing a location in Europe and a Francilian site. The Disney Company has mentioned two major reasons, or more traditional location specific factors (Euro Disney SCA, 1992). It can draw on 350 million customers (almost one and half times the size of the population of the United States) over an area half it’s size (Figure 1). Such a geographic move was to enable it to take advantage of the growth of short break holidays in Europe, together with the growth in numbers and sophistication of tourists while finding it’s niche in the increasing  tourist market segmentation. Four groups of tourists have been identified in Europe: 52% still travel attractive coastlines in warmer climes, 13% buy tourist packages, 25% prefer rural tourism and the rest practice urban tourism (Straw & Williams, 1990: 241). It founded its strategy on the notion that new consumption practices can take place anywhere and are eminently transportable. The company wanted to insure that it would remain the industry leader while it captured more of the world’s market share and augmented the size of the firm (Grover, 1991). Their target, for some sectors, is up to a 20% yearly increase (Lanquar, 1992:73). Long holidays occur over the summer months whereas shortest trips (their targeted travel niche) are taken year round. In 1985, more than %19 had taken a second holiday in the European Community, 27% in France. Unfortunately, that kind of travelling could not maintain it’s early fast growth: it had increased 10% yearly in Great Britain between 1976 and 1985. France was also then the European leader in international conferences (Straw & Williams, 1990: 242). The recession, combined with the staging of several mega-events in Europe in 1992, absorbed much of the disposable income for that year and beyond (Winter Olympic Games in Albertville, France; World Fair in Sevilla, Spain; Summer Olympics in Barcelona, Spain). Disney Company also relied on the fact that its products-division received 50% of its worldwide revenues from Europe. Fifty-five million copies of The Journal Mickey are published yearly in Europe, including now a Russian version, but only 13 million in the United States. At least 250 European societies have signed licensing contracts with the Disney Company (Rencontres, 1992: 89). Walt Disney Animation, one of the largest European studios for the production of cartoons had been implanted in France earlier (Saffarian, 1992). European consumption habits already included Mickey Mouse paraphernalia. Disney Company’s organizational apparatus leads, now across the world, to an increasing consumption synergy as its merchandise acts as both commodity and advertisement. In 1990, one third of its revenues were generated from foreign sales (Grover, 1991: 200). Name recognition is crucial even if often taken for granted in the consumer world (Flower, 1991: 21, Grover,  1991: 187). ‘Disney’ has become a shared term in world culture. Disney Company’s megadesigns (‘Dream, diversify†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦and never miss an angle’, W.Disney, 1988: 7), part of the dynamism and growth of transnationals, boosted competition for the park between European countries where it was considered a potential economic growth pole by itself and because it co-operates with other large multi-nationals. Cultural consumption contributes to capital accumulation by enhancing profits on entrepreneurial investment in production and distribution. European governments were anxious to anchor this new circuit of capital on their soil where it wold spawn more circuits. In the first ten years of Disneyland’s existence in California, the Disney company took in $273M, the peripherals $555M (Sorkin, 1992: 224). What distressed Walt Disney even more than the loss of surplus value was the disorderly and sullying form of this growth. In Orlando it has led to the construction of 76,800 hotel rooms, 5000 of which are under direct Disney management, 12,000 under licensing agreement (Rencontres, 1992). All the others are the result of spillover effects which include the implantation of 23 attraction parks around Disney World (Figure 2) The two other main contending countries besides France were Spain, for it’s sunshine (access, however was very constricted) and Great Britain because of the successful entertainment complex of Blackpool. The creation of Disneyland Resort Paris opened new spaces for the service economy where it should have a positive effect on capital accumulation in real estate development. Cultural goods and services gain economic significance through their role in interacting circuits of economic and cultural capital (Zukin, 1991: 260). In the contemporary (European, French) market economy investment in cultural capital would offset cyclical devaluation in other parts of the same circuit or in other circuits. European governments regard tourism as having an important economic role through its impact on foreign earnings, employment creation and regional development, because the activity is labor-intensive and employment can be generated relatively cheaply by those governments. In the United Kingdom  tourism supports 1.4 million jobs (Urry, 1990). Urban tourism is being used as a spur to regeneration in many de-industrialized(zing) areas in spite of the strong dependence of tourist activities on part-time and seasonal as well as low-skilled, and this low-waged, labor (Straw and Williams, 1990, Urry, 1990). Man governments were desperate to stem unemployment. In the mid 1980’s, 16 million workers were unemployed in the European Union. The unemployment rate hovered around 10% between 1983 and 1992 with highs of 12% in France and 21.2% in Spain. The rate for young people was 18% across the Union but reached %30 in Spain and Italy(Commission des Communautes Europeenes, 1992). Many of the recruits of Disneyland Resort Paris are young and unskilled (Lanquar, 1992:117). Cultural and environmental problems can also be exaggerated by the introduction of mass tourism (e.g. Disney World’s problem with sewage effluents in the Orlando area, Flower, 1991: 252). Such economic development can occur only if it does not put undue pressure on vulnerable natural resources. European governments are involved in tourism development because of its multiple impacts. Tourism, in turn, has commercialized ‘civilization’: in France, the transformation of ‘the places of memory’ into ‘places to visit’ has returned handsome benefits. The French government takes a broad perspective on tourism: it is more socially and culturally informed and less biased toward economic issues (OCDE, 1992, Rencontres, 1992:157). Why did Disney Company choose a rainy site close to Paris? It is one of three major population concentration poles in Western Europe, the other two being London and the Rhine Valley, and it is the most accessible to these other two (see Figure 1). Spain or the London area would have given access to the European Union market but from a peripheral location. Accessibility underpins the pull of centrality. The Paris Basin is at the juncture of northern and southern Europe: it is an unavoidable thoroughfare. Paris is also one of the most attractive cities with 25 million foreign visitors throughout the year. It is fewer than the 60 million visitors of London, but the majority of these are domestic (Straw & Williams, 1990). Those who will come to Disneyland Resort Paris, the company reasoned, will remain in the Eurodisney hotels 2 or 3 nights to visit Paris too. Studies conducted in 1985 determined there was great demand potential for theme parks in Europe (only one in ten people had even been to a theme park) that was largely unfulfilled (Rencontres EPA, 1992). ‘The large Paris metropolitan area is missing a theme park that could restore it’s tradition as a center for recreation’ (Ousset, 1986). He felt that Disneyland Paris would fulfill that role. There existed only two large recreational complexes in Europe: Blackpool Pleasure Beach in England (7 million visitors a year) and more than one hundred-year-old Tivoli Gardens in Copenhagan (3.8 millions) (Urry, 1990). Its site (in Marne-la-Vallee) illustrates the importance of geographical location (Figure 3) in it’s traditional materialist interpretation, which is even more critical at the microlevel. The company had definitely opted for the French site in 1985, in spite of it’s unfavorable weather conditions, following studies conducted since the 1970’s in several European countries on the feasibility of a number of sites (Grover, 1991: 187-8). Disney Company was looking for a site that was easily accessible to a large number of potential customers year round. When the company returned to court French authorities in the early 1980’s it had also realized that it’s projects needed a minimum critical mass to allow them to function as resorts. They were thus looking for a site that would guarantee the land area needed not only for it’s theme parks (a total of three are planned into 2017) but also for the hotels, restaurants, residences, office that would be built because of the demands generated by the parks (Figure 4). At the same time, social practices are structured in time as well as in space as they structure that space. Spain has offered the Walt Disney Company a better deal than France, but it was not able to put together a large enough parcel of land (Grover, 1991: 188). The Paris area was the best equipped to handle such a large real estate project thanks to the state’s ‘New Towns Policy† initiated 30 years ago: large virgin plots of land were ready for  rapid urbanization, minimizing the cost of infrastructure provision and of the environmental disruption caused by such construction (Roullier, 1993). Four million cubic meters of land were moved, 68,000 cubic meters of rocks were molded and 85,000 trees planted, while work on sanitation and drainage was equivalent to that required by a town of fifty to sixty thousand inhabitants during the construction of the Disney park (Nouveau Courrie, 1992). This readiness includes not just the transport and other physical infrastructure, but also the judicial and administrative mechanisms for integrated project developments conducted by both the state and private companies. New town development strategy and the constraints of the ‘convention’ New Towns were created by the French Government in 1964 to guarantee a more harmonious economic development of the Ile de France by emphasizing the eastern side until then neglected (Bastie, 1991: 88). Major industries had located on the western and southern side of Paris, while their pollutants blew east. The French government’s planned office center, La Defense, was built on the western fringes of Paris. These new towns were to offer a dynamic urban life within an architecturally stimulating environment and to remedy the earlier uniformity of suburban high rising apartment projects constructed to house the lower French classes, and little else (Roullier, 1993) The government chose suburban locations for the new towns (Figure 5) to counteract the main characteristics of all suburbs: their distance from town renters which turns suburban dwellers in Europe into second-class citizens (Merlin, 1989). More than a million people now live and work in these new towns, 225,300 in Marne-la-Vallee alone in 1993 (Figure 6, EpaMarne/EpaFrance, 1994). Their exact location as well as their layout was to respect the physical characteristics of the area and to take advantage of its environment amenities. Disney Company came on board when the third section (Bussy-St-Georges: 7000 housing units, 600,000 square meters of offices and 90-hectare technological industrial park) was just started (Etablissments Publics, 1991). The park’s size made it an ideal addition to the new town.  Disneyland Resort Paris was not just an amusement, but a large urban development, supported by major improvements in the transport network finance by the French government. (Boyer, 1994). In the French Government’s view, for the French new towns to really develop – i.e. grow beyond the need for constant state subsidies and to successfully change into old towns – attracting private investment was as important as constructing subsidized housing. The implantation of Disneyland Resort Paris crowned a development strategy conceived many years before (Roullier, 1993). The long-term objective was to make this area on of the main economic pivots of Europe, as revealed by it’s name ‘Val d’Europe’. This objective was based on the improvements in transport systems that would restore freedom of choice to town dwellers, provide access to the labor force and offer distribution networks for businesses. Transportation has been a key to new town development from its inception. The existing transport network is capable of draining towards Disneyland Resort Paris all those millions of anticipated visitors (Figure 3). All main communication routes in Europe or within France converge towards this area. Even if the Magic Kingdom were to fail (close it’s doors), these transport improvements would remain as the basis for attracting other private investors to an area that has always been designated for urban growth. Continuous urbanization from the other three sectors had been planned for this area, for some indefinite time in the future. The park only accelerated the process. There are two main themes to the development of Marne-la-Vallee as a new town. One is an office complex ten kilometers from Paris, with direct links to the capital. The other is the complex of Val d’Europe centered around Disneyland, one of it’s featured attractions, with a large number of offices serving as headquarters for Disney in Europe (100,000m2) that should attract other offices functions to occupy another 200.000m2. (EPA, Marne/EPA France, 1994; Boyer, 1994). By attracting large numbers of tourists, Disneyland Resort Paris will act as an investment magnet on other circuits of capital, based on the provision of hotels, tourist and leisure facilities and office buildings, that the French government will channel precisely through it’s new town of Marne-la-Vallee and as per the 173-page accord signed by two on 24 March 1987 after 27 months of arduous negotiations. The complete document with it’s appendices totals more than 400 pages (Convention, 1987). Results in real estate values remain way below predictions because Europe has been mired in an economic recession since the opening of the park. Although the French government seems to have given in to Disney Company’s demands (Grover, 1991), for example by agreeing to an international rather than a French court to settle disagreements, the detailed contract attributes obligations to both sides. The French government spent 2.7 billion FF to provide first rate transportation links, but it has meant added jobs for the area (4,500 for the rail line, 1,300 for the RER). Disney Company must, in turn, guarantee a minimum number of rides for the Regie Autonome des Transports Parisiens (RATP) on the extended regional metro (RER) ‘A’ line, or pay for the difference (Convention, 1987, Article 11). A detailed program of development of the land offered to Disney schedules each step. It was not given all 1,945 hectares to speculate with at will, contrary to some press accounts (Business Week, 1990; Smadja, 1988). Disney Company spent only 500M FF to acquire the land necessary for the it’s first theme park (covering the costs of the infrastructure provided with the land) but it led to private investments of 10B FF (Lanquarm, 1992:109). Other major projects, such as international soccer stadium and centers of higher learning, are being erected in the area, encouraged in part by the presence of Disneyland in Paris (Boyer, 1994). Disney Company also appreciated dealing with one main negotiating team, the EPA (Etablissement Public d’Amenagement), whose existence was permitted by the new town judicial structure (Rencontres, 1992: 99-122). This is a public development corporation that fulfills both commercial and financial functions. It is established by government decree and has powers of pre-emptive and compulsory purchase, as well as legal and financial autonomy. It can thus function as developer in the new town, while it also  represents the government. Communication remains remarkably static-free between this private company and French authorities, thanks to the single government voice and thanks to the detailed blueprint that indicates who does what, when, and how (Convention, 1987). The company also underlines the importance of continuity on the French side, adhered to through the years, since the first negotiations in 1985, by the French government in spite of political changes at the helm (Rencontres, 1992:100). The French state did require that this development occur within guidelines set up in a ‘Projet d’Interet General’ (EPAMarne, 1987, Limery, 1996) that seeks to insure a coherent approach that will, for example, enable the villages in the area to maintain their present specific characteristics. The requirement was not made in a spirit of simulated heritage but to maintain architectural variety while enabling new construction to be fully integrated in the new town’s landscape. This evolution will transform the living conditions of the residents of the old villages of the area who thought they could maintain a rural lifestyle only thirty minutes away from Paris and who are going to be invaded by millions of tourists. Agriculturists and ecologists have joined forces to fight for the preservation of agricultural areas within the new town to counterbalance this mounting urbanization. (See Roullier, 1993; Bastie, 1991). The departement of Seine-et-Marne has seen an increase of 18,000 hotel rooms between 1985 and 1992. This includes the 5,200 rooms constructed by Disney Company (Rencontres, 1992: 165). It wants to develop the potential attraction of the southern part of the departement, i.e. the region farthest from the park that includes Fontainebleau, from Melua to Chateau-Landon and from Barbizon to Montereau. It’s cultural and natural landscapes are rather exceptional since they include a number of famous castles (Fontainebleau and it’s museum. Vaux-le-Vicomte, Moret-sur-Loing) and beautiful natural forests. It is also an area frequented by locals (9 million per year) and by many foreign visitors (Maison Departementale, 1994). Disneyland Resort Paris is a wonderful opportunity to increase the level of visits by outsiders to the area which has suffered until now from it’s location in the shadow of Paris (25 million foreigners visit the capital, less than a  million come to this area). The convention that Disney Company signed includes the obligation for it to advertise other tourist sites in the area besides it’s own, as per Article 10 of the 1987 Convention (see, for example, the Michelin Guide to the Magical Kingdom). Tourist operators who do not have exclusive contracts with Disneyland Paris are also solicited to include these other stops in their packages. The departement is also trying to increase partnership agreements with a variety of service providers. Europcar, the official car rental agency of Disneyland Resort Paris, will put inside each vehicle a tourist map of the whole departement, as well as discount coupons for castles and restaurants in the area (Convention, 1987, Conseil General, 1991). Negotiating the design of the Francilian landscape The French government must have recognized that behind the vitriolic cultural debate about Disneyland Resort Paris stood a high level of capitalist investment in performance, in the machinery of reproduction, investment designed to create a ‘product’. The French government did not bow to capitalism which, like technology ‘does not invite a close examination of it’s consequences. It asks for trust and obedience†¦.because it’s gifts are truly bountiful’ (Postman, 1993: xiii). Contrary to popular opinion which accused it of caving in to the bullish tactics of Disney and the lure of many jobs, the French government had already resisted approaches by the company in 1976. French negotiators needed proof that this product could be exported. Tokyo Disneyland could not serve as a model in European negotiations and development, because the Disney Company was not a direct participant. It sold the exploitation rights to a Japanese company (Oriental Land Company) who financed, owns and runs the park. It did, however, serve the purpose of proving that the Magic Kingdom could be successfully transplanted onto foreign soil. ‘We’re finally able to convince the French negotiators that we really meant business.’ (Recontres, 1992:113). Because of the cultural capital are formed in real spaces, they suggest how space in an advanced service economy is really formed. ‘Capital creates and  destroys it’s own landscapes’ (Harvey, 1989). Space is structured by circuits of capital as they leave messages embedded in their surroundings. ‘Since the nineteenth century, shifting from one landscape to another has depended less on individual mobility than on a broad scale varied remaking of landscape itself.’ (Zukin, 1991: 18). Landscapes sometimes grow by accretion; they do not seem as historically and culturally bound as in the past as they are constantly reinvented by ‘footloose’ capital. The French government could not have forced Disney Company to choose a location in France. Some incentives to influence it might have over come any benefit government intervention could command. Tax concessions may eliminate any gains or lead to a transitory gains trap. The wages obtained from the supplementary jobs might be very low, leading to minimal tax and spillover gains, while increasing the need for services. The landscape is broader, has deeper roots and relies on more interconnections than government alone can control, especially on the international scene, since government intervention is restricted to it’s territory. Strategies of cultural consumption may only complement, rather than contradict, strategies of capital accumulation. The competitive edge of the French government to capture the Disney investors was by means of product differentiation, offering a space they enhanced through design and designation. The linkage between cultural capital and real estate development enables new economic structures to be localized and to acquire specific geographic locations: Marne-la-Valle for Disneyland Resort Paris. Disneyland Resort Paris demanded specific efforts to insert this large international project into a suburban new town within which it is to evolve rapidly. These are efforts of co-ordination in planning strategies, in capturing spillovers and in image development (Rencontres, 1992). Disneyland Resort Paris could not, by itself have acted as a growth pole that would economically resuscitate the eastern suburbs of Paris. The circuit of cultural capital it represented fizzled out within two years: Disneyland Resort Paris was ready to close it’s doors in March 1994 because it was bankrupt due to blunders before and at the time of the opening cultural, financial and economic matters. A capital asset that cannot earn income has  no value; it becomes a liability. It did subject Disney Company to some ridicule by the press (Solomon, 1994). The tension between globalization forces that led to it’s expansion in Europe and localization forces, the result of local differences in production and marketing techniques has forced Disney Company to change and adapt it’s much prized know-how: for example, it has had to accept the sale of alcohol in the park. Losses were mounting too dangerously to ignore subtly different cultural practices. It was assumed that traditional status systems and parochial loyalties would wither away in the course of economic growth. Globalization has not done away with culture-specific modes of consumption. One of Disney Company’s continued problems is the minimal amount spent by these millions of Europeans within the park: an average, in 1992, of 310FF instead of the expected 333 (Commission du Tourisme, 1993), down to 224FF in 1995 (Revenu, 1996). These spectators (Disney Company’s terms for the visitors of it’s parks) have chosen other non-pecuniary forms of participation in Disney’s spectacle. The resort was, however, integrated in a long-term project of the French government, dedicated to the balanced economic growth of the Parisian Basin. The short-term effect of Disney Company’s capital venture was counteracted by the long term (30 year) ‘convention; signed by both parties. Disney Company could not withdraw, especially if the circuit was no longer profitable. This convergence, in Marne-la-Vallee, of capitalist action and social action created the synergy for Disneyland Resort Paris to be financially restructured in March 1994 so that it could again generate profits. Mutual effects of economics (circuits of capital pushing Disney Company to find new investment opportunities), politics (the French government looking for economic growth poles), and culture (the acceptance of a not-so-foreign popular cultural trait) are restructuring the Francilian landscape. Landscape includes the geographical meaning of ‘physical surroundings’ and the ensemble of material and social practices: it is the entire panorama. It connotes a contentious, compromised product of society, but on which powerful institutions have a pre-eminent capacity to impose their view: both  the French government and Disney Company in this case, not just the private company Disney (i.e. capital). In the United States, potential investments that are not targeted on short-term gain are often criticized as ‘social’ investments, but all investment takes place in a social context. Although it is believed that the role of sovereign states is being eroded in favor of international organizations, agencies and/or associations, private or political, that of France used it’s ‘strategic’ position to direct the development and prosperity of the Parisian Basin. The French government tried to avoid that public value be held captive to private value. It wanted to avoid that improvement explicitly reject the social variety of habitation of explicitly seek security by exclusion. Capitalism’s most lasting product is landscape (new geographies) which in many places it had rendered impermanent, forever exhibiting a new repertoire. Such shifting landscapes illustrate the structural charges of the global economy (Harvey, 1989; Zukin, 1991; Dicken, 1992). The spatial mediation of cultural consumption affects the redistribution of benefits among social classes and explains the direct interest of the French government in a Disney theme park, and it’s offer of the Marne-la-Vallee location. Space does make material form for the differentiation of a market economy but places can be selectively configured to promote community goals. The French government’s intervention of land in Marne-la-Vallee from matter to property so that development (localized economic growth) would not lead to obsolescence and dereliction here or in other parts of the Paris basin. It demonstrates that capitalism is not a monolithic force operating alone at the universalizing level to carve up the world according to it’s sole designs. Spillover effects of partnership Both parties emphasize positive results in spite of the vituperative press campaign which accompanied the arrival of Disneyland in the Francilian landscape (a ‘cultural Chernobyl!’). Such a large attraction was recognized as both a chance and a challenge: ‘The chance we grabbed, and together with our American partners we have worked to make the park a success so the 12 million visitors will bring wealth to this whole eastern region. The challenge we are facing is to become a strong pole of attraction culturally and economically’ (Rencontres, 1992: 196) Daniel Robert (of Bison Fute fame) added: ‘Marne-la-Vallee is blessed with an extra-ordinary opportunity to sell it’s millions of square meters of office space, it’s ideal of an urban area, it’s strategic position’ (Rencontres, 1992: 55). The presence of such a large investment has emboldened Marne-la-Vallee to combat the skepticism that smaller potential private investors show when solicited by New Towns. Visitors poured into Eurodisney: 6.8 millions by October 1992, 19.5 millions by February 1994 (Eurodisney SCA, 1992, 1994). It’s basic allurement is it’s Americanness. It has been the best received park ever in Europe and it is the number one paid admission attraction there: Beaubourg Centre received only 8.2 million visitors in 1993, 3.8 million of which were free entries to the library; La Villette saw 5.8 million entries, the Effiel Tower 5.4; the Louvre welcomes 5 million visitors per year (Eurodisney Resort, 1993: 5). These numbers are insufficient, however, for the park to break even, since it needs 11 million per year to do so and reached just that number only it’s first year of operation. Number of visitors followed a downtrend until 1994: 6,708,551 averaged 1.45 visits in 1993. In 1994, only 5,574,059 (-16.9%) pushed the turnstiles 1.61 times. Visits by residents of the Parisian Basin had dropped by 31.3&. In 1995, however, the park registered a 21.5% increase in attendance. The percentage of foreign visitors had dropped by 15% between 1992 and 1993 down to 56% of the visits but it was back up to 61% in 1994. The majority of the customers (93.3% of the 5,777 hotel rooms and bungalows – more than are available in the city of Cannes) are tourists, versus less than a two-thirds average for the Ile de France, but here too the number of foreigners has dropped (72% in 1994, 75% in 1993, vs. 82% in 1992). The occupancy rate of hotels has remained way below Orlando’s rate of 79% even if it did not increase from 55% in 1992 and 1993 to 61% in 1994 and 68.5% in 1995. Every hotel night sold by Disneyland Resort Paris engenders the sale of at least one other hotel night in the area. In 1994, Eurodisney hotels stared welcoming guests who were not necessarily attracted by the theme park (EPAMarne, 1994, EPA-France, 1995). Marne-la-Vallee is a creation in progress and it needs to become credible in the eyes of private investors. Although a negative image of Disneyland Resort Paris was diffused by the press during the construction phase, based on it’s American cultural attributes, it’s business of selling false reality for pleasure and it’s bullish negotiating tactics with the French government and later with private companies and labor, the more positive one of leisure and festivities and of successful business know-how has since been emphasized. Disneyland Resort Paris is more than the Magic Kingdom because of the hotels, leisure resources, offices and residences it plans to construct (Figure 4). It has developed an image as a solid capitalist enterprise, the kind Marne-la-Vallee wants to attract. Know-how can be applied to both Disneyland Resort Paris and Marne-la-Vallee, so that Mickey’s notoriety in Europe can increase that of Marne-la-Vallee, it’s present location. There does exist the danger that it becomes ‘Disney Vallee’. The social construction of the regional identity of Marne-la-Vallee will be dominated by Disney’s cultural capital and the various other capital circuits it will engender. Two strategies have been suggested to counteract such a danger. At the national level, the state should put in place structures that define the identity of Marne-la-Vallee separate from the company’s trademark. At the local level, endogenous and original solution need to be found to allow each and every inhabitant to identify culturally with the specific part of the Brie plateau s/he lives in. Disneyland Resort Paris has fulfilled it’s role as an economic growth pole both directly and indirectly, distributing spillover effects in the eastern suburbs of the Paris Basin while bringing economic benefits to the country. Within the perimeter of Disneyland Resort Paris, the ratio between public and private investment is 1 to 8, similar to the one found in most new towns. The French government invested 2.7B FF in public infrastructure while private companies and individuals disbursed 23B FF (Eurodisney Resort, 1993: 2). Construction employed 5,100 local workers and 180 companies for a cost of 13B FF 47% of which went to Ile de France companies, 76% in the case  of residential developments. The company also had to construct 1,800 housing units occupied by 3,500 of its employees. In 1992, Disneyland Resort Paris paid 81M FF in local taxes and 250M FF in sales taxes. On opening day it employed 11,500 people, two thirds of whom were French (70% by 1995), one fifth of other European origin. There are now 9,700 employee representing a saving of 7% in operating costs. The downsizing came as part of the financial restructuring of March 1994. They were paid 2B FF in salaries and benefits, a substantial addition to the revenue stream of the new town. They generated with Disneyland, another 25,000 jobs in the area. The fifty tons of laundry produced daily by the resort, for example, led to the construction of two plants in the area. A little over 40% of these employees live in the Seine-et-Marne departement and thus consume within the area. There are another 5,000 seasonal jobs, 10% of which are filled by local residents. The economic activities of Disneyland Resort Paris in 1993 generated 9.2% less revenue than in 1992, although visitor spending outside of Disneyland Resort Paris increased by 3.8%. Another decrease of 6/9% was registered in 1994. In the fiscal year 1991-2, the company spent 2.7B FF, but only 2.2 in 1993, a decrease of 20% in goods and services (insurance, laundry, electricity†¦). Purchases registered a gain of 14% in 1994, and investments for improvements and maintenance, of 22%. Much of the income from these purchases remains in the area. 93% of food products are bought in France, 65% in Ile de France. Statistics were culled from Eurodisney Resort, 1993, EPAMarne, 1994, EPAFrance, 1995, Eurodisney SCA 1992, 1993, 1994. The French government received 4BFF in foreign currency (3.4% of foreign currency earnings through tourism in France in 1993), 812MFF in taxes and 9 to 15,000 jobs, depending on the season. Although totals fluctuate from year to year, they remain a plus for the economy. Disneyland Resort Paris led to a more than 3% increase in the total number of foreign tourists in France, 60.1M in 1993, 61.3M in 1994. The combined activities and purchases of all 61.3 million tourists provide 5.1% of the French GNP and 7.1% of it’s foreign currency earnings. The park is placed seventh as a major tourist operator in France, with 4.9BFF in revenues, behind Air France, SNCF, Accor, Club Med, Aeroports de Paris and Nouvelles Frontieres (EPAMarne, 1994, EPAFrance, 1995). Other theme parks come way behind: Futuroscope earned only 300MFF, Asterix 194MFF. The financial restructuring of it’s annual debt, which amounted to $370M in Marhc 1994, allowed the park to announce a profit of $35 million in the second quarter of 1995 and increased attendance helped consolidate profits for the remaining of the fiscal year†¦. at least prior to debt payments (New York Times, 1995: D7). There was wide-spread optimism that Disney’s presence in Europe would enhance the attraction sector’s image, help improve standards of presentation and raise consumer expectations and especially willingness to pay. It has increased investment in smaller-scale attractions in France Asterix park (25 miles north of Paris) which had required an investment of $208 million receives 1.5 million visitors per year. The comic books it represents three-dimensionally have been translated in 40 languages. It conquered 7% of the potential market in the Paris Basin in three years. Disneyland Resort Paris aims for 17%. Under the influence of Disneyland Resort Paris it has begun a five-year refurbishment program. It has also been forced to define it’s product more clearly (Saffarian, 1992). Futuroscope, ‘an intelligently entertaining’ park, has revitalized the region that surrounds it. It opened in June 1987 and boasted profits of 15M FF from revenues of 300M FF paid by 2 million visitors in 1994. It’s theme is moving images. When innovators must compete in integrated product markets, they have reason to pursue distinctive ideas, and thereby contribute to the global accumulation of knowledge. ‘Dynamic Cinema’, one of the most sought-after attractions at Futuroscope, thrills, awes and panics spectators through the use of a 60/second flow of images and hydraulically controlled seats with computerized links to the pictures (Tresch, 1994). It has also had repercussions in other European countries. Port Aventura opened in May 1995 near Barcelona. Four hundred million dollars were invested, 20% of which by Annheuaer Busch, over 20 hectares, i.e. 50 acres (Tagliabue, 1995). Conclusion Both sides have benefited from this partnership between a private multinational corporation and public authorities. Disneyland Paris has maintained the momentum of development in Marne-la-Vallee that the French government wanted to stimulate. ‘The success of the office centers of Marne-la-Vallee, of the Cite Descartes (and area of higher learning) and the presence of Disneyland Resort Paris demonstrate that betting on Marne-la-Vallee to assure the economic development of the eastern part of Paris Basin was the way to go, even if success was long in coming’ (Merlin, 1989: 77). New large projects are being constructed and jobs and their multiplier effect, taxes, new transport lines are increasing. In 1995 attendance numbers were on the rebound and hotel revenue and occupancy rates augmented. Even Orlando had rocky beginnings before returning it’s investment many times over and the two American parks suffered from lulls (Grover, 1991, Flower, 1991). Both the company and the French government had remained optimistic since talks for the next stage of development are right on schedule. Disneyland Resort Paris obtained a site it can grow in, with the necessary communication links to one of the most densely (in numbers and in purchasing power) settled areas in the world while it provides the French government with a major economic growth pole. The contract binding the two parties distributes obligations to limit the ability of private companies to speculate on investments made by public bodies financed by the general public, while it guarantees the timely completion of these investments. Optimism was justified when Disneyland Resort Paris opened as scheduled on 12 April 1992. It is still justified today as attendance numbers and spillover effects are on the increase. (Revenu, 1996: 9). Proving that public/private partnerships can enhance social benefits and capital accumulation. Endnotes 1 ‘Francilian’ refers to Ile de France, also called the Paris Basin 2 A National Public Radio report in June 1996 indicated that Las Vegas had become the number one tourist destination among travelers who booked through travel agents. In a private communication, J. Brett of the Nevada Commission on Tourism mentioned that 30 million visitors were welcomed in the past twelve months in Las Vegas. Although slightly more than the 30 million who visit Disney World, the numbers quoted are of turnstile pushes rather than of head counts. I was not told how the total number of visitors to Las Vegas was arrived at. 3 All forms of knowledge (all products based on knowledge) have peculiar properties as economic commodities. Know-how is a ‘non-rival’ good: using it does not preclude others from doing it, of, other theme parks. It also ‘non-excludable’: the very use of information in any productive way is bound to reveal it in part (Grossman & Helpman, 1991: 15). Preventing unauthorized use of it depends on property laws and their enforcement. One can understand Disney Company’s sensitivity to any copyright infringements. 4 The first theme park in the Western world was built at the end of 1200’s by Robert II of Artois at Vieil Hesdin. It included a revolving castle, a grotto within which rain or snow could be willed, animated marionettes, collapsing bridges, as well as exotic plants and animals that symbolized paradise. Charles V destroyed the park 300 years later. References Bastie, Jenn (1991), La Seine-et-Marne dans le schema directeur de I’Ile de France, Cahier du CREPIF, 36 Boyer, Jean-Marie (1994). Marne-La-Vallee, Paris, Ile de France, EPAMarne. Business Week (1990). 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