1.- Historical overview and Normative
Like in the rest of European countries, the beginnings of the Spanish journalism are based in its literature, in its historical discoveries (for example the discovery of America), invents like print or religious acts. Some publications progressively became official and with them journalism emerged. Radio started officially in the 1920´s and the first television broadcasting attempts in the first third of the 20th century. Until 1966, mass media in Spain worked according to the guidelines imposed by Franco's dictatorial regime after his victory in the Spanish Civil War (1939). The conditions for media development were tightly controlled and repressed. The transitional period to democracy started in 1975 with Franco’s death and this fact gave way to the formation of the present structures in the mass media. Since then, the Spanish Media has passed through a continuous changing process, along with the dynamic changes in the national and international media industry.
The necessity of establishing clear norms with law range to the media operating comes from freedoms and rights explained in the Spanish Constitution and from political pluralism. The broadcasting public service in radio and TV is inspired in the general values that manage every social media in the State, like objectivity, veracity and impartiality of information, separated from opinion, private life and other rights specified in Constitution. The main organizations which are measuring media data are “Estudio General de Medios”, “Sofres” and “Oficina de Justificación de la Difusión”.
The activity of the press is free. Therefore, there are no limitations to ownership of publications. However, the participation of press companies in conventional radio and television is regulated in order to guarantee the plurality and to avoid monopolisation. Nevertheless, since 1996 government alternation between Popular Party (conservative) and Socialist Party, and their interested relations with big communication groups, has caused continuous changes in communication laws, leading the media industry into a concentration process, with a few ones (media companies, telecommunication operators and banks) attending all the different activities and markets.
2.- Spanish Press
In 1697, the “Gazeta de Madrid” became the first weekly Spanish newspaper. More intellectual, cultural and satirical publications emerged in the XVIII century, with the beginning of critical journalism. In 1758 it started the first daily newspaper, Diario de Madrid. At the end of that century, press suffered a strong censorship by the Spanish Inquisition. After Napoleon’s invasion and the Independence War a great period commenced, promoting the “political press” or “party press” that will last till the end of the Spanish Civil War in 1939.
In the second half of the XVIII century a relevant change occurred: the beginning of “Informative journalism”, the seed of the present newspapers. With the dictatorship of Primo de Rivera in 1923 and the II Republic afterwards, “opposition press” (against the established power) gained in importance. In 1936 started the Civil War and press was reduced to a mere explicit propagandistic medium. In the areas dominated by the right wing the newspapers from the left wing were confiscated and used by their own interest and the other way round.
In the first years of Franco dictatorship press was strongly censured and so everything related against the military dictatorship was wiped out. After 1966 it started a slight permissiveness for newspapers, mostly for those published weekly or monthly which did not have such a big control as the daily ones.
The Spanish constitution of 1978 meant a great change with a new freedom of speech. In 1976 appeared El País. It became a huge success and reached the leader position until our days. It is the basis of the most powerful communication group in Spain, PRISA. Diario 16 is another big newspaper, linked to the group Grupo16, and utterly important during the transition to democracy.
At present, there are more than 100 newspapers. El País, is the leader with 450.000 copies. ABC and El Mundo, the new newspaper of the owner of the former Diario 16, are the next. Each of them is linked to a specific political stream, in this order, left (PSOE political party), monarchical and right (PP political party). And important fact is the existence of autonomous regions (Comunidades Autónomas, CCAA), in which regional newspapers have bigger success than national ones. This is much more powerful in the regions with nationalist streams like Catalonia, Galicia and the Basque Country.
The second newspaper with the most daily circulation is a sports one, Marca. The main cities with the bigger economy and the most important football teams (as Madrid and Barcelona) held the most important sports newspaper with a great success like As, Sport or El Mundo Deportivo.
The general daily rate is 4.215.000 printed newspapers with 12.227.000 readers (38% population) and decreasing. It is a low rate because there is not a big reading tradition in Spain and there is no popular daily press (yellow press) that raises this figure like in many other countries like The United Kingdom. The majority of these newspapers offer an alternative electronic edition on the internet allowing its readers, in general terms, to have a quick access to much more updated information.
Apart from the newspapers, there are about 350 weekly and monthly publications. Most of them have low circulation (over 500.000 copies). The two main ones, Pronto and Hola, are both dealing with “heart press” (yellow press).
3.- Spanish Radio
While in the USA, in England and France radio already existed in the second decade of the XXth century, in Spain the first clubs of radio amateurs appeared. In February 1924 the first Barcelona Radio Broadcasting Association was created. Progressively new associations were founded in other Spanish towns which gave impulse to the foundation of radio stations(Radio Club de Vizcaya y Radio Club Sevillano).
The first Spanish radio station, which started broadcasting with a certain frequency, was Radio Ibérica, which took the name after the enterprise which founded it. In its beginnings the radio programs were: music, some conferences divulgating cultural or scientific information and the weather forecast. Nevertheless, shortly after the offer was wider: news, Jazz concerts and programs for children. People were really passionate about the radio. Governments soon realized about the importance of this new media.
Before the Spanish Civil War there were only private stations which subsisted mostly from advertisement and they even had to give 20% of the advertisement´s profits to the State. When the Spanish Civil War started, July 18th 1936, the two confronted parties saw radio as a perfect propaganda and information vehicle. It was a fast media which could cover what was happening minute after minute giving it to the listeners in real time. Besides it was the only media which reached the smallest rural places and the coast. In 1939, shortly before the war ended, the most important Spanish radio station was created, Radio Nacional de España (Rne). During the whole 36 years of dictatorship all news broadcasted by all radio stations had to be the ones given by Rne, strictly controlled by the dictatorship. The radio station which was known by that time as Unión Radio, created in 1925, became what is nowadays the radio SER (Sociedad Española de Radiodifusión)– the second most important radio station since then. Being the first one right winged and the second one left winged.
After the death of the dictator General Franco, censorship increased because the immediate future was unknown, and people were afraid of it. But two years later, in 1977, an historical change happened in radio history: radio stations were no longer obliged to broadcast the news from Rne, they could broadcast freely their own news. Radio became similar to the one we know today. Nowadays in Spain there are plenty of radio stations, a few national, and most of the others regional or local – this is due to the fact that all autonomies aim to bring regional news to their listeners.
With the Internet emergence, radio changed a lot. Like in other countries, many radio stations offer their listeners the opportunity to have access to it through internet. Besides, they provide information about their workers, they can work with images and listeners have a much easier access to give feedback via e-mail.
The latest technological change in Spain happened in 1999 with the approval of the Digital Audio Broadcasting (DAB). It is a European radio system that is standardized by the European Telecommunications Standardization Institute (ETSI), which among another aspects, it aims the end of interferences in radio and the reception without echo. It is predicted to have it generalized all over Spain in 2008.
4.- Spanish Television
On October 28th 1956 it started the official broadcasting television in Spain. The first television station was called Televisión Española (TVE). It took several years that people from the whole country could have access to it. Television arrived to the following regional areas between the years 1959-1964: Castilla La Mancha and Castilla León in 1959, in Valencia and Bilbao in 1960, in Galicia and Seville in 1961 and Canary Islands in 1964. Until the year 1959 there were no televisions sets produced in Spain. They were considered luxurious products, so only around 50.000 families could buy them. At the end of the sixties there were around 3.500.000 TV sets -around 40% of the homes of the country. It also emerged the so called net of teleclubs in rural areas for people that could not afford a television set. In 1966 appeared a second channel of TVE, called TVE-2. This channel broadcasted cultural programs, sports and public services. This decade was the so called, “Golden Age of TVE”.
Television played a relevant role during the period known as the transition from dictatorship to democracy (1976-1982). Firstly, TVE transition tried to erase the social values that the dictatorship had made permanent in the Spanish society and inculcate imageries of a democratic Spain (all TV news deliverers were substituted in 1982). Secondly, it was created a new Statue for Radio and Television with the object to establish a democratic juridical normative to order the whole Spanish audiovisual system. Thirdly, they tried to elaborate much more pedagogical programs to spread democratic values. In the period from 1976-1982 familiar programs were disappearing progressively being substituted by the ones reflecting contemporary tastes. The hours of transmission augmented and it emerged a way to order the system through audience rating. It also appeared the first generation of autonomic televisions that formed the FORTA (Autonomic Televisions Federation). Among them we find: EITB, TV3, TVGa, Canal Sur, Tele Madrid, Canal 9. In the second half of the nineties some new autonomic TVs and the second channels of the first generation of autonomic TVs were incorporated.
The most outstanding fact in the nineties was the appearance of three private televisions of national coverage: Antena 3, Tele 5 and Canal +. The first two were completely free and the last a subscription TV channel. All leader televisions (TVE-1, Antena 3, Tele 5 and the FORTA) had to adapt to new rules and a much more competitive background in which TVE-1 dominance was almost absolute. Later on, this changed gradually and Tele 5 and Antena 3 were placed in second and third position respectively.
In the last decade the basic criteria changed due to the competitiveness of the landscape. The programs were and are arranged according to what the audience demands. Their main purpose is to get the highest audience rating. In 1997 the two digital satellite platforms began operations: Canal Satélite Digital (CSD) and Vía Digital. The cable services, which include Internet and television, began in 1998. There started about 700 public and private local television stations, most broadcasting terrestrial but also via cable networks. In December 2004 Terrestrial Digital Television (TDT), the most effective and without cost way to receive television signal, emerged, establishing the future disappearance of the present analogical system in April 2010.
SOURCES
http:www.xpress.es/radiocable/histo.htm
http://www.rtve.es/
http://recursos.cnice.mec.es/media/television/bloque1/index.html
http://www.ejc.nl/jr/emland/spain.html
http://www.quadraquinta.org/documentos-teoricos/cuaderno-de-apuntes/brevehistoriaprensa.html
miércoles, 21 de noviembre de 2007
The Persian Gulf War from a Realist and an Idealist Approach
1.- Introduction
The Gulf War is known for many other names according to different views, regions, and perspectives that name it. Among these we find, the Gulf War, Persian Gulf War, War in the Gulf, 1990 Gulf War, Gulf War Sr. or First Gulf War, Second Gulf War, Liberation of Kuwait, Mother of all Battles and Operation Desert Storm.[1] All these possible combinations to address the Gulf War exist to distinguish it from the previous Iraq-Iran War and the following 2003 Iraq War. For the United states this conflict was substantial because it was the first time they entered in war again after the disaster of the Vietnam War. The magnitude of this conflict is explained after the highly influence of the previous war with Iran. The Gulf War significance is such that the crisis did not end completely after the official date of termination, but it continued until the year 2003 in which the United States started direct action against the Iraqui regime.
The reasons that led to the conflict varies according to the different analitical possitions we may take. Clear motivations were the preservation of the international peace, as well as the defence of an uncapable state such as Kuwait. Deeply in the topic, the question of the crude focused the international attention due to the dependence of all states’ economy on such natural resource, particularly the United States’.
When examining the conflict we will deal with two principal theoretical approaches to the International political structure: Realism and Idealism. In analysing the conflict we may encounter behaviours from international actors that cannot be considered as homogeneous theoretically speaking. This may be due to the anarchical international political arena in which we still live because no attainable global consensus has been established yet to order the international political system.
2.- Realistic Point of view
The main tenet of the Realistic approach to International Politics is Power. Power as the first and last reason of its procedures. To apply this belief in the analysis of the Gulf War seems clear and easy. One of the goals of Saddam Hussein when he tookover Iraq in 1979, was to make whole is country again with the annexation of Kuwait. Apart from that, when Iraq started military actions to invade Kuwait, Hussein was already thinking on the Hama oil fields, Saudi Arabia’s more valuable resources. Iraqi control of these fields as well as Kuwait and Iraqi reserves would have given it a large share of the world’s oil supply, second only to Saudi Arabia itself. If he were succesful in his deed, Sadam would be considered hegemon of that rich oil area. The United States, Europe and Japan saw such a potential monopoly as dangerous. But it is not only a question of oil; territory was another relevant issue in Sadam’s agenda. He wanted to gain access to the sovereignty of an old disputed territory, Kuwait, to adquire power above such a strategic area in the Persian Gulf.
Another important principle defended by realists is their interest towards their security. Hussein accused Kuwait on 17 July of oil overproduction and theft of oil from the Rumailia Oil Field. The ultimate goal of this ruler was to provide security and welfare to his state. So, anything against his state interests would be considered bad and will have to be combated without taking in moral consideration. [2]To comprise the national interests he needed to be economically and politically self-sufficient, thereby reducing dependency on untrustworthy neighbouring nations. A nation can only advance its interests against the interests of other nations; this implies that the international environment is inherently unstable. Whatever order may exist it breaks down when nations compete for the same resources. Iraq was not the only actor that jointed the conflict to protect their security. The United States also acted in consequence to the threat towards their national welfare caused by the invasion of Kuwait. George H.W. Bush signed secret National Security Directive 26, which begins, “Access to Persian Gulf oil and the security of key friendly states in the area are vital to U.S. national security.”[3] And proceeds “Normal relations between the United States and Iraq would serve our longer term interests and promote stability in both the Persian Gulf and the Middle East.”[4] No doubt that one of the reasons, if not the main one, of the United States to enter in the Gulf War was to protect the oil reserves of Saudi Arabia, indirectly favouring the export of crude to the major purchaser: themselves.
Even though the small country of Kuwait was not a serious menace for the Regime of Saddam Hussein, and also the disrupted borderline between the two counties made difficult to know which oil was whom, the Iraqi ruler felt compelled to invade it in a preventive act. He could not trust in other rulers because people are bad. This malevolent opinion about the human nature is another feature according to realist thinkers.
According to realists, the International Political system is anarchical. There is no sovereign entity ruling above the sovereign states in the world. Whilst this anarchy needs not to be chaotic, for various member states of the international community may engage in treaties or in trading patterns that generate an order of sorts, most theorists conclude that law or morality does not apply beyond the nation’s boundaries. In this Hobbesian state of nature, the relations between self-seeking political entities are necessarily a-moral. As Thomas Hobbes stated there is not an international Leviathan and so, we live in a permanent state of nature in which people live outside any political organization. That is why Saddam Hussein decided to invade Kuwait deliberately. He thought no other state was going to interfere in matters among Arab states. There was no authority in the international political arena with the right to say a word if he wanted to attack his neighbour, according to the Iraqi ruler.
As realists defend the only pertinent actor in international politics are states. That is why the Iraqi president stated on November 16th 1990 that he only would get to agreement with the United States or with Saudi Arabia. Saddam disregarded international organizations, i.e. United Nations. Examples of this are the innumerable UN resolutions which Iraq simply ignored, as for instance resolution 707 in which the UN condemned the violation of a prior resolution 687 of the UN Security Council.
Another important realistic principle related to the idea of power is the Balance of Power. According to Hobbes this was the only way to guarantee stability. Giucciardini also talked about this idea in which everybody is afraid of everybody. When appeared a state as Iraq which seemed to be able to dominate 24% of all the oil in the world in only 4 hours, other states, such as the ones that formed the coalition, allied to dominate that one who was gathering all the power.[5] They allied to stop Saddam because although there are asymmetries in power, these cannot be too many. Once the alliance was made the group of states was seeking to be hegemony to be able to diminish the attempt of oil monopoly carried out by Saddam. The United States did not withdraw the Iraqi regime at the end of the Gulf War in order not to destabilize the balance of power in the region and allowing a future attack by Iraq’s greedy neighbours.
One interesting note to Political Realism is that realists believe states always act rationally. In other words, whatever a state does must be rational. Morgenthau explained that International Politics could be analyzed in a rational way. When a state decides to enter into a war is because it thinks it is the most rational thing to do. For realists, the rational way is the maximization of power, that is, the eternal struggle for power is the most rational thing to do. For Saddam, the invasion of Kuwait was the most reasonable thing to do as he was aiming to improve his state’s power above the other states in the area.
Realists do not always favour using war as the first method of influence. They simply recognize that at times it is a necessary course of action. The United States followed this pattern when deciding entering the Gulf War to liberate Kuwait. They tried previous measures to attain their goal by peaceful means. They only proceeded to military intervention when they realized that was the way to redirection Saddam’s behaviour.
3.- Idealistic Point of View
The Idealist theory focuses in ideas not in power as realists do. This system is not based on power but in rules and reason. This world order would be based on International Law and collective security. In this scheme, sovereign decisions should not be taken outside international institutions. Moreover, idealists consider that the human nature is good in origin and that any maleability is changeable in future [6], whereas realist think the human being is bad in nature.
Following this argument the United States would have had this way of action in the Gulf War crisis. They relied in International Institutions because they can change the nature of a state. That is why Kuwait and the United States asked the UN Security Council for an emergency meeting after the Iraqui militia had invaded Kuwait on August 2nd 1990. They relied in this International Organization that aims to order the international system. There were passed 16 UN resolutions which were rejected by the Iraqui president. It was only after the UN was incapable of making react Sadam Hussein when the United States started military actions in the area to free Kuwait and avoid the threat of a possible invasion of Saudi Arabia.
Another relevant principle in the idealist ideology is the idea of Just War. The United States, together with a International coalition of 35 states, decided to procede with the military intervention when it was necessary according to international policy. Among the legitimate reasons to start belligerant acts, the United States claimed they were intervening to defend the Kuwaiti population as well as to defend a possible attack of Saudi Arabia. In doing so, the United States were acting according to self-defence and to protect the international security.
Among the legitimate means used in the Gulf War, the UN demanded Iraq in the UN resolution 687, to stop producing any Weapon of Mass Destruction nor any chemical weapons which were used during the war and which lately provoked the so called Gulf War Syndrome. Many returning coalition soldiers reported illnesses following their participation in the Gulf War. There has been widespread speculation and disagreement about the causes of the illness and reported birth defects. Some factors considered as possibly causal include exposure to depleted uranium, chemical weapons, anthrax vaccine given to deploying soldiers, and /or infectious diseases.
Another of the legitimate means of the just War, established by international laws, is not to attack civilians. The increased importance of air attacks from both warplanes and cruise missiles led to much controversy over the level of civilian deaths caused during the initial stages of the war. The first attack by the coalition were airstrikes what made difficult to prevent civilian casualties. In most cases, the allies avoided hitting civilian-only facilities. However, on February 13th 1991, two laser-guided “smart bombs” destroyed the Amiriyah blockhouse. Amiriyah was a military bunker with a civilian bunker built deliberately over it by Saddam, in violation of the Geneva Convention. He used his own population as a shield to hide his operational base if this was bombed by the coalition and so, to have an excuse to protest against the way the coalition was attacking him.
The idealist approach to international politics can be connected somehow with the Roman Philosophical School Stoa. Stoics had an Universalist idea of government. They applied the word Cosmopolitism to reffer to this thought applied to the whole polis. They defended that humans are equal and that they have some inner rights. In the Greece policy that rights were just applied in relation with the polis. So, in Rome they already dealt with the idea of Human Rights. In this International conflict human rights were not left aside as it is clearly seen in the UN resolution 688. This resolution came after the war was officially ended to protect the integrity of the repressed Iraqui population and to permit the international humanitarian aid to attend the more injured part of the Iraqui people.
As Adam Smith, the founding father os Economic Liberalism, declared, state intervention in the market only hindrances its development. Economic agents are considered bad. Wars distracts trade and this makes loss for both parts of the conflict. So, states should promote peace and prosperity according to Smith. Saddam Hussein was looking forward to acquiring Kuwaiti’s oil supplies together with the ones in Saudi Arabia. His interests were based on a governamental arrangement of the crude oil, not leaving opportunity to a deregulation and liberation of the system to promote profitability. The United States entered into the war aiming to protect the means by which they imported the oil from Saudi Arabia prior to the Iraqui invasion of Kuwait.
Norman Angell argued that markets worked on interdependence and this interdependence makes war extremelly irrational. He sated that no profit could be taken from war; that the only goods to people were only through free trade. That is why the United States together with the UN and the coallition considered the war with Kuwait as irrational and as such they tried to avoid by all means any bellicose act against Iraq. They exposed, through the UN, their unacceptability of the invasion of Kuwait by means of several UN resolutions setting a date for a definitive withrowal of the Iraqui forces. Once this was not carried out by the Iraqui president, despite of the UN economic sanctions to Iraq, the troops of the coalition entered into force as a last resource to provide estability to the invaded area.
The international coalition together with the UN tried by all means not to take aggressive measures, trying to get an apeasement working on diplomacy. This is considered to be a rational measure to prevent a war. Apeasement was intended not to scalate the crisis but to solve the problem. In the Gulf War this apeasement was disregarded by Saddam’s part due to his obsession to reach his golden mine of power. The Iraqui president ruled a revisionist power and as such, according to Kissinger, diplomacy does not work with that kind of powers. So if there is such a clush between a status quo system and a revisionist one a war will probably come. This was the case between the international coalition-status quo power- and the Iraqi president who did not recognized at all the legitimacy of the international system.
4.- Conclusions
Even though a coalition was created to fight against the Iraqi president, the clear opponent of Saddam Hussein was the United States. It was one highly affected by the possible consequences of Saddam’s success in his militar campaign. The United States intervention in the conflict was made with especial consideration with the UN Security Council. A prior long period of diplomacy was necessary before the final determination to take military action was decided.
As we have been able to see, there is not a straight path of behaviour when talking about international politics. The ustable international arena may be favorable for this to happen. International leaders may find this opportunity quite propitious to develop their own way towards the fulfilment of their power and interests goals. It will be possible, only through the gradually acceptability of the intervention of international organs by all the soverign states in the world, that a clear and regular behaviour towards the organization of the international system would be achieved.
The realist and idealist approaches have been the focus of the first international Great Debate. Nowadays, due to the plural environment in which we live, there is not an appropiate theory to follow regarding international affairs. In general terms, there are mainly two tendencies, states with longing for power which will use all possible means to attain their goals and, on the other hand states that will make use of all diplomatic means to attain their main goal, a “perpetual peace” in the international political landscape.
5.- Sources
Jean-Jacques Rousseau. The Social Contract. 1972.
Machiavelli. The Prince. 1513.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/inatl/longterm/fogofwar/docdirective.htm
http://www.plus.es/codigo/noticias/especiales/fichanoticia.asp?id=218166¬i=221328
http://www.indepthinfo.com/iraq/
http://www.mtholyoke.edu/acad/intrel/morg6.htm
http://othermatters.wordpress.com/2006/02/02/the-sword-of-political-idealism-i/
[1] http://www.plus.es/codigo/noticias/especiales/fichanoticia.asp?id=218166¬i=221328
[2] Machiavelli. The Prince. 1513.
[3] http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/inatl/longterm/fogofwar/docdirective.htm
[4] http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/inatl/longterm/fogofwar/docdirective.htm
[5] http://www.plus.es/codigo/noticias/especiales/fichanoticia.asp?id=218166¬i=217817
[6] Jean-Jacques Rousseau. The Social Contract. 1972.
The Gulf War is known for many other names according to different views, regions, and perspectives that name it. Among these we find, the Gulf War, Persian Gulf War, War in the Gulf, 1990 Gulf War, Gulf War Sr. or First Gulf War, Second Gulf War, Liberation of Kuwait, Mother of all Battles and Operation Desert Storm.[1] All these possible combinations to address the Gulf War exist to distinguish it from the previous Iraq-Iran War and the following 2003 Iraq War. For the United states this conflict was substantial because it was the first time they entered in war again after the disaster of the Vietnam War. The magnitude of this conflict is explained after the highly influence of the previous war with Iran. The Gulf War significance is such that the crisis did not end completely after the official date of termination, but it continued until the year 2003 in which the United States started direct action against the Iraqui regime.
The reasons that led to the conflict varies according to the different analitical possitions we may take. Clear motivations were the preservation of the international peace, as well as the defence of an uncapable state such as Kuwait. Deeply in the topic, the question of the crude focused the international attention due to the dependence of all states’ economy on such natural resource, particularly the United States’.
When examining the conflict we will deal with two principal theoretical approaches to the International political structure: Realism and Idealism. In analysing the conflict we may encounter behaviours from international actors that cannot be considered as homogeneous theoretically speaking. This may be due to the anarchical international political arena in which we still live because no attainable global consensus has been established yet to order the international political system.
2.- Realistic Point of view
The main tenet of the Realistic approach to International Politics is Power. Power as the first and last reason of its procedures. To apply this belief in the analysis of the Gulf War seems clear and easy. One of the goals of Saddam Hussein when he tookover Iraq in 1979, was to make whole is country again with the annexation of Kuwait. Apart from that, when Iraq started military actions to invade Kuwait, Hussein was already thinking on the Hama oil fields, Saudi Arabia’s more valuable resources. Iraqi control of these fields as well as Kuwait and Iraqi reserves would have given it a large share of the world’s oil supply, second only to Saudi Arabia itself. If he were succesful in his deed, Sadam would be considered hegemon of that rich oil area. The United States, Europe and Japan saw such a potential monopoly as dangerous. But it is not only a question of oil; territory was another relevant issue in Sadam’s agenda. He wanted to gain access to the sovereignty of an old disputed territory, Kuwait, to adquire power above such a strategic area in the Persian Gulf.
Another important principle defended by realists is their interest towards their security. Hussein accused Kuwait on 17 July of oil overproduction and theft of oil from the Rumailia Oil Field. The ultimate goal of this ruler was to provide security and welfare to his state. So, anything against his state interests would be considered bad and will have to be combated without taking in moral consideration. [2]To comprise the national interests he needed to be economically and politically self-sufficient, thereby reducing dependency on untrustworthy neighbouring nations. A nation can only advance its interests against the interests of other nations; this implies that the international environment is inherently unstable. Whatever order may exist it breaks down when nations compete for the same resources. Iraq was not the only actor that jointed the conflict to protect their security. The United States also acted in consequence to the threat towards their national welfare caused by the invasion of Kuwait. George H.W. Bush signed secret National Security Directive 26, which begins, “Access to Persian Gulf oil and the security of key friendly states in the area are vital to U.S. national security.”[3] And proceeds “Normal relations between the United States and Iraq would serve our longer term interests and promote stability in both the Persian Gulf and the Middle East.”[4] No doubt that one of the reasons, if not the main one, of the United States to enter in the Gulf War was to protect the oil reserves of Saudi Arabia, indirectly favouring the export of crude to the major purchaser: themselves.
Even though the small country of Kuwait was not a serious menace for the Regime of Saddam Hussein, and also the disrupted borderline between the two counties made difficult to know which oil was whom, the Iraqi ruler felt compelled to invade it in a preventive act. He could not trust in other rulers because people are bad. This malevolent opinion about the human nature is another feature according to realist thinkers.
According to realists, the International Political system is anarchical. There is no sovereign entity ruling above the sovereign states in the world. Whilst this anarchy needs not to be chaotic, for various member states of the international community may engage in treaties or in trading patterns that generate an order of sorts, most theorists conclude that law or morality does not apply beyond the nation’s boundaries. In this Hobbesian state of nature, the relations between self-seeking political entities are necessarily a-moral. As Thomas Hobbes stated there is not an international Leviathan and so, we live in a permanent state of nature in which people live outside any political organization. That is why Saddam Hussein decided to invade Kuwait deliberately. He thought no other state was going to interfere in matters among Arab states. There was no authority in the international political arena with the right to say a word if he wanted to attack his neighbour, according to the Iraqi ruler.
As realists defend the only pertinent actor in international politics are states. That is why the Iraqi president stated on November 16th 1990 that he only would get to agreement with the United States or with Saudi Arabia. Saddam disregarded international organizations, i.e. United Nations. Examples of this are the innumerable UN resolutions which Iraq simply ignored, as for instance resolution 707 in which the UN condemned the violation of a prior resolution 687 of the UN Security Council.
Another important realistic principle related to the idea of power is the Balance of Power. According to Hobbes this was the only way to guarantee stability. Giucciardini also talked about this idea in which everybody is afraid of everybody. When appeared a state as Iraq which seemed to be able to dominate 24% of all the oil in the world in only 4 hours, other states, such as the ones that formed the coalition, allied to dominate that one who was gathering all the power.[5] They allied to stop Saddam because although there are asymmetries in power, these cannot be too many. Once the alliance was made the group of states was seeking to be hegemony to be able to diminish the attempt of oil monopoly carried out by Saddam. The United States did not withdraw the Iraqi regime at the end of the Gulf War in order not to destabilize the balance of power in the region and allowing a future attack by Iraq’s greedy neighbours.
One interesting note to Political Realism is that realists believe states always act rationally. In other words, whatever a state does must be rational. Morgenthau explained that International Politics could be analyzed in a rational way. When a state decides to enter into a war is because it thinks it is the most rational thing to do. For realists, the rational way is the maximization of power, that is, the eternal struggle for power is the most rational thing to do. For Saddam, the invasion of Kuwait was the most reasonable thing to do as he was aiming to improve his state’s power above the other states in the area.
Realists do not always favour using war as the first method of influence. They simply recognize that at times it is a necessary course of action. The United States followed this pattern when deciding entering the Gulf War to liberate Kuwait. They tried previous measures to attain their goal by peaceful means. They only proceeded to military intervention when they realized that was the way to redirection Saddam’s behaviour.
3.- Idealistic Point of View
The Idealist theory focuses in ideas not in power as realists do. This system is not based on power but in rules and reason. This world order would be based on International Law and collective security. In this scheme, sovereign decisions should not be taken outside international institutions. Moreover, idealists consider that the human nature is good in origin and that any maleability is changeable in future [6], whereas realist think the human being is bad in nature.
Following this argument the United States would have had this way of action in the Gulf War crisis. They relied in International Institutions because they can change the nature of a state. That is why Kuwait and the United States asked the UN Security Council for an emergency meeting after the Iraqui militia had invaded Kuwait on August 2nd 1990. They relied in this International Organization that aims to order the international system. There were passed 16 UN resolutions which were rejected by the Iraqui president. It was only after the UN was incapable of making react Sadam Hussein when the United States started military actions in the area to free Kuwait and avoid the threat of a possible invasion of Saudi Arabia.
Another relevant principle in the idealist ideology is the idea of Just War. The United States, together with a International coalition of 35 states, decided to procede with the military intervention when it was necessary according to international policy. Among the legitimate reasons to start belligerant acts, the United States claimed they were intervening to defend the Kuwaiti population as well as to defend a possible attack of Saudi Arabia. In doing so, the United States were acting according to self-defence and to protect the international security.
Among the legitimate means used in the Gulf War, the UN demanded Iraq in the UN resolution 687, to stop producing any Weapon of Mass Destruction nor any chemical weapons which were used during the war and which lately provoked the so called Gulf War Syndrome. Many returning coalition soldiers reported illnesses following their participation in the Gulf War. There has been widespread speculation and disagreement about the causes of the illness and reported birth defects. Some factors considered as possibly causal include exposure to depleted uranium, chemical weapons, anthrax vaccine given to deploying soldiers, and /or infectious diseases.
Another of the legitimate means of the just War, established by international laws, is not to attack civilians. The increased importance of air attacks from both warplanes and cruise missiles led to much controversy over the level of civilian deaths caused during the initial stages of the war. The first attack by the coalition were airstrikes what made difficult to prevent civilian casualties. In most cases, the allies avoided hitting civilian-only facilities. However, on February 13th 1991, two laser-guided “smart bombs” destroyed the Amiriyah blockhouse. Amiriyah was a military bunker with a civilian bunker built deliberately over it by Saddam, in violation of the Geneva Convention. He used his own population as a shield to hide his operational base if this was bombed by the coalition and so, to have an excuse to protest against the way the coalition was attacking him.
The idealist approach to international politics can be connected somehow with the Roman Philosophical School Stoa. Stoics had an Universalist idea of government. They applied the word Cosmopolitism to reffer to this thought applied to the whole polis. They defended that humans are equal and that they have some inner rights. In the Greece policy that rights were just applied in relation with the polis. So, in Rome they already dealt with the idea of Human Rights. In this International conflict human rights were not left aside as it is clearly seen in the UN resolution 688. This resolution came after the war was officially ended to protect the integrity of the repressed Iraqui population and to permit the international humanitarian aid to attend the more injured part of the Iraqui people.
As Adam Smith, the founding father os Economic Liberalism, declared, state intervention in the market only hindrances its development. Economic agents are considered bad. Wars distracts trade and this makes loss for both parts of the conflict. So, states should promote peace and prosperity according to Smith. Saddam Hussein was looking forward to acquiring Kuwaiti’s oil supplies together with the ones in Saudi Arabia. His interests were based on a governamental arrangement of the crude oil, not leaving opportunity to a deregulation and liberation of the system to promote profitability. The United States entered into the war aiming to protect the means by which they imported the oil from Saudi Arabia prior to the Iraqui invasion of Kuwait.
Norman Angell argued that markets worked on interdependence and this interdependence makes war extremelly irrational. He sated that no profit could be taken from war; that the only goods to people were only through free trade. That is why the United States together with the UN and the coallition considered the war with Kuwait as irrational and as such they tried to avoid by all means any bellicose act against Iraq. They exposed, through the UN, their unacceptability of the invasion of Kuwait by means of several UN resolutions setting a date for a definitive withrowal of the Iraqui forces. Once this was not carried out by the Iraqui president, despite of the UN economic sanctions to Iraq, the troops of the coalition entered into force as a last resource to provide estability to the invaded area.
The international coalition together with the UN tried by all means not to take aggressive measures, trying to get an apeasement working on diplomacy. This is considered to be a rational measure to prevent a war. Apeasement was intended not to scalate the crisis but to solve the problem. In the Gulf War this apeasement was disregarded by Saddam’s part due to his obsession to reach his golden mine of power. The Iraqui president ruled a revisionist power and as such, according to Kissinger, diplomacy does not work with that kind of powers. So if there is such a clush between a status quo system and a revisionist one a war will probably come. This was the case between the international coalition-status quo power- and the Iraqi president who did not recognized at all the legitimacy of the international system.
4.- Conclusions
Even though a coalition was created to fight against the Iraqi president, the clear opponent of Saddam Hussein was the United States. It was one highly affected by the possible consequences of Saddam’s success in his militar campaign. The United States intervention in the conflict was made with especial consideration with the UN Security Council. A prior long period of diplomacy was necessary before the final determination to take military action was decided.
As we have been able to see, there is not a straight path of behaviour when talking about international politics. The ustable international arena may be favorable for this to happen. International leaders may find this opportunity quite propitious to develop their own way towards the fulfilment of their power and interests goals. It will be possible, only through the gradually acceptability of the intervention of international organs by all the soverign states in the world, that a clear and regular behaviour towards the organization of the international system would be achieved.
The realist and idealist approaches have been the focus of the first international Great Debate. Nowadays, due to the plural environment in which we live, there is not an appropiate theory to follow regarding international affairs. In general terms, there are mainly two tendencies, states with longing for power which will use all possible means to attain their goals and, on the other hand states that will make use of all diplomatic means to attain their main goal, a “perpetual peace” in the international political landscape.
5.- Sources
Jean-Jacques Rousseau. The Social Contract. 1972.
Machiavelli. The Prince. 1513.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/inatl/longterm/fogofwar/docdirective.htm
http://www.plus.es/codigo/noticias/especiales/fichanoticia.asp?id=218166¬i=221328
http://www.indepthinfo.com/iraq/
http://www.mtholyoke.edu/acad/intrel/morg6.htm
http://othermatters.wordpress.com/2006/02/02/the-sword-of-political-idealism-i/
[1] http://www.plus.es/codigo/noticias/especiales/fichanoticia.asp?id=218166¬i=221328
[2] Machiavelli. The Prince. 1513.
[3] http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/inatl/longterm/fogofwar/docdirective.htm
[4] http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/inatl/longterm/fogofwar/docdirective.htm
[5] http://www.plus.es/codigo/noticias/especiales/fichanoticia.asp?id=218166¬i=217817
[6] Jean-Jacques Rousseau. The Social Contract. 1972.
DIGITALIZATION
1.- Introduction
The most outstanding fact of the era of Digitalization is the frantic growth of the Technological industry. The application of all kinds of digital artifacts in everyday life enables an even quicker globalized sharing of information. There are no more barriers, no more obstacles to save in order to get wherever we want. It is not even in the hands of the leaders of the world, despite their attempts to regularize a society of information that has connected millions of people in the world.
“With faster and more far-reaching communication, important social and political developments occurred at the margins of technology and ideology, each interacting and expanding the potential outcomes of the other.” [1] The consequences of this unprecedented case are of different grounds. It affects and involves every aspect of our lives, but there are some more influenced ones than others. Nowadays, the way we deal with quotidian tasks at work or in a classroom, or how we spend our free time chatting with friends in the chat sessions, shows us a different society from previous years. As any invention it can be lead to mistreatment, being this a perfect excuse for governments to create laws allowing them to penetrate in the private life of the internet users worldwide.
The situation of a country such a Spain in this matter is not as optimistic as it is desired. The government seems not to be aware of the relevance of digitalization in society, not only in the way they try to regulate that system, but also in the way they promote it to form a new literate generation in communicational fields which will be unable to survive in a future complete-integrated digitalized society without that knowledge.
2.- Digitization or Digitalization?
This dichotomy may be due to the vertiginous growth of our living language, extremely influenced by the vertiginous appearance of new artifacts on technological grounds. Even though these two words seem to be similar, they allude to different realities. Digitization is a process “by which electrical signal in the analogical domain are converted to the digital domain.” [2] This word does not cover the whole global-encompassing uniqueness of the digital world. So, the term Digitalization would be more accurate when dealing with the socio-cultural trend originated as a consequence of digitization.
Before the arrival of digitization, everything was analog. This implies that the real world was translated into electronic impulses. Analogical signals can be augmented, transmitted, stored, retrieved and reconverted back. However, this process involves a considerable loss of quality. When converting analogical signals into digitalized ones, the first goal was the preservation of quality. The process of digitization consists of “sampling the analog signal rapidly as time progresses and converting each sampled value into a number, and representing the number in binary form.” [3] Thus a simple analog signal becomes a mass of binary numbers. The mass of numbers can then be accurately converted back to the original analog signal. That new digital signal can be augmented, stored, retrieved but without losing its original value. The quality is exactly the same as when it was stored. In other words, digitization is a process by which we “turn voices, sounds, movies, television signals, music, colors…into computer bits and then transfer them…around the world.” [4]
3.- Digital Revolution
The first use of widespread digitization was with the use of telephone communication and music reproduction. One basic problem is that to make sounds digitized needs more space for storage and so it makes the process more expensive. Pictures and video contain so many analogical signals that it was really costly to convert them. With the arrival of fast and cheap computers this principle was changed, leading us into the era of digitalization.
With the barriers of storing, manipulating and transmitting digitized data falling apart, the rush to digitization of everything has steamed ahead. Books, pictures, movies, literary works, music and almost everything imaginable that can be digitized have been digitized. Once digitized the result is data. Data is data—irrespective of source. Hence the same machines that can store and transmit voice can do pictures and video. This brings us to the new meaning of an old word “convergence”. [5]
In the past, for example, each entertainment medium had to be played on a specific device. Video was played on a television by using a video player, music was played on a tape deck or compact disc player, radio was played on an AM/FM tuner, and video games were played through a console of some sort. Similarly, different communication media used their own technologies. Voice conversation was carried on using a telephone, video communication briefly used high-end video phones, facsimile copies used fax machines, and e-mail used a computer.
Convergence is the merging of all types of information into a common digital form. “Convergence of all electrical impulses into digital is the underlying enabler of the digitalization phenomenon.” [6] A computer and an Internet connection is all that today’s consumer needs in order to send email, to receive pictures, to make phone calls, to do videoconferencing, to listen to music, to read books, to search libraries and to view movies.
We tend to think about convergence in terms of technology alone, but convergence in information and communications technology (ICT) does not solely involve technological innovation, “it also has a real impact on everyday lives that can potentially create further imbalances in terms of the digital divide, especially in the developing world.” [7] As an evolving concept, convergence encompasses a combination of opportunities and challenges, not only for the ICT industry, but also for regulators, policy makers and society at large.
The Internet is perhaps the most widespread example of technological convergence. Virtually all entertainment technologies – from radio to television to video to books to games – can be viewed and played online, often with greater functionality than they have in their primary technology. Communications technologies, as well, can be used, with the Internet replacing fax machines, telephones, video phones, and the postal service. “An international information society is under construction which will digitally link all homes via the Internet –the network of networks.” [8]
4.- Societal Consequences of Digitalization
In dealing with the societal consequences of digitalization, the first step would be to give a definition of the term “society”. Typically, a society involves people with a shared geography within national boundaries. Then they will be classified according to their economical status, ethnic background, age…etc. Here we will deal with “digital” societies whose common point is the way they approach telecommunication and computational resources, all of which are born out of the digital revolution. [9]
One of the most clear aspects of the digital society is that “empowers the individual.” [10] There has been a raise of acceptance and affordability of those technological products that empower the individual. The arrival of this new technology is the bigger forecaster of societal change. But all this new technologies are based on older elemental technologies, which means that all technologies are interdependent. One example of this is the World Wide Web, that would have not evolved without the aid of the appearance of cheap personal computer and color monitors, for example.
The most significant example to evaluate the digitalization era is the world-spread use of the Internet. However this varies according to the different societies around the world. We can distinguish four types of societies: Pre-Internet, Internet-emergent, Internet-integrated and Communications-saturated. [11] Each of them will have suffered different impacts in their structure regarding to the internet usage. It is Relevant to point out that eventually all societies will be Internet-integrated although they can be developed in different ways. Also relevant to mention that there are not Communication-saturated societies still, that is, societies described as “Internet- ubiquitous”. [12]
Since the information age lead us to the enhancing of the individual, we must point out that each individual would relate to technologies and participate in society in different ways, for example according to their generation. Let us deal with some of the areas which have been affected by the digital society.
4.1.- schedules
If we combine the individual consumer technologies together with the penetration of the internet, a person’s relation with his environment can change considerably. Now, thanks to the infinite internet possibilities, individuals are able to arrange their everyday differently. Now, it is not necessary to go out home to a book shop to buy a book because you can order it in a eBook shop. To emphasize how we can manage our working time, as in comparison to the prior personal technological revolution, a worker now is expected to be localizable 24 hours a day and, depending on the importance of his work, he may be required to check his voice mail even on vacation. Also, familiar ties can be strengthened with the aid of the new personal technologies such as the email, connecting far away relatives despite having incompatible timetables.
4.2.- Work
The National Association of Home Based Businesses (NAHBB) of the United States estimated that in the year 2000 over 55 million people would work from home. [13] It is important to distinguish between the “tele-commuter” [14] and the home-based entrepreneur. Being the former an employee working partially from home in business hours and the latter, somebody who literary operates an independent business from home. Both will enjoy the advantages of expending more time at home, but it would be the independent entrepreneur who will take the most reward. He will not have to retire on mandatory basis, and will have the benefit of a grater flexible schedule. All these factors are changing the original nature of work; it is even foreseen a return towards rural areas thanks to the easy access of services trough personal technologies.
Nowadays it is impossible to think about the workplace without computers. The use of email, and the growing use of mobile laptops are considered essential for the correct fulfillment of the employee’s duty. So, the ability to use this technologies at work are a prerequisite to be hired, even in employments which are considered at entry level. That is why goes without saying that investment in re-training is something essential to the future of the digital society and self-sufficiency of individuals.
4.3.- Education
Another area which is highly affected by digitalization is education. The introduction of the personal computer and the internet have had a tremendous success and plays out in the study results of the National School Boards Foundation: “…parents believe the internet is a powerful tool for learning …the Internet can be an equally powerful tool for schools (…) .” [15] In the last years, the use of video in the class was considered an original methodological aid to the teacher. Recently, new forms of Web-based learning are becoming increasingly effective. One successful new incorporation is the use of the Web with the involvement of human tutors, permitting the student to contact their tutor any time anywhere. (www.digitalthink.com)
4.4.- Entertainment
One of the areas which has changed more radically thanks to digitalization is entertainment. Although it affects people of every age, the teenager sector is the larger consumer for excellence. The widespread popularity of video games and its accessibility on a full range of devices –hand-helds, video games units, or personal computers- , studies shows that homes with this technologies have decreased television viewing.[16] The personal computer offer other leisure possibilities such as email, chat sessions, visiting Web sites and downloading trendy music. According to the National School Boards Foundation, people who are frequent internet consumers, spend more time reading and, like video game users, less time watching TV.
5.- The Impact of Digitalization in Spain
The influence of the digital era in the Spanish society goes above any other period in the field of information. Its impact is based in the formation of a post capitalist society making influence in the population in a different way from Mcdonaldization. Even though there is a tendency towards consumerism, its repercussions goes beyond that. That is why is necessary a government involvement in the attention of the citizenry, its rights and obligations, backed on the development of powerful communication tools.
There is no doubt that the number of internet users in Spain is growing. According to Nielsen Netratings, the number of Spanish homes with Internet access has raised a 9% during the second quarterly of 2004 with respect to the same period of the previous year. [17] The figures of the total number of internet users in Spain is around 9.3 millions. However, this percentage is inferior in comparison to the number of Hispanic Internet users in the United States –around 14 millions.
There are several areas in which it is appreciable the force of digitalization. Among the main ones we find, work, education and leisure. All of them having as fundamental reason of change the omnipresent presence of the Internet.
5.1.- Work
One of the fields in which new technologies have deeply impacted is in the workplace. The implantation of personal computers in private enterprises and in state organs has changed the rate of work and efficiency. However, the use of the internet in the work place has arisen a misuse of this major breakthrough. A research made by the consultancy Domeus reflects that a 74% of the Spanish workers with email availability in their working place use it for private correspondence.[18] Traditionally, employees used to abuse technically at work by means of telephone calls. Nowadays, with the increase of other technologies, specially, the internet, they waste some of their working hours in searching information in Web sites and writing private emails. As a consequence of this, enterprises dismisses the employees who are wasting abusively their working time with new technologies, trade unions denounce and jurists do not agree about which procedures to follow in this new phenomenon in the labor environment.
5.2.- Education
Another area which has been highly influenced in the Spanish Society is education. The Spanish university has played a very active role in the boost of significant projects in the Internet. Thanks to that advanced vision we can see a very high degree of development of the information society in all Spanish university Campus. [19] Thanks to that, the Spanish university has the Miguel de Cervantes Virtual Library and Universia (a project to introduce the new technologies and the Internet to all university students), without forgetting the extraordinary development in the own universities of powerful tools on behalf of researchers, teachers and students.
Despite all these advancements, the application of the new technologies in Spanish education is still at the bottom of Europe. Even though there is a clear widespread of the new technologies in the universities, there is not such application in basic schools and high schools. One of the reasons for this failure is due to traditional teachers who are not still adapted or are skeptical to use the Internet or other technologies as a modernist educational resource in the classroom.
The Spanish Ministry of Education (MEC) has several future plans in relation to the Internet. Among the main ones we find: internet connection in all educational centers, eLearning, Digital Video in the classrooms, virtual libraries, Webs for all centers, etc together with the participation in other European projects, such as: European Telematic Net for education, formation of the teaching staff through euro-rdsi, and “Web for schools”, whose objective is to promote the usage of the Internet as a normal classroom resource. [20]
5.3.- Entertainment
The average time Spanish people dedicate to leisure time during the weekend is 21 hours and 39 minutes, according to a research by Grupo Facilisimo.com. [21]Of that amount of time, 60% is dedicated to passive activities such as watching TV, reading, listening to music, and surfing the Internet.
5.4.- Privacy
In any email, designed as a mere correspondence method between universities, its data is not circulating protected. That is why emerges the necessity of cryptography. It is simply a way to guarantee in the Internet the Constitutional right to the inviolability of the correspondence. This may lead certain governments to panic and to a willingness to create regulations, because terrorist could communicate with each other freely. That is why Spain is following the restrictions of the Treaty of Wassenaar- by which there are applied restrictions to the importation and exportation of cryptography. These restrictions ignore completely the Internet spirit as a global community of sharing information in which all members receive and emit information.
Germany and United Kingdom are thinking to impose in cryptography the technique knew as “key scrow”. This technique is based on a centralized system. Everybody who wants to use cryptography has to register and give a copy of his key to the authorities. Spain could apply that technique in a future as it is left open the option to it in the article 52 of the General Law of Telecommunications. [22]
In general the Spanish Public Administration should take a much more active role favoring the Internet. The Spanish leaders do not consider this theme priority. This may justify why 63% of the Spanish population do not use the Internet, placing the country in the caboose of the European digitalization process. [23]
6.- Conclusion
In a world of continuous technological changes, a new evolved attitude is expected from societies. Even though the introduction of digital artifacts in our lives have created a more passive character in us, that does not mean that we have to remain inactive in relation to adapting the new society that will receive that artifacts. It should be promoted by the leaders of the world the acceptance and widespread use of this technological advantages to allow the entrance of a more profitable world for everyone and everywhere.
Digitalization is just the peak of an iceberg of extraordinary unlimited resources that will provide power to their users. There will be no borders anymore; no space, no slowness, no distances. And it is the duty of everybody to give a good usage of that potent tool.
7.- References, Sources
Friedman, T. The Lexus and the Olive Tree. And the Walls came tumbling Down. New York, 1999.
Palmer, Allen. Following the Historical Paths of Global Communication. 2002
Thussu, Daya Kishan. International Communication: Continuity and Change. Approaches to Theorizing International Communication. London: Arnold, 2000.
http://cactus.eas.asu.edu/partha/Columns/12-24-digital.htm
http://www.bridges.org/commentaries/109
http://www.cap-info.de/triangle/download/digworld.PDF
http://www.euroresidentes.com/blogs/internet/2004/10/crecimiento-de-internet-en-espaa.htm
http://www.redaragon.com/economia/informe_internet/
http://tecnologia.universia.es/experto/internet_espana.htm
http://www.uclm.es/profesorado/ricardo/WEBNNTT/Bloque%202/Internet%202.htm
http://www.amigus.org/web/archives/003902.php
http://biblioweb.sindominio.net/telematica/privac.html
[1] Palmer, Allen. Following the Historical Paths of Global Communication. Pg 9. 2002
[2] http://cactus.eas.asu.edu/partha/Columns/12-24-digital.htm; 28/12/2006
[3] http://cactus.eas.asu.edu/partha/Columns/12-24-digital.htm; 28/12/2006
[4] Friedman, T. The Lexus and the Olive Tree. And the Walls came tumbling Down. Pg 48. New York, 1999.
[5] http://cactus.eas.asu.edu/partha/Columns/12-24-digital.htm; 28/12/2006
[6] http://cactus.eas.asu.edu/partha/Columns/12-24-digital.htm; 28/12/2006
[7] http://www.bridges.org/commentaries/109; 29/12/2006
[8] Thussu, Daya Kishan. International Communication: Continuity and Change. Approaches to Theorizing International Communication. Pg 73 London: Arnold, 2000.
[9] www.cap-info.de/triangle/download/digworld.PDF; 03/01/2007
[10] www.cap-info.de/triangle/download/digworld.PDF; 03/01/2007
[11] www.cap-info.de/triangle/download/digworld.PDF; 03/01/2007
[12] www.cap-info.de/triangle/download/digworld.PDF; 03/01/2007
[13] www.cap-info.de/triangle/download/digworld.PDF; 03/01/2007
[14] www.cap-info.de/triangle/download/digworld.PDF; 03/01/2007
[15] www.cap-info.de/triangle/download/digworld.PDF; 04/01/2007
[16] www.cap-info.de/triangle/download/digworld.PDF; 04/01/2007
[17] http://www.euroresidentes.com/blogs/internet/2004/10/crecimiento-de-internet-en-espaa.htm;05/01/2007
[18] http://www.redaragon.com/economia/informe_internet/ ; 08/01/07
[19] http://tecnologia.universia.es/experto/internet_espana.htm ; 08/01/07
[20] http://www.uclm.es/profesorado/ricardo/WEBNNTT/Bloque%202/Internet%202.htm; 08/01/2007
[21] http://www.amigus.org/web/archives/003902.php; 08/01/2007
[22] http://biblioweb.sindominio.net/telematica/privac.html; 08/01/2007
[23] http://tecnologia.universia.es/experto/internet_espana.htm; 08/01/2007
The most outstanding fact of the era of Digitalization is the frantic growth of the Technological industry. The application of all kinds of digital artifacts in everyday life enables an even quicker globalized sharing of information. There are no more barriers, no more obstacles to save in order to get wherever we want. It is not even in the hands of the leaders of the world, despite their attempts to regularize a society of information that has connected millions of people in the world.
“With faster and more far-reaching communication, important social and political developments occurred at the margins of technology and ideology, each interacting and expanding the potential outcomes of the other.” [1] The consequences of this unprecedented case are of different grounds. It affects and involves every aspect of our lives, but there are some more influenced ones than others. Nowadays, the way we deal with quotidian tasks at work or in a classroom, or how we spend our free time chatting with friends in the chat sessions, shows us a different society from previous years. As any invention it can be lead to mistreatment, being this a perfect excuse for governments to create laws allowing them to penetrate in the private life of the internet users worldwide.
The situation of a country such a Spain in this matter is not as optimistic as it is desired. The government seems not to be aware of the relevance of digitalization in society, not only in the way they try to regulate that system, but also in the way they promote it to form a new literate generation in communicational fields which will be unable to survive in a future complete-integrated digitalized society without that knowledge.
2.- Digitization or Digitalization?
This dichotomy may be due to the vertiginous growth of our living language, extremely influenced by the vertiginous appearance of new artifacts on technological grounds. Even though these two words seem to be similar, they allude to different realities. Digitization is a process “by which electrical signal in the analogical domain are converted to the digital domain.” [2] This word does not cover the whole global-encompassing uniqueness of the digital world. So, the term Digitalization would be more accurate when dealing with the socio-cultural trend originated as a consequence of digitization.
Before the arrival of digitization, everything was analog. This implies that the real world was translated into electronic impulses. Analogical signals can be augmented, transmitted, stored, retrieved and reconverted back. However, this process involves a considerable loss of quality. When converting analogical signals into digitalized ones, the first goal was the preservation of quality. The process of digitization consists of “sampling the analog signal rapidly as time progresses and converting each sampled value into a number, and representing the number in binary form.” [3] Thus a simple analog signal becomes a mass of binary numbers. The mass of numbers can then be accurately converted back to the original analog signal. That new digital signal can be augmented, stored, retrieved but without losing its original value. The quality is exactly the same as when it was stored. In other words, digitization is a process by which we “turn voices, sounds, movies, television signals, music, colors…into computer bits and then transfer them…around the world.” [4]
3.- Digital Revolution
The first use of widespread digitization was with the use of telephone communication and music reproduction. One basic problem is that to make sounds digitized needs more space for storage and so it makes the process more expensive. Pictures and video contain so many analogical signals that it was really costly to convert them. With the arrival of fast and cheap computers this principle was changed, leading us into the era of digitalization.
With the barriers of storing, manipulating and transmitting digitized data falling apart, the rush to digitization of everything has steamed ahead. Books, pictures, movies, literary works, music and almost everything imaginable that can be digitized have been digitized. Once digitized the result is data. Data is data—irrespective of source. Hence the same machines that can store and transmit voice can do pictures and video. This brings us to the new meaning of an old word “convergence”. [5]
In the past, for example, each entertainment medium had to be played on a specific device. Video was played on a television by using a video player, music was played on a tape deck or compact disc player, radio was played on an AM/FM tuner, and video games were played through a console of some sort. Similarly, different communication media used their own technologies. Voice conversation was carried on using a telephone, video communication briefly used high-end video phones, facsimile copies used fax machines, and e-mail used a computer.
Convergence is the merging of all types of information into a common digital form. “Convergence of all electrical impulses into digital is the underlying enabler of the digitalization phenomenon.” [6] A computer and an Internet connection is all that today’s consumer needs in order to send email, to receive pictures, to make phone calls, to do videoconferencing, to listen to music, to read books, to search libraries and to view movies.
We tend to think about convergence in terms of technology alone, but convergence in information and communications technology (ICT) does not solely involve technological innovation, “it also has a real impact on everyday lives that can potentially create further imbalances in terms of the digital divide, especially in the developing world.” [7] As an evolving concept, convergence encompasses a combination of opportunities and challenges, not only for the ICT industry, but also for regulators, policy makers and society at large.
The Internet is perhaps the most widespread example of technological convergence. Virtually all entertainment technologies – from radio to television to video to books to games – can be viewed and played online, often with greater functionality than they have in their primary technology. Communications technologies, as well, can be used, with the Internet replacing fax machines, telephones, video phones, and the postal service. “An international information society is under construction which will digitally link all homes via the Internet –the network of networks.” [8]
4.- Societal Consequences of Digitalization
In dealing with the societal consequences of digitalization, the first step would be to give a definition of the term “society”. Typically, a society involves people with a shared geography within national boundaries. Then they will be classified according to their economical status, ethnic background, age…etc. Here we will deal with “digital” societies whose common point is the way they approach telecommunication and computational resources, all of which are born out of the digital revolution. [9]
One of the most clear aspects of the digital society is that “empowers the individual.” [10] There has been a raise of acceptance and affordability of those technological products that empower the individual. The arrival of this new technology is the bigger forecaster of societal change. But all this new technologies are based on older elemental technologies, which means that all technologies are interdependent. One example of this is the World Wide Web, that would have not evolved without the aid of the appearance of cheap personal computer and color monitors, for example.
The most significant example to evaluate the digitalization era is the world-spread use of the Internet. However this varies according to the different societies around the world. We can distinguish four types of societies: Pre-Internet, Internet-emergent, Internet-integrated and Communications-saturated. [11] Each of them will have suffered different impacts in their structure regarding to the internet usage. It is Relevant to point out that eventually all societies will be Internet-integrated although they can be developed in different ways. Also relevant to mention that there are not Communication-saturated societies still, that is, societies described as “Internet- ubiquitous”. [12]
Since the information age lead us to the enhancing of the individual, we must point out that each individual would relate to technologies and participate in society in different ways, for example according to their generation. Let us deal with some of the areas which have been affected by the digital society.
4.1.- schedules
If we combine the individual consumer technologies together with the penetration of the internet, a person’s relation with his environment can change considerably. Now, thanks to the infinite internet possibilities, individuals are able to arrange their everyday differently. Now, it is not necessary to go out home to a book shop to buy a book because you can order it in a eBook shop. To emphasize how we can manage our working time, as in comparison to the prior personal technological revolution, a worker now is expected to be localizable 24 hours a day and, depending on the importance of his work, he may be required to check his voice mail even on vacation. Also, familiar ties can be strengthened with the aid of the new personal technologies such as the email, connecting far away relatives despite having incompatible timetables.
4.2.- Work
The National Association of Home Based Businesses (NAHBB) of the United States estimated that in the year 2000 over 55 million people would work from home. [13] It is important to distinguish between the “tele-commuter” [14] and the home-based entrepreneur. Being the former an employee working partially from home in business hours and the latter, somebody who literary operates an independent business from home. Both will enjoy the advantages of expending more time at home, but it would be the independent entrepreneur who will take the most reward. He will not have to retire on mandatory basis, and will have the benefit of a grater flexible schedule. All these factors are changing the original nature of work; it is even foreseen a return towards rural areas thanks to the easy access of services trough personal technologies.
Nowadays it is impossible to think about the workplace without computers. The use of email, and the growing use of mobile laptops are considered essential for the correct fulfillment of the employee’s duty. So, the ability to use this technologies at work are a prerequisite to be hired, even in employments which are considered at entry level. That is why goes without saying that investment in re-training is something essential to the future of the digital society and self-sufficiency of individuals.
4.3.- Education
Another area which is highly affected by digitalization is education. The introduction of the personal computer and the internet have had a tremendous success and plays out in the study results of the National School Boards Foundation: “…parents believe the internet is a powerful tool for learning …the Internet can be an equally powerful tool for schools (…) .” [15] In the last years, the use of video in the class was considered an original methodological aid to the teacher. Recently, new forms of Web-based learning are becoming increasingly effective. One successful new incorporation is the use of the Web with the involvement of human tutors, permitting the student to contact their tutor any time anywhere. (www.digitalthink.com)
4.4.- Entertainment
One of the areas which has changed more radically thanks to digitalization is entertainment. Although it affects people of every age, the teenager sector is the larger consumer for excellence. The widespread popularity of video games and its accessibility on a full range of devices –hand-helds, video games units, or personal computers- , studies shows that homes with this technologies have decreased television viewing.[16] The personal computer offer other leisure possibilities such as email, chat sessions, visiting Web sites and downloading trendy music. According to the National School Boards Foundation, people who are frequent internet consumers, spend more time reading and, like video game users, less time watching TV.
5.- The Impact of Digitalization in Spain
The influence of the digital era in the Spanish society goes above any other period in the field of information. Its impact is based in the formation of a post capitalist society making influence in the population in a different way from Mcdonaldization. Even though there is a tendency towards consumerism, its repercussions goes beyond that. That is why is necessary a government involvement in the attention of the citizenry, its rights and obligations, backed on the development of powerful communication tools.
There is no doubt that the number of internet users in Spain is growing. According to Nielsen Netratings, the number of Spanish homes with Internet access has raised a 9% during the second quarterly of 2004 with respect to the same period of the previous year. [17] The figures of the total number of internet users in Spain is around 9.3 millions. However, this percentage is inferior in comparison to the number of Hispanic Internet users in the United States –around 14 millions.
There are several areas in which it is appreciable the force of digitalization. Among the main ones we find, work, education and leisure. All of them having as fundamental reason of change the omnipresent presence of the Internet.
5.1.- Work
One of the fields in which new technologies have deeply impacted is in the workplace. The implantation of personal computers in private enterprises and in state organs has changed the rate of work and efficiency. However, the use of the internet in the work place has arisen a misuse of this major breakthrough. A research made by the consultancy Domeus reflects that a 74% of the Spanish workers with email availability in their working place use it for private correspondence.[18] Traditionally, employees used to abuse technically at work by means of telephone calls. Nowadays, with the increase of other technologies, specially, the internet, they waste some of their working hours in searching information in Web sites and writing private emails. As a consequence of this, enterprises dismisses the employees who are wasting abusively their working time with new technologies, trade unions denounce and jurists do not agree about which procedures to follow in this new phenomenon in the labor environment.
5.2.- Education
Another area which has been highly influenced in the Spanish Society is education. The Spanish university has played a very active role in the boost of significant projects in the Internet. Thanks to that advanced vision we can see a very high degree of development of the information society in all Spanish university Campus. [19] Thanks to that, the Spanish university has the Miguel de Cervantes Virtual Library and Universia (a project to introduce the new technologies and the Internet to all university students), without forgetting the extraordinary development in the own universities of powerful tools on behalf of researchers, teachers and students.
Despite all these advancements, the application of the new technologies in Spanish education is still at the bottom of Europe. Even though there is a clear widespread of the new technologies in the universities, there is not such application in basic schools and high schools. One of the reasons for this failure is due to traditional teachers who are not still adapted or are skeptical to use the Internet or other technologies as a modernist educational resource in the classroom.
The Spanish Ministry of Education (MEC) has several future plans in relation to the Internet. Among the main ones we find: internet connection in all educational centers, eLearning, Digital Video in the classrooms, virtual libraries, Webs for all centers, etc together with the participation in other European projects, such as: European Telematic Net for education, formation of the teaching staff through euro-rdsi, and “Web for schools”, whose objective is to promote the usage of the Internet as a normal classroom resource. [20]
5.3.- Entertainment
The average time Spanish people dedicate to leisure time during the weekend is 21 hours and 39 minutes, according to a research by Grupo Facilisimo.com. [21]Of that amount of time, 60% is dedicated to passive activities such as watching TV, reading, listening to music, and surfing the Internet.
5.4.- Privacy
In any email, designed as a mere correspondence method between universities, its data is not circulating protected. That is why emerges the necessity of cryptography. It is simply a way to guarantee in the Internet the Constitutional right to the inviolability of the correspondence. This may lead certain governments to panic and to a willingness to create regulations, because terrorist could communicate with each other freely. That is why Spain is following the restrictions of the Treaty of Wassenaar- by which there are applied restrictions to the importation and exportation of cryptography. These restrictions ignore completely the Internet spirit as a global community of sharing information in which all members receive and emit information.
Germany and United Kingdom are thinking to impose in cryptography the technique knew as “key scrow”. This technique is based on a centralized system. Everybody who wants to use cryptography has to register and give a copy of his key to the authorities. Spain could apply that technique in a future as it is left open the option to it in the article 52 of the General Law of Telecommunications. [22]
In general the Spanish Public Administration should take a much more active role favoring the Internet. The Spanish leaders do not consider this theme priority. This may justify why 63% of the Spanish population do not use the Internet, placing the country in the caboose of the European digitalization process. [23]
6.- Conclusion
In a world of continuous technological changes, a new evolved attitude is expected from societies. Even though the introduction of digital artifacts in our lives have created a more passive character in us, that does not mean that we have to remain inactive in relation to adapting the new society that will receive that artifacts. It should be promoted by the leaders of the world the acceptance and widespread use of this technological advantages to allow the entrance of a more profitable world for everyone and everywhere.
Digitalization is just the peak of an iceberg of extraordinary unlimited resources that will provide power to their users. There will be no borders anymore; no space, no slowness, no distances. And it is the duty of everybody to give a good usage of that potent tool.
7.- References, Sources
Friedman, T. The Lexus and the Olive Tree. And the Walls came tumbling Down. New York, 1999.
Palmer, Allen. Following the Historical Paths of Global Communication. 2002
Thussu, Daya Kishan. International Communication: Continuity and Change. Approaches to Theorizing International Communication. London: Arnold, 2000.
http://cactus.eas.asu.edu/partha/Columns/12-24-digital.htm
http://www.bridges.org/commentaries/109
http://www.cap-info.de/triangle/download/digworld.PDF
http://www.euroresidentes.com/blogs/internet/2004/10/crecimiento-de-internet-en-espaa.htm
http://www.redaragon.com/economia/informe_internet/
http://tecnologia.universia.es/experto/internet_espana.htm
http://www.uclm.es/profesorado/ricardo/WEBNNTT/Bloque%202/Internet%202.htm
http://www.amigus.org/web/archives/003902.php
http://biblioweb.sindominio.net/telematica/privac.html
[1] Palmer, Allen. Following the Historical Paths of Global Communication. Pg 9. 2002
[2] http://cactus.eas.asu.edu/partha/Columns/12-24-digital.htm; 28/12/2006
[3] http://cactus.eas.asu.edu/partha/Columns/12-24-digital.htm; 28/12/2006
[4] Friedman, T. The Lexus and the Olive Tree. And the Walls came tumbling Down. Pg 48. New York, 1999.
[5] http://cactus.eas.asu.edu/partha/Columns/12-24-digital.htm; 28/12/2006
[6] http://cactus.eas.asu.edu/partha/Columns/12-24-digital.htm; 28/12/2006
[7] http://www.bridges.org/commentaries/109; 29/12/2006
[8] Thussu, Daya Kishan. International Communication: Continuity and Change. Approaches to Theorizing International Communication. Pg 73 London: Arnold, 2000.
[9] www.cap-info.de/triangle/download/digworld.PDF; 03/01/2007
[10] www.cap-info.de/triangle/download/digworld.PDF; 03/01/2007
[11] www.cap-info.de/triangle/download/digworld.PDF; 03/01/2007
[12] www.cap-info.de/triangle/download/digworld.PDF; 03/01/2007
[13] www.cap-info.de/triangle/download/digworld.PDF; 03/01/2007
[14] www.cap-info.de/triangle/download/digworld.PDF; 03/01/2007
[15] www.cap-info.de/triangle/download/digworld.PDF; 04/01/2007
[16] www.cap-info.de/triangle/download/digworld.PDF; 04/01/2007
[17] http://www.euroresidentes.com/blogs/internet/2004/10/crecimiento-de-internet-en-espaa.htm;05/01/2007
[18] http://www.redaragon.com/economia/informe_internet/ ; 08/01/07
[19] http://tecnologia.universia.es/experto/internet_espana.htm ; 08/01/07
[20] http://www.uclm.es/profesorado/ricardo/WEBNNTT/Bloque%202/Internet%202.htm; 08/01/2007
[21] http://www.amigus.org/web/archives/003902.php; 08/01/2007
[22] http://biblioweb.sindominio.net/telematica/privac.html; 08/01/2007
[23] http://tecnologia.universia.es/experto/internet_espana.htm; 08/01/2007
The Montgomery Bus Boycott
1. - Introduction
The Montgomery Bus Boycott was one of the first large and organized protests of African-Americans of the 20th century. It happened in Montgomery, Alabama, which overt racism was something common in their society. The black women of Montgomery were of relevant importance for the eruption and development of the movement. Also the tactic of non-violent resistance was one of the key factors which lead the blacks of Montgomery towards the victory. All these combined with an strategically well organized structural planning gave it the strength to persist for 381 days. It is significant to point to the opposition that the whites of Montgomery played during the boycott, but it is important to mention that a great part of them were supporters of the black movement.
2. -Black Women Relevance in the Boycott
Since the very beginning African-American women have been involved in the struggle to guide themselves from slavery to freedom. In doing so, they had to fight against a triple barrier: sex, race and social class. These barriers had given them the persistence, ability to adapt, and bravery to succeed in their professions.
According to Bethune, African-American women had promoted the civil rights struggle and participated actively in it for getting social improvements for their race, their families and themselves. In the history of the civil rights movement there were not only a few women involved. Research shows that there were a large number of women that participated in it. According to Baker “The movement of the fifties and sixties was carried largely by women, since it came out of church……The number of women who carried the movement was much larger that of men.” [1]
The Montgomery Bus Boycott was the first direct action against racial segregation after the 1954 Brown v. Board of Education was approved. They wanted to go further and get the status of first-class citizens. On the 1st of December of 1955, Mrs. Rosa Parks, an African-American seamstress, was arrested in Montgomery, Alabama for not standing and letting a white take her seat. It was an "established rule" in the American south that African-American riders had to sit at the back of the bus. They were also expected to yield their seat to a white passenger if it was needed. When asked to move to let a white bus rider be seated Mrs. Parks refused. She did not argue and she did not move. The police were called and Mrs. Parks was arrested.
Mrs. Parks was not the first African-American to be arrested for his disobedience to the law, nor the last one. She was only one of several hundred African-American women who played relevant roles in the boycotts, demonstrations, and acts of civil disobedience. The relevance of that woman and that day is that it is recognized as the beginning of the civil rights movement. For this boycott to succeed it was necessary the help of another woman, JoAnn Robinson the leader of the Women´s Political Council (WPC), who was in charge to organize the protest and to print 52.000 leaflets asking Montgomery blacks to stay off public busses on December 5th, the day of the trial of Rosa Parks. According to Martin Luther King Jr., she “perhaps more than any other person, was active on every level of the protest.” [2]
As we already stated, they were just the representatives of a whole Afro-American community aiming social change. The reasons that lead them to join the protest so decisively were from different grounds.
2.1. - Reasons
One of the reasons for their involvement was that they were highly motivated. Moreover, they were highly motivated because they enjoyed an inner and outer freedom. In comparison to white women and their black husbands, they felt their spirits free, and because of that freedom, they felt compelled to do things, to change things in their society. They had the energy to do so and first of all because they did not want their husbands and children to be humiliated.
These women came from different backgrounds, “middle class, rural, professional women, educated and uneducated –all were involved in the civil rights movement.” They shared their experiences in different fields to apply it for a common purpose of equality. “They formed a strong sisterhood network that crossed all barriers and classes.” [3]
Many women said they were highly motivated to participate in the struggle to fight for better civil rights for the African-American community since very early stages of their lives. They experienced how their mothers and grandmothers had to fight against everyday oppression and racism. They grow up with that feeling of resentment which encouraged them to give a step forward.
Another reason that made them play a part in the protest was their faith in God and in the religious teachings. There, they got all the strength necessary to be able to deal with discrimination, racism and classicism. Moreover, the church was a kind of sanctuary for them. It was a place where they could share the troubles they found in their working day. They also started singing old spirituals together with new freedom songs. They found the message and the means to appeal for a movement mixing “spiritual and earthly forms of salvation.” [4]
Another factor which contributed to their motivation was racial injustices. Afro-American women were aware of the injustices of racism. They were “sick and tired of being sick and tired.” [5] For some women, their involvement was something natural; they knew things were not working properly and that they were not treated right. They just reacted automatically to that inner resentment fossilized since they were children.
3. -Theology of the Movement
According to Martin Luther King Jr., non-violent resistance was the only practical and moral method to use in their struggle against social oppression. He, as a preacher, wanted to infuse his activism through biblical images of bondage and liberation, their own black “liberation theology.” [6] He increased this imagery with other ideologies fomented in India, Africa, Europe and in the U.S.. Examples of these borrowings are found in King’s application of the Gandhian philosophy of satyagraha, the use of the “sit-in”, and others applied to African liberation activities.
The concept of non-violence, ahimsa, and non-resistance had a long history in India’s religious doctrine. Its first mention in Indian philosophy is found in the Hindu scriptures called the Upanishads, the oldest of which date about 800 BCE. In The Story of My Experiments with Truth, Gandhi explains his philosophy based on the respect for all life and his rejection to apply any injure to his enemy. Ahimsa means non-killing but implies as well entire abstinence from causing any pain or harm to any living creature either by thought, word, or deed.
King’s first approaches to the concept of non-violent resistance were after reading Henry David Thoreau’s Essay of Civil Disobedience. He was really fascinated with the idea of refusing to cooperate with the system, but had doubts about its practical use. In 1950 King went to Philadelphia to hear a conference given by the president of Howard University, Dr. Mordecai Johnson, about the life and teachings of Gandhi. King became deeply impacted by what he heard and started reading everything related to him. His incredulous attitude concerning non-violence was progressively disappearing.
It was the Montgomery Bus Boycott what demonstrated King the success of non-violence in the struggle against social segregation in the public transports. This movement allowed King to join Gandhian tactics with the Christian doctrine. King stated “. . . my mind, consciously or unconsciously, was driven back to the Sermon on the Mount and the Gandhian method of non-violent resistance. This principle became the guiding light of our movement. Christ furnished the spirit and motivation while Gandhi furnished the method.” [7]
King published his principles in Christian Century in 1957. In that article he exposed that non-violence could only be practiced by the strongest of men, it was not an act of cowardice. He also appointed their doctrine’s aim is not to destroy the enemy, but to make him aware of reality. That is why they used the boycott as a means to make the other reflect on the situation and feel guilty and shamed of his actions. He pointed they were not attacking certain “‘evil’ people, but only evil ideas, practices and laws.” [8] In order to be a member of this ideology one had to be able to suffer without taking reprisals against the adversary. Another prerequisite to be a practicing non-violent promoter is the ability not only to resist physical distress but an inner one as well. They should love their foe. The last but not least belief of this non-violent basis calls upon the idea that they must keep faith and hope of a rewarding future to realize that all their suffering is not worthless.
King’s philosophy was not only based on Gandhian non-violent principle, but also took roots from African-American history of spirituality and slavery. Because of all these things combined together, the movement gained great respect worldwide. It even inspired many people to believe they could triumph over any obstacle they could find in their lives by means of peaceful tactics. That was the magnificence of the Montgomery Bus Boycott; and its non-violent protest was an important political move because it attracted many whites and also national and international leaders due to its revolutionary way to attain political change. Eleanor Roosevelt stated: “I think December 5th is an important date for all of us in the U.S. to remember. The bus protest carried on by the colored people of Montgomery, Alabama, without violence, has been one of the most remarkable achievements of people fighting for their own rights but doing so without bloodshed and with the most remarkable restraint and discipline, that we have ever witnessed in this country. It is something all of us should be extremely proud of for its achievement by Americans which was rarely before been seen.” [9]
4. -The Mechanics of the Boycott
“Organization, resources and planning are essential to the success of a social movement.” [10] Even though spontaneous events have a great probability of precipitating social movements, they need to be organized to get the structure to sustain the activity. This is what happened to the Montgomery Bus Boycott. The initial protest emerged after the arrest of Rosa Parks on December 1st, but the triumph of the 381-days boycott was due to well-organized composition that worked for its victory.
The actual strength that propelled the boycott was the Women´s Political Council (WPC) whose president, Jo Ann Robinson, drafted and spread 52.000 fliers to call for all blacks to stay off the buses on December 5th, the day of Park´s trial. They worked together with the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), leaded by the activist E.D. Nixon, which were focused on litigation and lobbying. After Parks lost her case and was convicted of violating the segregated seating laws, and following the success of the one-day boycott, a mass meeting was held at Holt Street Baptist Church. After deciding to continue with the boycott, about a group of 50 local black leaders and one white minister, Robert S. Graetz, formed the Montgomery Improvement Association (MIA) and elected King Jr. as their chairman. The MIA objectives were not only to continue the boycott but to “improve the general status of Montgomery, to improve race relations, and to uplift the general tenor of the community.” [11]
MIA officials met with officials and lawyers from the bus company to present a desegregation plan, but the bus company refused to consider it. Before, black cab companies would charge 10 cents a ride, the same as the bus, but now the city law stated that cabs had to charge a minimum of 45 cents a passenger. So, the MIA first mission was to come up with an organized system of transportation for blacks. This system consisted mainly of labourers, ministers, businessmen and educators with cars that picked up other boycotters and took them to work. The plan took a great deal of planning, that is why the Transportation Committee was appointed to supervise it.
Crucial relevance played those hundreds of black and white foot soldiers that made the boycott work. Robert S. Graetz, the only white who made no secret of his activities, and many other liberal whites became active participants in the protest. He, as a member of the Transportation Committee helped to organize a pool of 250 to 350 private cars and established dispatch stations in all predominantly Negro areas to cover transportation between 6 a.m. and noon each day. Ministers urged their congregations to make donations to buy gasoline for the car pool; something which cost about $200 a day. The service worked so quickly and so well that even the White Citizens Council had to admit it had run with high precision.
5. -White and Opposition Reaction
“You are indebted to the white people of Montgomery for life itself .” [12] Hill Lindsay stated this which was published in the Montgomery Advertiser, January 13th 1956, considered as being the general attitude of Montgomery whites towards the blacks of the Montgomery Bus Boycott.
At the beginning white people thought the boycott was not going to last for so long. When they realized this was not the case, they started several tactics to end up with the black peaceful revolt. They tried to reach a consensus with the black leaders, but this was not possible. The black leaders wanted a complete integration whereas the white ones were not willing to accept it. As they saw the move was not coming to an end they decided to augment their methods to frustrate it.
The opposition -this is how the whites who were anti-boycott were known- tried to turn the black people against their leaders, they also tried to dismember the MIA organization by making them to plot against each other and they also spread fake rumours about the movement. One example of the latter occurred when the Montgomery City Council announced that the end of the boycott was established to be on January 22, 1956. However, a black reporter who read the article doubt about the veracity of what was published, so he could inform the leaders in advance and the movement was not finished on that date.
With a feeling of frustration again, the whites started to use new tactics. Even the Mayor of Montgomery went on television to criticise the development of the boycott. As none of these resulted, they recurred to violence to end up with the move. They started menacing notorious leaders by means of death threats and phone calls. They frequently intimidated black boycotters in the street. On January 30th 1956 they bombed King’s house and one week later Nixon’s. But the boycotters were not going to be hindered because of these strikes of violence. King called for calm and they continued their peaceful protest.
“When in the course of human events it becomes necessary to abolish the Negro race, proper methods should be used. Among these are guns, bows and arrows, sling shots and knives. We hold these truths to be self evident that all whites are created equal with certain human rights; among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of niggers…” [13] This corresponds to the preview of the book Declaration of Segregation published in the Montgomery Advertiser, February 11th, 1956. As the violent tactic did not have the desired effect for the white citizens, they recurred to the law. There started police harassments against black drivers who committed minor or even false driving infractions. Even blacks were jailed for hitchhiking for a ride to their works or houses. Black people were starting to feel frustrated about the movement. The algid point arrived when King Jr. was jailed for a minor driving violation. Black people were very irritated.
The opposition found an old law to support their inquiries against the boycott. So, 90 people including King were arrested and put into jail for boycotting. Nevertheless, the method was unsuccessful because people arrived volunteer to the police station to be arrested as well. King was tried for this and was convicted to pay the sum of $500; but this was not considered a defeat for the defendants, it was a way to make the opposition aware of the seriousness of their demand. “…And so every move they made proved to be a mistake. It could not be otherwise, because their methods were geared to the ‘old Negro’, and they were dealing with the ‘new Negro’.” [14] (Martin Luther King Jr.)
However it must be outlined there were plenty of sympathizers to the boycott who were not blacks. Some of them were even relevant for the successful development of the movement such as, the Clifford, Virginia Durr and Glenn Smiley. A generalized position towards the support of the boycotters can be appreciated in this fragment from the Montgomery Advertiser on January 4th 1956: “….there are white bus riders in Montgomery who are honouring the request of our colored friends by refraining from patronizing the city lines in an effort to express our sympathy.” [15]
The opposition continued opposing resistance towards the boycott even though this was already finished. They still attempted to establish a white-only bus line, which produced a revival of violence and the emergence of KKK groups; but thanks to other whites cooperation and their denounces of the facts this came to an end. The opposition had to accept the reality and recognize the integration was a real legal fact in Montgomery.
6. - Leadership Analysis
The new Negro leadership that emerged at that time had been one of the significant factors effecting new forms of social interaction in the field of human relations. This new Negro leadership, a protesting type, not an accommodating one, was presented to be the winner of the Negro rights. Hereby we are going to analyse “the continuities and discontinuities of leadership surrounding the social crisis” [16] of the Montgomery Bus Boycott during three periods: the pre-protest, the protest and the post-protest.
The pre-protest community lived according to the racial separatism imposed by law. In a first analysis in this period about the occupations of the leaders that could be recognized as prominent figures were 22 people. The most prominent were railroad employees and college teachers, followed by officials and businessmen and lastly ministers and public school teachers. As we can see, the positions that could stand out of our leadership analysis are the public school teacher and the minister. Even though non highly prominent in this period, the minister played a relevant role in the life of the community. He was a natural leader to the people who had a minimum access to social, political and economical opportunities. This pre-protest community was characterized by a lack of group solidarity. The role of the Negro leader was accommodative in the sense that he did not “inspire courage and faith in himself among the people, though he may claim their respect and sympathy.” [17] He tended to be acquiescent and obedient to the rule of interracial custom.
Initially, during the Montgomery bus protest, the leader’s approach was ameliorative rather than punitive. Their primary mild demands were leading in progress to a boycott. A new caste was needed and consequently it appeared into scene 35 individuals who could be labelled as leaders. This time the analysis shows that the most prominent leaders were the ministers, followed by the lawyers, businessmen and school teachers -among others- in order of prominence. Martin Luther King Jr., a minister, stood at the top of an unprecedented leadership structure never seen before in the Negro community. King’s charismatic authority and his non-violence tactic was something unexpected for the white population. Thanks to that new leadership it was generalized a total community involvement and a sense of social solidarity which lead to the success of the boycott. King’s departure after the protest left a vacuum in that leadership structure.
Once the boycott was over, the spirit of protest was still latent. The remaining Negro leaders after King felt compelled to go on towards a complete desegregation. But the leadership structure was altered in the post-protest community. It lacked the based which was so efficient during the protest. There was a drastic diminution of leaders after the protest –only 3, one minister, one lawyer and one school teacher and not being considered as the most prominent figures. This decline in leadership coincided with the decline of the Negro participation to take part in the civil action. This explains why parks, schools and other public facilities remained segregated until 1965.
In view of the above, the termination of the boycott and the reduction of leaders were an unavoidable consequence of the social situation. The protest was successful because it has an attainable target. After the boycott, there had been little alteration in their way of life. Mainly because the white population was reluctant to change. The leadership structure changed radically because it followed a course in which accommodation rather than protest was the line of social action.
7. - Conclusions
The Montgomery Bus Boycott was the first step towards the Afro-Americans civil rights struggle. It was the first time a so well organized plan was put into action. It involved every single member of the Negro community, from every occupation and gender, to accomplish the success of the movement. It was remarkable black women’s role in the boycott and the reasons that lead them to intervene so enthusiastically in it. They all, black men and women, worked together to reach an attainable goal, although they had a strong white opposition that hindered their progress towards social desegregation.
8.- Literature, Sources
Cozzens, Lisa. The Civil Rights Movement 1955-1956. African American History. A detailed description about the movement and its role in the struggle for civil rights in America. 1998. http://fledge.watson.org/~lisa/blackhistory/civilrights-55-65/montbus.html
Gyant, LaVerne. Journal of Black Studies. Passing the Torch: African American Women in the Civil Rights Movement. Vol. 26, Nº. 5. Sage Publications, Inc.. 1996.
Hines, Ralph H.; Pierce, James E. Phylon (1960-). Negro Leadership after the Social Crisis: An Analysis of Leadership Changes in Montgomery, Alabama. Vol. 26, Nº. 2. Clark Atlanta University, 1965.
Killian, Lewis M. American Sociological Review. Organization, Rationality and Spontaneity in the Civil Rights Movement. Vol. 49, Nº. 6. American Sociological Association, 1984.
McNair Barnett, Bernice. Gender and Society. Invisible Southern Black Women Leaders in the Civil Rights Movement: The Triple Constraints of Gender, Race and Class. Vol. 7, Nº. 2. Sage Publications, Inc.. 1993.
Omi, Michael. Racial Formation in the United States. 1960-1990. Routledge, 1994.
The Journal of Blacks in Higher Education. The Footsoldiers of the Montgomery bus Boycott. Nº. 26. CH II Publishers, 1999-2000.
http://www.africanaonline.com/montgomery.htm
http://www.stanford.edu/group/King/about_king/encyclopedia/bus_boycott.html
http://www.montgomeryboycott.com
http://home.att.net/~reniqua
[1] Gyant, LaVerne. Journal of Black Studies. Passing the Torch: African American Women in the
Civil Rights Movement. Vol. 26, Nº. 5. Pg 630. Sage Publications, Inc.. 1996.
[2] http://www.watson.org/~lisa/blackhistory/civilrights-55-65/montbus.html ;27/10/2006.
[3] Gyant, LaVerne. Journal of Black Studies. Passing the Torch: African American Women in the Civil Rights Movement. Vol. 26, Nº. 5. Pg 633. Sage Publications, Inc.. 1996.
[4] Gyant, LaVerne. Journal of Black Studies. Passing the Torch: African American Women in the
Civil Rights Movement. Vol. 26, Nº. 5. Pg 638. Sage Publications, Inc.. 1996.
[5] Gyant, LaVerne. Journal of Black Studies. Passing the Torch: African American Women in the
Civil Rights Movement. Vol. 26, Nº. 5. Pg 638. Sage Publications, Inc.. 1996.
[6] Omi, Michael. Racial Formation in the United States 1960-1990. Pgs 99-100. Routledge,
1994.
[7] http://www.stanford.edu/group/King/about_king/encyclopedia/nonviolent.resist.html ;
27/10/2006.
[8] http://home.att.net/~reniqua/theology.htm ; 27/10/2006.
[9] http://home.att.net/~reniqua/what.html ; 27/10/2006.
[10] Killian, Lewis M. American Sociological Review. Organization, Rationality and Spontaneity
in the Civil Rights Movement. Vol. 49, Nº. 6. Pg 782. American Sociological Association, 1984.
[11] http://www.stanford.edu/group/King/about_king/encyclopedia/MIA.html ; 22/12/2006.
[12] http://home.att.net/~reniqua/whiteandopposition.html ; 27/10/2006.
[13] http://home.att.net/~reniqua/whiteandopposition.html ; 27/10/2006.
[14] http://home.att.net/~reniqua/whiteandopposition.html ; 27/10/2006.
[15] http://home.att.net/~reniqua/whiteandopposition.html ; 27/10/2006.
[16] Hines, Ralph H.; Pierce, James E. Phylon (1960-). Negro Leadership after the Social Crisis:
An Analysis of Leadership Changes in Montgomery, Alabama. Vol. 26, Nº. 2. Pg 163. Clark
Atlanta University, 1965.
[17] Hines, Ralph H.; Pierce, James E. Phylon (1960-). Negro Leadership after the Social Crisis:
An Analysis of Leadership Changes in Montgomery, Alabama. Vol. 26, Nº. 2. Pg 165. Clark
Atlanta University, 1965.
The Montgomery Bus Boycott was one of the first large and organized protests of African-Americans of the 20th century. It happened in Montgomery, Alabama, which overt racism was something common in their society. The black women of Montgomery were of relevant importance for the eruption and development of the movement. Also the tactic of non-violent resistance was one of the key factors which lead the blacks of Montgomery towards the victory. All these combined with an strategically well organized structural planning gave it the strength to persist for 381 days. It is significant to point to the opposition that the whites of Montgomery played during the boycott, but it is important to mention that a great part of them were supporters of the black movement.
2. -Black Women Relevance in the Boycott
Since the very beginning African-American women have been involved in the struggle to guide themselves from slavery to freedom. In doing so, they had to fight against a triple barrier: sex, race and social class. These barriers had given them the persistence, ability to adapt, and bravery to succeed in their professions.
According to Bethune, African-American women had promoted the civil rights struggle and participated actively in it for getting social improvements for their race, their families and themselves. In the history of the civil rights movement there were not only a few women involved. Research shows that there were a large number of women that participated in it. According to Baker “The movement of the fifties and sixties was carried largely by women, since it came out of church……The number of women who carried the movement was much larger that of men.” [1]
The Montgomery Bus Boycott was the first direct action against racial segregation after the 1954 Brown v. Board of Education was approved. They wanted to go further and get the status of first-class citizens. On the 1st of December of 1955, Mrs. Rosa Parks, an African-American seamstress, was arrested in Montgomery, Alabama for not standing and letting a white take her seat. It was an "established rule" in the American south that African-American riders had to sit at the back of the bus. They were also expected to yield their seat to a white passenger if it was needed. When asked to move to let a white bus rider be seated Mrs. Parks refused. She did not argue and she did not move. The police were called and Mrs. Parks was arrested.
Mrs. Parks was not the first African-American to be arrested for his disobedience to the law, nor the last one. She was only one of several hundred African-American women who played relevant roles in the boycotts, demonstrations, and acts of civil disobedience. The relevance of that woman and that day is that it is recognized as the beginning of the civil rights movement. For this boycott to succeed it was necessary the help of another woman, JoAnn Robinson the leader of the Women´s Political Council (WPC), who was in charge to organize the protest and to print 52.000 leaflets asking Montgomery blacks to stay off public busses on December 5th, the day of the trial of Rosa Parks. According to Martin Luther King Jr., she “perhaps more than any other person, was active on every level of the protest.” [2]
As we already stated, they were just the representatives of a whole Afro-American community aiming social change. The reasons that lead them to join the protest so decisively were from different grounds.
2.1. - Reasons
One of the reasons for their involvement was that they were highly motivated. Moreover, they were highly motivated because they enjoyed an inner and outer freedom. In comparison to white women and their black husbands, they felt their spirits free, and because of that freedom, they felt compelled to do things, to change things in their society. They had the energy to do so and first of all because they did not want their husbands and children to be humiliated.
These women came from different backgrounds, “middle class, rural, professional women, educated and uneducated –all were involved in the civil rights movement.” They shared their experiences in different fields to apply it for a common purpose of equality. “They formed a strong sisterhood network that crossed all barriers and classes.” [3]
Many women said they were highly motivated to participate in the struggle to fight for better civil rights for the African-American community since very early stages of their lives. They experienced how their mothers and grandmothers had to fight against everyday oppression and racism. They grow up with that feeling of resentment which encouraged them to give a step forward.
Another reason that made them play a part in the protest was their faith in God and in the religious teachings. There, they got all the strength necessary to be able to deal with discrimination, racism and classicism. Moreover, the church was a kind of sanctuary for them. It was a place where they could share the troubles they found in their working day. They also started singing old spirituals together with new freedom songs. They found the message and the means to appeal for a movement mixing “spiritual and earthly forms of salvation.” [4]
Another factor which contributed to their motivation was racial injustices. Afro-American women were aware of the injustices of racism. They were “sick and tired of being sick and tired.” [5] For some women, their involvement was something natural; they knew things were not working properly and that they were not treated right. They just reacted automatically to that inner resentment fossilized since they were children.
3. -Theology of the Movement
According to Martin Luther King Jr., non-violent resistance was the only practical and moral method to use in their struggle against social oppression. He, as a preacher, wanted to infuse his activism through biblical images of bondage and liberation, their own black “liberation theology.” [6] He increased this imagery with other ideologies fomented in India, Africa, Europe and in the U.S.. Examples of these borrowings are found in King’s application of the Gandhian philosophy of satyagraha, the use of the “sit-in”, and others applied to African liberation activities.
The concept of non-violence, ahimsa, and non-resistance had a long history in India’s religious doctrine. Its first mention in Indian philosophy is found in the Hindu scriptures called the Upanishads, the oldest of which date about 800 BCE. In The Story of My Experiments with Truth, Gandhi explains his philosophy based on the respect for all life and his rejection to apply any injure to his enemy. Ahimsa means non-killing but implies as well entire abstinence from causing any pain or harm to any living creature either by thought, word, or deed.
King’s first approaches to the concept of non-violent resistance were after reading Henry David Thoreau’s Essay of Civil Disobedience. He was really fascinated with the idea of refusing to cooperate with the system, but had doubts about its practical use. In 1950 King went to Philadelphia to hear a conference given by the president of Howard University, Dr. Mordecai Johnson, about the life and teachings of Gandhi. King became deeply impacted by what he heard and started reading everything related to him. His incredulous attitude concerning non-violence was progressively disappearing.
It was the Montgomery Bus Boycott what demonstrated King the success of non-violence in the struggle against social segregation in the public transports. This movement allowed King to join Gandhian tactics with the Christian doctrine. King stated “. . . my mind, consciously or unconsciously, was driven back to the Sermon on the Mount and the Gandhian method of non-violent resistance. This principle became the guiding light of our movement. Christ furnished the spirit and motivation while Gandhi furnished the method.” [7]
King published his principles in Christian Century in 1957. In that article he exposed that non-violence could only be practiced by the strongest of men, it was not an act of cowardice. He also appointed their doctrine’s aim is not to destroy the enemy, but to make him aware of reality. That is why they used the boycott as a means to make the other reflect on the situation and feel guilty and shamed of his actions. He pointed they were not attacking certain “‘evil’ people, but only evil ideas, practices and laws.” [8] In order to be a member of this ideology one had to be able to suffer without taking reprisals against the adversary. Another prerequisite to be a practicing non-violent promoter is the ability not only to resist physical distress but an inner one as well. They should love their foe. The last but not least belief of this non-violent basis calls upon the idea that they must keep faith and hope of a rewarding future to realize that all their suffering is not worthless.
King’s philosophy was not only based on Gandhian non-violent principle, but also took roots from African-American history of spirituality and slavery. Because of all these things combined together, the movement gained great respect worldwide. It even inspired many people to believe they could triumph over any obstacle they could find in their lives by means of peaceful tactics. That was the magnificence of the Montgomery Bus Boycott; and its non-violent protest was an important political move because it attracted many whites and also national and international leaders due to its revolutionary way to attain political change. Eleanor Roosevelt stated: “I think December 5th is an important date for all of us in the U.S. to remember. The bus protest carried on by the colored people of Montgomery, Alabama, without violence, has been one of the most remarkable achievements of people fighting for their own rights but doing so without bloodshed and with the most remarkable restraint and discipline, that we have ever witnessed in this country. It is something all of us should be extremely proud of for its achievement by Americans which was rarely before been seen.” [9]
4. -The Mechanics of the Boycott
“Organization, resources and planning are essential to the success of a social movement.” [10] Even though spontaneous events have a great probability of precipitating social movements, they need to be organized to get the structure to sustain the activity. This is what happened to the Montgomery Bus Boycott. The initial protest emerged after the arrest of Rosa Parks on December 1st, but the triumph of the 381-days boycott was due to well-organized composition that worked for its victory.
The actual strength that propelled the boycott was the Women´s Political Council (WPC) whose president, Jo Ann Robinson, drafted and spread 52.000 fliers to call for all blacks to stay off the buses on December 5th, the day of Park´s trial. They worked together with the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), leaded by the activist E.D. Nixon, which were focused on litigation and lobbying. After Parks lost her case and was convicted of violating the segregated seating laws, and following the success of the one-day boycott, a mass meeting was held at Holt Street Baptist Church. After deciding to continue with the boycott, about a group of 50 local black leaders and one white minister, Robert S. Graetz, formed the Montgomery Improvement Association (MIA) and elected King Jr. as their chairman. The MIA objectives were not only to continue the boycott but to “improve the general status of Montgomery, to improve race relations, and to uplift the general tenor of the community.” [11]
MIA officials met with officials and lawyers from the bus company to present a desegregation plan, but the bus company refused to consider it. Before, black cab companies would charge 10 cents a ride, the same as the bus, but now the city law stated that cabs had to charge a minimum of 45 cents a passenger. So, the MIA first mission was to come up with an organized system of transportation for blacks. This system consisted mainly of labourers, ministers, businessmen and educators with cars that picked up other boycotters and took them to work. The plan took a great deal of planning, that is why the Transportation Committee was appointed to supervise it.
Crucial relevance played those hundreds of black and white foot soldiers that made the boycott work. Robert S. Graetz, the only white who made no secret of his activities, and many other liberal whites became active participants in the protest. He, as a member of the Transportation Committee helped to organize a pool of 250 to 350 private cars and established dispatch stations in all predominantly Negro areas to cover transportation between 6 a.m. and noon each day. Ministers urged their congregations to make donations to buy gasoline for the car pool; something which cost about $200 a day. The service worked so quickly and so well that even the White Citizens Council had to admit it had run with high precision.
5. -White and Opposition Reaction
“You are indebted to the white people of Montgomery for life itself .” [12] Hill Lindsay stated this which was published in the Montgomery Advertiser, January 13th 1956, considered as being the general attitude of Montgomery whites towards the blacks of the Montgomery Bus Boycott.
At the beginning white people thought the boycott was not going to last for so long. When they realized this was not the case, they started several tactics to end up with the black peaceful revolt. They tried to reach a consensus with the black leaders, but this was not possible. The black leaders wanted a complete integration whereas the white ones were not willing to accept it. As they saw the move was not coming to an end they decided to augment their methods to frustrate it.
The opposition -this is how the whites who were anti-boycott were known- tried to turn the black people against their leaders, they also tried to dismember the MIA organization by making them to plot against each other and they also spread fake rumours about the movement. One example of the latter occurred when the Montgomery City Council announced that the end of the boycott was established to be on January 22, 1956. However, a black reporter who read the article doubt about the veracity of what was published, so he could inform the leaders in advance and the movement was not finished on that date.
With a feeling of frustration again, the whites started to use new tactics. Even the Mayor of Montgomery went on television to criticise the development of the boycott. As none of these resulted, they recurred to violence to end up with the move. They started menacing notorious leaders by means of death threats and phone calls. They frequently intimidated black boycotters in the street. On January 30th 1956 they bombed King’s house and one week later Nixon’s. But the boycotters were not going to be hindered because of these strikes of violence. King called for calm and they continued their peaceful protest.
“When in the course of human events it becomes necessary to abolish the Negro race, proper methods should be used. Among these are guns, bows and arrows, sling shots and knives. We hold these truths to be self evident that all whites are created equal with certain human rights; among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of niggers…” [13] This corresponds to the preview of the book Declaration of Segregation published in the Montgomery Advertiser, February 11th, 1956. As the violent tactic did not have the desired effect for the white citizens, they recurred to the law. There started police harassments against black drivers who committed minor or even false driving infractions. Even blacks were jailed for hitchhiking for a ride to their works or houses. Black people were starting to feel frustrated about the movement. The algid point arrived when King Jr. was jailed for a minor driving violation. Black people were very irritated.
The opposition found an old law to support their inquiries against the boycott. So, 90 people including King were arrested and put into jail for boycotting. Nevertheless, the method was unsuccessful because people arrived volunteer to the police station to be arrested as well. King was tried for this and was convicted to pay the sum of $500; but this was not considered a defeat for the defendants, it was a way to make the opposition aware of the seriousness of their demand. “…And so every move they made proved to be a mistake. It could not be otherwise, because their methods were geared to the ‘old Negro’, and they were dealing with the ‘new Negro’.” [14] (Martin Luther King Jr.)
However it must be outlined there were plenty of sympathizers to the boycott who were not blacks. Some of them were even relevant for the successful development of the movement such as, the Clifford, Virginia Durr and Glenn Smiley. A generalized position towards the support of the boycotters can be appreciated in this fragment from the Montgomery Advertiser on January 4th 1956: “….there are white bus riders in Montgomery who are honouring the request of our colored friends by refraining from patronizing the city lines in an effort to express our sympathy.” [15]
The opposition continued opposing resistance towards the boycott even though this was already finished. They still attempted to establish a white-only bus line, which produced a revival of violence and the emergence of KKK groups; but thanks to other whites cooperation and their denounces of the facts this came to an end. The opposition had to accept the reality and recognize the integration was a real legal fact in Montgomery.
6. - Leadership Analysis
The new Negro leadership that emerged at that time had been one of the significant factors effecting new forms of social interaction in the field of human relations. This new Negro leadership, a protesting type, not an accommodating one, was presented to be the winner of the Negro rights. Hereby we are going to analyse “the continuities and discontinuities of leadership surrounding the social crisis” [16] of the Montgomery Bus Boycott during three periods: the pre-protest, the protest and the post-protest.
The pre-protest community lived according to the racial separatism imposed by law. In a first analysis in this period about the occupations of the leaders that could be recognized as prominent figures were 22 people. The most prominent were railroad employees and college teachers, followed by officials and businessmen and lastly ministers and public school teachers. As we can see, the positions that could stand out of our leadership analysis are the public school teacher and the minister. Even though non highly prominent in this period, the minister played a relevant role in the life of the community. He was a natural leader to the people who had a minimum access to social, political and economical opportunities. This pre-protest community was characterized by a lack of group solidarity. The role of the Negro leader was accommodative in the sense that he did not “inspire courage and faith in himself among the people, though he may claim their respect and sympathy.” [17] He tended to be acquiescent and obedient to the rule of interracial custom.
Initially, during the Montgomery bus protest, the leader’s approach was ameliorative rather than punitive. Their primary mild demands were leading in progress to a boycott. A new caste was needed and consequently it appeared into scene 35 individuals who could be labelled as leaders. This time the analysis shows that the most prominent leaders were the ministers, followed by the lawyers, businessmen and school teachers -among others- in order of prominence. Martin Luther King Jr., a minister, stood at the top of an unprecedented leadership structure never seen before in the Negro community. King’s charismatic authority and his non-violence tactic was something unexpected for the white population. Thanks to that new leadership it was generalized a total community involvement and a sense of social solidarity which lead to the success of the boycott. King’s departure after the protest left a vacuum in that leadership structure.
Once the boycott was over, the spirit of protest was still latent. The remaining Negro leaders after King felt compelled to go on towards a complete desegregation. But the leadership structure was altered in the post-protest community. It lacked the based which was so efficient during the protest. There was a drastic diminution of leaders after the protest –only 3, one minister, one lawyer and one school teacher and not being considered as the most prominent figures. This decline in leadership coincided with the decline of the Negro participation to take part in the civil action. This explains why parks, schools and other public facilities remained segregated until 1965.
In view of the above, the termination of the boycott and the reduction of leaders were an unavoidable consequence of the social situation. The protest was successful because it has an attainable target. After the boycott, there had been little alteration in their way of life. Mainly because the white population was reluctant to change. The leadership structure changed radically because it followed a course in which accommodation rather than protest was the line of social action.
7. - Conclusions
The Montgomery Bus Boycott was the first step towards the Afro-Americans civil rights struggle. It was the first time a so well organized plan was put into action. It involved every single member of the Negro community, from every occupation and gender, to accomplish the success of the movement. It was remarkable black women’s role in the boycott and the reasons that lead them to intervene so enthusiastically in it. They all, black men and women, worked together to reach an attainable goal, although they had a strong white opposition that hindered their progress towards social desegregation.
8.- Literature, Sources
Cozzens, Lisa. The Civil Rights Movement 1955-1956. African American History. A detailed description about the movement and its role in the struggle for civil rights in America. 1998. http://fledge.watson.org/~lisa/blackhistory/civilrights-55-65/montbus.html
Gyant, LaVerne. Journal of Black Studies. Passing the Torch: African American Women in the Civil Rights Movement. Vol. 26, Nº. 5. Sage Publications, Inc.. 1996.
Hines, Ralph H.; Pierce, James E. Phylon (1960-). Negro Leadership after the Social Crisis: An Analysis of Leadership Changes in Montgomery, Alabama. Vol. 26, Nº. 2. Clark Atlanta University, 1965.
Killian, Lewis M. American Sociological Review. Organization, Rationality and Spontaneity in the Civil Rights Movement. Vol. 49, Nº. 6. American Sociological Association, 1984.
McNair Barnett, Bernice. Gender and Society. Invisible Southern Black Women Leaders in the Civil Rights Movement: The Triple Constraints of Gender, Race and Class. Vol. 7, Nº. 2. Sage Publications, Inc.. 1993.
Omi, Michael. Racial Formation in the United States. 1960-1990. Routledge, 1994.
The Journal of Blacks in Higher Education. The Footsoldiers of the Montgomery bus Boycott. Nº. 26. CH II Publishers, 1999-2000.
http://www.africanaonline.com/montgomery.htm
http://www.stanford.edu/group/King/about_king/encyclopedia/bus_boycott.html
http://www.montgomeryboycott.com
http://home.att.net/~reniqua
[1] Gyant, LaVerne. Journal of Black Studies. Passing the Torch: African American Women in the
Civil Rights Movement. Vol. 26, Nº. 5. Pg 630. Sage Publications, Inc.. 1996.
[2] http://www.watson.org/~lisa/blackhistory/civilrights-55-65/montbus.html ;27/10/2006.
[3] Gyant, LaVerne. Journal of Black Studies. Passing the Torch: African American Women in the Civil Rights Movement. Vol. 26, Nº. 5. Pg 633. Sage Publications, Inc.. 1996.
[4] Gyant, LaVerne. Journal of Black Studies. Passing the Torch: African American Women in the
Civil Rights Movement. Vol. 26, Nº. 5. Pg 638. Sage Publications, Inc.. 1996.
[5] Gyant, LaVerne. Journal of Black Studies. Passing the Torch: African American Women in the
Civil Rights Movement. Vol. 26, Nº. 5. Pg 638. Sage Publications, Inc.. 1996.
[6] Omi, Michael. Racial Formation in the United States 1960-1990. Pgs 99-100. Routledge,
1994.
[7] http://www.stanford.edu/group/King/about_king/encyclopedia/nonviolent.resist.html ;
27/10/2006.
[8] http://home.att.net/~reniqua/theology.htm ; 27/10/2006.
[9] http://home.att.net/~reniqua/what.html ; 27/10/2006.
[10] Killian, Lewis M. American Sociological Review. Organization, Rationality and Spontaneity
in the Civil Rights Movement. Vol. 49, Nº. 6. Pg 782. American Sociological Association, 1984.
[11] http://www.stanford.edu/group/King/about_king/encyclopedia/MIA.html ; 22/12/2006.
[12] http://home.att.net/~reniqua/whiteandopposition.html ; 27/10/2006.
[13] http://home.att.net/~reniqua/whiteandopposition.html ; 27/10/2006.
[14] http://home.att.net/~reniqua/whiteandopposition.html ; 27/10/2006.
[15] http://home.att.net/~reniqua/whiteandopposition.html ; 27/10/2006.
[16] Hines, Ralph H.; Pierce, James E. Phylon (1960-). Negro Leadership after the Social Crisis:
An Analysis of Leadership Changes in Montgomery, Alabama. Vol. 26, Nº. 2. Pg 163. Clark
Atlanta University, 1965.
[17] Hines, Ralph H.; Pierce, James E. Phylon (1960-). Negro Leadership after the Social Crisis:
An Analysis of Leadership Changes in Montgomery, Alabama. Vol. 26, Nº. 2. Pg 165. Clark
Atlanta University, 1965.
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