The Status of the Company

Running Head: AVON PRODUCTS, INC. 1 1. Provide a brief description of the status of the company that led to its determination that a change was necessary. Avon Products, Inc. (Avon) is a 122 year old company whose primary focus is on the economic empowerment of women around the world. Basically, the organization is a leader in direct distribution of cosmetics, fragrances and skin care products. Prior to and including the year 2005, the company was considered to be a very successful company operating in over 40 countries with 70% of its revenue from outside of the United States.Its growth rate on profit margin was outstanding. In 2006, the company found itself in a declining state in revenue and profits. The company’s direct-selling business was taking on great costs for a number of reasons including global legal restrictions and some dissatisfaction of the company’s representatives. Since Avon’s reliance is on its direct-selling, the earnings and representative s atisfaction are essential for the success of the business. The underlying factor along with other contributing causes was that Avon had grown faster than portions of its infrastructure and talent could support.The structure, people and processes that support a $5 billion company were not necessarily a good support for the $10 billion company. In the process of reviewing its talent practices the talent management team was able to identify six areas of missing or poorly functioning talent processes. The weaknesses that were found in Avon’s existing talent practices were listed 1) opaque; 2) egalitarian; 3) complex; 4) episodic; 5) emotional; and 6) meaningless. 2. Identify the model for change theory typified in the case study of your choice. Discuss what led you to identify the model that you did.Faced with the challenges of its flattening revenues and declining operating profits, Avon’s CEO restructured the organization and significant changes were made. As the changes began, it was found that Avon had some issues with its talent, both with the existing talent and with the company’s ability to identify and produce talent. The change model in the Avon case was the 360-degree feedback assessment tool. According to Silzer & Dowell (2010), the rise of 360-degree feedback assessments encouraged greater use of competency models built specifically around leadership behaviors.Silzer & Dowell (2010) go on to say that â€Å"organizations soon had lists of the leadership behaviors they expected from their managers,† which was the case with Avon. Avon was found to be opaque. As such, the talent practices within the organization were not known to the managers or to the associates. The resulting change was that of new practices and a re-making of the existing practices to become more transparent except for when there were confidentiality concerns. Another weakness that existed with Avon’s talent practices was that the company was egalitari an and needed to turn around the quality of its talent.Once this was understood, Avon made a change to differentiate its investment in its talent. This allowed for the company to better match the effectiveness of its talent investment with the expected return since before the turnaround the high performers were not engaged and the low performers were not managed very effectively. Avon’s level of complexity in its talent management practices was another noted weakness. Quality talent was not grown as quickly as was needed by the company so Avon simplified its talent process to ensure a balanced process. Employee surveys and talent reviews were performed episodically.Decisions concerning promotions and other objectives were more or less influenced by as much by individual knowledge and emotion as by objective facts. The turnaround that was made here was that relationships became stronger and as the business grew, leaders know of other’s performance or development needs a nd used this factor in determining talent management. Finally, meaningless talent practices such as Human Resources professionals not being able to answer most of the basic questions posed by managers about talent practices and there was not existing accountability.With the new talent practices, questions were answered and talent reviews were done and notations of progress were made. This was indication that effective communication had begun to take place. In this case, feedback was helpful and resulted in changed behaviors and overall things were done differently. According to Silzer & Dowell (2010) as leadership concepts and education gained greater currency, it became clear that the followers (subordinates) of leaders should share their views on their leader’s effectiveness.Greater use of this model encouraged greater use of competency models built around leadership behaviors. 3. Illustrate the types of evaluation information that were collected and how they are used to be nefit the company. As stated earlier, Avon faced challenges of flattening revenues and declining operating profits. Regarding this situation there were many contributing causes. One underlying issue was that Avon had grown faster than portions of its infrastructure and talent could support (Goldsmith, & Carter, 2010, p. 2).Avon’s structure, including people and processes, had grown from that of a company with $5 billion in revenues to that of a company with $10 billion in revenues. With this growth Avon’s structure was no longer a good fit and was in need of a turnaround. To begin the process of turning the business around, the talent management group (TM) started by requesting copies of the 360-degree assessment of each VP, not to take any action against anyone, but to gain more knowledge about the behavioral information of the top leaders. Every enterprise must build knowledge into its value proposition. Knowledge cannot be separated but needs to be an explicit part of everything about an enterprise† (Edersheim, 2007, p. 189). The 360-degree feedback is a performance measurement which involves rating individuals on work-related behaviors. According to Noe, Hollenbeck, Gerhart, & Wright (2011), there are benefits of the 360-degree feedback. Organizations collect multiple perspectives of managers’ performance, allowing employees to compare their own personal evaluations with the views of others.The request for the 360-degree assessment was denied citing confidentiality. This matter was addressed and a new and simpler 360-degree assessment process was designed and implemented which now allowed for the disclosure of behavioral information to be used when making decisions relative to promotions and assignments. The new process aided in making the talent process less complex and more transparent The performance management form within Avon was a ten page long form and many of the associates had not had a review in a number of years.With t he turnaround process, Associates were now aligned with a different set of goals and could expect fair rewards. More value was added to the process because now managers had a simpler tool to use and it allowed them to manage their teams more effectively. Prior to the turnaround at Avon, accountability for talent practices was non-existent. With the implementation of the new process, it was believed that the focus could be on people issues and that mangers could be held accountable for the improvement thereof.Further, Associates were empowered to hold the managers accountable and to inform Human Resource leaders if things were not happening. The issues concerning accountability were applied such that talent management was the responsibility of the leaders within the organization and in keeping with Avon’s culture. 4. Speculate about success of the changes within the next five (5) years and how adjustments could be made if the results become less than ideal. The talent practice s at Avon had some weaknesses which were addressed during a year to a year and a half turnaround period.This process after turnaround saw great effective improvements in the talent practices. The most noticeable changes were in the areas of clear goal setting, feedback, development planning, and people effectiveness. As the talent management process has become simpler and more transparent at Avon, the development of leaders is now on a faster track. The work experience is also improved having made leaders more accountable for their behaviors. The effectiveness of the new process has contributed to Avon’s goals of reducing expenses and increasing revenue.It is expected that Avon will continue to grow and with the updated talent practices, better leaders will be developed faster and those leaders must continue with the development and growth of potential new leaders. This process is expected to continue and Avon will stay on track in achieving its goals for continued success. I t is important that the vision of the organization is continuously communicated. According to Bates (n. d. ) many leaders fail to get their messages across even though they are intelligent, analytical, and decisive leaders.Human resource professionals know that the consequences are serious if leaders cannot successfully communicate a vision. Executives have to motivate and inspire, or they will fail. One role of HR professionals is to recognize when there is an issue and help leaders develop this skill. References Bates, S. (n. d. ). Communicating vision: How HR professionals can help leaders articulate big ideas and get people moving in one direction. Retrieved 11/03/12 from http://www. hrcrossing. com/article/270140 Edersheim, E.H. (2007). The definitive Drucker. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill Goldsmith, M. , & Carter, Louis. (2010). Best practices in talent management: how the world’s leading corporations manage, develop, and retain top talent. San Francisco, CA: Pfeiffer Noe, R. A. , Hollenbeck, J. R. , Gerhart, B. , & Wright, P. M. (2011). Fundamentals of human resource management. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill Silzer, R. , & Dowell, B. E. (2010). Strategy-driven talent management: A leadership imperative. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

Practical Criticism of the Poem Futility by Wilfred Owen Essay

The poem begins with an order â€Å"move him into the sun†. The persona seems to be desperate to move someone under the sun. The second line talks about the beginning of life when the rays of the sun must have touched the delicate body of the person as a baby. The following words â€Å"field unsown† refers to immaturity, incomplete life or a half grown state. It acts as a metaphor on the cycle of life. The persona continues to speak about the regular behavior of the person. He seemed to have been acquainted with the sun and life as well â€Å"until this morning† The words act as symbols of contrasts. Whereas the morning and the sun act as symbols of life, snow refers to death and gloom. The last two lines of the first stanza refer to sun as an elderly figure. It is significant through the words â€Å"pld sun†. In the second stanza, the persona talks about the strength of sun. While the sun once brought life to the cold barren earth, it appears unacceptable to the persona that the same sun cannot bring life in the lifeless young soldier. The persona directs the reader towards war and its consequences. He tells the reader that the soldier is still warm. He feels helpless to see the wrecked state of a human being who bears no significance after his death. He is sad at his condition. The reference made to the Genesis and the creation of man from the clay can be seen in the fifth line of the second stanza. He complains that was it for this day that the human being grew up having been created by the Lord himself. The poem is an epitaph considering its style of construction. A melancholic and bitter tone is being carried out. a person , most probably a soldier is a young lad lies in battle field in a half dead condition. The themes such as the brutality of life and the pitiable consequences of war can be observed through the lines. In a nutshell the poem appears an intellectual criticism of war and its horrific consequences.

Guest Speakers and Investigation of Lifestyling Case Study

Guest Speakers and Investigation of Lifestyling - Case Study Example On the other hand, unlike most partnerships, the John Lewis Partnership has distinctive HR structure and management because it is employee-owned and among the main aims is guaranteeing happiness for all the members (John Lewis Partnership, 2015). Given Capital Insight’s reputation, the consultancy has been the provider of HR solutions for corporations through excellent ideas on retained contracts, interim support, outsourced services, training design and delivery among other significant areas focusing on personnel management. Moreover, Capital Insight advocates for the Soft and Hard Models of HRM. Despite being a well-established company in the UK, Capital Insight has worked even with small firms providing manageable services at low costs (Capital Insight, 2015). I think the experience of more than two decades has made it easy for the company to understand the UK market and corporations hence their strong reputation and credibility. This is the reason why, unlike other consultancy agencies, Capital Insight can provide services to companies and allow on-going monthly payments. Capital Insight’s persistence on speed, quality and expertise as the main values of performance and achievements makes the provision of the HR services very efficient. However, the culture is the key aspect to the professionals guaranteeing their clients interim support despite the limitations of time (Capital Insight, 2015). Helping the HR departments for large corporations such as Virgin, Siemens or Fins-bury Food Group reflects on the powerful reputation of Capital Insight, which shows that the amount of attention given to reputation determines a company’s success and can become an issue too. I believe Capital Insight’s input in developing standard and strong relationships with the clients facilitates their ability to offer specific services most consultancy agencies overlook such as conflict management.  

Exchange of the Products in a Physical Form and Sale or Purchase of Literature review

Exchange of the Products in a Physical Form and Sale or Purchase of Foreign Currency - Literature review Example Two major factors are said to be the litmus test of market efficiency: the magnitude of statistical dependence between consecutive movements in exchange rates and the profitability of trading regulations. Research pertaining to the first issue on common statistical mechanisms like runs analysis and serial correlation analysis is to decide on the magnitude of reliance between successive exchange rate changes. (Jacque 1997:110). One hypothesis demonstrates that the past exchange rates include useful data in projecting future exchange rates since the data only spreads slowly among market participants, thus contradicting the market efficiency hypothesis. Poole in his empirical study has established substantial serial dependence in the currency price-rates of change by employing tests of serial correlation, filter rules and variance-time function. Pool attributed his research findings of serial reliance on transaction and inventory-carrying costs. Dooley and Shafer (1976) found a substant ial serial correlation in exchange rate series, thus doubting the Market Efficiency theory and a contrario, offering empirical proof for the Price Dynamics theory of exchange rate behaviour. Giddy and Dufey (1975) in their research study of the comparative projecting correctness of five models, proved that the behaviour of spot exchange rates is best illustrated as following a random walk, an outcome clearly dependable with the weak form of market efficiency. Some research studies have revealed that certain trading methodologies are able to make optimistic surplus revenues.

Create a Professional Development Plan Coursework

Create a Professional Development Plan - Coursework Example e public policies for school emergency and crisis response plan have become the basic need for healthy growth of children, but the realties are different by lack management about the serious issue. To overcome any type of crisis, the schools need supporting policies for comprehensive and cohesive approaches for the four important elements (prevention, preparedness, intervention and recovery) for the effective crisis response. Crisis response development plan include the support of trained staff, community collaborations and the relief organization (NASP, 2009). The purpose of comprehensive-crisis-management policies is to prepare the school administration and the staff for appropriate response against violation cases, criminal activities or natural disasters in the schools. The policies to overcome the issues of school emergency should be highly efficient by including the strategies of preventions and interventions taken by the school staff. It is a fact that the tragic incidents happen very quickly in the school boundaries, which needs quick and effective steps to handle these issues. Sometime the crisis is not as severe as the rumors hurt the students’ minds, so there need precautions to cool down the situation at the schools. The training of the staff should be very skillful to handle the situations of criminal gangs, violations, disasters, etc. the crisis management plan includes the facilities of medical aids, help of law enforcement agencies, highly alert security, etc to take rapid and quick actions against any type of negati ve issue (Council, 2014). There are some schools that have the proper plans and facilities to tackle the major disasters, such as floods, earthquakes, fire burnings, etc. same it is, many schools do not plan to take actions against any kind of accidental situation, which is not a good sign for the child development and his mental growth during his school hours. Sometime the criminal minded students hurt the student unusually, which is

Open System Approach to Organizations Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words - 1

Open System Approach to Organizations - Essay Example The company will be used as a case study to answer the questions in the subsequent paragraphs. An open approach system to organization implies that an organization interacts with its outside environment, which in turn influences the structure and operations of the organization. The fact that an open system interacts with the outside environment implies that an organization is an open system should always adapt to changes in the environment. For a long time, Icy Foods Ltd. has been operating on informal basis judging, by the way, operations are loosely divided into five departments with no clear-cut framework. Moreover, the company used to accept orders with less or no regard to quality or quantity specifications of the product. This lack of organization explains why the company lacked customers from major supermarket chains. The other apparent misgiving that characterized Icy Foods Ltd. is the lack of clear division of labor and specialization. This fact is inherent in the way the company conducts job rotations (Weiner, 2002). Job rotation is not a good concept because it does not give the employees the chance to gain experience in a given line of duty. The fact that the company did not embrace quality and efficiency in its operations negatively affected its business performance. Before the takeover by Megastores Plc., the company had adopted an organic organization structure in managing the various operations. The management, prior to the takeover, operated an open-door policy. The management was keen on hearing employee’s ideas on new products and operational improvements. There was also a flexible approach to handling employees’ issues such as working hours and leave. After the successful takeover, the management came up with a raft of new changes that were more bureaucratic as opposed to the organic system that the management had used to all along.

Comparison Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Comparison - Essay Example Her main focus was to provide rights to the Blacks and give them a representation in the society. She has a literature Nobel prize to her name, along with eight novels and over two hundred short stories to her credit. The other form of literature that will be scrutinized is â€Å"What it’s like to be a black girl?† a poem by the famous Patricia Smith. Smith, also an activist wrote this specific poem to explain the feelings of a black girl, growing up to be a woman in a time when blacks were despised severely. (What its like to be a black girl, Poetry - CollegeTermPapers.com, 2013; Post Colonial Analysis of "Country Lovers" by Nadine Gordimer, 2013) â€Å"The Country Lovers† is a short story written by Nadine Gordimer, and it forms the second part of the story called â€Å"The Town and Country Lovers†. With the scene set in countryside, the story revolves around two protagonists namely: Thebedi and Paulus. Thebedi is a black girl and Paulus happens to be th e son of her white masters. Thebedi and Paulus have spent their entire childhood together; hence, when they grow up into teenagers, they get attracted to each other and fall in love. What they experienced cannot be typically termed as love, but they were physically involved and their love blossomed as they were over whelmed by the strength of emotions that they felt. Now in those times, interracial relationships were forbidden, which meant that it was close to committing a sin, hence, this whole relation was kept as a secret. Time passes with the way things are and Thebedi gets pregnant, but she hides this fact from Paulus. Paulus till such time was carrying on with his own life and Thebedi was getting married to a man named Njabulo, who had been in love with her for quite some time. When Thebedi gives birth to a daughter, her appearance raises questions because the girl, carrying her father’s genes is light in color and has colored eyes. Njabulo, being a sincere husband does not question this and treats the child like his own. As word travels, Paulus gets to know about the child and in an instance realizes the daunting truth. He pays a visit to Thebedi and asks her to five the child to someone else as it is a proof of their sin. On insisting, Thebedi leaves Paulus alone with the child and after a day, the girl dies. The matter is taken to court as Thebedi swears to confess that Paulus had poisoned her child. However, on the day of the trial, Thebedi fails to confess and says she did not â€Å"see† Paulus poison the baby. Hence, Paulus is freed without any charges due to the lack of evidence. (Country Lovers, 2013) This short story brings into focus the problems of being in an â€Å"interracial†, â€Å"forbidden† love. (Post Colonial Analysis of "Country Lovers" by Nadine Gordimer, 2013) It not just explains the problems that the protagonists, especially the female encountered, but it also portrays perfectly the thinking of the peop le in those times. The story remarkably portrays the female as the vulnerable character as men mostly get away with their acts easily. As the story was staged for the 20th century, a time when racial discrimination was at its peak, the role of Thebedi shows the negatives of being a black and a woman at the same time. Her character was questioned when her child turned out to be light in colored. Paulus’s selfish act of saving his reputation from being damaged, and poisoning the child to

Final Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 1

Final - Assignment Example Those formulations are then adopted through the congressional process and then to the bureaucratic process. This part is done by the executive agencies. In this case, the policy implementation could include adopting regulations and rules, providing products and services, adjudication of disputes, public education campaigns and many others. Various actors and observers evaluate the effects of policies. In this case, they evaluate whether the policy is solving the problem at hand by accomplishing their goals. Evaluation compares the costs and benefits of policies. Congress uses its oversight powers to seek answers on the progress of the policy project. 2. A balanced budget is the one where the government raises enough money to fund the budget. In this case, the total revenues are equal to the total expenditures. In this case, there is neither a budget surplus nor a budget deficit that exists. As such, the budget accounts are in balance. However, a balanced budget generally refers the one that has no budget deficit, but a budget surplus may exist. A balance budget does not require the government to source for revenue from external sources. In addition, the government does not need to seek a supplementary budget from the legislative body to finance stalled projects as a result of financial deficiency. There are several factors that can cause budget surplus. One of them is increased taxation rate on some product. In this case, the government may increase the tax to achieve another objective rather that collecting revenue; may be to discourage consumption of a certain product. Another factor is improved economic growth or devaluation of currency in trading partners. The government has a large number of departments, parastatals, and agencies among other area that it operates. Provision of services such as medical, education and security are in the responsibilities of the government. In this

Analysis on the Importance of HR Practices in Managing Organisations Essay

Analysis on the Importance of HR Practices in Managing Organisations - Essay Example Analysis on the Importance of HR Practices in Managing Organisations The literature suggests of the importance of managing human resources for the benefit of the company, but this practice is apparent to the large organizations. HR practice in SME has been the center of research because of the issues raised. The study found out that the size of the company is congruent to the choice of implementing HR policies because of resource constraints. This paper analyses the significance of HR practices such as training and development in managing organisations. Resourcing an Organisation SME has captured the attention of researchers due to its rapid growth which contributes to the national economy. Thousands of small businesses are established, which increase the employment of individuals; hence, failure of small businesses to remain in their business operation hurt the economy. Europe and UK narrate that two-third of its job are employed in SME, but the enterprises lose a huge number of jobs due to business failure. The business failure of SMEs is caused by the poor management of resource and informal practices of HRM. Beaver and Hutchings support that SME rejects the value of HR as the source of gaining competitive advantage. Due to their lack of knowledge in the managerial aspect, the growth of the company is sacrificed. Furthermore, majority of small and medium enterprises believe that HR practices are hindrances to the generation of profits because training and development require budget. ... commitment, adaptability, and consideration of employee.† To emphasize commitment, SME should adapt HR policies to strengthen the loyalty of employees and motivate them to render their maximum potential. Thus, it is inappropriate for SME to think that HR policies will lead to unproductive. â€Å"The management of people is strategic to success† (Harney & Dundon, 2006, p.48). This statement accentuates the role of HRM in aiding companies to achieve their mission statement. The knowledge on HRM is critical in ensuring that right employees are recruited and trained at the right time. Zheng, et al. (2009, p.177) confirm that â€Å"consistent and effective manner† of human resources management through recruiting and maintaining competitive staff who are talented will add to the companies’ competitive advantage and â€Å"sustain superior performance in the longer term.† Therefore, the failure of most companies is rooted to their inability to support HR pra ctices. In UK, the government encourages SMEs to implement HR best practices because of its positive outcome to the organisational performance. Studies have shown that companies employing HRM have attained excellent performance compared to those who are neglecting HR (Bacon & Hoque, 2005, p.1977). According to Pfeffer (1994 cited in Reid, et al., 2002, p.249), successful organisations have common HR practices such as â€Å"employment security, self-managed teams, extensive training, high compensation contingent on organisational performance, recruitment, sharing of information, and reduction of status differences.† The HR practices of organisations motivate employees to be competitive and productive in their job design and role designation. Job design and role specifications are crucial in matching the talents of the

Research Project Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words - 1

Research Project - Essay Example This was a consideration since the human tendency to judge others work and performance created a lot of problems related to the motivation, ethics, legal ruling etc. at workplaces (Cannell and Wood, 1992). To ensure that the appraisal systems were just, lawful, fair and accurate, performance appraisal was introduced. The process was linked to the material outcomes, i.e. if an employee’s performance is to less than ideal then there would be a cut in pay, however if the performance was better than the ideal level set by the supervisor, then there would be a rise in pay. In 1950’s United States observed the usefulness of appraisal as a tool for motivation and development. This model was now being gradually recognised and the general model of performance appraisal started on from that time (Strebler, M. T., Thompson, M. and Heron, P., 1997). The birth of performance related pay was somewhere in 1980s, when many employers felt it was a great solution to improve performance and enthusiastically embraced the idea. It was then that businesses wanted to move from the service related pay progression to a more result oriented form of pay. Businesses wanted to ensure that the business objectives were met by setting performance goals for employees (Dervon, M. G., 1990). This however did not last for a very long time. In 1990s, employers felt the need to have a more improvised form of the theory as the efficiency of the theory was now being challenged by a lot of scholars and businesses. It was noted during the 90s that the scheme had failed to deliver the expected results and businesses were now looking to develop a better revised approach of performance related pay (Dowling, B. and Richardson, R., 1997). However in the current situation the definition of employee contribution is not only dependent on the output i.e. the end results achieved but also depends on the inputs by the employee i.e. what the employee is willing to contribute to the business. In

The Hunger Games Essay Example for Free

The Hunger Games Essay In this Action-Drama Feature novel, Katniss Everdeen, A victor from the first novel the hunger games. Has fought her way through death itself. In which brings us to part two and when she fights to the death and becomes victor. Her worst enemy president Snow gets really angry with her. n the first hunger games when Katniss was in the arena she started a small rebellion by getting some poisonous berries with herself and her partner Peeta Mellark decided they where going to eat them some poisnious berrys so they wouldn’t have to kill each other while they was interupped by the government. Little did they know Katniss and Peeta was starting a rebeillon which brings us to novel three! The Mocking Jay Katniss is in the lost district 13. District 13 capture Katniss and 2 other tributes that was in the Hunger Games But instead of imprisoned them they decide to Make Katniss the Leader of the army, Beetus as the weapons designer Leader, rewarded Finnick with his own army, Gail Was Katniss assistance but while these tributes try to plan there attack on the capitol, the capitol is torturing the other people from districts all over except district two Because of the alliance there so Katniss Has to come up with a scheme to help those in need while bringing the government down so they can have the total freedom they been fighting the government for decades now. This is a great novel for readers at above reading average also for people who like drama intense action and a little love story here and there. I also enjoy reading part of this book except it takes an awfully long time to get to the point of what they are trying to say or explain but other than that it was a good story that enjoy.

New Drug Application of Paclitaxel: Results Discussion

New Drug Application of Paclitaxel: Results Discussion The present research work is an attempt made to design and development of a new drug application for of Paclitaxel sustained release microspheres by using ionic Gelation and solvent evaporation methods is to achieve first order to improve bioavailability and reduce side effects of paclitaxel. For this purpose different polymers like HPMC K100, EUDRAGIT RS100, ETHYL CELLULOSE, and in combination were used. Based on the above investigational reports. I concluded the following results and discussions. 7.1. Preformulation Studies: The reports indicate the exhibit good and passable flow properties. So there is no need to improve the flow of the powder. The regression value obtained from analytical method development in buffer media is 0.999.so, the drug is exhibiting linearity in concentration 2ug to 10 ug.The FT-IR spectral studies indicate good stability and no chemical interaction between the drugs and excipients used. 7.1.1. Identification of paclitaxel In identification of API it was found that paclitaxel was soluble in methanol, ethanol, acetone 7.2 Stability studies 7.2.1. – Photo stability: When paclitaxel was exposed to light for a period of 2 months (60days) it was found that 0.2% of the drug was degraded. 7.2.2. Acidic degradation When the drug was exposed in acidic medium 0.1N HCL for a period of 24 hrs , it was found that there is no degradation of the drug in alkaline mediums showing 100% stability in the acidic medium. 7.2.3. Alkaline degradation: When the drug was exposed in different alkaline mediums like phosphate buffer 7.4 for a period of 24 hrs, it was found that there is no degradation of the drug in alkaline mediums showing 100% stability in alkaline medium. 7.2.4 Temperature stress conditions: When the drug was exposed to different temperatures (00C, 100C, 200C, 300C, 350C, 450C and 500C, 600C) for a time period of 1hr, 3hr, 6hr, 12hr, 24hr, was found that there is no degradation of the drug in Temperature stress conditions. 7. 3.Solubility studies: Solubility of paclitaxel: Paclitaxel is soluble in methanol, ethanol, acetone etc;.paclitaxel is in soluble in water Melting Point: It was also found Melting point of paclitaxel was 2160c, Density: On analyzing for density it was found that paclitaxel showed bulk density value 0.593gm/ml and tapped density value 0.514 gm/ml, Carr’s Index: The value of Carr’s Index for 13.32 and drugs showed good flow characteristics Compressibility Index: The value of Compressibility Index for was 14.28, and drugs showed good characteristics. Hausner’s ratio: The value of Hausner’s ratio for paclitaxel was 1.16 drugs showed good flow characteristics. Angle of Repose: The studies on angle of repose showed that was 26.83 values indicated good flow properties. Stability studies FTIR studies: From the FTIR spectra, it was concluded that similar characteristic peaks with minor difference for the drug and their formulation. Hence, it appears that there was no chemical interaction between the drugs and excipients used. The IR Spectra of paclitaxel with HPMC K100, Eudragit Rs100, Ethyl cellulose were shown in figs. The following peaks were observed in as well as paclitaxel with excipients. EVALUATION OF MICROSPHERES: Determination of percentage yield: The percentage yield was estimated from all the 18 formulations the results obtained between the range 86.03 %to 76.56%.all the formulation was found within the limits. Drug entrapment efficiency: The drug entrapment of all formulation of paclitaxel microspheres varied from 86.19 to 67.38 Particle size analysis: The particle size of the microspheres of the paclitaxel formulations varied from 836  µm to 191 µm. In vitro drug release studies: The formulation F1, F4, F7 contains HPMC K 100,Eudragit Rs100, Ethyl cellulose, as a polymers in 1% concentration prepared by ionic gelation method. These formulations subjected to drug release studies in 7.4 ph phosphate buffer as a dissolution medium. The formulation F1 that containing 1% HPMC K100, amount of the drug is release 36.92% in 48 hrs. . And the formulation F4 containing 1% Eudragit Rs 100, amount of the drug release 43.92 in 48hrs, The formulation F7 containing 1 % Ethyl cellulose , amount of the drug release 68.96 in 48hrs. The formulation F2 that containing 20mg HPMC k 100, 10mg, Eudragit Rs 100, amount of drug is release 41.73 in 48hr. the formulation F3containing 10mg Ethyl cellulose, 20mg HPMC K 100, amount of drug release 46.98 in 48 hrs.the formulation F5 containing 20mg Eudragit Rs100, 10mgHPMC K 100 amount of drug release 50.24 in 48 hrs. the formulation F6 containing 20mg Eudragit, 10mgEthyl cellulose amount of drug release53.28 in 48hrs. The formulation F8 that containing 10mg HPMC k 100, 20mgEthyl cellulose, amount of drug is release 63.24 in 48hrs, the formulation F9containing 20mgEthyl cellulose, 10mg Ethyl cellulose, amount of drug release 56.23 in 48 hrs. From formulations F1 to F9 shows cumulative percentage drug release in 48 hr in between 36.92% to 68.96%. The formulation F10, F13, F16 contains HPMC K 100,Eudragit Rs100, Ethyl cellulose, as a polymers in 1% concentration prepared by solvent evaporation method. These formulations subjected to drug release studies in 7.4 ph phosphate buffer as a dissolution medium. The formulation F10 that containing 1% HPMC K100, amount of the drug is release 42.28% in 48 hrs. . And the formulation F13 containing 1% Eudragit Rs 100, amount of the drug release 49.32 in 48hrs, The formulation F16 containing 1 % Ethyl cellulose , amount of the drug release 79.42in 48hrs. The formulation F11 that containing 20mg HPMC k 100, 10mg, Eudragit Rs 100, amount of drug is release 46.43 in 48hr. the formulation F12containing 10mg Ethyl cellulose, 20mgHPMC K 100, amount of drug release 53.67 in 48 hrs. The formulation F14 containing 20mg Eudragit Rs100, 10mgHPMC K 100 amount of drug release 55.86 in 48 hrs. the formulation F15 containing 20mg Eudragit, 10mgEthyl cellulose amount of drug release59.11 in 48hrs. The formulation F17 that containing 10mg HPMC k 100, 20mgEthyl cellulose, amount of drug is release 74.82 in 48hrs. the formulation F18containing 20mgEthyl cellulose, 10mg Ethyl cellulose, amount of drug release 65.24 in 48 hrs. From formulations F10 to F18 shows cumulative percentage drug release in 48 hr in between 42.28% to 79.42%. The release profiles showed a characteristic initial burst release followed by a lag period and further initiation of sustained release. After the initial lag, a nearly linear and continuous release was observed over 48 hr Comparison of in-vitro drug release profiles for all formulations F1to F9 and F10 to F18 are shown in Fig (7,8) and the data is shown in Tables (13,14). Effect of method of preparation Ionic gelation solvent evaporation 1. On particle size : From formulations F1to F9 are by ionic gelation method. Spheres obtained are larger than desired particle size range i.e 609-875. µm. formulations F10 to F18 are by solvent evaporation, are in desired particle size range i.e 191-303  µm. So that Spheres obtained are smaller than by ionic gelation method. 2. On Drug release: Drug release is sustained in formulations prepared by solvent evaporation than with ionic gelation. Therefore from above results solvent evaporation method is selected. Effect of polymers HPMC K100, Ethyl cellulose,Eudragit RS100 are three different polymers used as sustained release polymers. Formulations F1,F4,F7 by ionic gelation where as F10,F13,F16, by solvent evaporation are with single polymer respectively. Remaining all formulations are combination of two each polymers of respective ratios HPMC K100 is hydrophilic,Ethyl cellulose is hydrophobic nature.Combination of Hydrophilic and Hydrophobic polymers is tested at different ratios to determine effect on sustained drug release Also HPMC K100 with coating polymer Eudragit RS 100 combination is tested at different ratios Among all these ,F10 i.e,with single polymer HPMC K100 by solvent evaporation method shows desired drug release compared to combination of polymers. Therefore it is concluded that there is no effect of combination of polymers on drug release of paclitaxel microspheres. Kinetics of drug release from optimized formulation The kinetics of the drug release was evaluated by drug release rate models namely zero order, First order. The mechanisms of drug release was evaluated by First order drug release. The dissolution kinetics data was defected in table 15 and the comparative dissolution profile was given in the figure 9 . The drug release followed zero order kinetics in all polymers employed. The graph drawn in between time Vs cumulative % drug release show in figure 12 to 15.

Their Eyes Were Watching God | Analysis

Their Eyes Were Watching God | Analysis Hurstons â€Å"Their Eyes Were Watching God† presents several themes such as speech and silence, love and marriage, and finally gender roles. Zora Neale Hurston does an outstanding job of instituting what men such as Joe Starks believed were the standard roles for the African American female. Hurston pertinently described Janie through her relationship with Joe, the metaphoric value of the mule, and her dialogue as a woman of strength, not concerned with the ideals of her white female counterparts, sitting up on a high chair and overlooking the world. Janie desired a greater purpose. In Hurstons â€Å"Their Eyes Were Watching God†, men and women inhabit separate roles. Not only are the women portrayed as the more fragile sex, Hurston essentially defines them by their relationships to and with the men. Thus, marriage is paramount in this story. The message sent here is that women can and do only obtain power through marrying powerful or, at least, motivated men. By the use of tradition, women are limited to the confines of positions of piteousness, passiveness, domesticity, and of course as sexual objectivity. The men consistently silence the womens voices, limit their actions with proprietary notions and insult their appearance and sexuality. In contrasts, when the women exhibit any traditionally male characteristics such as authority, intelligence or ambition, men deem them as unattractive and masculine. The male characters set out to prove to their peers that they are masculine by showing their wives who is in charge. This was not always due to personal desire, but also by society and at large as well as environmental pressures. The author immediately introduces the female perspective. In â€Å"Their Eyes Were Watching God†, Hurston celebrates Janie as an artist that enriches Eatonville and details her self-discovery. Without delay, on first page of the book, Hurston substantiates the contrast between men and women by initiating Janies quest to reach fruition of her own dreams and presaging the female quest theme throughout the remainder of the novel. Now, women forget all those things they dont want to remember, and remember everything they dont want to forget. The dream is the truth. Then they act and do things accordingly (Their Eyes Were Watching 1). As a Black woman, Janie asserts herself beyond expectation and the persistence that she consistently shows characterizes her unrelenting quest for true love—the kind she dreamed of as a child. She is aware of her status in society, but is unwavering in her determination to disregard it. Anyone or anything attempting to encumber Janie from her mission for happiness annoys her. â€Å"So de white man throw down de load and tell de nigger man tuh pick it up. He pick it up because he have to, but he dont tote it. He hand it to his womenfolks. De nigger woman is de mule uh de world so fur as Ah can see, opines Janies grandmother in an attempt to justify the marriage that she has arranged for her granddaughter† (Their Eyes Were Watching 14). The excerpt founds the presence of the substandard status of women in this culture, a status that Janie must reverse, in some way, in order to surface as a heroine. Despite this obstacle, Janie refuses deterrence from attaining her dream. In â€Å"Their Eyes Were Watching God†, Zora Neale Hurston reveals the importance of gender roles and their place in African American culture during the 1930s. In Chapter 6, Hurston displays the importance males exhibiting superiority their female partners and their attempts to force them into roles of subservience. In this chapter, Joe Starks attempts push Janie into a passive role by hushing her in conversations, physically abusing her in their home, and handling her as an item in his possession. The author establishes this early in the novel to serve as a catalyst for Janie to make the decision that her personal growth and development as a strong woman will only materialize when she escapes the mold into which Joe has forced her. Hurston exhibits that Janie should be allowed to have the right to do what white women do on a constant basis; perch on high stools on their porches while relaxing. â€Å"Everybody was having fun at the mule-baiting. All but Janie† (Their Eyes Were Watching 56) demonstrates the way Joe stresses that Janie give the impression that she is living the white womans dream of relaxing at home and being civilized, as that is the role dictated by her gender and because it promotes the his portrayal as a powerful leader of the town. Even when Janie pleads, â€Å"Taint nothin so important Ah got tuh do tuhday, Jody. How come Ah cant go long wid you tug de draggin-out?† (Their Eyes Were Watching 60) confirms her desire to abandon the preset, generalized roles of gender that women faced during this period. Janie wishes to forge her own path and do what brings her personal satisfaction as a woman and not what the perception of contentment is for all women. Janies idea of pleasure, ho wever, is not present in the old-fashioned roles that the women of the 1930s were expected to accept. Later in the chapter, we read, â€Å"Here he was just pouring honor all over her; building a high chair for her to sit in and overlook the world and she here pouting over it!† (Their Eyes Were Watching 62). Joe does not seem to grasp that satisfying Janie does not include giving her a life that mimics that of a white womans. Instead, Janie would rather immerse herself into her own culture, celebrating the essentials that are intrinsic to being a black woman. Unfortunately, Joe either cannot or will not fulfill this for her, thus she elects to entertain the company of Tea Cake, who seems to gain happiness from partaking in lifes simpler pleasures, such as singing, storytelling, dancing and fishing—including Janie in his activities. All the way through the novel, we continue to witness the outward display of the superiority that men feel over women. If their spouses do not obey or follow the strict roles of gender, it is commonplace for them to endure beatings, not unlike the mule in chapter six. Even something as small as an undesirable meal, could result in physical abuse. Many men believe that women are in need of guidance in every aspect of their lives, needing instructions for basic tasks on a consistent basis. This sentiment solidifies the belief of the male gender that their sex is greater and superior over women. Many men feel that women are completely ignorant and need men to tell them what to do all of the time; a sentiment that adds fuel to them feeling their gender is greater to their female counterpart. In chapter six Janie objects, â€Å"You sho loves to tell me whut to do, but Ah cant tell you nothin Ah see!† He responds, â€Å"Dats ‘cause you need tellin, It would be pitiful if Ah didnt. Somebody got to think for women and chillun and chickens and cows. I god, they sho dont think none theirselves† (Their Eyes Were Watching 71). Here, Joe alludes that women have brainpower akin to a chicken or clumsy cow and that they should embrace their roles as the lesser mate. Eventually, Janie escapes her traditional female mold of speaking only when spoken to and obeying mindlessly. She finally finds her voice at the end of chapter six when she says to Joe, â€Å"Sometimes God gits familiar wid us womenfolks to and talks His inside business. He told me how surprised He was†¦and how surprised yall is goin tuh be if you ever find out you dont know half as much ‘bout us as you think you do. Its so easy to make yoself out God Almighty when you aint got nothin tuh strain against but women and chickens† (Their Eyes Were Watching 75). Janie communicating with Joe in this fashion serves to inform Joe that she believes that God speaks to both sexes equally. She is standing up to the leader of the town. Janie wants Joe to understand that he is not the god of the town because she too can be in touch with God. In addition, she wants Joe to know that she is aware that his gender does not make him a supreme being over her or any woman. This marks a both an evolution and revolution for Janie as a character. We now begin to see her inner thoughts. She is now prepared to battle for her equality and liberation. By the chapters conclusion, we witness a woman refusing to allow men to continue to silence and demanding equal treatment. Janies metamorphosis from a passive woman to one wishing to take an active role in shaping the rights and duties of the female gender is established. â€Å"She knew now that marriage did not make love. Janies first dream was dead, so she became a woman† (Their Eyes Were Watching 24). No longer afraid to challenge her grandmothers staunch expectations, Janie realizes that her grandmothers archaic views of the role of women as pathetic and weak beings with the inability to survive without male protection—even with the absence of love in the relationship, represent boundaries on her full potential. She loathed her grandmother. â€Å"†¦ Nanny had taken the biggest thing God ever made, the horizon† (Their Eyes Were Watching 85-86). Still, Janie is undaunted and follows her to follow her instincts, including leaving her first husband and marrying her second one, in the absence of a divorce. â€Å"Janie hurried out of the front gate and turned south. Even if Joe was not there waiting for her, the change was bound to do her good† (Their Eyes Were Watching 31). The blather and gossip that permeates her small town when she takes a younger man and leaves with him, after being left a widow following the death of her second husband, does not hinder her path even slightly. The happiness she finds in her relationship with Tea Cake is that much sweeter as she has made the decision to go through it alone. Janies moment of personal triumph is â€Å"Discovering the two things everybodys got to do fuh theyselves,† (Their Eyes Were Watching 183). â€Å"They got tuh go tuh God, and they got to find out about livin fuh theyselves,† are the sentiments Janie shares at the end of her journey (Their Eyes 183). Hurston has depicted a female character as an evolving heroine, an architect of her own destiny, and one who has a full grasp on navigating the voyage to self-awareness. Says Mary Helen Washington in the Foreword of Their Eyes Were Watching God, â€Å"†¦for most Black women readers discovering Their Eyes for the first time, what was most compelling was the figure of Janie Crawford powerful, articulate, self-reliant, and radically different from any woman character they had ever before encountered in literature. Janie Crawford is defiant; she defies men, but most importantly, she defies our own preconceived notions of what the role of an African-American woman should be in modern literature.† The definitions and roles of gender for both male and female characters were clear in the 1930s. Janie is symbolic of many women today in her refusal to accept the preconceptions about her duties and abilities. In the 21st century, the majority of men have learned, though some reluctantly, to accept and appreciate the equal abilities and thoughts of modern women and Hurston had the foresight to give women a voice that had previously been silent in literature.

Nigerias Rigid Expectations of Men :: essays research papers fc

In September 1997, in Oslo, Norway, a meeting was organized in co-operation with the Norwegian National Commission for UNESCO where international observer B. Mustakim said, â€Å"Highlighting masculinity may be seen as a way of excusing violent men, since their behavior is attributed to a masculinity which many believe to be "natural" and unchangeable.† Georg Tillner, author of Men and Masculinities, responded, â€Å"Power is the one aspect all variants of masculinity have in common, not necessarily as the real possession of power, but rather as a "demand for dominance" or an "entitlement to power". Masculinity is an identity† (Mustakim). Throughout Things Fall Apart, written by Chinua Achebe, masculinity takes an impressive role in molding the clan’s male-dominated society, and plays a vital part in influencing characters’ decisions. In the novel, Achebe reveals the definition of what it means to be a man in Nigerian society ; he should be masculine and protect his family and friends in that he is willing to fight, earn his good reputation, and preserve and expand the honor of his family. In Nigerian society, a man was responsible for the protection of his family and friends in that he was willing to fight. No character in Things Fall Apart demonstrated this ideal better than that of Okonkwo. This was apparent in the very beginning of the novel when it is brought to the reader’s attention that Okonkwo had, at such a young age, already taken two titles and demonstrated undivided skill in two inter-tribal wars. At the closing stages of the novel, Okonkwo yet again attempted to protect his clansmen when five court messengers arrive at one of the clan’s meetings. Without any hesitation, Okonkwo pulled out his machete and killed the head messenger. Okonkwo’s father, Unoka, however, did not fit the same mold of masculinity as that of his high-achieved son. While Unoka and his neighbor, Okoye, were sharing a kola nut (a symbol of life and vitality) one day, they talked about several things including that of the impending war with the village of Mbaino. U noka did not condone war, but not because he believed that it was barbaric. He was simply a coward and could not stand the sight of blood. Thomas Alva Edison, a great inventor, businessman, and true Renaissance man, once said, â€Å"The successful person makes a habit of doing what the failing person doesn't like to do† (Woopidoo!). Okonkwo became an important and successful asset to his clan by achieving things in which his father refused to partake.

health care disparities :: essays research papers

An informal network of providers allows access to a limited number of free or low-cost drugs, mammography, treatment and other services. This network includes volunteer physicians on both sides of the border, the local federally funded community health center, the local Catholic hospital on the US side, the Shriner’s Hospital in Phoenix, hospitals in Tucson, the Mexican public social security hospital in Sonora, and the Santa Cruz County health department. The promotoras support the Santa Cruz County health department, doing home visits and translation on its behalf. When the county identifies diabetics, follow-up management is often handled by the promotoras. The promotoras have also been involved in a number of community issues. When the controversial replacement of a local well was proposed, promotoras and Institute-organized volunteers headed the county steering committee and organized door-to-door activities to advertise public meetings on the issue. Given their cross-border environment, the Institute has also fostered close working relationships with Mexican consular officials and municipal officials in Nogales, Sonora. The Institute has assisted Plan Retornowith donated supplies and health education. Plan Retorno helps deported individuals who have been dropped off in Nogales, Sonora far from their towns and villages of origin. The Way of the Heart model is different from what is more commonly seen in other promotora initiatives: It is a freestanding entity that has built a set of collaborative relationships with clinical providers and social agencies. Most other promotora projects appear to be sponsored by existing clinics and hospitals that use them to augment their outreach and patient management efforts. Staff Recruitment, Training and Retention Promotoras are recruited mainly through word of mouth, postings in community agencies and sometimes through newspaper ads. In the future, promotoras may be recruited from the teen promotora program that has developed out of the Institute’s peer counseling work. The program explicitly seeks promotoras who reflect the culture, economics and demographics of the Nogales community. Persistence and resilience in navigating systems are the most sought after attributes. health care disparities :: essays research papers An informal network of providers allows access to a limited number of free or low-cost drugs, mammography, treatment and other services. This network includes volunteer physicians on both sides of the border, the local federally funded community health center, the local Catholic hospital on the US side, the Shriner’s Hospital in Phoenix, hospitals in Tucson, the Mexican public social security hospital in Sonora, and the Santa Cruz County health department. The promotoras support the Santa Cruz County health department, doing home visits and translation on its behalf. When the county identifies diabetics, follow-up management is often handled by the promotoras. The promotoras have also been involved in a number of community issues. When the controversial replacement of a local well was proposed, promotoras and Institute-organized volunteers headed the county steering committee and organized door-to-door activities to advertise public meetings on the issue. Given their cross-border environment, the Institute has also fostered close working relationships with Mexican consular officials and municipal officials in Nogales, Sonora. The Institute has assisted Plan Retornowith donated supplies and health education. Plan Retorno helps deported individuals who have been dropped off in Nogales, Sonora far from their towns and villages of origin. The Way of the Heart model is different from what is more commonly seen in other promotora initiatives: It is a freestanding entity that has built a set of collaborative relationships with clinical providers and social agencies. Most other promotora projects appear to be sponsored by existing clinics and hospitals that use them to augment their outreach and patient management efforts. Staff Recruitment, Training and Retention Promotoras are recruited mainly through word of mouth, postings in community agencies and sometimes through newspaper ads. In the future, promotoras may be recruited from the teen promotora program that has developed out of the Institute’s peer counseling work. The program explicitly seeks promotoras who reflect the culture, economics and demographics of the Nogales community. Persistence and resilience in navigating systems are the most sought after attributes.

Hispanics in the Vietnam War :: Vietnam War Essays

Precise figures are not available for Hispanic participation in Vietnam. †¢ Prior to the full-scale escalation of the Vietnam War, Special Forces Advisor, Sergeant First Class Isaac Camacho's fire base was overrun by Viet Cong in November 1963. After an intense firefight, Camacho was taken prisoner. He is most likely the first Hispanic POW of the Vietnam era. Remarkably, Camacho escaped his captors after 20 months and made his way to freedom. He was awarded the Silver and Bronze Stars in September 1965 and later promoted to Captain, U.S. Army. †¢ Lieutenant Commander Everett Alvarez, Jr. (then Lieutenant JG) was the first American pilot taken as a prisoner of war and remained a prisoner longer than anyone else, eight and a half years. †¢ On April 30, 1975, Master Sergeant Juan J. Valdez climbed aboard the last U.S. helicopter to depart the roof of the U.S. Embassy in Saigon. The U.S. presence in Vietnam, which spanned 18 years, ended. Valdez' presence gave credence to the Hispanic theme of participation in America's wars: "First in...last to leave." The Post-Vietnam Era †¢ Approximately 80,000 Hispanics served in the Vietnam theater of operations and 13 won the Medal of Honor, 6 of them Marines. This is not unusual. Hispanics have received the highest honors to date in the U.S. Navy. As of 1990, six ships and three active submarines have been named for Hispanics, including the nuclear- powered 688 class fast attack submarine, USS San Juan, named after the capital city of Puerto Rico.

Marx and Law

JOURNAL OF LAW AND SOCIETY VOLUME 20, NUMBER 4, WINTER 1993 0263-323X Marx and Law ANDREW VINCENT* There is no sense in which Marx can be described as just a legal theorist. He did not write any systematic works on legal science or jurisprudence; however, his observations on law are both immensely penetrating and contain an extremely subtle interweaving of philosophical, political, economic, and legal strands. Marx was also at the centre of many crucial intellectual and political debates of his time.In order to try to unpack some of these debates, elucidate his views on law, and retain some overall clarity, I divide my remarks into five sections, which will inevitably overlap. The sections covered are: the problems of discussing Marxist jurisprudence; the philosophical background to the analysis of law and the state; materialism, political economy, and law; base, superstructure, and the ideology of law; and finally, law, politics, and the state. PROBLEMS OF MARXIST JURISPRUDENCE Ther e are a number of problems for any student of jurisprudence or politics trying to grasp Marx's approach to law. First, there is the puzzling point that neither Marx nor Engels had a positive normative theory of law, crime or deviance. In fact, much of the time Marx appears predisposed simply to ignore the question of law as peripheral, or at least to treat crime as a symptom of the conflict within a class-based society. ‘ He certainly offers no clear encompassing definition of law. Marx's jurisprudential thought is often premised upon a critique of law per se, and what he has to say tends to be overwhelmingly negative in character.This is fine if one's purpose is ‘critique' and nothing else, but it is a definite handicap if one wishes to say something more positive about the nature of law, law reform rather than its overthrow, or the future of law (e. specially if one believes that law has a future role in society). A second problem relates to the sources for Marx's obse rvations on law. It has already been noted that Marx did not have a normative theory of law. It is also clear that what he does say about law, by way of negative critique, does not appear in any systematic format. There are works which begin to *School of European Studies, University of Wales, Cardiff CF1 3 YQ, Wales 371 C Basil Blackwell Ltd. 1993. 108 Cowley Road, Oxford OX4 JF, UK and 238 Main Street. Cambridge. MA 02142. USA HeinOnline — 20 J. L. & Soc'y 371 1993 say something more systematic, like The German Ideology. However, Marx never allowed its publication in his lifetime and it is commonly dismissed (although not by all writers by any means) as either a work of immature juvenilia or a flawed piece of philosophical polemic which does not come up 3 to the systematic and scientific standards of Capital.Marx, it is also commonly asserted, had intended to write a work on law and the state 4 (possibly as an extension of Capital), but he never realized his ambition. Thus, in consequence, the writings and observations on law that we do have are incomplete and must be picked out from a diverse body of writings. Marx's writings are in fact markedly eclectic and can be roughly divided into four often overlapping types: first, the early, more philosophicallyinclined pieces, clearly more inspired by the German philosopher G.W. F. Hegel. Under this rubric would be included the Economic and Philosophical Manuscripts (1844), The Holy Family (1844), The German Ideology (1845/6), and The Poverty of Philosophy (1847). The second type of writing is the polemical pieces written for particular political objectives. The most famous of these is the Communist Manifesto (1847/8). The overt character of these polemical writings- despite their wide dissemination, immense influence, and popularity – is their simplification of issues and doctrines.This can be a problem in assessing what Marx actually believed, rather than what he needed to put forward for polemical thrust and cogency. The third group of writings relate to Marx's observations on particular historical events. Probably the most famous of these, and the most convoluted and ambiguous, is the 18th Brumaire of Louis Bonaparte(1852). The writings in this context employ Marx's immensely sophisticated method of close historical analysis, although the final upshot of such pieces has given rise to many hostages to fortune especially over the theory of law and the state.The final group of writings settle upon his systematic economic theories. The most famous of these are the earlier Grundrisse (1857/8) and the later Capital (1867-85), which remained incomplete at Marx's death. In sum, Marx's observations on law must be, and usually are, picked out from these diverse writings. It is hardly surprising that there should be oddities, fierce contestation, and discrepancies over such fragments. A related point to the diversity of the above writings is the fact that many commentators on Marx arg ue that there is a marked shift or break in his perspective.The break usually occurs between the ‘younger' and ‘older' Marx. The character of the shift, which was called the ‘epistemological break' by the French Marxist, Louis Althusser, is between an earlier philosophically and morally-inclined Marx, clearly inspired by Hegel, and the mature Marx, focused on political economy and intent upon constructing 5 an empirically-based social and economic science of history and society. This judgement on the distinction between the late and early Marx is often supposed to direct our attention to the late Marx and a consequent dismissal of the early philosophical Marx.In this reading, Marx's early interest in ‘alienation' is superseded by a social scientific theory of economic ‘exploitation'. The development of a clear vision of the early Marx was perhaps 372  © Basil Blackwell Ltd. HeinOnline — 20 J. L. & Soc'y 372 1993 partially hampered by the fact t hat the key early writings – the Economic and PhilosophicalManuscripts – were not actually discovered and published till the 1920s. Marx certainly never contemplated their publication during his lifetime.Whether one takes the epistemological break seriously or not, there are undoubtedly changes in Marx's perspective on many issues including law. 6 These cannot be ignored by the student of Marx, although what one reads into these changes remains contestable. Another problem concerns Marx's intellectual relation with Friedrich Engels. There has been a strong tendency in Marxist writings to associate the two men closely with one pristine doctrine. It appears that in fact Marx's definite turn to economics (political economy) was confirmed through his initial contact with Engels' writings.As editor of the Deutsch-Franziisische Jahrbiicherin Paris, in November 1843, Marx had received an article from Engels, entitled ‘Outline of a Critique of Political Economy', which s timulated the economic turn in his own work. Their working relation began a year later in 1844. 1 However, despite their collaboration on works like The German Ideology and The Communist Manifesto, it is far from clear that we should associate them, especially on questions of their philosophical beliefs or their subsequent ideas on law and the state.This point has been made by a number of scholars, although it is still far from resolved. It is clear, for example, that Marx did not formulate a lucid doctrine of materialism, whereas Engels clearly lays out such a doctrine, particularly in popularizing works like Socialism: Utopian and Scientific (1880), the Anti-Diihring (1885) and the Dialectics of Nature. Marx nowhere used terms like ‘dialectical materialism' or ‘historical materialism'. Neither did he coin terms (which are relevant to the discussion of law) like the ‘withering away of the state'.This latter idea, again, was Engels's terminology from the Anti-Diihr ing. Marx did not apply the notion of dialectics to nature itself. His belief remained firmly fixed in the social sphere of human emancipation. Engels was far more ambitious, some would say foolhardy, extending dialectics to the natural world. ‘ The ultimate consequence of Engels's doctrine was a virtual reenactment of an older form of mechanistic materialism resonant of the French Enlightenment, which Marx had attacked in his early unpublished work, the Theses on Feuerbach.Engels's doctrines later became established in the writings of Lenin, particularly Lenin's philosophical work Materialism and Empirio-Criticism and Plekhanov's Materialism Militant, and subsequently it dominated much of the theoretical output of the Second International and the leading Marxist party of the time in Germany – the Sozialdemokratische ParteiDeutschlands(SPD). 9 However, Marx's theory of knowledge, if it can be summarized, hung uneasily between a classical materialism and an idiosyncratic use of Hegelian idealism.One can overemphasize the differences between Engels and Marx; however, we ignore them at our cost. If we are trying to understand Marx, it is not wise to place too much reliance on Engels's own personal output. One final problem concerns Marx's use of the concept of law itself. There are two terminological points to note here. The first concerns the German 373 D Basil Blackwell Ltd. HeinOnline — 20 J. L. & Soc'y 373 1993 word, Recht. It is virtually equivalent to the terms jus, droit or diritto, as distinct from lex, loi or legge. This distinction does not really work in English.Recht in German is not limited to law or jurisprudence but can encompass the issues of civil law, justice, right, and morality. In Hegel, the initial focus of Marx's interest in law, Recht embodied the above themes, but also what he called the ‘ethical life', the state and, ultimately, aspects of world history. In fact, the work on which Marx spent so much time in his early years, Hegel's Grundlinien der Philosophiedes Rechts, is sometimes translated as The Philosophy of Law, The Philosophy of the State and, more usually, The Philosophy of Right. 0 It is important to bear in mind this ambiguity when considering Marx's observations on law (as Recht); when Marx addresses law, it is not strictly parallel to English usage. The above connects up with the second point, which is often confusing to audiences from the British or Anglo-Saxon legal traditions. Hegel's work, referred to above, was, as much as anything else, a theory or philosophy of the state. This is encompassed, to some extent, in the broad use of the term Recht. Thus, the treatment of the state might be said, inclusively, to be also a treatment of law.This kind of approach resonates more with the Roman law and civil law traditions of continental Europe than with the common law tradition of Britain. † However, it is worth taking note of this point since it throws a ray of light on so me of Marx's writings; namely, his critique of the state is to a large extent also a critique of law. ‘2 One small biographical detail could be added here, which might add some substance to this point. When Marx was writing in a more reflective way on the state and law, he was in Germany and France.His early legal training had been in Germany (although he gave it up for philosophy) and he was reflecting and writing within the Hegelian genre. Much later in his life, in the late 1870s, when puzzling over whether to write more on law and the state, he had been living and working for a number of years in Britain, enough time to pick up on the peculiarities and idiosyncracies of the English legal tradition and its odd relation to the state. This might explain some of his later ambiguities, as opposed to his earlier certainties, on the state. Finally, the interest in Marx on law, despite the ork of the Soviet jurist Evgeny Pashunakis in the 1920s and 1930s, and Karl Renner in Austri a, was not really a subject of wide-ranging debate until the 1970s. As Maureen Cain and Alan Hunt have commented: the prevailing trend from the 1930s to the 1960s displayed an almost exclusive emphasis on the repressive or coercive character of law, conceived as the direct embodiment of the interests of the ruling class. In this conception law itself is unproblematic: the analysis of legal development or new legislation has the task merely of exposing the class interest 3 contained in them.What was discovered in the 1970s, presumably under the impact of the surge of interest in the Italian Marxist, Antonio Gramsci, was the conception of law as ideology and, in consequence, law as a crucial part of the intellectual hegemony of capitalist societies. In this sense, the more wide-ranging and 374 (D Basil Blackwell Ltd. HeinOnline — 20 J. L. & Soc'y 374 1993 popular interest in Marx on law is a relatively recent development. It is thus very tempting, in dealing with this topic, to refer to the developments in Marxism itself to the present day.The major danger with this path is that the discussion can become wholly enmeshed in the recent material and Marx becomes a distant memory. I have tried to avoid this trap here. Although contemporary developments are not ignored, the principal focus is on Marx's writings. THE PHILOSOPHICAL BACKGROUND TO THE ANALYSIS OF LAW AND THE STATE There are three points to note concerning Marx's philosophical background which are relevant for his later project and his overall understanding of law. First, the premises for his critique of law are derived from his initial philosophical criticism of religion and the state.Secondly, his analysis of the conception of ideology and the ‘illusory' character of bourgeois thought (including law) lies in early essays like ‘On the Jewish Question'. Finally, his first inkling of the economic roots to social and political thought can also be found in his early essays – particu larly the Economic and Philosophical Manuscripts and his article on ‘Law on Thefts of Wood' in the Rheinische Zeitung (1842). 1 take the first two issues as most significant. The last point, to a large degree, follows from the first two.From the late 1830s, Marx had determined to get to know Hegel ‘from beginning to end'. 4 Together with Bruno and Edgar Bauer, Arnold Ruge, Max Stirner, and Ludwig Feuerbach (the so-called young Hegelians), Marx studied Hegel's works assiduously through the late 1830s and early 1840s. Feuerbach was the most influential figure in the group. Initially he had been a disciple of Hegel's philosophy, and in some ways he never abandoned it. 5 Feuerbach, however, did engage in a dialectical critique of Hegel – using Hegel's own method to criticize him.Hegel's definition of humanity through its thinking abilities, specifically through the notion of Spirit (Geist), is, for Feuerbach, one step short of reality – or, at least, it is inve rted reality. Hegel explained humanity through consciousness (or mind); however, for Feuerbach, it is sensuous and materially-rooted humans who think, not some abstract consciousness or mind. The transcendental ego of Kant, the absolute ego of Fichte, or Hegel's notion of Spirit (the great themes of German philosophy) were all seen by Feuerbach as sensuous human creations.Thus, the basis of Feuerbach's critique of Hegel is that the latter was offering, unwittingly, an ‘esoteric theology'. Humans are not vehicles for Spirit (Geist); rather, humans create the notion of Spirit. In fact, for Feuerbach, humans create God in their own image. Thus, in Hegel, ‘What was a logic of Being becomes [in Feuerbach] a psychology of human concept formation'. 6 Philosophy, in actuality, reflects human wants and needs. This critique of Hegel's ontology was directly related to Feuerbach's equally important critique of religion in The Essence of Christianity. Hegel's 375 n Basil Blackel1 I t dHeinOnline — 20 J. L. & Soc'y 375 1993 philosophy is, in point, interpreted as the last speculative outpost of God. Speculative philosophy and religion needed to be led from the realm of mental abstractions into the realm of sensuous humanity. For Feuerbach, in essence, all ‘theology is anthropology'. The true object of religion is not God but idealized humanity. Religion is the alienated form of the individual's recognition of his or her own nature. God is the creation of the human imagination, unknowingly idealizing itself. Thus, Feuerbach claimed that some radical demythologizing was needed.Love of God is really love of humanity in symbolic inverted form. Theology is kind of psychic pathology. The separation between God and humanity is really a separation within humanity itself. Religion is a form of alienation from our essential natures. The demythologizing was to be accomplished by the technique Feuerbach called ‘transformative criticism', namely, the interc hanging of the subject and predicate of propositions. For example, an understanding of God is not crucial for understanding humanity; conversely, an understanding of humanity is crucial for understanding the idea of God.The real subject is humanity, the predicate is God. These arguments affected profoundly the thinking of the young Hegelians. Marx, particularly, was initially enthralled, but soon turned to his own critique of the young Hegelians, especially Feuerbach. In his Theses of Feuerbach, he argued that Feuerbach's great achievement had been to bring holy ideas down to earth. However, he had retained an abstract materialism and theoretical humanism. What was needed was a practical humanism and a new understanding of materialism which took account of the social and economic reality.Philosophy must be moved away from mental abstractions and contemplation into the realm of social, political, and economic realities. Feuerbach was thus also subject to the demystification of transf ormative criticism. Practical and sensuous humanity, embroiled in economic and social realities, is the real subject, not theoretical humanity. I7 This critique of Feuerbach also forms the basis for Marx's critique of Hegel, religion and, finally, the state and law. It also led him to his crucial life project – the study 6f political economy. Marx accepted, implicitly, one theme in both Hegel and Feuerbach.Philosophy is about emancipating human beings. History was imbued with teleological significance as to the growing possibility for and realization of freedom, although this theme become very shrouded in his later writings. Religion purported to be about emancipation; however, for Marx, again, the reality was inverted. As he stated: ‘The criticism of religion ends with the doctrine that man is the highest being for man'. 8 Religion per se could not be overcome by simply drawing people's attention to its inverted logic (with due respect to Feuerbach).For Marx, one had t o grasp, critically, the social, political, and economic roots as to why people sought consolation in religion. A criticism of religion was, in essence, social and economic criticism. This exactly paralleled his criticisms of Hegel's notion of the state. For Hegel, humans were self-constituting and self-producing creatures. There was no sense in which we were simply the passive products of historical 376 D Basil Blackwell Ltd. HeinOnline — 20 J. L. & Soc'y 376 1993 forces. For Marx, Hegel's view was correct, but again the reality had been inverted.Hegel's Geist (Spirit or Mind) was really labouring humanity. Hegel, for Marx, made the ‘exoteric esoteric'. 9 Hegel had grasped the centrality of labour (self-production) but only in its mental form (in consciousness). Thus, Marx refers to Hegel's philosophy as ‘concealed criticism that is still obscure to itself. 20 For Marx, humans produce themselves by actual labour and through the ensuing social relations in the wor ld. Thus, Marx moved from regarding Hegel's philosophy as an esoteric psychology gradually to regard it as an esoteric economic thesis.Hegel's philosophy of the state (and law) had a correct content but in an inverted and mystified form. Marx in fact treats Hegel's Rechtsphilosophieas summing up German reality at that time (in its mystified form). As Marx put it: The criticism of German philosophy of the state and of law which was given its most consistent, richest and final version by Hegel, is †¦ the critical analysis of the modem state and the reality that depends upon it'. 21 Hegel had argued that humanity and civil society were the product of the state.The state is seen to stand above the conflicts of society. However, for Marx, again the reverse is true. Individuals in civil society, embroiled in economic forces and classes, and hedged about by private property rights, produce the state which, of necessity, reflects differential and unequal property relations and powers. Abstract property rights are embodied in the state. The state exists to maintain this interest. The modern state gives people legal rights and freedoms, premised on the idea of humans possessing property.However, such property is of necessity premised upon the alienation and denial of such freedom to a large proportion of the population. As Marx observed, the critic must now grasp ‘the essential connection of private property, selfishness, the separation of labour, capital and landed property, of exchange and competition, of the value and degradation of man'. 22 The logic of private property is the same as that logic of religion. As human beings alienate their essence into God, so workers alienate their essence into the production of goods.Workers, in receipt of wages, only secure a small proportion of what they produce. Thus, they alienate their essence into goods which others consume, use or embody in their private property – a property upheld by the state and legal s ystem. Moving now to the second point of this section, Marx's early essay ‘On the Jewish Question' deals, on the surface, with question of the repeal of legal disabilities for Jews in Germany. The essay is interesting on a number of counts; however, one point will suffice for the present discussion.Marx indicates that the illusions that were to be found in the religious consciousness could also be found in law. The basic point was that humans turned to religion in particular historical circumstances. Young Hegelians, like Bruno Bauer, had argued that the demands for Jewish emancipation precluded genuine emancipation, since the demand was formulated in religious terms namely, Jews. The state, for Bauer, must abolish all religious categories. The secular state provided the real solution for Bauer. Marx responded to this by 377 C) Basil Blackwell Ltd. HeinOnline — 20 J. L. & Soc'y 377 1993 rguing that religion per se was not the problem, but, rather, the state and legal sy stem itself. Religion is an illusory (if crucially important) pathology, but it is a reflection of a broader ‘illusion' pathology within the secular state. A secular state does not free human beings. Rather, the state embodies as many, if not more illusions than religion; illusions of secular states are structurally similar, and, in fact, related to religion. As Marx put it, in somewhat tortuous prose: We do not insist that they must abolish their religious limitations in order to abolish secular limitations.We insist that they abolish their religious limitations as soon as they abolish their secular limitations. We do not change secular questions into theological ones. We change theological questions into secular ones. History has for long enough been resolved into superstition: we now resolve superstition into history †¦ We criticize the religious weakness of the political state by criticizing the secular construction of the 23 political state without regard to its reli gious weaknesses. In short, for Marx, the political world of the secular modern state was as much a tissue of illusions as religion. 4 Underpinning the modern state are the illusions about private property and commerce, and the legal structures which uphold them. The final theme, with regard to his early writing, concerns his essay on the ‘Theft of Wood' in the Rheinische Zeitung in late 1842. The ‘Wood Theft' essay, as Marx later observed, was the first time that he saw clearly the socioeconomic issues which underpinned law (viewed through the lenses of the transition from feudalism to capitalism). The common feudal and customary right of gathering wood was effectively being ‘privatized' by commercial society.Rural poverty was itself the product of the redefinition of property as ‘private property'. In this sense, law was facilitating capitalism. Oddly, in this essay, Marx's solution was a restoration of older customary rights (although a slightly odd use of them) against the new right of private property. As he put it: ‘We reclaim for poverty the right of custom which is not a local one 5 but which is that of poverty in all lands'. 2 It is worth noting, though, that many of Marx's early writings do not envisage the abandonment of law or the state.He adopts, in fact, a quasi-natural law or customary law position (from a strictly secularist position), arguing, in essence, that certain newer laws are not really valid or real in the context of what real law ‘ought' to be like – namely law ought to be, as Marx put it, ‘the positive existence of freedom'. 26 It is also clear that he was not envisaging the abolition of the state; conversely, he anticipated a more radical democratic state upholding the fundamental rights and freedoms of the masses. In many ways these uasi-natural law themes and radicalization and democratization of the state do not disappear in his later writings; rather, they are submerged below the intellectual surface. The surface, in many later writings, becomes more positivist and economic in character; however, the underlying themes of human emancipation as a genuine need of human nature, the correct ways in which humans ‘ought' to act towards each other, and the future structural character of society, still subsist, but certainly not in any easy or comfortable relation to the positivism. 378 (D Basil Blackwell Ltd.HeinOnline — 20 J. L. & Soc'y 378 1993 MATERIALISM, POLITICAL ECONOMY, AND LAW Marx was a materialist of sorts, although, as pointed out earlier, he never described himself as a historical or dialectical materialist. There are various senses which can be attached to the term materialism. Marx had no interest in materialism in the colloquial sense of a ‘seeking after consumer goods' which we might now call consumerism. Neither does he have much interest in mechanistic Enlightenment materialism, seeking to explain humanity via certain mechanical analogies – l'homme de machine.Neither strict physical 2 materialism nor behaviouralism were of any interest. 7 Marx's concern with materialism must be set against his reaction to Hegel's idealism, as examined in the previous section. Put at its simplest, Marx wanted to insist that human beings must subsist (and labour to subsist) before they cognitively speculate or think a great deal about their condition. Our social and economic being is thus prior to our reflective consciousness. The material conditions of our lives form the true basis for both our cognitive life and our social and political structures.We can observe here the ‘transformative criticism' at work again in the basic rudiments of Marx's thought. The ‘subject' is not self-conscious thought, nor is material life the ‘predicate': the converse is true. Subject and predicate must be transformed. It is important to bear this method in mind: namely, that Marx comes to his basic materialist conclusi ons from a philosophical direction. Marx does not suddenly ‘see the empirical light' on some Damascus road or come to such conclusions from empirical observation.His route to such premises is philosophical. One problem here is that even if we focus on Marx's particular type of materialism there are still distinct and competing versions of it. We might call these the stricter and looser versions. We will encounter parallels to this distinction in other areas of Marx's thought and there remains considerable debate as to where Marx's sympathies lay. The stricter materialism might be called ‘unidirectional determinism'. Material conditions causally determine thought and political and social structures.This is the dimension that Engels, Lenin, Plekhanov, and Kautsky picked up on, and it reappears in structuralist Marxism, amongst other varieties in the later twentieth century. This materialism looks, and occasionally tries to act more like a natural science. † In some m ore recent analyses of Marx it is connected to the idea of the ‘epistemological break'; that is, the mature Marx is the ‘scientist' and ‘unidirectional determinist'. The alternative looser materialism can be observed in the elusive Marxist doctrine of ‘praxis' (where ‘theory' and ‘practice' have a symbiotic and reciprocal relation).The basic logic of a praxis argument denies the basic premise of the unidirectionality claim; that is, it asserts that reflective thought and consciousness (as embodied in philosophical, economic or legal thought) can actually affect our material conditions. We can accommodate our theory to our practice and vice versa. Put simply, human reflective thought has definite efficacy; it is not just an epiphenomenon of the material conditions of life. This form of looser materialism can be observed in some of Marx's 379  © Basil Blackwell Ltd. HeinOnline — 20 J.L. & Soc'y 379 1993 writings and in the subsequent Marxis t tradition in writers like Antonio Gramsci, Georg Lukfcs, and Karl Korsch. 29 Such a looser materialism is also more aware of the contestable nature of economic and social categories. The particular form of Marx's materialism is premised on political economy. The basic components of the doctrine can be stated as follows: human beings must subsist in order to survive and in so doing they labour. In labouring, humans use certain material technologies (crudely) or modes of production.In working within a mode of production, whether in a medieval rural context with a plough or within a nineteenth century factory with a machine, humans come into relations of production, that is, relations with other human beings within the productive process. Relations of production crystallize into groups called classes whose relations are determined by the particular form or mode of production. As forces of production change, so do relations of production. 3†³ In capitalism, for example, there are two fundamental classes. Proletarian workers sell their labour for a wage. Workers produce more than receive.The wage only provides subsistence. The capitalist class sells the products of the workers to gain profit. Capitalism thus subsists by extracting labour value from its workforce. The interests of the capitalist class necessarily conflict with those of the proletariat. Thus, material conditions of economic life form the real basis to social existence. Political and legal structures can only be understood via these material conditions. Marx, in one of his more synoptic semi-autobiographical pieces of writing, Preface to the Critique of Political Economy, called this whole 31 process the ‘leading thread' of his studies.It is worth remarking at this point that Marx's views on this ‘leading thread' have given rise to another debate which parallels the stricter and looser senses of materialism. There are interactive and passive notions of economic reductionism. On the passive view (which corresponds to stricter materialism), law and the state emerge instrumentally from economic forces. They have no independent efficacy or reality. The state and law are not understood to arise from conscious human intention; rather, they reflect the 32 class struggle that takes place in the context of the economic base of society.Many Marxists writers find themselves uniformly uneasy with this form of passive reductionism. 3 3 In this more sceptical reading, Marx's Preface (mentioned above), as well as many works by Engels, are not regarded as adequate representations of the totality of Marx's views. Antonio Gramsci, for example, regularly dismissed this more passive view in the curt phrase ‘economism'. For such critics, passive reductionism contains an impoverished and simplistic conception of the state and law. It does not grasp the more interactive quality of the state and legal system, and it ignores the conflicts between classes over authority within st ate.Neither does it explain how the economic base actually ‘determines' law. The actual causal mechanism remains inchoate in Marx's writings. Marx's texts, it is argued, are rife with potential for more interactive readings. However, the Marx of the Preface could reply to this criticism by arguing that such a view is in imminent danger of ‘legal fetishism', where law is seen as both necessary for 380 D Basil Blackwell Ltd. HeinOnline — 20 J. L. & Soc'y 380 1993 the existence of society and autonomous from economic or class factors. There is nothing unique about law in the passive reductionist reading.However, most exponents of interactionism would not want to argue that law has total autonomy; rather, that the law can, in certain circumstances, act upon economic life and can either facilitate or work against a particular mode of production. The ambiguities over these various positions can be observed in Marx's classic account of the transition from feudalism to ca pitalism. As commercial capitalism slowly develops at the economic base it, of necessity, erodes feudal relations. It is no use to capitalists that a workforce is tied by feudal bonds to a particular aristocratic landowner or piece of ancient property.In addition, communal land (or wood), which all can freely utilize as a common resource, is also deeply inconvenient for capitalism. Property, for capitalists (as in Marx's observations in the wood theft article), must be privately owned and tradable. Labour must also be free of feudal ties in order to travel where the work is needed by capitalists. These processes were obviously facilitated by coercion and outright violence, as in many cases of enclosure; however, as Marx noted, law also expedited the whole process in developing sophisticated systems of property law, contract law, and tort.In creating a landless poor (‘free labour') and a contractual private property-based law, the groundwork for capitalism was gradually laid. T he problem is how to read these events. On the one hand, law could be seen (as in the interactive thesis) as semi-autonomous, providing intentionally the conditions for changes in the mode of production. In fact, it is arguable that law consciously constituted the integuments of a mode of production. This argument throws doubt on the unidirectional determinism and passivity thesis.On the other hand, law can be read as a coercive structure representing the actual dominance of the bourgeoisie of the means of production, but determined by the laws of the economic base. In this latter reading, law has no autonomy whatsoever. It simply and instrumentally reflects the economic base. Support for both lines of argument can found in Marx. BASE, SUPERSTRUCTURE, AND LEGAL IDEOLOGY The basic idea of base and superstructure follows neatly from the previous section. In fact, once again, we find similar disputes being echoed from previous sections.One theory sees a precise causal relationship. The other theory sees a looser tendency and more interactive quality in base and superstructure. This latter theory leads some critics to bewail even the use of terms like ‘base' and ‘superstructure'. It is argued that it would be far better if we treated these terms as more or less useful metaphors, not referring to any empirical reality. 34 As in many of Marx's writings, half the problem here might simply be because Marx never really addressed the problem head on. 5 The terms occur in certain writings, but Marx did not appear to have any inkling of how much significance was going to be placed on them by 381  © Basil Blackwell Ltd. HeinOnline — 20 J. L. & Soc'y 381 1993 subsequent generations. The older instrumental causal account of base and superstructure sees a clear correspondence between laws and political institutions (superstructure) and the economic base. As Marx put it unequivocally in his Preface to a Critique of PoliticalEconomy: With the change of the economic foundation the entire immense superstructure is more or less rapidly transformed.In considering such transformations a distinction should always be made between the material transformation of the economic conditions of production, which can be determined with the precision of natural science, and the legal, political, religious, aesthetic or philosophic – in short, ideological forms in which men become conscious of this conflict†¦ Just as our opinion of an individual is not based on what he thinks of himself, so we can not judge such a period of transformation by its own consciousness; on the contrary, this consciousness must be explained rather from the contradictions of material life. For example, laws on land tenure in the feudal period (a superstructural phenomenon) changed markedly with the development of capitalism. The real foundation for these changes and the explanation of them would be sought in the actual change in the modes and relations of productio n – the material base. There are a number of minor problems with the above view. First, it is not easy to see how the above thesis explains why certain types of law occur. For example, how, on the above model, would one explain factory legislation, which controlled the activities of capitalists?Alternatively, what of social welfare legislation or legislation which enacts progressive redistributive taxation? Admittedly, it could be replied here that such laws indirectly help capitalism by improving the condition of the working class and preventing revolution, while paying a minimum cost. Thus, despite appearances, such legislation aids capitalism: it is in essence still a business proposition. This counter argument might hold for some legislation, but what of other laws which prevent abuse to children, punish rape, or ensure the proper care of the mentally handicapped?What of laws which define the roles of an official in local or central government or, alternatively, traffic l aw? Surely it is not as easy to explain these as clearly causally related to the economic base of capitalism. Any attempt to do so would surely look very far-fetched. In other words, the instrumental thesis does not account for the totality of law. Secondly, certain legal rules appear to be part of the relations of production, for example, contract law. The relations of production are held together by such contractual rules. They form a kind of social glue for such economic practices.The question arises, therefore, can we separate out contractual law and the relations of production? If the relations of production are constituted by legal vocabulary then there can be no clear determination of the superstructure by the base. Thus, for these, and many other reasons, a number of commentators have felt distinctly uneasy with the instrumental/ causal base superstructure model. 3 7 In fact, Marx did not use the model with any great frequency and late in life Engels also wrote a number of o ft-quoted 3s qualifying letters which appear to give a lot of ground to sceptics.As noted above, in the quotation from Marx's Preface, Marx often tended 382 (C Basil Blackwell Ltd. HeinOnline — 20 J. L. & Soc'y 382 1993 to view ideology from a similar causal perspective. One way of viewing an important dimension of the superstructure is as the body of ideas of a society. Marx refers, in the above quotation, to the legal, political, religious, aesthetic, and philosophical ideas of a society. The quotation clearly takes a ‘reductionist' and ‘instrumental' view of ideology. Ideas are explained via their connection to the material base.Legal ideology is thus, once again, part of the consciousness of bourgeois society, and, as Marx clearly observed: ‘Just as our opinion of an individual is not based on what he thinks of himself, so we can not judge of such a period of transformation by its own consciousness'. Thus, overt legal ideas and forms tells us virtually n othing substantive – they merely reflect deeper economic changes. 39 It is understandable in this reductionist reading that Engels and others should thus have referred to ideology as the ‘false-consciousness' of a class like the bourgeoisie.Lawyers might thus be regarded as professional ideologists or ‘waged hacks' (in fact like most intellectuals, professional groups, and academics) for the bourgeoisie. Subsequently Marx's ideas came under certain pressures and a number of questions arose 0 In his early writings Marx appeared to be contrasting ‘ideology' with ‘reality as practice' – a form of philosophical materialist ontology. Liberal capitalism was in an equivalent position to religion as a distortion of the human essence. Later this contrast became ideology (as distortion) as against natural science (as truth or knowledge).The change in perspective here refers, once again, to the idea of an epistemological break in Marx's writings. However, in both these views, it remained unclear as to what to include within the term ideology. In some writings it appeared to be widely inclusive – consciousness in general. In other writings he appeared to limit himself to economic and political ideas. The question arose at the time (which is still unresolved) as to whether natural science was part of ideology or was wholly distinct. Marx also did not explain, as mentioned earlier, the precise mechanisms of determinism.For example, it is not clear (taking A as the economic base and B as legal ideology), whether ‘determine' means that A causes B, tends to affect B, or sets parameters to B, or alternatively, whether there is a symbiotic relation of A to B. 41 In strictly practical terms, such corrosive ambiguities do link up to quite ordinary questions on legal activity. As Hugh Collins observes: ‘The question is whether a judge follows instrumental considerations with a class character or operates a discrete 42 mode of reasoning'. Marxists have gone on struggling with the concept of ideology.Some, like Gramsci, found inspiration in ideas of ‘relative autonomy', which allows some leeway for ‘a discrete mode of legal reasoning'. In Gramsci's thesis (which for some is present in Marx's writings like the 18th Brumaire), domination under capitalism is not simply achieved by coercion, but, subtly, through the hegemony of ideas. The ideology of the ruling class becomes vulgarized into the common sense of the average citizen. Power is not just crude legal force, but, conversely, domination of language, morality, and culture. Laws, for example, become internalized within the consciousness of 383  © Basil Blackwell Ltd.HeinOnline — 20 J. L. & Soc'y 383 1993 each citizen. The masses are quelled and co-opted by this internalization of ideas. The hegemonic ideas become the actual experiences of the subordinate classes. Bourgeois hegemony moulds the personal convictions, norms, and aspirat ions of the proletariat. Gramsci thus called for a struggle at the level of ideology. Organic intellectuals situated within the proletariat should combat this by developing a counter-hegemony to traditional intellectuals upholding bourgeois hegemony – which might be considered as the basis of a credo for critical legal studies.In sum, this perspective does not consider law as just instrumental. Law does not necessarily uphold the interests of the ruling class and it is not simply determined by the economic base; in fact, it may have some counter-determining role on the base itself. These themes will be pursued more intently in the final section. LAW, POLITICS, AND STATE One view of the state and law, which predominates in Marx's writings, is that they are a condensation of the economic interests of the dominant class.The state is thus viewed as the ‘executive committee to manage the affairs of the bourgeoisie'. The state acts as its oppressive agent in civil society, su ppressing proletarian interests in favour of capital accumulation. The personnel of the state owe allegiance to one particular class – the bourgeoisie. Lawyers would be viewed as waged lackeys of the bourgeoisie. Law is part of this oppressive mechanism and embodies the ideological mystifications of bourgeois intellectualism. The bourgeois capitalist class dominates political power hrough its domination of economic power. This is the more traditional view of the state, epitomized in The Communist Manifesto. As Marx stated unequivocally in the latter work: Your very ideas are but the outgrowth of the conditions of your bourgeois production and bourgeois property, just as your jurisprudence is but the will of your class made into law for all, a will whose essential character and direction are determined by the 43 economical conditions of existence of your class. The above argument is a form of class reductionism.The bourgeois state and legal system are class-based phenomena. Cl ass, for Marx, refers to large social groups linked together in certain social relations within a mode of production. Each class receives differential rewards, power, and status. Relations between classes tend to be conflictual. Within the instrumental perspective, the state and legal system are seen to condense the interests of one class. The state is not a representation of any collective good or impartiality. It is, rather, integral to certain specific economic interests in society.Class interests are seen to manage the state apparatus in the interests of that class – the bourgeoisie in capitalist society. The history of states is therefore subsumable under class interest. Marx tended, in many writings, to interpret nineteenth-century legislation, particularly in Britain, in such class terms. For example, the passing of the Reform Bill and Ten-Hours Bill, and 384 (D Basil Blackwell Ltd. HeinOnline — 20 J. L. & Soc'y 384 1993 the repeal of the Corn Laws, were seen as aspects of the economic conflict between the bourgeoisie and landed aristocracy.The above view reflects dolefully on a number of issues. First, there does not appear to be any difference between a democratic rule-of-law constitutional state (Rechtsstaat) and an unconstitutional, undemocratic despotism. Both are simply exploitative class-based entities. † The former state simply shields its basic exploitative character more successfully, particularly under guises like the ‘rule of law'. Secondly, both the ‘general' rule-of-law principle and ‘particular' property, contract or criminal laws, are simply there to buttress the property owners of capitalism.The rule of law is a typical example of legal fetishism, namely, giving law a false autonomy from the economic and class base of society. In times of high productivity, the constitutional capitalist state will give the appearance of some concern, via state spending, but it will show its true colours during perio ds of economic crisis. The first cuts will always be to the welfare of working people. The rule of law is thus an elaborate confidence trick. 45 Thirdly, Marx suggests that the so-called equal rights of liberal states have grossly unequal effects.The rights 4 of human beings are in reality the rights of bourgeois men in civil society. 1 They protect individual capitalists in their exploitative practices and they protect the unequal economic results of such practices. Rights are associated with individuals who ‘own' them in order to protect private interests. Rights thus shield the basic inequalities and exploitative practices of bourgeois culture. Bourgeois culture ignores material inequalities and slavishly adheres to formal legal, moral or political equality of rights.Marx found this whole scenario profoundly objectionable. Equally, from the same perspective, the justice that we observe in liberal societies is another aspect of the ideology of capitalism. It concentrates min imally on how goods might be distributed (if it gets as far as distributive justice) and ignores the massive inequalities implicit in the production process itself. In other words, it shuts the stable door after the capitalist horse has bolted. Justice is not a virtue for communists. Marx thus quite explicitly takes an anti-justice and anti-rights stance.With genuine communism, there would be no classes, no coercion, no conflict, and no private ownership; in consequence, there would be no need for justice or right claims. If there is abundance and communal ownership, then there is no reason for principles of allocation or any allocating or adjudication mechanisms. In sum, Marx objects, in this reading, to the whole notion of the juridical legal state as a complex sham. As law is integral to the idea of the state in Marx, so the antistatist stance of communism implies the abolition of law.The traditional account above is not without some internal ambiguity, particularly over notions like ‘the dictatorship of the proletariat'. This latter doctrine envisages the state as not so much a negative, coercive, backwardlooking institution, as rather an instrument of positive revolutionary change utilized for the benefit, ultimately, of humanity (even if it is still viewed as a transitional entity). Marx's own qualified fervour for the state can be observed, even in Capital,where he remarked enthusiastically on the work of 385 0 Basil Blackwell Ltd. HeinOnline — 20 J. L. Soc'y 385 1993 the Factory Inquiry Commission in Britain, specifically the work of Leonard Horner, as rendering ‘undying service to the English working class. He [Leonard Horner] carried on a life-long contest, not only with the embittered manufacturers, but also with the Cabinet'. 47 Marx later commented, with evident relish, that British manufacturers compared the factory inspectorate 4 8 with revolutionary commissioners of the French National Convention. However, this was hardly a n egative coercive vision of a class-based state functioning only in the interests of the bourgeoisie.The stricter class view of the state and law also suggests that if there were no class there would, in turn, be no law and no state. Class conflict is the prerequisite of the state. This view was later crystallized in Lenin's work, The State and Revolution. This idea, in turn, gives rise to the idea (initiated by Engels and carried on by Lenin, although many would contend it was also present in Marx) that the state and legal order will ‘wither away'. In this sense a communist society would be stateless and lawless (in a strictly descriptive sense).Thus, from the standpoint of a strict materialism, the state is not a major player. The end. result of this looks very much like communist anarchism, although Marx himself argued fiercely against such a conclusion and showed only vitriolic contempt for anarchists like Proudhon and Bakunin. However, Marx never resolved this issue of the relation between communism and mainstream anarchism. However, the class reductionist and instrumental perspective does not represent the totality of Marx's writings. Let us take the question of class first.Class, in certain works, is seen as more complex, fragmented, and containing fractions with no overt connection to political or legal domination. The state and its legal system, in this reading, clearly does not embody the interests of a ruling class. In addition there can be, as Marx demonstrated with great verve in the 18th Brumaire, intra-class conflict between fractions. Marx mentions four fractions within the bourgeoisie who often conflict: landed property, the financial aristocracy, the industrial bourgeoisie, and commercial bourgeoisie.In addition, the lumpenproletariat are kept separate from the proletariat, and the petty bourgeoisie from the peasantry. As one commentator has remarked, ‘the recourse to â€Å"fractions† of classes . . . indicates that . . . â €Å"class† is not a sufficiently precise concept to be of value in explaining particular events'. 49 Law, in this fraction perspective, can actually become a ‘site of class struggle'. 50 Laws are therefore not always oppressive in the interest of one class. In fact, many laws can benefit the working class, for example, factory legislation. Certain laws also result from pressures from multifarious groups outside social classes. In addition, the notion of class remains deeply ambiguous since Marx nowhere explains its precise relation to property ownership. The doubts over the relation between class and state, outlined in the 18th Brumaire,led Marx to suggest that in the conditions that pertained in France in the period 1848-50, the state did not represent any bourgeois fractions, or even the bourgeoisie in general. In fact, Marx contends that the state and law may work against the interests of the bourgeoisie. 52 This effectively under386  ©D Blackwell Basil Ltd. HeinOn line — 20 J. L. & Soc'y 386 1993 ined both the idea of the direct synonymity of ‘class' to ‘law' and ‘state', and also the necessity of class for analysing the state (although both these views are strongly maintained by Marx in The Communist Manifesto, amongst other writings). It is these qualifying arguments of Marx which enabled the development of what is now called ‘state autonomy theory', which has powerfully shaped late twentieth-century Marxist studies. The theory, in varying degrees, sees the state and law as a factor of cohesion, a site of struggle between fractions of classes, and an institution which may even regulate class conflict.The basic point is that legal reasoning takes on a relative autonomy from the economic base of society. It is not totally to be explained via modes or relations of production. This relative autonomy thesis might make us consider anew the curt dismissals of notions like the rule of law. Certainly a number of recent commentators have picked up on this theme in Marx, suggesting that the theory of unidirectional determinism of base and superstructure does not really work for explaining the nature of law itself.Laws are actually integral to certain types of relations of production. E. P. Thompson, following this line of thought, has spoken of law in eighteenth-century England as ‘deeply imbricated within the very basis of productive relations, which would have been inoperable without law'. He continues that we cannot ‘simply separate off all law as ideology, and assimilate this also to the state apparatus of a ruling class'. 53 Taking on board the Gramscian thesis of ideological hegemony being a sphere of struggle, Thompson contends that disputes are fought out in the sphere of law.Law certainly still expressed class power; however, part of the success of legal ideology itself was its appearance of impartiality. As Thompson notes, law ‘cannot seem to be so without its own logic and criteria of equity; indeed, on occasion, by actually being just†¦ even rulers find a need to legitimize their power, to moralize their functions, to feel themselves to be useful and just'. 54 The rhetoric was not therefore empty, even if it was still rhetoric. Semi-autonomous legal logic was thus often used against dominant groups – which was precisely a central aspect of Marx's argument in the 18th Brumaire.Thus, for Thompson, law does not equal raw class power. It was certainly involved in class power and it redefined property rights in undermining feudalism, but its focus was not exclusively on class interest. Its own logic and rhetoric gave it a partial autonomy which inhibited, in some cases, the dominant groups. It was also a site of struggle between fractions of these dominant groups. As Thompson concludes, such a notion of the rule of law is markedly different from arbitrary despotism. It is, in fact, he notes, a ‘cultural achievement'. 5 The effort to redeem Marx from his anti-statist and anti-law stance, via some notion of relative autonomy, has also had other defenders. Some critics have found in Marx's early writings a number of themes which add support this vision. For example, in one of his early writings, Marx speaks -oflaw as ‘the positive, bright and general norms in which freedom has attained to an existence that is impersonal, theoretical and independent of the arbitrariness of individuals. A people's statute book is its Bible of freedom'. 56 He also 387 Basil Blackwell Ltd. HeinOnline — 20 J. L. & Soc'y 387 1993 makes favourable noises, at points, about customary law established over 7 time, as against the new laws of the bourgeoisie. 5 Others have noted, with surprise, that Marx draws distinctions between ‘real' and ‘unreal' law. For example, on the same page of the article referred to above, Marx speaks of law becoming active: as soon as it is transgressed for it is only true law when in it t he unconscious natural law of freedom becomes the conscious law of the state. Where law is true law, i. . where it is the existence of freedom, it is the true existence of the freedom of man. Thus laws cannot prevent man's actions, for they are the inner laws of life. Paul Phillips remarks on this point that: ‘The significance of this distinction is that it posits the existence of an order superior to that of mere man-made law 58 and, to that extent, it is a Natural Law Theory'. Marx, even in his later writings, appeared to believe that there is a condition of freedom and wholeness for human beings, where their real natures will flourish.There is, as one critic has put it, a ‘myth of transparency' in Marx (as in Hegel) – this is ‘the vision of a society in which something â€Å"standing behind† the set of available social roles and relations†¦ will be revealed in a social order which will have become â€Å"obvious† to the participants'. 59 This notion of positive freedom, wholeness, and perfectibility behind the veil, is both implicit in the discussion of alienation (in the earlier writings), and restlessly present just under the surface of the later discussions of exploitation and communism.  ° This vision of freedom is subtly linked to Marx's strong (if unstated) communitarianism, namely, his deeply-rooted belief that humans are social creatures and can only develop freely within a particular type of community. This is the community which is distorted and lost in capitalism and will be recovered in communism. Humans are meant to develop historically toward such a society. Marx did not like to be associated with such a view, since it smacked of romantic utopianism. However, it is undeniably there throughout the corpus of his writings. Alienation is a prime example of such erfectibility lost and regained. The notion developed initially in a theological context. Humans were alienated from God through their sin. In H egel, the alienation is philosophical: spirit (or mind) externalizes itself in the world. It becomes alien to itself. The task of thought is to overcome the self-alienation of spirit, to perceive itself at home in the world. Overcoming alienation is realizing that the world is not alien to our thought. For Feuerbach, however, the real alienation is that human beings have placed their essence into either God or the Hegelian Spirit.To overcome alienation is to transform the subject and object – to realize that God is idealized humanity. For Marx, on the other hand, alienation takes on a number of subtle forms. 61 The basic idea is that human alienation is more immediate and practical, and subsumes all the other notions. In discussing the topic, Marx speaks initially of alienation through labour. Labour creates capital and capital escapes the control of labour and takes on a supposedly independent existence, which in turn dominates the original producer. Workers thus find they a re alienated from the product of 388 (D Basil Blackwell Ltd.HeinOnline — 20 J. L. & Soc'y 388 1993 their labour. Labour, in this capitalist context, is no longer free and creative. It is necessary for subsistence and thus exercises alien compulsion over the worker. In consequence, workers are alienated from free creativity (which is the true nature of human beings) and they are thus also alienated from their fellow human beings. Overcoming human alienation implies ultimately overthrowing the economic and social forms which generate the loss of reality and the self. The solution to the riddle of history and human alienation is communism. 2 There is strong sense here of a definite underlying human nature, with certain specifiable needs, which can flourish under a specific type of community, which recognizes certain ‘natural laws', not necessarily as overt imperatives from some external authority, but more as natural non-coercive norms derived from reason. Despite Marx's a ppearance as an anti-law theorist, some writers have claimed that it is possible to identify a communist theory of law and justice, and also, possibly, of state (given Marx's early interest in a radical democratic participatory state). 3 In certain writings, particularly The Critique of the Gotha Programme, Marx does indicate that there would be a principle of justice under communism – ‘from each according to his abilities, to each according to his needs'. 64 Such a notion of justice would presumably prevent unequal access to the means of production and also prohibit alienation and exploitation. It would also respond distributivelyto human needs – although Marx leaves the concept of ‘need' fairly open. Needs for social relations, satisfying labour, and the like, move well beyond physical subsistence.It is difficult not to consider some of Marx's needs as ‘wants' or ‘interests', which are surely markedly different notions. Tom Campbell, amongst a number of recent theorists, believes that we can reconcile Marx's historicism, and aspects of a looser materialism, with a belief in communist justice and the moral superiority of such a society. He di