The Accidental Bricoleurs by Rob Horning

The Accidental Bricoleurs by Rob Horning I’ve always thought that Forever 21 was a brilliant name for a fast-fashion retailer. These two words succinctly encapsulate consumerism’s mission statement: to evoke the dream of perpetual youth through constant shopping.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on The Accidental Bricoleurs by Rob Horning specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Yet it also conjures the suffocating shabbiness of that fantasy, the permanent desperation involved in trying to achieve fashion’s impossible ideals.  Forever 21 was found in 1984 as a single store in Los Angeles called Fashion 21. The worldwide success of Forever 21 and the other even more prominent fast-fashion outlets, like HM (2,200 stores in thirty-eight countries), Uniqlo (760 stores in six countries), and Zara (more than 4,900 stores in seventy-seven countries) epitomized how the protocols of new capitalism- flexibility, globalization, technology-enabled logistical micromanaging, consumer co-creation- have reshaped the retail world, and with it, the material culture of consumer societies. Though retailers have long employed trend spotters to try to capitalize on bottom-up innovation, fast-fashion companies have organized their business models around the principle relying on logistics and data capture in order to respond rapidly to consumer behavior. With small-batch production runs and global labor market to exploit, fast fashion accelerates the half-life of trends and ruthlessly turns over inventory, pushing the pace of fashion to a forced march. Fast fashion’s accelerated rate, and its unscrupulousness about copying branded designs, means that luxury houses and name designers, which dictated fashion seasonally, now must increasingly adapt to the ramifications of fast fashion’s trial-and-error approach. Despite apparently democratizing style and empowering consumers, fast fashion in some ways, constitutes a dream sector for tho se eager to condemn contemporary capitalism, as the companies heighten some of their current contradictions almost systematically: the exhaustion of innovative possibilities, the limits of the legal system in guaranteeing property rights, the increasing immoderation of the world workforce.Advertising Looking for essay on american literature? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Their labor practices are in the long tradition of textile-worker exploitation, offering paltry piecemeal rates to subcontracted suppliers and overlooking how they treat employees1. For instance, before the GATT Multifiber Agreement lapsed in 2005, allowing Forever and other garment-makers to outsource much of their manufacturing to Asia, the company’s domestic labor practices generated lawsuits filed on behalf of workers who alleged sweatshop conditions. In a press release, the Garment Worker Center, a California-based workers’ right s group, noted some of the conditions that prompted the suits: withheld wages, long hours without legally mandated breaks, rat and cockroach infestations, and a lack of bathrooms and access to drinking water. The plaintiffs’ lead lawyer claimed that companies like Forever 21 â€Å"create and demand these conditions. What logic drives the imperative to accelerate, regardless of the toll on workers? The all-purpose excuse for sweatshop practices once was the overriding need to offer bargain prices to Western consumers who have come to regard inexpensive clothes as an entitlement. (Berfield 50) Fast fashion has added the justification of better responsiveness to consumers’ fickleness. The companies overheat production schedules abroad so that they can constantly provide novelty and variety to customers who have come to expect it, who count on the stores not necessarily to meet their wardrobe needs but to relieve ennui. Shoppers witness and take part in the spectacle of p ure novelty. On the chaotic retail floor, and in the frantic dressing rooms of Forever 21’s stores, amid the disheveled racks and the items abandoned by shoppers distracted by something else, creative destruction ends up in being staged as semi-prurient guerrilla theater in which an endless series of hurried consumer costume changes is the essence of the performance2. Bibliography Berfield, Susan. â€Å"Forever 21’s Fast (and Loose) Fashion Empire.† Bloomberg Business Week: January 20 (2011).Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on The Accidental Bricoleurs by Rob Horning specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Footnotes 1 Susan Berfield. â€Å"Forever 21’s Fast (and Loose) Fashion Empire.† Bloomberg Business Week. January 20, (2011): 21. 2 Ibid.

People That Are Hard To Live With essays

People That Are Hard To Live With essays People are different in many ways. Just imagine this is your first year of college. You dont know what to expect. All you know is that you are going to be living with five knew people. Even though you guys have talked on the phone, there is no way you know what is going to happen. Sometimes you can get the nicest roommate but, the other times you could get the worst one. There are three classifications of people they can be messy, disrespectful, and annoying. The first classification is messy. The three types are smelly, dont pick up them selves, and moldy. They can smell really bad all the time by not taking a shower. This is bad because they can stink up the room or even worse, your room. Another way they can smell bad is if they dont wash there clothes. If they are messy they are defiantly not going to pick up there clothes are any other thing. They are either going to wait for somebody to pick it up for them or they are going to wait for somebody to tell them to. The worst thing about being messy is they are going to leave mold and any other fungi. They will never clean the bathroom or clean there cups they drank out of. The second classification is disrespectful. The three types are talk about you, dont listen to you, and keep you up at night. When you first met somebody knew you dont know what they are like. You may tell them things about you that you didnt want anybody to know but, later that night they are telling other people about your life. They may even do something worse and make fun of you to your face. Another bad thing is when they dont listen to you. You are tying to tell them a story and they completely ignore you. They could even walk away and not even care about a word you are saying. The last thing is they will keep you up all night. If you have an eight oclock class and are tying to go to bed they will not let you fall a ...

Research Proposal on a topic that links Knowledge Management System

On a topic that links Knowledge Management System with Cloud Computing - Research Proposal Example Explicit knowledge is the type of information that an individual has and he is more conscious of, and he can communicate the same with other people, this kind of knowledge is the one that organisations focus on capitalising on. Cloud computing is a term that is used to refer a large interconnection of computers that share data, this means that instead of using the local servers or personal devices to handle applications, organisations rely on sharing of computing resources through the use of internet. The interlink between knowledge management and cloud computing in an organisation comes in several ways where an organisation will use the cloud computing resources in knowledge management. Cloud storage, which has a vast of storage space in comparison to the typical storage spaces such as the hard disks, is a key driver of knowledge management tools such as blogging, micro-blogging pages, wiki, individual web spaces, podcasts, webcasts that require large volumes of storage space. The f lexibility that cloud computing offers in terms of the dedicating space when it is needed is convenient for knowledge management activities such as teleconferencing, web calls and lead capture, the ease of access of information that has been stored in the cloud computers by multiple users facilitates fast approval of information which has allowed workflow to be more efficient. Knowledge management has been ineffective for a long time due to several reasons; one of the reasons is that knowledge management has been confined to the walls of the organisation for a long time. This is despite the common knowledge that most of the useful information to the employees of a company is present outside these walls, which would improve the innovativeness and efficiency of the employees. With the discovery and growth of internet, most of the organisations that used intranet in knowledge management from actively managing the productivity of critical knowledge assets have made it become a publisher of informational assets. With the introduction of cloud computing in knowledge management, every individual either within or out of an organisation will become a knowledge manager. as tools become easier to use, individuals will actively contribute to the relevance of the information that is available within an organisation, in addition to this, individuals will be able to contribute to the improvement of the of practises and improvement of decision making. It will as be possible to send the information available within an organisation outside and also monetize it for the benefit of the organisation, however this will require companies to change their policies that govern how knowledge is shared within an organisation and new ways on how to gain a competitive edge using knowledge. While knowledge management has been a priority to most of the organisations for many years, addressing the challenge that comes with it has been relatively hard for most of the organisations (Kambil, 2009 , p67). With the current increasing economic uncertainties, reducing loyalties among customers, a very diversified workforce and increasing competition have made companies to find new and innovative ways to advance their knowledge management standards to match these challenges. These problems have been made

Is the private sector creating sustainable housing developments within Dissertation

Is the private sector creating sustainable housing developments within the UK - Dissertation Example Various methods are also employed to determine the needed approach for sustainability including Wackernagel and Rees’ (1996) ecological footprint which measures the given area’s sustainability with the total goods, services, energy and land which it consumes as appropriated against its carrying capacity. Two models have been proposed by Whitehead (2011) based on the priority: balanced and hierarchical. The balanced sustainability model proposes for an equal treatment and role of the ecological, social and economic forces whereas the hierarchical proposes a strong priority on ecological forces as followed by social and lastly economic (Appendix A & B). The issue on sustainability stemmed from the realisation that the natural environment is easily exploited for consumption benefits but great economic output does not always relate to possible restoration of the degraded ecosystem back to its original condition (Ayres, van den Bergh and Gowdy, 1998). When notable changes to the natural environment as well as the devastating effects of production and consumption from climate change to loss of biodiversity, and failure to meet basic human needs were realised, the debate on sustainability began. ... The good news was that UK was not alone in this lack of solid action with sustainability as other major post-industrial countries also exhibit failed initiatives (Hobson, 2004). Importance of the UK private housing industry: private/public accounts for ...percentage The UK Housing Social housing in the United Kingdom is characterised by private funding of housing associations mediated and guided by appropriate government agencies. It is further described by Oxley (1998) as facing many challenges including the low income of tenants relying mainly on state benefits; macroeconomic reasons led to reduced government support; continued pressure to reduce public spending on housing; substantial backlog of housing repair and maintenance work by council; and a high demand for more social housing (673). The most apparent view was that there were affordability and investment problems as the government encouraged private finance and not-for-profit organisations to become Registered Social Landlo rds. Local authority housing was transferred into owner-occupation and to housing associations or organisations wherein companies are formed from a local authority to newly created organisation which owns and manages housing at â€Å"arms length† from the local authority (674). In 1981, 28% of English housing stock was managed by local authorities but this has since decreased since 1988 when the government shifted role from housing providers to strategic enablers. By 1994, only 18% of the housing stock remained under local authority and council house building reduced to only one per cent by 1994. This was a result of the housing investment programmes or HIPs of the government. It reviews bids for the use of resources as well as permits borrowing

Automobile Essay Example for Free

Automobile Essay Experimental Question: What are the effects of different types of antifreeze on the physical appearance on pansy plants? Most people could not imagine there lives without some sort of motor vehicle transportation. Although motor vehicles are great for getting around and getting around quickly, they take a lot of maintenance and also have a permanent effect on the environment. Motor vehicles take a lot of different products to assure smooth travels. One of these products that help your motor vehicle run smoothly is antifreeze. Antifreeze is made of substance called ethylene glycol. Although antifreeze is a very helpful product for humans there is a lack of its overall effects upon the environment. This is defiantly a problem, due to its lack of research we decided to conduct an experiment; what are the effects of different types of antifreeze on the physical appearance on a pansy plant? Ethylene glycol is actually metabolized in plants and plants have a hormone inside of them called ethylene. Inside of plant cells this substance is turned into ethylene glycol and broken down again. Most people believe that this substance cannot harm plants since it is already present within plants, but this belief is false. In large substance this substance can become deadly. One of the reasons why we decided to conduct this experiment is to show people the immediate effects there motor vehicle products can have upon the environment. Our goal is to inform vehicle owners of the harmful effects there products can have on the environment and what you can do to help improve our environment.

Country Analysis Malaysia :: essays papers

Country Analysis Malaysia Malaysia A. Brief History  § In the first century AD, the Malayan peninsula was prominent in int’l trade.  § Conquered by the Portuguese in 1511, then the Dutch in 1641.  § The British, who replaced the Dutch in 1795, developed large-scale productions of tin and rubber.  § The Japanese invaded Malaysia during WWII.  § Malaysia was formed after negotiating for independence from the British in September 16, 1963. B. Comparative Advantage (Early years up to pre-1980’s)  § Natural Resources/Land - Malaysia has a total land area of 127,320 sq. mi. - abundance of sedimentary rocks such as limestone, shale, sandstone, and conglomerate. - Tin ore was Malaysia’s most important resource pre 1980’s. - exported raw commodities such as timber, rubber, tin, and palm oil.  § Human Resources  § Access to Capital - Government invested on more capital goods - Sources of finances were increasing due to the investment on capital, domestic saving, and foreign investments. - In the 1970’s, the Investment Incentive Act aimed to gain more investments to spend on its programs. It also aimed to get more participation from the Malays.  § Initial Success in some industries - Production of raw materials like tin and rubber - Mining, Petroleum production, Agricultural Sector, Forestry and Fishing. C. Role of Government  § The head of state is the Yang di-Pertuan Agong (paramount ruler) The Conference of Rulers is formed by the hereditary rulers and appointed heads of the four other states. The Cabinet headed by the Prime Minister exercises executive power.  § The government finds ways to attract foreign investors, and is active in the development of industries. D. Competitive Advantage  § In the Second Industrial Master Plan (IMP2), palm oil, rubber, cocoa, and timber were identified as primary commodities.  § The Third National Agricultural Policy (NAP3), palm oil, rubber, cocoa, and timber have also been identified as the major contributor to agricultural value-added activities.  § Infrastructure Development- in the form of roads, ports, railways, telecommunications, electricity, and water supply- is crucial for profitable private investment.  § More emphasis has been given to the development of commercial agriculture since the 19080’s.  § Petroleum Development Act of 1974 enabled the federal government to get much of the resource rents from petroleum and natural gas resources.  § Logging  § Malaysia has the second highest household savings rate.  § Import Substitution and Export Orientation E. Economic Indicators (1991-2000) GNP $67 billion GDP 6% Inflation 5.3% Unemployment 2.6% National Debt $39.8 billion Budget Deficit/ Surplus revenues: $22.6 billionexpenditures: $22 billion Population 22.2 Million F. Survival Strategy during the Asean Crisis (1997 – 2000)  § Political Problems - On September 1998, Prime Minister Mahathir Mohammad fired Anwar Ibrahim from his post as Deputy Prime Minister, after being convicted of corruption and other illegal activities.

Effect of television advertisements for foods on food consumption in children Essay

Effect of television advertisements for foods on food consumption in children Introduction Question 1 Â   Â   Â   Â  This research describes a research that is both qualitative and quantitative. To start with, the research can be said to use quantitative research method because it employs the use of the top down scientific method of research. Throughout the research, the researchers make use of quantitative data that involves the analysis of a number of variables like the preference of certain foods by some children and attraction to certain advertisements by some children. Moreover, the research uses quantitative research which involves the use of data that can be measured. For example, the number of children who took certain types of foods and the number of adverts that every child was shown. The main use of quantitative data in the research is to understand the behavior patterns of the children. Question 2 Â   Â   Â   Â  This research summary describes cross-sectional study which is also referred to as prevalence. This is because the research involves collecting data from a number of students who represent a large population. The study applied in the research summary is mainly descriptive and uses a small sample of students from a larger children population in England. In addition, the research summary describes cross sectional study because the findings can be used to describe the prevalence risk ratio of the concerned population. Question 3 Â   Â   Â   Â  The research summary is full of evidence to indicate that the researchers concerned did everything possible to ensure that the exercise was carried out ethically. The first evidence of attention to ethics was to inquire from the children involved whether they wished to take part in the exercise. This is important because nobody should be coerced into taking part in any study. Moreover, the researchers involved made sure that the advertisements that were used in the study were sourced from children and family programming. This is important because it ensured that the adverts did not contain any explicit contents. Question 4 Â   Â   Â   Â  The type of experiment contained in the research summary is a quasi-experiment. This is because all the independent variables used in the experiment like the age of the children, their gender and body mass index are things that already exist in the sample population. Unlike in a true experiment where people are assigned to different condition, all the children involved in the study were assigned to the same conditions. Question 5 Â   Â   Â   Â  Some of the variables that the experimenters considered were the weight of the children, exposure to TV food adverts, different types of foods and the amount of foods consumed by each child. The independent variable used in the experiment is the amount of food given to the children and the food adverts they were exposed to. The dependent variables that were used in this research were the effect of food adverts on the amount of food consumed by each child and relationship between the weight of a child and his/her ability to recognize food adverts. Question 6 Â   Â   Â   Â  The main reason why the researchers used commercials of non- food product was to see whether the children would remember the adverts that they had seen in general. The main role of non-food commercials was to test whether they would attract the attention of the children the same way with food adverts. Question 7 Â   Â   Â   Â  The conclusion at the end of the research summary suggests that there is a correlation between viewing TV and childhood obesity. This means that there exists a relationship between viewing too much TV and increased food intake. However, it is worthy noting that the relationship between the two is mutual or complementary. Question 8 Â   Â   Â   Â  There are two things that i would do differently if I were conducting this experiment. To begin with, I take into consideration the rate of physical activity in every child. This is because they extra calories consumed by each child could be used due to physical activity therefore reducing the probability of obesity. Secondly, I would consider factors that may lead to excessive viewing of TV like limited parental involvement and lenient parental rules. Reference Halford, J. C. G., Gillespie, J., Brown, V., Pontin, E. E., & Dovey, T. M. Effect of television advertisements for foods on food consumption in children, 2004. Print Source document